Today marks the 50th anniversary of the film version of The Sound of Music, one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most beloved stage plays and certainly one of the most successful film adaptations of any musical. The role confirmed Julie Andrews' star power in the wake of Mary Poppins and gave Christopher Plummer's film career a kick as well, taking him from the television to blockbuster motion picture (although we ourselves are fans of the cult classic Wind Across The Everglades as well).
Few musicals have also turned out as many recognizable songs as The Sound of Music so a great portion of our readership will be offended when we rank a mere Top 5 from the film. Don't worry however: We'll be sure to handle the even more important subject, which is why your favorite musical segment didn't make our countdown.
05) "My Favorite Things"
One of the most problematic issues with a good deal of the songs featured in The Sound of Music is that they border on—nay, all out dive into—saccharine subject matter, without necessarily lending anything to the themes. We understand that Maria is somewhat childlike at heart, and numbers such as "The Lonely Goatherd" fill in roles such as performances from the children for Baron von Trapp, but surely it could have tied more into the overarching themes of the entire production. "My Favorite Things" is one of the most popular tunes to come from the Hammerstein repertoire and the melody is so sweet as to make it difficult to hate, no matter how gooey lyrics of mittens and kittens are.
04) "Maria"
Typically, your correspondent isn't necessarily a fan of the musical genre of theatre due to one of its major issues: exposition (also an issue in any production, not just those that are almost 100 percent comprised of lyrics). The Sound of Music requires just as much exposition as any: What is a character such as Maria Kutschera doing in an Abbey to begin with? Rodgers and Hammerstein handle the inevitable questions deftly, by having the nuns at said abbey clarify to the viewer that they're just as confused as we are. We learn the basic architecture of Maria's character, from her shenanigans to the innocence behind them. Hammerstein puts the paradigm more poetically with the line "how do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?"
03) "The Sound of Music"
Perhaps the image that most associate with The Sound of Music is Julie Andrews running through the hills of Austria during the true opening of the film, singing the title track (a wise choice by Disney to open with the theme, rather than with the "Preludium" sung by the nuns in the original Broadway version). Although we appreciate any opportunity to enjoy Andrews sing by herself, we enjoy the reprise that comes later in the film, where Maria is joined by the Captain and the children, performing a wonderful harmonized version of the track.
02) "Do-Re-Mi"
We wrangled with this classic sing-along more during the formation of this list more than perhaps any other track your correspondent has ever analyzed. Our initial reaction was to simply cast it to the back of the lot, recalling in horror the countless times it was sung during elementary school music classes. That recollection made us reconsider however: Isn't it incredible that Rodgers and Hammerstein set about writing a song about a governess teaching a group of children how to sing...and now that song is one of the key components of music education (at least in totally amateur classes such as the non-art-based academy's your correspondent attended). And, as with most of the Top 40 music that we now hate, isn't the reason I despise "Do-Re-Mi" so much based on how easily it becomes lodged in the listener's brain. In other words, a great musical number?
01) "How Can Love Survive?"
SLEEPER PICK: Having watched quite a few original Hallmark films during the holiday season, the most common cliché among them was mismatched couples, one of whom was a great human being who realized that their boyfriend/fiancé was a boar/brat and ended up dumping them by the end of the film for the perfect man/woman. The Sound of Music has the decency to at least make the spurned lover a decent human being: Elsa von Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), a wealthy baroness betrothed to the Captain, like many a musical character before her, must deal with the fact that her man has now fallen for the more idyllic governess. The audience at least gets the satisfaction of knowing that she may hook up with von Trapp's pal Max Detweiler (Richard Haydn), as the pair celebrate with "How Can Love Survive?". How did such a gem get so lost in the mix? Everyone knows "Do-Re-Mi" and "My Favorite Things" and a host of the other songs featured in the musical, whereas only the more hardcore fans can even remember this number. Heck, we'd be willing to bet you had forgotten the characters of Elsa and Max unless you've watched the film in the last year. Let's turn the tides and make "How Can Love Survive?" the classic it deserves to be!
WHY YOUR FAVORITE SONG DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT:
"Sixteen Going On Seventeen"
Is it catchy? It sure is. Is it sexist? You bet it is. All I know is if I were to tell you that The Song of The South was my favorite Disney film, I'd be accused of racism. So we're not going to rank highly any Disney track that actively promotes keeping women in the home, especially when it's sung in part by a character that would be an unapologetic Nazi in less than two hours.
"Edelweiss"
We suggested earlier that some of the tunes in The Sound of Music walked a fine line between being sweet melodies, and being overly sweet. "Edelweiss" is kind of the required power ballad from every '80s hair metal album...pop gold and all, but doesn't necessarily age that well. "Edelweiss" is not a great, at least in context, as "My Favorite Things" is. It seemed Rodgers and Hammerstein really felt the need to give the Captain a solitary moment with an acoustic guitar. Somewhat a deeper version of Your College Roommate: The Musical.
"Climb Ev'ry Mountain"
One of the few complaints about Lady Gaga's Sound of Music medley at the Academy Awards came from haters such as Shonda Rimes, who noted that it was a disgrace Gaga was singing when Andrews herself was in attendance. One problem, at least for the showcase of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain": Andrews didn't sing it during the film-the Mother Abbess did. We'd argue that the pop star's modern take was in fact much better than the original...it's a song that almost requires a diva-esque performance to succeed.
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