hearted tone of "Gee, Officer Krupke" is out of place  following the deaths that end the first act prefer the films  ordering of the numbers, but the original creators of the stage play  maintained that the stage order was always their intended dramatic  structure. Lyricist Stephen Sondheim (qv) feels that placing "Gee,  Officer Krupke" after the rumble gives it a desperation and anger  that it lacks in the film, whereas the films placement of it prior  to the rumble turns it into a conventional musical comedy number,  something it was never intended to be. This issue is still heatedly  debated among the films fans.