There are few episodes of manliness so great, so pure, so iconic as Captain von Trapp tearing down the Nazi flag. You know what we're talking about: Georg has solved a problem like Maria by marrying her and they’ve just returned from their honeymoon, during which time the Nazis entrenched themselves in Salzburg and Freidrich has abandoned the bright blue eyes of Leisl for the red, white and black of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party. And they’ve hung a big ol’ swastika flag from front door of the otherwise glorious Von Trapp estate.
The honeymoon is most decidedly over.
So what does the luscious Captain Von Trapp (as played by the eternally dashing Christopher Plummer) do? He tears down the flag. In one swift, decisive motion. He rips it in half in another, and bundles it up to hide it from the children, approaching in the car with Nazi-appeasing, laissez-faire stage parent Uncle Max.
It’s a scene lasting perhaps 15 seconds, but in these few precious moments Captain Von Trapp displays more gusto, more chutzpah, more cojones, more mensch-liness (yes, one of us is Jewish) than pretty much any man — real or fictional — that we have ever encountered. It is the ultimate benchmark by which we judge all men – how would they tear down the flag? Would they tear down the flag? What would they do with it once they tore it down?
