The Sound of Music

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (COLOUR, 1965)

Director: 

Robert Wise

Cast: 

Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn, Peggy Wood, Charmain Carr, Heather Menzies-Urich, Nicholas Hammond, Duane Chase, Angela Cartwright, Debbie Turner, Kym Karath, Daniel Truhitte, Gilchrist Stuart, Ben Wright and Norma Varden

Ages: 

4 and up

Plot: 

Maria (Andrews) is a nun in 1930’s Austria, but unfortunately failing. The mother abbess (Wood) soon sends Maria on her way to become the governess to the seven children of widower and naval captain Georg Von Trapp (Plummer). Georg is going to marry a widow Baroness (Parker), to Maria's disappointment as she herself has fallen in love with the captain. At the same time, the oldest daughter (Carr) falls in love with a young postman Rolfe (Truhitte), who visits her secretly whenever he can. Georg is an Austrian and is happy to be one, but Rolfe is a Nazi. When Maria fills the family with singing, laughter and joy, Max Detweiler (Haydn) thinks he has found the perfect troupe for his music festival.

The two-disc special edition of the film  

Why it’s good: 

Because it is tuneful and also because I remembered watching this in class during music lesson.

I later found the DVD among the old racks of videos on the shelves in my house. The DVD was faulty, but it didn’t matter and the film became a staple in our movie diet. We watched this for  many weeks before retiring the film. After we did, we would watch it occasionally when there was nothing else to watch.

The songs are well-known; well-known enough it appeared in piano examinations and a commercial advertising Cold Storage Supermarket. The evergreen songs include ‘Edelweiss’, ‘My Favourite things’, ‘Do-Re-Mi’, ‘I Have Confidence’, ‘Maria’, 'Climb Every Mountain' and the title song, ‘The Sound of Music’.

Other than the songs, watch this movie for the beautiful scenery with hills, mountains and churches.  For older children, use the movie to tell them about World War II. Although there are no war scenes, war is brewing in the background,  and Georg Von Trapp shows his children (and the audience) how patriotic he is and how much he loves his country when he sings 'Edelweiss'.

Parent’s guide: 

It is a G-rated motion picture, though there are several Nazis like Herr Zeller (Ben Wright) and Rolfe (Daniel Truhitte), who, at one point, points his gun at a character. There are some alcoholic beverages in the party scene.

Trivia: 

The film was to be directed by William Wyler, who toyed around the script and scouted locations, but was replaced by Robert Wise.

If you like this…: 

Director Robert Wise also directed "The Curse of the Cat People" (1944) and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951). If you can find any other Rodger and Hammerstein musicals, get them - they're an ace team.  Rodger composed the music while Hammerstein wrote the lyrics. See the Musicals chapter for more musical delights.                       

Gigi

GIGI (COLOUR, 1958)

Director: 

Vicente Minnelli

Cast: 

Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor, Isabel Jeans and John Abbott

Ages: 

7 and up

Plot: 

Gigi (Caron) is a tomboy in 1900 Paris. Her grandmother (Gingold), though, wants her to be a lady and marry a wealthy man, so she sends Gigi to her sister (Jeans) to learn to be a courtesan. However, Gigi is already in love with playboy Gaston (Jourdan), whose uncle, Honore (Chevalier) had an affair with Gigi’s aunt way back. However, Gaston has a girl named Liane d'Exelmans (Gabor).  Will Gaston fall for Gigi?

Why it’s good: 

Maybe the plot is dated; no one now wants to raise girls just so that they can marry rich men. But the songs are nice, maybe provocative and sometimes even catchy and addictive.

This is considered Maurice Chevalier’s best film in his post-war years, after making Ernst Lubitsch comedy-musicals two decades before for swanky Paramount Pictures. The lyrics for Frederick Loewe’s music are written by Alan Jay Lerner. The Broadway play, originally written by Collette, is also quite good (with Audrey Hepburn as Gigi).

Leslie Caron’s Gigi is a strong personality, especially when she embarrasses Gaston.

Parent’s guide: 

There are scenes of drinking; one song is called "The Night We Invented Champagne".

Trivia: 

This film ended up winning nine Oscars, including one for Best Picture. The day after, MGM telephone operators were given the order to answer all phone calls with "M-Gigi-M".

If you like this…: 
Leslie Caron’s other good MGM musical, "An American in Paris" (1951), set in the same location four or five decades later.   

On the Town

ON THE TOWN (COLOUR, 1949)

Director: 

Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen

Cast: 

Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Ann Miller, Betty Garrett, Jules Munshin, Vera-Ellen, Alice Faye and Judy Holliday

Ages: 

4 and up

Plot: 

The navy has just arrived in New York for a shore-day. Out of the boat comes Chip (Sinatra), Gabey (Kelly) and Ozzie (Munshin), good friends and fellow sailors. Chip falls for taxi driver Hildy Esterhazy (Garrett) while Ozzie meets a lady scientist (Miller) in a museum, where the two fall in love. Gabey meets the "Ms Turnstiles of June", Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen) and they immediately fall in love. Gabey later learns she is only a dancer rather than a celebrity.    

From left: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin.      

Why it’s good: 

This is one of MGM's musicals which is quite excellent.

This one centres on the romance between sailors and New York women. A bit of parental guidance required, so you better your over young children who’ll see lots of kissing between the characters.

The film also has a wealth of extremely good songs, like "New York, New York" and the dances where Ivy Smith dresses as an athlete and the rest of the Ann Miller stuff, which you would know if you had seen her films before.

Parent’s guide: 

Quite a lot of kissing for a musical made by MGM.

Trivia: 

In the part where Gabey dismisses a New York girl, Frank Sinatra makes a reference to actress Ava Gardner. Ava Gardner turns out later to be Frank Sinatra’s wife.

If you like this…: 

This movie is similar to another Frank Sinatra-Gene Kelly musical, "Anchors Aweigh" (1945). It is too similar, in fact, it is another navy film, this time set in San Francisco.

Singin' in the Rain

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (Colour, 1952)

Directors:

Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen

Cast:

Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Cyd Charrise and Rita Moreno

Ages:

4 and up  

Plot:

Don Lockwood (Kelly) has made many silent films with screechy-voiced actress Lina Larmont (Hagen). He is a long-time of the piano player Cosmo (O’Connor) who is appointed the head of the music department in the advent of talkies. Also caught in this whirlpool is Don’s love interest, Kathy (Reynolds), who is asked to dub Lina’s voice in a talkie.

From right: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor in the musical number Good Morning.

Why it’s good:

This is practically a child’s first musical. The songs are yippy and cheery, while there is a whole lot of funny worldview.

Gene Kelly’s Don is a ham as he says to Kathy. And he really is, even though you might not think so. Donald O’Connor is a clown even a toddler can comprehend as a cheeky little guy.

Kathy is a sweet little girl who is just there as a distant love object, nothing else besides singing and dancing.

Many of these light-hearted songs in this musical charmed my sisters. Hagen as Lina does not sing at all, at least horribly. Gene Kelly does most of it, singing the song of the title with much ease and would be copied by your child.

O’Connor cheekily does numbers like the wonderful ‘Make em’ laugh’, which was watched by my sisters more than twenty times, sometimes without me.

Musicals like these from MGM are delicious and wonderful, and you really have to watch it. Toddlers will like it. You would love it too.

Parent’s guide:

None at all. Some of the dance reflect the jazz era’s lifestyle. That includes the Charleston dance recommended by O’Connor for the new picture.

Trivia:

Gene Kelly was suffering from a fever during filming.

If you like this…:

Check out the Musicals section. Best bets from MGM include "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944) and "On the Town" (1949). For more Gene Kelly, go to "The Pirate", "On the Town", "An American in Paris" and "It’s Always Fair Weather".