No one played "girl in love" like Natalie Wood. It's of course all the more exciting that this (faux) Puerto Rican Juliet has to struggle against the confines that keep her from her white Romeo. An immigrant who seems more comfortable in her surroundings than all of the gang bangers battling it out in Manhattan, Maria is vaguely world weary but still hopeful and exuberant. This is perhaps why the film's conclusion is so tragic. We leave Maria believing that her spark can't burn bright much longer against such harsh weather.

Conveniently packaged in one woman, Gloria is our answer to the hard-nosed criminal, the super-hero, and the adoptive mother. Far more complicated than traditional "Virgin, Mother, Whore" archetypes, Gloria is a dispassionate woman, hardened in many ways, but fully aware of the value of life. She's fiercely determined to protect her accidental ward Phil (John Adames), the orphan of the mob's accountant. Gloria is at her best when she's playing it soft because for the first few times her tiger-like protective instincts take hold, she just seems a little rough around the edges, but when the claws come out she seldom loses.