My second movie pick for Thanksgiving is "The Sound of Music." If you haven't seen this classic, I'll put it plainly, you've really been missing out. This 1965 musical is one of my all time favorites! "The Sound of Music" is the film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway production of the same name. Sadly, the stage show was the last musical collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Hammerstein would die in 1960, five years before the release of this amazing film adaptation.
Produced by 20th Century Fox and directed by Robert Wise, this film highlights the importance of friendship and family, and of course music, in good times and in bad. While the plot involves a very heavy subject, Germany's occupation of Austria immediately before the start of WWII (mostly towards the end of the movie), the frequent outburst of song keep the mood light (the mood at the end is much more somber).
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| The children of the Von Trapp family |
"The Sound of Music" follows the Austrian Von Trapp family and the governess (nanny) hired to take care of the Von Trapp children. The head of the Von Trapp family is Captain Georg (not spelled or pronounced George) Von Trapp, a retired navy captain whose wife has died (not shown in the movie) and left him to care for seven children. The children are very well behaved with their father, as a captain's orders are not to be taken lightly. However, you know the story, once they are out of his sight and under the care of a governess, they prove too much for one person to handle. Now, this is where the whole movie basically begins. Enter Maria. Maria is a care-free just plain happy nun, who is given instructions to live with the Von Trapp family as the new governess to the children (a few of the last ones haven't worked out so well). Upon arriving at the very lavish home of the Von Trapp family, Maria encounters the quite serious Captain Von Trapp and his whistle (which he uses to signal for his children and others now and then). The confident Maria lets him know early on that answering to a "dog whistle" isn't for her. After being introduced to the children, Maria quickly learns that she is going to have to find some way for them to become friends. Naturally, music is the answer. Maria's talks with the children reveal how much they love their father, but how distant he is from them. Maria sets out to fix this problem as well. By fixing the problem though, she creates another situation for herself. Captain Von Trapp has a girlfriend (who the children don't like), and Maria is starting to fall in love with him (don't forget she's still a nun). I'll leave it at that! This is too good of a movie to spoil.
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| An estonished Maria and Captain Von Trapp with his infamous whistle |
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| The main cast singing away |
Here are two clips from the movie that I especially love. The first clip is from a puppet show the kids put on with Maria. The second is of Captain Von Trapp singing Edelweiss after a request from Maria and the children. (In case you are wondering who the other characters are, the woman in pink is Georg's girlfriend and the other man is Uncle Max, Georg's friend.) :
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