Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 feature film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, based on Ian Fleming's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The film was directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli, best known as co-producer of the James Bond series of films, also based on Fleming's novels. Irwin Kostal supervised and conducted the music, and the musical numbers were staged by Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood.
Plot
The time is an unspecified year in the 1910s. Jeremy and Jemima Potts are playing in a wrecked car in Mr. Coggins' junkyard. The wreck, as Mr. Coggins explains to a potential customer, had won a number of Grand Prix races in its past life as a racecar, before it crashed. The customer says that he will buy the car for salvage; Coggins agrees, much to the disappointment of the children.
On the way home, the children meet the beautiful Truly, who demands to know why they are not in school. They take her home to their windmill, where she is introduced to their eccentric father, Caractacus Potts, who is about to make an attempt to fly. She also meets the equally eccentric Grandpa Potts, who, resplendent in soldiers' uniform, explains to Truly that he is going to India for "a cup of tea with the Maharaja", before disappearing into the out-house at the far end of the garden. Truly shows interest in Caractacus' odd inventions, but he is angered by her attempts to tell him that his children should be in school. Angrily, she leaves.
During breakfast, the children tell Caractacus about the car, and he promises that he will try to get it, although he doesn't have enough money. Edison, the family dog, discovers that the supposedly useless "sweets with holes in", made by Caractacus, can whistle. Caractacus goes to a local sweet factory the next day, and attempts to show his new candy to Lord Scrumptious - who turns out to be Truly's father. He initially refuses to even look at the sweets, but eventually gives in, and finds he likes them. However, the whistling attracts every dog in the village, and they ruin the factory's confectionery, causing Lord Scrumptious to reject the sweets.
Caractacus takes his automatic hair-cutting machine to the fair and tries to use it to raise money. However, his first customer, Cyril, ends up looking terrible, and chases Caractacus all around the funfair. In order to escape from him, Caractacus disguises himself as one of the dancers in a musical revue. The other dancers are so impressed that they share the money which the audience gives them for the performances, giving him enough to buy the old car.
He restores the car, which he has nicknamed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang because of the noises its engine makes, and he and the children, accompanied by Truly, go for a picnic on the beach. They spend a very happy day on the beach, and Jeremy and Jemima reveal that they have come to love Truly Scrumptious, while she has become fond of them as well. The group get back in the car, and the children ask their father to tell them a story. The story is about nasty Baron Bomburst, the tyrant ruler of Vulgaria, who wants to steal Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and keep it all for himself. The baron fires on the car on the beach, but Chitty suddenly develops powers which enable it to float, and they escape. The Baron sends two comical spies ashore to capture the car for him. Caractacus drops Truly off at her home, and when he has left, it is revealed that Truly has fallen in love with him.
The next day, the spies attempt to capture the car while the group are out for a spin. They end up capturing Lord Scrumptious and his assistant by mistake. The spies dress up in their clothes, and travel to the Potts' residence. There, they mistake Grandpa Potts for the inventor, and when he goes into his hut, they use an airship to take the hut to Vulgaria. Caractacus and the others see the airship flying above them, and give chase. They drive over a cliff, but Chitty sprouts wings and begins to fly.
Caractacus, Truly, and the children fly over the Vulgarian palace, only to be shot at with cannons by order of Baroness Bomburst, who abhors children. They escape, and hide the car under a bridge. The Baron calls out his guards to capture the car. Baroness Bomburst sends the monstrous Childcatcher to catch the children. The Potts family and Truly arrive in a small village, where the villagers are despondent and unhappy.
Soldiers arrive, and everyone hides, leaving Caractacus, Truly, and the children alone in the streets. A kind toymaker (Benny Hill) hides them in the lower level of his toy shop, warning them that if the children are found they will be taken away to the castle, as children have been outlawed in Vulgaria by order of the Baroness. The evil Childcatcher "smells" the children's blood at the toy shop. The soldiers search, but find no one. Another group of soldiers arrive, and announce that they have captured the flying car. Caractacus declares he will rescue Grandpa, and get Chitty back. The toymaker reluctantly agrees to help Caractacus. While Caractacus sets out to find his father, Truly goes into the village to look for food. The children are lured out and captured by the Childcatcher, who poses as a lollipop salesman offering free sweets. The children are locked in a tower by order of the Baroness.
The next day, at the Baron's birthday party, the Toymaker presents two toys: a musical doll and a clown (Truly and Caractacus in disguise). During a dance number, Caractacus manages to snare the Baron. The Children appear and The Baron orders the cavalry to attack. During a battle Caractacus and Truly manage to find Jeremy and Jemima, and release all the other children as well. The Baron and Baroness are trapped in a cage, and the Child-Catcher is suspended in a net from the roof of the banqueting hall. Vulgaria becomes a free country, and the heroes (reunited with Grandpa) fly back to England in Chitty.
Back at the seaside, Jeremy and Jemima finish the story themselves: "And Daddy and Truly were married!" "And lived happily ever after!" When Truly asks, "Is that how the story ends?" Caractacus changes the subject, then tries to "apologize" for the children's ending. Truly, offended by Caractacus' attempts, storms off. Back home, the Potts find Lord Scrumptious waiting for Caractacus; as it turns out, Grandpa was Lord Scrumptious' batman commanding officer in the British Army. He has some wonderful news for Caractacus: the whistling sweets he invented previously are useless for humans, but wonderful for dogs. Now assured of riches, Caractacus is about to sign the contract, but dashes off in Chitty to tell Truly the good news. He runs her off the road (for the third time) and finds out that she already knows. He rescues her from the car, and they decide they will be married after all. As they drive off together in Chitty, the car takes to the air again, this time without wings.
Cast
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang landing in
Vulgaria.
Continuing the Fleming linkage, Fröbe and Llewelyn were also cast members of James Bond films, Herr Fröbe acting out (even though his voice had to be dubbed because of his thick German accent) the title role of Auric Goldfinger, and Llewelyn being best remembered as "the gadgeteer" in charge of the "Q Branch" of the British Secret Service in the Bond films.
Songs/musical numbers
Memorable songs include:
- "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
- "Truly Scrumptious"
- "Hushabye Mountain"
- "Me Ol' Bamboo"
- "Toot Sweets"
- "The Roses of Success"
- "Lovely Lonely Man"
- "You Two"
- "Chu-Chi Face"
- "Posh!"
- "Doll on a Music Box"
- "Doll on a Music Box/Truly Scrumptious"
- "Come to the Funfair"
"Doll on a Music Box" is sung near the end of the musical by Truly and is a musical counterpoint, also being sung simultaneously with Caractacus' rendition of the song "Truly Scrumptious". Two songs apparently intended for the film but ultimately relegated only to instrumental background music are "Come to the Funfair" and the "Vulgarian National Anthem"; they were published with lyrics in the sheet music along with the other film songs when the movie was released. The stage version restores these two as vocal numbers. The Sherman Brothers also were hired to write several new songs for the stage production including "Think Vulgar!" which was replaced in 2003 with "Act English", "Kiddy-Widdy-Winkies", "Teamwork" and "The Bombie Samba"
Two songs stand out for the use of musical instruments in the orchestra: "Toot Sweets" – especially in the motion picture – employs a multitude of flutes; and the subject of "Me Ol' Bamboo" is aurally suggested by the xylophone (and accompanies Potts performing a Morris dance with a troupe).
Soundtrack
The original soundtrack album, as was typical of soundtrack albums up until the 1980s, presented mostly songs with very few instrumental tracks. The songs were also edited, with specially recorded intros and outros and most instrumental portions removed, due both to time limitations of the vinyl LP and the long-held belief that listeners would not be interested in listening to long instrumental dance portions during the songs.
The soundtrack has been released to CD twice, both releases utilizing the original LP masters rather than going back to the original music masters to compile a more complete soundtrack album with underscoring and complete versions of songs. The 1997 Rykodisc release included several quick bits of dialogue from the film between some of the tracks and has been out of circulation for quite a while. On February 24, 2004, a few short months after MGM released the movie on a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, Varese Sarabande reissued a newly remastered soundtrack album without the dialogue tracks, restoring it to its original 1968 LP format.
Tracklisting
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ^
- Elephant +
- You Two
- If I May +
- Toot Sweets
- Hushabye Mountain
- Come to the Funfair (the tune and background lyrics are here, not the entire song as it was cut from the movie)
- Me 'Ol Bam-Boo
- Potts The Optimist +
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ^+
- Truly Scrumptious
- All Engines +
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ^++
- Lovely Lonely Man
- Posh!
- Hushabye Mountain (Reprise)
- The Roses Of Success
- Hang On +
- Chu-Chi Face
- Doll On A Music Box/Truly Scrumptious
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Finale)
- A Happy Ending +
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Main Title)
- Chitty Speaks +
^ - instrumental used for the film's "exit music"
+ - dialogue track only included on the Rykodisc release
^+ - first vocal performance from the film
^++ - second vocal performance from the film
Locations
- Scrumptious Sweet Co. factory (exterior) - Kempton Waterworks, Snakey Lane, Hanworth, Middlesex, England. This location now includes a steam museum open to the public.
- Scrumptious Mansion - Heatherden Hall at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England
- Windmill/Cottage - Cobstone Windmill in Ibstone, near Turville, Buckinghamshire, England
- Duck Pond - Russell's Water, Oxfordshire, England
- Beach - Cap Taillat in St. Tropez, France
- Baron Bomburst's castle - Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany
- Bridge where spies attempt to blow up Chitty - Iver Bridge, Iver, Buckinghamshire, England
- Bridge where spies kidnap Lord Scrumptious - Ilmer Bridge, Ilmer, Buckinghamshire, England
- Vulgarian village - Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
- Lighthouse and white cliffs Beachy Head, East Sussex, England
- Rock spires in the ocean - The Needles stacks, Isle of Wight, Alum Bay, Hampshire, England
Reception
The film went significantly over budget, but was a box office hit. Although it received favorable reviews in the UK, Europe, and the East Coast of the United States, Hollywood was unkind in its reviews. Movie critic and historian Leonard Maltin considered the picture "one big Edsel, with totally forgettable score and some of the shoddiest special effects ever."
Novelisation of film
Novelisation of the film by John Burke, published by
Pan Books
Around the time that the film was released, a novelisation of the film was also published. It basically followed the plot of the film, but there were slight differences of tone and emphasis, it mentioned that Caractacus Potts had had difficulty coping after the death of his wife, and it made it clearer that the sequences including Baron Bomburst were extended fantasy sequences. It was written by John Burke, but it was not clearly credited to him and some people who read it may have been under the impression that this was Fleming's original novel.
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