One Classic Sound Of Music Scene Kept Knocking Julie Andrews Over
Robert Wise's 1965 musical "The Sound of Music" is, when adjusted for inflation, the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time. In 2024 dollars, "The Sound of Music" made $2.89 billion internationally, which is slightly more than "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" and slightly less than "Avengers: Endgame." The only additional films above it in terms of earnings are "Star Wars," "Titanic," "Avatar," and "Gone with the Wind." Something about Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical captured the popular imagination, and the world really, really needed to see the kindly, musical nun Maria (Julie Andrews) raise a gaggle of Von Trapp children in Salzburg in 1938.
The film's famous opening shot was an extensive helicopter view of the hills of Austria, depicted as verdant and placid, a place ideal for swinging one's arms around and belting out the film's title song. The camera, still poised from a helicopter, settles on Andrews, way out in the middle of a grassy plateau, surrounded by hills, alive with the sound of music. This kind of shot was technically impressive in 1965, seeing as it was made long before drones made such things common. The helicopter seemingly got just close enough before its whirling blades began to blow Julie Andrews' hair out of place.
Back in 2015, Andrews talked with the Huffington Post about that opening shot, and it seems that the helicopter may have gotten much closer than a casual viewer might suspect. The winds whipped up by the helicopter literally knocked Andrews to the ground in several takes.
The hills are alive! Aaaah!
The noted helicopter shot was filmed by cameraman Paul Beeson. Beeson evidently assigned the shot to one of his crew, but his main camera operator refused to do it over safety concerns; the shot required bodily leaning out of an open helicopter door with a gigantic camera rig, a measure taken because Beeson wanted to avoid capturing the helicopter's shadow. Beeson ended up doing the shot himself at the last minute ... while he was wearing a suit and tie.
The shot also required perfect timing, with a series of megaphones set up across the Bavarian Alps to give Andrews her cue when they saw that the helicopter was in the right position. It seems that after ten takes, Andrews began to get furious. Andrews herself recalled being frustrated by how low the chopper had to pass. She said:
"It approached me from one end of the field with a very brave cameraman hanging outside of it with his camera and no door. I came from the other end of the field and we approached each other. When we had achieved one take, the helicopter would go around me and go back to the beginning and I'd go back to the other end of the field and we'd do it again, but every time he went around me ... the down draft from a very close helicopter just leveled me into the grass."
Sadly, Andrews couldn't communicate with Beeson or with the pilot. She just had to signal wildly, and unsuccessfully. She got down, but she got up again. Afterward, she likely wanted a whiskey drink and a vodka drink.
The time Julie Andrews ate dirt
Andrews continued:
"That kept happening and I couldn't understand why he wouldn't pull away and make a wider circle. I kind of signaled to him, 'Could you try to do that?' after about four attempts. Every time I bit the dust and all I got was a thumbs up, and, 'Let's do one more. Great, great. You're doing fine.'"
Andrews was evidently knocked over with almost every take. It's entirely likely that final cut of "The Sound of Music" includes at least one shot captured right before Andrews ate dirt. Luckily, a clever edit hides it.
The helicopter wasn't the only dangerous stunt in "The Sound of Music" either. There is a scene later in the film wherein Maria and the Von Trapp children are enjoying life with a whimsical canoe trip. In a moment of panic, the canoe tips over, and the entire cast splashes into the water. This wouldn't have been much of an issue except that the five-year-old Kym Karath, who plays Gretl in the film, couldn't swim. The filmmakers decided that it was up to Andrews to catch Karath and pull her up before she drowned. Sadly, in one take — the one used in the film — Andrews fell over the wrong side of the boat, and had to rush to catch Karath.
Luckily, Karath was caught in every take. In 2013, she admitted that she still hates water because of the incident.