A Big Winner
The Sound of Music was certainly the film of 1965. It took home a series of Oscars, all in all, five. The film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Film Editing and Best Music (scoring, adaptation or treatment).
The film also nominated Julie Andrews for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Peggy Wood for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Ted D. McCord for Best Cinematography, Boris Leven,Walter M. S and Ruby R. Levitt for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Dorothy Jeakins for Best Costume Design, Color.
Director Issues
The producers initially had a different director in mind before they went with Robert Wise. In fact, a director named William Wyler actually already began working on it but quit to work on other projects. Rumor had it that this director had a much darker vision for the film and wanted to focus more on the war story.
Ultimately the execs were happier with Wise, who, as the master of musicals at the time, gave it a much sunnier spin. Another issues is that Wyler was a little deaf. That might be less helpful when directing a musical. Well, any type of film for that matter.
Julie Andrews Was Considered "Too Gentle"
The real Maria von Trapp had some real issues with Julie Andrew. Maria, who was a rather burly and strong Austrian woman, felt that Julie Andrews was too sweet and soft, saying that her and the rest of the female cast were too "too gentle-like girls out of Bryn Mawr."
Bryn Mawr is an elite Liberal Art college in Pennsylvania. It must have been a reference to the refined and delicate women who came out of a college like that. Ouch!
Big Budget
The film is one of the highest grossing films ever made. Some close ones are Gone With the Wind and Star Wars. It grossed about $163,214,076 domestically, and a total worldwide gross of $286,214,076. All in all, taking into account inflation, the film earned about $2.366 billion "placing it among the top ten highest-grossing films of all time."
Considering that at the time, the film cost 8.2 million USD, 65 000 000 dollars today, that is a huge feat.
Scarlett Johansson?
For a 2006 Sound of Music revival headed by the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber, actress Scarlett Johansson was seriously in the running to be Maria. Imagine that!
Ultimately the plan fell through and Webber found his star through the hit reality show, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?