The Sound of Music Story: How A Beguiling Young Novice, A Handsome Austrian Captain, and Ten Singing Von Trapp Children Inspired the Most Beloved Film of All Time

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), 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 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 resurgence of Julie Andrews in The Princess Diaries—and the ongoing friendships among all involved.