Mary Poppins

Jason got "Mary Poppins" just before Christmas, and has watched it a dozen times (in between bouts on his SmartCycle, definitely his favorite toy). Great movie. A few observations
1) the author of the original books didn't want there to be any hint of romance between Mary Poppins and Burt. Nonetheless, a few delicious hints remain, and I like to imagine that they shared one blissful night in the clouds...
2) The whole class-consciousness thing gives me a tweak. "Diamond in the rough...your blood is blue..." I guess I'm not amused by assumptions that one person is better than another by birth. But you know, I"m sure there are aspects of social stability that can't be achieved without such traditions. The British empire worked for a long time...
3) They wrote like 30 songs for Poppins, and about 15 of them were used. I love the movie, but it feels overlong to me, like they could have cut 15 minutes without effort.
4) I loved the original Dick Van Dyke show, but Dick left the show thinking that his movie career was going to soar. If you've seen Poppins you have the chance to hear what is broadly considered the worst English accent ever attempted by an American actor. Van Dyke, completely un-trained as a dancer, acquits himself superbly. Sort of a shame his movie dreams never really jelled.