Let’s start at the very beginning ...
1 The Sound Of Music premiered in the United States on March 2, 1965 and in Britain on March 29. 2 My Favorite Things was the first scene to be filmed
3 In the film, Maria and the kids performed the number in a bedroom. However, in the 1959 Broadway musical, My Favorite Things was sung at the abbey by Maria and Mother Abbess.
4 While on location in Austria, the younger cast members had to attend classes when they were not shooting. The studio, Twentieth Century Fox, hired a teacher who would often take them out on field trips as part of their curriculum.
5 The seven actors who portrayed the von Trapp siblings flew to Austria together for the shoot. On the plane, the flight attendants who recognised them requested the actors to sing Do-Re-Mi which they happily obliged.
6 Remember the scene where Maria and the von Trapp children fall into the lake? Kym Karath, who played Gretl, was terrified on the day of the shoot as Wise refused to use a stunt double. Karath, who could not swim, had to fall into the water but was assured that Andrews would catch her immediately. “Almost drowning really affects you,” said Karath, who has since learnt to swim.
7 In the last scene of the movie, the actress who sat on Captain von Trapp’s shoulder was not Karath. This time, a stand-in had to be brought in at the request of Plummer as he felt Karath had gained too much weight and was heavy.
8 The role of the eldest von Trapp children, Liesl, was the last to be cast. It went to an unknown named Charmian Carr.
9 Popular actresses such as Liza Minnelli, Mia Farrow, Lesley Ann Warren and Teri Garr also auditioned for the role of Liesl.
10 Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss also auditioned for roles of the von Trapp children.
11 Carr injured her ankle while performing Sixteen Going On Seventeen.
12 Carr, who has an interior design firm now, was hired by Michael Jackson to decorate his house. “Michael was a huge fan of The Sound Of Music and he used to ask me questions about making the film,” she remembered.
13 Peggy Woods who played Mother Abbess did not sing Climb Every Mountain. The impressive vocals belonged to Margery McKay.
14 The real-life Maria was 22 years old when she married Captain von Trapp.
15 Also, Maria wasn’t even invited to the premiere of The Sound Of Music. When she asked the producer for a ticket, he said there was none available. How rude!
16 The director didn’t get along with the real Maria when she visited the set, calling her bossy. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t invited to the premiere.
17 Plummer hated working in the film and often referred to it as “The Sound Of Mucus” and “S&M”. The stage actor felt the role was beneath him. He was in a foul mood most of the time, complaining about the European weather and hardly spoke to the child actors.
18 Sean Connery and Richard Burton were also considered for the role of the Captain.
19 The gazebo from the Sixteen Going On Seventeen scene can still be found in Salzburg, Austria.
20 However, that scene was actually shot in a studio in Los Angeles with a replica of the gazebo.
21 The opening scene in the film, where Maria runs across the mountain, was the last scene to be shot.
22 There were many re-takes as Andrews, who plays Maria, kept falling down from the downdraft of the helicopter filming overhead.
23 The Sound Of Music was the final musical written by Broadway legends Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein ( Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King And I). Hammerstein died nine months after The Sound Of Music premiered on Broadway.
24 Debbie Turner, who played Marta, kept losing her baby teeth during the shoot. Each time her teeth fell out, they were replaced with false teeth.
25 In Spain, The Sound Of Music was titled Smiles And Tears, in France, The Melody Of Happiness and in Argentina, The Rebellious Novice.
26 To ensure the singing quality was top-notch, four other professional singing children were brought in to produce a better, fuller and more polished sound.
27 Plummer learnt to play the guitar for his role although, like his vocals, the strumming of his guitar was redubbed in the final cut.
28 Fearing that it’s too similar to her role as a nanny in Mary Poppins (1963), Andrews nearly turned down the role of Maria. Luckily she didn’t as it went on to become the defining role of her career.
29 Doris Day was said to be another actress considered for the role of Maria.
30 Initially, Paramount studios wanted to make a movie on the von Trapp family and offered the role of Maria to Hepburn. When she turned it down, the studio lost interest as well.
31 Andrews was said to have earned (only) US$225,000 for her work on The Sound Of Music.
32 The Sound Of Music soundtrack spent five weeks at No. 1 in the United States. It was also the biggest-selling album in Britain in 1965.
33 The soundtrack has sold over 20 million copies worldwide since.
34 It won five Oscars in 1966, including Best Picture and Best Director.
35 The Sound Of Music was made for US$9mil.
36 Leisl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta and Gretyl were not the real names of the von Trapp children. In fact, the oldest child was a son, not a daughter, and there were 10 siblings, not seven.
37 Wise was a stickler for detail. He wanted Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich) to have the same shade of blond as Heather Menzies (Louisa). Problem is Hammond had dark hair and needed to get it bleached. “I’ll never forget the day they bleached his hair,” Menzies remembered. “It was so painful, he was in tears.”
38 The next time you watch The Sound Of Music, keep an eye out for the I Have Confidence scene – the real Maria, her daughter and granddaughter appear as extras for a brief moment.
39 To break the ice on the first day of filming, Andrews taught the children the famous song from Mary Poppins: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. As Mary Poppins wasn’t even released when The Sound Of Music was in principal photography, the kids thought Andrews made up that song.
40 Move aside Kate Middleton! The train for Maria’s wedding dress was 4m long (the Duchess’ was less than 3m).
41 The chemistry between Andrews and Plummer was for real. Both actors admired one another. “I had a crush for forever,” Plummer said of Andrews while the actress found her co-star to be amazing. “I was in awe of this gentleman,” Andrews said.
42 Plummer tried to get the screenwriter to drop the song Edelweiss, in which the Captain performs, as he found the song “trite”.
43 Famed puppeteers, the husband-and-wife team of Bill and Cora Baird, performed The Lonely Goatherd segment.
44 The scene where Andrews tripped while singing I Have Confidence was accidental. Wise thought it was true to Maria’s character and decided to include that shot in the final cut.
45 At the beginning of the shoot, Hammond – who played Friedrich – had to wear heel lifts to appear taller than sister Louisa (Menzies). Towards the end of filming, however, he had grown six inches taller, so Menzies had to stand on a box in certain scenes to keep their heights consistent.
46 Grace Kelly was considered for the part of the Baroness, which subsequently went to Eleanor Parker.
47 The 1959 Broadway musical won five Tony Awards.
48 The Sound Of Music was nominated for a Grammy Awards in 1966 in the category of Album Of The Year. It lost to Frank Sinatra’s September Of My Years.
49 Twentieth Century Fox paid US$1mil for the rights to the movie.
50 The Sound Of Music is the third highest grossing film in the United States (adjusted for inflation) behind Gone With The Wind (1939) and Star Wars (1977).