38th Academy Awards · 1966
The Sound of Music
Directed by Robert Wise
“The happiest sound in all the world!”
Tap to rate
The story
In the years before World War II, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children and brings a new love of life and music into the home.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer83%Fresh#82 of 98 winnersIMDb8.1296K votes#25 of 98 winners
Metacritic63/ 100#93 of 93 winners
TMDB7.7/ 10
Famous lines
The Reverend Mother always says, 'when the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window'.
…I could never answer to a whistle. Whistles are for dogs and cats and other animals, but not for children, and definitely not for me.
Captain: If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you will be the entire trumpet section.
Zeller: You flatter me, Captain.
Captain: Oh, how clumsy of me. I meant to accuse you.
Maria: Excuse me, sir, I don't know your signal.
Captain: You may call me "Captain."
Maria, these walls were not built to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live.
You know how Sister Berthe always makes me kiss the floor after we've had a disagreement? Well, lately I've taken to kissing the floor whenever I see her coming, just to save time.
You are the twelfth in a long line of governesses who have come here to look after my children since their mother died. I trust you will be an improvement on the last one. She stayed only two hours.
Elsa: Oh Georg, he's just a boy.
Captain: Yes, and I'm just an Austrian.
Captain: They have uniforms.
Maria: Straitjackets, if you'll forgive me.
Captain: I will not forgive you for that.
…You're much too independent and I need someone who needs me desperately, or at least needs my money desperately.
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- After watching a few minutes of unreleased Mary Poppins footage, Robert Wise told Ernest Lehman, 'Let's go sign this girl before somebody else sees this film and grabs her!' and cast Julie Andrews.Wikipedia · Casting and rehearsals
- William Wyler was originally set to direct and said he hated the Broadway show, but dropped out to make The Collector; Lehman had secretly slipped the script to Robert Wise's agent.Wikipedia · Screenplay and pre-production
- The real Maria von Trapp makes a brief uncredited cameo as a passer-by during 'I Have Confidence.'Wikipedia · Cast
- In real life the von Trapps didn't hike over the Alps; they walked to the local train station and took a train to Italy, and the film's escape scene was shot within sight of Hitler's Eagle's Nest.Wikipedia · Historical accuracy
- By November 1966 The Sound of Music had passed Gone with the Wind as the highest-grossing film in history, and in some US cities the number of tickets sold exceeded the total population.Wikipedia · Box office
- Kym Karath, who played Gretl, could not swim and nearly drowned in the capsizing boat scene; Heather Menzies saved her, and Karath vomited all over her.Wikipedia · Filming and post-production
- The film flopped in West Germany, where a Fox branch manager cut the entire Nazi-era third act without authorization; Robert Wise and the studio had it restored and fired him.Wikipedia · Critical response
- Salzburg officials didn't want Robert Wise staging scenes with swastika banners, relenting only after he threatened to use old newsreel footage of the real banners instead.Wikipedia · Filming and post-production
- The film ran for only three days in Salzburg theaters, yet by 2007 it was drawing 300,000 visitors a year to the city, more than Mozart's birthplace.Wikipedia · Legacy
- Children who auditioned but weren't cast included Mia Farrow, Patty Duke, Kurt Russell, Teri Garr and the Osmonds, while Liesl went to Charmian Carr, a model with no acting ambitions.Wikipedia · Casting and rehearsals