Best Picture: "The Sound of Music," 1965

Movie Stats:

Released 1965 (USA)

American, in English

Director – Robert Wise (who last brought us West Side Story)

Stars – Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn

Plot Summary:

Set in Austria in the months just before the German takeover of the country. Maria (Andrews), a novitiate at a convent in Salzburg, doesn’t quite seem to have what it takes to become a nun. Uncertain what to do with her, Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) sends her to work as a governess to the seven children of Captain Georg von Trapp (Plummer). There, Maria and Georg slowly begin to fall in love. Parker co-stars as Georg’s other love interest, The Baroness, and Haydn as her brother (?), Max Detweiler.

Bad Stuff:

“How do you solve a problem like Maria?” Apparently the answer is, “Get her out of the convent and marry her off.” That doesn’t seem very church-like to me, but all righty then.

While I agree that Andrews has a lovely singing voice, I felt that a lot of her acting, particularly in the beginning of the film, was hammy.

There are quite a few songs that I don’t like (“I Have Confidence,” “Do-Re-Mi,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” jump immediately to mind).

Good Stuff:

It had been so long since I’d seen this that I’d forgotten Georg is played by Christopher Plummer. I thought he was phenomenal. Easily the best performance of the film.

I really liked that the film didn’t rely on the love triangle to create all the drama. [SPOILER I GUESS BUT REALLY HAVE YOU NEVER SEEN THIS FILM?] When Georg calls off his engagement to The Baroness because he’s in love with Maria, she accepts defeat very gracefully. I really loved that scene.

They snuck some snappy dialogue in there. I was really surprised. One of my favorite lines in the film was a complete throwaway, spoken by Marta, the second to last child: “Maybe the flags with the spider in the middle make everybody nervous.” They still do, Marta. They still do.

The Verdict:

This is the only one of the 1960s winners that I’d ever seen all the way through (I’d seen pieces of some of the others). I’m going to be perfectly honest. I always hated this film. It’s one of those movies that everyone else you know loves. But I’d seen it multiple times when I was younger and had never liked it.

However, I hadn’t seen it in a very long time, certainly more than 20 years, so I decided to watch it again. And suddenly, this time, I got it. I know why everyone likes this film.

The cinematography is beautiful. It’s sweet, good-hearted, and fun. I always thought that, at its center, it was merely a mostly-unimaginative love story, but watching it this time, I found myself truly touched by the story of Georg and his children, of how Maria showed Georg how to be a father to them again. When he first hears the children singing “The Sound of Music” and walks into the room to join them, I was moved to tears.

So consider me a convert. I like this film now! It just goes to show, sometimes you need to give things (and people!) a second chance.

I give the film 4.25 stars.