The Sound of Music turns 50: Why critics ate their words

By Michael Idato
Updated March 3 2015 - 11:08pm, first published 9:13pm
Time to pop the cork? Julie Andrews made film history with <i>The Sound of Music</i>, which has just turned 50.
Time to pop the cork? Julie Andrews made film history with <i>The Sound of Music</i>, which has just turned 50.
<i>The Sound of Music</i> was based on <i>The Story of the Trapp Family Singers</i>, a 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp.
<i>The Sound of Music</i> was based on <i>The Story of the Trapp Family Singers</i>, a 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp.
<i>Sound of Music</i> stars: Charmian Carr as Liesl and Duane Chase as Kurt. Photo: Katie Carlin
<i>Sound of Music</i> stars: Charmian Carr as Liesl and Duane Chase as Kurt. Photo: Katie Carlin

As anyone who watched the Oscars telecast now knows, The Sound of Music – the much-loved film adaptation of the iconic story of an nun-turned-governess who falls in love with a retired Austrian sea captain and, as the shadow of war falls across Europe, flees with new new family to America – has just turned 50.