Happy Birthday, Julie Andrews!
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 8:00PM ;)
Julie Andrews accepting her AFI Tribute Award in 2021.
Here, at The Film Experience, we keep to a 10|25|50|75|100 model when it comes to birthdays and anniversaries. Yet, as the world of entertainment lost so many bright lights in the past few days – Maggie Smith, Kris Kristofferson, Gavin Creel, Ken Page, John Amos, and Kalen Gorman – it feels right to take a moment and show some love to those who are still with us. Case in point is the jubilant Julie Andrews, who celebrates her 89th birthday today. This living legend of stage and screen is beyond compare, with a career that spans across eight decades, from entertaining the troops with her parents in the mid-40s to recent voice-over work in such projects as Aquaman and the Bridgerton franchise, for which Andrews has received three Emmy nominations.
All that said, the actress will always have a special place in my heart for reasons that go beyond her body of work. Allow me to share a personal musing…
There was a time when I felt alone in my love for cinema. While I lurked around online communities like this very site, real-life cinephile friends were hard to come by. That may be more understandable when you consider I was around twelve, and not many peers prized the Gosford Park DVD as a Holy Grail of wit and murderous delight. But then, it happened. I switched classes in the seventh grade and met a girl who was to become my best friend. The origin of our bond? I once heard her wax rhapsodic about musicals and had to join the fun, even if no one else was interested. Through her, I discovered much classic cinema, I discovered myself, and found an undying love for her favorite actress in the whole world – Julie Andrews.
We'd exchange DVDs weekly, and you can be assured that many Andrews' vehicles were included in that lot. The actress' miraculous work in The Sound of Music, which I had only seen at holiday TV airings, became a staple and a lesson, a way to appreciate how an effortless, featherlight performance could be built on immense craft. The plentiful extras and commentary tracks helped with that. Then there was Star!, bloated yet beautiful, a Gertrude Lawrence biopic that broke the record for most costume changes in 1968 Hollywood. To this day, I'm unsure if my affection for that title has more to do with Andrews' drunk acting, Donald Brooks' decade-spanning designs, or how I always associate it with a dear friend who made those difficult teenage years bearable.
The Princess Diaries and its sequel were a late-career highlight, not especially challenging but a sweet treat nevertheless. Victor/Victoria came with a whole story about a declined Tony nomination and my first taste of Blake Edwards' funny business. It was also exhilarating for a young queer kid still figuring himself out. Ten was confusing at that age, but amusing, and Andrews an acerbic pleasure. Thoroughly Modern Millie hit me with another bout of costuming euphoria, and Darling Lily offered a cheekier vision of Andrews as a good girl gone bad. Her striptease in that flick is a career highlight, for damn sure. We don't talk about Hawaii, but you better believe the star's shows with Carol Burnett were a topic of enthusiastic conversation.
Weirdly enough, a point of contention was always Julie Andrews' Best Actress Oscar win. While I count it among the greatest of that category's victors, my friend has always remained unimpressed. Mary Poppins isn't so much a person as a fanciful idea, a conflagration of impossibilities wrapped in a nanny package with Edwardian finery on top. Just imagining the tonal balancing that such an act requires makes me dizzy, and the few stabs at humanity are so precise that they feel like surgical stabs in the middle of the Disney musical. Oh well, we've never agreed on Andrews' merits as Mary and I think we never will, but that's part of the fun of having a fellow cinephile as a friend. All this is my way of saying thank you for the friendship, Catarina. And thank you for the movies, Dame Julie, for all the songs and dance and pitch-perfect performances.
What about you, dear reader? What does Julie Andrews mean to you? Do you have similar stories about a cinephile friend from your youth?
Reader Comments (7)
Julie Andrews... a Goddess. A true legend in cinema with some ROCKIN' tits! Honestly, her performance in S.O.B. is great as this goody-two shoes woman who finally decides to let it all out!
The thought of Julie Andrews evokes memories of another era.
I saw The Sound of Music on its initial release. It played for months to sold out audiences in a 950 seat, super 70mm venue. We bought reserved seats a week in advance. The lobby was huge, gleaming from the parking lot as the glow through the long glass facade allowed the theater’s lights to illuminate the parking lot.
We first went to one of the two side windows and picked up our tickets which had The Sound of Music embossed on the slick paper along with out seat assignment, show date, and time. We were greeted at the door by a uniformed man who tore out tickets and gave us stubs that were worthy of keeping for sentiment.
The refreshment counter was stuffed with popular candies in specialty boxes that were oversized and specifically labeled as theater sized. The aroma of freshly popped popcorn wafted through the building. Attendants dropped full cubes of butter into the warming machines to spray on our the contents of the tub.There were four separate cashiers at the exit to the refreshment area to insure we didn’t miss the start of the picture.
To enter the auditorium, we walked up a wide incline that featured framed one sheets. The walls were draped with heavy gold curtains with brocade to muffle sound and insure a quiet screening. At the top of the incline, we were greeted by uniformed ushers who checked our stubs and guided us to our seats. The loges rocked gently and featured over stuffed padding. Each seat had its own arm rest. No one shared.
When the lights dimmed, the overture began. At its conclusion, the lights were turned off and the huge curtain rolled back. We could hear the union projectionist click the massive mschine and a light flickered from the window at the top of the auditorium.
The eternally young Julie Andrews was singing so gloriously in the mountains. The camera then pulled back to give us thrilling vistas of Austria. We gasped because it felt like we might fall into clear, vibrant Salzburg from the lofty camera shots. During intermission, we used the sparkling clean restrooms and glanced through the glossy programs we had purchased in the lobby.
Audiences today simply don’t understand the experience of movie going then. The huge screen, the riveting color cinematography, and stereo sound were such a vivid contrast to the small black and white television in our living rooms.
I admire Julie and understand her legendary legacy status but I can't say she is one of my ultimate favourites,musicals and Broadway is just not my cuppa,I do think she won her Oscar for the wrong film and enjoyed her most in 1986's Duet For One,hard to find drama that she's superb in with a young hot n horny Rupert Everett.
Happy 89th.
Slight correction: The producer who passed away was named Kalen Gorman (not Karen).
Frank Zappa -- Thank you for alerting me to that error. I've corrected it.
Mr Ripley79 -- DUET FOR ONE is certainly a dramatic showcase for her. For those not in the US or with access to a VPN, the Julie Andrews Archive has uploaded the film on YouTube.
Finbar McBride -- Thank you for sharing such memories. They were a pleasure to read.
thevoid99 -- My friend has mentioned that film a lot, but I have somehow managed to avoid it. Well, not avoid, since it's more accidental than on purpose. I have to rectify that tout de suite.
Thanks Claudio i'll give it another watch,I did notice The Passion Of Judith Hearne has been uploaded to YOUTUBE this week,if anyone hasn't seen it,watch it now,Maggies best performance IMO.
SOB is actually funny give it a watch.
Julie Andrews' incredible career and timeless performances have touched countless lives so beautifully. From The Sound of Music to Mary Poppins, her grace, talent, and versatility continue to inspire. This heartfelt tribute captures the magic she brings to the screen and the deep connections her work fosters.