The Sights & Sounds of The Sound Of Music

Rating: 10/10 (6 August 2015)

*** This review may contain spoilers ***
A few days ago I was thinking,"What BEst Picutre winner should I choose for a review?" Many to choose from of course
The answer came to me Sunday,the day after Christmas 2010. NBC replayed this wonderful film and I watched it, since it had been a few years since seeing it.
I recall on The Oprah Winfrey Show ,she had Julie Andrews,Christopher Plummer and all 7 of the,now grown,child actors who played the Von Trapp children. It was the first time they'd all been together in one place since 1965 and it was a very touching reunion.
Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s,The Sound Of Music was on TV every year and when you're a kid,it usually is the first "Best Picture" Oscar winner that you ever see in your life. When you see it the first time,the moment you see Andrews in the hills and that sweeping camera shot,you know it's going to be something great.
Like a lot kids,it was only natural I'd like songs like "Do-Re-Mi","My Favorite Things,"So Long,Farewell" and "The Lonely Goatherd"(or "The Yodeling Song" as some call it) and more. I liked "Edelweiss" and "Climb Every Mountain" when I was older. It was on every year in our house.
Julie Andrews' singing voice is no longer of this caliber but it's great that we have her in this and "Mary Poppins" and other movies,where we can marvel at her vocal abilities back then. Plummer turns in a somewhat serious but enjoyable performance. Going from stern and inflexible,then back to the father the children knew when their mother was alive,fair and loving and (of course) singing.
Every kid has their own memorable moments as well The family's togetherness and fun is disrupted by the infiltration of the wretched Nazi party. They know they have to escape their own country now or live under the rule of a cruel & heartless dictatorship.
That leads to the most exciting part of the movie. The clever departure after the concert,chase through the city and eventual escape over the mountains.
The Sound Of Music,as we know,was a phenomenal success when it was released in March of 1965. It deservedly won for Best Picture and it's other categories.
That success came about because it's simply a movie that the whole family and even those without families can enjoy. Which is why it's still so highly acclaimed even 45 years later.
Lastly,because the people behind the scenes,as well as Andrews & Plummer themselves,made sure the film had an equal balance of fun and that of the serious as well. A job and movie,well done! Ten stars,for all time.
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