Picture 38: The Sound of Music (1965)

One smash hit musical follows another as 1965 brings us The Sound of Music. Julie Andrews didn’t get the role for My Fair Lady but can she make the most of this golden opportunity to join the history books?

We visit Austria in 1938. It is the eve of the Anschluss but this is far from the mind as we join free-spirited Maria (Julie Andrews) running and singing around the Salzburg Slate Alps (“Prelude/ The Sound of Music”). Maria is meant to be studying to be a nun but her discipline is questionable. Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) decides that a sabbatical is the best option.

Maria is sent to the villa of Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) to be the governess for his seven children. Will she survive a summer with seven mischievous kids and their father who is a stickler for militaristic discipline? Can music in the end prove to be healer, uniter and saviour?

A heart-warming journey follows. This film is gripping, entertaining and musically of the highest level. It delves deep into the human spirit and lifts it up in a way that is rare for any art form. The looming threat of the Nazis accentuates the film’s power further.

This is not sentimental treacle but one of the best. Don’t worry about My Fair Lady Julie, this one was for all time.  

Rating: 10/10

Reflections:

1.     Don’t focus on a closed door – another will open in time.

2.    Don’t take peacetime for granted.

Oscar Best Picture Rankings:

1. Casablanca (1943)

2. The Apartment (1960)

3. Rebecca (1940)

4. The Sound of Music (1965)

5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

6. Ben-Hur (1959)

7. Lost Weekend (1945)

8. All About Eve (1950)

9. Hamlet (1948)

10. How Green Was My Valley (1941)

11. Gone With the Wind (1939)

12. West Side Story (1961)

13. Mrs. Miniver (1942)

14. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

15. Wings (1928)

16. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

17. You can’t take it with you (1938)

18. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

19. On the Waterfront (1954)

20. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

21. Marty (1955)

22. Cimarron (1931)

23. Grand Hotel (1932)

24. An American in Paris (1951)

25. From Here to Eternity (1953)

26. It Happened One Night (1934)

27. My Fair Lady (1964)

28. Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

29. Cavalcade (1933)

30. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

31. Going My Way (1944)

32. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

33. All the King’s Men (1949)

34. Gigi (1958)

35. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

36. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

37. The Broadway Melody (1929)

38. Tom Jones (1963)

Previous or current ranking leaders are in bold.

With credit and thanks to the patrons of the Best Picture Film Club:

Dr Sophie Bloomfield

Dr Caspar Briault

Dr Kate Diomede

Dr Fionnuala Durrant

Dr Hannah Morrison

Dr Meera Radia