Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical book written by the writing team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Ernest Lehman wrote the screenplay.
The musical originated with the book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. It contains many popular songs, including "Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "Do-Re-Mi", "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", and "The Lonely Goatherd", as well as the title song.
The movie version was filmed on location in Salzburg, Austria, Bavaria in Southern Germany, and at the 20th Century Fox Studios in California. It was photographed in 70mm Todd-AO by Ted D. McCord. It won a total of five Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1965 and is one of the most popular musicals ever produced. The cast album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Adjusted for inflation, it made $1.046 billion domestically (at 2010 prices), putting it third on the list of all-time inflation-adjusted box office hits, behind Gone with the Wind and Star Wars.In 2001, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry as it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
Maria's life suddenly changes when a widowed Austrian Navy Captain, Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) writes to the abbey asking for a governess for his seven children. Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood), unsure of Maria's suitability for working there, asks her to take the position on a probationary basis; previous governesses, though, have not lasted long. She is worried about what awaits her at the von Trapp household, but is determined to succeed ("I Have Confidence").
Maria, upon arrival at the von Trapp estate, finds that the Captain keeps it in strict shipshape order, blows a whistle, issues orders, and dresses his children in sailor-suit uniforms. While they are initially hostile to her, they warm to her when she comforts them during a thunderstorm (“My Favorite Things”). Liesl (Charmian Carr), the oldest, who is "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", sneaks into Maria's window after a secret meeting with a messenger boy, Rolfe (Daniel Truhitte). At first she is adamant that she "doesn't need a governess", but Maria offers to be her friend, and she acquiesces. Maria teaches them how to sing ("Do-Re-Mi") and to play, sewing playclothes for them from discarded drapes that were in her room.
The Captain entertains a visit from a lady friend, Baroness Elsa Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), a wealthy socialite from Vienna, along with mutual friend Max Detweiler (Richard Haydn), who is intent on finding an obscure musical act to launch at the upcoming Salzburg Music Festival. Upon their arrival at the villa, the Captain becomes aware that Maria has been taking the children on picnics and bicycle rides, climbed trees with them, and taken them in a boat on the lake adjoining his estate. She, standing up in the boat, loses her balance when it capsizes, throwing her and all of the children (all wearing their clothes made from the former curtains) into the water. He dismisses the children to the house and turns his wrath on her. She begs him to pay attention to the children, to love them, but he orders her to return to the abbey.
When he discovers the children performing a reprise of "The Sound of Music" for the Baroness, he changes his mind. Maria has brought music back into his home, and he begs her to stay after all. Things get better at the household. She and the children perform a puppet show ("The Lonely Goatherd") that Max gave to them. He announces that he has entered the children in the Salzburg Festival; the Captain, however, forbids their participation. Maria and the children insist that he sing a song, knowing that he used to play and sing with a guitar as well, and he agrees ("Edelweiss").
At a soiree thrown in Baroness Schraeder's honor, eleven-year-old Kurt observes guests dancing the Laendler, an Austrian folk dance, and asks Maria to teach him the steps. The Captain, watching from the sidelines, cuts in and partners her in a graceful performance, culminating in a close clinch which impacts heavily on the pair. At that moment she breaks off and blushes, stammering that she can remember no more. The children perform "So Long, Farewell" to say goodnight to the guests, receiving enthusiastic applause, and shortly after, the Baroness, jealous of Maria, convinces her to return to Nonnberg.
Maria leaves the estate and returns to the abbey, where she keeps herself in seclusion until Mother Abbess gently confronts her, urging her to "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" in search of God's will for her. At this command, she returns to the von Trapp family, finding that the Captain is now engaged to the Baroness. He, however, breaks off the engagement, realizing that he is in love with Maria, not Elsa. Elsa then returns permanently to Vienna.
He meets her in his gazebo and they declare their love for each other ("Something Good"). Sometime later, the two wed in an elaborate ceremony at the Salzburg Cathedral, with many of Austria's elite, as well as the nuns from Nonnberg Abbey, in attendance.
While the new couple is away on their honeymoon in Paris, Max, against the Captain's previously-stated wishes, grooms the children to perform in the Salzburg Music Festival. At the same time, Austria is annexed into the Third Reich in the Anschluss (actual date was March 12, 1938). When the Captain returns, he is informed that he must report as soon as possible to Nazi Naval Headquarters in Bremerhaven, to accept a commission in the German Navy. He is opposed to Nazism, and stalls by insisting he must perform with his family that night in the Salzburg Festival, now politicized and showcased as a Nazi event under the patronage of Hans Zeller (Ben Wright), recently appointed as the Nazi Gauleiter (Regional Governor). Zeller agrees, but orders the Captain to depart immediately after the performance. The choreography of the final song, "So Long, Farewell", allows the family to leave slowly, a few at a time, and as the winners are announced (they win first prize), they flee. At first they hide in the abbey, but are discovered by Rolfe (who had joined the Nazi party) and flee again. The Nazis are unable to pursue them, as the nuns have stolen their spark plug wires and ignition coil. The final shot shows the von Trapps climbing over the Alps into Switzerland, as "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", reprised by a choir, swells to a grand conclusion.
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