"Music is like a key, to which the most locked up hearts open." ~Maria Von TrappThe Sound of Music was probably my favorite movie when I was little. I used to be able to sing-a-long with all of the Roger’s and Hammerstein tunes, and my parents even took me to see the play live at the Performing Arts Center once!
That said, with plans to go with Matt and Lizzy to see
Salzburg, Austria, it did seem necessary to do a little research on the Von
Trapp family’s home town. The tourism industry in Salzburg loves to exploit the
film for promotions—the soundtrack is available in almost every gift shop. This
article (which is entirely by Rick Steves) gives some of the facts about the
movie.
Sound of Music Debunked. By Rick Steves
One of the Sound of Music guides shared the dirt on this
tour. Rather than be bogged down with the truth — real life sights from the
life of Maria von Trapp and family — most tourists want to see the places
Hollywood chose to portray this fanciful story. While local guides are happy
not to burst any S.O.M. pilgrim's bubble, keep these points in mind: - "Edelweiss" is
not a cherished Austrian folk tune or national anthem. It was composed for
Broadway by Rodgers and Hammerstein. It was, however, the last composition
that the famed team wrote together, as Hammerstein died in 1960 — nine
months after the musical opened.
- The [musical] implies that
Maria was devoutly religious throughout her life, but Maria's foster
parents raised her as a socialist and atheist. Maria discovered her
religious calling while studying to be a teacher. After completing school,
she joined the convent as a novitiate (that is, she hadn't taken her vows
yet).
- Maria's position was not
as governess to all the children, as portrayed in the musical, but
specifically as governess and teacher for the Captain's second-oldest
daughter, Maria, who was bedridden with rheumatic fever.
- The colonel didn't run a
tight domestic ship. In fact his seven children were as unruly as most. He
did use a whistle to call them. Each kid was trained to respond to a
certain pitch.
- Though the von Trapp
family did have seven children, the show changed all their names and even
their genders. Rupert, the eldest child, responded to the often-asked
tourist question, "Which one are you?" with a simple, "I'm
Leisl!"
- The family didn't escape
by hiking to Switzerland (which is a 5-hour drive away). Rather, they
pretended to go on one of their frequent mountain hikes. With only the
possessions in their backpacks, they "hiked" all the way to the
train station (it was at the edge of their estate) and took a train to
Italy. The movie scene showing them climbing into Switzerland was actually
filmed near Berchtesgaden, Germany...home to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, and
certainly not a smart place to flee to.
- The actual von Trapp
family house exists...but it's not the one in the film. The mansion in the
movie is actually two different buildings, one used for the front, the
other for the back. The interiors were all filmed on Hollywood sets.
- For the film, Boris Levin
designed a reproduction of Nonnberg Abbey courtyard so faithful to the
original (down to its cobblestones and stained-glass windows) that many
still believe the cloister scenes were really shot at the abbey. And no
matter what you hear in Salzburg, the graveyard scene (in which the von
Trapps hide from the Nazis) was also filmed on the Fox lot.
- In 1956, a German film
producer offered Maria $10,000 for the rights to her book. She asked for
royalties, too, and a share of the profits. The agent explained that
German law forbids film companies from paying royalties to foreigners
(Maria had by then become a U.S. citizen). She agreed to the contract and
unknowingly signed away all film rights to her story. Only a few weeks
later, he offered to pay immediately if she would accept $9,000 in cash.
Because it was more money than the family had seen in all of their years
of singing, she accepted the deal. Later, she discovered the agent had
swindled them — no such law existed.
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