The 1965 film The Sound of Music is not entirely original, as it is based on the 1959 stage musical of the same name.

The musical play was, in turn, based on the memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. While inspired by real events, the film and musical take creative liberties and fictionalize parts of the story.

Initially, the film received mixed reviews from critics. However, The Sound of Music went on to become the highest-grossing film of 1965.

In 1966, it surpassed Gone With the Wind to become the highest-grossing film of all time at that point.

The Sound of Music won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Julie Andrews was the first and only choice for the role of Maria, according to screenwriter Ernest Lehman.

Although Christopher Plummer ultimately landed the role of Captain von Trapp, other actors such as Bing Crosby and Sean Connery were considered. In hindsight, they might have been better fits, as Plummer famously disliked the film and referred to it as The Sound of Mucus. Additionally, his singing voice was dubbed in the film.

The real Maria von Trapp made a brief, uncredited cameo in the film as a passerby during the “I Have Confidence” sequence, alongside her daughter Rosmarie and Werner von Trapp’s daughter.

Contrary to the film’s depiction, the real von Trapp family did not escape over the Alps just before World War II. Instead, they took a train to Italy in 1938.