Movie Musings: Disney and More

Captain Accomplished

The First Duke of Wellington, the author of The Jungle Book, the founder of the Getty Oil Company, and the author of War and Peace. These are just a few of the roles portrayed by Christopher Plummer, who has been acting on stage, television, and film since his mid-20’s. While he has played many historical figures throughout his career, he will always be remembered for his iconic portrayal of Captain Georg Von Trapp, the Patriarch of the “Von Trapp” family, in The Sound of Music (1965). Christopher Plummer is an actor with a lengthy career, playing everything from Shakespeare to Disney films. Currently, he is the oldest recipient of an acting Oscar at 88 years of age. 

Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer was born on December 13th, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the only child of Isabella Mary Abbott and John Orme Plummer. Abbott was the Secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University and the elder Plummer sold stocks and securities. Christopher Plummer attended the High School of Montreal, where he originally studied to be a concert pianist, but he developed a love for the theatre instead. He portrayed Mr. Darcy in his high school’s production of Pride and Prejudice, where he caught the attention of Herbert Whitaker, the theatre critic of the Montreal Gazette and the amateur stage director for the Montreal Repertory Theatre. As a result, he was cast at just 18 years of age as Oedipus in the Montreal Repertory Theatre’s production of John Cocteau’s La Machine infernale. After that production, he decided to pursue acting full-time while continuing his studies at McGill University.

At the age of 24, in 1953, Christopher Plummer made his both his Broadway and Television debuts: On Broadway, he was in a play called The Starcross Story, which unfortunately closed on its opening night. (He did, however, find success on Broadway the next year in a play called The Lark). On television, he starred in the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) production of Othello. Five years later, he was cast in his first movie, Sidney Lumet’s Stage Struck (1958) opposite Henry Fonda and Susan Strasberg. Prior to the film, he began appearing in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, playing the leading roles of Henry V, Hamlet, and Leontes in The Winter’s Tale. He didn’t make another film again until Anthony Mann’s The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) playing Emperor Commodus. He later won two Tony Awards: first, for Best Actor in a Musical in 1973 for his performance as the title character in the musical Cyrano based on the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, and then again as Best Actor in a Play for his performance as John Barrymore in the two-man play, Barrymore. Not long after each of those wins, he also garnered two Emmys: the first for his role as Roscoe Hayward in the mini-series Arthur Hailey’s the Moneychangers (1976) and then again in 1994 for Outstanding Voice-Over performance for narrating the series Madeline (1989-2001) based on the book series of the same name by Ludwig Bemelans.   

The very next year, after “Fall of the Roman Empire,” Christopher Plummer was cast as Captain Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music.” Although “Sound of Music,” was a huge hit when it first came out, and remains a beloved classic today in the 53 years since its release, Christopher Plummer has never ever been a fan of it. He described that when he was working on the film, playing Captain Von Trapp was like “flogging a dead horse.” He did not find the character interesting in any way, but he did the best he could. The only thing he did like about being in the movie was working with Julie Andrews, and they have remained close friends. He has been quoted as having said working with Julie Andrews was “like being hit over the head with a Valentine’s Day Card.” He also mockingly refers to the film as “that movie,” “S&M,” and “The Sound of Mucus.” Overall, he admits that today, that while the film has never been his cup of tea, it was a very well-made film and he is very proud to have been a part of it.

In 2003, Christopher Plummer starred in Touchstone’s Cold Creek Manor. The next year, he made a very brief appearance in Disney’s National Treasure as John Adams Gates, Ben Gates’s grandfather. In 2009, he provided the voice of Charles Muntz, the main antagonist, in Disney/Pixar’s Up. The same year as “Up,” he starred opposite Helen Mirren in the film The Last Station (2009) which earned him his very first Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He lost the award to Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds (2009), but he was nominated again in the same category a year later in Beginners (2010), and won. His acceptance speech was, “You’re only two years older than me, darling. Where have you been all my life?” He has currently been nominated again, in the supporting category for his performance as J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World (2017), and he also played Ebenezer Scrooge in The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017).

Christopher Plummer’s body of work in acting is truly spectacular! While today he is still most often identified as Captain Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music,” he has achieved immense versatility that goes far beyond that film. From his Shakespearean roles, to historical figures, to even voice-over roles, he is one heck of an entertainer.