This was posted on Facebook from a group called Memories are Made of This. There are good Oscar Best Picture winners, bad Oscar Best Picture winners and most of the winners that are somewhere in between. But I’m fairly sure the Sound of Music was deserving for its top prize and for my money Julie Andrews was the reason why. You do have to sit through Climb Every Mountain but you also get the breathless exuberance of the young Andrews.
I’ll have to give Ship of Fools another viewing. I’ve seen it in the last 5 years, but I can’t remember Simone Signoret. I remember Vivien Leigh and Michael Dunn vividly though. My impression was that the film was a little hammy.
Regarding Julie Andrews…I’m hoping that her upcoming role in Wolf of Wall Street is showy enough to garner awards attention. Wouldn’t that be wild….an Oscar nomination for Andrews in. Scorsese picture?
I know it’s kind of trendy to dismiss Sound of Music, but I honestly don’t trust anyone who “hates” Sound of Music. Or, maybe I should say I don’t trust anyone who can’t appreciate Julie Andrews as Maria. And Anne Hathaway as Maria? NOOO. I’m not calling SOM a masterpiece, but I will not have my memories of Andrews as Maria messed with. She is the one and only Maria. Forever.
English is not my first language.
And decades later ever since its original release in US, The Sounds of Music was one of those films we’d gotten to watch on VDO format in our English classroom as part of listening and comprehension skills improvement during those high school glory days. […] [A]ll due respect, given it’s great reputation, at that time for some reason I didn’t really find the film fascinating despite having long before been hooked up to and intrigued by British/American pop culture, that is, anything American and popular, from movies and films, mainstream pop music *LOVED/still respect (in a way) Casey Kasem!*, to fashion and everything else…. (Which means, in my case, it had nothing much to do with cultural differences.) Perhaps, I should watch it again to see how I feel and think now….
Doubtless, Ms. Andrews is aging gracefully. Beautiful.
Signoret was great in Ship of Fools, but it was a fairly small part for “lead”. I wish the film had been more about her and Oskar Werner, and less Stanely Kramer’s heavy-handedness. Crazy Vivien Leigh beating the crap out of Lee Marvin with her shoe was kinda fun, but those four were really the only interesting characters to me.
One thing – nobody, I mean nobody, has ever had an entrance (or exit) in a film like Signoret has in Ship of Fools. She owned it.
I’ve never seen Ship of Fools but it’s getting a blu-ray release as past of a 2-movie 1965 package on Tuesday for only $8.99. So Tuesday night I’ll get to see what you’re all talking about.
I guess no one has seen Simone Signoret’s devastating performance in “Ship of Fools.” IMO that film should have won Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress. Signoret and Oskar Werner will break your heart. The scene featuring her calling him “charming, yes charming…” and his reaction should be required viewing to anyone who has an interest in Oscar history.
“Casting Anne Hathaway as Maria and Hugh Jackman as Captain Von Trapp ”
Just shoot me now.
@Tom – you should watch Darling – Christie gives her best performance. She walked away with the Oscar that year – there was nobody even close.
JAndrews really should have won Best Actress for this role instead of the sympathy award she was tossed for MPoppins (and the whole not-cast in MFLady snub.) She shines in this role…but, they weren’t about to give her two wins in a row. (Haven’t seen Darling yet to make a legit comparison, but this performance still holds up.)
Casting Anne Hathaway as Maria and Hugh Jackman as Captain Von Trapp would be perfect!
Sasha, I wish you would do a year by year discussion of film in the 1960s or Oscar stuff year by year in the 1960s 🙂
I remember I had to wear a suit and tie to see the Sound of Music when I was a kid. It was that big a deal. But then prestige films were a big deal in those days. Not like today where they just throw them up on the wall. Of course, prestige films are sadly a thing of the past. TSOM also won because it was beautifully crafted. However, being a David Lean fan, I would have preferred Doctor Zhivago to have taken the Oscar.
Sigh. I love that movie. Dr. Zhivago would have been a deserving winner too.
^wow – You’re one sick puppy to spot that, Ryan. I’ll never see Gypsy the same way again (not that I’d ever watch it again)!
A major touchstone of my childhood — my mom took me to see the roadshow version at Manhattan’s Rivoli theater that summer. Schmaltzy corny and much-maligned by the cognoscenti at the time. It was NOT “hip” to like (much less love) TSOM in 1965. And really, other than Darling that was a rather middlebrow Best Pic lineup: TSOM, Darling, Zhivago, Ship of Fools and A Thousand Clowns. Guess “Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine” didn’t make the cut. 🙂
This was my first Oscars that I was allowed to stay up and listen to on my transister radio thru a single earpiece in my room, which was fine because I had my first charts of all the nominees up on my wall. The radio color commentary made it interesting: “As Miss Christie rushes to the stage to collect her award, she appears to be wearing silver pajamas.”
Unfortunately, I was firmly planted in Camp Zhivago, having major crushes on both Sharif and Christie. It was a baptism in Oscar letdowns. Never really enjoyed TSOM (Protestant, small family, two parents, modest means) and I have yet to get through the whole thing. Like Andrews better with the umbrella.
Perhaps if Plummer had played Captain Von Trapp more like Atahualpa in Royal Hunt of the Sun, it would have been more interesting. But then, the thing would have been called The King and I, and there would not have been a dramatic escape from the Nazis through the Alps. The conquistadors would have massacred everyone.
I should probably give it another chance someday.
mid-’60s American musicals. oh, how they smack and tickle our subconscious with conflicting moral guidelines.
More mixed messages.
Sorry, have I sullied the memories?
Great Pic! but i’m surprised chris plummer accepted to join the group since he never loses an opportunity to trash the movie.
As Plummer once caled it “The Sound of Mucus”
Wee CMG had a major crush on Liesl but also would have gladly held hands and been a playmate with Gretl.
I also had the honour of directing Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich) in a satire television series in Sydney several times. He was a delight. Lovely man. It felt a bit like directing royalty, such is the largesse that The SOund of Music has always been in the culture.
Great pics, lots of great memories. I always love seeing Eleanor Parker’s Baroness and the way she bows out with dignity in the movie. I didn’t realise she is still with us (quick google check she is and 90 yrs old). Wonder why she is never included in any of the anniversary events. She played an integral role; albeit not family. In relation to aging – the wondrous Ms Andrews has had plenty of work, as i suspect the debonair Mr Plummer may have too. He is such a charmer though. So incredibly handsome. Ah memories.
@ Joao
I was thinking the exact same thing
charming photo.
Classic films stand the test of time. None of the other films nominated that year can touch the SOM in that respect. Yes it’s schmaltzy and corny to a respect but it also epic, exuberant, snd sweeping. I don’t think Julie Andrews has ever gotten enough credit for her acting talent, but her performance along with her incredible voice were the main attractions in this film IMO.i can only imagine in my head what a My Fair Lady with Andrews in her career making role on stage would have been like on film. And Christopher Plummer was also IMO understatedly excellent in this film. Thanks for the memories.
If the Sound of Music were released today I know tons of bloggers would slam it for being a slight movie, not much there. But it is one of those rare occasions where what is there is beyond amazingly great. The Artist last year did this to a much smaller extent. Much smaller.
I think Darling would’ve been my choice to win, however, I’m not upset with The Sound of Music winning. It’s probably the greatest musical ever put to screen in my opinion.
It is just me, or seems that Julie and Christopher aged much better than the kids?
That’s an awesome picture. I think Doctor Zhivago would’ve gotten my vote in 1965, but TSOM was a respectable choice.
Hard to believe it took Plummer until 2010 to get nominated! I had the pleasure of watching him perform King Lear at Stratford; a once-in-a-lifetime experience.