Julie Andrews may as well have sung, “The bank accounts are full... with the sound of music...” instead of the now-famous melody, alluding to the hills of World War II Austria, for costumes from the classic film, auctioned at a Hollywood memorabilia special in California, fetched a cool $1.3 million this week.
The costumes, which included the one worn by Dame Julie’s “Maria” lead character, were described by Profiles in History auctioneer as “a heavy brown homespun Austrian-style dress with a wheat-coloured homespun blouse”.
The Sound of Music , a 1965 musical drama of an Austrian family trying to escape the Nazis prior to World War II, which also featured noted actor Christopher Plummer, scooped up five Oscars and became a cult hit.
According to reports, Dame Julie said to talk-show host Oprah Winfrey in 2010 that the cast had no idea the film would be so successful when it was first released but that it “made my career — it was that big of a movie”. Announcing the auction, Profiles in History said that the iconic costumes worn by Dame Julie and the “Von Trapp” children would include the items used by them for the song “Do-Re-Mi” .
