A Valentine for the Captain
My first crush, Christopher Plummer, died last week. I knew he couldn’t live forever but I liked knowing he was in the world. For me, Plummer was and always will be Captain Georg von Trapp, the real-life naval hero and father he played in the film, The Sound of Music.
I fell in love with the irascible Plummer when I first saw The Sound of Music in the theater at ten years old. There was just something about him and to this awakening love-struck pre-teen, he checked all the boxes at a time when I didn’t even know I had “boxes”.
Debonair – did anyone before Plummer ever look so wonderful in white dress gloves? The scene where he slyly adjusts his gloves over his fingers before he takes Julie Andrews in his arms to dance the Austrian Laendler still has the power to make me shiver.
Burnished Autocrat – just under his stern and cold exterior lived a fractured man as evidenced on Plummer’s face the moment he heard his children singing for the first time since his beloved wife’s death. Yes, von Trapp commanded respect but just beneath the surface was a polished stone of gentle fatherhood.
Vulnerability – when you watch the scene where Plummer teases Julie Andrews as to why she came back to the children after having deserted them for a short time, you can see he is defenseless in the face of his love for the soon to be Mrs. von Trapp.
Captain Handsome – tall (5’10”) and dark, Plummer played von Trapp with controlled masculine sensuality. Strong and powerful with a take-charge-this-is-my-family attitude that as a young girl, I found safe, reassuring, AND alluring.
It pained me to read that Christopher Plummer did not enjoy his role as Captain von Trapp, and considered the film his least favorite. But for me, he embodied the Captain so well that I still can’t separate Plummer from von Trapp in any other film I saw him in. As much as his dissatisfaction with the role bothers me, I did love reading how he insisted on singing in the film himself and would not sign any contracts until it was agreed that his voice would not be dubbed. That took guts because the producers of the film initially did not think that Plummer had a good enough singing voice for the musical. I thought he sounded velvety and poignant although not the most forceful tenor. I also read that he prepared by taking stringent voice lessons before filming and that doesn’t surprise me one bit. He was a professional.
In some ways, Christopher Plummer set the bar high for my ideal man and I will always think of him as my first girlhood crush. Those piercing eyes, the dangerous horizontal scar on his chin….but like most beloved valentines, he gave off a tender achy quality from afar. I feel strangely possessive of Christopher Plummer and I will miss him whenever I watch his Captain von Trapp.
9 Comments
Candice
Christopher Plummer was my first crush too. My grandmother took my five siblings and me to see The Sound of Music when I was 8 years old (I think). I read CP later changed his feelings about the movie. I also read that his singing voice was partially dubbed after all by Bill Lee for long passages. The entrances and exits from the songs were Plummer and then they filled in the rest with Bill Lee. You can watch Plummer signing Edelweiss (Just his voice) on YouTube.
A Lovely Inconsequence
I didn’t know that Candice! Now I want to watch the film as soon as possible again.
Helen McAllister
I fell in love with him, too! I was 12 and for years I sought out movies with Christopher Plummer because of his role as Captain von Trapp. Candice, you did a great job describing exactly how so many now almost 70 year old women felt from the time they first saw The Sound of Music 59 years ago!
Karen
What a lovely tribute! His suave elegance transformed the strict captain from martinet to macho and certainly set many adolescent hearts a-flutter. But not mine…it had already been lost to Charlton Heston in “Ben-Hur”! I saw that a few years before “Sound of Music” and that sealed the deal for my teenaged soul!
LA CONTESSA
MY FAVORITE MOVIE TOO GROWING UP………..and MARY POPPINS!
I HAVE THE COUNTESS’s REAL EVEING BAGS TWO OF THEM I PURCHASED IN A CONSIGNMENT SHOP IN PALM SPRINGS AFTER SHE PASSED.I JUST HAD TO HAVE THEM……………….THAT MOVIE WAS A PART OF OUR LIFE!
I WONDER WHY HE FELT THAT WAY………………
WE NEED MORE MOVIES LIKE IT!
XXX
D. A Squires
Such a beautiful and heartfelt tribute to this special man. I felt exactly as you so poignantly describe. No one else could have portrayed Captain von Trapp to the same effect… he was perfection. I did not know how he felt about it until reading this and wonder how could he not have seen what everyone else did… the part was made for him. It is one of my favorite films from childhood and to this day. I, too, wish there would be a revivial of this kind of movie that was beloved by all ages. Compelling stories, memorable characters, and original music that come together and form a magical elixir– that speaks to the heart and lingers there for a lifetime.
Dana
He sure was foxy in the Sound of Music. Also read that he seriously hated that role, and that he was intoxicated during some scenes. However I also read that by the end of his life he softened and was able to see the appeal. Anyway- such a sad loss of a fine actor. Like you, my heart flutters during the waltz scene with Julie Andrew’s. Gosh , I wish they still made movies like that!
Karen
I agree. I watched Sound of Music as an adult (although I could’ve watched it at 10). I especially loved him more recently in “Must Love Dogs” with Diane Lane and John Cusack. (Also one of my very favourite “older women”, Stockard Channing.)
xo karen
Ann
Yes ! Felt the same way watching Sound of Music the first time…same age! Just watched him in Somewhere in Time last night for Valentine’s Day….not a nice guy in that movie, but still…elegant, sexy, and so handsome. Rest in peace!