Song of the Day 2/6: Christopher Plummer, “Edelweiss”
Christopher Plummer, the accomplished Shakespearian actor made famous in a role he despised, died yesterday at age 91. Though he considered the movie he called “The Sound of Mucus” sentimental crap, it remains the most popular musical of all time, and Plummer’s scene singing “Edelweiss” to his children is a key moment in the film.
“But wait!” I hear you saying. “Plummer’s voice was dubbed in the movie!” Right you are. But before it was, Plummer sang the tune himself. In fact, in later years he complained about having his voice replaced by “playback singer” Bill Lee, a frequent Disney hired hand — er, throat — saying the only reason he took the role was the chance to sing in a musical.
Fear not, though. Plummer’s original performance was also preserved, and it turns out Lee’s vocals were a careful impersonation of Plummer’s, accent and all. Even the timbre is a near match — Lee’s voice is just a tad smoother, and he’s better able to sustain the long notes. Judge for yourself:
Plummer’s original:
Lee’s overdub:
A lot of people — not smart ones, perhaps, but a lot of people nonetheless — think “Edelweiss” is an actual Austrian folk song. In truth, it was a late addition by Rodgers and Hammerstein to the original stage production. On Broadway, Capt. von Trapp was played by Austrian Theodore Bikel, who played guitar and sang folk songs in 21 languages. Bikel expressed his displeasure at having no song in the show, so “Edelweiss” was added to show off his talents. It became the last song Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers ever wrote; Hammerstein died of stomach cancer 9 months later.
Plummer, by the way, did sing in a few of his later films — all but once as an animated character.
I thought that I came up with ‘The Sound Of Mucus’–although I called it ‘The Ooze Of Mucus’.
I wonder how many kids ended up in therapy after trying to out-cute each other in local productions of this, this, abomination.
Dude only won one Oscar his whole career! And it took til he was 82, for a supporting role in the excellent “Beginners.”
And yet film wasn’t even his best medium. Check out his New York Times obit. You’ll seldom see critics gush over a performance the way they did when he played roles from Shakespeare.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/movies/christopher-plummer-dead.html
Theodore Bikel once famously said, ” Barry Goldwater and I have one thing in common–both of us are ashamed he’s Jewish.”
I wonder if younger people even know who Theodore Bikel was or what a big deal he was in leftist politics, or his role in the Great Folk Music Scare.
Very briefly, he co-founded the Newport Folk Festival with Pete Seeger and was an early champion of Bob Dylan. He’s the guy who a few years later kept Seeger from taking an ax to the power cables when Dylan “went electric.”
Sorry, though a very ex New Yorker I still hear the siren song of Broadway, especially the older stuff. Suspect if I search for it “The Sound Of Music” songbook is still in the house. (Buried under a ton of classical stuff and jazz fake books). Sorry haters, still love these songs and many others.
I’m a fan of Broadway musicals, even a couple from Rodgers & Hammerstein. Hard to top Oklahoma, South Pacific or Carousel. But The Sound Of Music was just too treacly for me. AND, I think it, along with thousands of stage mothers, ruined a lot of kids’ lives. So did Annie, and the music in that show sucked. If your life is gonna be ruined, might as well sing some decent songs on your way to the couch…