Customer Reviews

The Sound of Music: The Making of America's Favorite Movie

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I was 17 the first time I saw SOM in 1965 and I still get a thrill everytime the camera pans to Maria and she starts singing. Having seen the movie countless times I was excited to get this book! I thought at first that knowing about how the film was made would take away some of the magic. However this has not been the case. Informative ( would you believe Gene Kelly turned down being the director!) and the names of some of the actors who were considered for parts will really surprise you. If you are a die hard SOM fan then the price of this book is well worth every penny. Not a fan? Buy it anyway, a good read on how a film is made and how success can be measured not only by the money a movie can make, but by the hearts it touches as well!

The Sound Of Music was the first film I ever saw in a movie theatre (I was four) and it remains one of my all-time favorite movies. This book is everything I could want in a "behind the scenes" look at a classic film. Besides the remembrances of all of the cast members - major and minor, the book is jammed with many beautiful location photos, a number of which come from Portia Nelson's (she played one of the nuns) personal collection. What I found most fascinating was the list of famous young actors who screen-tested for the various children's parts (Mia Farrow as Liesl?!) as well as the director Robert Wise's battles with the studio to get his artistic vision on screen (20th Century Fox wasn't too financially solvent at the time thanks to Liz Taylor's Cleopatra debacle - of course the astounding success of The Sound Of Music changed that). In conclusion, if you love the film, you'll love the book. Get it today!

I've always been fascinated with the locations for 'The Sound of Music' and indeed have spent many hours tramping round Salzburg to find them - with some success, although there are a lot of false notions in circulation as well. The one I never could crack was where the opening song, 'The hills are alive...' was shot. The BBC Television programme, Jim'll Fix It, did a re-construct some years ago, where a little girl was flown out to Salzburg to perform the opening song. They used the Gaisberg, a mountain just outside Salzburg, which I duly visited, but which turned out not to be the one. In desperation, about a decade ago I wrote to Robert Wise, who sent me a very kind reply, but alas had forgotten the exact location - but he DID remember it was somewhere over the border with Germany. Imagine my delight when a friend recently bought me 'The Making of America's Favorite Musical', and there was a more-or-less precise description of the field, complete with anecdotes about the shooting of the main sequences of the song. For its information on locations alone, the book's a winner. My only suggestion would be that ALL the locations could be included in an appendix, with details of how to get to them. For the rest, it was a delight to read and to behold - some much detailed information on the shooting schedule, costume, how they did the songs, the actors on location and so on. I must read it again, but I fancy that some scenes are left out of the schedule as printed, e.g. the Nazis walking across the Residenzplatz in Salzburg (How on earth did they get THAT in the can?), the train sceen in 'Do-Re-Mi' etc. All-in-all, a real treasure - it's so good that I'm going to buy it for my sister (another SOM fan) for Christmas!

This is another book by the same publishers as the Julie Andrews photo book (by Arntz & Wilson). An exhaustive and truly remarkable book, this discusses every detail of the film, from its beginnings as a stage play to everything about the making of this epic movie musical. Loaded with tons of photos, many previously unpublished (including 16 pp. of color photos). Miss Hirsch gives a full background on the Von Trapp family, their journey to America in the early 1940s and the origins of their career as a singing group. Especially noteworthy are the chapters on the casting of the film roles, preproduction and shooting schedules, and the updates on the lives of the principal cast and the Von Trapp family since the making of the film. Highly recommended for any fan of the movie, and Julie Andrews fans in particular.

No "Sound of Music" collection is complete without this book. Its eight chapters take you through the entire Sound of Music experience, from the real Von Trapp family to the original stage production to the movie's production, release, and success. I have a hard time choosing what I like best about this book because it's so complete. There are eight pages of color photos, handwritten production notes, early storyboards, and a plethora of candid photos from the cast and crew's private collections as well as some memorable studio stills. Author Julia Hirsch integrates diverse elements and perspectives to give a thoroughly enjoyable and well-rounded look at this beloved film's journey from concept to the classic it remains today. You'll find interviews from every cast and principle crew member with special biographies of the more important players. Other features include shooting schedules and casting and location notes. One of the real treasures though is the stories that came out of this production and are told here. It is a simple pleasure to read about the people and friendships that made the movie so endearing and enduring. I can't recommend this book enough for "Sound of Music" fans. Not only will you read and reread it, you'll grow a new appreciation for the movie and want to watch it over again.

It's taken me a long time to track down this beautifully put together homage to one of my very favourite movies of all time. And what a total joy this book proves to be for anyone like myself who remains entranced by this magical film an amazing 40 years after its initial release. This superbly put together book by Julia Antopol Hirsch is most definately a labour of love and is filled with really everything you would want to know about this most special of movie musicals. Boasting a touching forward by none other than now deceased director Robert Wise the book takes us on a informative journey through the history of "The Sound of Music", from its formation as a hugely successful Broadway show right up to the planning, production, and release of the motion picture, then up to recent times where it examines the film's enduring popularity with audiences both young and old years after it's first release. The volumne has some wonderfully candid photos of the production during rehearsals at Twentieth Century Fox studios in Hollywood, to behind the scenes moments when cast and crew are relaxing between takes and even soaking up the local sights of beautiful Salzburg, Austria on those rare days when they had days off filming. The book also includes beautiful colour and black and white photos, a rare shooting schedule, cast and crew profiles, interviews with stars including Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, and a highly interesting look at the original premiere of "The Sound of Music" in 1965. In it's 226 pages it even also finds time to give an outline complete with photos of the real Von trapp family members with a special focus of course on the immortal real life Maria Von Trapp.

This book has quickly become a treasured part of my personal library and for any lover of "The Sound of Music", it is a indispensible companion for everything you would want to know about the whole history of this immortal musical. The book makes a perfect companion to the brand new 40th Anniversary DVD edition of "The Sound of Music" released late last year which is a treasure trove of all things "Music", and it has certainly informed even a "The Sound of Music" buff like myself of many things I did not know about the film prior to reading it. I highly recommend Julia Antopol Hirsch's warm, informative and at times even amusing tribute to Hollywood's most loved musical. Reading through its pages the book has succeeded in actually increasing my affection for star Julie Andrews and the film in general, no small task considering my lifelong love of this special film. Enjoy!

Well now one can really go on and on about this terrific movie, my very favorite.I was delighed with the book, from it's size to the lovely photos and the great stories. I thought it was great to see the effort that was put into this beautiful movie and the way that the scenery, how the movie was put together,and how alot more of Maria's book, even in just little things, were added so well.My own grandchildren found out the delight of this movie earlier this year and you could say that our house was filled with the Sound of music for several months while they got their fill of it.Then to top it off , the sing-a- long version came to town,to see it again on the big screen was just great stuff,as we have seen it many times on tv,. but this was only the 2nd time on big screen. It's the only way to see a great movie!!!My book has been looked at and fought over many times. This is a lovely book and I recomend it to anyone who loves the Sound of Music also the special edition dvd with the extra dvd.I have also read Charmian Carr's book Forever Leisl and enjoyed the stories in that book too.The photos are wonderful, and I am looking forward to reading Letters to Leisl.

I've been a Sound of Music fan since acting in a stage version of the musical and visiting Salzburg in the late '80s. The author's access to studio archives and personal interviews with cast and crew provides a very interesting insight into every aspect of the production. I wish I had read this book before I took the Salzburg Sound of Music Tour. The tour guides should use the book as a source for correcting errors in the information they provide to tourists!

This book is extremely interesting! I very much enjoy all the "behind the scenes" of this movie. From the conception of the film making to the fruition is so captivating. After reading this, it makes me more appreciate the hardwork of everyone in this film. Despite of Christopher Plummer's thoughts and feelings about his role, he makes me more think highly of his skills. I find him a very wonderful and versatile actor. Very believable and what an awesome performance! I watched SOM again and again after reading this book. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this movie. My love for this movie hasn't faded since I was 15. I am in my golden years now and still loving every minute of it.

This is the only book-length study of "The Sound of Music" currently available, though this situation is soon to be rectified by the forthcoming release of Charmian Carr's "Forever Liesl: A Memoir of the Sound of Music" (Viking Press). Considering the wide, undiminished appeal of "SOM" it is surprising that this is indeed the only book published to date on its making and marketing.

The book is valuable, but has several flaws. First of all, the "voice" adopted by the author. She assumes a kind of casual, insider's "voice" which can be annoying, since she was not there. As a historian myself I am biased in favor of a more detached, scholarly approach. This is obviously a subjective opinion. A more objective criticism applies to the author's sources. It is clear, as she herself suggests, that some members of the cast would not discuss the film with her. When discussing the experiences of the seven children in the cast, for example, she relies, almost exclusively, on the actress who played little Gretl. Since she was only 5 yrs. old when she made the movie, I'm not sure how trustworthy her memories are after over thirty years. And in deference to those in the cast and crew who did serve as informants, the author never verifies the veracity of their statements, some of which on occasion have a self-serving feel to them. As I said, the author is writing here in the guise more of "insider" and fan of the stars rather than as a reporter/historian of the process. The latter approach sometimes requires a suspension of belief, especially when dealing with age-old memories, that is not on display here. And it requires a more critical stance.

That said, perhaps the informal, chummy approach is what "SOM" fans prefer. We certainly don't need a jargon-laden, academic deconstruction of the film. But as one who takes "SOM" seriously as a film, and not just as great entertainment, I do believe it deserves the kind of serious, more objective treatment granted to other American film classics. And it IS a classic, whatever insecure, self-satisfied snobs say to the contrary (lots of Harvard students LOVE "SOM").

Back to Antopol's book. An "insider" voice? It isn't appropriate for her to adopt one, though it is certainly appropriate for Charmian Carr's upcoming book. As Liesl, she was there. For an insider's take, Carr's will be THE book to read and I am looking forward to it.

In short, then, as a truly serious exploration of "SOM," one long over-due, Antopol's book just does not cut it. But it is a fun, modest start and on that score I would be a Scrooge not to recommend it, and I do, though with the above quibbles.