Natalie Wood: Five Films for Newcomers
Today is the birthday of screen legend Natalie Wood, who has a whirlwind of a legacy. She started off as a child star, and was quickly a young adult staple with many Academy Award nominations to her name. She then represented the changeover from Old Hollywood to New Hollywood, by taking on roles that were quite different from how she began. Later on, she showcased the transition to television, and the ability to keep acting in a different capacity while prioritizing being a mother. Sadly, her life ended abruptly when she drowned at 43. To this day, the exact details of this unfortunate event aren’t known for sure, with the case being reevaluated as recently as 2018. Wood was taken from us far too early, and yet she still amassed a thorough, incredible filmography at such a young age. If you’re interested in learning more, here are five films for newcomers to the works of Natalie Wood.
5. Miracle on 34th Street
Having a child performance of Wood’s only makes sense, given her early on screen success. There are a few films to pick in this era (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is one such example), but Miracle on 34th Street is a go-to for holiday films and ‘40s classics. Plus, it’s a big enough role that we really got to see what Wood could do at such a young age; you will know right away that she was destined for life long greatness.
4. Splendor in the Grass
Before New Hollywood came in full swing, the films that followed the old ways were starting to drift off course of censorship, and Wood’s early ‘60s works were clear cut pieces of evidence of this. Splendor in the Grass is one of Wood’s most acclaimed roles as well, as she plays a young woman torn between her desire for exploration, and society’s expectations of her. In this film and others, Wood showcased an ability to incorporate mentality and a current psychological state on screen effectively in a time where that kind of acting wasn’t so prevalent (another example is cult classic Inside Daisy Clover).
3. Rebel Without a Cause
The turning point from child star to the next big sensation came when Wood played Judy (a fellow teenager facing authority and her parents) in Rebel Without a Cause. Scoring her first Academy Award nomination for her role with James Dean’s juvenile delinquent character, Wood easily held her own, and accented a number of the film’s scenes. You may watch Rebel for Dean (and he does a fantastic job himself), but you may leave the film wanting to see more of Natalie Wood.
2. The Searchers
You won’t see Wood as Debbie in The Searchers for too long, considering her role was split into two performances considering the leap in time (her sister Lana Wood played the young Debbie). When we do find Natalie as Debbie, she is assimilated in the Nawyecka band of the Comanches, where she lives comfortably and happily. The ambiguous climax is due in part to Wood effectively replicating a different side of this kind of character in a Western, issuing a new age of the genre where maybe the lone ranger is not actually saving the day, and indigenous communities aren’t the enemies in white saviour films.
1. West Side Story
Of course, the best place to start in Natalie Wood’s filmography is her role as the famous Maria in West Side Story. Despite the film not featuring her singing (Marni Nixon supplied her voice, as she did for many musicals around this time), Wood carries some of the more dramatic parts of the film with absolute ease. The film is arguably centred around her the most, considering her relation to both the Jets and the Sharks; her upper edge she has to lover Tony is that she also represents the life outside of the gangs that the film also explores. There were many shifts in her career due to her noteworthy performances, but her work as Maria feels like the very moment that Natalie Wood was cemented as one of Hollywood’s all time greats.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.