AFI Top 100, #s 55, 54, 53, 52

I previously reviewed these four movies, each one for my Best Picture Project. Below is the pertinent information about each: the movie stats, plot summary, and the rating I gave it.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC - AFI #55
Movie Stats:
Released 1965 (USA)
American, in English
Director – Robert Wise
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.

Rating:
4.25 stars

Full review HERE.


ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT - AFI #54
This review was written before I standardized my review process. I gave the movie 3 stars. You can read the full text of the review HERE.


AMADEUS - AFI #53
Movie Stats:
Released 1984 (USA)
American, in English (some non-translated Italian & German, although it’s in the form of opera, which I personally can never understand no matter what language it’s in)
Director – Milos Forman
Stars – F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Jeffrey Jones

Plot Summary:
In the court of Austrian Emperor Joseph II (Jones), royal composer Antonio Salieri (Abraham) is driven to the point of madness by envy of the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Hulce). Berridge co-stars as Mozart’s wife, Constanze. (I also feel compelled to note the appearance of baby Cynthia Nixon as Mozart’s maid.)

Rating:
2.75 stars

Full review HERE.


FROM HERE TO ETERNITY - AFI #52
Movie Stats:
Released USA (1953)
American, in English
Director – Fred Zinnemann
Stars – Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed

Plot Summary:
Set in Pearl Harbor during 1941, Private Robert E. Lee “Prew” Prewitt (Clift) has recently been transferred to a new unit, where his new captain (Philip Ober), aware of his talent, wants him to fight on the boxing team. When Prew refuses for personal reasons, he’s subjected to cruel treatment. In the meantime, Prew’s sergeant, Milton Warden (Lancaster), is falling in love with the captain’s wife, Karen Holmes (Kerr). Sinatra costars as Prew’s buddy Private Angelo Maggio & Reed as Prew’s love interest, Alma “Lorene” Burke.

Rating:
3 stars

Full review HERE.