In "The Sound of Music," why is he a sea captain? Isn't Austria landlocked?

[shereads]

His kids parade around in those sailor suits. Why?

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

His kids parade around in those sailor suits. Why?

He is a retired captain from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was not landlocked, as it controlled Slovenia and Croatia.

 

[zeb1094]

He is a retired captain from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was not landlocked, as it controlled Slovenia and Croatia.

Did I really need to know that?

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

I don't know.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Insert seaman jokes here.

 

[zeb1094]

Insert seaman jokes here.

No do that on the seaman thread!

 

[ABSTRUSE]

No do that on the seaman thread!

Is there an outbreak?

 

[zeb1094]

Is there an outbreak?

Appears so.

 

[entitled]

One of them had a rash. It's spreading.

 

[NoJo]

His kids parade around in those sailor suits. Why?

You have a mind like the belly of a whale.

 

[shereads]

He is a retired captain from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was not landlocked, as it controlled Slovenia and Croatia.

That's nice, but it doesn't explain why he makes his children dress like Shirley Temple dolls. Look at Lisle; she's sixteen going on seventeen, and so eager to escape her father's oppressive dress code that she's willing to sl**p w**h the first simpering little Nazi who offers. And what about the eldest brother, Hansel, or Hans or something? He's forced to dress like his sisters, right down to the adorable braided pigtails. Is it any wonder they lost Slovenia and Croatia?

 

[Boxlicker101]

That's nice, but it doesn't explain why he makes his children dress like Shirley Temple dolls. Look at Lisle; she's sixteen going on seventeen, and so eager to escape her father's oppressive dress code that she's willing to sl**p w**h the first simpering little Nazi who offers. And what about the eldest brother, Hansel, or Hans or something? He's forced to dress like his sisters, right down to the adorable braided pigtails. Is it any wonder they lost Slovenia and Croatia?

The captain in that movie was not exactly hip, or with it, but by the time the movie ended, he had changed a lot. as for the similar costumes, it was to provide a chorus line. You can't have folks in the chorus line wearing anything they feel like.

 

[Huckleman2000]

That's nice, but it doesn't explain why he makes his children dress like Shirley Temple dolls. Look at Lisle; she's sixteen going on seventeen, and so eager to escape her father's oppressive dress code that she's willing to sl**p w**h the first simpering little Nazi who offers. And what about the eldest brother, Hansel, or Hans or something? He's forced to dress like his sisters, right down to the adorable braided pigtails. Is it any wonder they lost Slovenia and Croatia?

You're right, but Nuns and Nazis is still an unbeatable showbiz combination.

If you're going to deconstruct Sound of Music, start with the fact that Maria is young enough to be the Captain's daughter. And that's assuming he retired early! And she is just a novitiate at the convent, hiring out as a nanny.

And don't get me started on Max, their "agent".

 

[Weird Harold]

That's nice, but it doesn't explain why he makes his children dress like Shirley Temple dolls.

No, actually it was ShirleyTemple who made him dress all of his kids that way -- seriously, it was.

In large part because of ShirleyTemple's popularity, "Sailor Suits" and styles with "Sailor Collars" were the height of fashion for young people all over the world. Shirley Temple wasn't the only reason, of course, but she had more effect on how kids wanted to dress than Madonna, Brittney, and all of the other pop stars of the last three decades combined.

Even now, some seventy years after she first became a star, that hair style with ringlets is still called a "Shirley Temple," as is the non-alcoholic drink invented for her to drink at cast parties.

I'm not quite old enough to have experienced the full effect of her influence on children's styles, but even as an "old lady" in her mid-twenties when I finally was old enough to be aware of movie stars and fashion, her influence (thanks to re-runs of her old movies on TV) was still very strong.

 

[TheEarl]

You have a mind like the belly of a whale.

Full of Biblically named men?

The Earl

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

This was the fate of a lot of the Austrian Navy. Those ship not sunk were divided up among the Allies after the end of World War I.

http://www.warship.get.net.pl/Austro-Wegry/Battleships/1912_Viribus_Unitis_class/Thumbs/Szent_Istvan_10.jpg

And about what Weird Harold said:

http://www.dollmarket.com/prodimg/CNPST01.jpg

Rumple Foreskin

 

[R. Richard]

No, actually it was ShirleyTemple who made him dress all of his kids that way -- seriously, it was.

In large part because of ShirleyTemple's popularity, "Sailor Suits" and styles with "Sailor Collars" were the height of fashion for young people all over the world. Shirley Temple wasn't the only reason, of course, but she had more effect on how kids wanted to dress than Madonna, Brittney, and all of the other pop stars of the last three decades combined.

Even now, some seventy years after she first became a star, that hair style with ringlets is still called a "Shirley Temple," as is the non-alcoholic drink invented for her to drink at cast parties.

I'm not quite old enough to have experienced the full effect of her influence on children's styles, but even as an "old lady" in her mid-twenties when I finally was old enough to be aware of movie stars and fashion, her influence (thanks to re-runs of her old movies on TV) was still very strong.

Yeah, but did she ever do any porn?

 

[shereads]

No, actually it was ShirleyTemple who made him dress all of his kids that way -- seriously, it was.

In large part because of ShirleyTemple's popularity, "Sailor Suits" and styles with "Sailor Collars" were the height of fashion for young people all over the world. Shirley Temple wasn't the only reason, of course, but she had more effect on how kids wanted to dress than Madonna, Brittney, and all of the other pop stars of the last three decades combined.

Even now, some seventy years after she first became a star, that hair style with ringlets is still called a "Shirley Temple," as is the non-alcoholic drink invented for her to drink at cast parties.

I'm not quite old enough to have experienced the full effect of her influence on children's styles, but even as an "old lady" in her mid-twenties when I finally was old enough to be aware of movie stars and fashion, her influence (thanks to re-runs of her old movies on TV) was still very strong.

I think it's monstrous that the child's parents let her become a regular at bars all over Studio City, to the extent that they all knew her "usual" and eventually named it after her. The fact that there was no liquor in the glass only makes it worse. Imagine growing up under the delusion that your tolerance for alcohol is so advanced, you can down three highballs during the lunch break and then tap-dance down a staircase without looking at your feet. Then you turn 21, get served a real drink for the first time, and get your legs so tangled up with the bannister that the Props department has to send over a carpenter to cut you loose. How would ever face the therapist who's been counseling you for the drinking problem you thought you'd developed at age nine?

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

I think it's monstrous that the child's parents let her become a regular at bars all over Studio City, to the extent that they all knew her "usual" and eventually named it after her. The fact that there was no liquor in the glass only makes it worse. Imagine growing up under the delusion that your tolerance for alcohol is so advanced, you can down three highballs during the lunch break and then tap-dance down a staircase without looking at your feet. Then you turn 21, get served a real drink for the first time, and get your legs so tangled up with the bannister that the Props department has to send over a carpenter to cut you loose. How would ever face the therapist who's been counseling you for the drinking problem you thought you'd developed at age nine?

You've got a point, Shereads. In fact, as an adult, Temple sank so low (how low did she sink, Rumple?) she became a Republican.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[shereads]

You've got a point, Shereads. In fact, as an adult, Temple sank so low (how low did she sink, Rumple?) she became a Republican.

Rumple Foreskin

True. But in her defense, Shirley Temple-Black was a Nixon-era Republican. By modern standards, Nixon was a nice socialist boy from the left coast.

 

[Weird Harold]

Yeah, but did she ever do any porn?

Not to my knowledge.

IIRC, there was a minor scandal about her appearing in a negligee in one of her last films -- a 1950's, opaque, floor length negligee at that. The strength of her image as an innocent child was the main reason she was never sucessful as an adult actress; people just couldn't accept that she had grown up.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

True. But in her defense, Shirley Temple-Black was a Nixon-era Republican. By modern standards, Nixon was a nice socialist boy from the left coast.

So true. Tricky Dick was just your typical moderate, anal-retentive, uptight, young, self-righteous, paranoid, anti-communist with a persecution complex from Yorbalinda. Those do kind of seem like the good old in comparison to what we have now.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[shereads]

So true. Tricky Dick was just your typical moderate, anal-retentive, uptight, young, self-righteous, paranoid, anti-communist with a persecution complex from Yorbalinda. Those do kind of seem like the good old in comparison to what we have now.

Rumple Foreskin

After the death of his elder brother, Dick Nixon's mother made him wear sailor dresses like Shirley Temple's. The rest is history.

 

[shereads]

Not to my knowledge.

IIRC, there was a minor scandal about her appearing in a negligee in one of her last films -- a 1950's, opaque, floor length negligee at that. The strength of her image as an innocent child was the main reason she was never sucessful as an adult actress; people just couldn't accept that she had grown up.

That must have sucked. I'll bet she dated a lot of closet playground flashers.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumple Foreskin
You've got a point, Shereads. In fact, as an adult, Temple sank so low (how low did she sink, Rumple?) she became a Republican.

Rumple Foreskin

True. But in her defense, Shirley Temple-Black was a Nixon-era Republican. By modern standards, Nixon was a nice socialist boy from the left coast.

She ran for Congress in the Republican primary, the same year Reagan was elected governor of California, or maybe two years later. That would have been 1966 or 1968. She lost. I think the only other offices she held were on a local school board or something like that.