raywest

Answer: Apparently, it was a prank the children had previously pulled on other governesses, which Captain von Trapp knew about.

raywest ★

Answer: Kym Karath, the actress who portrayed Greta, was only six-years-old at the time and needed some guidance while filming the scenes, particularly ones involving many cast members and with much activity going on. That would be a bit much for a small child to handle alone.

raywest ★

Answer: He was displeased by everything Maria had been doing with the children while he was away, such as making play clothes for the kids using the window curtains, taking them on outings around Salzburg, having them singing, going boating, and generally having fun, all of which he, as a strict disciplinarian father, considered frivolous behavior. The captain also thought Maria was being impertinent for suggesting that he become closer to the children.

raywest ★

Answer: Although bluescreen was used at the time, it was a photochemical process and not that reliable. For the scene you're describing, it was likely shot in a studio with a painted background. For more expansive night scenes, they shot them "day-for-night." They would be shot on location during the day with the image darkened and filtered to look like night.

Answer: In that era, movies didn't have computer-generated images and instead used a rear-projected screen of a previously filmed location. The actors would be in front of the screen to make it appear as if they were in some different location. The actors were posed in a way that the audience could not tell they were in front of the screen.

raywest ★

Answer: This was probably a deliberate artistic choice. Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) is singing the song directly to Maria, telling her to follow her dream and not remain cloistered in the convent (in the shadows like her). The strongest lighting is always on Maria's face, and she is framed in a pyramid shape of light on the wall, always keeping the audience's focus on her.

raywest ★

Answer: Peggy Wood could not sing the song, so they had to bring in a vocal double which meant she had to lip-sync, something she was unable to do perfectly.

Answer: The director explains this choice in his commentary on the DVD. He'd seen a stage version where the presence of the Mother Abbess was too dominant during 'Climb Every Mountain' and he wanted to make sure that didn't happen in his film. So he focused more on the setting and on Maria's face and reactions.

Answer: He's young, impressionable, and was probably radicalized by Nazi propaganda.

raywest ★

Answer: I don't think he dislikes Max, but finds him a bit frivolous and annoying. Max also entered the children in the festival against the Captain's wishes.

raywest ★

Answer: This is proved to be true as Georg loses his temper with him several times about his attitude to the Nazis and about his children singing in public.

Answer: Not to mention that he seems to be a spendthrift and a moocher off his rich friends.

LorgSkyegon

Chosen answer: Max is not the children's uncle but a close family friend. He helps the Von Trapps to escape by stalling the announcement the winners of a music concert held at the end. Being the first-place winners, the Von Trapps are announced last, but they have already slipped away into the mountains.

raywest ★