The Sound of Music (1965)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Howard Lindsay (book) &
Russel Crouse (book) ...

Release Date:

29 March 1965 (UK)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Family | Musical

Tagline:

...the more you see it, the more it becomes one of your favorite things!

Plot:

A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to a Naval officer widower.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Governess | Austria | Convent | Nun

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Julie Andrews	...	Maria
Christopher Plummer	...	Captain Von Trapp
Eleanor Parker	...	The Baroness
Richard Haydn	...	Max Detweiler
Peggy Wood	...	Mother Abbess
Charmian Carr	...	Liesl
Heather Menzies	...	Louisa
Nicholas Hammond	...	Friedrich
Duane Chase	...	Kurt
Angela Cartwright	...	Brigitta
Debbie Turner	...	Marta
Kym Karath	...	Gretl
Anna Lee	...	Sister Margaretta
Portia Nelson	...	Sister Berthe
Ben Wright	...	Herr Zeller

Also Known As:

Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

174 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (Westrex Recording System) (35 mm prints) | Stereo (some 35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Iceland:L | Ireland:G | Spain:T | Germany:6 | West Germany:6 | Malaysia:U (DVD) | USA:Approved (certificate #20734) (original rating) | Canada:G (video rating) | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Norway:7 (original rating) | Norway:A (DVD rating) | Peru:PT | Singapore:G | South Korea:All | Sweden:11 | Sweden:Btl (re-release) | UK:U | USA:G (re-rating) (1969)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Robert Wise Productions

Trivia:

The Ländler dance that Maria and the Captain shared was not performed the traditional way it is done in Austria.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the thunder storm, when Liesl supposedly climbs up to Maria's room, we see her outside, running over to the window. She then tells Maria she climbed up. She could have climbed up elsewhere and made her way along a ledge, but when we look outside there's no evidence of a ledge wide enough to facilitate her running.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Maria: [singing] The hills are alive with the sound of music / With songs they have sung for a thousand years. / The hills fill my heart with the sound of music. / My heart wants to sing every song it hears.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "QI: Film (#6.11)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Do-Re-Mi

It just gains more and more fans every year

"The Happiest sound in all the world"? Quite possibly and easily the most famous musical film in Hollywood history. Most of us grown-ups still love it but at the same time we're also tired of seeing it over and over again (maybe that's why it's not rerun on NBC every single year anymore). Julie Andrews takes her MARY POPPINS success and adds even more to it with her delightful rendition of the role that Mary Martin originated on the Broadway stage in 1959 and ran even farther with it than Martin ever could. In my opinion, and I don't think I'm alone here, Martin was too old for the part (she was in her mid to late 40s in the stage version and Andrews was 30 when the transition came to film came around--a perfect age). As for the rest of the cast, it is just as talented: Christopher Plummer in the role he will be forever remembered for (even though he hated the part) is an achingly true Cap. Von Trapp with those "hidden talents" making subtle appearances throughout the film until blatantly bursting out into the open in the film's closing scenes; Richard Haydn makes for a comical and yet sincere "Uncle" Max, Peggy Wood is a starchy yet compassionate Reverand Mother and Charmian Carr as Liesl stands out as our perrenial favorite of the seven children. The locales are breathtaking as well (esp. the opening scenes which is probably the most beautiful aerial shot in all of film history and the cunning floral designs of the public Austrian gardens during the DO-RE-MI sequence). So let's all keep watching this most cherished of all musical films each year and never forget it's universal sentiment: to 'climb ev'ry mountain, ford ev'ry stream, follow ev'ry rainbow till you find your dream'.