The Trapp Family (1956): Cast & Plot

At Nonnberg Abbey in the 1930s Austria, a spirited novice named Maria Ruth Leuwerik is sent by her abbess to the estate of a widowed Austro-Hungarian Navy war hero, Baron von Trapp Hans Holt to look after his seven unruly children. The baron is a stern disciplinarian and runs his household with the efficiency of a World War I U-boat commander. When Maria arrives, she invites the children to stretch beyond strict routines, lets them play games, and teaches them how to sing, imbuing the house with warmth and music. When the baron discovers how Maria is ignoring his orders, he sends her back to the convent. Later, however, hearing his children perform songs learned from Maria, his rigid reserve begins to soften, and his feelings for her shift.