Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

A hapless inventor finally finds success with a flying car, which a dictator from a foreign government sets out to take for himself.

Director:

Ken Hughes

Writers:

Ian Fleming (novel), Roald Dahl (screenplay),

Stars:

Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dick Van Dyke	...	Caractacus Potts
Sally Ann Howes	...	Truly Scrumptious
Lionel Jeffries	...	Grandpa Potts
Gert Fröbe	...	Baron Bomburst (as Gert Frobe)
Anna Quayle	...	Baroness Bomburst
Benny Hill	...	Toymaker
James Robertson Justice	...	Lord Scrumptious
Robert Helpmann	...	Child Catcher
Heather Ripley	...	Jemima Potts
Adrian Hall	...	Jeremy Potts
Barbara Windsor	...	Blonde at Fair
Davy Kaye	...	Admiral
Alexander Doré	...	Herman the 1st Spy (as Alexander Dore)
Bernard Spear	...	Sherman the 2nd Spy
Stanley Unwin	...	Chancellor

Storyline

An eccentric professor invents wacky machinery, but can't seem to make ends meet. When he invents a revolutionary car, a foreign government becomes interested in it, and resorts to skulduggery to get their hands on it.

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Plot Keywords:

car | children | inventor | baron | flying | 

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Taglines:

The most fantasmagorical musical entertainment in the history of everything!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chitty-Chitty, Bang-Bang

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dramatic Features, Warfield

Technical Specs

Runtime:

144 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has a different story than the original book by Ian Fleming. The story used in the film was created by author Roald Dahl, who is best known for the children's books James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Ironically, the first James Bond film not to follow the original book was You Only Live Twice, which also used an original story by Dahl.

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Goofs

When Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is on the sand bar and Caractacus Potts begins telling his story, the girl Jemima Potts is holding a half-eaten apple. After the boat appears and heads towards them, Jemima is holding a much-less eaten apple, with only a few bites out of it.

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Quotes

Grandpa: Coggins? He's so mean he wouldn't light your pipe if his house was on fire.

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Connections

Referenced in The 100 Greatest Scary Moments (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Toot Sweets"
Written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman
Performed by Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes

User Reviews

This is a timeless classic that out-Disneys Disney.

Plain and simply, this is one of the best family films ever made. The fact that someone other than Disney made the film seems to have blinded some pundits (e.g., Disney scholar and film critic Leonard Maltin) to its many and varied charms. For "Chitty," in fact, originated in the book by James Bond creator Ian Fleming and, horror of horrors, was produced outside Hollywood by Albert Broccoli, the man behind the successful Bond film series. Yet, a closer look at the credits reveals the presence of the same musical composers, the much-heralded Sherman Brothers and Irwin Kostal, who could do no wrong when they wrote for Disney, but somehow left their talent behind when they signed on with Mr. Broccoli. (Note Maltin's comment in his 2007 film guide that the film's score is "forgettable.") The same apparently happened with the choreographers Dee Dee Wood and Marc Breaux, who are universally acclaimed for their work on "Mary Poppins," but ignored, at least by Maltin, for the snappy and often elaborate routines in "Chitty." In fact, the songs, background music and dances here are as good or better than anything in Disney and often actually advance the plot, rather than grinding it to a halt in the more customary way. A case in point is Caractacus' "Old Bamboo" song and dance routine, which provides not only an instantly memorable tune (and dance), but also the financial means to save Chitty from the scrap heap. The cast itself is nothing short of superb, with American comic actor Dick Van Dyke wisely eschewing any attempt at an English accent, something many of us wish he had done a few years earlier in "Poppins." (In a 1998 appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell show, the self-effacing Mr. Van Dyke acknowledged his limitation in the area of English accents.) The actors playing the children are a genuine delight, charming and sincere without being cloying, while the supporting cast is filled with more marvelous British character actors than one can count, not the least of them being Lionel Jeffries (actually six months younger than Van Dyke, whose father he was playing) and comedy legend Benny Hill in a rare straight role. And if that's not enough, there's always the scene in which Goldfinger himself (German actor Gert Frobe) sings and dances! Then there is the simply stunning cinematography by Christopher Challis, the marvelous costumes by Joan Bridge and Elizabeth Haffenden, and the fantastic production design by Oscar-winning designer Ken Adam, whose high ceilings and sloping walls are instantly identifiable from such classics as "Goldfinger" and "Dr. Strangelove." And unlike "Poppins," which is inexplicably praised for its obvious studio recreations of London streets, this film actually goes on location--and then some, showcasing truly magnificent settings in southern England, France and Germany (including the fabulous, fairy-tale Neuschwanstein Castle). Maltin and others have complained about the film's special effects, calling them "the shoddiest ever." What they are talking about is the blue screen traveling matte shots in which the magical car was optically placed in front of separately-shot film of a sky background. And I agree that several of these shots are "obvious" to film students who know how they are achieved. But, again, look at what is overlooked. The car itself, which undergoes several conversions for air and sea travel, is an amazing mechanical special effect designed and built by John Stears. Stears, of course, won an Oscar for the SFX on "Thunderball" and would go on to win another for a little film called "Star Wars." But never mind, what could he know about special effects? Oh, did I mention that the screenplay was co-written by Roal Dahl, someone who just might have known a thing or two about children's stories. But enough. This film is truly scrumptious from the first frame to the last, a timeless delight for anyone but Hollywood film critics.