The Sound of Music Story

January 19, 2015
Almost 60 years after Julie Andrews famously swirled across an Alpine meadow, The Sound of Music remains one of the top-selling films and music soundtracks of all time. While Santopietro (The Godfather Effect) doesn’t explain the film’s enduring popularity, his mundane fan’s notes go very far in providing a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film and its reception. He uncovers the life of the real Maria, who felt her happiness shatter when she learned from her Mother Superior that her marriage to Captain Von Trapp represented the will of God. Santopietro chronicles the initial faltering financial commitment of 20th Century Fox, and the torturous search for a director, a cinematographer, the actors and actresses, and other staff. For the role of Maria, for example, stars with plenty of movie experience were initially considered over Julie Andrews, who was still a completely unknown quantity on film. Although the Von Trapp family, and Austria, initially distanced themselves from the film because they thought it inaccurately portrayed their family and the times, they later accepted The Sound of Music because of what it means to people. Santopietro points out that the movie still appeals to so many because it tells us that our dreams are worthwhile, our fears can be overcome, and love conquers all.

December 1, 2014
A celebration of a beloved movie.Fans of The Sound of Music will find plenty to please them in Santopietro's (The Godfather Effect: Changing Hollywood, America, and Me, 2012, etc.) history of the sweeping musical. In the 1950s, two German movies about the von Trapp family came to the attention of director Vincent Donehue, who imagined a Broadway version with Mary Martin in the role of Maria. After complicated negotiations with the German film company and Maria herself, Donehue signed Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse to write the play and the renowned Rodgers and Hammerstein to produce an original score. The show opened on Nov. 16, 1959, won five Tony awards and ran for three years. Soon, 20th Century Fox optioned the story; William Wyler agreed to direct, replaced by Robert Wise when Wyler decided to move to another project; and Ernest Lehman was brought in to rewrite the script. Casting Julie Andrews for the starring role was not inevitable. Although a hit on Broadway, Andrews "was a completely unknown quantity on film," scaring investors who wanted "a real movie star with box office clout." With support from Wise and the composers, Andrews was offered the role and grabbed it. Among contenders to play Capt. von Trapp were Rex Harrison, David Niven, Peter Finch and even Bing Crosby. Wise, though, opted shrewdly for Christopher Plummer. During filming, Andrews was exemplary, exuding "nonstop good cheer" and endless patience with the "seven potentially scene-stealing children" in the cast. The author details the painstaking complexities of producing a big-budget extravaganza, reprising every song and dance step, and the considerable task of generating buzz about the movie before it opened. All those efforts paid off: Warmly received by critics (except for Pauline Kael), it earned 10 Oscar nominations and was the highest-grossing film of 1965. An enthusiastic close-up of movie history.

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April 1, 2015

This underdog story begins with Maria Augusta von Trapp (1905-87), the nun-turned-nanny whose best-selling The Story of the Trapp Family Singers led to a successful Broadway adaptation, The Sound of Music. This is also the story of West Side Story director Robert Wise (1914-2005), who reluctantly signed on as producer and director after Ben-Hur director William Wyler unexpectedly departed. Wise hired his West Side Story cohorts Ernest Lehman and Saul Chaplin as screenwriter and vocal arranger, respectively. Theater manager Santopietro (The Godfather Effect) skillfully describes the struggles of casting a girl-next-door with no box-office clout (Julie Andrews) in an era of sex symbols such as Grace Kelly, and theater actor Christopher Plummer grudgingly accepting a film role in which he would be forever typecast. Panned by critics as saccharine, The Sound of Music, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2015, was in theaters for a record-breaking five years and won five Academy Awards. Santopietro traces the lives of the cast and the von Trapp family before and after filming (the children left show business because audiences couldn't see them as adults), the resurgence of Julie Andrews in The Princess Diaries--and the ongoing friendships among all involved. VERDICT For film lovers who enjoy special features such as deleted scenes or director's commentary, lovers of Broadway history, and Rodgers and Hammerstein devotees.--Stephanie Sendaula, Library Journal

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2015
With the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the blockbuster movie-musical The Sound of Music upon us, Santopietro (Sinatra in Hollywood, 2008) also starts at the very beginning, with Julie Andrews being blown to the ground by the film crew's helicopter passing as she performs the movie's opening number. From there, he provides a chronological, quote-filled film production overview, complete with bios of the men and women both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. But, Santopietro notes, could an American audience more concerned with hippies and the Vietnam War embrace the uberlovable Trapp Family Singers and the movie's upbeat, family-oriented tone and Nazi- and romance-related topics? It would (critics' pans aside), and it still does, and Santopietro moves from conception to completion to the present, providing not just the nuts, bolts, and schnitzel of the much-loved movie but also the star turns (and imagine that Angie Dickinson and Grace Kelly were both considered for the role of Maria). A fun-to-read book, perfect for musical-lovers, aspiring moviemakers, and film buffs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)