The Love Bug.

Review #2395: The Love Bug.

Cast: 

Dean Jones (James "Jim" Douglas), Michele Lee (Carole Bennett), David Tomlinson (Peter Thorndyke), Buddy Hackett (Tennessee Steinmetz), Joe Flynn (Havershaw), Benson Fong (Tang Wu), Joe E. Ross (Detective), Barry Kelley (Police sergeant), Iris Adrian (Carhop), Gary Owens (Announcer), Chick Hearn (Announcer), and Andy Granatelli (Association President) Directed by Robert Stevenson (#1415 - Mary Poppins)

Review: 

You might remember Robert Stevenson was an Academy Award-nominated director. But I suppose that's what happens with the strange magic of Mary Poppins (1964), because Stevenson was a veteran director who Walt Disney Productions liked enough to use for nineteen movies. Stevenson had written scripts since the late 1920s and graduated to directing by 1932, which later included movies such the 1937 version of King Solomon's Mines. He even got to do some Hollywood films with David O. Selznick and RKO and got into the television kick before, well, working for Disney for two decades, starting with Johnny Tremain (1957). He directed into his seventies and closed it out with The Shaggy D.A. (1976); he died in 1986 at the age of 81. The movie cites the use of the story "Car, Boy, Girl" by Gordon Buford as its adaptation material. The screenplay was written by Don DaGradi and Bill Walsh (who also produced the film). The movie made its premiere in late 1968 but did not go into wide release until March of 1969 and would you believe it was a major hit on release? Seriously, it was the second-highest grossing movie of that year, so clearly there were follow-ups, albeit with different cast members. Stevenson directed the first follow-up with Herbie Rides Again (1974); Jones returned for just the second follow-up (and the TV projects) with Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) before Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) and the TV show Herbie, the Love Bug (1982) sent the series into a slumber for a time.*

Honestly, it is a bit hard to resist the charms of Herbie. Sure, it probably isn't as whimsical as say, Mary Poppins, but there really is something that makes me smile about the charms that come around with a silly car and hijinks that is infectious. It has a breezy sense of enthusiasm that manages to ride along with hit-or-miss gags that puddle together for a slap-bang feature, at least for those who go with it knowing what they will get with a friendly-seeming Volkswagen (note the fact that you never hear the brand named in the film**) from the man that also churned out The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) in terms of "light stuff that ended up getting further returns". Jones had done a bit of Broadway and bit roles for MGM before his role in Ensign O'Toole (1962-63) and Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963) led on to getting signed for Disney film productions that started with That Darn Cat! (1965), which was the first of nearly a dozen collaborations with Disney. He plays it basically as ordinary as one can do when fit into a formula that demands a bit of commitment with a smile without going into say, overacting or complete listlessness. Him and Lee are mostly just pleasant, but the highlight is more on hijinks and the presences of Hackett (who inspired the "Herbie" nickname) and Tomlinson. Hackett and his schtick involving a bit of "New Age" syrup and banter with the car (remember that early in the film one bit posits that we put so much love and time into our tech that machines probably think it *is* somebody) that is a bit twee. But at least Tomlinson is delightfully arrogant enough to basically ham it up for chuckles, as one does. The movie probably toils a bit too long at 108 minutes, and it probably has a few wonky effects (depending on how one views say, splitting a car in half), but there are those moments that are neat enough to tickle my funny bone, such as the pursuit sequence, as one does when searching for a sentient car, which naturally leads to both teetering at the Golden Gate Bridge. You know where it's going to go with its vrooms and booms, but at least Herbie is something you'll watch rather than some generic car, I suppose. In general, it is a candy-coated type of movie, one that might be worth a check if in a comfortable mood that takes what they see and just rolls with its sweet chuckles.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

*Dean Jones returned for a TV movie of The Love Bug in 1997 before folks saw Herbie: Fully Loaded in 2005 in theaters. Not sure if my mom watched any of them, but she seemed fine with The Love Bug, so there's that.

**Do you really want to look up the origins of the Beetle in relations to Germany? 

Mary Poppins.

Review #1415: Mary Poppins.

Cast: 
Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins), Dick Van Dyke (Bert / Mr. Dawes Sr), David Tomlinson (George Banks), Glynis Johns (Winifred Banks), Hermione Baddeley (Ellen), Karen Dotrice (Jane Banks), Matthew Garber (Michael Banks), Elsa Lanchester (Katie Nanna), Arthur Treacher (Constable Jones), Reginald Owen (Admiral Boom), Ed Wynn (Uncle Albert), Reta Shaw (Mrs. Brill), and Don Barclay (Mr. Binnacle) Directed by Robert Stevenson.

Review: 
"That’s the real trouble with the world. Too many people grow up."

What is there to say that has not been said about one of Walt Disney's greatest triumphs? Winner of 22 Academy Awards, Disney was a pioneer of animation that created with his brother Roy one of the most powerful film companies of the world that in the span of nearly a century has gone from animation to diversifying in live-action, theme parks and other various ventures. He had an interest in drawing from an early age, doing various exercises such as copying cartoons and working with tools like watercolors. As he grew older, he delivered papers and took courses for drawing and cartooning at the Kansas City Art Institute. By the time he was 18, he had joined the Red Cross (arriving after the armistice that ended World War I) and found work as a commercial illustrator. He soon found interest in cel animation (as opposed to cutouts), and he soon joined forces with others like Ub Iwerks to make their own studio (Iwerks-Disney commercial Artists, which was short-lived, and Laugh-O-Gram Studio, which lasted two years). Although too late to save the studio, their last creation, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, led to eventual interest in creating a series of shorts (which led to the creation of a studio to distribute said films, originally named Disney Brothers Studio). Over the course of a decade, they would create numerous cartoons with Mickey Mouse being created in 1928. Disney yearned to expand the studio's range and money by making a feature of his own. He would soon plan the first feature-length cel animated film in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), which would take three years to develop amidst arguments with his own brother and wife to try and talk him out of it that was thought to be a futile idea. Simply put, the film was a tremendous success, and several animated film classics would follow in its wake, and live-action segments and features would later follow, and this ended up being Disney's most successful project of the 1960s, one that appeals to both children and adults to this day, an achievement for everyone from longtime Disney director Robert Stevenson to its star in Julie Andrews.

The film was adapted from the book series of the same name by P. L. Travers, who wrote eight children's books featuring the character over a span of 54 years beginning in 1934. As early as 1938, Disney wanted to buy the film rights to the book (owing to his daughters loving the books), but Travers rebuffed efforts for years and years because of her doubts that a feature could do justice to her work (it did not stop CBS from doing a television play of the book in 1949 for their live telecast Studio One, however). In 1961, Travers allowed the rights to be purchased, although she demanded script approval rights (this however was not final draft approval). Considerable changes were made in settling things to film, such as the timeframe being shifted from the 1930s to 1910, a focus on two Banks children rather than four, and a significant lightening of the title character (characterized as slightly vain and stern in the books). The latter change, along with the decision to use animation in some parts and the music (she wanted period piece) did not ultimately please her; when approached in 1993 about turning it into a musical, her key stipulation was that no one who worked on the film be involved with it, although the subsequent stage show that premiered 21 years ended up utilizing the songs from Richard and Robert Sherman, who do tremendous work here (as they did for decades). When it came to star, one could not ask for a greater debut. Andrews had sang with her parents since she was ten years old and had risen to performing on the stage and Broadway by the time she was 19, noted for her work in My Fair Lady (1956) and Camelot (1960). It was the decision by Warner Brothers to pick Audrey Hepburn over her to star in the film adaptation of the former that led to Disney having the chance to have Andrews for this film. Her charm and grace are immediately present to view after seeing her first few scenes, one with a great singing voice and a warm spirit that always seems ready for an interesting time with the children while seeming authentic and firm no matter who she interacts, whether that means children or something odder. Van Dyke, a radio/Broadway/television star (sporting a "Cockney" accent), proves quite amusing to follow up with Andrews, an inviting presence that never seems out of place, whether that involves him singing "Chim Chim Cher-ee" or being part of a laugh riot on the ceiling with Wynn (who proves just as amusing in his one scene). Tomlinson accompanies the film as a capable stuffy authority that holds his own in inspiring curiosity on the other side of the hill (namely, reality). Johns, although not in the film too much, inspires a few flighty chuckles. Doctrice and Garbert do a fine job for the time needed, having that middle ground for child acting that isn't too knowing or annoying to write home about. The others fill in the details of curiosity quite nicely for quirks.

The songs are quite catchy, with one clear choice being "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" in driving a smile to one's face. The animation sequences are interesting, aided by a modification from Petro Vlahos in a Technicolor camera that mixed live-action and animation through what is known as the "Sodium Vapor Process", utilized in films such as The Parent Trap (1961) and The Birds (1963) that served as an alternative for bluescreen in order for more accuracy. There is plenty of imagination and charm to be found here, a film that can sing with the best of them in leaving an impression on its audience with its simple but efficient story of growing up without seeming too sentimental or abrupt through a ravishing 139 minute run-time. Behaving well doesn't mean not having fun, really. Could it have been more accurate to its source material, sure, but does it really matter? Is this not a magical film that accomplishes what it sets out to do for its target audience (i.e. anyone)? There is a magic here that one wishes to experience every now and then that make it an easy pick for its era and Disney's line of work.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.