The New My Favorite Things

“THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS”
--The Popular Lyric from the Hollywood movie ‘Sound of Music’.


During the decade covering the period of 1960-1970 Hollywood brought out some of the finest movies of the decade which remain fresh in the memory of those who had seen them about 40-50 years back. Probably there was no Hollywood fan who had missed seeing such memorable movies like Benhur, Lawrence of Arabia, Tom Jones, My Fair Lady, Sound of Music, Mary Poppins etc. Even among them the one picture that stole the heart of the movie lovers, particularly the songs it contained, was ‘The Sound of Music’ which won the Oscar Award as the Best Picture of 1965. Julie Andrews who played the leading female role as Maria was considered one of the most popular actress of the decade. In fact, she was awarded an Oscar in 1964 as the Best Actress for her picture ‘Mary Poppins’ in 1964.

The ‘Sound of Music’ became particularly popular on account of the tilting lyrics like ‘Edelweiss’, ‘My Favourite Things’, ‘Do-re-mi’ which are remembered and sung even today. So popular was the effect of these lyrics when the picture was released in 1965 that most of the songs became words, I mean house-hold words. As the picture was considered significant culturally, aesthetically and historically, it has been preserved by The US Government in the National Film Registry. The picture got 11 Oscars in all and the American Film Society has included it under ‘The Top 100 Movies from Hollywood’.
From 2005 onwards, Los Angeles holds an annual ‘Sound of Music Festival’ where the film is shown with the song lyrics underneath the screen.

The film is based on the life of the famous ‘Trapp Family Singers’ of Austria, Vienna. In 1938, Baron George Van Trapp and his big and still growing family of seven children were leading a happy and contented life with music as their soul in their quite villa in Austria.. The declaration of the Second World War in 1939 completely upset their quite life of eloquence and ease. With the escalation of war and the aggressive hostilities of the German dictator Hitler, the family was compelled to flee Austria and migrate to America. With this story in the background, the film deals with the life of one Captain Van Trapp, a widowed former Commander in the Austrian army who is on the lookout for a new governess to look after his large family of seven children. The film opens in the Austrian city of Salzburg in 1938. Maria, [enacted by Julie Andrews], a young postulant in one of the local churches, is a free spirit, seldom on time for the mass and constantly trying the patience of the nuns. Doubting her devotion to a life in Service to God, the Mother of the Church sends her to Captain Van Trapp to work as a governess and look after his large family of seven siblings.

In the way of bringing up children, both the Captain and the governess are always at loggerheads. While the Captain wants the children to be brought up in the strictly military discipline, Maria strongly objects to such hard way of bringing up children. Her way is to give a free hand to the children and allow them to grow up in an unfettered and carefree life. This conflict of approach results in inevitable unpleasant incidents in the family. With the passage of time, the children who were initially hostile
and mischievous become close to Maria. The closeness reaches its acme during a thunderstorm during which she introduces the children to the pleasure of music and dancing. Soon the children start loving music and dance and start enjoying the pleasures of life beyond the regimentation imposed by their father. The Captain who would be observing all these changes in the attitude of his children carefully analyses his own attitude and is convinced that his approach was totally wrong and he should fall in line with Maria. In course of time both Maria and the Captain get attached to each other so much that eventually they get married.

Julie Andrews, the talented, graceful and with a captivating smile, the legendary heroine of ‘The Sound of Music’, became popular for her lyrics, particularly for the lyric
“These are a few of my favourite things”. The lyric runs like this:

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favourite things.

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things.


When the dog bites, when the bee stings
When I''m feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And I don't feel so bad.

Unfortunately, Julie Andrews, who must be now in her early seventies, has been having a lot of health problems in recent years. A few years back, it is learnt, she underwent a throat surgery which went bad and now it is heard that she can’t even speak.
A year or two back, to commemorate her 69th birthday, she was invited by The Radio City Music Club of Manhattan where she made a special appearance. One of the musical members she performed was ‘My Favourite Things’ from the legendary movie ‘Sound of Music’. Here are the lyrics she used:

“Botox and nose drops and needles for knitting
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in the string
These are a few of my favorite thins.
Cadillacs and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses
Peacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favourite things.

When the pipe leaks, when the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pods for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pain, confused brain and no need for sinning
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinning
And we won’t mention our short sunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache, when the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I had,
And then I don’t feel so bad”

Mrs. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores.


B.M.N.Murthy












ARTICLE NO.561" These Are A Few of my Favourite Things"- -Song inthe picture 'Sound of Music'
Created:Friday, April 9, 2010 9:17 PM