Marshall Lord 2007-03-18
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
This is a wonderful film for small children, and adults will be pleasantly surprised by how little it has dated.
I saw this film as a small child when it first came out and loved it.
Recently I was reminded how good the music of the film was when I happened on the song "The Roses of Success" on the internet, and my children appeared in my office in ten seconds flat to see what Daddy was listening to. So I thought I would get them the DVD.
It held their attention for several playings, and the music was as good as I had remembered.
The original books were written by Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, and were quite dark in tone. The film version, however, is a light musical comedy.
Dick van Dyke plays Caractacus Potts, who is a poverty stricken inventor, and a widower with two small children. He buys and rebuilds a famous former racing car, which his children name Chitty Chitty Bang Bang after the distinctive noise made by the car's exhaust. (Fleming put a note in the books to the effect that there really was a famous racing car which had this nickname for precisely that reason.)
The Potts family meet Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes) daughter of the local sweet magnate Lord Scrumptious (James Robertson Justice.) After they get off to a bad start, she tries to help Caractacus Potts raise the money to restore the car. Initial plans to raise money fall through, but Caractacus gets the necessary funds by pure chance.
Restoration completed, Caractacus takes his children to the beach and again they join up with Truly Scrumptious. He tells his children an imaginary story about a wicked foreign potentate, with a wife who hates children, and who wants to steal this wonderful car - a car which can turn into a boat, and also fly. Foreign agents first try to steal the car, then kidnapp Caractacus's father. The viewer is caught up in the story.
Most people will know the ending but I'm not going to give it away for those who don't.
Excellent performances from van Dyke, Howes (was she really 38 years old when this was made?) and James Robertson Justice. Benny Hill plays a toymaker who helps rescue the twins - this was made before his on-screen persona became set as a comic parody of a dirty old man. It seems mildly odd now to watch him performing a straight role as one of the heroes in a children's film but not because there is anything wring with his acting. Other cast members included Lionel Jeffries and Barbara Windsor (long before she was famous). Roald Dahl and Ken Huges did the screenplay.
Perhaps the most memorable part of the film is Richard M Sherman's wonderful music and lyrics.
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