Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke) is a struggling eccentric inventor who lives with his two children, Jeremy (Adrian Hall) and Jemima (Heather Ripley) father "Grandpa Potts" (Lionel Jeffries) in rural pre-World War I England. After acquiring an old motorcar at the request of his two children, Caractacus restores the car to working order, he and his two children go on a picnic along with candy heiress Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes) where Caractacus tells the story of how they and their car, known as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, outwitted the cruel Baron Bomburst (Gert Frobe) of Vulgaria.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is an adaptation of the Children's novel by author Ian Fleming, better known for the James Bond novels, based on stories about a flying car he would tell his son as an infant. Fleming regrettably never saw publication of the book, which would end up being his final finished work, and it was published posthumously two months after his death. The book became one of the highest selling children's books of 1964. Bond series producer Albert R. Broccoli had read the book and was initially not enthusiastic about an adaptation, but after the success of Disney's Mary Poppins, Broccoli changed his mind. The movie was directed by Ken Hughes who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Roald Dahl, who himself is no stranger to Fleming adaptations having what (at the time) was the final Connery Bond film, You Only Live Twice. There was a conscious effort by the producers to ape the success of Mary Poppins from having the film be a musical written by Poppins' songwriters The Sherman Brothers, and even in the casting for Truly and Caractacus with the producers attempting to get both Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke only for Andrews to turn down the role due to the perceived similarities in the character to Mary Poppins. While the movie was popular upon initial release, its high budget resulted in a net loss which was becoming increasingly common in big budget musical epics with other films like Darling Lily, Happiest Millionaire, and Paint Your Wagon going over budget and yielding increasingly thin margins contributing to many studios leaving behind such productions in the 70s. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has gone on to have second life and its songs and iconography remain ingrained in popular consciousness, and while the movie is better than many later era musicals it does feel a little disjointed.
As usual Dick Van Dyke fits well into the role of an eccentric inventor and the movements he does during elaborately choreographed stunt sequences, comedic sequences, and musical numbers is a sight to behold. There's a certain "animation" to Dick Van Dyke that you just can't help but gravitate towards and that's fully on display here. Sally Ann Howes is a fun foil as Van Dyke's grounded and level headed counterpart Truly Scrumptious, Lionel Jefferies is lovably eccentric as Grandpa Potts, and Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley are both endearing as the children. The songs as expected by the Sherman Brothers are earworms with some memorable songs that refuse to leave your mind when you here them like "Me Ol' Bamboo", "Toot Sweets", or "Chu-Chi Face" featuring some catchy melodies, engaging and often humorous lyrics, and elaborate choreography that's exhilarating to look at.
The thing that holds Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from greatness is unfortunately in its length, which was at the time also seen as a drag on the film. Structurally speaking there's really two plots to this movie with the first half being about Caractacus saving the old car from a scrap dealer with plans to crush it and let it down, and when that plot is over and done with it becomes an elaborate fantasy sequence with Caractacus telling this story of a Kaiser Wilhelm esque villain trying to steal the car to his land of Vulgaria where children are illegal and there's something of a disconnect between the relatively grounded first half and the almost Wizard of Oz like second half complete with its own equivalent of The Flying Monkeys or Wicked Witch in Robert Helpmann as the Child Catcher. While the stuff in the second half is really good with elaborate sequences with hundreds of extras, ambitious effects, and some of Roald Dahl's macabre but family friendly sense of humor on display, by the 60 minute mark it feels like our movie abruptly paused only to take a left turn into a strange fantasy adventure. It would be like if in The Wizard of Oz, the sequence in Kansas was 60 minutes long and about Dorothy getting Toto back only for us to even get to Oz at after an hour's already gone by.
While Chitty Chitty Bang Bang doesn't reach the levels of Mary Poppins the producers clearly had their sights on, it's an elaborately produced and memorable film with engaging leads and memorable songs. The movie does feel a bit long at almost two and a half hours and the second more fantastical half feels a little detached from the relatively more grounded first half. But despite these issues there is a good reason people remember this movie which makes it worth viewing.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is an adaptation of the Children's novel by author Ian Fleming, better known for the James Bond novels, based on stories about a flying car he would tell his son as an infant. Fleming regrettably never saw publication of the book, which would end up being his final finished work, and it was published posthumously two months after his death. The book became one of the highest selling children's books of 1964. Bond series producer Albert R. Broccoli had read the book and was initially not enthusiastic about an adaptation, but after the success of Disney's Mary Poppins, Broccoli changed his mind. The movie was directed by Ken Hughes who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Roald Dahl, who himself is no stranger to Fleming adaptations having what (at the time) was the final Connery Bond film, You Only Live Twice. There was a conscious effort by the producers to ape the success of Mary Poppins from having the film be a musical written by Poppins' songwriters The Sherman Brothers, and even in the casting for Truly and Caractacus with the producers attempting to get both Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke only for Andrews to turn down the role due to the perceived similarities in the character to Mary Poppins. While the movie was popular upon initial release, its high budget resulted in a net loss which was becoming increasingly common in big budget musical epics with other films like Darling Lily, Happiest Millionaire, and Paint Your Wagon going over budget and yielding increasingly thin margins contributing to many studios leaving behind such productions in the 70s. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has gone on to have second life and its songs and iconography remain ingrained in popular consciousness, and while the movie is better than many later era musicals it does feel a little disjointed.
As usual Dick Van Dyke fits well into the role of an eccentric inventor and the movements he does during elaborately choreographed stunt sequences, comedic sequences, and musical numbers is a sight to behold. There's a certain "animation" to Dick Van Dyke that you just can't help but gravitate towards and that's fully on display here. Sally Ann Howes is a fun foil as Van Dyke's grounded and level headed counterpart Truly Scrumptious, Lionel Jefferies is lovably eccentric as Grandpa Potts, and Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley are both endearing as the children. The songs as expected by the Sherman Brothers are earworms with some memorable songs that refuse to leave your mind when you here them like "Me Ol' Bamboo", "Toot Sweets", or "Chu-Chi Face" featuring some catchy melodies, engaging and often humorous lyrics, and elaborate choreography that's exhilarating to look at.
The thing that holds Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from greatness is unfortunately in its length, which was at the time also seen as a drag on the film. Structurally speaking there's really two plots to this movie with the first half being about Caractacus saving the old car from a scrap dealer with plans to crush it and let it down, and when that plot is over and done with it becomes an elaborate fantasy sequence with Caractacus telling this story of a Kaiser Wilhelm esque villain trying to steal the car to his land of Vulgaria where children are illegal and there's something of a disconnect between the relatively grounded first half and the almost Wizard of Oz like second half complete with its own equivalent of The Flying Monkeys or Wicked Witch in Robert Helpmann as the Child Catcher. While the stuff in the second half is really good with elaborate sequences with hundreds of extras, ambitious effects, and some of Roald Dahl's macabre but family friendly sense of humor on display, by the 60 minute mark it feels like our movie abruptly paused only to take a left turn into a strange fantasy adventure. It would be like if in The Wizard of Oz, the sequence in Kansas was 60 minutes long and about Dorothy getting Toto back only for us to even get to Oz at after an hour's already gone by.
While Chitty Chitty Bang Bang doesn't reach the levels of Mary Poppins the producers clearly had their sights on, it's an elaborately produced and memorable film with engaging leads and memorable songs. The movie does feel a bit long at almost two and a half hours and the second more fantastical half feels a little detached from the relatively more grounded first half. But despite these issues there is a good reason people remember this movie which makes it worth viewing.