Tom Santopietro's new tome, which was released in hardcover Feb. 17, is subtitled "How A Beguiling Young Novice, A Handsome Austrian Captain, and Ten Singing Von Trapp Children Inspired the Most Beloved Film of All Time."
The book is described thus: "On March 2, 1965, 'The Sound of Music' was released in the United States and the love affair between moviegoers and the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical was on. Rarely has a film captured the love and imagination of the moviegoing public in the way that 'The Sound of Music' did as it blended history, music, Austrian location filming, heartfelt emotion and the yodeling of Julie Andrews into a monster hit. Now, Tom Santopietro has written the ultimate 'Sound of Music' fan book with all the inside dope from behind the scenes stories of the filming in Austria and Hollywood to new interviews with Johannes von Trapp and others. Santopietro looks back at the real life story of Maria von Trapp, goes on to chronicle the sensational success of the Broadway musical, and recounts the story of the near cancellation of the film when the 'Cleopatra' bankrupted 20th Century Fox. We all know that Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer played Maria and Captain Von Trapp, but who else had been considered? Tom Santopietro knows and will tell all while providing a historian’s critical analysis of the careers of director Robert Wise and screenwriter Ernest Lehman, a look at the critical controversy which greeted the movie, the film’s relationship to the turbulent 1960s and the super stardom which engulfed Julie Andrews."
The 1965 “The Sound of Music” film was directed and produced by Robert Wise, with a screenplay by Ernest Lehman, based on the stage musical with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.
Set in Salzburg, Austria, on the eve of World War II, the score includes "My Favorite Things," "Do Re Mi," "Edelweiss," the title song and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."The Sound of Music premiered on Broadway in 1959 where it ran for more than 1,400 performances. Mary Martin starred.
“The Sound of Music” film starred Julie Andrews as Maria von Trapp, Christopher Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp, Eleanor Parker as Baroness Elsa von Schraeder, Richard Haydn as Max Detweiler, Charmian Carr as Liesl von Trapp, Nicholas Hammond as Friedrich von Trapp, Heather Menzies as Louisa von Trapp, Duane Chase as Kurt von Trapp, Angela Cartwright as Brigitta von Trapp, Debbie Turner as Marta von Trapp, Kym Karath as Gretl von Trapp, Peggy Wood as Mother Abbess, Anna Lee as Sister Margaretta, Portia Nelson as Sister Berthe, Marni Nixon as Sister Sophia, Daniel Truhitte as Rolfe and Ben Wright as Herr Zeller.
