Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Ken Hughes

Writers:

Roald Dahl (screenplay) &
Ken Hughes (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

18 December 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy | Musical | Fantasy

Tagline:

The most fantasmagorical musical entertainment in the history of everything!

Plot:

An eccentric professor invents wacky machinery, but can't seem to make ends meet. When he invents a revolutionary car...

Plot Keywords:

Car | Children | Baron | Inventor | Flying

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

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
Adrian Hall	...	Jeremy
Barbara Windsor	...	Blonde
Davy Kaye	...	Admiral
Alexander Doré	...	First Spy (as Alexander Dore)
Bernard Spear	...	Second Spy
Stanley Unwin	...	Chancellor
Peter Arne	...	Captain of Guard
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Coggins
Victor Maddern	...	Junkman
Arthur Mullard	...	Big Man
Ross Parker	...	Chef
Gerald Campion	...	Minister
Felix Felton	...	Minister
Monti DeLyle	...	Minister (as Monti de Lyle)
Totti Truman Taylor	...	Duchess
Larry Taylor	...	Lieutenant
Max Bacon	...	Orchestra Leader
Max Wall	...	Inventor
John Heawood	...	Inventor
Michael Darbyshire	...	Inventor
Kenneth Waller	...	Inventor
Gerald Taylor	...	Inventor
Eddie Davis	...	Inventor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Audreson	...	Peter (uncredited)
John Baskcomb	...	Chef (uncredited)
Eunice Black	...	Courtier (uncredited)
Harry Fielder	...	Soldier at castle (uncredited)
Gary Graham	...	Child in Castle (uncredited)
Robert Jenner	...	Field Worker (uncredited)
Nigel Kingsley	...	Extra (uncredited)
Connel Miles	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Joseph Ross	...	Child Extra (uncredited)
Peter Ross	...	Child Extra (uncredited)
Richard Wattis	...	Secretary at Sweet Factory (uncredited)

Directed by
Ken Hughes

Writing credits
Ian Fleming		(novel) uncredited
Roald Dahl		(screenplay) &
Ken Hughes		(screenplay)
Richard Maibaum		(additional dialogue)

Produced by
Albert R. Broccoli	....	producer
Stanley Sopel	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Richard M. Sherman
Robert B. Sherman

Cinematography by
Christopher Challis		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Shirley

Production Design by
Ken Adam

Art Direction by
Harry Pottle

Costume Design by
Joan Bridge		(colour costume designer)
Elizabeth Haffenden		(colour costume designer)

Production Management
David Middlemas	....	production supervisor
Hubert Fröhlich	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gus Agosti	....	assistant director
Richard Taylor	....	second unit director

Art Department
Robert W. Laing	....	assistant art director (as Bob Laing)
Peter Lamont	....	assistant art director
Jack Stephens	....	associate art director
Michael White	....	assistant art director
John Chisholm	....	prop man (uncredited)

Sound Department
Fred Hynes	....	sound recordist
Harry Miller	....	dubbing editor
John W. Mitchell	....	sound recordist (as John Mitchell)
Les Wiggins	....	dubbing editor
Maurice Askew	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
Graham V. Hartstone	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)
Peter Lacey	....	adr mixer (uncredited)
Anthony Sloman	....	assistant dialogue editor (uncredited)
Dan Wallin	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John Stears	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Cliff Culley	....	matte effects
Roy Field	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Vic Armstrong	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ken Buckle	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Leech	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Mike Reid	....	stunt driver (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Harris	....	camera operator
John Jordan	....	aerial cameraman
Skeets Kelly	....	cameraman: second unit
Martin Body	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Mike Fox	....	focus puller: second unit (uncredited)
George Pink	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jackie Cummins	....	wardrobe supervisor
Keeley 'Wyn' Ellen Winifred	....	wardrobe mistress (uncredited)

Music Department
Marc Breaux	....	stager: musical numbers
Robin Clarke	....	music editor
Irwin Kostal	....	conductor
Irwin Kostal	....	music supervisor
Richard M. Sherman	....	music & lyrics by
Robert B. Sherman	....	music & lyrics by
Dee Dee Wood	....	stager: musical numbers
Irwin Kostal	....	musical director (uncredited)
Irwin Kostal	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Albert R. Broccoli	....	presenter
Rowland Emett	....	Potts inventions created by
Frank Ernst	....	location manager
Peter R. Hunt	....	production associate (as Peter Hunt)
Angela Martelli	....	continuity
Peter R. Hunt	....	title sequence (uncredited)
Peter Ross	....	stand-in: Adrian Hall (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Dramatic Features (as A Warfield - D.F.I. Picture)
• Warfield (made by) (as Warfield Productions)

Distributors

• United Artists (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (released thru)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• UA (1968) (Japan) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (video)
• Fox Video (video)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Time-Life Video (video)

Other Companies

• Ford Motor Company  grateful acknowledgements
• Ford Motor Company  the producer gratefully acknowledges the assistance and co-operation of (as The Ford Motor Company)
• Todd-AO Studios  recorded at (as Todd-AO)

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

144 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:o.Al. | Australia:G (alternate rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Norway:5 (video rating) | Norway:7 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:G (Approved No. 21682)

Filming Locations:

Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Dramatic Features

Trivia:

Heather Ripley recalled that she did not realize until much later that Dick Van Dyke was an alcoholic when the film was made.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the birthday party for the Baron, Truly pretends to be a doll who dances on a spindle within an opened large box of mirrors. This box is visible on the floor for all the guests to see. When Mr Potts appears as his own form of a doll rising from a box, he starts to dance, the camera pulls back and Truly and her music box are nowhere to be seen. When Mr Potts goes over to sing his duet with her, suddenly Truly is visible again.

Quotes:

Grandpa: Nasty smelly things, motorcars!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Bons baisers de Hong Kong (1975)

Soundtrack:

You Two

Doggedly whimsical...

Elephantine, ersatz-Disney family film with musical interludes has kooky inventor Dick Van Dyke, his two moppet kids and new lady-love outwitting the rulers of an evil fantasy world with help from their airborne automobile. Director Ken Hughes, who also co-adapted Ian Fleming's novel with none other than Roald Dahl, can't manage to work up any life within this not-too-fantastic scenario; it's an adventure story involving a flying car which never lifts off. The sugary songs aside, this loosely-hinged and slowly-paced picture doesn't even look good. The special effects are bland and chintzy (even for 1968). As to the performances, Van Dyke has always been an acquired taste, but Sally Ann Howes is certainly no Julie Andrews (though Ken Hughes fashions her role accordingly). Songwriters Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman work with the very best of intentions here (and the title song is catchy, as is "Truly Scrumptious"), but the Shermans are still doing what they did back in the early-'60s: winking and nudging at us with nursery ditties, almost all of which suffer from a fatal case of the cutes. *1/2 from ****