The Sound of Music (1965)

Directed by Robert Wise

Starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn, Peggy Wood, Charmian Carr, Heather Menzies, Nicholas Hammond, Duane Chase, Angela Cartwright, Debbie Turner, Kym Karath, Anna Lee, Portia Nelson, Ben Wright, Daniel Truhitte, Norma Varden, and Marni Nixon

Many hit films were made from the Broadway musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein, but The Sound of Music, based on the last musical the duo wrote the music and lyrics for, was the only one to take home Oscar's top prize. Julie Andrews does very well the year after her Oscar win as Maria, the nun turned nanny turned wife of an Austrian captain. The songs, particularly the opening title tune, are very good. This is one of the rare musicals where the film version is much more well known than the stage version. Everyone associates The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer rather than Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, their Broadway counterparts. The sweeping scenery could obviously not be shown on stage, so this is the rare case when the movie version is better.

Other nominees: Darling (John Schlesinger), Doctor Zhivago (David Lean), Ship of Fools (Stanley Kramer), and A Thousand Clowns (Fred Coe)