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MARY POPPINS RETURNS – Review

With the big year-end holidays just days away, many are rushing out of town to be with loved ones, which makes it a perfect time for the movies to ponder that age-old question, “Can you really go home again?”. In other words, can you recapture the wonder and general magic of our childhood years? The Disney Studios certainly hope that’s possible, for they’ve got a lot riding (financially and artistically) on a sequel to their founder’s last great box office triumph (certainly “Uncle” Walt’s biggest “mainly” live action hit). But wait, you may ask, didn’t that celebrated “man from Marceline Missouri” pass away in 1966? Exactly, and this classic hit theatres two years before that, even inspiring a “making of” docudrama five years ago, SAVING MR. BANKS. So, can this icon, a different sort of soaring super-heroine, save filmgoers from the holiday flick doldrums (so many of the end of the year films are “downers”)? Well, as fans across the globe will learn when MARY POPPINS RETURNS, she’s still practically perfect in every way.

The first person greeting us at the start of this tale is not Bert the chimney sweep, but Jack the lamp-lighter (Lin-Manuel Miranda) who rides his bike around dawn in the still darkened streets of London, though part of the darkness might be the fact that the city is in the throes of “The Great Slump” (in the states we called it a “Depression”). Yes, a lot has changed in the 25 years since we last visited Cherry Tree Lane. The Banks family still occupies a lovely home there, not far from the punctual Admiral Boom (David Warner), but it’s Michael (Ben Whitshaw) that’s the head of the household. He has three children of his own, ten-year-old Anabel (Pixie Davies), eight-year-old John (Nathanael Saleh), and six-year-old little Georgie (Joel Dawson), but no wife since she passed away fairly recently. Luckily Michael’s sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) helps out whenever possible, between protesting corruption and serving at the soup kitchen (some call her a “union organizer”, but she’sd no doubt prefer “defender of the downtrodden). Plus there’s long-time cook/housekeeper Ellen (Julie Walters) who seems more like part of the family. Unfortunately, Michael’s artistic aspirations have not been fruitful, so he has taken out a loan from the bank where his father worked, the old Fidelity Fiduciary (he’s a part-time clerk there). And now the loan is almost due and the bank will take the house in just a few days unless it’s paid in full. The sympathetic (seemingly) new bank manager, Mr. Wilkins (Colin Firth) insists that he’ll give them until midnight on that Friday. Oh, but didn’t Grandpa’ George buy bank stock notes? As they frantically look through the attic, Michael tosses out an old kite. The wind picks it up and takes it to the park where the children are playing. Lil’ Georgie grabs the string and is almost pulled into the sky until Jack rescues him and pulls at the kite. Suddenly the line goes slack, the clouds part to reveal that a woman floating by means of an umbrella is now holding the kite. It is the Banks’ former nanny Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt). She takes the trio home to a very surprised Michael and Jane (“You’ve not aged a day!”). Though they cannot pay her, Mary insists on taking charge of the three children. They then embark on a series of magical, musical adventures as the elder Bankses struggle to save the old house from foreclosure, something Mary’s magic cannot forestall. Or can it?

The main question in the minds of most fans of the character is how Ms. Blunt stacks up to the Oscar-winning performance of Julie Andrews in the original. The short answer is very well, with Blunt putting a similar but different spin on her. Yes, Mary’s still a tough taskmaster and stickler for order, but Blunt delights as she shows us her mischevious, fun-loving side, such as when she joins the kids for a “dive” into the bathtub, and later as she demures before going into a big musical number before a very appreciative animal audience. For that sprightly song, Mary drops the prim and proper to be a bit, well, bawdy as she doffs a derby and twirls a cane. Mere moments later she’s the ultimate caregiver, so soothing and warm as she helps the children cope with their recent loss (the ballad “The Place Where Lost Things Go”). And as we heard in her role recently in INTO THE WOODS, Blunt has a most lovely singing voice. The same can be said of her frequent dance partner here, Miranda, who has taken over the Bert functions (it’s explained that Jack was an apprentice to Bert, and waved to little Jane from the rooftops). Best known for rapping in the Broadway smash “Hamilton”, Miranda even gets to indulge in a bit of the same during that earlier mentioned number with Blunt. Later he keeps up expertly as the leader of the “Leeries” (lamplighters) in the energetic (exhausting really) “Trip a Little Light Fantastic”. Unfortunately, the Jack character can be a little cloying to the point of preciousness as he seems to condescend to the kids (always on the verge of a wink), and he appears to grab screen time away from Mary. And who in the make-up department thought the “five o’clock shadow” effect didn’t look like a child’s “hobo” Halloween outfit (either grow some stubble or be clean-shaven, really)?

Yes, it’s basically the Mary and Jack show, but the supporting cast gets many chances to shine. From a dramatic standpoint, Whishaw is the story’s bruised, almost broken heart. Life has truly pummeled him, and like his papa, Mary needs to “save” him and remind him of life’s joys. We see all this through Whishaw’s sad, sunken eyes which show a spark as Mary enters his lofe once more. Though not as tragic as her brother, Mortimer is excellent as the grown empathetic sis who seems to have never forgotten those sweet moments of generosity. Plus she has some lovely moments with Jack, as the hint of romance makes Jane’s bubbly attitude return. Firth oozes silky menace as the duplicitous money-lender, going from sweet (around Michael) to sour on a dime (if his mustache weren’t pencil-thin he’s be twirling it as he thinks of taking the house). Warner’s a loveable old crank as the time-obsessed neighbor. Blunt’s frequent film co-star Meryl Streep shows up for a song and dance as Mary’s wacky, repair-shop owner Cousin Topsy. Sporting a bright red flapper wig and doing a Fanny Brice-style Old World accent, her “Turning Turtle” number is a bit of forced whimsy that grinds the plot to a halt, though Streep, as usual, gives her utmost effort. Another screen veteran, Angela Landsbury, works much better as the Balloon Lady as she sings a spirited rendition of the very catchy final tune “Nowhere to Go But Up”. Oh, the new trio of Banks kids are pretty great, very natural and endearing. But they’re not nearly as adorable as the film’s scene-stealer Navckid Keyd, whose number at the bank office is a real “show stopper”. This fella’s going places, even with that tongue-twisting moniker.

Movie musical vet Rob Marshall (CHICAGO, INTO THE WOODS) keeps the story moving along at a fairly brisk pace, making its over two-hour running time almost breeze by (despite the “Turtle” number and the endless stunt cyclers). And there’s plenty of good-natured humor in the script he co-wrote with David Magee and John DeLuca (based on the characters and stories created by P.L. Travers) which recalls many of the “story beats” of the original without being an exact “carbon copy”. The same could be said somewhat with the original songs and score by Marc Shaiman (with a lyric assist from Scott Wittman) which evoke bits of the iconic score by “The Boys”, as Disney called the Sherman Brothers (try and watch the superb documentary THE BOYS for some great insight into the 1964 film) while having a distinct sprightly, hummable energy and offering a familiar formula (“Step in Time”=”Trip a Little Light Fantastic”,”I Love to Laugh”=”Turning Turtle”, and so on). Time will tell if they’ll have the staying power of Robert and Richard’s melodies (my bet is on the infectious “A Cover is Not the Book” and “Can You Imagine That?”). And big big kudos to Mr. Marshall on insisting that the animated sequence (the highpoint of the original for me) be produced in “hand-drawn” 2D rather than computer-aided 3D (though tech helped with shadows and mixing in the live actors). The line work on the pastel-attired menagerie is delicate, almost “whispy” as though lightly brushed on ceramic as opposed to heavier scratchy lines of the first film. The audience of “The Royal Doughton Music Hall” is a delight that suddenly turns dark and full of danger as a cartoon wolf behaves more like one of the human predators. The whole film greatly benefits from the very talented craftspeople led by production designer John Myhre and photographed with dazzling skill by Dion Beebe with great use of real UK locales (the first film was shot entirely on Hollywood sound stages). So, did the filmmakers “go home again”. For the most part, they’ve produced a most happy “homecoming”. Remembering that 2013 “behind the scenes” film, I’d surmise that “Uncle” Walt would have a grand ole’ time with this while Mrs. Travers would be fairly irritated (too much use of the red color for one thing). With so much discord and darkness filling the news these days, audiences should find a much welcome escape by revisiting the magic when MARY POPPINS RETURNS.

4 Out of 5

Here’s Your First Look At The New Teaser For MARY POPPINS RETURNS Starring Emily Blunt

Check out the brand new teaser trailer and teaser poster from Disney’s MARY POPPINS RETURNS, an all new sequel with a fresh sensibility that celebrates the spirit of the original.

In the film, which hits U.S. theaters this Christmas, Mary Poppins is back to help the next generation of the Banks family find the joy and wonder missing in their lives.

P.L. Travers first introduced the world to the no-nonsense nanny in her 1934 children’s book “Mary Poppins.” However, the subsequent adventures of Mary Poppins remained only on the pages of the seven other P.L. Travers’ books…until now.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS stars Emily Blunt as the practically-perfect nanny with unique magical skills who can turn any task into an unforgettable, fantastic adventure; Lin-Manuel Miranda as her friend Jack, an optimistic street lamplighter who helps bring light—and life—to the streets of London; Ben Whishaw as Michael Banks; Emily Mortimer as Jane Banks; and Julie Walters as the Banks’ housekeeper Ellen; with Colin Firth as Fidelity Fiduciary Bank’s William Weatherall Wilkins; and Meryl Streep as Mary’s eccentric cousin, Topsy. The film also introduces three new Banks’ children played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and newcomer Joel Dawson. Angela Lansbury appears as the Balloon Lady, a treasured character from the PL Travers books and Dick Van Dyke is Mr. Dawes Jr., the retired chairman of the bank now run by Firth’s character.

The film is directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay by David Magee and screen story by Magee & Marshall & John DeLuca based upon The Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers. The producers are Marshall, DeLuca and Marc Platt with Callum McDougall serving as executive producer and the music is by Marc Shaiman with songs by Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

Lin-Manuel Miranda stars as Jack who jumps in to help Georgie Banks (Joel Dawson) in Disney’s original musical MARY POPPINS RETURNS, a sequel to the 1964 MARY POPPINS which takes audiences on an entirely new adventure with the practically-perfect nanny and the Banks family.

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MARY POPPINS RETURNS Begins Filming – Stars Emily Blunt And Lin-Manuel Miranda

Production on MARY POPPINS RETURNS, the all new sequel to Disney’s 1964 film “Mary Poppins,” has commenced at Shepperton Studios.

The film, which stars Emily Blunt (“The Girl on the Train,” “Into the Woods”) and Emmy, GRAMMY and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana”) and is directed and produced by Oscar nominee, Emmy and DGA Award winner Rob Marshall (“Into the Woods,” “Chicago”), is scheduled for release December 25, 2018.

The film also stars: Ben Whishaw (“Spectre”), Emily Mortimer (“Hugo”) and Julie Walters (“Harry Potter” films) with Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) and Meryl Streep (“Florence Foster Jenkins”).

In addition, Dick Van Dyke plays Mr. Dawes Jr., the chairman of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, which is now run by William Weatherall Wilkins (Firth).

MARY POPPINS RETURNS introduces three new Banks children, played by Pixie Davies (“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”), Nathanael Saleh (“Game of Thrones”) and newcomer Joel Dawson.

The film is produced by Marshall, Emmy® winner and Golden Globe® nominee John DeLuca (“Chicago”) and Oscar® andTony® nominee and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Marc Platt (“La La Land”).

The screenplay is by Oscar nominee David Magee (“Life of Pi”) based on The Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers with Oscar nominee and Tony winner Marc Shaiman (“Hairspray”) and Emmy nominee and Tony winner Scott Wittman (“Hairspray”) writing all new songs with Shaiman composing an original score.

Amongst Marshall’s award-winning creative team are Oscar®-winning director of photography Dion Beebe, ASC ACS (“Memoirs of a Geisha”); two-time Oscar-winning production designer John Myhre (“Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Chicago”); three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell (“The Young Victoria,” “The Aviator,” “Shakespeare in Love”); Oscar-winning hair and make-up designer Peter Swords King (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”); Oscar-winning set decorator Gordon Sim (“Chicago”); Oscar-winning production sound mixer Simon Hayes (“Les Misérables”); and Emmy® nominated editor Wyatt Smith (“Doctor Strange,” “Into the Woods”). The film is choreographed by Marshall and DeLuca with Joey Pizzi (“Chicago”) serving as co-choreographer.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS is set in 1930s depression-era London (the time period of the original novels) and is drawn from the wealth of material in PL Travers’ additional seven books. In the story, Michael (Whishaw) and Jane (Mortimer) are now grown up, with Michael, his three children and their housekeeper, Ellen (Walters), living on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael suffers a personal loss, the enigmatic nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters the lives of the Banks family, and, along with the optimistic street lamplighter Jack (Miranda), uses her unique magical skills to help the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives. Mary Poppins also introduces the children to a new assortment of colorful and whimsical characters, including her eccentric cousin, Topsy (Streep).

PL Travers first introduced the world to the no-nonsense nanny in her 1934 book “Mary Poppins,” which Disney adapted for the screen and released in August, 1964.

The film, which was directed by Robert Stevenson and starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, was the top-grossing film of that year and nominated for 13 Oscars, winning five.

However, the subsequent adventures of Mary Poppins remained only on the pages of PL Travers’ seven additional books, which she published between 1935 and 1988.

LT. ROBIN CRUSOE, U.S.N. – The DVD Review

Review by Sam Moffitt

Some movies stay with you. People are constantly amazed that I can remember so much about movies but also what theatre I saw them in and under what circumstances. Movies can be like songs in the memory, where you were physically and mentally and emotionally the first time you heard a song and how it takes on much more meaning than the musicians ever intended. The same with books, I recall at what point in my life I read certain books and where I was at the time. And so, it’s the same with movies, for me anyway.

In 1966 my Father entered John Cochran Veteran’s Hospital in St. Louis, on North Grand, for brain surgery. He never walked out of there. We were visiting Dad before the surgery, at eleven years old I was already a die hard Movie Geek. I used to beg my parents, my older siblings, anybody who had a car to take me into the city so I could see a movie. Hardly ever happened, but on this particular visit to my Dad my Mom gave me a couple of dollars and told me to go see a movie. Probably there was talk they didn’t want me to hear and I was already bummed out enough that going to see a movie sounded like heaven.

There used to be a wonderful theatre district on the stretch of Grand just south of the Veteran’s Hospital. The Fox is still there and Powell Symphony Hall which used to be the Missouri theatre (or the St. Louis, I always get them mixed up. ) One of them was showing Sound of Music and I can remember passing that theatre and seeing the posters on our way to and from the Veteran’s Hospital.

So I’m guessing it was the Loews Mid-City that was showing Lt Robin Crusoe USN and that is what I walked down Grand Avenue to see that hot day in 1966. It had to have been July or August as July 1966 is the official release date of Disney’s movie and August was the month when my Dad died.

I remember liking the movie a lot, for a lot of reasons. To say I was troubled during that time would be a major understatement. I was terrified about my Dad having to undergo brain surgery and my worst fears were made real when he died shortly after the surgery.

So Disney’s modern take on Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe, starring a major television star, Dick Van Dyke, just beginning to take steps to get to the next level of movie star, took my mind off the troubles my family was facing.

The movie starts on an aircraft carrier, The Kitty Hawk, CV-63, at sea and all hands on the flight deck in summer dress whites, waiting for the arrival of somebody important. A Navy band plays and a Marine Corps rifle company renders honors. A helicopter arrives and Dick Van Dyke steps out wearing clothes made out of woven straw and bamboo, clean shaven though.

This is Lt Robin (Rob) Crusoe who then starts a letter to his fiancé explaining where he has been the last two years and providing the audience with a voice over for most of the movie. Rob is a Naval aviator and we see his plane lose the engine, he bails out (in a terrific and realistic looking sequence) and spends quite a bit of time in a tiny little rubber raft, reading from a survival manual whose voice is provided by an uncredited Richard Deacon.

Deacon’s voice and Van Dyke’s character referring to himself as “Rob” are just some of the references to the then still in production and very popular Dick Van Dyke Show. At one point Rob sings “Go Tell Aunt Rhodie” another reference to the show.

After floating around for a bit, losing his survival kit, hungry and thirsty Robin Crusoe washes up on the beach of a standard movie deserted tropical island. He manages to survive with the expected slapstick problems, then while exploring the island finds a beached Japanese submarine which just happens to have tools, blankets and all sorts of necessary items for survival. It also is home to the standard Disney chimpanzee which seemed to be a requirement for any 60’s Disney movie. This one is an “astro Chimp” named Floyd. Rob speculates that his space capsule splashed down nearby, was not found and picked up and Floyd managed to get ashore and survive. Rob helpfully tells us that astro chimps were chosen for their intelligence and stamina, almost as intelligent as a Navy Ensign. Trust me folks, unless you’ve spent time in the US Navy you would never get the full effect of that joke. Pretty snarky for a 60’s Disney movie!

Rob and Floyd build a nice little hut from plans on the Japanese submarine and settle in for a little house keeping. Rob teaches the chimp to play cards and of course the chimp starts beating him. Also on the submarine is a supply of what Rob assumes is a Japanese soft drink. And of course Rob gets drunk on the stuff, a not so funny joke now as the time of this movie’s production is when Van Dyke’s alcoholism started to seriously kick in. The bottles have a sound effect whenever Rob opens one, a sort of cross between a champagne cork and a pistol shot, great sound effect!

Rob writes two letters a day to his fiancé back home which he mails by dropping them in bottles into the ocean. His attachment to his fiancé will come up again.

Rob and Floyd find a huge hollow stone tiki statue in the jungle, then the best being last they find Nancy Kwan (wearing a sarong better than Dorothy Lamour ever did!) In basic “meet cute” fashion Nancy tries to kill Rob at every opportunity, in fact she pounds the crap out of him.

The real revelation at seeing this movie again is how good Nancy Kwan really is. Seeing this movie in a St. Louis theatre on it’s original release I can recall a lot of whooping and hollering during their fight scene as the camera catches a good glimpse of Nancy’s underwear underneath the sarong (shorts really, but still!) And the crowd in that theatre included a lot of black people. This was probably the first time I ever was around black people and I couldn’t help but notice they seemed to enjoy this movie more than the whites. Is it really that funny or did they enjoy seeing a white man act the fool? Probably both.

Disney rereleased Lt Robin Crusoe USN in 1974 and so I showed it , more than once on the television station I ran during my time in the Navy. Was this movie one of the reasons I joined the Navy? I can remember some comments from shipmate’s about this movie, which I’ll get to shortly.

Now about Nancy Kwan. Not only is she drop dead gorgeous here, it almost becomes her movie. She easily steals every scene she is in, the woman just glows. She does both physical and verbal comedy that is the equal of anything Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Burnett or Doris Day was doing in the same time period. In fact her material is funnier than almost anything Van Dyke does. When she is on camera you really can’t look at anything else. Even the chimpanzee can’t steal scenes from her.

And we can easily believe she could wail the crap out of a guy the size of Van Dyke, even though he stands easily a foot taller than her. At one point she grabs a samurai sword, courtesy of the submarine, and tries to use it on Rob. Based on what we see here she knew how to use it and could have carried a martial arts movie. In fact, based on what she does in this movie she could have carried a television situation comedy. But was America ready for a sit-com starring a Eurasian actress in the 1960s? Probably not, and that is a shame. What might it have been called? Love That Nancy? My Little Geisha?

Rob names her Wednesday, we never do find out her real name. After they make peace and she reveals that she can speak English and that she pretended not to just to have some fun and mess with Rob’s head (?) we find out her Father is a chief and a head hunter (a great bit of pantomime ). Wednesday is basically in exile on this island, as her Father has a bad habit of feeding women to the sharks. She was banished due to not wanting to marry the man her Father picked in an arranged marriage. Rob tells her that where he comes from women have rights! Rights to marry who they want, of course the movie never gets any deeper than that but you really don’t expect to hear a feminist statement in a 1960’s Disney movie!

Wednesday, of course, gets a major crush on Rob, which he does everything he can to discourage. Always thinking of his girl back home and how he just cannot do anything so immoral as to exploit this innocent island girl. In other words he behaves as no Navy man possibly could, especially an Officer!

Wednesday’s Father, Tanamashu, played by Akim Tamiroff, in his usual style as a vulgar, gross slob, has his people believing the giant tiki on the island is a God who speaks only to him, and that he will be coming to the island shortly.

Instead of Tanamashu a whole crew of island girls, all of them beautiful, show up and chase Rob around the island. Here it almost becomes a version of Lil’ Abner! All the girls are friends of Wednesday’s, all are tired of being ill treated and Rob gets talked into making them into an Army to fight Tanamashu. And again, every one of these girls is beautiful, and Nancy Kwan still stands out!

The Japanese submarine yields up all sorts of stuff to help with defending the island, including a working generator (running on what fuel?) a PA system, lots of flares and explosives plus water hoses. All this comes into play when Tanamashu and his warriors show up and Rob becomes the voice of the giant tiki idol to discredit the chief.

Then we get the basic Disney animated fireworks near the end, the same type of special effects seen in Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, familiar looking stuff. After Tanamashu takes a ride on a Japanese torpedo peace breaks out and the girls do an island dance. Rob makes the mistake of dancing with Wednesday, not knowing it is a marriage dance.

Here is where this movie loses me, in 1966 and every single time I’ve watched it. Rob runs like hell to get away from Wednesday, pissing her off naturally and getting chased across the island by the girl posse. Out of nowhere a Navy helicopter arrives, picks up Rob and Floyd (who Rob admits is more valuable than himself) all while Wednesday and her girl Army chuck spears at Rob.

One of the helicopter crew admits that Rob must be really special as these girls don’t want to see him leave. Which leads us back to the beginning on the aircraft carrier. The punch line to the whole movie is the pomp and ceremony is for Floyd’s benefit and no one cares to hear Rob’s story.

When I was 11 years old I could not figure out why Rob would want to leave? To get back to the Navy? Quite frankly living on a tropical island with Nancy Kwan was just about the most wonderful situation I could imagine! It still sounds wonderful! I’m guessing Disney could not allow a white man staying and living with a Eurasian, even one as beautiful as Nancy Kwan. This was meant to be a family movie after all, but still, Rob and Wednesday are technically legally married according to the local customs, so Rob is in fact deserting his bride at the altar, help me out here, am I right or what?

Every time I showed this movie on board the USS America I got comments from ship mates as to what a moron Robin Crusoe was to leave such a hot setup.

It does however lead to what is probably the unhappiest ending of any Disney movie ever made. The final image is Rob, alone on the flight deck of that carrier, ignored by his own comrades in arms, looking as if he just now realizes what he has lost. Good! Quite frankly anyone who would pass up life with Nancy Kwan to get back to living on an aircraft carrier (even if it is in Officer’s Country) deserves to look and feel like a fool.

Disney’s dvd is really bare bones, there is a generic preview of Disney live action comedies like the Apple Dumpling Gang and Escape to Witch Mountain, and nothing else. Both Dick Van Dyke and Nancy Kwan are still with us so a deluxe edition with their commentary would certainly be a treat. Allegedly Van Dyke, who made this film during the summer hiatus from the Dick Van Dyke Show, was not happy with the finished product. Word is that he told his cast mates and crew on the show to not bother seeing it. Not sure if that’s true and if it is that is a puzzlement. Van Dyke and everybody else connected with Lt Robin Crusoe USN have nothing to be ashamed of. It is a sweet natured, good hearted movie in the grand Disney tradition. And it did what any good movie is supposed to do, it took my mind off my troubles for a couple of hours and showed me things I had never seen and dreams I did not know existed. I will always associate this movie with my Father’s last days and how it cheered me up when I really needed it.

Wouldn’t it be nice if somewhere there were an alternate ending where Rob gladly stayed on that island and lived the good life with Wednesday? One can only hope.

And an interesting bit of trivia. Lt Robin Crusoe USN is the only movie in Disney’s entire history that Walt Disney took a credit on as a writer. In the credits you will see Story by Ertlaw Yensid (Walter Disney backwards.)

Dick Van Dyke Honored With 2012 SAG Life Achievement Award; To Be Presented Jan. 27, 2013

Dick Van Dyke, beloved actor, singer, dancer, writer and comedian, will receive SAG-AFTRA’s highest honor – the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. Van Dyke will be presented the performers union’s most prestigious accolade, given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” at the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, which premieres live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, at 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT, 6 p.m. MT and 5 p.m. PT.

In making today’s announcement, SAG-AFTRA Co-President Ken Howard said, “Dick is the consummate entertainer — an enormously talented performer whose work has crossed nearly every major category of entertainment. From his career-changing Broadway turn in ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ and his deadpan humor in the Emmy® winning ‘Dick Van Dyke Show,’ to his unforgettable performance as Bert in ‘Mary Poppins,” he sets a high bar for actors. Stage, big screen, small screen, literally everywhere he has worked he has inspired millions of fans and has had a tremendously positive impact on the industry and the world. He is so deserving of this honor and I congratulate him.”

SAG-AFTRA Co-President Roberta Reardon said: “With Dick, it’s so much more than the proverbial ‘triple threat.’ He started his career as a radio announcer, game show host and comedian and was a spokesman for Kodak, among numerous other roles over his nearly 60-year career. His contributions to the success of the business and to his fellow performers is legendary as is his work with a number of the leading ladies of our times, including Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore — both previous Life Achievement Award recipients. His infectious laugh has warmed audiences for decades and is an unforgettable facet of his fabulous personality.”

Holder of five Emmys®, a Tony® Award and a Grammy®, Van Dyke at 86 still possesses the zest for life that first propelled him into the limelight more than a half-century ago with the Broadway and film versions of “Bye Bye Birdie,” the seminal ‘60s situation comedy “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and the film classic “Mary Poppins.”

He was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke in West Plains, Missouri, on December 13, 1925, and raised in Danville, Illinois, hometown as well to Donald O’Connor, Gene Hackman and Bobby Short. As a youngster he taught himself music, magic and pantomime. By 16, he was appearing in school plays, running track, serving as junior class president and working part time as an announcer on a local radio station. Enlisting in the Air Force at 18, he soon was performing for the troops and hosting a radio show called “Flight Time.” After one year of duty he was back in Danville, giving advertising a try, but it was not a fit. With another Danville local, Phil Erickson, he hit the road in a record-pantomime act called “The Merry Mutes,” a perfect showcase for his physical comedy gifts. While appearing in Los Angeles, he sent for his high school sweetheart, Marjorie Willet. The two were married on “Bride and Groom,” a network radio program offering gifts and a honeymoon to newlyweds.

After a run hosting a daytime talk show in Atlanta and a morning show in New Orleans, CBS put him under contract. Van Dyke moved to New York where in 1954 he began hosting “The Morning Show” (which featured up and coming newscaster Walter Cronkite). Other hosting jobs preceded his 1957 television-acting debut on an episode of “The Phil Silvers Show.” and his Broadway debut in 1959 with Bert Lahr in the comedy revue “The Boys Against the Girls.” The following year his career soared when he was cast by director/choreographer Gower Champion opposite Chita Rivera in “Bye Bye Birdie.” His performance as rock star Conrad Birdie’s songwriter/manager Albert Peterson earned Van Dyke a Tony® Award and brought him to the attention of Sheldon Leonard and Carl Reiner, who signed him for a pilot opposite newcomer Mary Tyler Moore. The now eponymous “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” starring Van Dyke and Moore as Rob and Laura Petrie, premiered in 1961 and ran for five seasons. With a perfect ensemble cast including Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam, the wittily written series was a showcase for Van Dyke’s genius for physical comedy, earning him three lead actor Emmy® Awards.

The tireless Van Dyke spent his series’ hiatus shooting the film version of “Bye Bye Birdie” in 1963 followed by “What a Way to Go” and Disney’s 1964 musical classic “Mary Poppins,” It won five Academy Awards® including one for star Julie Andrews (SAG’s 2006 Life Achievement Award recipient) and earned Van Dyke a Golden Globe® nomination and, with Andrews, a Grammy®. A run of films followed including “Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN,” (1966), “Divorce American Style” (1967), “Fitzwilly” (1967), the musical “Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang” (1968), Garson Kanin’s satire on conformity “Some Kind of a Nut” (1969) and Norman Lear’s anti-smoking “Cold Turkey” (1970). Van Dyke, who had delivered the eulogies for his comedy idols Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton, explored the role of a fictional silent movie star in 1969’s “The Comic,” He would return to the big screen again in Stanley Kramer’s “The Runner Stumbles” (1978), Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy” (1990) and more recently the Ben Stiller comedy “Night at the Museum” (2006).

After a year of filming “Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang” in England, Van Dyke moved with his family to their ranch in Carefree, Arizona where “The New Dick Van Dyke Show” was produced for CBS for three seasons. In 1974, his stunning portrayal of an alcoholic family man in David Wolper’s groundbreaking ABC Television movie “The Morning After” earned Van Dyke an Emmy nomination. A guest-star turn as a homicidal photographer opposite Peter Falk’s “Columbo” followed.

It was back to song, dance and comedy in NBC’s variety series “Van Dyke and Company,” earning him a fourth Emmy® (this time shared with his fellow producers,) followed by a national tour in “The Music Man,” which brought Van Dyke back to Broadway and a national tour in “Damn Yankees.” The 1980s brought a run of television movies including the Showtime production of “The Country Girl” opposite Faye Dunaway, ”Drop-Out Father,” opposite Mariette Hartley, “Found Money” opposite Sid Caesar, “Breakfast with Les and Bess” opposite Cloris Leachman for PBS’s “American Playhouse” and the miniseries “Strong Medicine.”

In 1982, Van Dyke earned his fifth Emmy for his vocal performance as the Father in the CBS Library special “Wrong Way Kid.” His voice over talents were employed most recently in the 2006 animated feature “Curious George” and the 2010 short “The Caretaker 3D,” a tribute to the Hollywood Sign.

Van Dyke’s crime solving physician, Dr. Mark Sloan, was introduced in a 1991 episode of “Jake and the Fat Man” and became the central character in three TV movies before evolving into the CBS series “Diagnosis: Murder.” It ran from 1993 to 2001, followed by two Dr. Sloan television movies in 2002. “Diagnosis: Murder” co-starred Van Dyke’s son Barry as a police detective and during its run provided guest-star opportunities for Van Dyke’s daughter Stacy, grandchildren Carey, Shane, Wes and Taryn and brother Jerry Van Dyke. From 2006 to 2008, the father-son team reunited for a series of four Hallmark Channel “Murder 101” movies, casting Barry as a private investigator opposite Dick’s absent-minded but brilliant criminology professor, Dr. Jonathan Maxwell.

In 2003, Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore re-teamed to portray lonely seniors in D.L. Coburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “The Gin Game” on “PBS Hollywood Presents” and the following year recreated husband and wife Rob and Laura Petrie for Carl Reiner’s CBS telefilm “The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited.” They were notably reunited this past January when Van Dyke presented Moore with SAG’s 48th Life Achievement Award on the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Van Dyke, whose 2011 memoir “My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business” made the New York Times Best Sellers list, admits that his retirement plans have yet to work out. In 2006 he returned to Broadway receiving standing ovations in his “Bye Bye Birdie” leading lady’s “Chita Rivera: The Dancers Life.” In addition to his memoir, Van Dyke is the author of “Faith, Hope and Hilarity: The Child’s Eye View of Religion” (1970) and “Those Funny Kids” (1975), a collection of classroom humor.

Music, Van Dyke’s spiritual nourishment, became richer when he teamed twelve years ago with Eric Bradley, Bryan Chadima and Mike Mendyke to form The Vantastix. Their first major public appearance was at the Society of Singers Ella Awards honoring his “Mary Poppins” leading lady Julie Andrews. They’ve since performed the National Anthem at L.A. Lakers playoffs, mounted a musical memoir at L.A.’s Geffen Theatre, appeared at the Hollywood Bowl, Disney Hall and at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. with the President and First Lady in the front row and released an album of children’s song: “Put on A Happy Face.”

For nearly twenty years Van Dyke has been tirelessly committed to his volunteer work at The Midnight Mission, Los Angeles’ century-old downtown shelter for the troubled and homeless. He helped raise millions for their new building program and is there without fail every Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and times in between offering comfort and cheer, often with the Vantastix and members of his own family. He is passionate about raising funds for music and art programs for public schools and has performed at countless fundraisers. He became a spokesperson for the National Reye’s Syndrome Foundation in 1967 after losing a granddaughter to that disease and in 2010 was named the first spokesperson for the Cell Therapy Foundation.

Van Dyke has four children from his marriage to the late Marjorie Willet Van Dyke — sons Christian and Barry, and daughters Stacey and Carrie Beth — and seven grandchildren.

On February 29, 2012, he married make-up artist Arlene Silver (whom he met at the 2007 SAG Awards) and whose vocal talents now occasionally blend with those of Dick and The Vantastix. They live in Malibu, California.

The 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA will be produced by Jeff Margolis Productions in association with Screen Actors Guild Awards®, LLC. Jeff Margolis is the executive producer and director. Kathy Connell is the producer. JoBeth Williams, Daryl Anderson, Scott Bakula, Shelley Fabares, Paul Napier, and Woody Schultz are producers for SAG-AFTRA. Gloria Fujita O’Brien and Mick McCullough are supervising producers. Benn Fleishman is executive in charge of production. Rosalind Jarrett Sepulveda is executive in charge of publicity. Jon Brockett is awards coordinating producer. Maggie Barrett Caulfield is the talent producer. For more information visit sagawards.org/about, “like” the SAG Awards at facebook.com/sagawardsofficialpage and follow the SAG Awards at twitter.com/sagawards.

SAG-AFTRA represents more than 165,000 represents actors, announcers, broadcasters journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. With national offices in Los Angeles and New York, and local offices nationwide, SAG-AFTRA members work together to secure the strongest protections for media artists into the 21st century and beyond.

Visit SAG-AFTRA at sagaftra.org, follow SAG-AFTRA at twitter.com/sagaftra and ‘like’ SAG-AFTRA at facebook.com/sagaftra.

Dick Van Dyke to Present SAG’s 48th Life Achievement Award to Mary Tyler Moore at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards

Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur

Dick Van Dyke will present Screen Actors Guild’s 48th Life Achievement Award to Mary Tyler Moore at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, executive producer and director Jeff Margolis announced today.

Screen Actors Guild is honoring Mary Tyler Moore for her career achievement and humanitarian accomplishments. Past recipients of SAG’s Life Achievement Award include Ernest Borgnine, Betty White, James Earl Jones, Charles Durning, Julie Andrews, Shirley Temple Black, James Garner, Karl Malden, Clint Eastwood, Edward Asner, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, Kirk Douglas, Elizabeth Taylor, Angela Lansbury, Robert Redford and George Burns.

The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, one of the awards season’s premier events, will be simulcast live coast-to-coast on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT) from the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles. An encore primetime telecast will begin immediately following on TNT at 10 p.m. (ET) / 7 p.m. (PT). The ceremony will also be telecast internationally, as well as to U.S. military installations overseas through the American Forces Network Broadcast Center.

The SAG Awards® nominations in five film and eight television categories will be revealed on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, telecast live on TNT and webcast live on tnt.tv and tbs.com at 9 a.m. (ET) / 6 a.m. (PT). Nominations for the SAG Honors for film and television stunt ensembles will also be webcast live at 8:50 a.m. (ET) / 5:50 a.m. (PT) on tnt.tv and tbs.com.

Film and television legends Moore and Van Dyke first made history together when they were cast as suburban couple Rob and Laura Petrie in Van Dyke’s eponymous sitcom based on the experiences of comedy writer Carl Reiner. The series broke new ground in television and is said to have ushered in the golden age of the situation comedy. Adored by audiences and critics alike, the series earned four Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy® Awards during the show’s five-year run, three Emmys for Van Dyke and two Emmys and a nomination for Moore.

In 1969, Van Dyke and Moore reunited for a one-hour variety special called Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman. They joined forces again in a 1979 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Hour reprising their roles as the Petries in a tongue-in-cheek comedic sketch. Other notable collaborations by the famously funny TV spouses include a PBS version of D. L. Coburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning nursing home-set stage play “The Gin Game,” as well as a reunion with former cast mates in TV Land’s nostalgic “The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited.”

After the series ended, Van Dyke went on to star in such classic feature films as “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “Mary Poppins,” “The Comic” and “Dick Tracy.” Over the years, he continued his work on network television starring in “The New Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Van Dyke and Company” (for which he received his fourth Emmy) and a critically-acclaimed, Emmy-nominated dramatic performance in the made-for-television movie “The Morning After.” In his fifth decade in television, Van Dyke starred in the 1990s prime time series “Diagnosis Murder” for CBS. He returned to his Broadway roots in productions of “Bye Bye Birdie” and “A Dancers Life,” and most recently penned a New York Times best-selling memoir “My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business.”

Moore showed her range as a ‘triple threat’ following the Dick Van Dyke Show with co-starring roles opposite Julie Andrews in the film musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” Elvis Presley in “Change of Habit” and her television movie debut in the drama “Run A Crooked Mile.”

She formed a production company, MTM, with her then husband Grant Tinker and created the groundbreaking comedy “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” chronicling the career, friendships and dating life of a single, thirtyish, spunky, independent, career woman in the world of local TV news. With a brilliant cast, the character-driven series redefined the meaning of ensemble comedy and of family. In its seven-year run the show garnered 29 Emmys, including four for its star. MTM Enterprises continued to produce an impressive list of landmark comedies and dramas including “The Bob Newhart Show”, “Newhart, “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “Hill Street Blues,” “The White Shadow” (starring current SAG president Ken Howard) and “St. Elsewhere.” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” yielded several successful spin-offs, including “Rhoda,” starring Valerie Harper; “Phyllis,” starring Cloris Leachman; and “Lou Grant,” starring Ed Asner (SAG’s 38th Life Achievement recipient).

Moore is a holder of seven Emmys®, a Tony® and an Academy Award® nomination, among numerous industry and philanthropic accolades. She delivered Emmy nominated performances in the telefilms “First You Cry” for her portrayal of TV correspondent Betty Rollin and “Heartsounds” opposite James Garner (SAG’s 41st Life Achievement recipient), as well as Lifetime’s “Stolen Babies” for which she won her seventh Emmy. Moore earned her Oscar® nomination for her riveting portrayal of Beth Jarrett in “Ordinary People” and continued to explore painful subject matter in the hit Broadway play “Whose Life Is It, Anyway?” for which she earned her Tony Award in her Broadway debut.

This year, on the season premiere of “Hot in Cleveland” Moore reunited onscreen with Betty White for the first time since “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” sharing a jail cell with White’s character, Elka, who was arrested in the season one cliffhanger.

Moore has published two autobiographies, “After All,” and “Growing Up Again: Life, Loves, and Oh Yeah, Diabetes.” Moore donated all her profits from “Growing Up Again” to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the world’s leading funder and advocate for Type 1 diabetes science. Moore has been JDRF’s International Chairman since 1984, a tireless advocate to increase funding for Type 1 diabetes research and support, as well as a generous supporter of JDRF’s research programs.

Among many other accolades, Moore has received the Women in Film Crystal Award, been immortalized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, presented with the American Screenwriters Association first David Angell Humanitarian Award and honored with the National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award.

The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be produced by Jeff Margolis Productions in association with Screen Actors Guild Awards®, LLC. For more information about the SAG Awards, SAG, TNT and TBS, visit www.sagawards.org/about, “like” SAG Awards at www.facebook.com/sagawardsofficialpage and follow SAG Awards at www.twitter.com/sagawards.

Photo Credit: Mark Hill. Screen Actors Guild Awards®

‘Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian’ Poster

‘Night at the Museum’ wasn’t exactly a succinct title to begin with. Ã‚ Adding ‘Battle of the Smithsonian’ is just asking for trouble.

This new poster comes to you courtesy of Movie Poster.com.

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