"Springtime for Hitler" Ain't the Only Show with Singing Nazis

Rating: 8/10 (27 March 2006)

"The Sound of Music" is easy to ridicule. It's sappy, corny and sentimental to the extreme. It hopelessly simplifies horrible world events, and makes it seem like all anyone needed to do to escape the iron fist of Hitler's regime was to schlep over some hills on a bright, sunny morning and say "hello" to Switzerland. But I'm still recommending this movie, because it is one of the most accomplished movie musicals ever made.
Robert Wise knew how to make a stage musical feel cinematic on the screen, as evidenced here and by his earlier "West Side Story." He could open up stage musicals so that they felt right at home on screen, and he was expert at using on-location photography to enhance material rather than highlight its limitations. In "Music," the Austrian scenery is dazzling, and nearly becomes a character in itself. And the music sounds great, though it's not one of Rodger's & Hammerstein's best scores (it falls well below "The King and I" and "Carousel.") Julie Andrews is perfect in the lead role; I can't imagine anyone else playing Maria. She had a knack for toning down overly-sentimental material until it almost became believable. And Eleanor Parker is the other stand out in the cast as the hilarious Baroness Schrader. My favorite moment comes when the family has burst into song for the umpteenth time and she leans over to Max (Richard Haydn) and whispers sarcastically, "Why didn't you tell me to bring along my harmonica?"
I forgive anyone who thinks this movie is just too gag-inducing to bear, but I still get some pleasure from popping it in every now and then.
Grade: A-