Mary Poppins (1964, rewatch): Some stunning filmmaking outweighs the flaws
Mary Poppins, 1964, directed by Robert Stevenson, Disney/Buena Vista blu-ray (2013), 3.5 stars. Several months after the family gathered around the TV one Sunday night in February 1964 to marvel at those Liverpool boys on The Ed Sullivan Show, we piled in the car for a trip to South Twin Drive-In in Mehlville, MO, for a look at another cultural wave-maker. I don't remember that night with Mary Poppins as vividly as I recall the evening with The Beatles, not even close. All I can really say for sure is that I did see the movie one night six decades ago. Most of the songs from Mary Poppins have stuck with me through the years, but I haven't remembered anything else about it. Purchase at Amazon I saw Disney's 50th-anniversary blu-ray on sale at Amazon for about $6 a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to give it a go, mostly to find out if it's still as fantastical as legend has it. I'm happy to say that it is in a couple of segments. I'm unhappy to say that there ar...