Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Best Film Ever?

Me too. The second set (the DVD set) from the left is really nice. I wish they would release a deluxe set like that on Blu-Ray with maybe the soundtrack.

 

...I was 8 or do when I saw it, and I had the soundtrack LP afterwards, IIRC. I liked - but I do remember being sorta " It's not like the book! " disappointed at the Ruritanian chocolate box of the movie's plot - Anyway, it wasn't like the book.
Had anyone here seen the stage musical remake of it that I guess followed in the wake of the Mary Poppins stage remake this century? I haven't, but I recall looking it up and noting that the a-straight-number-for-Leslie-Anne " Lovely Lonely Man " had been dropped from the stager! Just as " Sister Suffragette " was dropped from the " Poppins " stage...........
I recall songs from the CCBB soundtrack showing up being used on TV kiddie shows at the time! A ways ago, I found an album on Pandora by the New Christy Mistrels with Arthur Treacher gueststarring on it doing songs from the film!
Was there ever a licenced candy " Toot Sweets " candy on the market? Like there were " Wonka " candies, with a cartoonist, but pretty recognizable as Wilder, candies on the market into this century IIRC?
Didn't that famed " nasty " theater critic in New York, John Simon, get himself into disgrace/step into poo poo/get fired after he posted a RAVE! review of the CCBB Broadway musical, ironically, due to its " uncoolness "?

 

I was lucky to find the soundtrack on CD from Ryco. Now you can get it on vinyl.

 

Yeah, Van Dyke has apologized for this for years, but he insists that his vocal coach told him to speak exactly that way, and that even Julie Andrews (and the other dozen Brits in the cast) never spoke up and said, "hey, that's a lousy Cockney accent, mate!" Note that in Chitty, he just stuck with his real American accent, even though I believe the kids were Brits.

 

Funny - I was under the impression "Chitty" had a pretty dedicated legion of fans and was well-regarded.

I thought it looked good but was slow and not very interesting. In my review, I state that this opinion "might be in the minority", so I had some awareness that it was a beloved film.

I guess!

 

Dave liked it..........

 

It's up there.

 

Everything is discussed here....the movie....the accent....damn, I miss this show!

 

Any Film with Benny is a good film!

Am I the only one who always expects Little Jackie to pop out from somewhere so he can slap him on the head?

 

If he had hopefully they would have had him zip up his fly!

 

I've seen it. I'm wondering why it wasn't called Zzhh Zzhh Bang Bang, because that much more accurately describes the sound the car made.

I suppose it was passable, but another movie set in the same time period and also dealing with old cars was The Great Race, which preceded CCBB by a couple of years. That one is much more satisfying.

 

We should do a song-by-song analysis & discussion of the soundtrack in the Music Corner forum ! Like they do for Rubber Soul and all those Monkees albums! It’ll be fun! OK, who’s with me?!? Let’s do it!

 

I remember being taken to see this when I was very young. It wasn’t on first release, as I would’ve been too young, but it must have been around 1970/71 or so.

I can remember recognising Benny Hill as the Toymaker, as I’d seen him on television. I think that puzzled me at the time - ‘How come Benny Hill is being someone else?’

I enjoyed the film and had the toy car. When I’ve seen it since, I’ve been aware of two things -

1) it’s over-long and

2) the songs are seriously terrible (with the exception of Hushabye Mountain).

It’s a film that pitches itself squarely at children (as most children’s films did in those days) and ignores adults - which is a bit tough on the adults, who are paying and who will have to sit through the film (and in 1968, the nostalgia factor won’t have applied). It was not a success at the time and took decades to turn a profit.


Apparently, the director (Ken Hughes) really hated children. Heather Ripley (who played the girl) is now an environmental activist.

 

Just step aside Lawence of Arabia, Godfather, Citzen Kane, Tokyo Story. Make room for a real movie. With special effects, and stuff like that.

 

As did I, as a boy in Japan.

 

During these difficult and unprecedented times, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is just the movie to inspire us and lift our spirits! I’ve watched it three times just this last week. It gets better every time. So many special subtleties that become apparent to the careful viewer. A movie for our times!

 

I think my entire childhood could be encapsulated into the time spent waiting between the first time we saw the Mary Poppins trailer in TV ("Light up the sky...!")...and the time we waited for the film to reach my hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana, being told "we couldn't have it here" because the Cinerama theater in Indianapolis apparently had some exclusive rights to it, and Dad wasn't about to take a day off work to put three kids in a car and take them 75 miles down the road for a sugar-rush fantasy. Those were dark days, indeed.

On the other hand, I think my entire childhood and innocence ended, the day I first saw the trailer for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and the only vibe I got from it was, "Look kids - here's some more Mary Poppins for you....only without the Mary Poppins in it-!".

 

You are in dire need of closure from that awful childhood trauma. It’s not too late! Watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang On that $30k media center system of yours and you will be reborn!

 

Okay, you all heard it...Johnny Action is giving me a $30k media center system! You can feel free to send funds by PayPal via: as.if@yahoo.not

 

Great movie although the scenes with Lionel Jefferies were unnecessary. He added nothing but 30 boring needless minutes to the movie.

 

So instead of 145 minutes of horrid, vapid, mind numbing tedium, terrible acting, wretched "songs" & pathetically poor special effects, there would only be 115 minutes of the same? Either way I'll pass TYVM!

I mean, when even Benny Hill is wasted in this abysmal movie, there's just not a lot going for it!

 

Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: best film ever?

No, not for me I'm afraid. The beloved & I watched it again yesterday. As an adult it's clear that the best thing in the film by far is the wonderful Lionel Jeffries. God, I miss him....



The rest is passable but hasn't aged well at all, especially the songs. My grandkids won't entertain it.

 

Best film ever? No. Second best, maybe.

 

I saw it when I was really young and only remembered being scared sh$$less by the Child Catcher, though I didn't remember what he looked like or really anything else about the movie.

Fast forward 40 years--we decide to watch it with our kids. That Child Catcher scene happens, and suddenly my blood runs cold just like the first time and my then-7 year old screams at the top of his lungs and runs out of the room. Maybe not the best movie ever made but scariest kid villain for sure.

 

I was scared more when Chitty went over the cliff with her passengers. When she spread her wings & flew it was a magical moment for me. The music is something I am very impressed with too.