The Sound of Music

Being the smart-ass kid I was, I never took The Sound of Music seriously.  Something about that beginning image of twirling on an Austrian hilltop immediately turned me away.  Yet I had a deep love for Mary Poppins.  Now that I have finally seen The Sound of Music entirely as an adult, my old cynical outlook has been broken.  Not only are the songs better than I remember, but the singing is not too frequent.  Plus, there’s Nazis and nuns.  How could I have so easily written that off fifteen or so years ago?

The story takes place in Austria, where Maria (Julie Andrews) is a novice at the local convent, but is far too much of a free spirit to be a good nun.  She is assigned to become the governess for Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), a retired Naval officer and widower with seven children.  When Maria arrives at the Von Trapp residence, the Captain has his children so disciplined they are whistle trained.  Even worse, the children have already been through eleven governesses; they seem to torture the women for fun and attention.  Right away, Maria starts shaking up the children’s routine, behaving more like a friend to the eldest child, Liesl (Charmian Carr), and comforting the children when a thunderstorm frightens them.  Soon she’s got the whole troop in comfy play-clothes, has taught them to sing (seven notes for seven children, that’s rich) and is unknowingly warming her way into the Captain’s heart.

Now for the Nazis.  It is the thirties with Hitler on the rise.  The Captain is trying to just remain neutral and stay out of the mess, but soon he’s in trouble for not flying the Nazi flag.  Then Liesl’s love interest turns from the innocent telegram boy to the poster-child of Hitler youth.  Next thing we know, the Captain is being drafted to lead the Nazi army and the entire family must try to leave Austria and head for the hills.  This sort of action coming up between songs can brings a much harder edge than I had anticipated, and I loved it.

This film makes wonderful use of the beautiful scenery.  With the setting in the quaint hills and mountains of Austria, this is essential.  Anyone who’s ever seen Austrian or Switzerland mountains, even just on a postcard, can appreciate the spectacular beauty this landscape brings to the screen.  The film begins with these images to get us into the right frame of mind and it works.

Honestly, if you find yourself with a narrow minded kid like the former me, try to make him/her give The Sound of Music a chance.  They may not admit it, but if you make them watch and point out the Nuns vs Nazis, they are bound to enjoy it.  Finally, you should not compare, but if you must, The Sound of Music is a less magical form of Mary Poppins.  Really, it’s just silly to believe in magic and Nazis at the same time.

“I haven’t had so much fun since the day we put glue on Fräulein Josephine’s toothbrush.”

The Bells of St. Mary’s

There’s always been a soft spot in my heart for nuns and Catholic schools.  All those stereotypes about nuns being the strictest teachers armed with rulers was just a myth in my experience.  And though my Catholic school of the early ‘90s had no air conditioning at the time, which my mother fretted over, I never felt the environment stifling.  We worked, played and expressed ideas more freely than I felt I could later in public schools.  Though our priest was no Bing Crosby, I couldn’t help but flash back on my own happy times in a Catholic school and appreciate all the good fortune my old parish has had.

In the film directed by the legendary Leo McCarey, Father O’Malley (Crosby reprising his role from Going My Way) has just arrived at St. Mary’s, a run-down inner city school nearly condemned.  He and the principal, Sister Mary Benedict (Ingrid Bergman), don’t always see eye-to-eye and begin a little rivalry.  O’Malley realizes how badly the school is falling apart and thinks that the best thing to do is send the students to St. Victor’s school where they have more modern facilities.  But Sister Benedict loves being with the children and has worked so hard at keeping St. Mary’s open.  She has her eye on the new building being constructed next door and prays that the owner, Horace P. Bogardus (Henry Travers), will simply donate the building to St. Mary’s.

Along the way, we also meet a troubled 8th grade girl, Patsy (Joan Carroll).  Her mother seeks confidence in Father O’Malley, sharing the sad story about how Patsy has never met her father and is starting to look down upon her mother.  Patsy is trying to grow up too fast, just before she is admitted into St. Mary’s she’s wearing quite a lot of makeup and was out trying to find a job.  O’Malley is understanding, takes special interest in their situation and helps stay Patsy in school.

The film also brings up the idea that boys educated by nuns may become less masculine.  After Tommy and Eddie have a little schoolyard fight, Father O’Malley nearly encourages Tommy, who won the fight, and tells disapproving Sister Benedict “I like to see a man who can take care of himself.”  Realizing that Eddie lost the fight by listening to her, Sister Benedict teaches him to box.  A nun teaching a young boy to box seems odd at first, but it becomes one of the best scenes in the film and later, we understand Sister Benedict’s good intentions.

Since we’re closing in on the holidays, I’d love to discuss the 1st grade Christmas play scene.  Sister Benedict lets the children hold the reigns on the production and they boil it down the the simplest details: “I’m Joseph and this is Mary and we need a place to stay.”  In their ending manger scene, the boy playing Joseph calls the Wise Men “neighbors” and they sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.  There’s no recitation of big words or religious concepts that these children don’t really comprehend yet, just the simple story as they understand it.  O’Malley describes it best: “Their simplicity is beautiful.”

I really loved The Bells of St. Mary’s, but I realize that I’m especially drawn and moved by these kinds of films by my own personal experiences.  If you have a fondness for nuns, want to remember your own Catholic school days or just love Bing Crosby or Ingrid Bergman this is a must see.  Crosby does find ways to sneak a few songs into the film, but I don’t know anyone who would mind hearing more of his beautiful voice.

“I can see you don’t know what it means to be up to your neck in nuns.”

Lilies of the Field

Many times, movies about religion just leave a bitter taste in my mouth.  Their agenda simply becomes preaching, converting the non-believers and depicting the punishments of the unholy.  I don’t care to watch someone give my soul an ultimatum.  Movies are meant to be an escape, that safe place where our devilish fantasies can run wild for a while that won’t send us to confession.  Lilies of the Field is one of the best feel-good film’s I’ve ever seen where ideas about Christianity are present but not preached upon.

While Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier) is heading west though the desert, his car overheats at a little house where four nuns from Germany live.  He stops just to get some water, thanking and being very polite with Mother Maria (Lilia Skala).  She asks Smith to stay, reassuring him that he was sent by God.  He just smiles, saying he’s only there for the water, but as he’s about to leave he sees all the backbreaking work the women do.  Half motivated by good will, half wanting to make some money, Smith turns around to help the nuns.

Mother Maria has big dreams of building a chapel on their land.  Every Sunday, the nuns have to walk miles along the desert road to Mass that is held in a general store parking lot.  This chapel would bring the congregation to them and provide shelter.  Two corners on a cement slab have already been started, but Smith sees there’s a long way to go.  Mother Maria is convinced that Smith has been sent by God to help build the Chapel, so that’s the work she gives him, but with no materials or plans and her thanks only go to God.  While the plot focuses on the wonder and hope that Smith will somehow build the chapel for the nuns, despite Mother Maria’s less than thankful attitude towards him, there are subplots about faith, gratitude and respect that make the chapel even more important.

After Mass, Smith meets the congregation’s priest, Father Murphy (Dan Frazer).  He asks Smith if he is really building the chapel for the nuns and suggests he move on before he gets too involved.  It seems that Murphy has lost some faith, his prayers of working in a nice big chapel have yet to be answered.  Instead, he drives an RV four hundred miles a week to perform Mass outdoors for the rural Hispanic communities.  He seems genuinely disenchanted with his “poor man’s Vatican.”

Smith and Mother Maria are both stubborn and start to butt heads.  Smith wants more to eat than an egg and milk to fuel him to work all day.  On Sundays, he drives the nuns to Mass, but does not attend.  Instead, he gets the big breakfast he’s been wishing for. Mother Maria won’t stand for any laziness and believes in the chapel so much that she takes  Smith’s hard work for granted.  It is very refreshing to see that the head nun is not always perfect.

After Smith’s first meal with the nuns is one of their finest moments in bonding.  The nuns are trying to learn English by repeating after a phonograph, but it seems to be teaching them sentences for tourists.  Smith chimes in and the nuns repeat, “The record is black.”  To reiterate what black is, he continues and points to his hand, “My skin is black.”  The nuns point to their pale hands and repeat.  It’s a wonderful moment, as sweet and funny as it is innocent and we realize that these nuns don’t have the concept of racism that was in such high profile in ‘63.  Throughout the film, there are more of these moments.  Smith teaches the nuns a hymn he probably learned in his boyhood at a Southern Baptist church and the song becomes theme music for the film.  Poitier’s performance as Smith was hailed so highly that he became the first African American man to receive the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Lilies in the Field can bring more issues to light than any Evangelical after school special.  Non-Christians won’t cringe and scoff at the ideas, because they are basic human ideas and values, not filled with a strictly Christian agenda.  While we can admire the nun’s faith and innocence, Smith depicts the modern man who doesn’t go to church, but is no less of a good person.  Whether Smith really was sent by God or not is never answered, nor do we care.  What matters is people doing good for each other, no matter what their race or creed.

“Old Mother gonna feed the slaves?”

Airport

Welcome to the 1970’s, where disasters became big in the box office.  Airport was one of the first to make big bucks over depicting a day where everything goes wrong and lead the way for films like Earthquake, The Towering Inferno and the rest of the Airport series.  But perhaps Airport’s greatest achievement was inspiring the best spoof ever made, Airplane!

I’ll admit it, I love Airplane! and have seen it too many times.  So it was a little difficult at first to take Airport seriously.  But Airplane! mostly spoofs Zero Hour! and other installments of the Airport series.   So don’t write off Airport too fast, once the gears of the plot start moving together it’s almost intriguing and suspenseful.

The whole film is one crazy night at an airport.  There’s a huge blizzard delaying flights and one plane is stuck on the runway.  The nearby neighborhood is filing a lawsuit because planes rattle their houses.  A stewardess discovers that she’s pregnant with a married pilot’s child.  An old woman is caught for being a stowaway.  And a man has a bomb on a flight to Rome.  Talk about a bad night.

Thankfully, most of these problems are very unlikely to happen today (I mean besides unplanned kids and snowstorms).  But it’s fun to look back at the airport of yesteryear where they didn’t scan your bag, ticket or shoes.

The plot jumps back and forth between action in the terminal, on the runway, the tower, the jammed highway and of course the plane.  For some, it may feel that too much is going on at once, and one character might be forgotten for a while until everything gels together.

The most enjoyable plot line is of the little old woman who stows away on planes to see her daughter.  Played by Helen Hayes, Ada is a delightful little thing just playing the system and doing it well.  In the end, she gets to be one of the heroes aboard the plane and snatches Airport’s only Oscar for best supporting actress.

For those who enjoy disaster films of the 70’s or airport melodramas, Airport is for you.  If you want the same basic idea but full of zany laughs, just watch Airplane! And for a quote that could fit either film:

“Hold the whipped cream; I just had dessert.”

Foreign Correspondent

Europe is on the brink of war and all the usual reporters can get out of politicians are tired and dry ways to say nothing, so armature Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea) is appointed to become a foreign correspondent in Europe for a New York newspaper.  Fresh, naive and constantly losing his hats, Jones interviews Van Meer, a leader of a peace movement, but he doesn’t seem to talk about anything more important than feeding the birds.  He also meets a colleague of Van Meer, Mr. Fisher, and falls for his lovely daughter, Carol.  Later in Amsterdam, Jones witnesses Van Meer’s assassination and boldly tracks down the assassin to discover a whole conspiracy.

This is the first of four films by, Alfred Hitchcock (my personal favorite director of all time) to be nominated for best picture.  Now, a majority of Hitchcock’s films follow at least one of two basic formats: man being followed or psychological creep out.  He got nominated for both in 1940, quite a feat.  Rebecca (where I promise to gush more about the master of suspense) is the psychological creep out and Foreign Correspondent is the man being followed.

It seems that Jones is one of Hitchcock’s men who knew too much.  The plot is wonderfully smart, with all the twists and turns, but at times it’s as complicated as being caught in a hedge maze.  Once you’re able to step back and recall the map does it all fit together.  The great thing about getting turned around so much is the surprises around every corner, including a scene that seems like practice for the end of Vertigo, complete with nuns.

My favorite scene was where Jones is inside a working windmill on the outskirts of Amsterdam.  I won’t give away any discovered plot, but I will say that the way Hitchcock uses the cramped vertical space and moving gears to create his trademark tension is beautiful.  And even though I was yelling for Jones to cop out and ride the rotating windmill blade out the window (like we’ve seen in so many other films) Hitchcock is more creative than that, and won’t let the viewer off that easy.

There’s also a surprising amount of action and daring special effects, especially near the end.  Once again, I don’t want to spoil the fun.  Let’s just say, it doesn’t go down in flames and won’t hang you out to dry.

This is a good movie, one of Hitchcock’s better man-being-followed thrillers.  Though, I judge how much I love a Hitchcock film by how much I yell at the characters.  You know, “Don’t go in there you idiot, it’s full of birds!”  Unfortunately, I wasn’t hoarse or angry by the end, but still found it enjoyable and worthy of the Hitchcock stamp of approval.  If you have to choose between Foreign Correspondent and Rebecca, remember, there’s a good reason why Rebecca won Best Picture.

“I think the world has been run long enough by well-meaning professionals. We might give the amateurs a chance now.”

The Nun’s Story

This is a very eye opening movie about the lives nuns lead.  It begins with Gabrielle (Audrey Hepburn) leaving her family (and possible fiancé) to become a nun.  Within the convent she is a nurse, and one day hopes to go to a mission in the Congo.  We bear witness to all her religious rituals and all the new rules that come with joining a convent.  As she progresses, her family attends her ceremonies.  They display a dutiful support and obviously miss her.  She becomes Sister Luke and travels to learn more about medicine that will one day help her in the Congo.  But there is always one thing in her way; herself.

There are so many rules and internal struggles a nun must face.  At all times they must be aware of themselves and keep pure of heart.  They must not want anything, show vanity or show any hint of pride and always be humble.  This includes looking into a mirror.  Twice a day they must write down their sins in a little black book.  To teach them humility, they must make penance in front of the entire convent, and if they failed to mention a certain sin, anyone who knows of it can call them out right there while they kneel in front of the Head Mother.  To get through all that, you’ve got to be very strong to be a nun.

Unfortunately for Sister Luke, strength is her greatest virtue as a nun.  When she excels in her studies, it is sometimes considered pride.  When she chooses to finish giving her patient medicine before going to chapel, it’s considered disobedience.  She has ambition and ferocious will to go the Congo and sometimes puts her duties as a nurse before her religion.  Every day for her is an inner struggle between two types of conscience and in the end, she must choose where her heart truly lies.

I can imagine so many responses to this film.  Some may feel swept by how strong these women devote every bit of their lives to something greater and have a religious moment.  Others may be appalled by the lives they lead and say it’s unnatural to forsake so much that makes us human.  From either side of the fence, the story is still excellent.  It has to be, for such charged emotional responses to come out of it.  It’s told without a single hitch in the road and from the start we are fully interested in the fate of Sister Luke.

There are so many reasons to watch The Nun’s Story.  Whether you’re Catholic or not, you’ll learn new things and identify with Sister Luke’s struggles.

“You can cheat your sisters, but you cannot cheat yourself or God.”

Just a personal note: This post goes out to my favorite nun and first grade teacher, Sister Judy.