The Sound of Music :: Rodgers & Hammerstein :: Show Details GUEST BLOG: Liesl from THE SOUND OF MUSIC Live! on NBC A guest blog from the amazing young woman portraying Liesl in the upcoming NBC broadcast of THE SOUND OF MUSIC Live! read more Did you know? The real Captain von Trapp was offered command of a submarine in the Navy of the Third Reich, which he refused. The von Trapps were invited to sing for Hitler?s 50th birthday party, which they also declined. The eldest son, Rupert, was offered a medical post in a good Viennese hospital; but, he realized it was because many Jewish doctors had been fired. With tensions rising, the family emigrated to Italy four months after the Anschluss in 1938. Did you know? In THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Maria von Trapp was a novice at Nonnberg Abbey. The historic Nonnberg Abbey was founded in the 8th century by Avendrid, niece of St. Rupert who is considered the patron saint of Salzburg. The city also has a cathedral monastery and is often called ?The Rome of the North.? Did you Know?

At the 1960 Tony Awards Mary Rodgers found her musical ONCE UPON A MATTRESS competing against a show by her father Richard Rodgers - THE SOUND OF MUSIC - for the category of Best Musical! In 1967 THE SOUND OF MUSIC finished its run at the Palace Theatre, London, after six years and 2,385 performances - at the time, the longest running American musical in British theatrical history. The birthday of Maria von Trapp. In 1905, Maria Augusta Kutschera Trapp was born aboard a train in the Tirol, Austria. The story of her early life served as the inspiration for THE SOUND OF MUSIC. The birthday of Florence Henderson, who played Maria von Trapp in the first U.S. National Tour of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, starting in 1961. Best known for playing Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch from 1968 to 1974, Florence Henderson began her career as a stage actress.

In addition to THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Henderson starred as Laurey in the 1953 Broadway revival of OKLAHOMA!, as Anna in the Los Angeles Music Center's inaugural production of THE KING AND I, and as Nellie at the Music Theater of Lincoln Center?s SOUTH PACIFIC in 1967. In 2010 she performed on "Dancing with the Stars"" - even waltzing to ""Edelweiss"" from THE SOUND OF MUSIC!" In 1990, in celebration of THE SOUND OF MUSIC's silver anniversary, Twentieth Century Fox hosted a gala screening/reunion for director Robert Wise, star Julie Andrews, and other members of the cast in Los Angeles; the movie is subsequently rereleased for a limited engagement in Los Angeles and New York. The birthday of Russel Crouse, book writer of the musicals CALL ME MADAM and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Crouse was born in 1893. The birthday of singer Marni Nixon.

Marni Nixon became famous as the singing voice of Deborah Kerr in Rodger & Hammerstein?s film THE KING AND I, as well as Audrey Hepburn in MY FAIR LADY and Natalie Wood in WEST SIDE STORY. Nixon finally appeared as a performer on camera while singing the part of Sister Sophia in the film THE SOUND OF MUSIC. In 1961, the national tour of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, starring Florence Henderson, began at the Riviera Theatre, Detroit. It played in 35 cities before closing at the O'Keefe Center, Toronto, on November 23, 1963. In 1965, Twentieth Century Fox premiered the movie version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. It played in New York for a record-setting 93 weeks. The movie's initial U.S. release lasted 4.5 years, and from 1966 to 1972 THE SOUND OF MUSIC was cited by Variety as the "All-Time Box Office Champion."" It remains the most popular movie musical ever made." The birthday of Julie Andrews, born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England.

International star of stage and screen, her long and cherished association with Rodgers & Hammerstein includes starring as the title character in the original TV production of CINDERELLA (1957), playing Maria in the iconic movie version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), and singing the role of Anna in the studio cast recording of THE KING AND I (1992) In 1959, the world premiere of THE SOUND OF MUSIC was presented at the Shubert Theatre, New Haven. In 1959, Oscar Hammerstein II began work on "Edelweiss,"" his 1,589th and last lyric, written for THE SOUND OF MUSIC. It is completed on October 21st and went into the show during its pre-Broadway tryout in Boston." In 1889 book writer Howard Lindsay was born. Lindsay became best known for writing the books to THE SOUND OF MUSIC, CALL ME MADAM, MR. PRESIDENT, and ANYTHING GOES. In 2006, Connie Fisher starred in the London revival of THE SOUND OF MUSIC to rave reviews.

She had been cast as Maria by the BBC?TV reality show HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA, masterminded by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Millions of Britons voted, making Fisher, formerly a telemarketer, an overnight star. The success of the reality show won it an international Emmy Award and prompted the largest advance of a musical in West End history. In 1959, THE SOUND OF MUSIC opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York. In 1966 at the 38th annual Academy Awards, THE SOUND OF MUSIC received five Oscars, including Best Picture of the Year. In 1960 at the 14th annual Tony Awards, THE SOUND OF MUSIC received five, including Best Actress (Mary Martin) and, for the first time in Tony history, shared a tie for Best Musical (with FIORELLO!). Did you know that composer Richard Rodgers found his musical competing against a show written by his own daughter? ONCE UPON A MATTRESS had opened on Broadway in 1959, with music by Mary Rodgers. In 1913, Mary Martin was born in Weatherford, Texas.

She created the roles of Nellie Forbush in SOUTH PACIFIC and Maria von Trapp in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, winning a Tony Award for each. In 1961 THE SOUND OF MUSIC opened at the Palace Theatre, London. Did you know? Thirteen-year-old Andrew Lloyd Webber got to attend the opening because of a fan letter he had written to Richard Rodgers. The birthday of actor Jon Voight. Did you know? Before he made his name on the big screen, the future star played Rolf Gruber during the original Broadway run of THE SOUND OF MUSIC in the early 1960s. Did you know? In real life, the von Trapp family fled Austria and eventually settled in Vermont. Eventually they opened a resort business in their new American home that is still in operation today. The Trapp Family Lodge first opened in 1950 with 27 rooms. Today, the resort has 100 2-bedroom guest houses and 16 villas that sits on 2,700 acres of land. Guests can play tennis, go Nordic skiing and ? of course ? take music lessons. Did you know?

As soon as Julie Andrews was cast in the movie of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, attention turned to who would play her Captain von Trapp. Executives at 20th Century Fox were eager for Bing Crosby (a suggestion director Robert Wise never took seriously.) Filmmakers also thought about Sean Connery, Rex Harrison, and Yul Brynner ? known for his role in THE KING AND I. The part eventually went to Christopher Plummer. Did you know? During the filming of ?Sixteen Going On Seventeen? for THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Charmian Carr (as Liesl) ended up dancing through the plate-glass windows of the gazebo. Fortunately for everyone involved, this was her last sequence filmed and she only sprained her ankle. Agathe von Trapp wrote about her family's emigration in the book MEMORIES BEFORE AND AFTER THE SOUND OF MUSIC : "Even though it was clear to us that we had to leave Austria as soon as possible [following the Anschluss of March 1938]...Mother [Maria von Trapp] looked for divine approval concerning the move.

Papa [Baron Georg von Trapp] called us all together, opened the Bible, and let his finger pick a passage at random. Then he read to us:""Now the LORD had said unto Abram: Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee"" (Gen. 12:1 KJV.)""" Theodore Bikel, who starred in the original Broadway production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC as Captain von Trapp to Mary Martin's Maria, had personal connection to the role. Born in Vienna, his family fled to Palestine following the Nazi annexation of Austria on this day in 1938. Bikel's background as a guitar player and folk singer helped inspire the Rodgers & Hammerstein song Edelweiss. Did you know? In March of 1961, avant garde jazz saxophonist John Coltrane caused a sensation when he released the album "My Favorite Things"".

It was a Jazz landmark, named for its 14 minute riff on Rodgers & Hammerstein's ""My Favorite Things."" Not only did the album (also titled ""My Favorite Things"") introduce Coltrane's new quartet - with McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones and Steve Davis - but it also was his first record for Atlantic Records, and opened up new harmonic explorations for jazz musicians." Did you know? Georg von Trapp's service to the Austro-Hungarian Empire was chronicled in "To the Last Salute: Memories of an Austrian U-Boat Commander"". A skilled and fearless naval captain, he sank over 30 boats during World War I, but von Trapp's job disappeared when Austria lost its seaports to Italy. Trapp's birthplace Trieste became part of Italy too, allowing his family to flee from the Nazi annexation years later across the border with his passport - the conclusion of THE SOUND OF MUSIC." In THE SOUND OF MUSIC, the Captain and Maria first realize their feelings for each other while dancing a classic Austrian folk dance called the Laendler. The Laendler was a popular folk dance in 3/4 or waltz time.

Richard Rodgers cleverly uses the music from ?The Lonely Goatherd? for the ballroom scene during which Maria and the Captain dance and fall in love. In the film version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, the real Maria von Trapp has a cameo appearance in the background in the Residenzplatz during ?I Have Confidence,? shot on location in Salzburg. Dressed in Austrian garb, she is visible for only a fleeting moment, as Julie Andrews sings her story to the cameras. Unaware that filming this short segment would require several takes, Maria later declared ?That?s one ambition I?m giving up.? Did you know? In a 1987 studio cast recording of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, opera stars sang the leads, with Eileen Farrell as the Mother Abbess, and H�kan Hageg�rd as the Captain. The role of Maria was sung by Frederica Von Stade (b. 1945) an American opera singer highly lauded for her mezzo-soprano voice, and known for performing The Barber Of Seville, The Merry Widow, Pelleas Et Melisande and . This recording was part of a trend to create ?cross-over?

albums featuring opera singers performing traditionally musical theatre roles. SHOW BOAT, SOUTH PACIFIC and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN were among the shows to receive this treatment. In 1963, THE SOUND OF MUSIC closed at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York, after 1,443 performances. Did you know? THE SOUND OF MUSIC has no overture! Having little experience with liturgical music, Richard Rodgers did some research at the Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York while writing the score. Mother Morgan, head of the music department there, invited Rodgers to a concert specially arranged for him to show off the different kinds of musical prayer. For the opening of the musical, Rodgers set the Catholic prayer ?Dixit Dominus? for the nuns of Nonnberg Abbey. Did you know? At the end of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, the von Trapp family climbs over the mountains to freedom into neighboring Switzerland. In reality, Salzburg does not border Switzerland; it borders Germany. If the real von Trapp family had actually climbed over the Obersalzberg Mountain, as they do in the film version, they would have found themselves face to face with Hitler?s mountain retreat, Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden.

Did you know? Walt Disney was so impressed by Julie Andrews? Broadway portrayal of Guinevere in Lerner and Loewe?s CAMELOT that he went backstage and asked her to play Mary Poppins. Film director Robert Wise then decided to cast Andrews as Maria in THE SOUND OF MUSIC as soon as he saw ?rushes? of her scenes while shooting MARY POPPINS. Did you know? The real children of Captain von Trapp with his first wife were named Rupert (1911-1992), Werner (1915-2007), Hedwig (1917-1975), Johanna (1919-1994), Martina (1921-1951), Agatha (b. 1913) and Maria F. (b. 1914). Maria had 3 children with Georg after their marriage: Rosmarie (b. 1929), Elenore aka ?Lorli? (b. 1931) and Johannes (b. 1939). Did you know? After Hammerstein passed away, Rodgers needed a new writing partner.

For the first time in his career, he turned to himself for words. In 1962, Rodgers crafted new songs for the re-make of STATE FAIR and wrote both music and lyrics for the musical NO STRINGS. When the film version THE SOUND OF MUSIC needed new numbers, Rodgers wrote and composed the songs ?I Have Confidence? and ?Something Good.? In 1964 Director Robert Wise and his SOUND OF MUSIC cast and crew wrapped up eleven weeks of shooting on location in and around Salzburg, Austria.

“The soaring optimism of Climb Ev’ry Mountain is a match for any 60’s pop anthem and the genius of the show lies in the affirmation that it is possible to have youthful exuberance, idealism and love without the sex and drugs and rock'n'roll.” — Paul Simei-Barton, The New Zealand Herald , October 06, 2014 "An irresistible score that's always in tune!" — Entertainment Weekly, January 01, 2001 "The loveliest musical imaginable...the dialogue is vibrant and amusing in a plot that rises to genuine excitement." — New York Telegram And Sun, January 01, 1959 "The sentiments of THE SOUND OF MUSIC are genuine and are presented, unabashedly and effectively, in the show's music, lyrics and dialogue...It is uplifting theater, appealing successfully and without apology to the better side of our natures." — Douglas J. Keating, The Philadelphia Inquirer , December 23, 1993 "It's not just the perfect compatibility of music and lyrics that makes audiences flock unremittingly to THE SOUND OF MUSIC. The show can jerk tears from even the driest of eyes.

And if that isn't enough, there's the opportunity for a gaggle of children to mesmerise with their talents and charisma. It's a near- perfect recipe." — Peter Brown, LondonTheatre "The show has considerable integrity and has weathered the years so well." — Michael Billington, The Guardian Cast Description, Written By: Tim Crouse , January 01, 1970 Maria Rainer: A young, orphaned Nonnberg Abbey postulant whose impetuous behavior calls her fitness for the veil into question, Maria is dispatched by the Mother Abbess on a probationary tour of duty as governess to the seven children of the widowed Captain Georg von Trapp. Initially cowed by the Captain's autocratic manner, she holds her own with him, wins over his children, restores music to his house, and discovers, to her distress, that he has fallen in love with her and she with him.

Retreating to the Abbey, she is sent back to the von Trapp villa by the Mother Abbess, in order to find "how God wants you to spend your love." That turns out to be as a wife to the captain, a second mother to his offspring, and a pathfinder who helps lead them out of the peril looming over them. Captain Georg von Trapp: A decorated naval hero of the First World War, adamantly opposed to the Nazis and their designs on his beloved Austria. Traumatized by the loss of his wife, he has distanced himself from his home and the music which once animated it. The arrival of the postulant Maria Rainer as a governess breaks open his shell, bringing him back to his children and music. Marrying her, he gains a stalwart, resourceful partner in his daring decision to flee with his family from the dictates of the Third Reich, to freedom. The Mother Abbess: Spiritual head of Nonnberg Abbey, mentor to Maria.

Her credo: "You have to find the life you were born to live." She shepherds Maria from a mistaken vocation as a nun to a true one as a wife and mother, finally helping her to escape, with her new family, over the mountain where both she and Maria grew up. Max Detweiler: A charming, well-connected impresario, he is a confidant of the Captain's lover, Elsa Schraeder, and apparently, like her, a moral chameleon. His collaboration with the regime in Berlin threatens his friendship with the Captain, but in the end he risks everything to save the von Trapps. Elsa Schraeder: A chic, attractive Viennese widow, president of her late husband's corporation, now involved in a relationship with Captain von Trapp. Her expectations of marrying the Captain founder on her willingness to accept the Nazis, a moral pliancy that is anathema to him. A widower, he has shut out of his life everything that reminds him of his wife, including music and his seven children.

Song # Written By: Bert Fink 20th Century Fox, a once grand and glorious studio, had done very well by the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals: movie versions of OKLAHOMA!, CAROUSEL, SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING AND I and STATE FAIR had all been produced under the auspices of this studio, and had collected nine Academy Awards among them. Successful as they were, none of these films could prepare the studio—or the film industry itself—for the phenomenon that was THE SOUND OF MUSIC. In 1964 THE SOUND OF MUSIC was viewed as a respectable stage property with a good track record: still going strong in the West End (where it would eventually become the longest running American musical in London history), and on a U.S. national tour, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, had by this time racked up a healthy 1443-performance run on Broadway, and collected five Tony Awards including Musical of the Year. In Hollywood, however, where there’s no such thing as a sure thing, turning this stage property into a potentially viable movie was considered a longshot.

For one thing, the movie's budget was—for the first time—large: more than $8 million, and much of that due to the decision to film as much of the movie as possible on location in Salzburg, near and around the Von Trapp villa (though not the villa itself) and the mountains. Also, the cast was relatively unknown. For the central role of Maria, the likes of Mia Farrow, Lesley Ann Warren and Doris Day were each considered before the decision was made to go with 29-year-old Julie Andrews. Although already established as a Broadway star for her roles in THE BOYFRIEND, MY FAIR LADY and CAMELOT, Julie Andrews had yet to be discovered by the movie audiences, and was perhaps best known in Hollywood for Jack Warner's decision to pass her over for the lead in the movie of MY FAIR LADY (which went instead to Audrey Hepburn). Walt Disney, however, took the chance and hired her for MARY POPPINS, and it was after viewing rough footage of her work for Disney that the folks at Fox signed her up immediately.

Joining Julie for the film were Christopher Plummer as the Captain (who, although he wanted to do his own singing, was eventually dubbed in the musical numbers by Bill Lee); Peggy Wood, Eleanor Parker, Anna Lee and Richard Haydn. Twenty-one-year-old Charmaine Carr headed up the cast of the seven children. Marni Nixon, the phantom dubber who provided the singing voice for the leads in WEST SIDE STORY, MY FAIR LADY and THE KING AND I, actually appeared on screen this time as Sister Sophia, and so did the real-life Maria Von Trapp, who makes a quick appearance in a Salzburg sequence. To make THE SOUND OF MUSIC an on-screen reality, a team of old hands at movie musicals was assembled. Robert Wise, who had won two Oscars in 1961 for another Broadway-to-Hollywood musical adaptation, WEST SIDE STORY, was signed on to produce and direct THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Ernest Lehman, who worked with Rodgers and Hammerstein on the screen adaption of THE KING AND I, did similar honors here. Richard Rodgers himself took an active role in the movie and significantly amended the score.

Two songs were cut, "An Ordinary Couple" (a wistful love duet sung by Maria and the Captain) and "How Can Love Survive?" (a brittle, sardonic duet with an atypical Hammerstein lyric, sung by Elsa and Max). Replacing them were two new songs with both music and lyrics by Rodgers (Oscar Hammerstein had died in the summer of 1960, less than a year after THE SOUND OF MUSIC opened on Broadway): "I Have Confidence" and "Something Good." Filming took place throughout the spring and summer of 1964, including eleven weeks on location in and about Salzburg. For those who like to bookend their data, the first scene filmed (in the studio in California) featured Maria and the children singing "My Favorite Things," and shooting ended at the beginning, with the now-classic opening sequence featuring Julie Andrews on top of the hill and the spectacular Alpine scenery. As an early test for the movie, Fox executive Richard Zanuck arranged for a sneak preview in Minneapolis in February 1965. "The weather was miserable, and we thought nobody would show up," he recalled.

"But the theatre was full, and at intermission the whole audience stood up and applauded for five minutes. They did it again at the end, and we looked at each other, shell-shocked." Ernest Lehman commented, "We didn't know at the beginning it would be such a phenomenon." The world premiere of THE SOUND OF MUSIC was held at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City on March 2, 1965. It played there for a record-breaking 93-week engagement, igniting a momentum that went on to shatter records in all areas of popular entertainment. The initial U.S. release of the film lasted for more than four years. From Japan to Parsi (for the Iranian market), from London to Lisbon, from SUONA DELLA MUSICA in Italy to LA MELODIE DI BONHEUR in France, THE SOUND OF MUSIC quickly became a sound hear the world over. Nominated for ten Academy Awards, THE SOUND OF MUSIC received five, including Best Director for Robert Wise and Best Picture of the Year. From 1966 to 1969 it was the number one Box Office Champion, according to Variety's survey.

To this day, THE SOUND OF MUSIC is one of the twenty-five top grossing films of all time, and the oldest title on that list. It has become the most popular musical ever made . The motion picture soundtrack, released internationally on the RCA label, has gone platinum and gold and sold over 10 million units worldwide. The movie has also made a successful transition to the small screen, appearing as a perennial favorite on television throughout the world, and in the home video market. The weekend before THE SOUND OF MUSIC was released, Richard Rodgers was interviewed by the The New York Times. He expressed his delight at seeing THE SOUND OF MUSIC turned into a movie that functioned as a satisfying work in its own right. Having lavished praise on screenwriter Lehman, director/producer Wise, the cast and the movie as a whole, Rodgers ended the interview on a note of caution: "There is, of course, no way for me to tell how the public will respond to THE SOUND OF MUSIC as a movie." It turned out he had nothing to worry about.

Theatre World Award — Best Written American Musical Film Academy Awards 1965 — Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment - Irwin Kostal 1965 — Best Director - Robert Wise 1965 — Best Sound - James P.

Corcoran, Fred HynesFilm Editing, William Reynolds Tony Awards — Best Musical - Book by Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; Music by Richard Rodgers; Produced by Leland Hayward, Richard Halliday, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II — Best Featured Actress in a Musical - Patricia Neway — Best Scenic Design - Oliver Smith — Best Conductor and Musical Director- Frederick Dvonch — Best Actress in a Musical - Mary Martin Golden Globe Awards (United States) July 24, 1965 — Best Motion Picture Actress Musical/ Comedy - Julie Andrews 1965 — Best Motion Picture Musical/Comedy Vocal Range of Characters: The Sound of Music film locations (1965) The Sound of Music film locations The Sound of Music, 1965 Director Edelweiss Tours Salzburg (tel: +43 699 17189289) Bob’s Special Tours (tel: 0662.

872484) Panorama Tours , Mirabell Square (tel: 0662.871618) Stay at: Villa Trapp , Traunstraße 34, 5026 Salzburg (tel: +43 (0) 662.630.860) (rail: Bahnhof Aigen) Trivia WWII actioner Where Eagles Dare , with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton , was filmed at the village of Werfen, about half an hour by train from Salzburg. The European hotel in Just Married, with Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy, is the same castle. The Sound of Music filming location: the entrance to the Von Trapp mansion: Schloss Frohnburg, Hellbrunner Allee, Salzburg, Austria The film of the phenomenally successful Rodgers and Hammerstein musical was shot on lots of real locations around Salzburg, Austria , though plenty more were recreated in the 20th Century-Fox studios in Hollywood. The opening aerial shots are Salzburg’s glorious Lake District, the Salzkammergut.

The castles you can see are Kloster Höglwörth , an old monastery on a peninsula in Höglwörther See; and Schloss Anif, off E55 a few miles south of Salzburg. The mountain, atop which Maria ( Julie Andrews ) makes her first twirling appearance, is Mehlweg, near the Bavarian village of Markt Schellenberg, about six miles from Salzburg. Don’t be too disappointed – the birch trees and the babbling brook were added for the movie. The Sound of Music filming location: Maria’s abbey: Nonnberg Abbey, Nonnberg Gasse, Salzburg, Austria Convent interiors were recreated in the studio, but the exterior really is Maria’s abbey. It’s Nonnberg Abbey, Nonnberg Gasse, where you can visit the courtyard and peek inside the chapel (which looks nothing like the interior recreated back in Hollywood). The film cheats a little with the exterior, too. As you’ll find if you visit, the real Nonnberg Abbey doesn’t look out over the picturesque old town of Salzburg, but to the nondescript southern suburbs.

The reverse shot, of Maria leaving the abbey, filmed way across the city on the Humboldt Terrace (seen later in the Do Re Mi number), in front of the Museum of Modern Art , which since 2002 has stood atop Mönchsberg Cliffs on the site of the old Cafe Winkler. The Sound of Music filming location: the view 'from' the abbey: Winkler Terrace, looking over Salzburg toward Nonnberg Abbey, Salzburg, Austria As Maria leaves to take up her post with the Von Trapp family, I Have Confidence in Me was filmed in Salzburg’s Old Town, in the Residenzplatz, where you’ll see the Domplatz arches, through which Maria enters, and the Residenz Fountain, in which she splashes. The Sound of Music filming location: Maria splashes in the Residenzbrunner on her way to the Von Trapp house: Residenzplatz, Salzburg, Austria The ‘Villa Von Trapp’ is a combination of two different Salzburg locations. The tree-shaded lane, where Maria alights from the bus, is Hellbrunner Allee, running south from the old town.

Here you’ll recognise Schloss Frohnburg, a 17th century country house, now the Mozarteum Music Academy, which was used for the intimidating gates and front entrance of the villa which Maria nervously approaches. The Sound of Music filming location: Maria arrives at the Von Trapp mansion: Hellbrunner Allee, Salzburg, Austria The lakeside terrace, though, was filmed at Schloss Leopoldskron , a rococo castle on Leopoldskroner Teich, a small artificial lake on the southwest of the town. Now a seminar and conference centre, you can view Leopoldskron across the lake from Kï¿½nig Ludwig Strasse. The Sound of Music filming location: the rear, lakeside terrace, of the ‘Von Trapp’ mansion: Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, Austria The real Villa Trapp, by the way, is in Aigen, a suburb just to the southeast of the Old Town of Salzburg. Since 2008, it’s been open as a hotel, Villa Trapp , Traunstraße 34, 5026 Salzburg. There’s a rail service to Bahnhof Aigen.

The little footbridge over which the von Trapps skip at the beginning of the My Favourite Things montage of Salzburg is Mozart Steg, north of Mozart Platz. They quickly move on to Domplatz, in front of Salzburger Dom (Salzburg Cathedral); Kapitelschwemme, the Baroque horse pond once used for watering and cleaning horses, in Herbert von Karajan Platz; and the market on Kajetanerplatz, just north of Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria demonstrates her tomato juggling skills. They finally head off for a picnic in the meadow above the village of Werfen, 25 miles south of Salzburg in the Salzach River valley (where you can also visit the castle from wartime action movie Where Eagles Dare ).

The Sound of Music filming location: the Do-Re-Mi carriage ride: Nonntaler Hauptstraße, Salzburg, Austria Photograph: wikimedia / Gakuro Do-Re-Mi begins at the picnic, returning to Salzburg atop the Monchsberg Cliffs, on Humboldt Terrace which you can reach from the Monchsberg elevator in Anton Neumayrplatz, at the end of the Gstattengasse shopping street, and continuing with a carriage ride south from St Erhard Kirche, the Parish Church of St Erhard, along Nonntaler Hauptstraße, which you’ll find directly beneath Nonnberg Abbey. The Sound of Music filming location: The Do-Re-Mi steps in the Mirabell Gardens, Salzburg, Austria The number climaxes at Mirabell Gardens, on Schwarzstrasse, over the Salzach River behind Schloss Mirabell, where youï¿½ll find the fountains, statues and, famously, the flight of steps on which the children hop.

The Sound of Music filming location: The Sixteen Going On Seventeen gazebo: Schloss Hellbrunn, Salzburg, Austria The Von Trapp gazebo, used for Sixteen Going On Seventeen, once stood in the grounds of Leopoldskron, but constant trespassing resulted in it being moved and reconstructed in the ornamental gardens of Schloss Hellbrunn, Morzger Strasse, toward the south of Salzburg. And another cheat. It was recreated, slightly larger, back at 20th Century-Fox in Hollywood for the interior shots. The Sound of Music filming location: Mariaï¿½s wedding: St Michael’s Church, Mondsee, Austria Mariaï¿½s wedding, which took place in Nonnberg Abbey, was filmed in the baroque, twin-towered St Michael’s Church, Wredeplatz, in Mondsee, about 15 miles east of Salzburg on the E55/E60. The Sound of Music filming location: Mariaï¿½s wedding: Mondsee Cathedral, Mondsee, Austria The Anschluss scene, Austria ï¿½s enforced unity with Nazi Germany, was staged back in the centre of Salzburg itself in Residenzplatz.

The music festival, at which the von Trapp family perform their disappearing act, is at the Felsenreitschule (ï¿½Rock Riding Schoolï¿½), Hofstallgasse 1, a 1400-seat theatre built in what was a rock quarry for Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun in 1693, and used as the archbishop's riding school. It’s one of the sites of the Salzburg Festival . The Sound of Music filming location: The Von Trapp Family performs at the music festival: Felsenreitschule, the ï¿½Rock Riding Schoolï¿½, Salzburg, Austria Despite what some overenthusiastic tour guides might tell you, the cemetery in which the von Trapps hide from the Nazis is a Hollywood studio set, though its design is clearly based on St Peterï¿½s Graveyard, which you can see just off Kapitelplatz. The mountain over which the family finally escapes to freedom is above the village of Obersalzburg with views of the Untersberg in the distance, near the village of Rossfeld, on the 319, 12 miles south of Salzburg.

• Many thanks to Lieselotte Mayrhofer; and to Bryan Crawford of Edelweiss Tours for help with this section. Experience all about the filmlocation Salzburg The city of Sound of Music Salzburg The historic centre of the city Salzburg is Part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage since 1997. "Salzburg has managed to preserve an extraordinarily rich urban fabric, developed over the period from the Middle Ages to the 19th century when it was a city-state ruled by a Prince Archbishop. Its flamboyant Gothic art attracted many craftsmen and artists before the city became even better known through the work of the Italian architects Vincenzo Scamozzi and Santino Solari, to whom the centre of Salzburg owes much of its Baroque appearance. This meeting point of northern and southern Europe perhaps sparked the genius of Salzburg's most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose name has been associated with the city ever since." Salzburg , capital of the Austrian province of the same name, has about 150,000 inhabitants. One of three jobs is dependent directly of indirectly on tourism, but Salzburg is also centre for trading and new technologies.

The university was founded by Paris Graf Lodron in 1623 and is attended by 12,000 students today. In order to understand the special character of Salzburg , one must begin by looking back in history: The city we have today was founded in the year 696 when St. Rupert arrived as a missionary and founded the Benedictine Monastery of St. Peter's, which is considered today to be the "Cradle of Salzburg". The area of Salzburg then developed into an independent church state, and was considered to be the "Rome of the North". The sovereign rulers were the Prince Archbishops, they possessed spiritual as well as worldly powers and were responsible for building up the picturesque city that we have today. The old city lays testament to the power of the Archbishops, with its spacious squares, its quaint narrow streets, its numerous churches and monasteries, its impressive castles and palaces lying in expansive gardens and parks; it is a maze of unsquared corners, intriguing lanes, and curious steeples - all nestled between the Mönchsberg (monk's mountain) and the Salzach River.

Salzburg's unmistakable silhouette is dominated by the Fortress of Hohensalzburg, which has successfully guarded over the city for more than 900 years. Today, it is considered to be the best preserved Medieval Fortress in all of Central Europe, and offers visitors a chance to step back in time - to explore its numerous chambers or to relax and listen to the music that the city of Salzburg is so well known for. This note on Salzburg would not be complete without the mention of its breathtaking environs: azure glacial lakes, charming, timeless villages, luscious meadows, and the majestic Alps. An intriguing region with endless discovery and adventure possibilities. Want to see more? The Sound of Music (1965) Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Background The Sound of Music (1965) was an exceptionally successful film in the mid-1960s - at the time of its release, it surpassed Gone With the Wind (1939) as the number one box office hit of all time. It was the high-point of the Hollywood musical.

[In 1978, the film's status as the most successful musical was finally surpassed by Grease (1978). However, it was earlier ousted by the box-office epic The Godfather (1972) .] This wholesome production from producer/director Robert Wise (of the previously popular West Side Story (1961) for which he won the same two Oscars) and 20th Century Fox has become one of the most favorite, beloved films of moviegoers. It is a joyous, uplifting, three-hour adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's 1959 hit Broadway stage musical (that starred Mary Martin). [This was the well-known partnership's last collaboration]. The story follows a good-natured, flighty novitiate (Andrews) who is hired to care for the seven children of a militaristic, icy, widowed Austrian captain (Plummer). She ultimately wins the heart of the children - and the captain, but their lives are threatened by the encroachment of Nazis. Marketing slogans cried: "The Happiest Sound in All the World." Ernest Lehman's screenplay was based on the book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.

That book was in turn based on Baroness Maria von Trapp's 1949 autobiography (The von Trapp Family Singers) about the exploits of the family of singers and their escape from the Nazis in Austria in 1938. The first film version was a German film titled Die Trapp-Familie (1956), with a sequel Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika (1958). After the 1965 film's enormous success, Fox Studios unwisely invested millions in three more, less profitable, blockbuster musicals in the late 60s - Dr. Doolittle (1967), Star! (1968), and Hello, Dolly! (1969). The star of the film was the previous year's Best Actress Academy Award winner, a fresh-faced Julie Andrews in a similar role as her governess performance in Mary Poppins (1964).

She is accompanied by her lovely singing voice, glorious, on-location travelogue views of Salzburg, Austria filmed in 70 mm, and melodic, memorable sing-along tunes, including "Maria," "The Sound of Music," "My Favorite Things," "You Are Sixteen, Going On Seventeen," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Do-Re-Mi," and "Edelweiss." In fact, there was an interactive, audience-participation version imported from London in 2000 - a limited theatrical re-release of The Sound of Music with subtitled musical numbers to allow for sing-a-long participation. Audiences were also invited to dress up in The Sound of Music-inspired costumes, and to react with props (such as an artificial sprig of edelweiss) provided in a Fun Pak. ["Sing-A-Long Sound of Music" first emerged at the 1988 London Gay and Lesbian Film festival after an event organizer heard that staff at a retirement home in the Scottish town of Inverness had distributed song sheets during a video showing of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) for sing-along participation.

The film was screened at the festival as a sing-along and proved wildly successful.] The sentimental, entertaining musical was nominated for ten Academy Awards, and came away with five major wins: Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Wise), Best Sound, Best Score (Irwin Kostal), and Best Film Editing (William Reynolds). Its other five nominations were for Best Actress (Julie Andrews who lost to Julie Christie in Darling), Best Supporting Actress (Peggy Wood), Best Color Cinematography (Ted McCord), Best Color Art Direction/Set Decoration, and Best Color Costume Design. The Story The opening sequence of The Sound of Music is a much-heralded, breath-taking piece of film-making. With a sweeping aerial view, the film opens with a left-to-right camera pan through the clouds and across rocky, snow-covered mountains. The camera dips into a green, wooded valley with steep cliffs that descend into a snow-fed lake. Reflections of the hills are viewed in the mirror-like images on the water's surface. As the camera moves over the European landscape and village, it discovers an open, green area nestled between the peaks.

It moves closer and zooms into the green field, where it suddenly finds a happy and joyous Maria (Julie Andrews), a novice Salzburg Austrian nun, walking across the wide expanse of land. With open-armed appreciation of the beauty of the surrounding majestic peaks and vistas of the Austrian Alps, she twirls and sings the title song. For her: "The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Music." The hills are alive with the sound of music With songs they have sung for a thousand years. The hills fill my heart with the sound of music My heart wants to sing every song it hears. My heart wants to beat like the wings Of the birds that rise from the lake to the trees, My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies from a church on a breeze, To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls Over stones on its way To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray. I go to the hills when my heart is lonely, I know I will hear what I've heard before. My heart will be blessed with the sound of music And I'll sing once more.

Because of her adventuresome, flighty and stubborn nature, she spends so much time singing and dancing on the mountainside that she has neglected most of her postulant duties at the Abbey. She hears distant church bells pealing, reminding her that she is late and must immediately return to the nunnery. The setting is Austria in the late 1930's just before the annexation of Austria with Nazi Germany: Salzburg, Austria, in the last Golden Days of the Thirties. In Maria's nunnery, the nuns walk to chapel, chanting "Dixit Dominus." Prayers have been said in the chapel, but Maria is nowhere to be found, according to Sister Bernice (Evadne Baker): "I have looked everywhere, in all the usual places." Sister Margaretta (Anna Lee) defends Maria: "After all, the wool of a black sheep is just as warm." Sister Berthe (Portia Nelson), the Mistress of Novices, is uncertain of the future of the independent-minded, spirited nun-in training: "We are not talking about sheep, black or white, Sister Margaretta.

Of all the candidates for the novitiate, I would say Maria is the least likely." From the viewpoint of Sister Sophia (Marni Nixon in her first appearance on the screen, although she was the ghost singing voice for Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961) and for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964) ), "...she always seems to be in trouble, doesn't she?" The nuns gossip about the young novitiate's unusual behavior with the song "Maria": she climbs trees and her dress has a tear she waltzes on her way to Mass she has curlers in her hair, and even sings in the Abbey Maria is always late for chapel: "She's always late for everything except for every meal." their overall assessment of Maria: "Maria's not an asset to the Abbey." The Reverend Mother (Peggy Wood) wonders about how to cure the deficiencies of the troublesome, flighty, outspoken, and unpredictable trainee: How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?...Many a thing you know you'd like to tell her, many a thing she ought to understand...How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

In the Reverend Mother's chambers, the tardy Maria apologizes profusely for being distracted by the majestic scenery, and she begs for forgiveness: "I just couldn't help myself. The gates were open and the hills were beckoning...I can't seem to stop singing wherever I am." In the hopes that Maria's vocational goals are better suited elsewhere, the Mother Superior suggests that she leave the nunnery before she decides whether to become a monastic, cloistered nun: "It seems to be the will of God that you leave us...only for a while, Maria...Perhaps if you go out into the world for a time, knowing what we expect of you, you will have a chance to find out if you can expect it of yourself." It is arranged for Maria to take a job as a governess/nanny for a family near Salzburg "until September...to take care of seven children" - of the widowed Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer, although Yul Brynner was originally considered for the role), a retired officer of the Imperial Navy, a fine man and a brave one. His wife died several years ago, leaving him alone with the children.

Now I understand he's had a most difficult time managing to keep a governess there. Scared, doubtful and worried as she departs from the familiar surroundings of the Abbey, Maria walks away with her duffel bag and guitar case toward her bus transport into the countryside. She bolsters her confidence with "I Have Confidence in Me." She peers through the gate as she arrives at the magnificent von Trapp villa, gasping: "Oh, help!" After butler Franz (Gil Stuart) greets her at the front door, she walks into the ballroom and begins to dance by herself. The Captain enters by slamming open both doors, startling her and causing her to run from the room. She is sternly reprimanded by the strait-laced widower: In the future, you'll kindly remember there are certain rooms in this house which are not to be disturbed.

Maria is warned by the harsh disciplinarian that she is "twelfth in a long line of governesses" who have attempted to look after the mother-less von Trapp children: "..the last one - she stayed only two hours." After a daunted Maria inquires: "What's wrong with the children, sir?," she is cautioned that the problems were with the previous nannies: "They were completely unable to maintain discipline. Without it, this house cannot be properly run. Will you please remember that, Fraulein?" Since his wife died, naval hero Trapp has strictly helmed his house like a militaristic, humorless naval ship - there is no time for play and his regimented children function like a troop of automaton-sailors: Every morning, you will drill the children in their studies. I will not permit them to dream away their summer holidays. Each afternoon, they will march about the grounds breathing deeply. Bedtime is to be strictly observed - no exceptions...You will see to it that they conduct themselves at all time with the utmost orderliness and decorum. I am placing you in command. The Captain summons the children to come down with his boatswain's whistle.

Each wearing a drab, modified sailor's uniform, they line up on the upper floor's balcony (from the eldest to youngest) and march down the stairs in unison. They are identified by an individualized whistle sound - as each signal is played, they step forward and announce their names to Maria: 16 year-old Liesl (Charmain Carr, twenty-two years old during filming) 14 year-old Friedrich (Nicholas Hammond) 13 year-old Louisa (Heather Menzies) 11 year-old Kurt (Duane Chase) 10 year-old Brigitta (Angela Cartwright) almost 7 year-old Marta (Debbie Turner) 5 year-old Gretl (Kym Karath) Maria is instructed: "You, Fraulein, will listen carefully. Learn their signals so that you can call them when you want them." The novice governess defiantly confronts the Captain regarding his summoning technique: I could never answer to a whistle. Whistles are for dogs and cats and other animals, but not for children, and definitely not for me. It would be too humiliating.

The seven mischievous, incorrigible children test her and play a prank upon her, as they have done previously to run off other governesses. When she's not looking, they place a frog in her pocket. At the dinner table that evening in the formal dining room, Maria is again victimized by another of the childrens' antics - she sits on a rough-edged pine cone placed on her chair. She makes the children feel guilty for their practical jokes: "Knowing how nervous I must have been - a stranger in a new household, knowing how important it was for me to feel accepted, it was so kind and thoughtful of you to make my first moments here so warm and happy and pleasant." Young, teenaged Rolf (Daniel Truhitte) delivers a telegram through Franz to the Captain, summoning him in the morning to Vienna to again visit Baroness Elsa Schraeder (Eleanor Parker) and Max Detweiler (Richard Hadyn), whom the children regard as their 'uncle.' Liesl sneaks outdoors to meet shy, 17 year-old boyfriend Rolf, who is waiting for her in the garden near the pavilion.

Together in the bluish light of the evening, they sing of their innocent young, adolescent love on the brink of adulthood: "Sixteen Going on Seventeen." Thunder, lightning and rain forces them into the shelter of the gazebo where they continue singing and dancing in a magical sequence: (Rolf): You are sixteen, going on seventeen, baby it's time to think. Better beware, be canny and careful, baby you're on the brink. You are sixteen, going on seventeen, fellows will fall in line... Totally unprepared are you, to face a world of men. Timid and shy and scared are you, of things beyond your kin. You need someone older and wiser, telling you what to do. I am seventeen, going on eighteen. I'll take care of you... (Liesl): I am sixteen, going on seventeen. I know that I'm naive. Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweet, and willingly I believe. I am sixteen, going on seventeen, innocent as a rose... Totally unprepared am I, to face a world of men. Timid and shy and scared am I, of things beyond my kin. I need someone older and wiser telling me what to do.

You are seventeen, going on eighteen. I'll depend on you. At the conclusion of their duet, they finally kiss just once. In reaction, Rolf races rapturously from the gazebo, while Liesl exclaims triumphantly with her arms outstretched: "Whee!" Frau Schmidt (Norma Varden) delivers bolts of fabric material to Maria that the Captain had ordered from town to make new dresses for her. When she asks for more material to make playclothes for her charges, Frau Schmidt curtly lectures: The von Trapp children don't play. They march. According to her, since the Captain's wife died, he is aloof and cold and "runs this house as if he were on one of his ships again - whistles, orders, no more music, no more laughing. Nothing that reminds him of her, even the children." However, the last time he visited the Baroness, he remained in Vienna for a month and "the Captain is thinking very seriously of marrying the woman before the summer's over." Maria prays by her bedside, blessing the Captain and the children: Dear Father, now I know why you've sent me here. To help these children prepare themselves for a new mother.

And I pray that this will become a happy family in thy sight. God bless the captain. God bless Liesl and Friedrich. God bless Louisa, Brigitta, Marta, and little Gretl. And, oh, I forgot the other boy. What's his name? Well, God bless what's-his-name. God bless the Reverend Mother and Sister Margaretta and everybody at Nonnberg Abbey. And now, dear God, about Liesl, help her know that I'm her friend. And help her to tell me what she's been up to...Shh, help me to be understanding so that I may guide her footsteps. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen. A rain-drenched, love-sick Liesl enters through her window from her dis-allowed rendezvous with Rolf. Three or four noisy peals of lightning and thunder bring in the other children in their pajamas - fearful of the storm. To allay their concerns, she advises them to think of "nice things...daffodils, green meadows, skies full of stars, raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens" when they are unhappy.

She breaks into song, "My Favorite Things": ...bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings, These are a few of my favorite things. Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels Doorbells and sleighbells and schnitzel with noodles Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings These are a few of my favorite things... When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad. She wins them over to her side with singing and with her warm-heartedness and sense of fair play and humor. But when the Captain enters, the cowed children snap back to attention while Maria is reprimanded for not observing strict bedtime hours and accused of undermining his authority. She is reminded: The first rule in this house is discipline. After the Captain has left, she conceives the idea of making playclothes for the children from the cast-off material of the soon-to-be replaced drapes, and resumes joyously singing "My Favorite Things." In the next scene, after the Captain has left for Vienna, Maria ignores his strict orders. She refuses to obey his harsh treatment of the family.

Instead of keeping the children at home, she takes them on tours of the city and the surrounding countryside. The children accompany Maria to town, each wearing matching clothing from the heavy window drapes. They cross a footbridge and visit the open market for shopping, where she juggles ripe tomatoes. The happy group skips along the banks of a river, rides a train up into the Austrian Alps hills, where they experience an open-air picnic on the verdant grassy area of the film's opening sequence, with a magnificent panorama of beautiful peaks behind them. To prepare for the Baroness' arrival, she teaches them how to sing, beginning by giving a name to the fundamental notes of the scale - "Do-Re-Mi." ...the first three notes just happen to be, Do-Re-Mi. Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti, oh let's see if I can make it easier Doe, a deer, a female deer, Ray, a drop of golden sun Me, a name I call myself, Far, a long, long way to run Sew, a needle pulling thread, La, a note to follow So Tea, a drink with jam and bread, that will bring us back to Do...

As the song continues, marked with superb, fresh choreography, they return to town. The clothing of the children changes to reflect the passage of time during the Captain's absence. She further explains that Do, Re, and Mi "are only the tools we use to build a song. Once you have these notes in your heads, you can sing a million different tunes by mixing them up, like this - So, Do, La, Fa, Mi, Do, Re, So, Do, La, Ti, Do, Re, Do." Then she adds one word for every note: When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most any thing. A quick-cut montage shows them walking, bicycling, riding in a carriage, and running. In the carriage sequence, each of the children take one of the seven notes on the scale - Maria points to them with the buggy whip, creating a melody with their voices: "Do, Mi, Mi, Mi, So, So, Re, Fa, Fa, La, Ti, Ti." On the steps of a garden area, she and the children jump up and down 'musical' steps - signifying higher and lower notes on the diatonic musical scale.

Movie Review - - The Sound of Music' Opens at Rivoli - NYTimes.com The Sound of Music' Opens at Rivoli By BOSLEY CROWTHER Published: March 3, 1965 THE fact that "The Sound of Music" ran for three and a half years on Broadway, despite the perceptible weakness of its quaintly old-fashioned book, was plainly sufficient assurance for the producer-director Robert Wise to assume that what made it popular in the theater would make it equally popular on the screen. That was a cheerful abundance of kirche-küche-kinder sentiment and the generally melodic felicity of the Richard Rodgers-Oscar Hammerstein 2d musical score. As a consequence, the great-big color movie Mr. Wise has made from it, and which was given a great-big gala opening at the Rivoli last night, comes close to being a careful duplication of the show as it was done on the stage, even down to its operetta pattern, which predates the cinema age. To be sure, Mr. Wise has used his cameras to set a magnificently graphic scene in and around the actual city of Salzburg that lies nestled in the Austrian Alps.

By means of a helicopter, he zooms over the snow-capped peaks and down into the green and ochre region, just as he zoomed down into New York's crowded streets in his memorable film of "West Side Story" (which was considerably different from this). He has used the handsome Frohnburg Castle to represent the exterior of the home of the ample Von Trapp family, whose prettified story is told, and he has also used such colorful landmarks as Nonnberg Abbey, the Mirabell Gardens and the Mozart Bridge. The scene of the music festival at the climax is the famous Pelsenreitschule or Rocky Riding School, with its heavy arched tunnels cut out of the precipitous mountainside. And, of course, he has soared to those alpine meadows with their dizzying and breathtaking views on occasions when there's a particularly joyous and air-filling song to be sung. Furthermore, he has Julie Andrews to play—and sing—the role of the postulant nun who leaves the abbey to try her hand at being governess to the seven children of the widowed Captain Von Trapp—and remains, after the standard digressions, to become their stepmother.

And it is she who provides the most apparent and fetching innovation in the film. Miss Andrews, with her air of radiant vigor, her appearance of plain-Jane wholesomeness and her ability to make her dialogue as vivid and appealing as she makes her songs, brings a nice sort of Mary Poppins logic and authority to this role, which is always in peril of collapsing under its weight of romantic nonsense and sentiment. Despite the hopeless pretense of reality with which she and the others have to contend, especially in the last phase, when the Von Trapps are supposed to be fleeing from the Nazis and their homeland, Miss Andrews treats the whole thing with the same air of serenely controlled self-confidence that she has when we first come upon her trilling the title song on a mountain top. Does she sense that it is really silly to find a chorus of twittering nuns considering what's to be done about her in a bright musical-comedy song? Does she feel her first exchanges with the children of the cruelly domineering Von Trapp to be conversational gambits that could only take place in a play?

And does she know (as we do) that the business with the captain and the wealthy baroness is right out of Victor Herbert operetta, circa 1910? Of course she does. And she also seems to realize that the whole thing is being staged by Mr. Wise in a cosy-cum-corny fashion that even theater people know is old hat. But she goes at it happily and bravely. She even pulls the pack of children into her bed and drowns out the noise of crashing thunder with the optimistic "My Favorite Things" and marches them through the streets of Salzburg happily howling the juvenile "Do-Re-Mi." Miss Andrews is nothing daunted. She plays a more saccharine nanny than Mary Poppins, but it doesn't get her goat. Her associates cannot be so commended. The septet of blond and beaming youngsters who have to act like so many Shirley Temples and Freddie Bartholomews when they were young do as well as could be expected with their assortedly artificial roles, but the adults are fairly horrendous, especially Christopher Plummer as Captain Von Trapp. Looking as handsome and phony as a store-window Alpine guide, Mr.

Plummer acts the hard-jawed, stiff-backed fellow with equal artificiality. And when he puts his expressions and his gestures to somebody else's singing of the wistful "Eidelweiss" (which, incidentally, was the last song that the late Mr. Hammerstein wrote), it is just a bit too painfully mawkish for the simple sentiments of that nice song. Richard Haydn is conventionally histrionic with his grimaces and his rolling r's as the comical impresario who tries to sign the singing Von Trapps, and Eleanor Parker is highly enameled and just as brittle as the baroness. Peggy Wood as the mother abbess beams beningly beneath her cowl, but she blessedly turns away from the camera when somebody with a much younger voice—maybe Marni Nixon — sings "Climb Every Mountain" for her. Incidentally, the famous Miss Nixon, who provides Audrey Hepburn's singing voice in "My Fair Lady," turns up in this picture as one of the covey of singing nuns, all of whom act with the familiar cheeriness and poker-faced innocence of nuns in films.

Charmian Carr as the oldest daughter, who has a crush on an embryo Nazi (Daniel Truhitte), dances rather sweetly but that's all to the "16 Going on 17" song. Mentionable, too, is a pleasant little Bil and Cora Baird puppet show done to "The Lonely Goatherd," which was used for an Alpine ballet on the stage. Even though a couple of new songs have been added (both forgettaable), Mr. Wise seems to run out of songs toward the end of the picture and repeat two or three of the more familiar ones. But the same must be said of "The Sound of Music." It repeats, in style — and in theme. However, its sentiments are abundant. Businesswise, Mr. Wise is no fool. THE SOUND OF MUSIC, screenplay by Ernest Lehman from the stage musical with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2d and book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Directed and produced by Robert Wise and presented by 20th Century-Fox Corporation. At the Rivoli Theater, Broadway and 49th Street. Running time: 174 minutes. Maria . . . . .

Julie Andrews Captain Von Trapp . . . . . Christopher Plummer Baroness . . . . . Eleanor Parker

Question: The musical "The Sound of Music" is set in what city?
Answer: Salzburg