The Sound of Music (film) of the film; the actor accepted after being assured that he could work with Lehman to improve the character; Plummer later described himself as having become quite arrogant at the time, "spoiled by too many great theater roles". Wise also spent considerable time and effort on casting the secondary characters. For the role of Max Detweiler, Wise initially considered Victor Borge, Noël Coward, and Hal Holbrook among others before deciding on Richard Haydn. For the character of Baroness Elsa Schraeder, Wise looked for a "name" actress—Andrews and Plummer were not yet widely known to film audiences—and decided on Eleanor Parker.
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini the male leads being played by Tommy Kirk and Aron Kincaid, both of whom had worked for AIP before. Other veteran actors who appeared were Francis X. Bushman, Basil Rathbone and Patsy Kelly. The movie was reportedly Bushman's 435th. Elsa Lanchester was originally announced to be playing a small role but did not appear in the final film. Actress and singer Piccola Pupa was a 13-year-old discovery of Danny Thomas. The movie marked her film debut. The shoot began in September 1965. Aron Kincaid, who was forced to participate in the film under his long-term contract with AIP, was supposed