Fifty years after it first premiered in cinemas, The Sound of Music, continues to be one of the world's most beloved stories about love, family, and of course, music.
To celebrate half a century of the von Trapp family singers, here are 50 facts about the movie to make you fall in love with it all over again.
1. Lady Gaga was said to have trained with a vocal coach everyday to prepare for her standing ovation-worthy Sound of Music Medley tribute at the Academy Awards.
2. Julie Andrews was able to sing (well, yodel) with the real Maria von Trapp on her television show.
3. Sadly, Julie Andrews will no longer be able to hit those high notes as Maria like Lady Gaga did because in 1997 she underwent throat surgery which left her vocal chords permanently damaged.
4. But Andrews told Oprah Winfrey that she "can sing the hell out of Old Man River."
5. The entire von Trapp family cast reunited for the first time in 45 years on the Oprah Show in 2010.
6. Christopher Plummer has a love-hate relationship with his role as Captain von Trapp. "It was so awful and sentimental and gooey," he told the Hollywood Reporter in 2011.
7. Plummer also admitted he was drunk during filming of the Music Festival scenes.
8. Fraulein Schweiger, the third place winner in the Music Festival, bowed 16 times.
9. Plummer said that he had a crush on Andrew's ever since he saw her perform live as Eliza Doolittle on Broadway.
10. Plummer also said that filming The Sound of Music with her was like "getting hit on the head with a Valentine's card" every day.
11. Their chemistry did not help much during the filming of the romantic "Something Good." Andrews said she kept giggling because every time she leaned in close to kiss Plummer, a lighting device would make a ridiculous "raspberry" sound. The scene was edited so the two would be in silhouette to mask her fits of giggles.
12. The two remained friends to this day.
13. Plummer has also famously said that he was not fond of the character of Baron von Trapp but he accepted the role because he wanted to do a musical. He always felt that the character lacked humor.
14. Even the real von Trapp children apparently agreed because they complained that the portrayal of their father in the movie was off because he was never a cold man.
15. Debbie Turner, who played Marta, had to get false teeth put in during filming because her loose baby teeth were falling out.
16. In the rowing boat scene, Gretl was supposed to be caught by Maria when the boat tipped over. But during filming, Julie Andrews fell backwards and Kym Karath fell forwards. The scene had to be edited with a fast cut because dozens of crew members jumped in the water.
17. Karath said she didn't know how to swim and swallowed a lot of water when she fell. She even vomited water all over Heather Menzies, who played Louisa when she was pulled out.
18. Being the troupers that they were, they kept on filming and repeatedly had to be hosed down to retain the soaking wet look required for the scene.
19. Although it made for a beautiful ending, the real von Trapps did not escape in secret over the Alps. They announced they would perform in America and took a train.
20. In the shot of the family climbing over the Alps, a body double had to be used instead of Kym Karath because the young actress had gained weight over the course of filming and Christopher Plummer could not carry her on his shoulders.
21. Speaking of growth spurts, at the start of filming, Nicholas Hammond, who played Friedrich, was shorter than Louisa and had to wear shoes with heels to appear taller. Over the course of filming, he grew taller and Heather Menzies had to stand on a box.
22. In fact, all the of the child actors, especially the boys, went through growth spurts during filming and the director had to get creative with heel lifts, shooting barefoot, and other devices to keep their heights consistent.
23. Julie Andrews had difficulty filming the famous "The Sound of Music" (aka The Hills Are Alive) opening sequence for the movie because the helicopter kept uplifting her heavy skirts and knocking her down.
24. The sequence was also filmed in late June and early July of 1964 so the wind was freezing as Andrews was running up and down the mountain.
25. Very special cameos appear in the "I Have Confidence" scene. The real Maria von Trapp, along with her daughter and granddaughter walked in the background wearing peasant clothes in a blink-and-you-miss-them moment.
26. After this scene, when Maria first runs through the von Trapp estate courtyard, Andrews tripped during filming but the accident was kept in the final cut. Director Robert Wise thought the trip suited Maria's character at that moment perfectly.
27. The house that was used for filming as the von Trapp mansion was owned by actress Hedy Lamarr, who was promoted by MGM Studios in the 1930's to 1950's as "world's most beautiful woman."
28. The first scene shot with all the children and Julie Andrews was the "My Favorite Things" sequence. Between takes, Andrews entertained the children with the not-yet-released song from Mary Poppins, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
29. She even taught them how to sing it backwards - which they can still do to this day!
30. Andrews had filmed Mary Poppins prior to working on The Sound of Music. She almost turned down the role of Maria because she thought playing another nanny (governess) was too similar.
31. The movie von Trapp children were only 7 in all. In real life, they were 10 brothers and sisters. All their names, ages, and genders were changed for the film.
32. The train of Maria's wedding dress was 14 feet long.
33. Julie Andrews learned to play the guitar especially for the film.
34. Christopher Plummer learned to play as well. But his vocals and strumming were re-dubbed in post-production.
35. Charmian Carr, the actress who played eldest daughter Leisl, became an interior designer and even worked on the home of Michael Jackson.
36. Duane Chase, who played Kurt, had to be dubbed by Darleen Carr (incidentally, the real life younger sister of Charmian Carr) for his final high note it "So Long, Farewell" because it was beyond his vocal range.
37. Margery McKay provided the vocals for the singing voice of Mother Abbess who was portrayed by actress Peggy Wood.
38. Angela Cartwright, who played Brigitta, along with Heather Menzies drove the crew crazy by singing Beatle's songs all day.
39. The song Edelweiss is hardly known in Austria although it was pegged almost as the National Anthem in the film. The song was written shortly before Oscar Hammerstein II passed away in 1960. It was the last song he ever wrote.
40. Christopher Plummer thought that the song was "trite" and tried to request a new one be written.
41. Emotions in the Edelweiss scene were real because it was the last one to be filmed. When the director said, "cut," they knew their journey together was over.
42. The Sound of Music, helped 20th Century Fox studio out of hot water two years after the expensive debacle with Cleopatra.
43. Maria von Trapp, also the name of the real life second-oldest daughter of Captain von Trapp (turned into Louisa in the movie) was the last of the von Trapp family to pass away. She died at the age of 99 in Feb. 2014.
44. Meanwhile, the real-life governess Maria von Trapp passed away in 1987.
45. When the film was first released in Austria, it was renamed "Meine Lieder - meine Träume" ("My Songs - my dreams"). And the ending was cut during its original theatrical run in the country in the 60's.
46. In Austria, the film is not nearly as successful as it is around the world and locals don't understand its popularity. Georg Steinitz, who was a local assistant director for the movie said that it is "too American for Austrian tastes."
47. The Austrian and German crewmembers who worked on the film thought that it would flop because of too many transgressions from the real story of the von Trapp family.
48. The Sound of Music won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture in 1965, and earned the equivalent of $800 million in its initial run.
49. MAD Magazine ran a parody of the film called The Sound of Money.
50. The real Maria wasn't invited to the premiere of the film. Producers told her there were no more seats left.
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