The Malibu hills will be alive with “The Sound of Music” on Friday, Sept. 25 as the Malibu Film Society (MFS) kicks off its seventh season. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the film’s release in 1965 when it earned five Academy Awards, including best picture. The film is third on the list of the highest grossing Hollywood movies, right behind “Star Wars” and “Gone with the Wind.”
In honor of the golden anniversary, 20th Century Fox released a fully restored version of the film, complete with a newly remastered surround soundtrack, which MFS will use to show off the latest upgrades to its Malibu Screening Room. The theater-quality equipment now includes a new digital cinema projector, 21-foot-wide Cinemascope screen and an all-digital surround sound audio system, featuring ultrawide coverage speakers.
MFS board member Steve Weinberg said “The Sound of Music” is the perfect selection to showcase the new system. “It’s a film that really deserves to be seen on the big screen,” he said. “Between the pristine restoration and the newly remastered surround soundtrack, it’ll look and sound better than it did 50 years ago.”
Malibu resident and original “Sound of Music” cast member Kym Karath will be the guest speaker during an audience Q&A. Karath played the role of Gretl Von Trapp, the youngest of the seven Von Trapp children, when she was only five years old.
During her appearance at MFS, Karath will share behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the movie — memories both good and bad. She says the filming of “My Favorite Things” was unforgettable. “It was so happy, and the bedroom set was so beautiful,” she recalled. But she also remembers a truly scary experience. “It was the horror of nearly drowning in that boat scene — I can still see that rowboat in my mind.”
The cast bonded like a family, and all seven children are still alive and in contact. For the film’s 50th anniversary, Julie Andrews, Karath and several cast members reunited at the TCM Classic Film Festival last March in Hollywood. A gala “Sound of Music” event is planned next month in Salzburg, Austria.
Although Karath was not allowed to keep any of the costumes, she still has her copy of the script. She said the costumes are now worth big bucks. Entertainment Weekly reported that an auction of “Sound of Music” costumes in 2013 brought in over $1.5 million.
Karath was never able to meet the real-life character she played because the seventh Von Trapp child died giving birth in 1951. However, in 2010 on “Oprah,” all of the movie cast members were reunited in person for the first time in 45 years, along with descendants of the real-life Von Trapp family.
L.A. native Karath was “discovered” at the age of three in a restaurant. “It was a Lana Turner story,” she said. She appeared in three major films even before “The Sound of Music,” and continued as a child actor in film and TV. She later graduated from USC and went on to Paris.
Karath’s life changed in 1991 when her son, Eric, suffered a stroke when he was three weeks old that caused brain damage. Eventually she decided to return to L.A., and moved specifically to Malibu in 2005 for one reason: her research showed Malibu had the area’s best special education teacher — Lisa Szilagyi.
“I’m incredibly grateful to this place,” she said. “I have perspective because I’ve lived elsewhere with my son.”
In 2012, Karath, Szilagyi and other local parents formed the Aurelia Foundation to “address the needs of special needs kids age 22-plus, who are aging out of the school system,” she said. Aurelia now manages “Creative Steps” programs in Santa Monica and Thousand Oaks.
“We’ve changed the lives of a lot of young adults. We can’t keep up with demand — it’s so gratifying,” Karath said.
For more information, visit aureliafoundation.org.
Tickets for the screening are $10 for adults, and $5 for faculty and students. The event will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25 at the Malibu Screening Room at 24855 Pacific Coast Highway. Tickets are on sale now at MalibuFilmSociety.org.
