The famous musical by Rodgers And Hammerstein, based on the story of the Trapp Family Singers. The musical was inspired by an earlier, now largely forgotten German movie adaption of the book and was made into a movie in 1965. In 1991 the book was again independently adapted in a 40 episode Anime as part of the World Masterpiece Theater series.Features nuns, Those Wacky Nazis, and not the Austrian national anthem. The film is virtually unknown in Austria itself, which is odd considering the English-speaking world knows Austria as "that country from The Sound of Music".Has enough pop culture references and pastiches to fill a small article on The Other Wiki, although there actually isn't one.For those who have still managed to live under a rock (or in Austria) for the past 50 years, the musical follows Maria Kutschera (Julie Andrews), a young postulant from Nonnberg Abbey, as she is sent to be a governess to the seven children of retired Navy Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer). She soon discovers that the captain not only runs a tight ship, but also cannot bear to be reminded of his wife, meaning that he spends a lot of time in Vienna with Baroness Elsa Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), with whom he has struck up a romance. As a result, the children are rather rebellious and disdainful of any governesses (who were, as befitting authority figures of the time, rather strict). Maria is, however, kind towards them, and easily befriends the lot, teaching them songs and letting them frolic around the Austrian countryside. Captain von Trapp is, of course, rather taken aback, but soon rediscovers his pent-up happiness and begins to fall in love with Maria, who still hasn't worked out her own emotions. A brief trip back to the Abbey convinces her to go with the flow, and she returns and marries Georg.Unfortunately the Anschluss happens while the two are on their honeymoon and when they return Georg is "asked" to accept a command in the new German navy. Being strongly opposed to Hitler, the family resolves to leave Austria for Switzerland using the pretext of attending a local folk music festival for cover. But the Nazis are not so easily bamboozled and the von Trapps will not get away quite that easily...
This musical/film contains examples of:
Ambiguously Gay: Some productions present Uncle Max as such.
Bowdlerize: The French dub removed the renditions of "Maria" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" sung by the nuns as they thought it was sinful for nuns to be singing non-religious songs. As such only the reprisals of them were heard. And the subtitles don't show the lyrics to them.
Brawn Hilda: Such a woman wins third place at the concert, and won't get off the stage so she can keep soaking up applause.
The Butler Did It: Somebody must have told the local Nazis they were sneaking out of the house. In the film, Franz the butler (who the von Trapps never told about their impending escape) collaborates with Rolf, and later is shown watching the family's escape attempt and subsequent apprehension.
Cannot Spit It Out: Maria had some difficulty trying to realize her feelings for Captain von Trapp and tell him that she loved him. The things that girl has to do to get a kiss.
Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends: When the baroness realizes how much the captain loves Maria, she suddenly realizes the captain isn't the man for her, either.
Confessional: In the last lines of the film, two nuns turn to the Reverend Mother Superior and say, "Forgive me, Reverend Mother, for I have sinned." They then reveal that they stole the wires from the Nazis' cars, thus preventing them from pursuing the von Trapps. The abbess doesn't say anything, just smiles.
Cool Old Lady: Arguably, the Reverend Mother Superior of the convent. She instinctively knows that Maria's calling is outside the convent and she realizes that Maria is in love with the captain. Not to mention when Maria, at first, told the Reverend Mother she left because she was "frightened". To which the Reverend Mother said, "Frightened, were they unkind to you?" The tone which she said indicated she is very protective of the nuns. One could almost call her a Bad Ass Preacher.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: Captain von Trapp treats his children that way at the beginning.
Enforced Method Acting: Christopher Plummer disliked working on the film and isolated himself from the child actors, playing into the stern relationship the Captain has with his children.
However, he has mellowed significantly; he and Charmian Carr got on wonderfully well, Julie Andrews counts him among her closest friends and he has come out and said that the first time he sat down to watch the film, he realized it was the greatest cinematic adaptation of a stage musical ever produced.
Face Heel Turn: Liesl's boyfriend Rolfe does this at the end when he joins the Third Reich. He threatens to shoot the von Trapps when he catches them trying to escape, but the Captain confiscates the gun and then says:
First Kiss: Liesl gets hers in the gazebo. She then runs into the rain and squeals in delight. "Whee!"
Genre Blindness: Liesel's former boyfriend says to the Captain, "It's you we want, not them". Presumably he thinks the German Navy is going to trust a sub to an anti-Nazi without having his family close at hand. Also likely meant as a sign that Rolf3 doesn't quite understand yet how evil the Nazis he's affiliated himself with really are.
Herr Zeller: Perhaps those who would warn you that the Anschluss is coming - and it is coming, Captain - perhaps they would get further with you by setting their words to music.
Captain von Trapp: If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you will be the entire trumpet section.
Herr Zeller: You flatter me, Captain.
Captain von Trapp: Oh, how clumsy of me - I meant to accuse you.
Graceful Loser: The Baroness, eventually. One can scarcely blame her for putting up a fight, she's been working on Georg for a long time now.
Also at one point, Uncle Max asks the children "What's the matter with you gloomy pussies?", and another, Kurt says "I wonder what grass tastes like..."
Held Gaze: Maria and the Captain have a rather intense one during their Dance of Romance where they look deeply into each others eyes, definitely upping the UST between them.
High Turnover Rate: The Captain tells Maria that he hopes she'll be more successful than the last governess, who stayed only two hours.
Hollywood Atlas: Switzerland is not "just over the mountains" from Salzburg.
To make it worse, Germany is. A bit of Germany that housed one of Hitler's holiday retreats, in fact.
Not just his holiday retreat — across the Alps from Salzburg is Berchtesgaden, which was actually his home, or the closest thing an itinerant dictator had to one. It's called Obersalzberg, meaning Above-Salzburg, and by the Anschluss had multiple SS units stationed there at all times.
Honor Before Reason: Captain von Trapp's defiant attitude toward Nazis which was almost Churchillian. He could be one scary dude at times.
Hot Dad: Charmian Carr (Liesl) admitted to having "a huge crush'' on Chris Plummer, while Heather Menzies (Louisa) is on record as saying:
Heather: At the time I was too young to have a crush on him, but now, oh my God!
I Am Not Spock: Julie Andrews went to great lengths to avoid this. Charmian Carr, on the other hand, has embraced it, writing a memoir of the film/autobiography called Forever Liesl that's a great favorite among film fans. Nicholas Hammond did avoid it, mostly by going to Australia and becoming quite a popular actor there. (He also played Spider-Man.)
Not exactly. She said the captain wasn’t for her anyway, and she needed someone with a very strong need for her, or at least for her money. That’s a bit of a Red Herring plot point, as it sounded like she was implying she was into Max...
The whistle was real, by the way. RL Captain von Trapp had a weak voice. He did not however drill them as if they were in the navy.
The family used the whistles to locate each other and communicate across their vast property. The whistles could be heard from one corner to the other, instead of spending hours hunting down a child. They used them as an effective method of communication up until their departure from the country.
Knight in Shining Armor: Captain Von Trapp was a member of Europe's noble caste and served by tradition making him almost a literal as well as a figurative example of this.
Meaningful Echo: The first time someone sings "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" to Liesel is her crush Rolf, giving her advice about boys. The second time the song is sung to her, it is from Maria, now her mother, giving her advice about love.
Nazi Germany: "To refuse them would be fatal for all of us. And joining them would be...unthinkable."
Nazi Nobleman: Thankfully subverted. Captain Von Trapp hates the Nazis, as did most Austrian and German/Prussian aristocrats in Real Life.
Nuns Are Funny: Maria's inability to fit into both the overly strict convent and von Trapp household; the nuns themselves also run on high doses of The Comically Serious.
Nun Too Holy: Maria, of course, as sung by the sisters.
Off To Boarding School: "Darling, haven't you ever heard of a delightful little thing called boarding school?"
Oh Crap: A hilarious example happens in the middle of "I Have Confidence". Maria has been building herself up to a fantastic crescendo, "They will look up to ME! AND MIND ME!" But as she approaches the gate, the tempo slows and she gets much, much softer— and when she reaches the gate, she looks inward and says, "Oh, help."
Then as she passes through the gate, she gets her confidence back.
Playing Gertrude: Christopher Plummer was 35 at the time of filming (more than two decades younger than his character was in Real Life at the time the story is set), with his oldest daughter played by a 21-year-old actress (playing 16...going on 17).
The Quisling: All the Austrians who are accepting Nazi rule are this, represented by Uncle Max and the Baroness. But the Captain refuses to budge, straining their relationship with him.
Reality Subtext: Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich) had the world's biggest crush on Julie Andrews, as he had seen her three years prior in her last night onstage in London as Eliza Doolittle. This is rather obvious in the film.
Charmian Carr (Liesl) had "a huge crush" on Christopher Plummer, and the feeling was apparently mutual, though things never progressed beyond flirtation.
Although she has admitted on the Oprah Winfrey Show's Sound of Music Reunion that he did indeed teach her how to drink.
Reality Is Unrealistic: The Captain was in the Austrian Navy. But wait, isn't Austria landlocked? It was in 1939 but not in 1914, when Austria owned Croatia and had a potent navy dominating the Adriatic Sea.
The Captain was one of Austria-Hungary's most illustrious World War I heroes at sea. He commanded two submarines, the U-5 and U-14, and conducted 19 war patrols during which he sank 11 enemy merchantmen, captured a French armored cruiser and an Italian submarine, and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.
The Maria Theresa order, by the way, is a partial example of this trope. According to legend you get that medal by succeeding in defiance of orders. That is amusing but only partly true. It is for "initiative" not disobedience. It dates back to when the good Empress thought her officers needed a lot of prodding and introduced the medal by her name.
It is, however, true that the medal can be awarded for unusually daring and successful initiative, even in defiance of orders that could lead to a court martial if unsuccessful, or even if only slightly successful.
Recitation Handclasp: The children assume this posture during their recital at the festival.
Refuge in Audacity: The von Trapps escape their Nazi "escorts" by... walking out the door while singing "So Long, Farewell..."
Actually, that's more like You Killed My Father except it's "you exiled my father."
Rule Of Cool: In Real Life, they simply got on a train to Italy. The movie's method of escape gives prettier visuals. But fails logic since the way they are walking is toward Hitler's Mountain retreat, and a division of SS.
Also, in the play, Rolf calls a false alarm without any actual prompting, once he realises that he'd bear the burden of Liesl's possible death. In the movie, Georg has to go out and put Rolf in his place.
Sanctuary of Solitude: When Maria goes off to be alone and the song number "Climb Every Mountain" happens
Scenery Porn: The mountains, especially the long shots of the family going over to Switzerland at the end and the introduction.
Throw It In: Julie Andrews tripping at the end of "I Have Confidence" wasn't scripted, but was so perfectly in line with her character, it was left in.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy Maria and Girly Girl Elsa. Tomboy Louisa and Girly Girl Liesl. Tomboy Brigitta and Girly Girl Marta. And Gretel is somewhere in the middle.
Vehicular Sabotage: Two nuns reveal to their Mother that they have removed the distributor and coil (respectively) from the Nazis' automobile, the better to keep them from catching the Von Trapp family.
Very Loosely Based on a True Story: In reality, Georg and Maria were married in 1927, and she had borne two other kids by the time they left. Not only that, but they simply got on a train to Italy.
It's a fact of local legend that after the stage musical was written, anytime it was performed within a couple hours' drive of Stowe, Vermont, Maria von Trapp would attend opening night.
The depiction of Georg von Trapp as a stern disciplinarian annoyed his wife, as he was the exact opposite in real life—it was Maria who was the strict one.
In the movie, Georg quickly decides to reject the offer of a Captaincy in the Kriegsmarine and leave Austria as soon as possible. He actually anguished over the decision for a while. Technology had made such big strides since WW 1, plus he had spent 2 decades as a sea-captain without a sea but was still a u-boat warrior at heart, that the offer to command a modern submarine was very very tempting to him.
Of all the exaggerations of their lives, Maria commented in her memoirs that the only thing they didn't go far enough on was her behavior at the convent. She always laughingly commented when asked if she was that bad "I was worse!"
. The musical was inspired by an earlier, now largely forgotten German movie adaption of the book and was made into a movie in 1965. In 1991 the book was again independently adapted in a 40 episode Anime as part of the World Masterpiece Theater series.Features nuns, Those Wacky Nazis, and not the Austrian national anthem. The film is virtually unknown in Austria itself, which is odd considering the English-speaking world knows Austria as "that country from The Sound of Music".Has enough pop culture references and pastiches to fill a small article on The Other Wiki, although there actually isn't one.For those who have still managed to live under a rock (or in Austria) for the past 50 years, the musical follows Maria Kutschera (Julie Andrews), a young postulant from Nonnberg Abbey, as she is sent to be a governess to the seven children of retired Navy Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer). She soon discovers that the captain not only runs a tight ship, but also cannot bear to be reminded of his wife, meaning that he spends a lot of time in Vienna with Baroness Elsa Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), with whom he has struck up a romance. As a result, the children are rather rebellious and disdainful of any governesses (who were, as befitting authority figures of the time, rather strict). Maria is, however, kind towards them, and easily befriends the lot, teaching them songs and letting them frolic around the Austrian countryside. Captain von Trapp is, of course, rather taken aback, but soon rediscovers his pent-up happiness and begins to fall in love with Maria, who still hasn't worked out her own emotions. A brief trip back to the Abbey convinces her to go with the flow, and she returns and marries Georg.Unfortunately the Anschluss happens while the two are on their honeymoon and when they return Georg is "asked" to accept a command in the new German navy. Being strongly opposed to Hitler, the family resolves to leave Austria for Switzerland using the pretext of attending a local folk music festival for cover. But the Nazis are not so easily bamboozled and the von Trapps will not get away quite that easily...
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