Revealing mistake: When the kids step out of the water and walk towards the house, the floor is already soaking wet from previous takes.
The Sound of Music (1965)
Directed by: Robert Wise
Starring: Christopher Plummer, Julie Andrews, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Continuity mistake: Liesl creeps through the window and explains herself to Maria, standing by the middle of the bed. When the angle changes she is by the side of the bed. Then the angle changes and she is back by the middle side.
Continuity mistake: Christopher Plummer throws down the drape the kids used for clothing on the ground. Then he walks away and there's a clear shot of the ground and the drape has vanished.
Trivia: The front and back of the von Trapp house are actually two different houses. Also, the gazebo (which belongs to the house used for the back shots) is across a river from the house. You can take the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg.
Trivia: In the boating scene, Kym Karath (Gretl) nearly drowned when she fell in the water. The scene originally called for Julie Andrews (Maria) to pull her out of the water as Kym couldn't swim, but Andrews fell out of the wrong side of the boat. In fact, the crew had to stop filming to rescue Kym. In the movie Heather Menzies (Louisa) pulls her out - Kym threw up on her after swallowing so much water.
Trivia: A Hollywood typist by the name of Marni Nixon, who has dubbed the vocals of Audrey Hepburn, as well as Deborah Kerr in The King and I, and Natalie Wood in West Side Story, makes a cameo appearance in The Sound of Music as a nun.
Maria: I am not finished yet, Captain!
Captain Von Trapp: Oh yes you are, Captain! Fraulein, you will pack your things this minute and return to the Abbey.
Maria: 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.
Question: Gretel was 5 years old and the mother died seven years ago. Who is Gretel's mom?
Answer: However when Captain Von Trapp gets the children to step forward and introduce themselves to Maria he states that their mother died 7 years ago.
Not in the 1965 film, perhaps in another version. In the 1965 film the only thing he says about his late wife when he first meets Maria is "you'll be the 12th governess...since their mother died." When he has the children introduce themselves, he only advises Maria to pay attention to their signals and names. Later after he leaves and the children say how old they are, Marta says "I'll be 7 on Tuesday."
Question: In the scene where the nuns are singing 'How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria', one nun says 'I even heard her singing in the abbey.' This is used as though Maria was doing something bad, but throughout this song, aren't the nuns in the abbey, and aren't they singing? If it was so wrong for Maria to do this, why is it okay for them?
Answer: Postulants/Novices, such as Maria, were forbidden from singing in the Abbey. However, these rules did not necessarily apply to the sisters who are singing. In addition, it's a musical, and the nuns weren't "really" singing. Their complaints about Maria are simply put into a song.
Question: Why were the Nazis so desperate to get Captain von Trapp into their navy? Austria hadn't had a navy since the end of the first world war, so his skills weren't exactly up to date.
Answer: True, but a decorated and highly respected command officer, particularly one with proven wartime experience, is still a major asset. While he might not be directly familiar with the current equipment, naval tactics wouldn't have altered to any great degree and his ability to lead and inspire those under his command would remain the same.
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Answer: In the film, the Mother Abess explains to Maria that the Captain Von Trapp's wife died "several years" ago. This is commonly misheard by viewers as "seven years." In reality, the actual mother of the Von Trapp children was Agathe Whitehead, who died of scarlet fever in 1922, just four years before Maria came to the Von Trapp home, initially as a tutor (not a governess) in 1926.
Michael Albert