“The Sound of Music” is a satisfying biographical drama that was made in 1965 to an amenable worldwide audience, the exception being New York. Director Robert Wise, authors Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse and Maria Augusta Trapp, have gone a long way in making this film a theatrical success. Music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II has completed the formula for a musical triumph too. The characters come alive with Julie Andrews as Maria, Christopher Plummer as the ex-naval officer, Eleanor Parker playing the Baroness and Peggy Wood as Mother Superior, Abbess.
With her clumsiness and naughtiness, Maria is a hopeless failure as a nun. So, when a letter arrives from Captain Von Trapp asking for a governess for his seven equally mischievous children, Mother Abbess and the other nuns thankfully send Maria away on the job. Von Trapp is a widower, engaged to a Baroness. Initially, the children rebel against Maria, assuming that she too was like all the other governesses that their father had hired for them earlier. Ultimately, they develop a fondness and affection towards her and accept her as one of them. Their gambols through the lush green hillside to melodious tunes are appealing ear- candy. One of the best parts of the movie is the pleasing puppet show put up by Maria and the kids, amidst hilarious hiccups and glitches that turns out jus right in the end. With Maria, music finally becomes an integral part of the Von Trapp family that once used to be run like the Captain’s ships.
This cheery film has earned five Oscars, another nine awards, including some for its delightful notes and ten nominations. Long after you have seen the movie, “The Sound of Music” echoes in your ears, flooding your heart with sweet warmth.