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Reviews
Salzburg Sight and Sound (1965)
Quirky but delightful
A quirky but delightful short film featuring Charmian Carr and her experiences on and off the set in Salzburg during the filming of the Sound of Music. It was made during her time off in the city while the younger children studied.
As well as a sightseeing tour and home movie action related to the film, it's essentially a vehicle for the actress herself to display her interest in culture, a demure personality in stark contrast to her role as Liesl and, of course, her exceptional beauty, given that she strolls through the streets in dresses fit for a supermodel, and pulls it off to perfection.
The lesson with the voice coach is memorable.
The Sound of Music (1965)
Liesl steals the show
Reviews of the Sound of Music always revolve, naturally enough, around Julie Andrews, a splendid actress and singer who plays the role of Maria in a second coming of the loveable nanny/governess type figure that brought her so much success in Mary Poppins.
Her performance is in many ways magnificent, although her dancing pales in comparison with the subject of this review (just compare the curtsies in the ballroom scene) and I've always found it hard to believe that the Captain would dump the Baroness, a beautiful, intelligent and eminently suitable woman, and fall for a would-be nun who, despite being able to bond with his kids, dresses terribly, wears her hair short and appears essentially virginal.
Conversely, reviewers often downplay the role of Liesl, played by the late Charmian Carr, perhaps because she's "just" one of the seven children. However, the 21 (and not 16) year old dazzles at every opportunity in her debut role with a voice to die for and breathtaking dancing that reflects her upbringing in ballet. She's the one child who gets her own scene (in the gazebo) and the five-or-so minutes this love story lasts are almost a film in themselves.
While Maria fails to suggest any sexuality, Liesl has it in spades. As an anecdote, some readers will know that Ms Carr stayed at the same hotel as Christopher Plummer during the filming in Salzburg and they drank and partied (with others, I hasten to add) into the early hours, developing a friendship that's reflected in the odd flirtatious moment in the actual film.
Perhaps an offbeat opinion, but I think this exceptionally beautiful and talented singer, actress and dancer deserves more credit for her performance.