Were you there 50 years ago when the lights dimmed and you heard "The Hills are alive...…" for the very first time on the big screen?
For me, it was at the Majestic Old Colonial Theater in Allentown, Pa., the movie palace where we enjoyed all our premieres.
March 2, 1965, was the date The Sound of Music got its premiere in New York City, followed by its opening a week later in Los Angeles, and then its worldwide openings over the next six to nine months.
Starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, directed by Robert Wise and with music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Sound of Music won five Oscars and displaced 1939s Gone with the Wind as the highest-grossing film of all time. Adjusted for today's prices, The Sound of Music is still the most successful musical film of all time.
Based on Maria von Trapp's memoirs of the von Trapp family singers, much of the principal photography was done in and around Salzburg.
To celebrate its 50th birthday, we'll listen to a medley of music from The Sound of Music on this week's Flicks in Five.
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