Still entertaining and a little bit moving

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2009)

I did not see The Sound of Music until maybe 15 years after its initial release. For some reason, my mother and father did not feel I should see the film. Did my parents think it too long and too slow for someone my age (nine years in 1965)? Did they consider the story and the film's style more suitable to girls and women than to boys and men? Did they fear that a situation or two might upset me? Maybe my parents recognized that while the movie did not include any scene truly scandalous or controversial, they did not think the subject matter would interest me.
Whatever their thinking, I recall that this movie that I was discouraged from seeing had apparently created something of a craze across the nation. I remember clearly that in the town where I grew up elementary school teachers, during the 45 minutes devoted 3 times a week to chorus, led their students in singing songs from the Sound of Music's soundtrack, just as high school music instructors included elements of The Sound of Music in the annual On-Broadway production that 17 and 18 year-olds performed for any and all members of the community to attend.
Julie Andrews, herself, had an impact on me, as she did on many other people, who seemed rather enamored of her. In addition to her cute looks, she projected a wholesomeness and innocence -- qualities embodied, not coincidentally, by both her Mary Poppins and Sister Maria characters -- which caused audiences to treat her more as a role model than as a movie star.
Because of its powerful theme song and various other catchy tunes, awe inspiring cinematography, fine acting and an inoffensive script, light humor, and plot involving a significant historical event, The Sound of Music can give the impression of having been made during an earlier era. Despite all the straight-laced characters, however, The Sound of Music may have reflected the culture of the 1960's more than viewers realize.
Sister Maria may not behave like a rebel, but she does show herself to be an individual, who recognizes her inner conflict and comes to realize that a life of devotion to God and many hours in meditation within the confines of a convent don't suit her. More notably, her mother superior, rather than reproach Sister Maria for feeling pulled by both the natural and human activity beyond the walls of the convent, encourages Sister Maria to heed her inner voice and to pursue the interests that fulfill her, even if that means forsaking a higher calling.