In 2005, it’s easy to take account of Julie Andrews’ career. In 1964, however, when she debuted in “Mary Poppins” (for which she later won the best actress Oscar), no one had any idea what was in store, least of all Andrews herself, who would gain even more fame with “The Sound of Music.”
“It was kind of phenomenal, then,” Andrews recalls. “I had done three movies, and not one of them had been released! I was playing in this arena, having a ball, with no consequences or responsibilities, just playing and making movies. Then suddenly all three were released in very short order. It was life-changing, really.” Andrews’ turn in “Mary Poppins” was timeless, as was her starring role in “The Sound of Music,” which was re-released on DVD this week in a 40th anniversary edition (Fox, 1965, 2:54, G, $26.98). As Andrews concedes, things were happening very quickly, so did she have any inkling these films would be revered as classics several decades later?
“We all thought [`The Sound of Music’] was a lovely movie,” Andrews says. “You obviously never set out to make a bad one! But I don’t think any of us then anticipated the enormity of its success. You couldn’t anticipate something like that, I don’t think. It was pretty instantaneous. Once the reviews started coming out, it just had a life of its own and took off.”
Actors have no say about the films for which they’ll be remembered, but Andrews has no quarrel with those who choose “The Sound of Music” as her defining role.
“Oh, yeah,” she says. “It’s a beautifully crafted movie. It has all the right values, and it was a joy to make. It’s stood the test of time, so how could you not choose it?”
Well, one reason not to choose films such as “The Sound of Music” or “Mary Poppins” is that they tend to marginalize other films in a career, such as 1964’s anti-war satire “The Americanization of Emily” (released between “Poppins” and “Music” ) and 1965’s “Torn Curtain,” which paired Andrews with Paul Newman and director Alfred Hitchcock.
“I’m so glad you remembered that,” says Andrews of those two oft-overlooked films. “I’ve always tried to do different projects and not in any way be bracketed in one particular role. I’ve really over the years tried to do many types of roles, but unfortunately when you get something as successful as `Sound of Music’ or `Poppins,’ it kind of eclipses all of the other things you’ve done. When you think of Clark Gable, you think of `Gone With the Wind,’ but he did a ton of other movies. The success of those two [“Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music”] was so enormous that they kind of pushed the others aside a little bit.”
The Hollywood musical also was soon pushed aside.
“Very shortly afterwards, or at least not too long afterwards, films like `Easy Rider’ came into the picture,” Andrews remembers. “That was the decade when serious movies were being made, low-budget films were being made, and it was appalling”–Andrews pronounces this word with a stagy flourish, “uh–PAUL–ling”–“to spend too much on a movie. Now we’ve come full circle again, of course. But `Easy Rider’ was a great movie. `The Sound of Music’ was a great movie. It doesn’t mean that one or the other should prevail. It’s wonderful that they’re all out there for the public to choose what they’d like to see.”
So does Andrews think that movie musicals will one day make a real comeback?
“There’s a lot of good stuff out there,” she says, citing recent film adaptations of “Chicago” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”
“I’m hoping that musicals in general are going to start coming back to the movies. It would be sad not to have them. They bring an enormous amount of joy. They bring you to an elevated state. For me, just admiring the talent of Fred Astaire, watching that he did something in one long take, is wonderful.”
As for her own career, along with her alternate guise as a children’s author, she seems to have cornered the market on playing royalty.
“Completely by accident!” she says. “There I was, doing `The Princess Diaries’ and having a wonderful time, and suddenly `Shrek 2′ comes along. They haven’t all been royalty–have you seen `Eloise’?”
Another nanny?
“That’s right! But such a nanny, with a beer in one hand and a huge backside. I’d never looked so scruffy and untidy.”
Best of the week
“Oklahoma!” (Fox, 1955, 2:25, G, $26.98); “State Fair” (Fox, 1945, 1:40, NR, $26.98): Like “The Sound of Music” DVD, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” and “State Fair” arrive on DVD in similarly packed anniversary editions. The former includes both the Cinemascope and the simultaneously shot Todd-AO versions, as well as a helpful feature describing the big differences. The “State Fair” DVD contains both the 1945 version of the film as well as its 1962 version. Each film includes the requisite commentary track, plus a karaoke version for fans of kitsch.
“The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection” (New Line, 1919-1936, 24:02, NR, $89.95): A silent comedy genius, Harold Lloyd rivaled Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin for sheer inspiration. Overseen by his estate, “The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection” spans seven DVDs, including 25 films and shorts with the occasional commentary track from critic Leonard Maltin or Lloyd’s granddaughter, and an entire disc is dedicated to additional supplements, some in 3-D. In a year full of them, it’s another must-have set for fans of classic film.
“The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary Collection” (Paramount/Harpo, 1985-2005, 17:14, NR, $54.99): It’s still all about Oprah, but the talk show host’s 20th anniversary DVD compendium allows you to choose which facet of Oprah you feel like watching: the celebrity sycophant, the narcissist, the activist, or the tearjerker (in a series of progressively moving clips that will leave you blubbering). To her credit, Winfrey hosts the DVD with a remarkable degree of candor and honesty, knowing when to admit too much was too much, and she’s admirably donating 100 percent of profits from this set to her Angel Network.
“The Kumars at No. 42” (BBC, 2002, 2:57, NR, $24.98): A hilarious half-improvised, half-scripted BBC hit about an Indian family hosting a talk show in their home, “The Kumars at No. 42” inexplicably debuts as a best-of DVD from a company usually devoted to season-by-season sets. Sure, the same thing happened with the original British DVD release, but where’s the rest of ’em?
“The Kingdom–Series One” (Koch Lorber, 1994, 4:32, NR, $34.98): Controversial Danish director Lars Von Trier isn’t all misanthropy, as evinced by his surreal soap opera/ghost story “The Kingdom,” which many have likened to a cross between “ER” and “Twin Peaks.” Stephen King recently adapted it to U.S. TV, but like many such experiments, the original remains the way to go, especially now that it’s available on DVD once again after a long period out of print.
Dud of the week
“Stealth” (Sony, 2005, 2:01, PG-13, $28.95): Want to know how a $130 million action flick managed to make just a paltry $30 million or so? Well, the “Stealth” DVD finds those involved still in blind booster blockbuster mode, talking about all the elements that made the special effects go boom when the more interesting story is how everything ultimately went bust.
