Adjusted for inflation, The Sound of Music has made $2,269,800,000, which is... well, it's a lot, isn't it? Presumably the most famous and eternally popular musical of all-time (with only The Wizard of Oz for competition, perhaps?), this Nazi-themed songfest has its fair share of iconic moments ("Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things", "Do-Re-Mi", "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", "The Lonely Goatherd" to name a few), but considered seriously, there is only one true candidate: the title song itself. Right? After all, who can forget the gloriously-released visual awesomeness that is Julie Andrews declaring that "the hills are alive... with the sound of music!" as the camera whizzes through the air towards her. It's a breathtaking and instantly iconic image that is yet to be beaten within the realms of musical filmmaking ventures. The fact that the scene is beautifully shot on location only serves to increase the brilliance of the moment - one that continues to appeal to millions of people all these years later. Especially at Christmas.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
