The major plot element in the 1965 movie The Sound of Music was the desire of the von Trapp family to flee their native Austria so that Baron von Trapp was not forced to serve in Hitler's navy. The pivotal historical event which precipitated this family's crisis was the 1938 Anschluss, where Austria was incorporated as part of the Third Reich.
Almost all of the movie was shot in or around Salzburg, Austria. Director Robert Wise wanted to illustrate vividly the day that the Anschluss occurred by showing a huge swastika banner being unfurled on the Residenze Palace (one of the most significant historical buildings in Salzburg). The horrified municipal authorities flatly refused his request to do so. Wise calmly responded by stating that he would incorporate instead into the movie actual archival footage from 1938 showing hordes of Austrians gleefully welcoming Hitler and the German Army into their country.
Wise was allowed to use his swastika banner after all.
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