I understand your point, and it's true that -in our era at least, many of the most commercially successful movies/plays/books are not the works which critics support.
It's a bit of a myth, however, that the SOUND OF MUSIC film was "derided by critics" in 1965. While it's true that many NYC critics (Pauline Kael, Judith Crist, etc...) were negative, the vast majority of critics across the country (including some NYC reviewers), and especially the industry press (Variety, etc...) RAVED about THE SOUND OF MUSIC film, giving special praise to the changes Robert Wise and Ernest Lehman made in adapting the play to film. If you look at the recent book SOUND OF MUSIC:FAQ, or other recent books, you'll find that the filmmakers, as well as Richard Rodgers, were kind of shocked by those few bad reviews in NYC after the RIvoli press screening. But the general consensus was so overwhelmingly positive-especially in the industry- it made perfect sense that the film was nominated for, and won so many Academy Awards. |
