MovieChat Forums > The Sound of Music (1965) Discussion > Who was the original choice to play Capt...

Who was the original choice to play Capt. Von Trapp?


Plummer CAN'T have been their first choice for the part. Anyone know who else was preferred/in the running?

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Don Knotts was pretty famous at the time; he would have added humor to the role.

"What do you want me to do, draw a picture? Spell it out!"

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Gordon MacRae would have been a better choice and was about the right age. No doubt with him or any good singer the Captain would have had more singing parts.

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I don't see Macrae (or Howard Keel) believably portraying an Austrian aristocrat. The most likely candidates wouldn't be American musical stars. But I'm hard put to think of a British singing star of the 60s who'd fit. If he could sing, the Australian Keith Michell would've made a good Georg.

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I was also thinking Howard Keel as a second choice. I was not at all impressed by Plummer's singing. It doesn't take a Brit to play an Austrian. Accent shouldn't figure into characters that are supposed to be speaking German.

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You miss the point completely, which - as my post notes - is about playing an aristocrat believably, not accents.

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Now I see your point. Only Brits and Australians fit your stereotype of how aristocrats should be protrayed.

Rubbish!

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ROFL! Where did I say that? I didn't.

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To provide a little info in response to the OP's question:

During the second half of November 1963 (yes, just before and after JFK's assassination), Robert Wise, who had recently replaced William Wyler, made a list of potential actors for the role of the Captain, based on his own thoughts and suggestions from various advisers. That list consisted of: Christopher Plummer, Edward Mulhare, Bing Crosby, Rex Harrison, Yul Brynner, Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Peter Finch, David Niven, and Stephen Boyd.

Wise thought highly of Plummer, having seen him in several Broadway plays over the years, but received a quick rejection from Plummer. According to Wise's notes, he quickly rejected several names from the list: Rex Harrison ("tied up with 'My Fair Lady' and going straight to 'Agony and the Ecstasy'; maybe a little too 'hard' for the role"); Yul Brynner, who badly wanted the part ("accent, too typical a choice--too much like 'King and I'"); Bing Crosby ("also too typical"); David Niven ("maybe for Max?"); Stephen Boyd ("excellent in 'Ben Hur', but maybe a little too young"). Several names on the list--Connery, Burton, and Finch--were strong contenders, but their availability was doubtful. Mulhare tested for the role in London on November 29, 1963. Meanwhile, at Julie Andrews' suggestion, Wise tried again for Plummer, speaking to his agent. Wise went to London on January 6, 1964, to meet with Plummer and discuss the part, and Plummer verbally accepted. They apparently weren't sure enough to call off the tests, however, as Oscar Werner tested in London on January 10th, and Walter Matthau tested in New York on January 13th, with a call-back on January 14th. Ultimately, though, it was announced at a casting conference on January 31, 1964, that Plummer had signed.

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Thanks, rorysa. Do you know why Wyler was replaced?

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I'll make a longer story short: after beginning work on the project, with reservations, and scouting locations in Salzburg, Wyler became more interested in directing "The Collector" for Columbia and asked to delay "SOM" so he could do so, which Dick Zanuck (then head of Fox) categorically refused to do.

Wyler did an excellent job with "The Collector" and Wise did an excellent job with "SOM."

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C Plummer is Canadian.

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Keith Michell could sing-starred in stage musicals. Names Bing Crosby, Rex Harrison, Walter Msatthau and Yul Brynner were mentioned.

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They wanted sexual chemistry between Maria and the Captain, and whatever his age, Theodore Bikel was more of a fatherly type. Not sexy. With a fatherly von Trapp, it skews the story. It makes it seem as if this young nun comes along, and in order to be a mother to the children, she marries the father because that's the only way it can happen, not because she's in love or attracted to him. Indeed, the script for the Broadway show isn't very romantic. The Captain and Elsa end their relationship on their own, not because of Maria. They are starting to split up over their political differences. Elsa wants to play along with the Nazis, Georg can't do that. Then Maria naturally steps in to fill the gap. The Broadway script also has the Captain pretty well helpless to know what to do or make decisions, and Maria does it all.

I read the movie made two key changes with Maria and the Captain. One was casting a sexy Von Trapp who had sexual tension with Maria. Imagine the movie without it! The other was making clear that Georg dumps Elsa FOR Maria. They don't break up over politics. He's in love with someone else.

In the movie, Elsa technically breaks it off with Georg, but not really. She's desperately holding on until Georg is about to start the "It's not you, it's me..." break up speech, and that's when Elsa interrupts to save face, IMO, and end it herself. She knows she's going to get dumped if she doesn't.

It's funny, I saw this movie when I was very little, before I enjoyed love stories. I just ignored the fact that the father was in the film and watched for the kid parts. I was really annoyed when he started pushing his way in towards Maria's attention, like singing "Eidelweiss" and the Lendler. As a six year old, my attitude was "She's not yours, she's for the kids. Stop shoving your way in!" I liked it AFTER they were married though.

Anyhow, the movie is brilliant, particularly when you remember that with the exact same storyline and much of the same music, the Broadway show was kind of blech. Casting and directing makes a huge difference.

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Sean Connery and Richard Burton were considered for the part of Captain von Trapp. Among some of the other actors considered for the part were Bing Crosby, Peter Finch and Walter Matthau. Director Robert Wise considered Yul Brynner.

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I cannot imagine Walter Matthau as the Captain! But then, they could have gotten Tony Randall to play Max.

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I read somewhere that Elvis Presley was considered for the role. I'm not sure if the Colonel said no or if there were other issues. When you watch the movie, he is more of a supporting role. I think people would have wanted to see Elvis as the star and not a supporting part. I love Elvis and think he would have done a nice job in that role.

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Matthau would have been TERRIBLE.

David Niven would have been very good as Max.


A few others that I might have considered for Captain Von Trapp:

Frank Sinatra
Gene Kelly
Laurence Harvey


Also, I thought Eleanor Parker was great but I really could have seen Lana Turner as the Baroness.

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Frank Sinatra as an Austrian aristocrat? Yeah, that would've been very believable.

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JMO, but I thought Plummer was EXCELLENT. I cannot imagine anyone else in this role. Not to mention, I saw this movie on the big screen so many times because I just wanted to gaze and drool over him. He was a HUNK.

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I agree. plummer is perfect as the Captain , and as you say, a real hunk.

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Lana Turner as the Baroness? Nah! Eleanor Parker was perfect!

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I don't think that Elvis Presley would've been good in The Sound of Music, at all, especially as Captain Von Trapp.

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Elvis would have been cool as Max.

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Neither Sean Connery or Richard Burton had the personality or the looks for the part of Captain Von Trapp. Neither did Yul Brynner.

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Think.Burton could have done it - so could Niven. I'd have kept the original songs and cast Matthau as Max.

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I think that Yul Brynner (with a toupee) or Richard Burton might've been really phenomenal and played the role expertly.

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I think Christopher Plummer was excellent in the role. If he was not the Captain, I could see Laurence Harvey or Richard Burton.

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Thank Heaven crosby didn't get it. He'd have destroyed the movie.

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Crosby and Julie Andrews worked together in High Tor (TV I think). He liked working with her and gave her some kind of gift as thanks. But to my mind, there wasn't much chemistry, whereas she had terrific chemistry with Plummer.

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Bing would have been to old to play the captain. If there had been a monsignor in the film, I could see him playing that.

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Keith Michell (who would later win fame and an Emmy for playing the title character in THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII) was a musical-comedy veteran who tested well for the role and came close to getting it. His tests are featured on one of the later TSOM dvd releases, although he did not test with Julie Andrews. He sang beautifully, too, and would have provided his own vocals for the film. Ironically, the blonde Michell was considered a little too conventionally-Teutonic-looking for the role. Plummer, darker and more classically handsome, had an edge and an attitude which Wise felt could help reduce some of the inherent sweetness in the story and make it more palatable as a result.

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Keith Michell (who would later win fame and an Emmy for playing the title character in THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII)...

Really? He played all six wives?

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Not really. They wanted someone to play both Henry and all 6 wives, but Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers were both unavailable.

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i love that. Thank you so much for making me laugh. i can just see Peter Sellers or Alec Guiness as all the wives!

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I'd love in particular to see Guinness as the teenage Catherine Howard.

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I really like Plummer a lot in the movie for a lot of reasons, but always wondered that of all the actors out there, how the hell did they choose him? He wasn't famous. He wasn't even a BIG Broadway star. He hadn't won awards. He'd been on Broadway, but wasn't the star. He was well known in the Stratford theatre (in Canada), and done TV work in the USA, like soaps. It's like they went - how about this actor, or that actor, and now - totally RANDOMLY, how about Christopher Plummer?

But then it seems that was the point. They purposefully went off the beaten path. Didn't want anybody obvious or too "movie musical." That's why they tested Keith Michell too. He wasn't famous either.

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Thank you for making a stand for grammar, and recognizing the actual subject in a phrase!





Just make a movie that makes me care, one way or another. I'm open.

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Someone put in a good word for Denzel Washington!!

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Interesting comments everyone, thanks. Anybody know why the original Captain Von Trapp on Broadway, Theodore Bikel, was never considered ? Always wondered...

RSGRE

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Because he was too old for a young Maria; and he was not a movie box-office name.

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BIkel was only 3 years older than Plummer, and 11 years older than Andrews.

A bigger problem might have been that his obvious Jewishness could have made him unbelievable as an Austrian aristocrat.

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U're very right about that; except Capt. von Trapp wasn't even originally Austrian. He didn't even carry an Austrian passport. He was originally from the Pula / Pola area of Istria, Croatia, today. This was all part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. His first wife, Agathe Whitehead, was also actually British, whose father was a contractual worker for the Hapsburg Emperor's Navy.

In the end, when von Trapp retired to Salzburg, he and his older children, carried Italian passports. And then of course, they eventually acquired US citizenship.

Oh, details . . .

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Capt. von Trapp wasn't even originally Austrian



Originally, Capt. von Trapp was most definitely Austrian; he was a product of the von Trapp and Wepler families (his father was elevated to Austrian nobility in 1876). He was born in Zara (now Zadar) on the Dalmatian coast, which was one of the Crown Lands of the Hapsburg Empire. After WWI, when his birthplace became part of Italy, he was able to acquire Italian citizenship.

But on this point the film was correct; Georg Ritter von Trapp certainly considered himself Austrian - because he WAS Austrian.

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Surprised nobody has mentioned (unless I missed it) Theodore Bikel, who originated the part on Broadway and who actually happened to be Austrian.

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There was NO ORIGINAL actor to play the part. Robert Wise had to find the right actor who wanted to do it and who would be complementary to Julie Andrews.

Keith Michell came closest before they settled on Plummer...who only did it for the money.

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