‘The Sound of Music’ turns 60: Hit movie saved Fox — but drunken star Christopher Plummer hated it

nypost.com:

The Sound The Sound of Music Story: How A Beguiling Young Novice, A Handsome Austrian Captain, and Ten Singing von Trapp Children Inspired the Most Beloved Film of All Time” that the studio was on the verge of bankruptcy from the historical epic. “Fox lost $15 million on actual film production, a then astronomical sum that forced the company to sell both stock and real estate,” he writes. “Chairman Spyros Skouras sold off the studio’s fabled and valuable 260-acre back lot to make up the cash shortfall.” Skouras was fired before “Cleopatra” was even released, and Fox rehired the old head of production Darryl F.

Zanuck. The sharp vet knew religious stories sell, even merely adequate ones. “The Sound of Music” was a go.But the production was not without drama.Composer Richard Rodgers wanted Andrews, the star of Broadway’s “My Fair Lady,” to play Maria.

But Zanuck pushed back. She wasn’t a name. He had his sights set on Doris Day.Trusting Rodgers, director Robert Wise and associate producer Saul Chaplin flew to California to screen a little unreleased movie Andrews had just shot: “Mary Poppins.” “After precisely five minutes Wise turned to Chaplin and announced ‘Let’s go sign her right now, before anyone else beats us to it,” Santopietro wrote.

The future “Poppins” Oscar winner signed on for $225,000.Once on-set in Salzburg, her co-star, Christopher Plummer, let his loathing of “The Sound of Music” be known.He hated the songs.