Our favourite things about The Sound Of Music

Lady Gaga, a fan of The Sound Of Music? Well, why not? You’d have to be a real grouch to not like that Oscar-winning movie starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, about a trainee nun, Maria, who becomes a governess for Captain Von Trapp’s children.

Based on the Broadway musical (with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II), The Sound Of Music was first released 50 years ago this week and has since become not only one of the most well-known films of all time, but a veritable box office juggernaut. It was shot for US$8 million (S$11 million) and is on the list of highest-grossing movies, raking in US$1.18 billion, just behind Star Wars (US$1.47 billion )and Gone With The Wind (US$1.67 billion).

Of course, what drives the movie are the songs that everybody can sing along to: Do-Re-Mi, I Have Confidence, My Favorite Things, So Long, Farewell, The Lonely Goatherd, Maria, the title track — practically every song is a golden musical moment.

To mark its golden jubilee, a restored version of the movie is set to be released in more than 500 cinemas across the United States for two days next month, and if you’re looking for a family holiday idea this year, there will be a special festival in Salzburg, Austria, in June.

To pay tribute to the movie, here are several of our favourite things about The Sound Of Music that many might not know about.

THE KEY PLAYERS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING IT A SUCCESS NEARLY DIDN’T TAKE PART

Julie Andrews nearly turned down the lead role due to its similarity to the previous year’s Mary Poppins. Robert Wise originally didn’t want to direct the film because he felt it was too saccharine. Christopher Plummer didn’t want anything to do with the film, referring to it as The Sound Of Mucus and allegedly needed to have some drinks before going on set so he could cope. He hated the song Edelweiss so much, he asked for it to be replaced; and likened working with Julie Andrews to “being hit over the head with a big Valentine’s Day card, every day”. Nontheless, he and Andrews have remained close friends since.

LOTS OF CRITICS DIDN’T LIKE IT

Both in its stage and film incarnations, mind you. The eminent critic of the time, Pauline Kael, described the film as “the sugar-coated lie that people seem to want to eat”. Brooks Atkinson, a noted New York Times critic, said it was cliched, and Walter Kerr at the New York Herald Tribune thought the show was “not only too sweet for words, but almost too sweet for music”.

THE REAL MARIA VON TRAPP HAS A CAMEO IN THE FILM

Ironically, she wasn’t invited to the premiere. Although the film (and the stage musical) is partly based on her 1949 memoir The Story Of The Von Trapp Family Singers and she appeared as an extra with her daughter, Rosemarie, studio execs didn’t see it fit to invite the real Maria Von Trapp to opening night. Having been invited to the premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical, when no similar invitation arrived from the film company, she took it up with the producers. You’d have thought they’d have apologised for their oversight. Instead, the producers told her “there were no seats left”.

THE VON TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS WERE A BAND FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS

The film depicts the Von Trapps as a wealthy family who had leisure for a bit of music on the side. In reality, music was the family’s sole source of income. They were near financial ruin when Maria and Georg got married in 1927, and they turned to music to make money. By 1935 though, they were a popular group. When they fled the country, they just said they were off to tour America, where they continued to make music. They even sang on an Elvis Presley Christmas album.

JULIE ANDREWS FELL OVER ALL THE TIME ON SET

When Andrews sang the opening track on that idyllic hillside, she was blown about by the helicopter used to film the aerial shot. When she sang I Have Confidence, the famous trip through the Von Trapp family’s gates was accidental, but kept by the director because he thought it added character. The rest of the time, Andrews would pratfall to amuse other cast members or relieve tension during a tiring shoot. Also, the actress had never played a guitar before appearing in the film and learnt to play Do-Re-Mi before filming on the hillside. However, she always had trouble singing and playing at the same time.

EDELWEISS IS NOT ANAUSTRIAN SONG

Many people think Edelweiss — the song Captain Von Trapp sings to his children — is a traditional Austrian folk tune. Not so. It was especially written for the stage musical and was the last song Oscar Hammerstein II wrote.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC WAS TO BE A NUCLEAR SALVE

In 1966, the year The Sound Of Music took five Oscars — including Best Picture and Director — the British Broadcasting Corporation decided to build a nuclear bunker. It was the height of Cold War paranoia and the film was selected by television executives to be broadcast in the event of a nuclear strike. AGENCIES