Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film.The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical book written by the writing team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Ernest Lehman wrote the screenplay.
The musical originated with the book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. It contains many popular songs, including "Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "Do-Re-Mi", "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", and "The Lonely Goatherd", as well as the title song.
The movie version was filmed on location in Salzburg, Austria and Bavaria in Southern Germany, and also at the 20th Century Fox Studios in California.
Act I
In Salzburg, Austria, just before World War II, nuns from Nonnberg Abbey sing the Dixit Dominus. One of the postulants, Maria Rainer, is on the nearby mountainside regretting leaving the beautiful hills ("The Sound of Music") where she was raised. She returns late. The Mother Abbess and the other nuns consider what to do about her ("Maria"). Maria apologizes for singing in the abbey garden without permission, and the Mother Abbess joins her in song ("My Favorite Things"). The Mother Abbess tells Maria that she should spend some time outside the abbey to decide whether she is ready for the monastic life. Maria will act as thegoverness to the seven children of widower Captain Georg von Trapp.
Maria arrives at the villa of Captain von Trapp, a decorated World War I Captain of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. He explains her duties and summons the children with a bosun's whistle; they march in, clad in uniforms. He teaches Maria their individual signals on the whistle; but she openly disapproves of this militaristic approach. Alone with them, she breaks through their wariness, and she teaches them the basics of music ("Do-Re-Mi").
Rolf, a young messenger, delivers a telegram and then meets with the oldest girl, Liesl outside the villa. He claims he knows what is right for her because he is a year older than she is ("Sixteen Going on Seventeen"). They kiss, and Rolf runs off. Meanwhile, the housekeeper Frau Schmidt gives Maria material to make new clothes, as Maria had given all her possessions to the poor. Maria sees Liesl slipping through the window, wet from the thunderstorm but agrees to keep her secret. The other children are frightened by the storm. Maria sings the comforting "The Lonely Goatherd" to them.
Captain von Trapp arrives a month later with Baroness Elsa Schräder and Max Detweiler. Elsa tells Max that something is preventing the Captain from marrying her. Max opines that only poor people have the time for great romances ("How Can Love Survive"). Rolf enters, looking for Liesl, and greets them with "Heil". The Captain orders him away, saying that he is Austrian, not German. Maria and the children leapfrog in, wearing play-clothes made from old drapes. Infuriated, the Captain sends them off to change. Maria tells him that the children need him to love them, and he angrily orders her back to the abbey. As she apologizes, they hear the children singing "The Sound of Music", which Maria had taught them, to welcome Baroness Schräder. The Captain joins in, and he then embraces the children. Alone with Maria, he asks her to stay, thanking her for bringing music back into his house. Elsa is suspicious of Maria until Maria explains that she will be returning to the abbey in September.
The Captain gives a party to introduce Elsa, and guests argue over the Anschluss. Kurt asks Maria to teach him to dance the Laendler. When he is unable to negotiate a complicated figure, the Captain steps in to demonstrate. Maria and the Captain dance until they come face-to-face, and Maria breaks away, embarrassed and confused. Discussing the expected marriage between Elsa and the Captain, Brigitta tells Maria that she and the Captain are really in love with each other. Elsa asks the Captain to let the children say goodnight to the guests with a song, "So Long, Farewell". Max is amazed at their talent and wants them for the Saltzberg Festival, which he is organizing. The guests leave for the dining room, and Maria slips out the front door with her luggage.
At the abbey, Maria says that she is ready to take her monastic vows; but the Mother Abbess realizes that Maria is running away from her feelings. She tells Maria to face the Captain and discover if they love each other, and that, by searching for it, Maria must find the life she was meant to live ("Climb Ev'ry Mountain").
[edit]Act II
Max teaches the children how to sing on stage. When the Captain tries to lead them, they complain that he is not doing it as Maria did. The Captain tells the children that he has asked Elsa to marry him. The children try to cheer themselves up by singing "My Favorite Things", but are unsuccessful until they hear Maria singing on her way to rejoin them. Learning of the wedding plans, Maria decides to stay only until the Captain can arrange for another governess. Max and Elsa argue with the Captain about the imminent Anschluss, trying to convince him that it is inevitable ("No Way to Stop It"). When he refuses to compromise, Elsa breaks off the engagement. Alone, the Captain and Maria finally admit their love, desiring only to be "An Ordinary Couple". As they marry, the nuns reprise "Maria" against the wedding processional.
During the honeymoon, Max prepares the children to perform at the Saltzberg Festival. Herr Zeller, the Gauleiter, demands to know why they are not flying the flag of the Third Reich now that the Anschluss has occurred. The Captain and Maria return early from their honeymoon before the Festival. In view of developments, the Captain refuses to allow the children to sing. Max argues that the children would sing for Austria, but the Captain points out that Austria no longer exists. Maria and Liesl discuss romantic love; Maria predicts that in a few years Liesl will be married ("Sixteen Going on Seventeen (Reprise)"). Rolf enters with a telegram that offers the Captain a commission in the German Navy. He consults Maria and decides that they must secretly flee Austria. German Admiral von Schreiber arrives to find out why the Captain has not answered the telegram. He explains that the German Navy holds the Captain in high regard, offers him the commission and tells him to report immediately to Bremerhaven to assume command. Maria says that he cannot leave immediately, as they are all singing in the Festival concert, and the Admiral agrees to wait until after the concert.
At the concert, the von Trapps sing an elaborate version of "Do-Re-Mi". Then Max brings out the Captain's guitar, and he sings "Edelweiss", in which Austria's national flower becomes a declaration of loyalty to Austria itself. Max asks for an encore and announces that this is the von Trapp family's last chance to sing together, as the honor guard waits to escort the Captain to his new command. While the judges decide on the prizes, the von Trapps sing "So Long, Farewell", leaving the stage in small groups. Max then announces the runners-up, stalling as much as possible. When he announces that the first prize goes to the von Trapps and they do not appear, the Nazis start a search. The family hides at the Abbey, and the Nazis do not find them until Rolf comes upon them. He calls his lieutenant, but on seeing Liesl, he reports that he has found no one. A nun tells them that the borders have been closed. The von Trapps flee over the mountains as the nuns reprise "Climb Ev'ry Mountain".
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