Posted on 03/01/2015 11:09:40 AM PST by Borges
When it was released 50 years ago, The Sound of Music became one of the most successful films of all time. It was based on the true story of the von Trapp family (above) - but what did they think of it and was their life really like it was portrayed in the movie?
"Everyone thinks the Sound of Music was exactly the way things happened, and of course it wasn't because there had to be artistic licence," says Johannes von Trapp. He is the youngest son of Georg and Maria - the decorated naval commander and singing nun turned governess of the film.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Gallows humor.
‘They settled in Stowe, Vermont in 1940.’
In 1976 we took a trip around the US in a rented motor home, beginning here on the west coast. (We are native New Yorkers).
We stopped and ate at the Von Trapp lodge in Vermont.
We JUST missed Mara who spent a bit of time mingling with the diners. Don’t think we knew beforehand she did that, else perhaps we would have made the effort to be there earlier. That was good PR and I believe she actually enjoyed mingling. Saw her a few times on TV and she was quite gregarious.
We did stop at the gift store, which was/is a short distance from the lodge - it is a mountain drive, after all - where at least one of the adult children was working when we were there.
But no, don’t remember who it was.
Did Maria and the captain have any children of their own?
If so, the clerk in the gift store may have been one of theirs.
(I can’t imagine that the family did not get tired of all we tourists. But then there’s always a new day. I suppose there was a bit of pride, tho) - - -
I DEFinately should have paid more attention, but also, the memory is dimming about lots of things - - -
Three. The last was actually born in the USA.
A breezy read; has all you might want to know. http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/von-trapps.html
In her autobiography, Maria says that she didn't love Georg at the time, nor even when he asked her to marry him. According to her, she married him because she loved the kids, and fell in love with him later.
Georg and Maria had 3 children together. He had 7 children from his first wife.
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/von-trapps.html
“Movie vs. Reality: The Real Story of the von Trapp Family”
Georg von Trapp was a submarine expert in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. His first wife, Agatha Whitehead, was the granddaughter of Robert Whitehead, the inventor of the modern torpedo. Agatha died in 1922. Von Trapp married Maria Kutschera in 1927.
How nice!!!!
Good memories last forever!
...Austrians get very unhappy if you call them Germans.
(((
:) I am currently researching my ancestors, and I remembered being told by my mother that my father’s maternal grandfather was born in Bavaria, around 1863, and that he bristled when called German. Actually, he referred to himself as Prussian.
Austria - Still trying to convince the world that Beethoven was Austrian, and that Hitler was German.
Hä?
I think musicals tend to take license with the truth. It is possible that one person could spontaneously could make up a song, and while still plausible a second could add to the song but still further unlikely. But almost always the crowd starts sing the chorus at some point. All of the in tune and at the same time. They didn’t have smart phones back then to call a flash mob.
Point taken.
Interesting point..........which is probably why I’ve NEVER seen the movie.
But then, that’s just me and “American Sniper” looking for some realism in the theaters........and occasionally finding it.
>> Perhaps all the yodelers I’ve seen were really Austrians <<
Some were Austrian to be sure, but most of them are either Swiss or hillbillies from the USA.
That's for men.
The gals wear what in the local lingo is called a dirndl.
>> What if you call them Australians? <<
Just add that they live in 57 states, and then you’ll get the Nobel Peace Prize!
>> Difference without distinction <<
Exactly. Saying that Austrians aren’t the same as Germans is just as ridiculous as saying that Canadians aren’t the same as USA citizens.
I guess that’s why I’ve always called it ‘lederhosen’. I have no clue how to pronounce ‘dirndl’
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