Skip to content

  • Home
  • Bio
  • Writing
  • Contact

John Dos Passos Coggin

Author

Home > Uncategorized > Roots of Edelweiss

Roots of Edelweiss

admin December 17, 2015

427px-Gnaphalium_leontopodium_Atlas_Alpenflora

I was watching the film The Sound of Music the other night and it got me thinking, as I always do, about the role of Nazism in the plot. The songs are fun but it’s the drama and suspense that always brings me back to the film. I’m always guessing at what goes on the Captain’s head. How does he possess the clairvoyance to see the evil at Austria’s door? What does the Captain love about Austria in its innocent, pre-Anschluss state? I think it’s a case where the actor, Christopher Plummer, fills the thin profile of the character with his own positive energy. We assume, looking at his face, that he has lots of information and experience and guidance behind his views.

For me, there are several scenes that gloriously underscore the Captain’s hard-line anti-Nazi stance. One of them is certainly his physical splitting of the Nazi flag when he finds it hung at his home.

Curious that a character predicated on militarism would detest Nazism, but he sure does revolt against it.

Another anti-Nazi scene plays out in this sharp dialogue that Plummer delivers with class:

Herr Zeller: Perhaps those who would warn you that the Anschluss is coming – and it is coming, Captain – perhaps they would get further with you by setting their words to music.
Captain von Trapp: If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you will be the entire trumpet section.
Herr Zeller: You flatter me, Captain.
Captain von Trapp: Oh, how clumsy of me – I meant to accuse you.

Great film. Great message that really rings with today’s concerns.

 

Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Austria, christopher plummer, Nazism, The sound of music
Previous Post: Upcoming John Dos Passos Society Conference – Madrid
Next Post: Color and Power in Star Wars

Archives

  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • November 2024
  • July 2024
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • March 2023
  • January 2023
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • February 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015

Copyright © 2025 John Dos Passos Coggin. Powered by WordPress and Stargazer.

Verified by MonsterInsights