<P> The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical drama film produced and directed by Robert Wise, and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, with Richard Haydn and Eleanor Parker . The film is an adaptation of the 1959 stage musical of the same name, composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II . The film's screenplay was written by Ernest Lehman, adapted from the stage musical's book by Lindsay and Crouse . Based on the memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp, the film is about a young Austrian woman studying to become a nun in Salzburg, Austria in 1938 who is sent to the villa of a retired naval officer and widower to be governess to his seven children . After bringing and teaching love and music into the lives of the family through kindness and patience, she marries the officer and together with the children they find a way to survive the loss of their homeland through courage and faith . </P> <P> The film was released on March 2, 1965 in the United States, initially as a limited roadshow theatrical release . Although critical response to the film was widely mixed, the film was a major commercial success, becoming the number one box office movie after four weeks, and the highest - grossing film of 1965 . By November 1966, The Sound of Music had become the highest - grossing film of all - time--surpassing Gone with the Wind--and held that distinction for five years . The film was just as popular throughout the world, breaking previous box - office records in twenty - nine countries . Following an initial theatrical release that lasted four and a half years, and two successful re-releases, the film sold 283 million admissions worldwide and earned a total worldwide gross of $286,000,000 . </P> <P> The Sound of Music received five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director . The film also received two Golden Globe Awards, for Best Motion Picture and Best Actress, the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical . In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) listed The Sound of Music as the fifty - fifth greatest American movie of all time, and the fourth greatest movie musical . In 2001, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". </P> <P> In 1938, Maria is a free - spirited young Austrian woman studying to become a nun at Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg . Her love of music and the mountains, her youthful enthusiasm and imagination, and her lack of discipline cause some concern among the nuns . The Mother Abbess, believing Maria would be happier outside the abbey, sends her to the villa of retired naval officer Captain Georg von Trapp to be governess to his seven children--Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta, and Gretl . The Captain has been raising his children using strict military discipline following the death of his wife . Although the children misbehave at first, Maria responds with kindness and patience, and soon the children come to trust and respect her . Liesl, the oldest, is won over after Maria protects her from discovery when she is nearly caught sneaking back into the house after meeting with Rolfe, a messenger boy she is in love with . </P>

How many academy awards did the sound of music win