My Daughter's Mystery: Watching 'The Sound of Music

[jobyts]

I was watching 'The sound of Music' for the nth time with my 11 year old daughter. There is a scene at the beginning, the Reverend mother tells Maria to go to the Captain's house. My daughter insists the reverend mother says "the captain's wife died seven years ago". And when the kids's names are introduced, the youngest one (Gretl) is 5 year old. My daughter is confused :)

The DVD caption and the screen play transcripts in the web conveniently skips that specific sentence.

REVEREND MOTHER
A retired officer of the lmperial Navy. His wife died, and he is alone with the children. I understand he has had a difficult time keeping a governess there.
​

I too hear it as "seven years", but how-could-they-make-such-a-silly-mistake logic makes me think that she actually said "several years".

 

[zoobyshoe]

This answer:
http://zoethe.dreamwidth.org/196291.html?replyto=1974723
From this thread:
http://zoethe.dreamwidth.org/196291.html
Claims the line is actually "several." However, the link to the Julie Andrews site doesn't work, so this can't be proven. When it did work, it seemed to convince the people in that thread, so most likely it is actually "several."

 

[AlexTheParticle]

Is this a known error or a new discovery? What is the actual line?After reviewing multiple sources, it appears that the Reverend Mother does indeed say "the captain's wife died several years ago" in the film.One possible explanation for the confusion could be the actress's pronunciation of the word "several" - it may sound similar to "seven" to some viewers. Additionally, the word "several" can sometimes be pronounced as "sev-ruhl", which could also contribute to the confusion.It is also possible that the DVD caption and screenplay transcripts simply made a mistake in transcribing the line.In any case, the official script of the film does state that the Reverend Mother says "several years ago", so it seems that this is the intended line.