- Accidental Aesop: Liesl and Rolfe's subplot can have a different Aesop in the movie, thanks to Rolfe getting Adaptational Villainy - that being that differing political views can often be the death knell for a relationship. Indeed, in the musical the Baroness and Georg's engagement falls through just as much because the former wants to comply with the Nazi party (albeit just for a quiet life) as because he really loves Maria.
- Accidental Innuendo: The Lonely Goatherd. Especially the line "lusty and clear from the goatherd's throat heard".note Not helped when the song ends with some intentional innuendo predicting that "soon the duet will become a trio".
- Adaptation Displacement:
- In general, the movie is much more well-known than the musical.
- The songs written exclusively for the movie, "Something Good" and "I Have Confidence", have snuck their way into subsequent stage productions.
- Some stage adaptations have "My Favourite Things" as the song Maria sings to the von Trapp children during the thunderstorm just like the movie, instead of "The Lonely Goatherd".
- A Sound of Music read-along record released one year after the movie had Broadway's original Maria, Mary Martin, recapping the plot of the filmnote rather than the play in which she starred.
- Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Is Georg left heart-broken and harsh after the death of his first wife, only to be awoken by the beautiful music of his children, or was it because he realized how good a nanny Maria is for them after firing so many? Or does he warm up as he begins to fall in love with Maria?
- Rolfe - oblivious and naive enough to be seduced by the Nazi regime or two-faced bastard? Probably the former in the musical, while the film's Adaptational Villainy hints it might be the latter in that version.
- The song "16 Going On 17": is Rolfe sincere in the views he espouses in the song, with Liesl playing along with his naivety to get closer to him, or are they both in on it as a kind of game? This also tends to vary from production to production.
- The third-place winner at the festival. Is she really that much of a Cloudcuckoolander? Or is she in on helping the Von Trapps escape, and is deliberately wasting as much time as she can on stage in order to give them a few more precious seconds to get further away? Max pointedly plays to the crowd for comedy and joins in, clearly not in a rush to force her off the stage, which raises the question if that was him thinking on the spot or something planned.
- As the Von Trapps try to secretly leave before being discovered by Zeller, we see Franz was secretly watching them. Did he tell Zeller the Von Trapp's plans, or did Zeller already anticipate that the Von Trapps would want to leave instead of accepting the Nazis' "offer"?
- Aluminum Christmas Trees: Hearing that von Trapp was a naval captain confuses some modern viewers, considering that he lives in a country that, at present, has no coastline. The thing is, before the end of World War One and the Treaty of Saint-Germain taking a lot of territory away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was connected to the sea (the Adriatic, specifically), and had a small but well-trained navy with cutting-edge equipment and ships.
- Americans Hate Tingle:
- Despite its popularity as one of the most popular musicals in the world, The Sound of Music is held in very low regard by Austrians, with the possible exception of Salzburg because, well, Money, Dear Boy. One of the main reasons (apart from the obvious) is due to the fact that the plays and movies replace the Austrian folk songs that most Austrians were accustomed to.
- Similarly, it was (and still is) absolutely loathed in Germany for similar reasons (that and the Bad Export for You situation). Additionally, to Germans, it came out far too close to the Nazi regime (Just 19 years separated this film and the collapse of The Axis powers), and the horrors of the war was still fresh in many Germans' minds. To have a happy upbeat musical set during a dark period in the country's history still fresh in many of their minds rubbed the Germans the wrong way. Safe to say, it never caught on.
- Additionally, the Von Trapp family already had a successful German film called The Trapp Family (German: Die Trapp-Familie) which came out first (in 1956) and was a huge success in Germany. The Sound of Music would take many cues from it.
- Award Snub:
- The film received ten Academy Award nominations and won five, but Christopher Plummer wasn't nominated for Best Actor.
- While Julie Andrews had won Best Actress already for Mary Poppins, many wish she had instead won for this, attributing the former win to the politics surrounding her missing out on My Fair Lady. She however was up against Julie Christie who had just become a symbol for the 'Swinging Sixties', and Darling marked her Star-Making Role, making her winning over Andrews more understandable.
- Can't Un-Hear It: Every actress to play Maria ever since the movie have been firmly stuck in Julie Andrews' shadow.note Especially noticeable given the role was originated by Mary Martin, herself a legend of Broadway, yet Andrews' work in the movie eclipsed Martin's nonetheless. To a lesser extent, even though he didn't do his own singing and had harsh words towards the film until his later years, Christopher Plummer was so often linked to this movie, that it can be difficult to think of someone else as Georg.
- Common Knowledge:
- It's a common misconception (most infamously by Ronald Reagan
) that Edelweiss is actually the Austrian national anthem making its reprise at the Nazi concert more badass. It is not; the actual anthem for most of history is known as "Land der Berge, Land am Strome"; not only that, but at the time the movie is set it would have been "Sei gesegnet ohne Ende". This hasn't exactly helped real Austrians' views on the film especially since it persists in some foreigners to this day. Still, people have used the myth in creative ways, such as being used as the opening theme for The Man in the High Castle. - The film is often talked about as though it were three hours of non-stop sugary sweetness. While there is a definite sentimental tone, the film opens with a note that it's taking place in "the last golden days of the 30s" and the Anschluss is a looming presence throughout the story with Rolfe and Herr Zeller making increasingly ominous hints that everyone will need to get in line with the Nazi party. Max and Elsa aim to keep their heads down and stay safe while Georg is angry and defiant; in the stage version he even ends up breaking off his engagement with Elsa not just because he's fallen in love with Maria, but because he's frustrated by Elsa's total lack of political conviction. The brewing conflict comes to the forefront in the third act when Austria is annexed and Georg is flat out ordered to accept a comission in the German Navy, and the story has a Bittersweet Ending with Liesl's heart being broken when Rolfe joins the Nazi party (and sells out her and her family in the film) and the Von Trapps having to hide and escape from the Nazis, outright fleeing the country to find safety in Switzerland.
- Maria is almost always described in pop culture as the Von Trapp children's nanny. She's actually their governess: a live-in homeschool teacher, not an all-purpose caregiver. Naturally this is conflating Julie Andrews's other famous role in Mary Poppins, in which she does play a nanny.
- It's a common misconception (most infamously by Ronald Reagan
- Critical Dissonance: When the film originally came out, critical response was quite mixed. The praise that it got from most major critics was pretty low-key at best, and a few noteworthy reviewers from the time outright thrashed the film. This is in quite obvious contrast to the film's smash-hit success and continued status as a pop culture icon. One of the reviewers (Pauline Kael of McCall's magazine) lampshaded this, quite affectionately referring to the movie as "the sugar-coated lie people seem to want to eat".
- Designated Villain: The Baroness. In the musical, the only thing she did wrong was be rich, unliked by the children (and even then, only in comparison to Maria), and choosing not to cause any trouble with Germany to save their heads. She was made a little cattier in the movie, but really at worst she was just preventing Maria from moving in on her fiancé (not to mention she - relatively gracefully - steps aside when she realizes how Georg feels about Maria, that his feelings for the Baroness herself have never been that strong or passionate, and that they aren't that good a fit for each other). And then there's the live Carrie Underwood show, where, thanks to a virtuoso performance by Laura Benanti, many viewers were rooting for her over Maria!
- Ensemble Dark Horse: The nuns, of course! They dismantled a car to save an Austrian family from the Nazis! Reverend Mother in particular for being a Cool Old Lady that clearly cares a lot for her fellow nuns.
- Fan-Preferred Cut Content: Christopher Plummer hated how his singing sounded, and asked for Bill Lee to dub him. Once a version of "Edelweiss" with his original voice surfaced on YouTube (and later officially posted onto the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization's channel), many fans wish it had been used in the final film.
- Fanon: Fans sometimes assume that Captain von Trapp's first wife died giving birth to Gretl. For example, there's the Robot Chicken parody where Bitch Pudding-as-Maria nicknames Gretl "Mommy Killer". This is never actually implied, however, and in Real Life, she died of scarlet fever when Martina (Gretl) was a year old.
- Inferred Holocaust: The nuns' fate for sabotaging the Nazis' car. At the time, Nazi Germany and the Catholic Church were not on good terms, with reprisals being a real occurrence, meaning the convent was likely executed. This is of course only in the film, as in the musical Rolfe leads the Nazis away from the convent.
- Memetic Mutation:
- It's become common to caption pics of Maria in the opening song with, well...
- Another is photoshopping her open hands with all sorts of guns.
- Crossing over with Return of the Jedi: "It's a Trapp!"
- Captain Von Trapp ripping up the Nazi flag as a response denouncing white supremacy.
- It's become common to caption pics of Maria in the opening song
- Moral Event Horizon: This happens when Liesl's boyfriend Rolfe joins the Third Reich. He threatens to shoot the von Trapps when he catches them trying to escape, but the Captain confiscates the gun and then says:Captain von Trapp: You'll never be one of them.
(beat)
Rolfe: (yelling out) LIEUTENANT! LIEUTENANT, THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE, LIEUTENANT! (blows whistle)note - Narm: A Triumphant Reprise of "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria" bursting out suddenly during her wedding can be jarring to say the least, not to mention unfitting for what should be a heartwarming moment.
- Narm Charm:
- The Mother Abbess' line "What is it you can't face?" is delivered such that it sounds like she is calling Maria something very rude and unbecoming of her station. The Love Guru notably used this joke verbatim. Nowadays, the line tends to get big laughs at screenings, and some particularly cheeky modern productions will play it up as a Double Entendre.
- The scene in the movie where the Captain tears up a Nazi flag develops this if the viewer notices that the flag already has a rip, which Christopher Plummer searches for, then expands. His hunting for the tear line can at least be given an in-universe explanation - the Captain is making sure he rips straight through the middle of the swastika.
- Newer Than They Think: "Edelweiss" was written for the musical: it is neither an Austrian folk song nor the Austrian national anthem (as President Reagan believed).
- Older Than They Think: In the 2013 live-TV version, the actress playing the Baroness wears some hippie-like bell bottoms for one scene. Despite seeming like a glaring anachronism, it is plausible: bell-bottomed trousers were fashionable for upper-class women in the 1920s and '30s. (They probably weren't "fire-engine red", though.)
- One-Scene Wonder: Fraulein Schweiger, the Brawn Hilda who wins third place at the concert, and won't get off the stage. Fans also point to her routine as key to helping give the Von Trapps enough time to escape, making her a Small Role, Big Impact as well.
- One True Pairing: The Captain and Maria. Go on, try to find something that pairs them with anyone but each other.
- Padding: For the film version, "The Lonely Goatherd". The montage doesn't help the plot in any significant way or form, nor does it help with character development like it does in the musical version, where it's sung as Maria starts to bond with the children. In the movie version, the montage is just "there" and appears to serve no purpose whatsoever. A Blu-Ray bonus feature discussing all of the numbers tries to at least designate "Lonely Goatherd" as the one that convinces Uncle Max to sign up the Von Trapps for the festival, but it doesn't even mark the first time he heard them sing, nor does he appear to have them sing it again during rehearsals or the festival itself.
- Signature Scene: The hills are alive with The Sound of Music.
- Surprisingly Talented Singer: Christopher Plummer insisted that his voice be dubbed over, as he was not a trained singer and he did not feel confident in his singing abilities. However, he did make an attempt at singing "Edelweiss" for the film, and a version with his original vocals was eventually discovered and distributed on the Internet, and a lot of commentators have said they preferred his version to the one that was used in the film.
- Sweetness Aversion: Despite its success on Broadway, it became regarded as treacly and old-fashioned because of its saccharine nature. The movie made some attempts to tone this down (e.g., changing the placements of some songs, casting actors who could try and add dimension to their roles) without completely eliminating it. Christopher Plummer still famously described the film version as "The Sound of Mucus" because of this trope.
- Tough Act to Follow: One book described it as "the musical that ate Hollywood" — essentially declaring that it set the bar for "big-budget movie musical" in such a way that no other film could really copy it. This was not for lack of trying, as there were a lot of musicals in the 60s that tried to ape its methods (family-friendly crowd-pleasing tone, epic story with a long runtime, Roadshow Theatrical Release), but none of them came even close to its success, leading to the epic musical dying out.
- Values Dissonance: "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" is full of this following the rise in feminism. Though considering that the song is sung by the rat bastard who sells the family out to the Nazis in the movie, that the Nazis aggressively promoted total obedience and traditional household roles for women, and that Liesl acts almost as aggressive towards Rolfe as the men in the song would towards her, it's easy to view it as Deliberate Values Dissonance and Foreshadowing. The reprise — in which Maria blissfully sings about the "adventure" of finding a man to "belong to" through marriage — seems especially hard to defend, even if the result of Maria's advice is to convince Liesl that if that's what marriage entails, she's not ready for it. The 2015 live production softens the reprise considerably when Liesl asks how Maria knows she truly loves Georg, and Maria responds, "Because I don't think first of myself any more — I think first of him". This dialogue frames "you belong to him" as "your heart belongs to him, and his to you", which does help lessen the cringe a bit.
- Values Resonance:
- Captain Von Trapp defiantly ripping a Nazi flag in half with his bare hands. An animated gif of the scene has become a popular meme to use in response to any present-day displays of fascism or anti-semitism.
- Another small one involving the Captain's reticence to have his family exploited for their singing talents by Uncle Max, which is a vintage Take That! to any Stage Mom who tries to have their children be a show pony solely for fame.
- WTH, Costuming Department?: In the NBC version, Maria's dress on her first day as governess looks much nicer than in the 1965 movie or in previous Broadway productions, not to mention less consistent with the description given in Maria's autobiography, which means all dialogue about its extreme homeliness no longer make sense.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/TheSoundOfMusic
Go To
