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The Sound of Music
1965 |
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It was while Wise was waiting to make THE SAND PEBBLES that he took on the project of producing and directing the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE SOUND OF MUSIC, the story of the singing Van Trapp family, who fled Austria during World War II. Little did he know that an interim project would go on to be the greatest success of his career—a record-breaker at the box office (the first film to gross over $100 million) and one of the most beloved musicals of all time.
Of course, it helped that, with Wise at the helm, it was a beautifully done film. In the director's favor were a wonderful score with songs that have become staples to young and old; a brilliant performance from Julie Andrews; the lovely scenery of Salzburg and the Austrian Alps; and an appealing cast of kids. But it was Wise's filmmaking skills that brought the movie together, including his ability to assemble the best crew for the project, many of whom were onboard for WEST SIDE STORY: screenwriter Ernest Lehman, production designer Boris Leven, production illustrator Maurice Zuberano, editor William Reynolds, and cinematographer Ted McCord. |
The antics of tomboyish Maria, a novice at the abbey
in Salzburg,
concern the Mother Abbess, who is unsure whether Maria wants
to become a nun.
To allow the girl to test her feelings, the Mother Abbess sends
Maria to be
the governess for the seven children of the widowed Baron von
Trapp, a
retired naval officer. The children are at first hostile to
Maria, but she
soon wins them over. The baron, who is a strict disciplinarian,
leaves to
visit Baroness Schraeder, and while he is gone, Maria allows
them greater
freedom and teaches them to sing. The children become so excited
when the
baron returns that they fall out of a rowboat in the lake. The
accident
 precipitates an argument between Maria and the baron, and he
orders her to
leave; but when he goes into the house and finds the children
entertaining
his friend Max and the baroness with a song, he asks Maria to
stay. Max later
suggests that they enter the Salzburg Festival as a singing
group, but the
baron refuses. Maria becomes aware that she is falling in love
with the baron
and returns to the abbey. The children follow her there and
try to persuade
her to return; when the Mother Abbess learns of their visit,
she sends Maria
back to the Trapp home. Maria again decides to leave when she
hears that the
baron plans to marry the baroness, but the baroness realizes
that he loves
Maria and releases him. He then marries Maria, and while they
are away on
their honeymoon, the Nazis take over Austria. Max, taking advantage
of the
baron's absence, enters the children in the Salzburg Festival.
When Maria and
the baron return, he forbids the children to appear at the festival.
The
baron learns that the Nazis, to whom he is violently opposed,
have ordered
him to take command of a ship. The Trapps plan an escape but
are stopped by
Storm Troopers. Max convinces them that they are on their way
to the festival
and that the baron is leaving for his ship immediately after
the performance.
The Trapps win first place and, using their exit song to escape,
they take
refuge in the abbey. The Nazis learn their whereabouts and surround
the
building, but the family escape through a secret tunnel to the
nearby
mountains. From the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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 174 min. Argyle Enterprises; A Robert Wise Production;
Distributed by: Twentieth
Century--Fox
Film Corp.;
Directed by: Robert Wise;
Produced by: Robert Wise;
Screenplay by: Ernest Lehman;
Edited by: William Reynolds;
Director of Photography: Ted McCord;
Music by: Richard Rodgers;
Production Design by: Boris Leven;
Sound by: Murray Spivack;
Costumes by: Josephine Brown;
Make-up by: Ben
Nye;
Hair by: Margaret
Donovan;
Choreography by: Dee Dee Wood
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Julie Andrews (Maria), Christopher Plummer (Captain
von Trapp), Eleanor Parker (The Baroness), Richard
Haydn (Max Detweiler), Peggy Wood (Mother Abbess), Charmian
Carr (Liesl),
Heather Menzies (Louisa), Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich),
Duane Chase
(Kurt), Angela Cartwright (Brigitta), Debbie Turner
(Marta), Kym
Karath (Gretl), Anna Lee (Sister Margaretta),
Portia Nelson (Sister Berthe), Ben Wright (Herr Zeller), Daniel Truhitte
(Rolfe), Norma
Varden (Frau Schmidt), Gilchrist Stuart (Franz),
Marni Nixon
(Sister Sophia), Evadne Baker (Sister Bernice),
and Doris Lloyd
(Baroness Ebberfeld)
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