# Is the Sound of Music supposed to be a good movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710 "2020-01-20T17:50:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/61 "2020-01-21T20:59:37Z")
> [@baileygrrrl](#): > > It always bugged the hell out of me that those nuns sang “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” at Maria’s wedding. RUDE. I always wondered how everybody knew the words to it. :dubious: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/62 "2020-01-21T21:02:45Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I’ve never seen a musical with Nazis that I didn’t like. … And they weren’t the lovable Nazis you see on TV, either. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/63 "2020-01-21T21:11:00Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > But the movie had great scenery and Julie Andrews, and that was more than enough for moviegoers. \*Dough means cash for all of us! 'Ray for musicals like this! Me a star, so big that by Far it simply couln’t miss! So insipid is the plot, La-de-da, although we know, Te-dious it is a lot, It will bring us back much dough, dough, dough, dough, dough!\* ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/64 "2020-01-21T21:45:06Z")
Or there’s Homer Simpsons’ version: _Dough, the stuff, that buys me beer Ray, the guy who sells me beer, Me, the one, who drinks the beer, Far, the distance to my beer So, I think I’ll have a beer, La, la la la la la beer, Tea? No thanks, I’m having beer, which will bring us back to (looks at bottom of empty mug) D’oh!_ ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/65 "2020-01-21T22:09:12Z")
I too saw this in its original release; my mother really wanted to see it, for the (opening) scenery if nothing else. She adored Julie Andrews. We took the grand-kid to the re-release last summer at the local movie theater; she (at age eight) is too antsy to sit and watch all of it on TV but in the theater she was enthralled. (The same is true for The Wizard of Oz; best in a theater setting.) The movie is enjoyable, a bit long, the kids are cute, the songs catchy, and the story, even if embellished, is interesting. I give it two-thumbs up. A (long) time ago we were in Salzburg, and noticed the brochures for the Sound of Music bus tours. My brother-in-law was in the US Army, and said the buzz is only Americans take that tour; the locals could care less. Instead we went to Marienplatz and Hohensalzburg on our own and had a grand time just seeing how lovely and compact Salzburg is. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/66 "2020-01-21T22:44:42Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Austrians have to put up with having Edelweiss played at diplomatic events by people who are convinced that it is a traditional song and/or the national anthem It was a good choice for the theme music of [The Man in the High Castle](https://youtu.be/naTZOaP0y5Q). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/67 "2020-01-21T22:48:33Z")
> [@baileygrrrl](#): > > It always bugged the hell out of me that those nuns sang “How do you solve a problem like Maria?” at Maria’s wedding. RUDE. Not only that; all the attendants were from Trapp’s side of the family! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/68 "2020-01-21T23:02:19Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Considering in particular SMV’s signature: > > Aziraphale. “That’s it, I’m sobering up.” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/69 "2020-01-21T23:30:49Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’ve been meaning to go to a Sing-Along, but I keep missing them and I’d have to go with the right people… a senior White Guy all by himself might look weird Do go, even if you have to go alone. You’ll have a great time, especially if you go in costume (I went as a pregnant nun). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/70 "2020-01-22T04:16:29Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I too saw this in its original release; my mother really wanted to see it, for the (opening) scenery if nothing else. She adored Julie Andrews. \*How come I’m alone and there’s so much music? High up on a hill with no one in view? Just how can there be all this sound and music? A musical question I pose to you. How can I run up this steep mountainside without ever losing a beat? You’d think that my lungs would give out up here over ten thousand feet! To do all these things with a wide-mouthed grin really should not amaze. I’ve had lots of rest, 'cause they filmed it on five different days! I’m not singing now, I am pre-recorded. I’m just mouthing words I have sung before. And how does it feel to be singing nothing? It’s an aw-ful bore!\* ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/71 "2020-01-22T04:24:37Z")
Several years ago, ABC News had a special on the movie, in which Diane Sawyer and Julie Andrews traveled around the part of Austria where the movie was filmed. It was interesting. They showed how, rather than climbing over a mountain, the family just went out the back gate and caught a train. And Julie Andrews described how the “The Hills Are Alive” was filmed. Part of it is on YouTube [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r5HI-jy6po). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/72 "2020-01-22T04:51:07Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > No, Father Flynn from my parish brought a group of us from our parochial high school in the Bronx to see it in a big movie house in Manhattan. It was of course made to order as wholesome fare for Catholic kids.) \*How do you make a movie 'bout religion? How do you handle nuns and not offend? Just simply have them doing things they wouldn’t. Don’t follow the norm or stay true to form, pretend! Just show a kooky nun who rides a scooter, or show a sister try to fly a kite. The movies can make folks feel that all these events are real, and being a nun is fun from morn 'til night! Yes, people will eat up films about religion. Just keep them corny, sacharrine and trite! Ingrid Bergman, you’ll recall, as nun would play baseball, and sweet Audrey Hepburn convent life foreswore. Sister Debbie was so swinging on her motor bike while singing! Old Roz Russell, Donna Reed, and many more! All the nuns sang a lament as they mixed up their cement, playing Lilies of the Field with so much zeal! Deborah Kerr was quite specific on that spot in the Pacific! Celeste Holm, Loretta Young had such appeal! Yes, everyone loves a movie 'bout religion, long as the nuns and priests are so unreal!\* A huge part of the movie’s success was an aggressive marketing campaign. By scheduling it in a limited number of big motion picture palaces and charging high prices for the tickets, it made people think they were shelling out for something really special! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/73 "2020-01-22T05:08:38Z")
I had three aunts who were nuns. I never heard any of them sing a note.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/74 "2020-01-22T05:31:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I had three aunts who were nuns. I never heard any of them sing a note.🙂 I once stayed with a friend who worked and lived at a children’s home run by nuns. I can’t \*imagine \*any of them ever singing! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/75 "2020-01-22T12:22:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I had three aunts who were nuns. I never heard any of them sing a note.🙂 in the 13 years of Catholic school I had a much different experience with Nuns. None of them were cheerful and no one sang ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/76 "2020-01-22T12:28:35Z")
Whereas my mom who left the convent loves singing. She’s terrible at it, bless her, but she loves it. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/77 "2020-01-22T12:55:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I always wondered how everybody knew the words to it. :dubious: 😕 Do you do the same thing with Science Fiction movies? Refuse to suspend disbelief, challenging everything the book asks you to believe? Or do you only do this to genres you hate? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/78 "2020-01-22T14:22:47Z")
> [@Fiveroptic](#): > > Do you do the same thing with Science Fiction movies? Refuse to suspend disbelief, challenging everything the book asks you to believe? Basically, yes. Enquiring minds want to know. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/79 "2020-01-22T14:26:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Whereas my mom who left the convent loves singing. > > She’s terrible at it, bless her, but she loves it. \*\*MOTHER ABCESS: \*\* I’m afraid we have a \*\*problem \*\*here, Maria. You do not \*\*belong \*\*in a convent! \*\*MARIA: **You mean, I belong in the outside world? \*\* MOTHER ABCESS: **No, not \*\*there \*\*either. That’s the** problem**! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/80 "2020-01-22T14:43:37Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Yes, you can clearly see that [Plummer] thought the whole thing was beneath him… All he did was look bored. **VON TRIPE:** Now nobody bother me. I have a whole day of **hanging around** to do. Followed by **VON TRIPE:** I’m \*\*tired \*\*of hanging around the country. I think I’ll go to \*\*Vienna \*\*and hang around the \*\*city \*\*for a while! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710.md?page=5)