The Sound of Music: From Stage to Screen

JULIE ANDREWS	MARIA
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER	CAPTAIN VON TRAPP
ELEANOR PARKER	ELSA SCHRAEDER
RICHARD HAYDN	MAX DETWEILLER
THE ABBY
PEGGY WOOD	MOTHER ABBESS
ANNA LEE	SISTER MARGARETTA
PORTIA NELSON	SISTER BERTHA
MARNI NIXON	SISTER SOPHIA
THE KIDS
CHAIRMIAN CARR	LIESL
NICHOLAS HAMMOND	FRIEDRICH
HEATHER MENZIES	LOUISA
DUANE CHASE	KURT
ANGELA CARTWRIGHT	BRIGITTA
DEBBIE TURNER	MARTA
KYM KARATH	GRETL

NORMA VARDEN	FRAU SCHMIDT
GIL STUART	FRANZ
DANIEL TRUHITTE	ROLFE
BEN WRIGHT	HERR ZELLER

TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX Presents
A ROBERT WISE PRODUCTION OF
RODGERS and HAMMERSTEIN^Š'S
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Music by RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics by OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II
Additional Words and Music by RICHARD RODGERS
Screenplay by ERNEST LEHMAN
Book by HOWARD LINDSAY and RUSSEL CROUSE
Associate Producer SAUL CHAPLIN
Directed by ROBERT WISE
Produced by Argyle Enterprises, Inc.
Color by DeLuxe^Ž Produced in TODD-AO*

Aerial photography quickly sells the viewer on the beauty of the little village of Salzburg perched on a river bank between two majestic mountain peaks. As the 'travelogue' comes to an end, we see a lone figure atop a rolling bluff. It is Maria on - what we will soon find out - a not so proper field trip. The lyrics of the title song along with the brief visuals establish Maria as a person who loves life and nature. She hops through a babbling brook, skims some stones and swings through some trees. Then as the song ends, she hears bells beckoning her...

Aerial photography was still a new concept at the time the film was made. Under close scrutiny, some of the opening camerawork is very fidgety. Still, the opening is very successful in capturing the viewer. Most of this was shot with a camera mounted to a helicopter but some of it required a cameraman to secure himself and hang out of the flying machine. Maria is introduced in a long flying camera shot speeding towards her, she spins and then we cut to a close-up of her completing the spin. What we don't see is that in order to get the helicopter shot, the flying machine had to fly very close to the ground. Through all the takes, Julie Andrews was knocked forcefully to the ground by the propwash.

We are introduced to an Abby. The Preludium is a beautifully harmonic prayer heard over visuals of nuns and novitiates in a Mass praying. At the end of the piece we find out that someone has missed the service.

In the stage version, the Preludium takes the place of a traditional overture and so happens before Maria is seen singing on the mountainside. It is wisely reversed here allowing the film to open with the beautiful mountain vistas, immediately transcending the musicals theatrical origins.

Where's Maria? Has Anyone seen Maria?

This comedy song (sung by nuns??!) very cleverly sets up the story and Maria's character. As a side note we see a bickering side of these 'Women of God' that we normally don't see or expect.

Marni Nixon, who has done voice dubbing for Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady", dubs her own voice as Sister Sophia.

Maria has left the Abby with guitar in hand and is en route, albeit against her will, to her new position as governess to the 7 Von Trapp children. She sings this song, composed directly for the film, of her confidence as she approaches this new 'adventure'. The music and lyrics for this piece were by Richard Rodgers since Oscar Hammerstein II had died prior to production.The song is unspectacular and will never have the staying power of most of the others. Still, Director Robert Wise uses the number to setup the geography of the region as well as a character piece for Maria.

The real Maria Von Trapp is seen walking in the background as Julie Andrews passes through a courtyard. This is one of only two songs sung on location.

Rodgers and Hammerstein always found room in their stories for star-crossed lovers, and The Sound of Music is no exception. Here, eldest daughter Liesl has a crush on the telegraph delivery boy Rolf. The relationship begins most innocently but eventually becomes very aggressive as the 'temperature' of the government changes. Here Rolf, in an appropriately over-confident .performance, sings to Liesl about her youthful sixteen years and his experienced seventeen. Includes a very creative dance break.

Maria, swamped with frightened children sings this song to distract from the thunderstorm. It brings the children very close to her. (And helps to build up the Maria/Captain conflict.)Very well done.

In the stage version, this song was sung by Mother Abbess and Maria just before Maria was sent off to the Von Trapp family employ. The screenwriter felt that the audience had just finished hearing the nuns sing 2 songs back to back and the third wasn't immediately needed. But the song was too powerful (and popular) to cut so he placed this in the place of 'The Lonely Goatherd' (which was also relocated).

Now that Maria is close to the children, she teaches them how to sing using the song "Do-Re-Mi." the piece is cleverly presented all over Salzburg from a hillside picnic to regal steps to a bike ride through the country.

On stage, Maria delivers this song to the children upon their first meeting. Wisely, they relocated it allowing for greater tension between Maria and the children early on. This is the second of the two songs sung on location.

During a party given in honor of Baroness Schraeder, the Children perform a simple goodnight song. And since it is a performance, bares close resemblance to the stage version. It works on both fronts. The scene that follows involves Baroness Schraeder coaxing Maria to leave, subtly suggesting her a homewrecker... As Maria sneaks out we break for Intermission...

Composed for the film, this clever piece takes place at the only place love songs take place on the estate, out in the garden house. This is very cinematic and when the Captain joins in the song, the whole piece is in beautiful silhouette, which also covers for the lip-synchronization. The music and lyrics for this piece were composed by Richard Rodgers since Oscar Hammerstein II had died prior to production.

The Sound of Music, a wonderful stage musical, made an amazing transformation to the screen. Much of this can be attributed to the screenwriter, Ernest Lehman. He wisely shuffled pieces around to great benefit, although those changes would not improve the stage show. The film opens (and closes) with a helicopter shot of the beautiful mountains of Austria, something not possible on stage... Three songs were cut from the film. Two of them involved Elsa Schraeder and Max Detweiler. It was felt by Lehman that if Elsa sang, she would become too sympathetic. So the songs "How Can Love Survive" and "No Way to Stop it". The other song "An Ordinary Couple" is replaced by "Something Good." Many of the screenplay changes went along with Maria Von Trapps original story. But, the finale change shamefully seems to be pandering towards Hollywoodization. The final conflict takes place as the family is hiding in the Abby courtyard. Rolf, now part of the Third Reich, catches them in his flashlight... Now on stage, He calls out:

"Lieutenant!..."

Then his flashlight catches Liesl's face, Rolf makes a decision and shouts:

"There's nobody out here, Sir!"

But onscreen, The Captain confronts Rolf in a stand-off to see who will break. The family sneaks away while the Captain forcefully takes Rolf's gun, then insults Rolfs desire to be a nazi.

"You'll never be one of the."

Rolf blows his whistle and the family gets in an old vehicle to take them to the foot of the mountains. Next, we see the nazis getting into their vehicles which just won't start. This is followed by the revelation that two of the nuns tinkered with the car engines...

Overall, the film won several oscars including Best Picture. It is an amazing film that never ages...

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