When filming the sound of music in the scene where Liezel is dancing in the gazebo during the song 'I Am Sixteen Going On Seventeen', where she dances from bench to bench, she actually went through one of the panes of glass on the first jump and sprained her ankle because there were two pairs of shoes she had for that scene (one with rubber grips and one without). The ones with rubber grip were meant for the actual filming NOT the rehearsal but she had been rehearsing with the ones without rubber grip and someone forgot to change them. She was OK but she had to do the dance with a bandage on her ankle.

In the boating scene, Kym Karath (Gretl) nearly drowned when she fell in the water. The scene originally called for Julie Andrews (Maria) to carry her out of the water as Kym couldn't swim yet, but Andrews fell out of the wrong side of the boat. In fact, the scene had to stop production in order to rescue Kym. In the movie, you'll see Heather Menzies (Louisa) carrying her out, whom Kym threw up on after swallowing so much water.

When Julie Andrews is singing "I Have Confidence" she trips. The trip was completely accidental, and not choreographed, but the director felt it was in character, so he left it in.

When Liesl is dancing with Rolf in the gazebo, he holds her hand as she skips lightly from bench to bench. Look closely at her ankles: one of them is wrapped with an Ace bandage because it went through the glass during the rehearsal of that scene.

The front of the von Trapp house and the back of the house are actually two different houses. Also, the gazebo (which belongs to the house used for the back shots) is actually across a river from the house. (You can take the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg.)

Christopher Plummer who plays the Baron, met the real Maria von Trapp when he was a child. He used to ski and had met her at the von Trapp Lodge which the family owned and operated.

When Julie Andrews is singing "I'm confident" she goes through a little tunnel. There is a cameo appearance of the real Maria von Trapp, who you can see to Julie Andrews' left.

Many years ago, Maria von Trapp was asked if the movie was pretty close to real life, and she replied, "Yes, except for one thing." She amusingly explained that when the family was crossing through the mountains, they were definately NOT singing, unlike the film.

They filmed Julie Andrews singing on the hills at the very beginning of the film by helicopter and everytime the helicopter went round she was blown down.

Audrey Hepburn and Doris Day were both considered for the role of Maria.

"Edelweiss" was the last song Oscar Hammerstein wrote before his death.

When the Captain and Maria were singing in the gazebo, they had to just show their shadows because they would laugh too much in the light, so they hid their faces.

Reverend Mother's singing was dubbed, as she herself declared that she was too old to handle the vocals.

The von Trapps actually escaped via train, en route to their next performance as part of their tour. They did not escape while being chased through the mountains.

In reality, Maria was the one who was very strict with the children, while Captain von Trapp was friendly and relaxed.

In the end when the family is climbing over the hills to safety, it is not really Gretl on the shoulders of Captain Von Trapp. On the DVD, it's revealed that while in Austria, Kym Karath gained a lot of weight. This was one of the last shots filmed and so she was a bit too heavy to be carried on Christopher Plummer's back, so he requested a lighter double.

More than one take of the boating scene was filmed (Julie Andrews recalls two). On the one used in the movie, Julie Andrews falls off the far side of the boat. However, in the original theatrical trailer shown on the 40th edition DVD, another take is shown in which everyone falls off the near side.

The Von Trapp mansion - -the outside, the lake out back and many (perhaps all) the interior scenes (including that amazing gold-encrusted room that Maria walks into) is a real castle just outside Salzburg. It's called the Schloss Leopoldskron (Prince Leopold's Castle). A truly cool place; I lived there for a month when I was 8. (If you swing aside a particular shelf in the mammoth library, you find a secret spiraling stairway.).