The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music is a Broadway musical and movie based on the book The Von Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. It contains many hit songs, including "Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things", "Climb Every Mountain", "Do-Re-Mi", and "The Lonely Goatherd", as well as the title song.

Trivia

The musical has created a few misconceptions about Austria. Many people believe "Edelweiss" to be the national anthem—in fact, this song is nearly unknown in Austria. (It is humorous to note, however, that Ronald Reagan played Edelweiss when Austrian delegates came to visit the White House during his presidency, thinking it to be the national anthem.) In fact, the musical itself is virtually unknown in the country, except in backpacker's hostels in Salzburg, where it is screened daily on DVD. The Ländler dance that Maria and the Captain shared was not performed the traditional way it is done in Austria.

Related Topics:
Edelweiss - National anthem - Ronald Reagan - White House - Ländler

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In some publicity shots for the film, a noteworthy error can be seen in a market scene immediately preceding the "Do-Re-Mi" number: an orange crate is marked 'Made in Israel'; however, Israel did not exist in the 1930s. This error cannot be seen in the film itself.

Related Topics:
Israel - 1930s

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Another error, noted by astute observers who know the geography, is that in the scene where the family is hiking up the mountain presumably toward safe ground, they are actually walking toward Austria.

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"I Have Confidence" is a song that Rodgers wrote as a "bridge", needed in the movie to get Maria from the convent to the Von Trapp manor (as he explained). During that segment, at one point Julie Andrews passes under an archway. As pointed out in one of the DVD's extras, the real Maria, one of her daughters, and one of her daughters (Maria's granddaughter) can be seen starting to cross the road at that point. The von Trapps arrived on set that day and director Wise offered them this walk-on role. It has also been reported that Andrews tripped at one point during the filming, a moment the editors left in because it seemed to fit the character.

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The order of several of the songs is markedly different between the stage play and the film, thanks to the screenwriting of Ernest Lehman (Sabrina, West Side Story). One example is that in the play, "My Favorite Things" is sung at the convent. A couple of the songs were altered. "How Can Love Survive?" (which did not really fit the flow of the movie very well) was reduced to an instrumental, one of several waltz numbers played at the party occurring just before intermission. The title song's four-line prelude ("My day in the hills has come to an end, I know..."), sung by Mary Martin in the stage play (available on CD), is reduced to an instrumental hint during the overture and dramatic zoom-in shot to Julie Andrews on the mountaintop at the start of the movie.

Related Topics:
Screenwriting - Ernest Lehman - Sabrina - West Side Story - Mary Martin

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Despite the enormous popularity of the movie, which at the time became the second-largest grossing picture of all time (behind Gone with the Wind), and has continued through the present day, noted film critic Pauline Kael blasted the film in a review in which she called the movie "The Sound Of Mucus." This review allegedly led to Kael's being fired from her position as a film critic.

Related Topics:
Gone with the Wind - Pauline Kael - Mucus

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The film's high production values still stand out 40 years later. In a commentary that was included with an expanded edition of the soundtrack CD, the late Richard Rogers had said, "As you start to watch this movie, you can tell right away that it did not come from a sausage factory!"

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In 2001 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Related Topics:
2001 - Library of Congress - National Film Registry

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According to boxofficemojo, the film ranks third in both all-time number of tickets sold (142,415,400) and in gross adjusted for inflation ($911,458,400) in North America (behind Gone with the Wind and Star Wars) Combine this with its success around the world in sales of tickets, videocassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs and its frequent airings on television, it is called "the most widely seen movie produced by a Hollywood studio" by Amazon.uk

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The seven von Trapp children are five girls and two boys: Liesl (16 years old "going on 17"), Friedrich (14), Louisa (13), Kurt (11), Brigitta (10), Marta (6, although by the end of the movie she is 7, made clear by her line at the start, "I'm turning 7 on Tuesday"), Gretl (5).

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Jazz musician John Coltrane adopted the tune "My Favorite Things" as his signature tune. His is a heavily modified version, played on the soprano saxophone, in which the initial theme ("Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...") is repeated again and again, separated by long soloing vamps.

Related Topics:
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things

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The Australian comedy show Full Frontal also had a send-up of the song "My Favourite Things", with the segment, "Australian National Nightly Network News" by John Walker as Ian Goodings and Kitty Flannigan as Narelle Parkinsim saying their improvised news headline. At the 76th Annual Academy Awards in 2004, comedian Billy Crystal (the show's host) sang an altered version of "My Favourite Things" to summarise Best Picture-winner '. One excerpt, describing the appearance of Gollum and hobbits Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee travelling to Gondor, also referred to the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl earlier that year:

Related Topics:
Australian - Full Frontal - My Favourite Things - Academy Awards - 2004 - Comedian - Billy Crystal - Host - Best Picture - Gollum - Hobbit - Frodo Baggins - Sam Gamgee - Gondor - Janet Jackson - Wardrobe malfunction - Super Bowl

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:Frodo and Sam on a mystical planet

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:Gollum pops out like the right boob of Janet.

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