Actors:
Dick Van Dyke, Sally Anne Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Frobe, Benny Hill
Rating: 8 out of 10, the other beloved movie from my youth that I picked up in a recent Amazon foray. This one held up a lot better than the other and I really enjoyed watching it. The biggest surprise was re-discovering that the movie was based on a book from James Bond creator Ian Fleming and the film was made by Cubby Broccoli who made all the great early Bond movies. A further connection includes the actor who played “Q” in a minor role and Auric Goldfinger himself, Gert Frobe, as a bumbling Bavarian baron. This movie belongs to Van Dyke and Howes though and they are superb together. This movie was made only 4 years after Mary Poppins but Van Dyke looked to have aged 15 years in the meantime or he was just a little bit out of shape. He nails the part of crack pot inventor Caracatus Potts and is believable as the scatterbrained but loving father. You have to ask yourself why he is the only one in the family without an English accent. His equally crazy father is played by Jeffries who was actually four years younger than Van Dyke. The first half of the movie is the best with the liveliest songs and action played against the budding love story of Potts and the aptly named Truly Scrumptious (Fleming had a way with names). The second half drags just a little bit as we move to Bavaria and the truly inspiring castle (real life Neuschwanstein) of the baron. The movie is supposed to be about the really cool car but the people don’t get lost and that makes all the difference. This journey back to my youth was much more enjoyable and I’m in love with Howes all over again.
MVP: Sally Anne Howes as the ethereal beauty Truly Scrumptious
Rating: 8 out of 10, the other beloved movie from my youth that I picked up in a recent Amazon foray. This one held up a lot better than the other and I really enjoyed watching it. The biggest surprise was re-discovering that the movie was based on a book from James Bond creator Ian Fleming and the film was made by Cubby Broccoli who made all the great early Bond movies. A further connection includes the actor who played “Q” in a minor role and Auric Goldfinger himself, Gert Frobe, as a bumbling Bavarian baron. This movie belongs to Van Dyke and Howes though and they are superb together. This movie was made only 4 years after Mary Poppins but Van Dyke looked to have aged 15 years in the meantime or he was just a little bit out of shape. He nails the part of crack pot inventor Caracatus Potts and is believable as the scatterbrained but loving father. You have to ask yourself why he is the only one in the family without an English accent. His equally crazy father is played by Jeffries who was actually four years younger than Van Dyke. The first half of the movie is the best with the liveliest songs and action played against the budding love story of Potts and the aptly named Truly Scrumptious (Fleming had a way with names). The second half drags just a little bit as we move to Bavaria and the truly inspiring castle (real life Neuschwanstein) of the baron. The movie is supposed to be about the really cool car but the people don’t get lost and that makes all the difference. This journey back to my youth was much more enjoyable and I’m in love with Howes all over again.
MVP: Sally Anne Howes as the ethereal beauty Truly Scrumptious
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