"Zlatne" tridesete godine XX. stoljeća u Austriji bliže se kraju. Rane I. svjetskoga rata su tek zaliječene, a nad zemlju se već nadvila prijetnja njemačke okupacije. Obitelj imućnoga umirovljenoga časnika nekadašnje carske mornarice, kapetana von Trappa (C. Plummer), muče međutim drugi problemi. Nakon prerane smrti supruge bivši profesionalni vojnik pokušava svoje sedmoro djece u dobi od 4 do 16 godina podići na neprimjeren način - uvođenjem vojne stege. Jasno da je mala "postrojba" lukavija i od svojega "vrhovnoga zapovjednika" i od njegovih namjesnika, guvernanti koje "padaju" jedna za drugom. Sve dok se jednoga dana u toj nezahvalnoj ulozi ne pojavi lijepa Marija (J. Andrews), novakinja obližnjega samostana, koja svojom životnom radošću prijeti strogim pravilima reda, pa ju poglavarica (P. Wood) rado šalje u "čistilište" von Trappovih.

Engineer Jake Holman arrives aboard the gunboat USS San Pablo, assigned to patrol a tributary of the Yangtze in the middle of exploited and revolution-torn 1926 China. His iconoclasm and cynical nature soon clash with the 'rice-bowl' system which runs the ship and the uneasy symbiosis between Chinese and foreigner on the river. Hostility towards the gunboat's presence reaches a climax when the boat must crash through a river-boom and rescue missionaries upriver at China Light Mission.

Gertrude Lawrence rises to stage stardom at the cost of happiness.

Tish Gray had a baby and gave it up for adoption. She is contacted by a second childless couple who want her to have the husband's baby because of the wife's inability to have children. She accepts but finds that knowing the parents, and developing a relationship with them for the entire pregnancy complicates the simple arrangement.