Rich and gooey, Sticky and sugary sweet, but unavoidable.

Rating: 7/10 (21 October 2013)

I come here to review "The Sound of Music", not to praise it. Yes, like the billions of other fans, I have seen this so many times I pretty much know it by heart. Like "The Wizard of Oz", I have seen it both on television and the big screen, and have decided that for at least the next 10 years, I am leaving it alone. Still, one cannot forget about it, no matter how hard one tries. With sing-along showings of it at the Hollywood Bowl, constant dredging up at piano bars and the many spoofs it has received, "The Sound of Music" has not died in my heart, just become momentarily dormant.
I actually prefer the stage version (a 1995 revival) to the movie, as it was not overloaded with helicopter covered shots of the Alps or constant liederhosen clad kids, and basically stuck to the flour of the story rather than the frosting. Yet, there is something unshakable of Julie Andrews in her second big "Nanny" film as Maria Rainer Von Trapp, the former postulate who ends up marrying her employer and helps him escape from the Nazis.
In the first dozen times I saw this, I of course was overwhelmed by the helicopter shot of the Alps that eventually closes in on Julie twirling around the mountainside. What I did miss was the opening verse of the title song, sung so simply by Mary Martin in the 1959 original and Rebecca Luker decades later. The opening is equivalent to that of director Robert Wise's other big movie musical, "West Side Story", even if the locations and mood are as far from each other as they can get. When the nuns sing of their issues with Maria (which includes a future "General Hospital" legend, Anna Lee, as well as movie musical dubber Marni Nixon), I am in delight, because like those nuns, I too am conflicted by her. So how will she deal with the seven bratty children of Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) and his whistle blowing and his baroness fiancée (a cynical Eleanor Parker)?
This sweet set-up, though, has serious overtones as World War II is blooming as much as the edelweiss, and after Maria and the Captain fall in love, the world changes from teaching the kids the notes to sing to finding a way to get out a country that while beautiful on the outside is in danger of becoming ugly on the inside. This changes the second half of the film (as it did the play) from a learning experience for all of these characters to a survival lesson where they must struggle to "Climb Every Mountain".
Somewhat overproduced and certainly extremely long, it is still a crowd- pleaser that I can't recommend highly enough. Yes, my rating is not a "10", but that's from possibly too many viewings, sometimes too soon. Everybody shines in the film, although in a few particular moments, Plummer's phrasing and delivery of his dialog seems a bit awkward. It's nice to see Richard Haydn playing a character not as annoying as those he did in "The Late George Apley" and "Sitting Pretty"; He's obviously an opportunist and not afraid to admit it, yet in a few spots, shows definite heroism. Parker gets some great bitchy lines to deliver and adds some needed salt into the sugary proceedings.
The heart and soul of the film, though, is Peggy Wood's Mother Superior, the equivalent in Rodgers and Hammerstein's cavalcade to "Oklahoma's" Aunt Eller, "Carousel's" Nettie, "South Pacific's" Bloody Mary and "The King and I's" Madame Thiang. She's not without some imperfections, and when she barrels out her line, "Are you in love with him?", it seems as if she's looking for a good piece of gossip. But when Anna Lee and Portia Nelson (later "All My Children's" long-time baby sitter Mrs. Gurney) admit they have sinned, her reaction is priceless and a proper send-off. "Family Guy" crudely spoofed this scene years later.
As for Julie Andrews, how can you not like her? She didn't get to repeat her Broadway roles at all, but fortunately 20th Century Fox got her for this, and I must say, her Maria is certainly more appealing as a Nanny than her Mary Poppins. It's obvious that she loves these children, is humble and far from the other worldly creature of the role for which she had just won an Oscar.