"Oh, yeah, sure, I know: It's a free country and I ain't got the right.. But I got a badge. Whaddaya you got?" - Lieutenant Schrank to Bernardo
Lieutenant Schrank is a side character in West Side Story, he is one of only four adults featured prominently in the story (the other three being Doc/Valentina, Sergeant Krupke and Glad Hand). His character is based on Prince Escalus in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet; Escalus was ruler and chief adjudicator for the city of Verona.
Overview[]
Schrank is a plain-clothes police detective lieutenant and Sergeant Krupke's superior. Schrank is one of only four adults who feature prominently in West Side Story. He is cynical, obstinate, bigoted and heavy-handed, and is shown to be just as prejudiced against the Sharks as the Jets, though he hates the Jets almost as much, referring to them as coming from "tin-horn immigrant scum".
History[]
Simon Oakland as Lieutenant Schrank (1961)
After the two rival gangs have their war council at Doc's Drug Store, Schrank arrives and orders Bernardo and the Sharks out, and then attempts to cull information from Riff and the Jets about the rumble and where it's going to be. When they say nothing, Schrank angrily begins to taunt them, especially A-Rab and Action; he takes delight in Action's losing his temper and having to be held back by the others and then warns him "One of these days there won't be anybody to hold ya!"
Schrank and Krupke invariably find themselves one step behind the machinations between the Jets and the Sharks until it's too late-- to wit, after Riff and Bernardo are killed in the rumble, and later after Tony is gunned down by Chino. Following the rumble, Schrank visits Maria at her apartment and grills her about the flare-up between Bernardo and Tony at the dance, but Maria lies to Schrank saying the argument was between Bernardo and another boy from Puerto Rico named Jose.
At the end, after Tony dies, Schrank arrives (along with the other key adults) and wordlessly picks up the gun after Maria tearfully drops it on the ground. After everyone else disperses, Schrank and Krupke take Chino away.
Quotes[]
“If I don't get a little law and order around here, I get busted down to a traffic corner. And your friend don't like traffic corners.” - Schrank to the Jets
Gallery[]
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