Sixty movies into this journey of watching all of the AFI’s top 100 American movies in order and if you’ve been reading my posts by now you know I am not a fan of musicals. The good news is, there are only three musicals left on the countdown. The bad news is, I had to try to watch The Sound of Music again — and truth be told I couldn’t take it!

I get it. If you like musicals, this is the creme de la creme. Still, there are “modern” musicals like Evita and A Chorus Line, both of which were made into extraordinary films that I loved. I’m very much looking forward to the upcoming film version of Les Miserable. But Rogers and Hammerstein is not my cup of tea. But I don’t disparage you for liking them and I certainly understand the appeal of The Sound of Music. It won Best Picture in 1966 over Dr. Zhivago (another terrible slight by the Oscar voters), but how can you argue with Julie Andrews singing and the Von Trapp kids dancing around like wooden soldiers? 🙂

The song list from this film is truly impressive. The Sound of Music, Edelweiss, Do-Re-Mi, My Favorite Things, Maria, So Long Farewell. Good stuff and probably the greatest collection of musical favorites in a single show. Julie Andrews is wonderful as Maria (although I’m not sure why she always seems to play a nanny)! And the World War II background with the Nazis and the family having to escape Austria is interesting and keeps the film from being a total waste of time (like that other Rogers and Hammerstein trash including Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, et al). I know — sacrilege! Look, I’m just being honest. I don’t care for schmaltz.

Very excited to move on to the next few films on the list. Next up: Dr. Strangelove