Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "List of highest-grossing films in the United Kingdom" in English language version.
The Sound of Music was seen by some 23 million people in Britain, and grossed more than £7 million in that country alone.
In Britain it opened in March 1965 and remained in continuous circulation until 1969. By December 1965, when it had been shown in only seventeen pre-release engagements in London and key cities, it had grossed £1,925,869 from 6,926,825 admissions [Kine. Weekly, 16 December 1965: 151]. A year later it had broken South Pacific's record of £2,300,000, which had been amassed over seven years of release, for the highest gross received by any film shown in Britain, with an estimated 21 million admissions to date ... As a result, it was named by Kine. Weekly top UK money-maker for four years in succession, from 1965 to 1968.
Estimates of worldwide rentals by the time of its withdrawal in 1969 ranged from $115 million to $125 million, either way making it the highest-grossing film to date. As much as $50 million of the total came from the foreign market, around half of it from Britain alone, where the film more than tripled the take of the previous all-time record-holder, South Pacific.