60 YEARS LATER AND WE STILL LOVE ‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC’
Sixty years ago in 2025, next month if some release date reporting is accurate, The Sound of Music bowed in U.S. theaters. On April first in 1965, we met Maria, the novice who was never to be a nun, and the seven children who stole her heart. As the first is fast approaching, it’s time to look at The Sound of Music 60 years later. Let’s take a closer look.
LIST | TEN OF THE REASONS WE STILL LOVE ‘MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS’
The film which featured Julie Andrews as Maria introduces us to a postulant who may have devotion to God but is also passionate and loves things that perhaps aren’t in line with the quieter and contemplative way a nun lives. After one too many “problems” that Mother Superior is unable to “solve,” she sends Maria out into the world to serve as governess for a family of seven where the strict and widowed father, Captain von Trapp (who Christopher Plummer plays) needs help in the daily care of those seven children. Into a strict and orderly household enters Maria, a woman who believes children should be able to laugh and play, she shakes things up much to the joy of the children but dismissal of their father, a man who runs the household like he might his subordinates.
60 YEARS LATER AND WE STILL LOVE ‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC.’ Celebrating the joyful cinematic production that is #TheSoundofMusic #JulieAndrews #Musical #GoodMovies Share on XIn time of course, as the film progresses, Maria has a profound impact on this von Trapp family and its household. The film is delightful and nostalgic, and sentimental, yes, but also joyful and honestly, this kind of joy in a film is more rare than common today. In celebrating it, we’re looking at some of the reasons why we still love this film, plus some reported trivia too.
WE STILL LOVE ‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC’ 60 YEARS LATER plus SOME TRIVIA, TOO!
THE ACTORS and CHARACTERS
Though I don’t think they really went on to star in much else, all the kids are good in this. I think they all deserve mention and are memorable in their respective roles as the von Trapp children. Julie Andrews is of course, wonderful in her role. Christopher Plummer plays “strict” well, but it’s been well documented that he didn’t like this role or film. Kind of tarnishes the nostalgia of films when actors share what they really think, doesn’t it?
THE HATE to LOVE
I know this film is not the invention of the hate-to-love or the loathing “banter,” but it does it well. Plummer and Andrews play it well. Trivia also reports that Plummer found Andrews annoying (saying she was too “Disney” yet through the years, reports do say they were friends). Trivia additionally reports that the scene when Maria and the Captain are fighting, and he refers to her as “Captain” was a mistake, but director Robert Wise thought it was good regardless and so he left it. I suspect there is more than one example where ad-libbing or “mistakes” end up being the best part of a show.
THE LOVE STORY
This goes to the same kind of places as the “hate to love” heading, but it’s also different because there is more emotion and impact to the characters and their story when it’s the love story rather than just the banter. Trivia reveals that though there is a kind of immediate love story between these two, in real life (and yes, this film is inspired by a real family and real marriage), Maria actually wanted to take her vows, but her great love for the children won out and it wasn’t until later that she came to love her husband “over the years.”
According to movie trivia, Julie Andrews also couldn’t help but laugh throughout filming the scene in the gazebo with Christopher Plummer. The reason was because of a sound a piece of tech equipment made while filming. This is, according to trivia, why the scene, after multiple takes, is shadowed. In the end, it all looked nice (and perhaps is even more swoony for it) to the viewer, so I’d call the scene a win!
Edelweiss…
– THe Sound of Music
Bless my homeland forever…
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
THE MUSIC
This is very much a kind of duh! mention, but there is criticism for some of the lyrics. I think the music is lovely and lively. Yes, like with everything about this film, there is some sentimentality in the music, but overall, it’s good. Made more so perhaps by the convincing performances.
THE NOSTALGIA
Put everything together and yes, we do have a kind of big warm hug of a movie that perhaps is syrupy and sentimental. It’s perhaps part of the reason why, while trivia can be fun, I actually recently decided that I don’t like obsessing over behind-the-scenes things. It often clouds or takes the shine “off” a favorite film, and whether the movies we love is right or wrong, I’m someone in the camp of feeling comfortable in liking what I like. Separating films from reality is easy for me to do as an adult, and while I do look at the cultureally, I also don’t expect life to be like a movie.
As a result, the nostalgia of a film like The Sound of Music still appeals to me. I also prefer to look at it like this, even if it is a golden hue, because the film I think deserves this.
What do you love about The Sound of Music 60 years later? Which things don’t we mention in this list? How many times have you watched this? Comment all of your thoughts below in the comments. Let’s talk.
If you want to watch the film, currently The Sound of Music is available to stream on Disney+ or Hulu; or purchase digitally on places like Prime Video
Photos: Alamy
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