The Sound of Music film

On the opening night of the musical there were many famous people in the audience, but for the eventual filming of The Sound of Music just two of the people out there were important: Irving "Swifty" Lazar, who represented the show´s writers and Spyros Skouras, president of the Twentieth Century Fox.

Skouras loved the play and a few months later he bought the rights for the film for 1.25 million dollars. The contract stated that he was not to release the film until 1964 or after the closing of the show.

It was The Sound of Music project that helped Century Fox in a time of increasing financial difficulties. After some trouble finding the right director, Ernest Lehmann (who had already scripted "The King and I" and "The West Side Story") and Studio Chief Richard Zanuck won over their first choice, Robert Wise, as director of the movie.