Christopher Plummer’s commentary for The Sound Of Music’s 45th Anniversary Blu-ray proves the legendary actor doesn’t actually hate the movie. It’s not unknown for actors to dislike their own work, even if the films themselves are beloved by audiences. Harrison Ford is an interesting example, with the actor, on one hand, having a real appreciation for Star Wars and the impact it had on his life and career. On the other, in the years following the original trilogy, he was famously reluctant to talk about the movies or Han Solo, admitting that sci-fi and fantasy just aren’t his thing.
On that front, he also admitted to being left cold by Blade Runner following its release, though he’s warmed to both properties in recent years, returning for both Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Blade Runner 2049. One actor who’s been delightfully catty about his most famous role is Christopher Plummer on The Sound Of Music. This 1965 adaptation of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical cast Julie Andrews as Maria, who becomes the governess to the Von Trapp children in 1930’s Austria, and who falls for Plummer’s stern Captain Von Trapp. It’s a beloved movie now but in decades since The Sound Of Music’s release, Plummer has admitted to being miserable making it, finding the material sentimental and “gooey,” and even dubbing it “The Sound Of Mucus.”
With that and tales of his moodiness on the set, it does form a picture that Christopher Plummer outright hates the movie. Not so, as The Sound Of Music 45th Anniversary Blu ray should help prove. The actor appears as part of a commentary track for the movie and provides plenty of anecdotes from shooting it – including getting blasted drunk while filming the music festival sequence and putting on weight due to excess drinking and helping himself to Austrian pastries.
Christopher Plummer has been open about his snobbiness while making The Sound Of Music and has since admitted this was due to his background in theater and felt he deserved better than the material. He’s also been resolute that the Captain was the most boring part in the movie and he had to work to inject some life into him, but now Plummer understands why the movie is so adored and has admitted it’s a great family musical. That’s one reason his relationship with the film has thawed and has seen him not only take part in re-releases like the 45th Anniversary Blu-ray but even attending a Sound Of Music 50th anniversary screening in 2015.
It probably helps he formed a lifelong friendship with Julie Andrews while making it too, who has also noted his changed relationship with the movie over the years. It’s doubtful Christopher Plummer would sit down and choose to put the movie on TV, but his warm The Sound Of Music commentary track proves that despite his past comments, he has an affection for the classic musical.
