As far as classic musicals are concerned The Sound of Music does not hold up well at all. The performances are cringe worthy and the songs just sound tired. Everything about the movie is just trying way too hard to be entertaining and important which is the most common problem that musicals face. The lead performance by Julie Andrews is pushing way too hard to be whimsical and free but it eventually becomes much more annoying than it is fun to watch. The whole subplot about the von Trapps having to escape the Nazis is handled very poorly. The film can't make up its mind whether it wants to be serious about the Nazi presence or give the proceedings a lighthearted touch with happy songs and sparse comedy. This duality keeps The Sound of Music from ever seeming coherent and what it really needs is a great editor to save it. Musicals have to have an ease and smooth flow from their transitions from dialogue to song and this movie is all over the place when it comes to being graceful in its transitions. This isn't to discredit the work of William H. Reynolds who proved with The Godfather that he is one of the finest editors to ever live, but some songs just go on for far too long while some come out of no where and end as abruptly as they had started. This coupled with the confusing tone and poor filmmaking keep the film from ever becoming anything more than a frustrating mess that could have been saved by reigning everything in but unfortunately this didn't happen.