The Sound of Music (1965)

Director: Robert Wise

Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker

A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.

The Nuns at the Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg are not convinced free-spirited Maria (Julie Andrews) is ready to be a nun. The Reverand Mother then sends Maria to naval officer Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) – whose wife recently died – to look after his seven children.

The children are between the ages of five and sixteen. With Georg running the house as if he is on one of his ships, the children are subjected to a very strict upbringing and not even allowed to play. At first, it seems like its going to be a daunting task for our inexperienced young heroin, but as she gets to know the children – and they her – a strong bond forms between them.

When Georg goes away to visit Baroness Elsa Schraeder (Eleanor Parker) – whom he intends to marry – Maria and the children get a chance to be adventurous. In the process she becomes a mother figure to them. I enjoyed Maria being a free-spirited yet strong character who never allowed Georg to intimidate her, and she always voiced her opinion.

The love story was predictable, I suppose, but it is a beautiful and romantic story and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I must say, for a three-hour long movie, it was surprisingly fast-moving and I was never bored. On the contrary, I enjoyed every moment very much. The film took a very different direction during the third act, which I never expected, and it was wonderful.

‘The Sound of Music’ boasts fantastic sets and production design, beautiful costumes, good cinematography, good and funny dialogue, and superb performances. I absolutely love this delightful movie!

‘The Sound of Music’ received 31 award nominations, winning 18 including Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Music. It also received Oscar nominations for Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, and Best Costume Design.

On a budget of $8.2 million, the film earned $286.2 million.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Director: David Lean

Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins

British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.

I’ve been wanting to see ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ for a while. Having seen it now, I’m a bit disappointed. Make no mistake, this is a very well made film, and yes it is a good film; it is just not what I expected.

I think the problem lies in my preconceived idea of what the movie was about. I expected a war movie. This is set during the war, but it is not entirely a war movie. In fact, the first gunshots are only fired around the 1 hour 50 minute mark. That’s a long time to wait for a film running almost 3 hours long. There’s no further gunshots or explosions of any kind until the finale. I suppose in that regard I was disappointed.

But if you don’t have a preconceived idea of the movie and you follow it for the drama it is, you might enjoy it more. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: these older films are destined to loose its appeal with newer generations. The new generation likes things faster; and films like these running for almost three hours with quite a bit of talk and little action will bear the brunt.

Prisoners of war lead by Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) arrive at a Japanese camp commanded by Colonel Saito. From the onset there is friction between the two leaders. Saito wants the soldiers to build a bridge over the river Kwai, while Nicholson refuses for his soldiers to do hard labour. The Japanese are building a railway from Bangkok to Rangoon, and Saito is faced with a deadline.

Nicholson finally agrees to help on the condition they design the bridge. Meantime, the British are making plans to destroy the bridge. While an interesting enough premise, I found there to be way too much talk for my liking and eventually became bored. I even found the climax a bit bland.

‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ was a big success, earning $30.6 million on a $2.8 million budget. It received 37 award nominations, winning 30 including Oscars for Best Picture, Best Lead Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Score.

Would I watch it again? No.

The Jazz Singer (1927)

Director: Alan Crosland

Starring: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland

The son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.

‘The Jazz Singer’ made history by becoming the first film with synchronized dialogue and musical numbers. Although the entire movie isn’t a talkie, these talking scenes were enough to impress the audience to such an extent that the film marked the end of the silent movie era.

Al Jolson became the first actor whose voice was heard in a film. He stars as the titular jazz singer, Jakie Rabinowitz. Jakie’s dad, Canton Rabinowitz, insists his son become a Cantor, too, as it has been in their family for five generations. But Jakie wants to be a jazz singer. When his stubborn father punishes him for singing jazz in a beer garden, Jakie runs away to pursue his dreams – to the dismay of his mother, who encouraged Jakie to follow his heart.

Years later, Jakie is known as Jack Robin. He is a jazz singer who falls in love with beautiful dancer Mary Dale (May McAvoy). With the promise of performing on Broadway, Jack is eager to visit his parents again. Eugenie Besserer delivered such a heartfelt performance as Jakie’s mother, Sara.

I really enjoyed the movie until some of the events during the final act annoyed me, with decisions being made for Jakie “in the name of God”. I even found his initially supportive mother becoming a bit selfish, putting the needs of Jakie’s father – who doesn’t care for him – before Jakie’s career and future. Quite honestly, if my dad treated me the way Jakie’s father treated him, I wouldn’t have acted the way Jakie did.

Having said that, I believe there are several lessons to learn from this story. With ‘The Jazz Singer’ making history, it definitely is worth seeing. Then again, with the new generation taking everything for granted, I doubt they would give a damn about the film’s history.

‘The Jazz Singer’ was – needless to say – a huge box office success with everyone flocking to the cinema to experience the first film with sound. It earned $2.6 million on a budget of $422,000. At the very first Oscar ceremony in 1929, ‘The Jazz Singer’ received an Oscar nomination for Best Writing.

Would I watch it again? No.