The Hills Are Still Alive

Rating: 10/10 (23 September 2002)

In the Oscar race for Best Picture of 1965 two of the year's biggest productions ran neck and neck to vie for the prized gold-plated statuette. In the end, both films won 5 Academy Awards but Robert Wise's family oriented songfest THE SOUND OF MUSIC triumphed over David Lean's somber Russian epic DOCTOR ZHIVAGO to pick up the top picture prize. The odds makers in Hollywood had predicted a certain win for MUSIC , and it did seem that the Hollywood establishment preferred the joyous strains of Maria Von Trapp's guitar to Yuri Zhivago's plaintive balalaika. There were some disgruntled movie fans who felt that the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical was an awfully lightweight choice for such a prestigious honor. Surely ZHIVAGO had more dramatic heft (granted the Trapp family had to deal with the Nazis but the song and dance element diminished the reality quotient). The only other serious contender for the year's best was John Schlesinger's contemporary British comedy of manners DARLING starring the stunning (Best Actress) Julie Christie as an amoral model living among the jet set. The less popular SHIP OF FOOLS ( a rather ugly soap opera aboard a cruise liner ) and A THOUSAND CLOWNS ( a cute, at times acerbic little comedy) were pretty much "also-rans" from the start. With the passage of nearly 40 years the reputations of both 1965's big Oscar winners have grown in stature. ZHIVAGO is the model of panoramic, epic storytelling ; as for THE SOUND OF MUSIC , it is by far the most technically proficient of all the Rodgers and Hammerstein film adaptations.
Veteran director Robert Wise is the genius behind the movie's success. Although the sticky sentimentality of the original Broadway show remains intact, Wise, along with his topflight crew of film technicians ( cinematographer Ted McCord, production designer Boris Levin and film editor William Reynolds ) truly make this a motion picture experience. The story of a rebellious novice who takes a temporary leave from convent life to care for the seven "incorrigible" children of a stern widower and army captain was perilously close to being a dusty museum piece on the stage.
Wise and company changed all that by making a movie that really moved, from the stunning overhead shots of the Austrian alps, lakes and countryside to the thrilling introduction of Maria as the TODD-AO camera in all its glory swoops down to meet the outstretched arms of the glorious Julie Andrews as she begins her unforgettable rendition of the title song . No other score of Rodgers and Hammerstein had the care and attention lavished on it as this one did. Irwin Kostal's orchestrations are sublime, perhaps the most beautiful ever heard in a movie musical ; it's one of those rare instances where the motion picture soundtrack outshines the original Broadway Cast album. THE SOUND OF MUSIC will always have its detractors. The plot creaks and the dialog doesn't run very deep. It's not MY FAIR LADY. But it is the work of a major film craftsman at the height of his powers , giving the audience a larger -than-life experience. They don't make them like this anymore. THE SOUND OF MUSIC is an enduring entertainment.