Zack Walkter

There are certain movies which are truly timeless. It doesn't matter when they were shot or what the subject matter was—what matters is their resonance with an audience in an intensely personal way. The Sound of Music is among the most well-known and well-remembered musical movies of all time. Julie Andrews is superb in the lead role and the Von Trapp family is loveable and interesting. As much as we love this movie, though, we hadn't peeked behind the curtain to learn more about it. Join us and we'll share what we found with you! 1. All in the family Charmian Carr, the 21-year-old actress who played Liesl, revealed in her autobiography that she had a crush on married 35-year-old Christopher Plummer, who played her father, Captain von Trapp. Plummer admitted that he returned the feelings, and says the pair did nothing but flirt. 2. Video of the years When The Sound of Music was released to the home video market, it enjoyed a second life of adoration. The video stayed on the charts for almost five years. 3. Every morning you greet me The beloved song Edelweiss was the last song Oscar Hammerstein wrote before his death in 1960. 4. Hiking to Hitler’s If the von Trapps had hiked over the mountains, as the movie depicts in their closing shots, they would have ended up in Germany, near Adolf Hitler’s mountain retreat. Clearly, that was not the destination they intended. 5. Paternal endurance Christopher Plummer (Captain von Trapp) was no fan of the Sound of Music experience which he referred to as S&M. He compared working with Julie Andrews to “being hit over the head with a big Valentine’s Day card every day” and reportedly indulged so much in food and drink to mask his distress that his costumes had to be refitted. 6. Keeping the smile The actress who played little Marta (Debbie Turner) lost several teeth over the course of the filming. Whenever she did, they were replaced with false teeth. Look at those pearly whites. 7. Colorful recognition The Sound of Music won the best picture Oscar in 1966. The broadcast of that show was remarkable for being the first time the Academy Awards was shot in color. 8. Tripping Andrews up The trip Maria suffers when she’s running across the courtyard to the Von Trapp domicile was not written into the script. The director chose to keep it because he felt the misstep added to the character’s nervousness for the scene. 9. A kinder pop The real-life father of the von Trapp clan was not, in fact, as hard-nosed as Christopher Plummer plays him in the movie. In fact, Maria von Trapp allegedly met with director Robert Wise to discuss softening his sharp edges. Wise refused to budge. 10. Stringing her along Julie Andrews didn’t know how to play the guitar before The Sound of Music. She learned specifically for the film. 11. The real story The real-life relationship between Maria and Georg von Trapp was not nearly as romantic as portrayed in the film. When the captain proposed in real life, Maria wrote in her 1948 memoir, “I really and truly was not in love. I liked him but I didn’t love him. However, I loved the children. And so, in a way, I really married the children.” 12. I could have been a contender Julie Andrews was far from the first or only actress considered for the role of Maria. Reportedly, studio execs also courted Audrey Hepburn and Doris Day for the part. Both Sean Connery and Bing Crosby turned down the Captain von Trapp role. Fred Astaire was considered for the role of Max and Grace Kelly for the Baroness. Mia Farrow also auditioned for the part of Leisl. 13. Mayoral meeting The film’s director met with the mayor of Salzburg prior to filming to feel him out on how he felt his citizens would respond to the presence of Nazi Stormtroopers and flags on the streets, just 25 years after the real thing took place. This is what Captain von Trapp thinks. 14. 21 going on 22 The actress who played Liesl (Charmian Carr) was actually 21, and not 16 going on 17 as her popular song may lead one to believe when the movie was filmed. 15. Kid stuff The producers took a considerable license when it came to the family offspring. All the names and ages of the von Trapp children were changed in the film version. And the real von Trapps had an oldest son, not an oldest daughter. Indeed, Liesl’s character was utter fiction. 16. Special cameo Ever so briefly, the real Maria von Trapp, her daughter, and granddaughter appear in the background of the “I Have Confidence” scene, which sees Maria leaving the convent for the von Trapp home. 17. A visit from Hitler After the real Von Trapps fled Austria, their home was occupied by Heinrich Himmler. Adolf Hitler was said to have visited his right-hand man there many times. 18. Growing concerns Because the actress who played the von Trapp’s youngest child, Gretl (Kym Karath) gained so much weight over the course of the filming, Plummer declared her too heavy to hoist onto his shoulders for the culminating mountain-climbing scene. As such, a lighter stunt double appears in that shot. 19. Packing them in The Sound of Music was such a fan favorite in South Korea that some theatres showed the movie several times a day. In a bid to exploit its popularity, even more, one enterprising theatre owner cut the musical numbers so its shorter run length allowed for more daily showings. 20. Keeping it in the family The von Trapp family singing tradition continues. The younger generation—the great-grandchildren of the movie’s featured players—still sing professionally in the States. 21. Italian holiday The gripping drama of the apparent on-foot escape of the von Trapps over the Alps was fiction. The real family apparently won their freedom by going by train on a vacation to Italy, just a day before Austria closed its borders. From Italy, they traveled to the United States, where they were signed as the Von Trapp Family Singers. 22. Adding to the troop Captain von Trapp and Maria added to the seven children from his first marriage with three children of their own, the last of whom was born in 1939. 23. Drinking on the job In the culminating scene of the movie that sees the Von Trapp Family Singers compete in the music festival, their father is acting suspiciously giddy. Christopher Plummer later admitted that he was drunk during its filming. 24. Growing concerns 2 The actress who played Louisa (Heather Menzies-Urich) was about three inches taller than the actor who played Friedrich (Nicholas Hammond). Or at least she was at the beginning of the filming cycle. To compensate, the director had Hammond wear heel lifts. But by the end of the shoot, he had grown six inches, and so filmed without shoes. 25. Keeping it casual At no point in the film does Maria ever use Captain von Trapp’s given name, Georg. Instead, she refers to him as Captain, Darling, and Sir. Credits: factinate.com

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