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| The
storyline for this film is taken from an original three-volume novel 'The
Magical Car' written by James Bond author Ian Fleming for his son Caspar,
though not following the novel closely. The book was published in October
1964, two months after Fleming's death. The title was later changed to Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang,
which was based on the real cars Chitty-Bang-Bang 1, 2, 3 and 4 built by
eccentric motor enthusiast Louis Zborowski in the 1920s. As well as being
based on Fleming’s book, having Cubby Broccoli as producer and featuring
a car designed by Ken Adam (whose 007 designs include the villain’s headquarters
in Dr No), there were a number of other 'James Bond' influences in the production.
The Director was Ken Hughes, with the original screenplay written by Roald Dahl but which Hughes subsequently rewrote with additional dialogue provided by regular Bond scribe Richard Maibaum. Vic Armstrong, who has doubled as 007, performed many of the stunts for Van Dyke. Gert Fröbe, who played the Bond villain Auric Goldfinger, plays the temperamental Baron Bomburst while his baroness wife in the fairy-tale Bavarian kingdom is played by Anna Quayle, who was Frau Hoffner in the 1967 version of Casino Royale. Desmond Llewellyn, the gadget supremo Q in the Bond movies, also plays an eccentric scrap dealer in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. “It was like a James Bond movie” said Van Dyke, “and no expense was spared to make the sets look good”. Broccoli wasn’t originally very keen on producing the film but changed his mind after the success of ‘Mary Poppins’ in 1964. All the songs were written by brothers Richard M and Robert B Sherman, who had also worked as the songwriters for Mary Poppins. Musical supervisor and conductor Irwin Kostal, who provided the background musical score, had also worked in Poppins as had choreographers Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood. Julie Andrews was offered the female lead in the film but rejected it as she felt the part was too similar to Poppins. Sally Ann Howes, who had replaced Andrews in the role of Eliza Doolittle on Broadway in 1958, was then offered the role of Truly and she accepted. Van Dyke was cast in the film after he turned down the role of Fagin in the 1968 musical Oliver! Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was the first film for both of its child stars, Heather Ripley and Adrian Hall, who were cast after an extensive talent search. Before making his name with Genesis, drummer and singer Phil Collins was a child actor. He landed the role of the Artful Dodger in a West End production of Oliver! and at 13 had a role as an extra in the Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night, although you never see his face. At 16, he was cast as an extra in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as one of the Vulgarian children who storm the castle at the end of the film. His scene was edited out, because the director did not like the unsightly bandage near his eye. “I can see why I wasn’t in the final cut,” Collins later said. “I was in the last scene with all these kids, but I had this pristine white bandage round my head because I had this big cyst on the side”. Cubby Broccoli’s seven year-old daughter, Barbara, was also an extra in a fairground scene and her scene was not cut. Lionel Jeffries, who starred as Grandpa Potts, pointed out that “Dick Van Dyke was older than me and I was playing his dad”. Van Dyke was born in Missouri six months before Jeffries was born in London in June 1926. Robert Helpmann was a renowned ballet star, who had danced with Anna Pavlova and Margot Fonteyn, and was later part of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet Company. |
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Distributed
by United Artists with a running time of 145 minutes, the film had its London
premiere on 16th December 1968 before being released nationally in the UK
on the 17th and in the US on the 18th. The budget was quite high and, despite
being the 10th most popular at the US box office the film lost United Artists
an estimated $8 million, a lot of revenue subsequently being made by rentals.
It was nominated for one Academy, one Laurel and two Golden Globes awards
but failed to win anything in all three. We are once again charmed by the irrepressible Dick Van Dyke, this time in the role of Caractacus Potts, a widower and hapless scientist who is seeking the perfect invention to make his and his family’s fortune. Set in 1909 rural England, it is the story of how Caractacus buys an old run-down racing car after his children, Jemima and Jeremy, fall in love with it. This doesn’t come without mishaps on the way as he attempts to raise the money to refurbish it, including trying to sell one of his inventions, a musical hard sweet, to a sweet-making factory but the candy's whistle attracts a horde of dogs, ruining his efforts. When the car is eventually fully restored it is named 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' after its unusual engine sounds. For its first trip, Caractacus takes the children and Truly Scrumptious (the heiress to the sweet-making factory), to the beach for a picnic and proceeds to tell them a story, so their fantasy adventure begins….. While telling the story, the tide comes in and surrounds Chitty. Baron Bomburst, the tyrannical ruler of the fictional land of Vulgaria, in the steamboat S.S. Vulgaria with a crew of pirates, attempts to take advantage of this and steal Chitty but the car transforms itself into a floating vehicle and escapes. Learning that Chitty can float on the water makes Baron Bomburst want the car even more. The Baron sends an airship with two bungling spies but they fail repeatedly to get the car and eventually decide to kidnap Caractacus instead but capture Grandpa by mistake. As they fly away, Chitty sprouts wings and propellers, and the family pursues the airship all the way to Vulgaria. Grandpa is taken to Bomburst's castle, where the Baron has already imprisoned several other elderly inventors, and they are ordered to make another floating car, though their attempts fail. When the Potts party arrives, they find children have been outlawed in Vulgaria, as the Baron's wife hates them. The kindly Toymaker harbours the Potts family and Truly in his toyshop. The group disguise themselves as jack-in-the-boxes to hide the children from the Child Catcher, but Chitty is discovered and taken to the castle. While Caractacus and the Toymaker search for Grandpa and Truly searches for food, the Child Catcher returns, tricking the children and capturing them. The Toymaker takes Caractacus and Truly to a grotto beneath the castle where the townspeople have been hiding their children and Caractacus concocts a scheme to free the people from the tyranny of the Bombursts. On the next day, which is the Baron's birthday, the Toymaker sneaks Caractacus and Truly into the castle disguised as dolls that sing and dance. At Caractacus' signal, the Vulgarian children swarm the banquet hall, overcome the Baron's guests, and capture the Baron, Baroness, and the Child Catcher. The Vulgarian people storm the castle, while Caractacus, Truly, and the Toymaker free Jemima and Jeremy. After that, they join the fight against the Baron's soldiers. Chitty comes to save them and Grandpa is rescued. With the battle won, the Potts family and Truly bid farewell to Vulgaria and fly back home to England. As the story concludes, an awkward moment ensues when the children ask Caractacus if the story ends with him and Truly getting married. |
| Caractacus
does not answer and tries to apologise for his children when he drops Truly
off at her manor, saying that the difference in their social status would
make a relationship between them ridiculous, offending Truly. Returning
glumly to his cottage, Caractacus is surprised to find Lord Scrumptious
waiting for him with an offer to buy his candy to sell as a dog treat. Overjoyed
that he has finally made a successful invention, he rushes off to tell Truly,
inadvertently causing her to crash into the pond once more. He rescues her
and they admit their love for each other then, as they return home, Chitty
flies into the sky once again, this time without wings. According to Fleming, the original Chitty Bang-Bang was built in 1920; it used a pre-War Mercedes chassis with a six-cylinder Maybach military aeronautical engine that was typically fitted to Zeppelins. It was described in the novel as a twelve-cylinder, eight-litre supercharged 'Paragon Panther'. Six versions of the restored car were created, although just one fully functioning road car was featured in the majority of the film and bears the registration plate GEN 11. This car was used for all the driving scenes. It was fitted with a Ford 3.0L V6 engine and looks like a manual drive car but in reality the clutch is a dummy, it really has an automatic gearbox car. After the film was released it was used for promotions and was owned by Peirre Picton until being sold to Sir Peter Jackson in 2011. The Water Car was used in the scene where Chitty is caught by the tide. The brass elements of the car were replaced by aluminium so as not to corrode in the water. If you look, you’ll notice the grille and exhaust are silver coloured and not gold. This car is now on display at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, Hampshire, UK. Unfortunately, owing to there being no use for the 'boat' version of the car after filming was completed, this Chitty was sadly destroyed and scrapped. The Trailer Car. A fully detailed version, towed along for close up shots and the while the actors were singing. This Chitty is owned by Lord Bamford (of JCB) UK. The Hidden Driver Car. Fully functional and fitted with a second, hidden, steering wheel, giving the illusion that Chitty was driving herself. Currently in the Dezer Auto Museum in Florida, USA. The Flying Car. Fully detailed, but no engine. This was the car with wings and propellers used in the flying scenes. Recently restored and resides in Florida, USA. A further two cars were created, one built as the 'Paragon Panther' prior to its crash. This full size model was used in the opening Grand Prix scene, the wreck in Coggins Junk Yard and later being towed by a horse back to the windmill. It was also used for when the racer crashes and catches fire and is believed to have been scrapped afterwards. A 1/4 scale model, made by Shawcraft Models (famous for making the original Daleks) was used in the 'distance' flying scenes with a ‘top only’ version mounted on a hovercraft skirt (with a speedboat underneath) for the floating scene. The cars were designed by production designer Ken Adam and built by Ford’s racing team (Alan Mann) Byfleet. |
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| CAST Dick Van Dyke Sally Ann Howes Lionel Jeffries Gert Fröbe Anna Quayle Benny Hill James Robertson Justice Robert Helpmann Heather Ripley Adrian Hall Barbara Windsor Davy Kayel Alexander Doré Bernard Spear Stanley Unwin Peter Arne Desmond Llewelyn Victor Maddern Arthur Mullard George Leech Richard Wattis Michael Audreson |
Caractacus Potts Truly Scrumptious Grandpa 'Bungy' Potts Baron Bomburst Baroness Bomburst Toymaker Lord Scrumptious Child Catcher Jemima Potts Jeremy Potts Blonde at the carnival Admiral First Spy Second Spy Chancellor Captain of the Guard 'Bill' Coggins Junkman Big Man (Cyril) at the carnival Chitty's original driver Philips, Scrumptious Sweets secretary Peter, the blond Vulgarian boy |
  
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