THE COUNTERFEIT & THE GENUINE. Pts. 1-2

I am currently reading a book by the late, (I’m sorry to say) Charmian Carr by the title of, “Forever Liesl.” As the moniker of her compelling volume implies, Charmian portrayed ‘Liesl’ in the mid-1960’s movie classic, “The Sound of Music.”

As I read my latest chapter I chanced upon a couple of passages which stood out for me, and which recounted the words and actions of the actor who assumed the role of Captain Georg Johannes Ritter von Trapp, (Christopher Plummer), and those of the real life Maria Augusta Kutschera von Trapp, (wife of Captain von Trapp).

It seems Christopher Plummer, for all his positive traits and abilities, could be somewhat of a grouch, irreverent and difficult with which to work. During the filming of the movie, and sometime afterwards Charmian reported that the actor came out with some ‘hum dingers.’

In one case, Mr. Plummer complained about having to do a retake of the final scene of the movie.

It seems he was tasked with carrying the smallest of the children, ‘Gretl’ (Kym Karath) piggy back up a steep slope.

“Another take? Not again! I can’t carry that kid one more step up this mountain. She’s built like a bloody tank!”

As a result, the director ended up using a child double who was lighter.

And there were times when Chris would arrive on the set grumbling and swearing.

“It’s raining. We’re not going to work today. Why the h_ _ _ do we have to go through the paces when we know we’re not going to do anything? Bloody h_ _ _!”

Pt. 2

And then, as I previously inferred, there was Maria Augusta Kutschera von Trapp. Christopher Plummer and Maria von Trapp had met on the set in Salzburg and would become quite fond of one another.

It seems the real Maria, (as portrayed by Julie Andrews) was, during her middle years, somewhat ‘a contradiction in terms,’ since the overweight heroine of Third Reich Austria was a marathoner, and swimmer.

The gregarious widow was the polar opposite of the man who portrayed her late husband in the classic movie. She was as pleasingly personable, as Mr. Plummer (apparently) was not; (unless, as Charmian’s volume implies, it was convenient for him to be).

Christopher Plummer reminisced that,

“She was naughty and funny and just a delightful person. She had this laugh like a German Hausfrau. ‘Ho, ho, ho,’ she chortled. ‘Ach, Christopher, you’re so much more handsome than my real husband. Ho, ho, ho.’ God love her. She was fun.”

Mr. Plummer recounts another incident from that time period, and which betrays Maria’s vivacious nature.

“She was quite famous as a long-distance swimmer, and it just so happened when I was in Nassau, Maria was also there, …swimming the Nassau Channel. It was marvelous. Here was this wonderful rotund woman with all these little boats following her, and throwing her bananas to eat during the crossing.

We arranged to meet later at the hotel. Maria had this wild humor and absolutely no pretensions of grandeur at all. She arrived with the governor general of Nassau, and everyone was being very stuffy and prim, and Maria saw me across the room, and shrieked, ‘My husband! My husband!’ and came running over to me, giving me this huge bear hug embrace. I absolutely adored her.”

Afterward:

Two persons with two absolutely contradictory natures.

An individual who only portrayed the real life hero of “The Sound of Music.”

The flesh and blood luminary who experienced the rigors of Nazi-occupied Austria, and who, along with her husband and children, managed to make their departure from that place.

The genuine and the counterfeit.

I think the counterfeit might have done well to learn something from the genuine.

(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 55. By William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending.

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