The Sound of Music - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[phyllis]

Space and science fiction was all the rage in the 1960s when they were producing this movie. Most of the cast followed up this blockbuster musical with some sort of science fiction outing, riding that trend. Angela Cartwright, Heather Menzies, and Nicholas Hammond went on to have regular recurring roles on science fiction television series after this movie wrapped. Angela starred for three years as Penny Robinson on the cult classic Lost in Space (1965). Angela's on-screen sister from this movie, Kym Karath, made a cameo on Lost in Space (1965) playing a space Princess in season one, episode twenty-seven, "Lost Civilization". Heather Menzies played Jessica 6 on Logan's Run (1977). Nicholas Hammond's big role after this movie was Peter Parker/Spider-Man on CBS' hit series The Amazing Spider-Man (1977), and it is the role for which he is probably most identified. Christopher Plummer also appeared in two science fiction movies after this movie wrapped. He appeared in Starcrash (1978), and he played General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). Eleanor Parker, who played the Baroness in this movie, played the recurring role of Margitta Kingsley on the science fiction spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). Dame Julie Andrews did several science fiction outings after this movie. She appeared in Aquaman (2018), the Despicable Me film franchise, the Shrek film franchise, Enchanted (2007), and Tooth Fairy (2010).

[bernice]

While the name "Liesl" is not a name of the real Von Trapp children, daughter Maria (portrayed as "Louisa") had a favorite childhood doll named "Liesl".

[toni]

Friedrich was supposed to be a blond, but Nicholas Hammond is a brunette, so Robert Wise ordered that the young actor be bleached. The process was intense for Hammond and his hair wound up falling out in patches during the bleaching. This left bald spots on his head here and there, which is why he is wearing a Tyrolean Traditional Alpine hat for most of the "Do-Re-Mi" number.

[charlie]

Two years before the musical made its Broadway debut, Paramount Pictures bought the rights to the Von Trapp Singers story, intending to cast Audrey Hepburn as Maria. When Hepburn declined, Paramount dropped plans for a movie. If Hepburn had gotten the role, this would have been the second time she would have beaten Dame Julie Andrews for the lead in an Oscar-winning musical, after beating her in My Fair Lady (1964).

[tom]

This movie recruited some of the same people that worked on West Side Story (1961): producer and director Robert Wise, screenwriter Ernest Lehman, associate producer Saul Chaplin, singer and actress Marni Nixon, music adapter and conductor Irwin Kostal, and production designer Boris Leven.

[kyle]

Mia Farrow screentested for the part of Liesl.

[alyssa]

Maria Von Trapp was not invited to the Hollywood premiere of this movie. Strangely enough, the woman who made it all possible, the movie, the Broadway musical, and everything else, Maria Von Trapp, was not invited to the opening night. As reported by "The Telegraph", Maria wondered why she hadn't received an invitation and took it up with the producers, but was simply told that there were no seats left. This might have been because she clashed with Wise and producers during the productions. The reports were that the characteristically feisty Maria was starting to boss Wise around, and make intrusive suggestions about the production and the story, and she was eventually kicked off the set.

[toni]

Alternate studio suggestions for Captain Von Trapp included Sir Rex Harrison, Maximilian Schell, Yul Brynner (who lobbied heavily for the role), Richard Burton, and, most bizarre of all, Sir Sean Connery. If Sir Rex Harrison had been cast, this would have been the second time he would have been cast opposite Dame Julie Andrews in a big musical, since the two co-starred in the Broadway hit "My Fair Lady" just a few years before that. Mia Farrow, Sharon Tate, and Teri Garr all auditioned for the part of Liesl.

[addison]

Dame Julie Andrews nearly turned down the role of Maria von Trapp, fearing the character was too similar to her role in Mary Poppins (1964).

[nina]

Charmian Carr, who played Liesl, and was twenty-two at the time, wrote in her autobiography that she was attracted to the 35-year-old Christopher Plummer, who played her father. Plummer admitted that the feeling was mutual, but insists that it didn't get beyond mere flirtation.

[carl]

In the background of the picnic in the mountain pasture when Maria and the children start singing "Do Re Mi", you can dimly make out a castle on top of a hill. This castle featured more prominently in the Richard Burton-Clint Eastwood thriller Where Eagles Dare (1968).