Question about the movie "Sound of Music" - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

benhogan · #1 09-30-2015, 08:09 AM

It was set in Austria and Captain Von Maus Trap was a captain in the Navy.

How can a country that is land-locked have a navy?

BTW, I thought Liesl was pretty darn hot.

sunedog · #2 09-30-2015, 08:30 AM

Before he retired, he was a famous World War I submarine captain in the navy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The empire controlled the port city Trieste (now part of Italy) and the Slovenian and Croatian coasts. Today the Austrian military has two boats in the Danube.

(Geez....the internet sure can make me look smart.)

Does Austria Have a Navy?

JB3 · #3 09-30-2015, 08:33 AM

X2 to above. Allied powers of ww1 made the country landlocked as part of war reparations. Coast was given to Italy and Yugoslavia at the time

Von Trap served in the Adriatic

Mark DiSilvestro · #4 10-06-2015, 07:06 AM

One of my favorite scenes comes near the end of the movie, where the nuns disable the two Nazi staff cars.

Happy Motoring, Mark

benhogan · #5 10-06-2015, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark DiSilvestro

One of my favorite scenes comes near the end of the movie, where the nuns disable the two Nazi staff cars.

Happy Motoring, Mark

working from a fuzzy memory, the parts they yanked was the ignition oil and something else. those nuns really know their stuff

t walgamuth · #6 10-06-2015, 10:31 AM

I believe the cars were Benzes.

Great movie! Wonder how close to accurate it was?

Mark DiSilvestro · #7 10-06-2015, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benhogan

working from a fuzzy memory, the parts they yanked was the ignition oil and something else. those nuns really know their stuff

Distributor cap & wires.
As I recall the two staff-cars were a Mercedes and a Horch.
Captain VonTrapp also had a big Mercedes cabriolet - probably something like a 500K.
But the caretaker's car he borrowed to escape to the mountains was a Citroen Traction-Avant. Amazing how his whole family could fit in that.
AH, the magic of Hollywood....
I looked it up awhile back. Though I don't remember the details, the bit with the staff-cars and Nazis searching the convent was also pure Hollywood.

Happy Motoring, Mark

benhogan · #8 10-07-2015, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark DiSilvestro

Distributor cap & wires.
As I recall the two staff-cars were a Mercedes and a Horch.
Captain VonTrapp also had a big Mercedes cabriolet - probably something like a 500K.
But the caretaker's car he borrowed to escape to the mountains was a Citroen Traction-Avant. Amazing how his whole family could fit in that.
AH, the magic of Hollywood....
I looked it up awhile back. Though I don't remember the details, the bit with the staff-cars and Nazis searching the convent was also pure Hollywood.

Happy Motoring, Mark

what do you think happened in the convent AFTER that??? the soldiers probably just walked home scratching their heads wondering what happened. yeah that's it.

Mark DiSilvestro · #9 10-07-2015, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benhogan

what do you think happened in the convent AFTER that??? the soldiers probably just walked home scratching their heads wondering what happened. yeah that's it.

If the movie was actually historically accurate, I imagine the Nazis would have arrested, tortured and executed the caretaker for aiding in the captain's escape. But that would not have made for a very happy movie ending.

Here's what I found when I looked up the actual history behind the VonTrapp story -

Maria left the convent after two years as a novice, to tutor one of the VonTrapp children that was recovering from scarlet fever - not to be governess to all 7 of them. She married the captain in 1927. The names and ages of the children were different than what was portrayed in the movie.
The captain was a warm, gentle person who enjoyed music with the family.
It was Maria that had a temper.
They lost most of their wealth during the depression and so took in boarders, then decided to begin singing professionally to make ends meet.
They toured across Europe, winning first prize at the Salzburg music fair in 1936. Their family priest was their music director.
They did hate the Nazi regime, and even refused an invitation to sing at Hitler's birthday party, but when they left Austria, they didn't have to secretly climb the mountains into Switzerland. They had a contract to sing in America and simply took a train to Italy, then asked their American booking agent to provide fare to the US.

After their marriage, Maria had three more children with the captain. The last one was born after they arrived in America. All except the captain became US citizens. They continued singing and bought a farm in Stowe Vermont that they turned into a lodge.
The captain died in 1947. Maria passed in 1987. The lodge is still in operation. So after all, still a happy ending.

I do enjoy the movie and hope reality didn't spoil it for the rest of you.

Happy Motoring, Mark

Txjake · #10 10-07-2015, 10:21 AM

I read an interesting article in Road & Track back in the 70s(?) about the author Erich Maria Remarque and his escape to Switzerland during WWII. The article was mostly about a large French (?) auto that was supposedly his escape vehicle and its rediscovery at some remote location. It was a great article, maybe written by Peter Egan, but I think it was before his time, so perhaps Rob Walker.

t walgamuth · #11 10-07-2015, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark DiSilvestro

If the movie was actually historically accurate, I imagine the Nazis would have arrested, tortured and executed the caretaker for aiding in the captain's escape. But that would not have made for a very happy movie ending.

Here's what I found when I looked up the actual history behind the VonTrapp story -

Maria left the convent after two years as a novice, to tutor one of the VonTrapp children that was recovering from scarlet fever - not to be governess to all 7 of them. She married the captain in 1927. The names and ages of the children were different than what was portrayed in the movie.
The captain was a warm, gentle person who enjoyed music with the family.
It was Maria that had a temper.
They lost most of their wealth during the depression and so took in boarders, then decided to begin singing professionally to make ends meet.
They toured across Europe, winning first prize at the Salzburg music fair in 1936. Their family priest was their music director.
They did hate the Nazi regime, and even refused an invitation to sing at Hitler's birthday party, but when they left Austria, they didn't have to secretly climb the mountains into Switzerland. They had a contract to sing in America and simply took a train to Italy, then asked their American booking agent to provide fare to the US.

After their marriage, Maria had three more children with the captain. The last one was born after they arrived in America. All except the captain became US citizens. They continued singing and bought a farm in Stowe Vermont that they turned into a lodge.
The captain died in 1947. Maria passed in 1987. The lodge is still in operation. So after all, still a happy ending.

I do enjoy the movie and hope reality didn't spoil it for the rest of you.

Happy Motoring, Mark

Interesting, thanks for sharing!

t walgamuth · #12 10-07-2015, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Txjake

I read an interesting article in Road & Track back in the 70s(?) about the author Erich Maria Remarque and his escape to Switzerland during WWII. The article was mostly about a large French (?) auto that was supposedly his escape vehicle and its rediscovery at some remote location. It was a great article, maybe written by Peter Egan, but I think it was before his time, so perhaps Rob Walker.

Cool! Wonder if I could google and find that article?

Rob walker was an excellent writer too!

benhogan · #13 10-07-2015, 12:02 PM

I wonder is Liesl was as hot in person as she was in the movie