The History of ‘The Sound of Music’
In 1962, 20th Century Fox was nearly bankrupt and the producer of the screen version of ‘The Sound of Music’, Richard D Zanuck was having trouble convincing top directors to take it on.
William Wyler hated the idea and Robert Wise was lukewarm. But, thanks to a new script by Ernest Lehman, he changed his mind. What changed? Was it the audience’s yearning for the belief and transcendence that once existed in cinema?
This talk will encompass the source material, ‘The Story of the Trapp Family Singers’ through the earlier German version ‘Die Trapp-Familie’, the Broadway musical ‘The Sound of Music’ by Rodgers and Hammerstein and finally the film itself, which went on to win five Oscars, beating Dr Zhivago to Best Picture.
This talk from Andrew Vance of the cinema education team, in collaboration with Professor Andrew Chandler of the University of Chichester will also look at the historical background to the events depicted in the film.
