"How do you solve a problem like Maria"?

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2011)

When I was a kid, maybe ten or eleven years old, I was tapped to be a stagehand in an amateur teen production of "The Sound of Music". This would have been a few years before the movie came out. It was a cool gig, getting to hang out with and watch the older kids. My main job was to help raise and lower the stage curtain, too much for somebody my size so I was teamed up with someone else. There was even a bit part for me in the play in some dance scene where I had to actually touch some yucky girl. I'm glad I outgrew that foolish tendency.
That was when I was first introduced to the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, and it didn't take long to learn the words to now popular standards like Do Re Mi, Favorite Things and Edelweiss, not to mention the title song. Curiously, I was never moved to watch the film version of "The Sound of Music" until recently. My loss, as this is a wonderful family film for all ages, even if part of it it deals with the largely unspoken terror of Nazi occupation in Austria. That theme is jarringly brought home with the first utterance of 'Heil Hitler' by the bureaucratic Herr Zeller, and sets the backdrop for the film's finale as the Von Trapp family flees their homeland.
For all of that, the film serves quite well as an entertaining musical, with elements of comedy mixed in as student nun Maria (Julie Andrews) becomes governess for a widower naval captain (Christopher Plummer) with seven children. By dint of common sense and humility, Maria gains the respect and love of the entire family, eventually falling in love herself, with a man she probably would not have sought out under normal circumstances. In a touching scene, the Reverend Mother helps Maria sort out her conflicted feelings and return to the Von Trapp household. For my part, I thought the Baroness Schraeder (Eleanor Parker) was way too gracious in her understanding of the Captain's true feelings, and in her case, discretion was truly the better part of valor.
Fans of movie musicals will certainly find "The Sound of Music" at or near the top of their favorite films list. Filling it's nearly three hour run time are a host of wonderful songs, many to my surprise which were done more than once. I predict you'll come away from the picture singing or humming your own particular favorite, as the film has a way of working that kind of magic as it tells it's timeless story.