"The Sound of Music" turns 50 today and is still just as iconic as ever, decades after Julie Andrews starred as Maria in the 1965 classic.
"What blows my mind is how much it's continued and how much people still
value the story," Myles von Trapp Derbyshire, 30, told ABC News. "And
the people that I meet, how much it's affected their lives. It's great
to be part of a story that's proven itself to be timeless."
Myles is the great-grandson of Maria von Trapp, one of the main,
real-life inspirations for the movie, and believes her story "is about
being strong and facing adversity head on."
"Here we are 50 years later and people are still interested," he added. "Lady Gaga is performing at the Oscars and it's still relevant.”
In the classic movie, Maria leaves a convent during World War II and falls in love with Captain Georg von Trapp. The family, including the children, leave Austria during the war to escape the Nazis.
The film also focuses on the family's musical gifts and occupation as
traveling singers. Maria von Trapp, who died in 1987, was the matriarch
of the Trapp Family Singers.
Since "The Sound of Music" is based on a true story, Myles recalls the
times he would visit the actual Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, and how that family landmark came about.
"After they came to the U.S., they were broke, because they had to leave
everything behind in Austria," Myles told ABC News. "They decided on
Vermont, it reminded them most of Austria with the green mountains and
all. They bought a farm and turned that into music camp."
While Myles may not have too many memories of his great-grandmother, his mother, Stephanie, 55, remembers Maria.
"She was my grandmother," she told ABC News. "[We would visit] once a
year. We would go for a family trip to the Trapp Family Lodge, which was
her house. It was a big deal, because we would get out of school early!
And we'd have a ball."
What the Movie Got Right and Not So Much
With the von Trapp family being the inspiration for the Oscar-winning film, some elements were exaggerated for dramatic effect.
"The whole relationship with Rolf was added, that did not exist," he
said of one of the von Trapp children having a relationship with a young
Nazi in the movie. "He's a made-up character. My grandfather was
actually the eldest child. So the relationship there with one of the
Nazis didn't exist. They didn't climb every mountain, they hopped on a
train to Italy when it came to the Nazis pursuing my great-grandfather."
He added, "The house itself [in Austria, which was a mansion in the
film] was not this grand, huge thing. They lived very humbly for several
years before they left Austria and came to the US. ... The
personalities of Georg and Maria are also actually reversed.
“My great-grandfather was very sweet and kind, Maria was apparently very moody," he said, laughing.
Stephanie says Maria “wasn't your snugly grandmother, but she was fun.
I'll never forget, she wanted to take us to the local soft serve ice
cream place. She was trying to describe how tall the ice cream cone was
and she was very excited. She took us in her convertible Volkswagen
Karmann Ghia. We got ice cream and I just remember that was awesome.”
What the movie got exactly right was "they did sing, stuff about my
great-grandfather Georg and him being a naval captain, and being
knighted is all true."
Seeing the Movie for the First Time
Myles von Trapp Derbyshire
Myles doesn't remember the first time he saw it but has an amazing memento that he cherishes.
"There's a picture of me sitting on my grandfather's lap watching the
movie when I was 4 years old," he said. "You can see Julie Andrews
dancing through the mountains and me on his lap."
Stephanie von Trapp Derbyshire
Stephanie remembers, and though she's excited now, at 5 years old, she admits she "didn't get it."
"I remember going to the theater. I remember thinking, 'Why was this so
special?' I didn't quite connect the fact that we were von Trapps and
the people in the movie were von Trapps. I didn't get that," she said.
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