Dick Van Dyke James Garner and Elke Sommer, "Some Kind of a Nut", "Never a Dull Moment" with Edward G. Robinson, and "Divorce American Style" with Debbie Reynolds and Jean Simmons. But he also starred as Caractacus Pott (with his native accent, at his own insistence, despite the English setting) in the successful musical version of Ian Fleming's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968), which co-starred Sally Ann Howes and featured the same songwriters (The Sherman Brothers) and choreographers (Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood) as "Mary Poppins". In 1969, Van Dyke appeared in the comedy-drama "The Comic", written and directed by Carl Reiner.
Caractacus (horse) and saddles were weighed post race, Parsons did not initially meet the 122 pound weight requirement. He barely made weight when Caractacus' bridle was added to the tack, preventing the horse's disqualification. Snewing talked many years later about the anxiety of that event, "Oh, the agony I felt at that moment, I would not undergo it again for a thousand pounds." An objection was also raised by Lord Stamford, the owner of a colt named Ensign, that Caractacus and the majority of the field had made false starts and should all be disqualified. As his complaint had been logged 20