The Sound of Music

In 1930s Austria, near Salzburg, a young woman named Maria (Julie Andrews) lives in an abbey, but no matter how hard she tries, she just isn’t cut out to be a nun. She loves climbing the mountains to sing, bursts with joy, and keeps missing morning prayers and neglecting her duties. Before she takes her vows, the Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) sends her to work as a governess for the seven children of Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), so she can see a little more of the real world. The Captain, a retired naval officer, has recently lost his wife. He is cold and distant, and raises his children with military discipline. Whenever their father is away, the children unleash their mischief, and dozens of governesses have already quit. Maria is the latest in that long line, but her optimism and her music win the children over. Soon she earns the Captain’s trust as well. While the Captain is preparing to marry the glamorous Baroness Schraeder (Eleanor Parker) of Vienna, Maria realizes she has fallen in love with him and returns to the abbey to step out of their way. The children, meanwhile, want the Baroness gone and Maria back. Finally admitting his feelings, the Captain marries Maria, and the couple leaves for their honeymoon. But the country is changing. On the eve of World War II, Germany annexes Austria and begins installing its regime and institutions there. The Von Trapp family, whose opposition to Nazism is well known, is no longer safe. When the Captain is called to active service in the German navy, he moves quickly to get his family out of Austria.