MARY POPPINS (1964)

MARY POPPINS
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Karen Dotrice, and Matthew Garber

I met my best friend Matt just over ten years ago. We lived in the same dorm our freshman year of college, and our friendship grew over a mutual love of the musical “Guys and Dolls”. Both of our high schools had done the show in previous years. Matt and I also had a mutual love of movies. I was a theatre major and at the time he was a film/video major, so we often found ourselves up late talking about various movies. The biggest rift that ever came between us was when we found out that I didn't particularly like “The Princess Bride” and he didn't particularly like “Mary Poppins”. Our reasons for not liking the films were valid. We had not seen them until late in high school and the combination of being above the target age and all the hype the films had received made them less than stunning for us. It's not like we disliked them, but we didn't think they were the great films that the other did.

Confused yet? Sorry if you are. For the rest of this review I'll just focus on “Mary Poppins”. This is arguably the greatest live-action movie that Walt Disney ever released. It is filled with an energy and a life unlike any other movie of its type. The wonderful music, fun performances, and magical special effects made “Mary Poppins” into an instant classic, and they're just as good today as they were in 1964 when the film was released.

I won't ignore the elephant in the room any longer. It is possible that part of the reason that this film received so much acclaim was because Julie Andrews was not cast in “My Fair Lady”. I'll explain for those of you who don't know your musical theatre history. Julie Andrews first became a superstar in America when she was cast in the role of Eliza Dolittle in the musical “My Fair Lady” on Broadway. The show was the biggest hit of the decade, and since this was back in the days when the average American cared about the Broadway theatre, Julie Andrews became a big star. Of course there would be a movie made of “My Fair Lady”, that's just how it was done back then! If a musical was a big hit then you could expect a movie version of it to also succeed.
The movie executives had different ideas about who should be in the movie than the Broadway producers did. They didn't want Rex Harrison to reprise his role as Henry Higgins, but they were convinced by the collective will of Hollywood. Then came the time to decide who was going to play Eliza. Legend has it that Julie Andrews was meeting with a couple of the producers of the movie about her playing the part when another producer burst into the room and blurted out “Great news! Audrey Hepburn just agreed to play Eliza!”

To say that people were shocked and angry would be an understatement. But it would up working out well for Julie Andrews. She got hired by Walt Disney to play the title role in “Mary Poppins”, and she went on to win an Oscar for the part. Audrey Hepburn didn't even get a nomination for playing Eliza. Many people say that Andrews's win and Hepburn's snub was all because of the fact that Andrews didn't get to play Eliza. There is likely a great deal of truth to this, because a role like Mary Poppins isn't usually the kind that would get nominated for Best Actress, and Hepburn actually did a wonderful job playing Eliza.

The problem with claiming that “Mary Poppins” only received it's acclaim because of the “My Fair Lady” scandal is that you rob “Mary Poppins” and the people who worked on it of the acclaim that they deserve. It is a fantastic film that appeals to both children and adults. Children will love the talking animals and all of the magic that Mary offers, and adults will enjoy the more subtle things about the movie, such as Mr. Banks's (David Tomlinson) journey from a stoic British banker who happens to have children to loving father.

The music in “Mary Poppins” is sensational. Every song ranks high in the list of the greatest Disney classics. From the haunting lullaby “Feed the Birds” to the tongue-tied showstopper “Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious” all of the songs are instantly hummable, and performed so incredibly well by a wonderfully cast ensemble. Julie Andrews sings her way into your heart as Mary. Dick Van Dyke is a treat to watch as the exuberant Bert, the jack-of-all trades. Glynis Johns is wonderful as suffragette mother Mrs. Banks. Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber are well suited to play Jane and Michael Banks. David Tomlinson is stunning as Mr. Banks. I certanly hope that his name was on the short list for nominations for Best Supporting Actor, because his performance is wonderful.

“Mary Poppins” was nominated for thirteen Oscars. It won five of them. Walt Disney and Bill Walsh produced their way to a nomination for Best Picture, which they lost to Jack L. Warner for “My Fair Lady”. Also nominated were “Alexis Zorbas”, “Becket”, and “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”.

Julie Andrews won her first and, thus far, only Oscar for her performance in the title character. Also nominated were Sophia Loren in “Marriage Italian Style”, Anne Bancroft in “The Pumpkin Eater”, Kim Stanley in “Seance on a Wet Afternoon”, and Debbie Reynolds in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”.

Robert Stevenson earned his only Oscar nomination for his direction of “Mary Poppins”. He lost to George Cukor for his direction of “My Fair Lady”. Other nominated films were “Alexis Zorbas”, “Becket”, and “Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi earned nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay. They lost to Edward Anhalt for “Becket”. Other nominated films were “Alexis Zorbas”, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”, and “My Fair Lady”.

Edward Colman was nominated for Best Color Cinematography. He lost to Harry Stradling Sr.'s work on “My Fair Lady”. The other nominated films were “Becket”, “Cheyenne Autumn”, and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”.

In the category of Color Art Direction, art directors Carroll Clark and William H. Tuntke and set decorators Emile Kuri and Hal Gausman were all nominated for “Mary Poppins”. They lost the award to the team from “My Fair Lady” made up of Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton, and George James Hopkins. The other nominated films were “Becket”, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, and “What a Way To Go!”.

Tony Walton designed the costumes for “Mary Poppins”, and he earned a nomination in this category. He lost to Cecil Beaton's costume design for “My Fair Lady”. The other nominated films were “Becket”, The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, and “What a Way To Go!”

In the category of Best Sound, Robert O. Cook was nominated for “Mary Poppins”, but lost to George Groves for “My Fair Lady”. The other nominated films were “Becket”, “Father Goose”, and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”.

Cotton Warburton won the Oscar for his Editing of “Mary Poppins”. Other nominated films were “Becket”, “Father Goose”, “Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte”, and “My Fair Lady”.

The visual effects team of Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett, and Hamilton Luske won an Oscar for their magical effects in “Mary Poppins”. The other nominated film was “7 Faces of Dr. Lao”.
Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman were the music writing team for many of the greatest Disney films. They earned two Oscars for their work on “Mary Poppins”. The first was for Best Original Song for 'Chim Chim Cher-ee'. The other nominated songs were 'Dear Heart' from “Dear Heart”, 'Hush... Hust, Sweet Charlotte' from “Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte”, 'My Kind of Town' from “Robin and the 7 Hoods”, and 'Where Love Has Gone' from “Where Love Has Gone”.

The Sherman Brother's second Oscar for “Mary Poppins” was for Best Original Score. The films that they beat for this award were “Becket”, “The Fall of the Roman Empire”, “Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte”, and “The Pink Panther”.

Another music nomination for “Mary Poppins” went to Irwin Kostal for Best Scoring of Music (Adaptation or Treatment). I wasn't sure exactly how this worked, since the Shermans wrote the music, but then I figured that Kostal must have used the Sherman's themes to create the underscoring for the movie. It was fantastic, but it lost to Andre Previn's adaptation of Frederick Loewe's music for “My Fair Lady”. The other nominated films were “A Hard Day's Night”, “Robin and the 7 Hoods”, and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”.

This review was written on June 12, 2008