ABC to Air THE SOUND OF MUSIC, 12/23

THE SOUND OF MUSIC, the original classic starring Julie Andrews, brings its special magic to the holiday season when it airs in HDTV with 5.1-channel surround sound as the "ABC Sunday Movie of the Week," DECEMBER 23 (7:00-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. (Rebroadcast. OAD on ABC: 12/29/02)

"The Sound of Music," which garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, won for Best Picture, Best Music, Scoring or Music, Adaptation or Treatment; Best Director, Best sound and Best Film Editing. Julie Andrews, who had won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role the previous year for "Mary Poppins," was again nominated in that category for her portrayal of Maria, a probationary candidate to join an order of nuns.

In "The Sound of Music," Maria, while waiting to take her vows, is sent to the home of the widowed and retired navy Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer, "A Beautiful Mind," "The Insider") to care for his seven rambunctious children. Maria discovers the children, who have previously run off several governesses, are most in need of a little love. When she teaches them to sing, she wins the love of the children and the captain. The film is based on the real-life story of the von Trapp family. Maria's book, "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers," first became a German movie and later a successful Broadway musical before its Oscar-winning release in 1965. In 1938 the von Trapps escaped their native Austria and Nazi occupation to avoid Captain von Trapp's being forced to serve in the German navy.

"The Sound of Music" stars Julie Andrews as Maria, Christopher Plummer as Captain Georg von Trapp, Eleanor Parker (a three-time Oscar nominee) as Baroness Elsa Schraeder, Richard Haydn ("Young Frankenstein") as Max Detweiler, Peggy Wood (received an Oscar nomination for this role) as Mother Abbess, Charmian Carr as Liesl van Trapp, Daniel Truhitte as Rolf Gruber, Heather Menzies as Louisa van Trapp, Nicholas Hammond as Friedrich von Trapp, Duane Chase as Kurt von Trapp, Angela Cartwright as Brigitta von Trapp, Debbie Turner as Marta von Trapp, Kym Karath as Gretl von Trapp, Ben Wright as Herr Zeller and Anna Lee as Sister Margaretha.

The 1965 release was directed by Robert Wise, recipient of three Oscar Awards ("West Side Story," "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"). The screenplay was written by Ernest Lehman ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," "Hello Dolly!," "Sabrina") based on the book by Howard Lindsay ("Life with Father") and Russel Crouse ("The Big Broadcast of 1938") and the stage musical by the legendary team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein (collaborators on "South Pacific," "Oklahoma, "The King and I," "Carousel"). The feature is a production of 20th Century Fox and Argyle Enterprises. (CLOSED CAPTIONED)