It is hard to imagine anyone else standing on that Austrian balcony, stiff-backed and whistling for his children like they were a pack of hunting dogs. Christopher Plummer was Captain von Trapp. But for decades, the man himself would have preferred you talked about literally anything else. To him, the 1965 mega-hit was "The Sound of Mucus." He called it "S&M," and not for the reasons you might think. He just found the whole thing so dreadfully "gooey."
Honestly, the relationship between the Sound of Music Christopher Plummer and the film that made him a global icon is one of the most hilariously complicated love-hate stories in Hollywood history.
The "Albatross" Around His Neck
When Robert Wise cast Plummer, he wasn't looking for a musical theater star. He wanted a serious, classically trained actor to ground the movie. He got exactly that, but he also got a lead actor who felt he was "flogging a dead horse." Plummer was a Shakespearean at heart. He’d done Hamlet. He’d done Henry V. To him, playing a stern father who gets softened by a singing nun felt a bit beneath his dramatic pay grade.
He once famously told The Hollywood Reporter that the role was "so awful and sentimental and gooey." He spent a good chunk of his time in Salzburg trying to inject "a minuscule bit of humor" into a character he found boring.
The Pastries and the Costumes
You’ve probably heard the rumors about his weight gain on set. They aren’t rumors. Plummer later admitted in his memoir, In Spite of Myself, that he ate and drank his way through the Austrian production. Between the local schnapps and the endless supply of Austrian pastries, he grew so much that his costumes actually had to be let out.
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There is also the matter of his sobriety during certain scenes. In the DVD commentary for the 35th anniversary, he confessed he was "dead drunk" during the music festival sequence near the end of the film. If you look closely at his face while he’s standing on that stage, you might see the gaze of a man who’s had one too many Austrian lagers.
The Secret Behind the Singing
One of the biggest shocks for fans is finding out that the voice coming out of Christopher Plummer isn't actually his. While he did record all the songs, the producers decided his voice wasn't quite right for the "elongated passages" of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s score.
They brought in Bill Lee, a legendary playback singer who had worked on everything from South Pacific to Disney’s Cinderella.
- The Discovery: Plummer didn't even know he’d been dubbed until the film’s premiere.
- The Reaction: When "Edelweiss" started playing and he heard a voice that wasn't his, he reportedly got up and walked out of the theater in a fit of rage.
- The Reconciliation: Years later, a Super Deluxe Edition of the soundtrack finally released Plummer’s original vocals for "Something Good," allowing fans to hear the raw, less polished version he originally intended.
Julie Andrews: The "Valentine" He Adored
If there was one thing that kept Plummer from completely losing his mind during the shoot, it was Julie Andrews. He described working with her as being "hit over the head with a big Valentine every day." While he was the cynical, brooding theater actor, she was the disciplined, pitch-perfect pro.
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They stayed incredibly close until his death in 2021.
He once joked with Diane Sawyer that they "should have had a huge, smashing affair." The only reason they didn't, according to him? She had her kids with her on set, and she lived in a hotel way down the road. "Geography," he sighed. But their chemistry was real. It’s what makes the movie work. Without Plummer’s sharp, cynical edge to balance out Andrews’ sweetness, the movie might have actually become the "saccharine" mess he feared.
The Change of Heart
Something shifted for Plummer in his later years. He stopped running away from the Captain. In 2010, he finally joined the full cast for a reunion on The Oprah Winfrey Show. It was the first time they had all been together in 45 years.
He eventually sat down to watch the movie at a children's party and was surprised by his own reaction. He wrote that he found himself "totally seduced by the damn thing." He realized it was a "terrific movie"—the best of its genre. He even felt a "sudge of pride" for being part of it.
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Maybe it was just the perspective of age. Or maybe he realized that in a world full of "gunfire and car chases," a story about a family, some mountains, and a bit of resistance against fascism was actually quite "wonderfully, old-fashionedly universal."
What You Can Learn from the Captain’s Journey
If you’re a fan or a student of film, there are a few practical takeaways from Plummer’s experience with The Sound of Music:
- Watch the "Unmasked" Version: Seek out the 2023 Super Deluxe Soundtrack. Hearing Plummer's real voice on "Something Good" changes how you view the character's vulnerability.
- Look for the Nuance: Next time you watch, pay attention to his eyes during the "Edelweiss" reprise. He’s playing the subtext of a man losing his country, not just a man singing a folk song.
- Appreciate the Balance: Notice how he uses stillness. He rarely smiles in the first half of the film. This "theatrical" discipline is what prevents the movie from becoming too "gooey," exactly as he intended.
Plummer might have started as a reluctant participant, but he ended as the soul of the film. He proved that you can be cynical about your work and still give a performance that lasts for generations. He wasn't just a singer—he was the anchor.