Being Ernest

Two of my favorite films (North by Northwest and Sound of Music) were written by Ernest Lehman. I often defend the latter against people who saw it when they were young and remember only the syrup and song. The wry wit in the Sound of Music, especially some of the lines spoken by the icy baronness and repressed captain, is pitch perfect, and if you click here you can read some of the best quotes. In fact, I recently used a line of dialogue on someone as part of a conversation, and he incorrectly guessed that it was from a British comedy. It was this, in fact:

NAZI: Captain, you flatter me.

CAPTAIN: How clumsy of me. I meant to accuse you.

When the Sound of Music was on Broadway, Ernest Lehman went to see it in order to consider a screen adaptation. At the time, it was a cutesy show with some great Rogers & Hammerstein lyrics, but not a whole lot more. Lehman saw something in it. He reordered some of the scenes, made the romance more gradual and nuanced, and, with collaboration of course, gave us the Oscar-winning film that opened to dull reviews from the critics but great reviews from fans in 1965.

A year and a half ago, I started thinking of how I should have a "Thank you day" where I take time to write all the fan letters and thank you letters I should have written but never bothered to. I wrote a fan letter to Lehman and cited some of his dialogue that I loved. I didn't expect a response, but I got one. He signed it himself in his shaky handwriting (he was, after all, 88 years old.)

When they used to show the Sound of Music on TV, they would cut a few scenes to get the whole deal down to three hours including commercials. They don't cut the film when they show it anymore (they actually aren't allowed to because in a historic registry). Anyway, below is a classic exchange in the movie that used to be cut (but isn't anymore).

Captain von Trapp: It's the dress. You'll have to put on another one before you meet the children.
Maria: But I don't have another one. When we entered the abbey, our worldly clothes were given to the poor.
Captain von Trapp: What about this one?
Maria: The poor didn't want this one.