Oscar-Laden ‘Sound of Music,’ 25 Years Later : 25th Anniversary for Oscar-Laden ‘The Sound of Music’ : Film: The seven actors who portrayed the Von Trapp children have remained close. Most of them were ‘real kids.’

Apropos of Oscar week, “The Sound of Music” has just turned 25. The multiple Academy Award winner, and one of the most popular films ever made, was released 25 years ago this month.

“The Sound of Music,” Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical about a spirited young postulant (played by Julie Andrews) who becomes governess in 1938 Austria to seven rambunctious children and falls in love with their autocratic father (Christopher Plummer), had 10 nominations and won five Oscars in 1965--taking the prize for best picture, director, sound, film editing and musical score adaptation.

Based on the life story of Maria von Trapp, the picture cemented Andrews’ international popularity and until the early 1970s was the highest-grossing film ever. It currently ranks 23rd on Variety’s list of top box-office rentals and remains consistently in the Top 10 of home video sales.

No one involved in the production had an inkling that it would enjoy such extraordinary success, according to its producer and director, Robert Wise.

“We thought we had a chance at a commercial success, and when we saw the reaction at the sneak previews in the Midwest, we were pretty sure we were going to have a hit,” said Wise, sitting in his Beverly Hills office opposite a framed Soviet poster of the film. “But none of us had any idea it would go through the ceiling like that.”

The film was made on a then-lavish $8.4-million budget, including a record $1.25 million for the stage rights. (Starring Mary Martin, “The Sound of Music” ran on Broadway for almost 1,500 performances, won six Tony Awards and sold more than 3 million albums.) Its six-month shooting schedule called for 11 weeks of work in Salzburg, Austria. The picturesque locations proved an integral part of the film’s appeal--but after 25 years, Wise now reveals that the stunning opening scene, featuring Andrews warbling the title song atop a verdant mountain meadow, was actually shot in nearby Germany.

“It took us a week to do because it rained all the time,” Wise recalled. “It was so muddy and messy, we couldn’t even get a jeep up there. One of my favorite memories is the image of Julie being brought up the hill, sitting in her fur coat in a cart drawn by oxen.”

Andrews said that making the film was “a thrill.”

“God, it’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years--it doesn’t feel like it,” she said. “To be a part of something that’s still around, that’s brought happiness to so many people, is an honor.”

For most of the seven performers who portrayed the Von Trapp children, “The Sound of Music” marked their film debuts; only Angela Cartwright (Brigitta) had had extensive credits. Said Heather Urich, who was 14-year-old Heather Menzies when she played mischievous tomboy Louisa: “I think Bob Wise wanted real kids, not polished professionals. We were taught to sing--he didn’t want us to sound like the Vienna Boys Choir.”

The screen siblings behaved like “real kids” off camera as well, Urich admitted. “We were awful! We played tricks on people. We baby-sat each other in the hotel when our mothers went out, and we’d throw things like wet toilet paper pieces out the window to the cars below. We were asked to leave one hotel. But Bob Wise had to sit us down and read us the riot act only once.”

Charmian Carr, who played oldest daughter Liesl, missed the high jinks because at 21, she spent time with the adults and, on weekends, worked on a travelogue about Salzburg. She recalled most vividly filming her “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” musical number with an Ace-bandaged sprained right ankle--”They put makeup on it, but if you look carefully you’ll see it”--as well as her two years of worldwide traveling after the film opened, presiding over premieres and anniversary screenings.

Carr and Urich both chose to give up acting in favor of motherhood. Carr has been married almost 23 years to dentist Jay Brent and has two daughters, along with a thriving interior design business whose clients include singer Michael Jackson; she occasionally does television commercials. Urich wed actor Robert Urich 14 years ago and the couple have a son and daughter.

As for the other Von Trapp performers, Cartwright, now 37, owns the Rubber Boots gift shop in Toluca Lake and is married with two children; Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich), now 39, moved to Australia in a successful search for greener acting pastures; Duane Chase, also 39, is married and tests computer software for mining and oil companies; Debbie Turner (Marta) is a married mother of three currently pursuing an interest in art, and Kym Karath is married and trying her hand at screenwriting.

The seven have remained close. “It’s like being members of a private club, or an extended family,” Urich said. She, Carr and Cartwright are San Fernando Valley neighbors whose children are friends. A year ago, she and Carr discovered that they are distantly related.

A number of key people associated with the film have died. Among them: Maria von Trapp herself, composer Richard Rodgers and actors Richard Haydn (Uncle Max), Ben Wright (Nazi nemesis Herr Zeller) and Peggy Wood (Mother Superior). In retirement in Palm Springs is Eleanor Parker, who played Baroness Elsa Schrader, Andrews’ romantic rival.

“I was the so-called ‘heavy,’ ” Parker said in a telephone interview. “Little children would look at me as a nasty lady who didn’t like children, though Bob Wise and I looked at her as a baroness whose way of life was that children went off to school. I’m very proud to have been in the film. If anyone asks me what I’ve done, I look to see how young they are and say ‘There’s one film you will know’--and they’ve always seen it several times.”

Just why has the “The Sound of Music” enjoyed such longevity?

“I think it’s the mixture of ingredients, starting with the story,” Wise said. “It’s a moving, touching, family story--there’s one universal thing around this world, and that’s family. Then there’s the fine score, the marvelous scenery, the casting. So there’s no single element.

“I can’t say it’s my favorite film--I’ve done 39 (including “West Side Story” and the first “Star Trek” feature) and have 10 or 11 favorites,” he added. “But in one sense it’s the one that’s given me the most pleasure, because it’s so many people’s favorite film.”