Entertainment To Me!

The other evening, while I was in the kitchen washing dishes, I suddenly heard a wonderful sound–the overture to one Rodgers & Hammerstein’s all time greatest achievements-The Sound of Music !
When I came rushing into the bedroom, my husband laughed at my humming along with the entire thing–but how could I not? I have the entire movie, songs & all, memorized.

Growing up in a musical family, we were taught early on to love the greats–My Fair Lady , Hello Dolly , Strike Up The Band , Singing in The Rain , White Christmas , Meet Me In St. Louis , Fiddler on the Roof , & The Sound of Music were just some amongst our long list of musical VHS’s that filled my family’s shelves!
I will eternally be grateful to them, for, as time went on, & I learned the greats such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bob Fosse, etc.–I learned you can never beat the classics.

Of course, musical movies aren’t always the same as their theatre counterparts (or in this case, the true story they stem from), but one thing can be said about most musicals–if they’re great ones–they’re fun, exciting to watch, & not only have you singing along, but watching again & again!

So here they are, in no particular order:

1. THE CINEMATOGRAPHY
This movie has some of the most stunning cinematography of all time–from the sweeping opening scene of the mountains & fields, to Maria’s lovely walk down the aisle of the huge Catholic Church towards the end (aren’t you sure that that aisle is at least a mile long?!). The colors & depth of The Sound of Music are surely due to William Reynolds’ film editing(hence why he won an Oscar for it), Ted D. McCord’s direction of photography (of course), & much of the movie being shot in Austria itself!

2. “16, GOING ON 17″

Come on, admit it. You all love this song, & sing along, no matter how sappy the entire scene with Liesl & Rolfe is, made especially so by the soft lighting, & the silly dancing (which in real life wouldn’t have made much sense without music, but in musicals, since there is always music when you need it–fits perfectly!)–jumping from bench to bench?! But it reminds us all of what it feels like to be in love, & is a beautiful scene, no matter what.

3. WIT
I love the wit & passed between the characters in this movie, especially Maria & the Captain, such as during the scene where Maria happily tells the Captain that yes, his children have been traipsing about the countryside dressed in nothing but drapes, & having a marvelous time! Classic.

4. THE BARONESS
Even though, as we’re watching the movie, we want her gone from Captain Von Trapp’s & the children’s life, a person can’t help but appreciate Eleanor Parker’s Baroness. She is sophisticated, & beautiful, & a perfect contrast to Maria in the movie. Eleanor pulls off the character with precision, adding just enough malice & jealousy to make her unlikable, but enough class to make her stunning.

5. “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”

This song just gets to me–in a good way! I am sure some may find the entire scene with the Mother Abbess singing to Maria boring, but the song is a great one. Hammerstein’s words are gripping, as is Rodgers’ musical “climb” towards a strong ending. The song in the movie, though sung by Peggy Wood, who played the Mother Abbess, was dubbed over by Margery McKay–I actually never knew this fact till recently! The voice & persona go so well with the Mother Abbess Peggy Wood portrays. And I love how the song flows; you can actually imagine the Mother Abbess breaking into it in real life. And that end note…wow!

6. SUNNY DISPOSITION
Ok, so this doesn’t actually count as a real reason, but as with most of the musical movies from the 50’s & 60’s (The Sound of Music was released in 1965), you cannot watch The Sound of Music & come away glum. It’s just not possible. Unless you have no heart. The movie just reeks of bright & color & happy! Even the unhappy parts don’t last long enough, or have a bad enough ending, to be memorable or make us gloomy. This movie must release good endorphins or something…

7. JULIE ANDREWS
My absolute most favorite thing about The Sound of Music is Julie Andrews! The movie would not have been without her. She has an amazing voice, & an amazing personality that shines through in everything she does–to this day (have you ever seen her in interview?!)–& she is to be commended. Her clear, angelic voice was at its great peak during this time it seemed (Mary Poppins was also a 60’s movie–’64), & always makes me want to sing along whenever I hear it. I think she is most definitely one of the greatest vocalists of our time.

It’s amazing to find kindness in Hollywood today. Real, genuine kindness.

Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell are all actors who, along with now-deceased Heath Ledger, are playing a lead role in Terry Gilliam’s (you’d know him from Monty Python, most likely) upcoming fantasy adventure film, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus . They’re all huge budget actors, and usually we expect actors to just do movies, get paid over-excessive amounts of money, and live the rich life, without actually seeming like they’re real.

But these three actors have gone above and beyond for their former friend’s daughter, in refusing their pay for their rolls in the new film, instead donating the money they’d have made to Heath’s 2 year old daughter by actress Michelle Williams, Matilda. When I first read the headlines about this fact, stemming from an article and comments made by Terry Gilliam in Britain’s The Sun, I was touched. Matilda was oddly left out of Heath’s will–probably because he didn’t expect to die before he altered it–and the actors wanted to insure she was taken care of. It’s a testament to Heath’s character, I think. As well as that of the three actors in question.

Now, of course, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell are actors we could just write off as (of course) being able to afford to give away a paycheck now and again, without a second thought. But if you are that rich, and you are making millions of dollars per film, that is your paycheck and your life, and to be that compassionate towards a friend’s daughter is impressive.

I think Terry Gilliam made a good statement when he said to The Sun, ” That’s extraordinary! And wonderful . . . and when you’re part of that, you think, ‘Ah, this is maybe why I went into the movies in the beginning. I thought it would be full of wonderful people.’”

Kudos to Johnny, Colin and Jude.