# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/101 "2020-01-24T18:07:43Z")
A lot of the criticism in this thread focuses on the thin plot that holds the songs together. But that’s pretty much the case with every musical. Take _Singin’ in the Rain,_ considered by many to be the greatest movie musical ever (AFI ranked it #5 on their all-time list of films, period.) There’s less reason for Don Lockwood and Kathy Seldon to fall in love than even Maria and the Captain. The rest of the plot is “Hey Gang, let’s put on a show” only slightly more sophisticated than the Andy Hardy movies a decade earlier. Or _1776_ and its key plot point that the Declaration of Independence would never have been finished if Thomas Jefferson hadn’t had sex with his wife. Then there’s _West Side Story_. Who cares if the story was lifted from Shakespeare? You still have a boy and a girl falling in love at first sight, not to mention street gangs dancing through the tenements of Manhattan. Later musicals? There’s _Phantom of The Opera_, which features a brilliant but disfigured composer/singer who emerges from his underground lair only to sabotage operas and kidnap sopranos. I will accept comparisons with [The Abominable Dr. Phibes.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Abominable_Dr._Phibes) And let’s not even go down the road of Disney musicals, okay? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/102 "2020-01-24T19:10:06Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I take it you don’t know very many gay men. Ha! I do, actually, but somehow TSOM has never come up. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/103 "2020-01-25T02:06:55Z")
I saw it when it first came out. I enjoyed it and still do. It’s no Battleship Potemkin, but it is fun. ---
**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 25, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/104 "2020-01-25T18:34:08Z")
[Here](https://film.avclub.com/all-these-years-later-the-sound-of-music-remains-one-o-1835655764) is an article from The AV Club about The Sound of Music. (It’s part of a series on the highest-grossing movie of each year since 1960.) In part, it goes into just how big the movie was and is. For example, the production budget was $8 million, which was a lot for the time. But then in 1976, ABC paid $15 million for the rights to air the movie on television once. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/105 "2020-01-26T04:15:55Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > A lot of the criticism in this thread focuses on the thin plot that holds the songs together. But that’s pretty much the case with every musical. Take _Singin’ in the Rain,_ considered by many to be the greatest movie musical ever (AFI ranked it #5 on their all-time list of films, period.) There’s less reason for Don Lockwood and Kathy Seldon to fall in love than even Maria and the Captain. The rest of the plot is “Hey Gang, let’s put on a show” only slightly more sophisticated than the Andy Hardy movies a decade earlier. > > Or _1776_ and its key plot point that the Declaration of Independence would never have been finished if Thomas Jefferson hadn’t had sex with his wife. > > Then there’s _West Side Story_. Who cares if the story was lifted from Shakespeare? You still have a boy and a girl falling in love at first sight, not to mention street gangs dancing through the tenements of Manhattan. > > Later musicals? There’s _Phantom of The Opera_, which features a brilliant but disfigured composer/singer who emerges from his underground lair only to sabotage operas and kidnap sopranos. I will accept comparisons with [The Abominable Dr. Phibes.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Abominable_Dr._Phibes) > > And let’s not even go down the road of Disney musicals, okay? Some more modern references (even though they are 40 years old). Same with “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. What the heck was the “plot”? “Hair” was more of a theme than a plot. “Cats” is there a plot? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/106 "2020-01-27T02:14:05Z")
The hotel where we stayed in Salzburg had two TVs in the bedroom. One played The Sound of Music on a loop, never ending, never stopped. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/107 "2020-01-27T06:07:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Doesn’t the “von” answer that one, though? He’s descended of nobility, and presumably has inherited wealth (both of which doubtless made it easier for him to get an officer’s commission). Actually, he earned his commission on his own merits. His father was born August Ritter Trapp. He was elevated to the nobility due to his naval exploits. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/108 "2020-01-27T19:17:04Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The hotel where we stayed in Salzburg had two TVs in the bedroom. One played The Sound of Music on a loop, never ending, never stopped. I once called a phone number for Denmark tourism and they did the same for the song “Wonderful Copenhagen” from the 1952 movie/musical “Hans Christian Anderson”. Incidentally right after the movie came out Denmark had a surge of tourism. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/109 "2020-01-27T20:37:55Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > Actually, he earned his commission on his own merits. His father was born August Ritter Trapp. He was elevated to the nobility due to his naval exploits. Isn’t “Ritter” a title of nobility? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/110 "2020-01-28T01:09:43Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Isn’t “Ritter” a title of nobility? Yes, and it was borne by [Georg’s father](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42135363/august-ritter-von_trapp) August Ritter von Trapp (born August Trapp) who received it for his own naval service. Wikipedia says the title “Ritter” was inherited by his sons, and that [Georg was granted the title Baron along with the Order of Maria Theresa](https://www.georgandagathe.org/history--georg-s-naval-career.html) in his own right. Edit: Whoops, [this site says the “Baron” title was technically expired by the time he was entitled to it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Georg_von_Trapp#Trapp's_titles_-_many_wrong_details). > [@](#): > > Had Trapp received his appointment to the Military Order of Maria Theresa before the end of the monarchy in 1918, he would have qualified for the title of “Freiherr” (baron) in the Austrian nobility. As the Order Chapter approved of the award on April 21, 1924 only Trapp remained a “Ritter”. ---
**Author:** ![shstrang98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@shstrang98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shstrang98)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710/111 "2020-01-29T02:29:02Z")
Well I don’t really care for the flick but I like the music. Julie Andrews was hot back in the day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-sound-of-music-supposed-to-be-a-good-movie/846710.md?page=5)