Mary Poppins (Disney) (1964)

Walt Disney’s ‘Mary Poppins’ is Perfect Showcase For Dick Van Dyke’s Talents Brilliant young performer Dick Van Dyke is a trouper in the old tradition. He can play pathos or comedy. He can also sing, dance and do pratfalls — the hallmark of the classic comedian. This rare combination of talents makes him the perfect choice for the multi-faceted role of Bert in Walt Disney’s sparkling musical feature, “Mary Poppins.” Starred with vivacious Julie Andrews in the tune-film, Dick portrays a jack-of-all-trades, whose occupations are as changeable as the weather. He stars as a one-man-band street entertainer, becomes a screever or sidewalk artist, switches to a vendor of hot chestnuts, then becomes a chimney sweep and ends as a kite salesman. Such a complex characterization gives full play to his wide range of talents, with greater emphasis on his ability as a comedian. Dick’s idol has always been Stan Laurel, whom he considers the greatest pantomimist. “I’m very big as a Stan Laurel impressionist,” he says. “T’ve been doing his things all my life and much of my style has stemmed from Stan’s particular school of comedy.” An advocate of slapstick comedy, Dick anticipates a full-scale revival of this form of movie entertainment. “Even the old custard pie routine is still hilarious, provided the timing is right,” he adds. “And those great comedies of the 30’s and 40’s, like ‘Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,’ ‘The Awful Truth’ and ‘Nothing Sacred,’ are still fracturing audiences on TV.” “Disney has already proven slapstick is still popular with moviegoers. Just look at the success of ‘The Shaggy Dog,’ ‘The Absent Minded Professor’ and ‘Son of Flubber.’ ” Never formally trained as an actor, he has learned by keenly observing other performers. This, combined with a natural ability has resulted in Van Dyke becoming one of the most able and popular young comedians in movies and TV today. Filmed in brilliant Technicolor and based on the Mary Poppins books by P. L. Travers, “Mary Poppins” also stars David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns. Robert Stevenson directed from a screenplay by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi. Walsh was also co-producer on the Buena Vista release. ROOF TOP BALLET IS HIGHLIGHT OF WALT DISNEY MUSICAL FILM A roof top ballet, set to the swiftly-paced tempo of “Step in Time,” and featuring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and twenty-four of Hollywood’s most rugged male acrobatic dancers in the garb of chimney sweeps, is one of the real show-stoppers in Walt Disney’s great new musical-fantasy, “Mary Poppins.” To achieve terpsichorean perfection, choreographers Mare Breaux and Dee Dee Wood put the stars and dancers through a month’s rigid training while performing the strenuous routine in a mock-up of the set on the studio back lot. The difficult number is an elaboration of an old English pub dance, and involves some of the most intricate acrobatic dancing ever British Actor A Real ‘Blast’ In Disney Film A thirty-five year veteran of motion pictures, British performer Reginald Owen holds the distinction of having played a wider variety of roles during his lengthy and colorful career than perhaps any other living actor. And for a real change of pace, he literally blasts his way through his current characterization in Walt Disney’s exciting new musical feature, ‘‘Mary Poppins,’’ starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. No, the rather sedate Mr. Owen is not playing a gangster or a gunslinger, but the hilarious Admiral Boom, late of His Majesty’s Navy, who periodically signals the time of day by firing a cannon from the roof of his ship-shape dwelling. This character is played strictly for laughs, just as was his recent portrayal of the blustering detergent tycoon in the Doris Day comedy hit, “The Thrill of It All.” All of Owen’s past successes have not been in a comedy vein and he is probably best reniembered for his more dramatic performances. Owen recently recalled, “I’ve worked with many of the screen’s most glamorous women, like Garbo, Jean Harlow, Jeanette MacDonald, Joan Crawford, Myrna Loy, Bette Davis and Rosalind Russell. Gable, Bob Taylor, Bill Powell, Frederic March and those other handsome heroes always got the girl in the final clinch but I somehow managed to get the meaty roles, so I’m not complaining.” devised for a film musical. Once the routine was set, two weeks of actual shooting was necessary to put the dance on film. The set, like all the others constructed for the Technicolor production, is an elaborate and unique reproduction of London’s skyline and roof tops during the turn of the century, when that marvelous, magical English nanny, Mary Poppins, “flew” there. Based on the Mary Poppins books by P. L. Travers, “Mary Poppins” also stars David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns. Robert Stevenson directed from a screenplay by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi. Walsh was also co-producer on the Buena Vista release. “Mat POP 1L HERMIONE BADDELEY RETA SHAW POP 1N_ ELSA LANCHESTER HILARITY BEGINS AT HOME in Walt Disney's ‘‘Mary Poppins.” The household staff of the Banks family, where much of the story transpires, includes Hermione Baddeley, a maid who can move a grand piano with a flip of the hip; Reta Shaw, a cook who adds merriment to every recipe; and Elsa Lanchester, a governess who has had it “up to ‘ere’’ with the Banks children. The musical-fantasy stars Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. TONY WALTON DESIGNS COSTUMES FOR WALT DISNEY’S ‘MARY POPPINS’ Elsa Lanchester Returns to Comedy In ‘Mary Poppins’ Long regarded by Hollywood as a sure-fire insurance policy for laughs, brilliant comedienne Elsa Lanchester makes an hilarious return to the screen in Walt Disney’s sparkling musical feature, “Mary Poppins.” This versatile performer, who has played everything from Shakespeare to musical comedy, should once again leave audiences laughing long after they have left the theatre with her comic portrayal of the harassed nursemaid, Katie Nanna, in the new Disney tune-film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Born in London, the dynamic Miss Lanchester started her theatrical career at sixteen by both acting in and directing the song-and-dance skits in the Children’s Theatre, which she organized. Married to the late Charles Laughton for thirty-four years, Elsa was teamed with the renowned actor in such memorable films as “The Private Life of Henry VIII,” “Rembrandt,” “The Beachcomber” and ‘Witness for the Prosecution.” Upon completion of her zany role in “Mary Poppins” Miss Lanchester revived her exciting one-woman stage show, “Miss Lanchester Herself,” which has enjoyed extended runs in Hollywood and Las Vegas. Filmed in brilliant Technicolor and based on the Mary Poppins books by P. L. Travers, “Mary Poppins” also stars David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns. Robert Stevenson directed from a screenplay by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi. Hermione Baddeley Plays Comic Cockney Role in Walt Disney’s ‘Mary Poppins’ Hermione Baddeley is considered the most versatile actress in England and, judging by the variety of roles she has played on stage and screen, such esteem is well deserved. This petite, auburnhaired actress enjoyed incredible success as a child, scoring hit after hit in straight plays and musicals. Then, at the age of 15, ina highly dramatic Cockney role, she became an overnight sensation. Hermione is again playing a Cockney role, but this time strictly for laughs, in Walt Disney’s delightful new wmusical-fantasy, “Mary Poppins,” in which she creates an hilarious characterization of Ellen, a spunky little housemaid, who drops as many dishes as she does her “h’s.” Although she has played every thing from high comedy to heavy drama on the screen, she is perhaps best remembered for her touching portrayal of Simone Signoret’s roommate and _ devoted friend in “Room at the Top,” a performance which won her an Academy Award nomination. In spite of her film success, Hermione considers herself primarily a stage actress. American audiences thrilled to her on Broadway in “A Taste of Honey” and Tennessee Williams’ absorbing drama, “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore.” As a result of her performance in this play, Williams was quoted as saying, ‘Hermione Baddeley is one of the four greatest actresses I’ve ever seen on the stage.” (The other three were Laurette Taylor, Anna Magnani and _ Geraldine Page.) Equally at home in comedy or drama and in any medium, whether it be stage, screen, television or night clubs, Hermione is happiest when she’s performing. Noted English designer Tony Walton was Walt Disney’s choice to create the colorful costumes for his sparkling new musical-fantasy, “Mary Poppins,” and in addition to serve as design consultant on the overall production. For the talented young Britisher, the Disney tune-film marked the first time Walton had ever worked in the motion picture medium, just as it was the screen debut of his -equally talented and charming wife, Julie Andrews, who plays the title role. Walton’s brilliant career has previously been confined to Broadway, the London stage and television. In London he designed the sets and costumes for such productions as “Valmouth,” “Fool’s Paradise,” “A Most Happy Fella” and the Prokoviev opera, “The Love for Three Oranges” at the Sadlers Wells Theatre. In New York, Walton did the sets and costumes for the American production of “Valmouth,” a revival of Noel Coward’s “Conversation Piece,” “Once There Was a Russian” and the long-run Broadway hit, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” Last year Walton turned producer and with Richard Pilbrow and Harold Prince, produced “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” for London audiences. The hilarious musical-comedy is also a smashing success in Blighty. Don DaGradi, Cartoonist Turned Writer, Co-Scripted Disney’s “Mary Poppins’ Talented and amiable Don DaGradi, who shares co-writing credits with Bill Walsh on Walt Disney’s exciting new musical feature, “Mary Poppins,” is a former Disney animator — turned sequence consultant — turned screenwriter. In the mid-30’s he joined the growing Disney animated cartoon staff and following an apprenticeship on short subjects, he was elevated to feature animation assignments. His creative talents were put to good use on such Disney classics as “Pinocchio,” “Bambi,” “Fantasia,” “Dumbo” and “Lady and the Tramp.” Mat POP 2J Don got his first crack at liveaction when Walt picked him to design the underground cavern sequences for “Darby O’Gill and the Little People.” Don is the first to admit he is a “misplaced cartoonist” at heart. The visual gags are his particular meat and there is nothing he likes better than an assignment from Walt for some humorous pseudoscientific thinking on a project. When the Julie Andrews-Dick Van Dyke starrer came along, Don had a field day developing scenes that would stagger the average writer’s imagination. SMILING THROUGH the soot of the chimneys of London are Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews and moppet stars Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber of Walt Disney's musical-fantasy, “‘Mary Poppins.” fies gravity — both physical and mental. In this remarkable scene the fantastic foursome de Page 9