Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [G]

Caractacus Potts is a broke, eccentric inventor and the proud father of Jeremy and Jemima, two loveable children who spend their time playing in the junkyard with an abandoned racing car. When a nasty dealer intends to buy their car and melt it down, Caractacus raises the money to buy the car and sets to work transforming it from a rusted mess into an amazing polished car that not only works on land, but flies and floats as well. Together with his children and his lady friend, Miss Truly Scrumptious, Caractacus and his car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, embark on a great adventure filled with pirates, castles, and wonder. 

Although it’s a classic and the Oscar nominated title song will never get out of your head, I’m still in two minds about whether or not to add this to my collection. I’m a keen collector of the classics, but Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has to be one of the silliest, albeit entertaining and fun, family musicals of all time… 

Caractacus Potts is a broke, eccentric inventor and the proud father of Jeremy and Jemima, two loveable children who spend their time playing in the junkyard with an abandoned racing car. When a nasty dealer intends to take the car and melt it down, Caractacus raises enough money to buy the car and sets to work transforming it from a rusted mess into a polished car that not only works on land, but floats and flies as well. Together with his children, grandad, and lady friend, Miss Truly Scrumptious, Caractacus and his car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, embark upon a grand adventure filled with castles, pirates, and wonder. 

For the first half of the film, you’re sitting there going “this is really stupid”, but by the time you reach the second half, you’re laughing at how over-acted and monumentally silly the entire film is. I think that’s where the real entertainment comes through. 

I’ll admit that some of the songs are lovely and memorable, particularly the title song which I have literally had stuck in my head for a week now, but ultimately, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was a strange and very camp sort of musical that didn’t really have a strong story, a clever script, memorable musical sequences, or even admirable acting. It was really just sort of there… fun, but there. 

I think the most memorable part of the film was the “doll act”, and that’s really about it. I’ll admit that the costumes were sparkly and glamorous, and I was rather transfixed by the elaborate styles of Truly’s hair, but even the slightly amorous Dick Van Dyke, didn’t really do much for me. 

Starring Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Frobe, Anna Quayle, Benny Hill, James Robertson Justice, Robert Helpmann, Heather Ripley, and Adrian Hall, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was a fun, but ultimately silly family musical that was filled with kidnapping, action, songs, extravagant costumes, romance, “magic”, and adventure. I’ll admit that it was fun-filled and I did enjoy watching it, but I think it’s one that you can only come back to when the mood grabs you, once every couple or so months.