At a Nonnberg Abbey in Austria in the 1930s, a spirited novice named Maria (Ruth Leuwerik) is sent by her abbess to the estate of a widowed Austro-Hungarian Navy war hero, See more

• Ruth Leuwerik as Baroness Maria von Trapp
• Hans Holt as Baron von Trapp
• Maria Holst as Princess Yvonne See more

The film is based on Maria von Trapp's memoir, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, written in 1948 to help promote her family's singing group following the death of her husband, See more

The Trapp Family was released in West Germany on October 9, 1956, by Gloria Film and became a major success. Two years later, … See more

In his review of the 1961 United States version for The New York Times, Howard Thompson gave the film a positive review, calling it "genteel, tuneful and frankly sentimental". According to Thompson, the film "steers an undramatic, but disarming, course", with … See more

In 1956, Paramount Pictures purchased the United States film rights, intending to produce an English-language version with Audrey Hepburn as … See more

• Gearin, Joan (Winter 2005). "Movie vs. Reality: The Real Story of the Von Trapp Family". Prologue. 37 (4). See more