The Comic Critic Reviews The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music was a tremendous blockbuster. For a short time, The Sound of Music displaced Gone with the Wind as the number one blockbuster of all time.* What made The Sound of Music not only the most widely seen musical ever, but also reach the pinnacle of success? It could be argued that the music is infectiously catchy, or that the movie could be seen as the perfect family film. But neither of those reasons is enough to explain its success. I know the true secret of The Sound of Music: it’s nice. It’s not merely nice, it’s nice squared. It’s nice on a supremely sublime level. There’s no crass potty humor trying to instigate a laugh. The move plays the characters straight. They’re honest, joyful and pink. Their flaws are only that they feel deeply and are trying to find their way to express that feeling. Even the Nazis are dealt with in a nice way. The Sound of Music is a success because it shows us how we want the world to be—courteous, polite, nice, and filled with music from the joy of it all.

*Domestic Gross - adjusted for inflation.