The Sound of Music (1965)

The Sound of Music is based on the Rogers and Hammerstein musical.  It's about a nun in Austria who doesn't quite fit in at the convent, so she is sent (willingly) to a naval officers home to become the governess for his six children.  There are also nazis.  And, of course, there is music.

If you were to ask my parents some of their favorite memories of me as a youngster, they would of course talk about the time when I was no more than three, standing on the coffee table, singing (at the top of my very well developed lungs), "CWIMB EVERWE MOUNTAIN!!!!!!!"  Needless to say, this is one of my very favorite movies.  I just love it!  Christopher Plummer portrays the hard, militant Captain Von Trapp who falls deeply in love with the musically gifted, home-wrecking nun.  Because, she was a home-wrecker!  That changes the nun's pristine image, doesn't it??   He was engaged to the lovely Baroness and he starts batting his lovely lashes Maria's way and they both leave him.  However, the nun comes back and they are so happy that they sing and make-out.  Their marriage scene still seems REALLY long to me.  But after that, the nazis become more central to the plot, which isn't boring.  They also manage turning Liesl's Aryan beau, Rolf into a huge chode and a nazi.  It is a fantastic film and anytime Christopher Plummer sings "Edelweiss," I get oddly emotional.    

The bar was set high with My Fair Lady, and The Sound of Music knocks it out of the park. It’s almost impossible to hate this movie unless you can’t stand musicals or three-hour films in general. And let’s get this out of the way: Julie Andrews is not only a fabulous singer and actor but a truly gorgeous lady. If this and Mary Poppins were the only films she was ever in, her legacy would still be as strong as it is today. The songs from The Sound of Music are all incredibly memorable and well-performed (you know, when I could hear them above Katie’s singing) especially “Do-Re-Mi”, also known as “God’s gift to music teachers.” Seriously, it not only helps to teach solfege but it also illustrates the importance of scales and tips on how to compose based on them. Thank you so much Rodgers and Hammerstein! While this film does fall victim to the “Third Act Slump” (see our The Broadway Melody post http://timandkatiesworkingtitle.blogspot.com/2012/08/broadway-melody-1929.html for clarification), The Sound of Music is an undeniable classic. On one last side note, the Blu-Ray transfer for this film is just magnificent. So if you can that’s the way to see it. 

The house that was used as the Von Trapp home was actually owned by actress Hedy Lamarr. 

Liesl: I'm Liesl. I'm sixteen years old and I don't need a governess.

My Fair Lady (1964)

My Fair Lady is the film adaptation of the stage play by the same name which is an adaptation of the book, Pygmalion.  A lot of adaptations!  This is the story of the low class flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, who is begrudgingly taken in by a snobby phonetics professor.  He spends the movie striving to make her as respectable as a duchess.  

AAAAAOOOOOOWWWWW!!! I'm a good girl I am!!! -  Well that summed up the first half hour of the movie.  Well, mostly kidding.  Audrey Hepburn's performance as a street urchin is very obnoxious yet so charming.  I have a hard time with this movie. I really like it but I'm so sad that a lot of Hepburn's singing was dubbed over by the same gal who sang Maria's part in West Side Story.  Once you know it's the same voice, you just hear Maria in the part.  It's very strange.  Hepburn sings some of her stuff and it's so sad because she didn't know they were planning to dub her voice.  Her beau in the movie, Freddy, his voice is dubbed too by Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty (which only makes me swoon a little).  He sings the lovely "On the street where you live."  My favorite part is Eliza's silly drunk father who sings "I'm getting married in the morning." He kinda flits between bars AND women trying to get money for his next glass of whiskey.  He's such a gem.  All in all, just a delightful movie. 

After the mild disappointment of the similar Gigi, My Fair Lady is a return to form of the musicals of the previous decade and features many more memorable songs and performances. It’s endlessly charming watching Audrey Hepburn struggle with her words and sounds as Rex Harrison makes fun of her incessantly. In fact, if this film has a major weakness, it’s that the story loses some of its charm and humor after Eliza becomes “civilized.” Much like Breakfast at Tiffany’s also starring Hepburn, this version deviates from its source material significantly at the end when Eliza forges a “truce” with Higgins instead of leaving him on his pompous ass. At least there is a nod to that in a great scene near the end when Doolittle stands her ground and asserts that she can live without him; nicer clothes and better phonetics were all that had changed for her heart was good when she was just a lowly flower girl and it was Higgins that needed her help in that respect. All in all a good film but one that is not quite a top-tier musical for me. Check out our next post for an example of a musical that is truly top tier. 

Rex Harrison was very disappointed when Audrey Hepburn was cast as Eliza, since he felt she was badly miscast and he had hoped to work with Julie Andrews. He told an interviewer, "Eliza Doolittle is supposed to be ill at ease in European ballrooms. Bloody Audrey has never spent a day in her life out of European ballrooms." Nevertheless, Harrison was once later asked to identify his favorite leading lady. Without hesitation, he replied, "Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady." 

Eliza Doolittle: Come on, Dover, move yer bloomin' arse!

Tom Jones (1963)

Tom Jones begins life under unusual circumstances when he is abandoned at the doorstep of Squire Allworthy. He grows to be quite the lady’s man, competing for the lovely Sophie with the jealous and manipulative Blifil, the legitimate heir of Allworthy.

Well, that was a surprise. After a few consecutive historical war epics and sweeping musicals, Tom Jones is a pretty cheap-looking Monty Python-esque comedy that’s only one poked eye or jabbed rib away from being slapstick. The film is silly as hell but luckily it’s silly on purpose and it is legitimately charming and funny until it overstays its welcome in the last half hour or so. I’ve always wondered what a young Albert Finney would look like and he’s a sharp-looking guy- he has to be for this comedy of errors to work. Lessons learned from Tom Jones? It seems that all you needed to do to get laid in 18^th century England was pelvic thrust behind a woman without permission and push her into the hay, and if that didn’t work then just drunkenly stumble into the forest until you find a wandering whore. Those are just a few of the misadventures that lie in store for you with Tom Jones. It’s worth the trip for a few good laughs at least, but enter at your own risk if you’re not a fan of goofy British antics or harpsichord.


Tim pretty much summed it up.  Play boy Tom Jones gets all the sex.  The slogan for this movie is, "The Whole World Loves Tom Jones!"  And boy, do they.  In the woods - mostly.  The restoration of this movie was the worst of any best picture winner so far and I bet ever.  There are scenes when it's so grainy it looks very green and shadowy.  This movie was funny and kitschy but kind of a weird best picture.  I mean, it definitely was refreshing.  I would much rather watch this than yet another three hour WWII film.  They were good... but come on.  It was crude, vulgar, and pretty funny.  Quite a welcome surprise!


Susannah York (Sophie Western) and David Warner (Blifil) would later play Superman's biological Kryptonian parents, though not in the same production. York played Lara Lar-Van in Superman and Superman II and Warner played Jor-El in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. 

Narrator: [after Tom celebrates Squire Allworthy's recovery with too much wine] "It is widely held that too much wine will dull a man's desire. Indeed it will... in a dull man."

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Enigmatic and controversial T.E. Lawrence is a British intelligence officer that goes from observing the Arab-Turk conflict to leading a guerrilla force against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. 

A few years after his excellent Bridge on the River Kwai, David Lean returns to Oscar glory by practically dwarfing that film’s ambition with Lawrence of Arabia. Peter O’Toole’s magnetic performance has stood the test of time as the strong but "accidental" leader of an "accidental" revolution. That's probably the best aspect of this movie- that leaders and heroes are in fact flawed, indecisive and very human; they are not fully aware of what they are supposed to do or what they will mean to people as decades pass and Lawrence is no exception (actually, he has a pretty major flaw in that he's a bit trigger-happy and enjoys killing people- no, seriously, they acknowledge in the film that he likes killing people). Maurice Jarre's score is also likely the best from the era since Ben-Hur and seems to be the musical basis for every Middle Eastern/desert scene of any kind since. There’s not much to say about this film that hasn’t already been said except that the film is an undeniable classic. If you can tolerate three-hour films with overtures, intermissions and the occasional white-person-painted-to-be-ethnic, Lawrence of Arabia is the film for you. 

In the opening scene of Lawrence of Arabia, we see T.E. Lawrence, Peter O'Toole's character, die in a motor cycle accident.  At his funeral, people start talking about his life and most people didn't really know him - and the people that did thought he was kind of a dick.  The rest of the movie shows Lawrence's adventure through flashback, which I think is brilliant.  First of all, you see him die in the beginning, so during this crazy revolutionary Ottomon war that he's sort of leading, we know that he, in fact, lives.  During his daredevil-ish motor cycle crash, we also see his need for excitement, thrill, and danger.  If the crash happened at the end of this huge epic movie, I personally would feel cheated.  It's like, well what the heck did I watch all this for?  But with the crash in the beginning, you accept that before you hear about his past.  I think O'Toole's performance is brilliant and watching it on DVD with his baby blue eyes and the desert, it's pretty cool looking.  But seriously.... look at him, he's so pretty!

Although 227 minutes long, this film has no women in speaking roles. It is reportedly the longest film not to have any dialogue spoken by a woman. 

T.E. Lawrence: "I pray that I may never see the desert again. Hear me, God."

West Side Story (1961)

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the feuding families are re-imagined as rival gangs in a racially charged turf war in New York City. When Tony and Maria from opposite sides meet and fall in love, their secret threatens to tear everyone’s lives and worlds apart. 

The first time I saw West Side Story was in a middle school theater class, and I will never forget how mesmerized I was by the opening scene. It remains my favorite film musical because not only is the dancing and choreography outstanding, but it actually means something and serves the plot instead of just singing and dancing “because it’s a musical and that’s what you’re supposed to do.” The dichotomy of dangerous tough guys that dance propelled by a jazzy Leonard Bernstein score combined with a social commentary about how society deals with minorities and juvenile delinquents makes for a near-perfect movie experience. Why near perfect? Because some of the male chorus singing is shaky at best; at the beginning of “Tonight,” some of them even sing the wrong words. I may never get over that.

When I was kid, I got confused about why Maria and Tony couldn't be together.  Because let's face it... Maria doesn't look Puerto Rican AND Tony doesn't really look white... he's really tan.  and I don't know... he didn't look white.  Other than that...the movie is pretty good.  I do have issues with Romeo and Juliet in general because I believe the show was written to be a satire about how kids are dumb and impressionable and their parents are closed minded.  I mean it's all about young love.  Young, stupid love.  The character of Rosalind in Romeo and Juliet is the key reason why this show should be viewed as more of satire.  I mean Romeo is whining about the loss of Rosalind and going on and on about how much he loved her... ten minutes later, his pain is healed when he's making out with Juliet.   I think West Side Story really changes the tension when Rosalind doesn't exist.  And with a change in ending, it really winds up being an inspiring, but sad ending about hope and change. 

For your viewing pleasure, Sassy Gay Friend has similar ideas!

Riff and Tony repeat an oath of loyalty to each other: Riff says "womb to tomb" and Tony answers "birth to earth." On stage Tony's original answer was "sperm to worm," but this was changed for the movie because it was beyond the censorship standards of the time. 

"I love the island MANHATTAN!" - Anita "I KNOW YOU DO!!!" - other Puerto Rican chick.

The Apartment (1960)

A man is used and abused by his coworkers and company executives to use his downtown apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

The Apartment is such a quirky movie with such a solid premise.  I mean, this poor guy, C.C.(Jack Lemmon), has a fairly decent downtown apartment, fairly close to work.  He leaves his key to guy who wants to change his shirt before a date and next thing you know, the whole office knows about it.  They want to use it as a little love shack for their mistresses.  Lemmon's apartment has turned into a sex den.  He just comes back at 8 o'clock to shave and go to bed.  He also restocks the apartment after uses with snacks and liquor.  Classsssssy.  Don't feel too bad for him... he uses his apartment as a bargaining chip to climb the executive ladder.  Then there is the tragically sad elevator operator, Fran (Shirley MacLaine), with a quirky personality who has been strung along by C.C. boss.  Of course, to make it interesting, C.C. develops a crush on her.  It's really quite funny and I think it talks about infidelity ahead of it's time, while still being funny.  I recommend it!  Fun for everyone!  Well, everyone but C.C. who doesn't get laid in his own sex den.  Shucks...


Each time I see a film by Billy Wilder for the first time, it reaffirms how incredible a filmmaker he is. Wilder tries his hand at comedy again a year after his smash Some Like It Hot with excellent results thanks to a really solid premise and great performances. That’s not to say this movie is all fun and games- after all, the whole film revolves around infidelity and the rich and powerful oppressing those they perceive to be their underlings. Nevertheless, the eventual success of the underdog makes this film a worthy successor to other Best Picture romantic comedies like It Happened One Night and Marty. 

In 1968, playwright Neil Simon adapted the screenplay as the book for the Broadway musical "Promises, Promises". It spawned the hit song "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. "Promises, Promises" opened at the Shubert Theater on December 1, 1968 and ran for 1281 performances. The first Broadway revival opened at the Broadway Theater April 25, 2010 starring Kristin Chenoweth. 

Kirkeby: Premium-wise and billing-wise, we are eighteen percent ahead of last year, October-wise.

Ben-Hur (1959)

First of all, I want to apologize for our lack of posts!  We actually watched Ben-Hur in Easter and we are just posting it now!  Ahh! As an update, since our last post, Tim finished out his school year AND Katie got a new job.  Tim has kicked Katie out of her non-blogging funk and we are jumpstarting this blog! 

Ben-Hur follows the story of a Jewish prince whom is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend. He regains his freedom and comes back for revenge in the time of Jesus Christ.  

Ok, I love this movie.  This movie is baller.  First of all, it really is an EPIC film.  The screenplay is brilliant.  It focuses on the life of Judah Ben-Hur and throughout his whole life, his story is entwined with Jesus Christ.  The film shows the plight of those who seek revenge and what is most important.  The film score, which I find to be very fitting and inspiring, was done by Miklós Rózsa in eight weeks.  As part of our family tradition, we usually have it playing in the background during Easter.  We start watching it as a family but my brothers usually don't make the whole movie... I mean, who can blame them? It's long- BUT it's SO worth it.  It was nice to introduce Tim to this little mini-tradition.  It was mostly just us watching it as brothers, parents, and grandparents came in for half hour stints.  It was nice to be back in Minnesota for Easter. :)

I was prepped for a real butt-numbing with the famously long runtime of this film (212 minutes!) but I wasn’t as ready for how incredible this movie is.  Sure, I have seen it before but I only remembered it in disconnected snippets and may have never seen the whole thing in one sitting. Following through on a minor tradition of Katie’s, we watched this film on Easter Sunday at her parent’s house while on vacation. Everything comes together in a film that truly deserves the overused term “epic” and there is not a minute from the 212 that I would want moved or rearranged. The story of Ben-Hur trying to gain his freedom and reconnect with his wife and mother lays the foundation for virtually every historical epic since (especially those of Ridley Scott; Ben-Hur is basically the blueprint for Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven) and the parallel telling of the story of Christ brings real gravitas and weight to an already deep story. Including sets and locations that are still impressive, action scenes that are sure to increase your heart rate (the chariot race is still one of the best scenes of its kind) and perhaps the greatest musical score of its time, Ben-Hur is a spectacular experience that even outclasses Gone With the Wind. If you have the time and patience for it, you owe it to yourself to experience this film… just make sure you’ve got plenty to drink and a bathroom break or two. 

Three lifelike dummies were placed at key points in the chariot race to give the appearance of men being run over by the chariots. The best of these was the stand-in dummy for Stephen Boyd's character that gets tangled up under the horses hooves and gets trampled to death. This resulted in a realistic death sequence that shocked the theater audiences of the time, and spawned an urban legend that this was a real death.  Only one stunt man was seriously hurt in the filming of the chariot race.  

Quintus Arrius: In his eagerness to save you, your God has also saved the Roman fleet.