In a quasi-Romeo and Julietscript, Warren Beatty marked his screen debut (after starring in the Broadway playA Loss of Roses), and co-star Natalie Wood received a Best Actress nomination (her second of three career nominations) for one of her finest (if notthebest) screen roles.Supporting actor Russ Tamblyn, known for many roles in films such asSeven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)andPeyton Place (1957),played the role of Riff."I""ll be able to scratch myself like anybody else."A "bright, young lawyer" with training as a police officer, he has had to "quit the police force" after blaming himself for his colleague""s death and suffering from a pre-existing condition of acrophobia.Man was born of the ape.There""s still an ape curled up inside of every man, the beast that must be whipped into submission, the savage that has to be shackled in chains.