Sound of Music-45th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray) (1965)

Editor's Note Shot in Salzburg against the majestic Bavarian Alps, THE SOUND OF MUSIC is considered one of the greatest screen musicals ever made. Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Wise), the film, based on a real family and their true events, tells the story of a young postulate, Maria (Julie Andrews), who, after proving too high-spirited for the Mother Abess and other nuns, is sent off to work as a governess to seven unruly children. The Von Trapp family is run, in military style, by the seemingly cold-hearted Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), a lonely widowed naval officer. Seeing how badly he and his children need companionship, he proposes to the Baroness Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), a calculating, mutual friend of beloved family friend Max Detweiler (Richard Haydn). It is the baroness who soon realizes that it's Maria--with her warmth and love for the children--the captain really loves. It is nearly bliss for the newly formed family who loves to sing together--except for the cloud looming over their beloved Austrian horizon: Hitler is ascending to power, forcing Von Trapp to decide whether to join the Nazi party--which he loathes--or force his family to leave their home forever. One of the most memorable scores ever written (by Rodgers and Hammerstein) and breathtaking performances by Andrews, Plummer, and the seven children mark this classic as one of the world's most favorite films.

	Peggy Wood
	Richard Haydn
	Heather Menzies
	Angela Cartwright
	Eleanor Parker
	Nicholas Hammond
	Norma Varden
	Christopher Plummer
	Ben Wright
	Julie Andrews
	Dorothy Jeakins - Costume Designer
	William H. Reynolds - Editor
	Ernest Lehman - Writer
	L. B. Abbott - Special Effects
	Walter M. Scott - Set Designer
	Robert Wise - Producer
	Ted McCord - Cinematographer
	Emil Jr. Kosa - Special Effects
	Boris Leven - Producer
	Richard Rodgers - Composer
	Irwin Kostal - Composer
	Saul Chaplin - Associate Producer
	Dee Dee Wood - Choreographer
	Robert Wise - Director

This classic musical set amid the splendor of Austria's Alps chronicles a young governess's budding romance with her employer and the family's daring flight from Nazi rule. Academy Award Nominations: 10, including Best Actress--Julie Andrews. Academy Awards: 5, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best (Adapted) Score, Best Editing.

"Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens...these are a few of my favorite things."----Maria (Julie Andrews), singing to the children

"Do, a deer, a female deer. Ray, a drop of golden sun. Me, a name I call myself. Fa, a long, long way to run."----Maria and the children, learning to sing together

"Edelweiss, Edelweiss, every morning you greet me. Soft and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me."----Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), singing to the children (a song now used as the Austrian National Anthem)

Entertainment Weekly
"...Beloved..." -- Rating: A 01/20/1995 p.61

Entertainment Weekly
"...Great, gaudy entertainment..." 09/08/2000 p.62

Total Film
"[I]t's wonderful....Julie Andrews is irresistible..." 02/01/2004 p.120

Premiere
4 stars out of 4 -- "[T]he collaboration takes on a serious edge, making it one of the precious few old-school musicals in which the action doesn't grind to a screeching halt every time a song starts." 12/01/2005 p.184

Empire
5 stars out of 5 -- "Julie Andrews' 1965 heroine is hard to beat...combining innocent enthusiasm with comic timing and a soaring soprano voice." 10/01/2007 p.58