is it just me, or does Julie Andrews look sexy in an apron?

Rating: Null/10 (11 April 2009)

This is one of my favorite movies of all time, which is strange, because as a rule I avoid musicals. Happy, peppy people singing and dancing and clicking their heels with joy--give me a break! However, there are exceptions. I must be the only straight man with both this movie and "The Wizard of Oz" in his video library. There is a reason: Julie Andrews. She had that knack (rare these days) of being sexy in a wholesome way. "The Sound of Music" plays like an English-language version of the popular German/Swiss/Austrian genre the "Heimatfilm" (homeland film), generally wholesome family dramas set in the Alpine region full of blond, blue-eyed Frauleins, lonely goatherds, and lots of yodeling. Since Salzburg is the home town of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, it seems more plausible for people to spontaneously break into song and dance here than it does in a New York ghetto ("West Side Story") or an oppressed Jewish village in czarist Russia ("Fiddler on the Roof.") There are dark clouds on the horizon, however, and as the Anschluss approaches, Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) of the defunct Austrian Navy (Austria is landlocked now, but until World War I their empire included coastal regions of Italy and Croatia) must decide where to take his stand. He makes his sentiments clear by ripping in half a Swastika flag and flees with his family. This is an immensely enjoyable film filled with beautiful music and great choreography. It's corny, sappy, and shamefully manipulative--but what's wrong with that?