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The Hollywood hills were alive with the sound of money when 20th Century-Fox opened THE SOUND OF MUSIC March 2, 1965.

Its blockbuster success verified the decision by studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck & production head Richard D. Zanuck to greenlight the musical based on Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II’s 1959 Broadway hit. It ran for 1,443 performances, starring Mary Martin as Maria, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and won the 1960 Tony for Best Musical (tied with FIORELLO).

Paramount had originally purchased the movie rights to the Von Trapp Singers’ story, planning to cast Audrey Hepburn as Maria. But Hepburn passed and Paramount dropped the project. Fox bought the rights in 1960 for $1.25M, a hefty sum at the time, especially when the studio had nearly been bankrupted by three years of producing the epic CLEOPATRA.

The Zanucks believed in MUSIC and hired Ernest Lehman to adapt it. Lehman, a star screenwriter, had written such hits as Robert Wise’s WEST SIDE STORY (1961) & Alfred Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959). To direct, Paramount had signed William Wyler, Hepburn’s director in her 1953 breakthrough film ROMAN HOLIDAY for Paramount.

When Fox took over, Wyler stayed on, but his vision of the film proved to be too dark. The studio then turned to Wise, an A-List director with credits like WEST SIDE STORY & the sci-fi classic THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Wise passed because MUSIC seemed too saccharine to him. He said no three times, but had a sudden change of heart when the deal for his next Fox movie, THE SAND PEBBLES, ran into delays and he now had time to fit in a project that was ready to go.

Julie Andrews, Wise’s first choice for Maria, became a powerhouse Broadway star in 1956 when MY FAIR LADY opened on Broadway. But no one knew if she’d be equally engaging on screen. Andrews famously lost out to Hepburn to play Eliza in the movie version of MFL. Walt Disney had signed her to star in MARY POPPINS, but it hadn’t opened yet when MUSIC was casting. Andrews almost said no to playing Maria because she thought the role felt too much like Poppins.

MUSIC, of course, triumphed, at both the boxoffice — with $160.9M domestically on a budget of $8.2M — and at the 38th Annual Academy Awards. It received10 nominations and won in five races, including best picture & directing. Andrews accepted Wise’s Oscar for him because by then he was in Hong Kong shooting PEBBLES.

Ironically, the great succe$$ of MUSIC prompted Fox to produce a trio of mega-budget musicals — DOCTOR DOLITTLE (1967), STAR! (1968) & HELLO, DOLLY! (1969) — none of which became hits!