FOREVER LIESL: A Memoir of The Sound of Music. - Review - book review

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Jan, 2001 by Raymond L. Fischer

FOREVER LIESL: A Memoir of The Sound of Music BY CHARMIAN CARR WITH JEAN A.S. STRAUSS VIKING PENGUIN 2000, 245 PAGES, $23.95

Although a few of the billion or so moviegoers who saw "The Sound of Music" consider it too "schmaltzy" nice, or sweet, a vast number of viewers consider it to be their favorite film. Many have viewed it over and over--one woman watched it 307 times, and another sees it an average of 20 times a year. Recipient of many honors, such as Golden Globe Awards for best picture and best actress and five Academy Awards, including best director and best picture, the film broke box-office records around the world and made millions for Twentieth Century-Fox. The sound track, which sold more than 1,000,000 copies in the first month, ultimately became the most successful such recording of all time.

Charmian Carr, who played Liesl in "The Sound of Music," has written a memoir of the motion picture, including several letters she has received from movie fans detailing how watching the film changed their lives. Those who termed the movie schmaltzy will probably consider the book schmaltzy, too. So what's the matter with sweet and nice? Neither an expose about shooting the picture nor criticism of individuals involved in it, Forever Liesl is a delightful recollection of seven of the most wonderful, influential months in Carr's life.

Although the author describes making the film in detail--how it was cast (Charmian almost failed to get the part because of the color of her eyes), how and where the director shot the scenes, how vocalists prerecorded songs, how the cast practiced dances, who was responsible For various aspects of the movie--the major thrust of the book concerns the actors who played the seven Von Trapp children.

The youngsters developed very close relationships, and the author considers the other six her second family. All seven have kept in touch over the years and have had reunions For film anniversaries, special movie-related events, individual family occasions, and appearances on television. When they assembled in December, 1998, the seven "film children," the real Von Trapp family, and the actors playing in the current stage production all joined together. Just prior to this meeting, the seven "film children" received the Mozart Medal from the Austrian state of Salzburg. The book includes several pictures, including one of the three groups together in 1998.

Carr obviously loved the movie and everyone involved. She humorously details the problems during the making of it. For example, to compensate for the different rates at which the kids grew during seven months of filming, the slower-growing ones wore lifts in their shoes so that their relative heights appeared constant. Although Carr herself carried Gretl, the youngest child, up the stairs in the farewell scene, male lead Christopher Plummer asked that a lighter child stand in for Gretl when he grew tired of carrying "the bloody tank" over the mountain.

To Carr, the only serious problem in making the picture concerned money--none of the children received residuals for the film or for the sound track. Although the six youngest acted as ambassadors and promoted the picture for many years, for the most part they received inadequate reimbursement. Under contract with Fox, the author received a salary during two of the many years she promoted the film. Carr regrets that the Fox publicists exaggerated various things about her and at times published misinformation.

Carr's well-written, informative memoir answers questions that those who loved the movie have had about making the picture and what has happened to its celebrities following its release. Everyone who appreciated the film will enjoy the book. "Charmy" is indeed charming.

RAYMOND L. FISCHER Mass Media Editor