- 3 months ago
Get ready to climb every mountain and uncover the untold tales behind a cinematic masterpiece! We're celebrating the 60th anniversary of one of the most iconic musicals ever made by exploring the surprising secrets from its set. From Julie Andrews' hair mishaps and Christopher Plummer's near-departure to real-life cameos, on-set injuries, and surprising filming challenges, discover the fascinating drama that brought this heartwarming story to the big screen.
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00:00I heard that occasionally you curse like a sailor.
00:04I do. No, I do and I did.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:08And today, we're looking at behind the scenes about the sound of music
00:11in celebration of its 60th anniversary.
00:14And I didn't want to have anything to do with it.
00:16Yes, you did. Not then, but you're glad now.
00:19Yes, I am. I sure am.
00:22Julie Andrews' bad hair day.
00:25I'm afraid you don't look very much like a governess.
00:28Turn around, please.
00:29What?
00:30Turn.
00:34Hat off.
00:35Julie Andrews' blonde haircut in The Sound of Music is instantly recognizable.
00:40If you've re-watched the film enough times, though,
00:42you might notice that Maria's hair goes through a few different shades of blonde.
00:46I thought I detected different colors occasionally.
00:49Well, maybe you did. That was kind of by an accident.
00:52That's likely because the filmmakers initially added blonde highlights
00:55to Andrews' naturally dark hair.
00:57Instead of coming out blonde, the highlights turned Andrews' hair orange.
01:02To correct this, they cut her hair shorter, and what remained was completely bleached.
01:07Daniel Truitt, who played Rolf, also had his hair and eyebrows bleached.
01:11Truitt believes this is why his hair started thinning after,
01:14requiring him to wear hair pieces by the time he turned 21.
01:17Andrews might have been, quote, mortified by her orange dye job,
01:22but at least she still had hair in the end.
01:24I'm very sorry, children, but Maria is in seclusion.
01:27She hasn't been seeing anyone.
01:29She'll see us. I know she will.
01:31Alternative casting choices.
01:32Audrey Hepburn was cast as Eliza Doolittle over Andrews in the film version of My Fair Lady.
01:48Ironically, Hepburn was considered for Maria when Paramount held the rights to The Sound of Music.
01:53Once the rights went to Fox, Andrews was screenwriter Ernest Lehman's first choice,
01:58even though her debut film, Mary Poppins, hadn't been released yet.
02:02How does it feel, Mary Poppins winning the race?
02:05Oh, well, I...
02:06Gaining fame and fortune?
02:07Yes.
02:08Having your picture taken to the newspaper?
02:10Naturally, I'm delighted.
02:11Besides having your extreme good looks, if I may say so.
02:14Oh, well, I wouldn't.
02:15Early footage was enough to convince director Robert Wise to cast Andrews over Grace Kelly,
02:20Shirley Jones, and Doris Day.
02:23Meanwhile, Christopher Plummer was cast as Captain Von Trapp instead of Yul Brynner,
02:27Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Bing Crosby, and Walter Matthau.
02:31The younger roles also could have been filled by up-and-comers like Mia Farrow,
02:35Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Sharon Tate, Patty Duke, and the Osmond Brothers, among others.
02:42And, oh, I forgot the other boy.
02:43What's his name?
02:46Well, God bless what's his name.
02:48Salzburg had issues with those banners.
02:51While some scenes were shot at the Fox Studios in Los Angeles,
02:54others were filmed on location in Salzburg, Austria.
02:57Although mostly accommodating, the city took issue with a scene where Nazis marched through
03:02the residence plots, where swastika banners hang from buildings.
03:05Why was he so cross?
03:07Everybody's cross these days, darling.
03:09Maybe the flag with the black spider on it makes people nervous.
03:12The town elders rejected this idea, saying, quote,
03:15Nazi Germany did occupy Austria, along with Salzburg, between 1938 and 1945, however.
03:25You will take this, please, and deliver it to your father as soon as he comes home.
03:28He's on his honeymoon.
03:29I know that.
03:31You do?
03:32We make it our business to know everything about everyone.
03:34As an alternative, the second unit director suggested using old newsreel footage of Hitler
03:39entering Austria as citizens cheered him on.
03:42The city relented, allowing the filmmakers to hang the banners, albeit with two conditions.
03:47The banners would have to be taken down immediately after,
03:50and they couldn't show a crowd applauding the Nazis.
03:53If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herzl, that you will be the entire trumpet section.
03:58You flatter me, Captain.
04:00Oh, how clumsy of me.
04:02I meant to accuse you.
04:03The children had growing pains while filming.
04:06The production took place between March and September 1964.
04:10Six months might not seem like an especially long time,
04:13but when you're at a certain age, much can change overnight.
04:17Yes, you're Gretel.
04:18And you're five years old?
04:21My, you're practically a lady.
04:22Debbie Turner, who played Marta, lost her front baby teeth.
04:26The prop department filled them in,
04:28although the dentures made it difficult for Turner to sing.
04:30Friedrich actor Nicholas Hammond sprouted by six inches during the shoot.
04:35I'm 14.
04:36I'm impossible.
04:38Really?
04:38Who told you that, Friedrich?
04:40Fräulein Josephine.
04:41Four governesses ago.
04:43To make Eldis Liesel appear taller,
04:45Charmian Carr had to stand on boxes while Hammond went barefoot.
04:48As Gretel, the youngest Von Trapp,
04:51Kim Karafe gained weight due to the limited food options available.
04:55Plummer thus carried a less heavy body double during the final scene
04:58as the family climbs the mountain with Gretel on her father's back.
05:01Liesel's ankle accident.
05:14Charmian Carr was 21 when production began,
05:16only being about seven years younger than Andrews.
05:19I'm Liesel.
05:20I'm 16 years old and I don't need a governess.
05:24Well, I'm glad you told me, Liesel.
05:26We'll just be good friends.
05:27She still passed for 16, going on 17.
05:31Speaking of which, Liesel's love ballad with Rolf
05:33was filmed towards the shoot's conclusion.
05:35You are 17, going on 18.
05:40I'll depend on you.
05:45Carr wore special dance shoes for the song,
05:48but the crew neglected to put rubber on the heels to prevent slipping.
05:51When Carr jumped on a bench,
05:53she lost her balance and fell through a pane of glass.
05:56While Carr's injuries weren't serious,
05:58she got multiple cuts and a sprained ankle.
06:01Carr still managed to pull off the dance
06:03with the wardrobe and makeup departments covering her wounds.
06:06The silver lining is that this was among the final scenes filmed.
06:09Imagine if it were one of the first.
06:11When that happens,
06:14after it happens,
06:16nothing is quite the same.
06:20The cast got soaked.
06:22Shooting on location wasn't without detriments.
06:24Even though it is a beautiful day today,
06:27it was not 50 years ago.
06:29In fact, it was rain,
06:30it was wind,
06:31the temperatures in the 50s.
06:33Everyone was freezing.
06:35It constantly rained in Salzburg and Bavaria.
06:38Much of the production was spent waiting for the rain to stop,
06:41giving the crew a narrow window to capture key moments.
06:44Other times,
06:45the filmmakers created the illusion of rain,
06:47like when a drenched Liesel climbs through Maria's window.
06:50This took 15 takes,
06:52requiring Carr to be repeatedly sprayed with water.
06:55How in the world did you climb up here?
06:57It's how we always got into this room to play tricks on the governess.
07:00Louisa can make it with a whole job of spiders in her hand.
07:03The scene where Maria and the children fall off a boat
07:06was done in four takes,
07:07although Kim Carafe couldn't swim.
07:09Andrews tried to catch her,
07:11but she fell in the wrong direction.
07:13Fortunately, actor Alan Callow fished Carafe out.
07:15After another take,
07:17Carafe threw up on Heather Menzies' shoulder.
07:20So water wasn't the worst thing she got covered in.
07:23All right, go inside.
07:24Dry off, clean up,
07:24change your clothes,
07:25report back here.
07:26Immediately.
07:28Christopher Plummer almost quit.
07:30While he later came to embrace it,
07:32there was a time when Christopher Plummer
07:34called the film the sound of mucus.
07:36Plummer felt the captain's personality
07:38was lacking in early drafts.
07:40The filmmakers took his advice
07:41to give the character, quote,
07:42a little edge.
07:43I loved the fact that Ernie did help me
07:46and my character to have some humor
07:49and have some sort of ironic, cynical attitude
07:53because the captain was such a sort of wet
07:55before Ernie Lehman got to him.
08:01And that was great help.
08:02The captain became a more complex figure,
08:05but Plummer was tempted to quit
08:06before the cameras even started rolling.
08:09Plummer wanted to provide his own singing vocals,
08:11nearly walking off set upon learning
08:13that he'd be dubbed over.
08:15It says here only the names of the children.
08:17It says the Von Trapp family singers.
08:21And I'm the head of the Von Trapp family.
08:23Am I not?
08:24Although Plummer practiced,
08:26it became clear that his voice
08:27wasn't strong enough on its own.
08:29So playback singer Bill Lee
08:31was brought in to provide additional support.
08:33Plummer believed that had he been singing
08:35opposite anyone other than Andrews,
08:37his voice might have been passable.
08:39Small and white,
08:42clean and bright,
08:45you look happy to meet me.
08:51Cracking up during kissing scene.
08:53Despite not being the happiest camper on set,
08:56Plummer became good friends with Julie Andrews.
08:58Do you attribute some of the movie's success
09:01to the clear chemistry that you guys had then
09:03and that you've maintained?
09:04Well, she had the chemistry.
09:07What did you have?
09:09I tried to maintain it.
09:10While the two made us believe
09:11Maria and the captain were falling in love,
09:14they had trouble getting through
09:15a crucial romantic scene.
09:17Andrews and Plummer were exhausted
09:19when the time came to shoot
09:20the something good number.
09:21It didn't help that the lights
09:23were making a sound reminiscent
09:24of a quote,
09:25As Plummer and Andrews stood face to face,
09:44they couldn't help but laugh.
09:45This persisted for almost 12 takes,
09:48none of them usable.
09:50Even after taking a break,
09:51the giggles wouldn't go away.
09:53Robert Wise decided to shoot them
09:55in the dark so nobody would notice,
09:57although their smiles are still visible
09:59in the finished film.
10:00Is there anyone I should go to
10:03to ask permission to marry you?
10:09Well, why don't we ask the children?
10:11The real Maria von Trapp cameo.
10:13Has it been all through your life
10:15a case of a love for the mountains and music?
10:19More or less, yeah.
10:21That's what got me here.
10:23While the film and its stage musical counterpart
10:25took creative liberties,
10:27they are based on the life of Maria von Trapp.
10:29Andrews and the actual Maria
10:31share the screen at one point,
10:33but it's a blink and you'll miss it moment.
10:35You know, it's nice to talk about Salzburg again.
10:37It's even better to have the chance to see it.
10:40As Andrews sings I Have Confidence,
10:42her character's real-life inspiration
10:44can be spotted in the background.
10:46She's accompanied by Rosemary von Trapp,
10:48her eldest biological child,
10:50and Werner von Trapp's daughter.
10:52Although she's barely on screen for a few seconds,
10:54Maria had to be on set for almost three hours,
10:57according to Robert Wise.
10:59She wasn't prepared to do so many takes in costume.
11:02When her scene was done,
11:03Maria von Trapp decided to leave acting to Andrews,
11:06saying, quote,
11:07that's one ambition I'm giving up.
11:09Before we unveil our top pick,
11:28here are a few honorable mentions.
11:31Andrews' stunt double.
11:32Larry Thomas climbed a tree in her place,
11:35but the kids did their own stunts here.
11:37What happens?
11:38What's this?
11:40It's nothing, just some local urchin.
11:47Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall.
11:50Three years before the film,
11:51this special foretold Andrews' casting.
11:54We bring you a happy song
11:56that I used to sing
11:58when I was a happy nun back home in Switzerland.
12:02Andrews sang supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
12:05to her young co-stars,
12:06one nanny channeling another.
12:08You did supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
12:11backwards for them, right?
12:13I think I must have.
12:14I think they asked me to.
12:15Dosis.
12:16Dosis aliexpia stick fragicali rupus.
12:18Right.
12:18Yeah.
12:19Easy.
12:19I'm saying right to you.
12:22Congratulations.
12:23You can do it.
12:24Cut songs.
12:25How Can Love Survive and No Way to Stop It
12:27didn't make it from stage to screen.
12:30That's you.
12:31That's I.
12:32And I.
12:33And me.
12:34That all-absorbing character.
12:36The bike scene took months to rehearse.
12:38Singing while cycling is easier said than done.
12:51Before we continue,
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13:07The helicopter shot.
13:09It's one of the most famous shots in cinema.
13:12As we transition from the prologue
13:13to the opening number,
13:15we zoom in on Julie Andrews twirling
13:17on a green hilltop.
13:18The hills are alive
13:21with the sound of music.
13:26In an era before drones,
13:28the filmmakers had to execute the shot
13:30via helicopter with a cameraman
13:31strapped to the side.
13:33As the helicopter approached,
13:35choreographer Mark Broe hid in a bush,
13:37using a megaphone to give Andrews directions.
13:40They had to shoot this scene several times,
13:42which would have been fine for Andrews
13:43if it weren't for one major inconvenience.
13:46So we did this about six or seven times
13:49and I was spitting dirt and hay.
13:51Things like that.
13:52Every time the shot was complete
13:54and the helicopter flew around her,
13:56the downdraft knocked Andrews to the ground.
13:59After about 10 takes,
14:00Andrews was pushed to her limit,
14:02screaming,
14:02that's enough.
14:04And finally,
14:05I got so mad that I shook my fist
14:07at the pilot and said,
14:08make a wider circle around, please.
14:10And all I got was,
14:12great,
14:12I got the shot,
14:13keep going, you know.
14:14Do you have any fun facts
14:16about the sound of music?
14:17Let us know in the comments.
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