The singing of “Edelweiss” is one of the more moving and dramatic moments in The Sound of Music. The Captain sings the song to show his love for his country, and his utter rejection of the Nazi party. Although the song represents the Captain’s devotion to Austria, it is not actually a traditional Austrian song.
The song was written by Rogers and Hammerstein especially for the musical for the Captain to perform. Ronald Reagan played the song in honor of Austrian president Rudolf Kirchschläger and his wife in 1984. The real Maria von Trapp was in attendance during the event and found the president’s error extremely amusing.
Maria Was The Tough One
In the Sound of Music, the children live an overly structured, military-style life, from which they are rescued by the gentle and fun-loving Maria. She is the polar opposite of the harsh Captain von Trapp, who fills his children’s lives with endless drills and never-ending chores.
In real life, they had the exact opposite roles. Maria was in charge of the family finances and served as the director of the troupe, while the Captain mainly focused on giving encouragement. He was also not much of a stage performer and would only make a token appearance near the end of every performance.
Plummer Was Drunk On Set
Christopher Plummer is widely recognized as one of the finest actors in the last century, but no one on set was calling him an angel. Although most of the scenes in the movie featured children, Plummer confessed in the DVD commentary that he was often drunk on set. He specifically mentioned that he was more than a little tipsy during the filming of the musical festival scene.
Charmian Carr said in an interview that Christopher Plummer was always available to have a drink with her and that he is the person who really taught her how to drink. The duo spent a lot of time off camera with a drink in hand, further fueling the rumors about their relationship.
It Could Have Been Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss is famous for his starring role in iconic horror movie Jaws, and has nothing to do with The Sound of Music, or does he? The actor revealed in an interview that he was in the running and even auditioned for the role of one of the von Trapp siblings.
Producers thought he might make a good Friedrich. Dreyfuss disclosed that he almost got the part because of his great acting abilities but lost it in the end because he was an awful dancer. With all our love for Richard Dreyfuss, we think the producers made the right choice. The actors playing the von Trapp kids were a perfect fit.
Doris Day As Maria?
Doris Day was America’s sweetheart in the 50’s and at the height of her popularity when casting for The Sound of Music was taking place. The studio also considered actresses Leslie Caron, Audrey Hepburn, Shirley Jones, and Anne Bancroft for the part. As for the role of Captain von Trapp, Yul Brynner was briefly considered, but the main contender for the role was none other than Bond, James Bond’s Sean Connery.
Day and Connery were the front runners, but in the end studio bosses picked Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer because they felt that they were a perfect fit for the characters. Also, Doris Day couldn’t hold a candle to Julie Andrew’s amazing voice.