{"id":24471,"date":"2012-06-07T13:35:13","date_gmt":"2012-06-07T20:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24471"},"modified":"2024-04-24T13:31:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T20:31:48","slug":"sound-of-music-the-1965","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24471","title":{"rendered":"Sound of Music, The (1965)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Sound-of-Music-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Sound-of-Music-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-24472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Sound-of-Music-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Sound-of-Music-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Sound-of-Music-Poster.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn 1930s Austria, a nun-in-training (Julie Andrews) is sent to work as a governess for the seven unruly children &#8212; Liesl (Charmian Carr), Louisa (Heather Menzies-Urich), Friedrich (Nicholas Hammond), Kurt (Duane Chase), Brigitta (Angela Cartwright), Marta (Debbie Turner), and Gretl (Kym Karath) &#8212; of a widowed and retired captain (Christopher Plummer) engaged to a baroness (Eleanor Parker). Soon Andrews and Captain Von Trapp (Plummer) find themselves falling in love, but their family&#8217;s happiness is threatened when the captain is called back to active duty with the Nazis.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Christopher Plummer Films<\/li>\n<li>Eleanor Parker Films<\/li>\n<li>Governesses and Nannies<\/li>\n<li>Julie Andrews Films<\/li>\n<li>Musicals<\/li>\n<li>Nazis<\/li>\n<li>Nuns<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Richard Haydn Films<\/li>\n<li>Robert Wise Films<\/li>\n<li>Romance<\/li>\n<li>Widows and Widowers<\/li>\n<li>World War Two<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary begins his somewhat cynical review of this beloved musical &#8212; based on a &#8220;stage musical by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse&#8221; &#8212; by noting that it&#8217;s &#8220;one of the most popular films of all time &#8212; which it was calculated to be&#8221;. He goes on to write that &#8220;You&#8217;ll know you&#8217;re being manipulated at every turn, that you&#8217;re expected to feel a lump in your throat or laugh or cry on cue (when the music swells, when a child smiles, when a stern adult is kind)&#8221; &#8212; but he concedes that &#8220;even if you become sick on the sugar, you&#8217;ll find it hard not to appreciate the talents of Julie Andrews, whose exuberance is infectious, whose voice is superb&#8230;, [and] who is as good as Streisand at <em>acting<\/em> while singing a song&#8221;. Indeed, Peary is so impressed by Andrews&#8217; performance in <em>TSOM<\/em> that he names her Best Actress of the Year in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>, where he refers to her as &#8220;single-handedly responsible for <em>TSOM<\/em> becoming the most profitable musical in history and winning 1965&#8217;s Best Picture Oscar&#8221;. He argues in <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em> that &#8220;she can sing about such things as &#8216;raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens&#8217; and make you want to sing along instead of throw up&#8221;; he points out that Andrews&#8217; Maria is refreshingly &#8220;brave&#8221;, not to mention &#8220;outspoken and defiant enough of authority figures to please the most rebellious of viewers&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll admit I find it somewhat difficult to assess the critical merits of <em>TSOM<\/em>, which was &#8212; along with <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3361\"><em>The Wizard of Oz<\/em> (1939)<\/a> &#8212; one of two &#8220;must-see&#8221; movies I happily rewatched on television each year when it aired. Viewing it again recently as an adult, I noticed myself instantly humming &#8220;the familiar Rodgers and Hammerstein songs&#8221;, which are indeed &#8220;cheery and childish and catchy&#8221;, and are for the most part, as Peary points out, &#8220;skillfully blended into the plot&#8221;. I also paid much more attention to the nuanced performance given by Eleanor Parker as Andrews&#8217; romantic rival: younger viewers may tend to reduce her presence to simply that of a stuffy villainess who must be vanquished in order to allow Plummer&#8217;s love for Andrews to fully blossom, but in truth she injects her role with an impressive level of nuance and pathos. Parker&#8217;s Baroness is a woman who &#8212; though wealthy and used to a life of privilege &#8212; instantly recognizes that her social cache and glamour hold no weight in the face of a &#8220;greater&#8221;, truer love. Watch her expression in each and every scene she&#8217;s in, noting how seamlessly Parker conveys this character&#8217;s complex emotional arc. Meanwhile, it was fun as an adult FF to finally recognize fey character actor Richard Haydn as her (subtly-coded-as-gay) companion. <\/p>\n<p>Of all the lead performances, Plummer&#8217;s remains least satisfying, though he&#8217;s certainly adequate in his portrayal of a once-stiff man who melts in the presence of Maria&#8217;s irresistible charms. I think Plummer&#8217;s notorious reluctance to take on the role &#8212; and his infamous disregard for the film years after its release &#8212; continues to sully my overall impression of his Captain von Trapp. However, Charmian Carr as his eldest daughter Liesl &#8212; who remains beloved worldwide by fans of the film &#8212; does a convincing job portraying a conflicted teen-in-love, and the rest of the child cast is fine as well. Meanwhile, the use of authentic Austrian\/German locales &#8212; including the iconic opening shots on verdant hillsides &#8212; helps to open up the play enormously; aided by cinematographer Ted McCord, director Robert Wise turns the entire affair into a wonderfully picturesque adventure. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Julie Andrews as Maria<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Andrews2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Andrews2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26095\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Andrews2.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Andrews2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Andrews2-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Eleanor Parker as the Baroness<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Parker.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Parker.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26093\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Parker.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Parker-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Parker-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Richard Haydn as Max<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Haydn.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Haydn.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26099\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Haydn.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Haydn-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Haydn-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Charmian Carr as Liesl<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Charmian.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Charmian.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26096\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Charmian.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Charmian-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Charmian-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Excellent use of authentic Austrian\/German settings<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location1.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location1-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location1-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26091\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location2.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Location2-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ted McCord&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Lighting.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Lighting.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26101\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Lighting.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Lighting-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-Lighting-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Rodgers&#8217; and Hammerstein&#8217;s immensely popular and hummable score<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-MFT.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-MFT.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26092\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-MFT.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-MFT-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-MFT-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-DRM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-DRM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26097\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-DRM.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-DRM-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-DRM-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-LGH.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-LGH.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-LGH.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-LGH-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-LGH-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-EW.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-EW.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26098\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-EW.png 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-EW-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Sound-of-Music-EW-300x168.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, of course. Haven&#8217;t you already, multiple times? <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0059742\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1965\/03\/03\/archives\/the-sound-of-music-opens-at-rivoli.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classicfilmguide.com\/indexd0a0.html\">Classic Film Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/index.php?page=review&#038;id=2480\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/reviews\/45976\/sound-of-music-45th-anniversary-edition-blu-ray-dvd-the\/\">DVD Talk Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1802musi.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/75054\/the_sound_of_music.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.&#8221; Synopsis: In 1930s Austria, a nun-in-training (Julie Andrews) is sent to work as a governess for the seven unruly children &#8212; Liesl (Charmian Carr), Louisa (Heather Menzies-Urich), Friedrich (Nicholas Hammond), Kurt (Duane Chase), Brigitta (Angela Cartwright), Marta (Debbie Turner), and Gretl (Kym Karath) &#8212; of a widowed and retired captain (Christopher Plummer) engaged to a baroness (Eleanor Parker). Soon Andrews and Captain Von Trapp (Plummer) find themselves falling in&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24471\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24471"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96034,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24471\/revisions\/96034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}