Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Super Summer Theatre Review
Really - How Tin You Not Like This?
A delightful fantasy for the whole family unit to scout. There actually is something for everyone here. A cartoonish story with "comic book characters" like the "Child Catcher" (Robert Helpmann) and "Businesswoman Bomburst" (Gert Frobe) that the kids will love, and some marvelous vocal and dance routines from Sally Ann Howe as "Truly Scrumptious" and Dick Van Dyke every bit the inventor "Caractacus Potts" that the grown ups volition marvel at. I never realized until I watched this flick every bit an adult what a marvelously talented human being Van Dyke is, merely his dance scenes are admittedly astonishing (especially "The Old Bamboo" operation at the funfair.)
The story is imaginative. A flight car whisks Truly and Caractacus, along with the 2 Potts children Jeremy and Jemima (Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley respectively) off to the fictional kingdom of "Vulgaria" (where children are forbidden) to rescue eccentric Grandpa Potts (played admittedly perfectly by Lionel Jeffries), who has been kidnapped by Bomburst in the mistaken belief that he's the inventor of the car. This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and you accept to retrieve like a kid to spotter it and appreciate it as an developed. Until today I had never actually seen the moving picture unedited, and I found it just a delight.
It's true that there are weaknesses. Although Dick Van Dyke put on a marvellous functioning, he ironically seems totally out of place with his American accent. I truly can't figure out how Caractacus' father can take a British emphasis, and Caractacus' children can have British accents, but Caractacus himself has an American accent? Information technology'south something you wouldn't notice as a child, just equally an adult I found information technology somewhat distracting. Also, Hall and Ripley didn't blow me away (I know - give them a suspension; they were just kids. All the same, I've seen ameliorate performances from children that age.)
But why nitpick. Suspend disbelief, call back like a kid, sit dorsum and enjoy the ride.
8/10.
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If you want some entertainment, await no further than this!
The but criticism is that at 2 and a quarter hours it is probably as well long, I personally could take done without the spies, whose antics were rather silly rather than funny. Mind it is only ii minutes longer than Mary Poppins, which I also beloved. Films similar Mary Poppins, Sorcerer of Oz and this were my childhood favourites, and if you want some entertainment in a musical, look no further than this. It has a witty script, anything the Grandfather says is enough to fissure anybody upwards and Gert Frobe every bit the Vulgarian king is hilarious. The songs are unforgettable, and beautifully staged, the car looks glorious and the performances are first-rate. Dick Van Dyke is brilliant here. Personally I think he was amend than he was in Mary Poppins. Sally-Ann Howes is beautiful every bit Truly, and she has a beautiful vocalisation(patently she has perfect pitch) Dissimilar some people, I idea " Lovely Lonely Man" was lovely, and the imagery was equally if you were in a fairytale. Lionel Jeffries is really entertaining as the Granddad, I couldn't believe he was younger than Dick Van Dyke. The children can't sing, but they can act and are beautiful. Finally, Robert Helpmann'south child catcher, competes with Tim Curry's Pennywise in It as the scariest character on motion picture, and I genuinely mean that. This picture show is cute with fabled costumes- Howes never looked lovely than in her stunning white dress in "Lovely Lonely Man" and sets(peculiarly the castle and Truly'due south garden), a must run into. nine.5/ten Bethany Cox
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Stunning and amusing tale near a flight car and the family possessor with a sympathetic Dick Van Dyke
This exciting children musical displays derring-do chance, romance , thrills and spectacular frames with phenomenal production pattern . Imagination and fantasy with primitive but effective special effects galore including a mesmerizing photography with wonderful , marvelous landscapes . The flick gets lots of bombastic effects including flight machines , globes , romantic castles and numerous images take yous on the edge of your seat . This is the nearly Fantasmagorical musical entertainment in the history of everything . In the early 20th century England, a weird inventor named Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke who steals the testify as likable dancer and excellent player) works in his rare artifacts , he lives forth with his as rare father (Lionel Jeffries) , and his ii little boys named Jeremy (Adrian) and Jemima (Heather). When the kiddies beg their daddy to buy for them thhe wished plaything , a broken car sitting at a local junkyard , a garage whose possessor is George Coggings (Desmond Llewelyn) . Then eccentric Caractacus does whatever he can to make some money to purchase it. One program to raise money involves the unexpected assistance of a beautiful girl they have only met named Truly Scrumptious (a pretty young woman well performed by Sally Anne Howes), the daughter of a candy factory wealthy owner (James Robertson Justice) . Using his magic skills, inventive Caractacus turns the piece of junk into a marvelous working auto , an astonishing flight car that besides navigates which they name Chitty Chitty Blindside Blindside because of the dissonance the engine sounds . At a seaside picnic with his children and Truly , Caractacus and Co. spins a fanciful tale of an eccentric inventor, his gorgeous new friend , his ii children, and his favorite car named Chitty all in the faraway state of Vulgaria. The nasty Baron Bomburst, the king of Vulgaria, will practice whatsoever he can to get his hands on the magical car. Then the villain Baron Bomburst (Gert Frobe) married to Baroness Bomburst (Anna Quayle) robs the machine of ours friends . The baron has made kiddies illegal, being pursued by the sinister child catcher (Robert Helpmann) including the unsuspecting children of a stranger inventor of a fabulous car . Afterwards on ,Caractacus helped by a toymaker (Benny Loma) have to attempt and salve the kiddies of Vulgaria.
This children picture show mingles musical numbers , flat jokes , noisy activity , flying car pursuits , sense of humor with tongue-in-cheek, rip roaring and lots of amusement . This is an entertaining film loosely based on volume by Ian Fleming and well adjusted by Roal Dahl , it packs fantasy , musical numbers which both pastiche and subvert adventure and speculative fiction of the menstruum ¨Belle Epoque . The film incorporates contemporary activeness film as well as much utilize of gamble to portray its fanciful elements , furthermore visual furnishings inside the grade of the older-style films they have largely superseded . Riveting for its casting , just overall , roller-coaster spectacle . Most of the charm and wit remains from original story in this item version . It results to be an amusing of somewhat aloof , storytelling of children classic with a magnificent star bandage at its best . Stimulating adventures of ours protagonists are complemented by a breathtaking last attraction in the castle scenes . The film is a Dick Van Dyke recital , he sings , dances, stooges, makes acrobatics, tongue twister and pulls faces and grimaces . It's a farce with the master comic pretty amusing and with several choreography and musical numbers . Ideal main cast is completed by phenomenal secondary actors as Lionel Jeffries , James Robertson Justice , Benny Loma and Desmond Llewelin , amidst others. Atmospheric , lively score by Irwin Kostal , fitting splendidly to adventure and musical numbers , including the archetype leitmotif . Colorful and glamorous cinematography by Christopher Challis in Super Panavision 7o with the fantastic château scenes filmed in Neuschwanstein Castle, Hohenschwangau, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany . The film is lavishly produced past Albert R Broccoli ,James Bond's producer, and brilliantly directed past Ken Hughes . He's a good author, producer and director, who accomplished large time when fabricated ¨Cromwell¨, ¨Trials of Oscar Wilde¨ , ¨Casino Royale¨ and of course with ¨Chitty , Chitty Bang Blindside¨.
This is a highly agreeable and frequently funny action-gamble romp with a witty script specifically aimed at a kiddies' audience , though excessive songs exit adult spectators a bit seasick . Flick is a vehicle Van Dyke , he's an authentic comic and real Farceur. If yous like Dyke's crazy interpretation , you will most definitely enjoy this ane . Well worth watching for passable special effects and an enjoyable performances from principal cast every bit the children volition like it.
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Exceptional film that's vastly under-appreciated
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is a 70mm picture show; a modernistic audience tin't see it on Television today and truly understand why it was a hit in 1968, and remembered and so fondly by united states 40-50ish adults. If you saw information technology on a wide screen in 1968, like I did as an 11-yr-old at the Astro Theatre in Omaha, it was delightful and overpowering. The dark theatre, the glow of the screen, the wonderful scenes of the English countryside during the day and as the sun set, the magnificence of the newly-refurbished erstwhile automobile as information technology is wheeled out of the nighttime garage accompanied by a swell of the evocative theme music, and the panoramic view of Neuschwanstein Castle, left an impression on me that lingers today. This is a film that cries out for wide screen theatre re-release, and if it were we'd take a whole generation of children who would fall in love with it again. Tiny, box-like megaplexes accept stolen a lot of the grandeur from the film-going experience, which is a terrible loss to united states of america, the film-going public.
While I unremarkably agree with most of his reviews, I'one thousand going to take trigger-happy exception to Leonard Maltin's review of this picture (equally I exercise with his inexplicably bad review of the fantastic 1980 picture show "Popeye"). This film has an outstanding score that I've remembered for 32 years, and splendid special effects that fit very much within the timeframe of the picture show, which is why they are done the way they are done. The score is by Richard and Robert Sherman, who create songs just equally memorable equally they did 4 years earlier in "Mary Poppins." The championship song and main theme take stayed with me all these years, and I sometimes find myself singing information technology for no apparent reason. "Posh" is a comic masterpiece and Lionel Jeffries was a perfect choice to sing it. "Hushabye Mountain" is a lovely lullaby, and "Chu-chi Face up" is hilarious. "Me Ol' Bamboo" is an wonderful, energetic production number akin to the Chimney Sweep song in Mary Poppins, and "The Roses of Success" has long been a favorite of mine. And the duet between Van Dyke and Howe when they posed every bit a marionette and music box dancer, respectively, is just virtually my favorite part of the moving picture.
Dick Van Dyke is perfect as the inventor; Emerge Anne Howe is a lovely singer and a competent actress, but doesn't have the screen presence Julie Andrews does. That's the only detriment to the major casting of the film. Gert Frobe and Anna Quayle are delightful standouts as the evil and spoiled King and Queen Bomburst; their time on screen is far too brusk. My only quibble is that the film is a trifle too long, and ane of the before musical numbers could take been cutting. Other than that information technology's perfect.
This is a nifty picture that deserves to be seen by anybody in the mode it was intended - on a wide, wide screen in glowing 70mm with stereo sound. If you've never seen it in that fashion, y'all're missing an essential movie experience.
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Bring Back the Musicals!!
Alert: Spoilers
I wrote earlier about Willy Wonka being one of the films I watched thin at my grandparents' house. Chitty was the other. I actually wish the musicals would come dorsum. So what if they were unrealistic and kitsch and blah apathetic apathetic? They were also beautiful and uplifting, dissimilar all the apocalyptic, chainsaw-slashing trash today. Call me nostalgic, but I miss the innocence and but outright FUN. People sneer at naivety today, but I cannot honestly recollect a happier time than that. Simply I digress....
Chitty was a spectacular fantasy about a poor family lead by an insanely inventive patriarch, Caractacus Potts (crackpot- become information technology? haha). The inventions are really fun to watch, the songs are catchy and well sung (Toot Sweets is my favorite) and I ever wanted a machine simply like Chitty. I thought Sally Anne Howes was lovely as Truly (thought i never got she was truly scrumptious until much subsequently). Dick Van Dyke is a fav., though I was ever wierded out since everyone only him had British accents. I guess he got raked too hard for his whole Burt-accent-disaster. The Rat Catcher was bang-up! "And all complimentary today..." what a fabulously creepy guy.
Great songs, bully acting, beautiful scenery, fancy and fun- what more could yous mayhap want from a picture show?
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At present available as "special edition" DVD ... become get information technology.
Well it's been two years since I last posted a review for this pic... I have merely purchased the "Special Edition" version mainly considering at last there is a wide-screen DVD version now bachelor! This was one film that suffered very greatly from a standard T.V format transfer ..... Now in wide-screen,it is possible to see the cinematography equally it was intended to be viewed from the original Super Panavision format,fifty-fifty though there is still some "enhanced" format alteration to bring information technology into line with sixteen:ix ratio and luckily information technology was shot in Technicolor,which was easily the best counterpart colour system around. Perspectives tin at present exist seen every bit intended and the beautiful sets and the trip the light fantastic routines look vastly better... you can actually run into all the dancers ! Take for instance one scene in Caractacus Potts windmill laboratory,where he shows Truly Scrumptious one of his inventions with which he intends to transmit "pictures and sound".....in the standard format half of the shot is missing then the machine cannot be fully seen and it makes no sense.. however in broad-screen you can see the "picture show" and also the whole motorcar; so at present you tin relish one of Emmet Rolands fantasy motorcar creations in full. All through the movie the scenery and sets are fix upwardly framed with objects in the foreground and back footing which lend to perspective and depth of the prototype. The audio track seems also to have been worked on .. in previous releases the children's voices seemed to "squeak" but now they sound much more natural. Y'all tin can come across how much we have been missing with previous releases and it is a lot. The Special Edition also has some featurettes on the making of the moving picture and other related information plus a lovely booklet as well.
Every bit to the movie itself .... it has never lost information technology's magic for me. I see reviews which pan the musical numbers or say it's besides long or that
after seeing it as an adult they were disappointed from what they retrieve as a child ... but is that not the point ? It is a movie for children and/or those adults who can still view it remembering the kid in themselves. It has no coarse language , no mindless violence (except the pantomime diversity).. no cynicism ...but fun. In short information technology is a type of movie that Hollywood can no longer make because they no longer know how ... so it should be treasured more than for information technology. People criticize Dick Van Dykes "American" emphasis only I detect it not intrusive at all ... in fact he would probably have been meliorate off using his normal vocalisation in "Mary Poppins" than attempting the cockney accent which he plainly had some difficulty with.
Kids love this movie .. allow them be the judges.
Give thanks-you Cubby Broccoli ..nosotros miss you. Thank-yous Ian Fleming / Roald Dahl / Richard Maibaum and Ken Hughes. Thank-you Ken Adam ... a genius in design for Chitty.
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James Bond goes to Romper Room
I'g one of many xxx-somethings that grew up on this movie and later suffered nightmares featuring the Child Catcher. To this day, I still feel an uneasy arctic when I hear the words "kiddie-winkies". Bit I still love this film on several levels. I loved information technology as a child because it's keen movie house for children. I dear it as a motion-picture show educatee because it's a well-crafted, timeless fairytale. And I love it as an adult considering it total of suggestive double meanings, much similar the Warner Bros cartoons of the 1940s - the type of things that shoot direct over kids' heads and make adults snicker knowingly. With a screenplay penned past Ian Fleming, this should come up as no surprise.
Dick Van Dyke is Caractacus Potts, a wacky inventor who inexplicably lives in England with his 2 inexplicably English children. Caractacus Potts...wacky inventor,,,go it? Hoo hah! Potts and his ii children (whose pictures may be seen in the dictionary next to the give-and-take "moppet") live with the senior Mr. Potts in a windmill/labratory. Caractacus rescues a junked car from rusting in a field and restores information technology to new - see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, named for the sounds the car makes. Shortly thereafter in i of those Pipi Longstocking-esque kid-bundled dates, Potts and his two children go on a picnic with local richgirl Truly Scrumptious - possibly the best Bail Girl name since Pussy Galore. As the day winds downwards, Potts tells the children a story, in which the foursome commence on a great chance in the resplendent Chitty Chitty Blindside Blindside which Potts as rigged to fly, bladder, drive itself, and perform other plow-of-the-century Batmobile-like functions.
Our heroes cease up in a far away kingdom ruled over by the Baron and Baroness Bomburst (Gert Frobe and Anna Quayle), a terribly sorry identify where children have been outlawed, rounded up, and kept in a dungeon. The gang and Chitty invade the kingdom to rescue Potts' father, who has mistakenly been identified every bit the inventor of the flying automobile and kidnapped. In that location, they befriend a toymaker (played past Benny Hill in one of his stock characters from his Idiot box prove) who hides the children while they endeavour to bound grandpa Potts. Enter the Kid Catcher, who lures the children with free lollipops and takes them away to the dungeon. Potts and the toymaker (who now but makes toys for the kid-like male monarch) hatch a plan to infiltrate the castle, rescue the elderberry Potts and the twin moppets, and free all the other children also.
I have two favorite scenes in this picture show. One is the musical number in the castle, where Truly and Potts are disguised as huge toys for the Baron's birthday. Truly is a wind-up doll on a music box, and Potts is a marionette who does a dance number that not only convinces you that he actually is on strings, just that Dick Van Dyke is one of the most talented performers e'er to be caught on film. My other favorite scene, I admit with guilt, is the one where the Businesswoman and Baroness are readying themselves for bedtime, and prancing around the room in nightclothes calling each other by ultra-gooey-cute pet names. Nevertheless, whenever the Baroness isn't looking, Businesswoman Goldfinger takes a swing at her with an axe. Information technology's the most entertainingly erotic scene in a kiddie picture show since Natalie Wood was covered in foam pies while wearing only frilly turn-of-the-century underwear in "The Great Race".
This film is a rare treat. It's a picture that appeals to kids and keeps adults interested at the same fourth dimension. Let your kids lookout it, picket information technology with them, or merely lookout information technology yourself when you're in the mood for some pure, escapist fun.
And try not to think about the Child Catcher when you lot go to bed afterward.
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Surprised folks wouldn't like this delightful film!
It surprises me that some people recollect this is a horrible flick. I was iii when this film was released and for as long as I can remember I've loved it! The songs are fun, specially Hushabye Mountian, Chu-chi Face and Me Ole Bamboo. This pic is both low-cal, cheery as well as dark and creepy, the Child Catcher to this day is one of the scariest villians I know! And know it is a fabulous musical in London! Hopefully someday information technology volition come to Broadway, I'd love to come across it on stage!.
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This is a timeless archetype that out-Disneys Disney.
Plain and simply, this is one of the best family films always fabricated. The fact that someone other than Disney made the moving picture seems to have blinded some pundits (due east.g., Disney scholar and moving-picture show critic Leonard Maltin) to its many and varied charms. For "Chitty," in fact, originated in the book by James Bond creator Ian Fleming and, horror of horrors, was produced outside Hollywood past Albert Broccoli, the human behind the successful Bond film series. Yet, a closer look at the credits reveals the presence of the same musical composers, the much-heralded Sherman Brothers and Irwin Kostal, who could exercise no wrong when they wrote for Disney, simply somehow left their talent backside when they signed on with Mr. Broccoli. (Note Maltin's comment in his 2007 moving-picture show guide that the pic'due south score is "forgettable.") The same obviously happened with the choreographers Dee Dee Wood and Marc Breaux, who are universally acclaimed for their work on "Mary Poppins," but ignored, at to the lowest degree past Maltin, for the snappy and often elaborate routines in "Chitty." In fact, the songs, groundwork music and dances here are as expert or improve than anything in Disney and oft actually advance the plot, rather than grinding it to a halt in the more customary manner. A case in point is Caractacus' "Former Bamboo" song and dance routine, which provides non simply an instantly memorable tune (and dance), but likewise the fiscal means to salvage Chitty from the fleck heap. The cast itself is nothing brusque of superb, with American comic actor Dick Van Dyke wisely eschewing whatsoever endeavor at an English language emphasis, something many of u.s.a. wish he had done a few years before in "Poppins." (In a 1998 advent on the Rosie O'Donnell show, the self-effacing Mr. Van Dyke acknowledged his limitation in the surface area of English accents.) The actors playing the children are a genuine delight, charming and sincere without existence cloying, while the supporting cast is filled with more marvelous British character actors than one tin count, not the least of them being Lionel Jeffries (actually six months younger than Van Dyke, whose begetter he was playing) and comedy legend Benny Hill in a rare straight role. And if that's not enough, there's ever the scene in which Goldfinger himself (German player Gert Frobe) sings and dances! Then there is the merely stunning cinematography by Christopher Challis, the marvelous costumes past Joan Span and Elizabeth Haffenden, and the fantastic production design by Oscar-winning designer Ken Adam, whose loftier ceilings and sloping walls are instantly identifiable from such classics as "Goldfinger" and "Dr. Strangelove." And unlike "Poppins," which is inexplicably praised for its obvious studio recreations of London streets, this film actually goes on location--and then some, showcasing truly magnificent settings in southern England, France and Germany (including the fabulous, fairy-tale Neuschwanstein Castle). Maltin and others accept complained most the picture show'south special furnishings, calling them "the shoddiest always." What they are talking about is the blue screen traveling matte shots in which the magical motorcar was optically placed in front end of separately-shot picture show of a heaven groundwork. And I agree that several of these shots are "obvious" to moving picture students who know how they are achieved. Simply, again, look at what is overlooked. The car itself, which undergoes several conversions for air and sea travel, is an amazing mechanical special effect designed and built by John Stears. Stears, of course, won an Oscar for the SFX on "Thunderball" and would go along to win another for a niggling motion-picture show chosen "Star Wars." Simply never mind, what could he know about special furnishings? Oh, did I mention that the screenplay was co-written by Roal Dahl, someone who just might have known a thing or two about children'southward stories. Just plenty. This film is truly scrumptious from the start frame to the concluding, a timeless please for anyone but Hollywood film critics.
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not at all chitty
With a little trepidation I saw this later on many years and was surprised how enjoyable information technology still was. The critics seemed to hate it especially the songs but having just watched "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" which the critics all love, I'll accept "Chitty's" songs every time. It must be a generation matter. For a ii and a half hour film I wasn't bored for a second, although the scenes with the baron's two spies were a error and seemed to vest to a unlike flick. At to the lowest degree half the songs are classics that every "kid" of my age know instantly. Some of the humour is quite dark and the child catcher is withal rather frightning. Information technology's a children's classic that has been treated very unfairly over the years. (I've just found out that Lionel Jeffries is actually half-dozen months younger than his son!!) (8/10)
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50 years afterwards and my kids dear it
It's fifty years-onetime this year and it withal hit the mark. I watched this with my eldest son when he was about vi and he loved it. But, I simply forgot about information technology equally time went by. He'southward 14 now. I put information technology on last nighttime for my other two kids, who are 10 & 5, well they loved it. Watched information technology again the very side by side solar day. My teenage son even sabbatum in and watched it too. They sing the theme vocal at present while driving. The simply bad betoken to me is that it's a very long pic and information technology tin seem a piffling slow at times. Probably non a bad matter to a child though, mine never complained. They asked questions about "the olden days" as it's onviously prepare even many years before it was made. I loved the questions and the insight into a different time of story telling. He movie was at least 25 years old when I saw it and it seemed old to me then. Merely I loved it. Great movie. Don't exist turned off thinking kids won't similar it compared to modern child and family unit movies. Information technology's dated but that's not a bad thing.
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Dick van Dyke as an inventor flight high in his dreams and taking everyone with him
This is all the mode a glorious and sumptuous feast for the eyes, with lots of entertainments, dancing and music on the way, it reminds both of "Mary Poppins" (simply Julie Andres is msissing hither), and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", every bit Gert Froebe is back equally yet another flatulent and ridiculous German original. The music is non as good as in "Mary Poppins", only the motion-picture show manages all right anyway, particularly because of the wonderful imagination, bringing even George Meliès and his visions back in fantabulous update. This is a film to whole-heartedly savour the whole manner, and even the cinematography is impressing, to a higher place all in the sequences filmed about the Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria. Here is besides the merely actually terrible character of the film, Robert Helpmann as the Child Hunter, a nightmare character like taken direct from 1 of the Grimm brothers' most horrible tales. James Robertson Justice and Lionel Jeffries as the two old war veterans also add to the charm, the whole story is set in 1909, and everything is quite realistic from that epoch, returning again the idyllic times before there were whatsoever world wars ruining the best of worlds. In brief, a perfect enjoyment for all times.
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Just not enough musicals similar this anymore!
Subsequently 36 years this moving picture is all the same loved by young children who see it. My eight and 3 year old girls just dear this movie and information technology's songs. Dick Van Dyke has done an absolute wonderful job putting out great quality movies for Disney and others. Sally Ann Howe sounds smashing and personally I prefer her over Julie Andrews anyhow.
Anyway, if you have not e'er seen this film and even if you don't have kids, it's very entertaining! My favorite part is when Caracus Potts and Truly Scrumptious pretend to exist toys for the Baron and practise a prissy vocal and trip the light fantastic. The tune is just great!
I recollect as a kid the Kid Catcher scared the crap out of me. Robert Helpmann played this role very well. Who needs Freddy Kruger and all that gore anyway!
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Good just information technology should have been smashing.
Is "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" a classic? I don't know. Information technology'southward almost a classic, I guess. I've been watching this moving-picture show all of my life. It is a beautiful moving-picture show to wait at. It'due south filled with smashing songs. It has very solid performances (for the about part). And so what is keeping it from "classic" status? Its length. It's way too long. Come on, the opening credits get on over 6 minutes. Although "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is notwithstanding a skillful moving picture, it's also the kind of pic that you recollect being better than it actually is.
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Great Comic and Fantasy Moving-picture show
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was 1 of those films from my childhood that I never outgrew. Every song, every outrageous comic moment tattooed itself on my memory and my eye. I love this film. It's funny, information technology's touching and information technology'due south beautifully made. True, it'southward not for the cynical or for those who want realism. For those, all the same, who seek gamble, comedy, not bad songs and most of all fun this classic 60's musical delivers it all in peachy fashion. A truly fun family flick, although very small children may not exist able to sit notwithstanding through the entire movie (even with the Intermission). CCBB volition ever be at the meridian of my favourite picture show list. Do yourself a favour if yous like fun musical comedies and see Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes do some truly scrumptious work.
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Fantasmagorical !
Based on the novel written by James Bond creator Ian Flemming, this delightful fantasy charts the journeying into the mysteriously childless earth of Vulgaria by Caractacus Potts, his two children, Truly Scrumptious and super motorcar Chitty Chitty Blindside Bang.
I recall the main thing that makes this picture piece of work so well is that it has a little of everything to make a successful family film. Tricky tunes at every turn, a fairy tale kingdom awash with colour, bonkers applied science, and a little slice of wickedness involving class stardom. Dissever very much into two halves, Chitty at its core is really about forming a complete family unit. We are introduced to Caracatus {Dick Van Dyke} who is a single begetter, who is doing his best to enhance his two children with moral fortitude. It's thru the children's honey of an old rusty car that Chitty Chitty Blindside Blindside is born, and after pretty lady Truly Scrumptious {a gorgeous Sally Ann Howes} comes into their lives, all four of them enter the second half of the movie later having firmly capturing the audience's attention with a firming promise of a family in waiting.
The 2nd half of the motion-picture show then whisks us far away into fantasy territory. Vulagaria is ruled past crackers toy obsessive Baron Bomburst {Gert Fröbe in wonderful salary sandwich mode}, he has banned children, and naturally he has his sights set firmly on the magnificence that is Chitty Chitty. Bomburst sends out his child snatcher to nab Caracatus'southward kids in the hope of bargaining for the special motorcar. The child snatcher played by Robert Helpman is equally iconic as he is terrifying, wonky hat and pointy nose he lures children in with promises of sweets and treacle tarts, he thus became the invader of many a child's poor nightmares for certain.
Merely this is a family flick after all, and certain enough this first-class ride speeds to a joyous finale that is cloaked in colour and feel expert eccentricity, yes, Chitty Chitty Blindside Bang notwithstanding works on repeat viewings. 8/10
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The Movie that ALWAYS Brightens my solar day!
Warning: Spoilers
This motion-picture show is one of the greatest musicals of all time. The flow and movement of the story and interweaving of the gorgeous music is something I never become tired of. I recollect viewing this motion-picture show equally a child and reading (and being much surprised that the author was none other than "oo7" himself, Ian Fleming!). The expansion of Mr. Fleming's novel is merely Scrumptious. Dick Van Dykes' portrayal of the eccentric inventor is just wonderful. Ilove information technology when he dances with the troupe at the carnival, stealing the evidence forth with the fantastic dancers/singers who accompany him. The lullaby he sings to the children is one of my all-fourth dimension favorite songs...information technology is so poignant and brilliantly written. Susan Ann Howes' role as Truly Scrumptious was delightful and when she is a music box ballerina she just melts my heart....
In that location is so much I could say about "Chitty Chitty Blindside Blindside" but my recommendation is just to sit back with a pocketbook of Spicy Nacho popcorn (My personal favorite) and enjoy!
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Absolute archetype!
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of those classic films that will never get sometime. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Emerge Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Heather Ripley, and Adrian Hall. The plot centers on a father, his two children, a woman the begetter likes, and a car the begetter has invented. The car tin can float on h2o, and wing. The cars ability to do these things of class leads to the adventurous aspect of the movie. This movie really does a bully chore at being funny, very adventurous, musical, and throwing in some romance in likewise. It has skilful balance. The whole family will admittedly adore this flick, I grew up watching this moving picture and take always loved it. The musical numbers are highly entertaining, the characters are very likable, the take chances is engaging, and the chemistry betwixt the actors flows effortlessly. I suggest watching this as a family if y'all have children. It'southward just more fun this way. 10/x for Chitty Chitty Bang Blindside.
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The Best Fantasy Moving picture of All Time
I have a bias. This film charmed the freckles off me when I was x. I fell in LOVE with it, a beloved that continues to this day. When I went to Germany, I visited Neuschwanstein castle, not considering of Ludwig 2 or Richard Wagner--but considering of this motion picture! Information technology's perfectly bandage, with brilliant, astounding music, and a pattern that knocks your socks off. There's only one moment where the magic languishes: when the picnic at the beach is almost over.
It'due south one of those films that, frame by frame, only get better with each subsequent viewing--because information technology's and so rich and deep. Dick Van Dyke was never better. Sally Ann Howe is perfect. Gert Frobe, Sir Robert Helpmann and Anna Quayle are by turns menacing and hilarious, the script by legendary Roald Dahl is mesmerizing and the art direction is breathtaking.
Yet, this movie about the beloved of a magical automobile may appeal more than to boys than girls.
No wonder they've fabricated a stage musical of this. The simply mystery is why it took them so long!
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One of the best children'south movies ever made
My two sons (now 4 and 2) have been obsessed with this movie for over a year now. They sing along to the songs and dance too - when old bamboo comes on, they choice up their sticks and hats and copy the routine. This is similar an extended pantomime, with the scariest pantomime baddie in the history of movies. My blood brother couldn't sleep for a week after first seeing the childcatcher when he was 8. Anyway, this movie has everything - humor, pathos, great acting (and great casting), nifty songs and a groovy script (thank you Roald Dahl). I cannot mistake this movie apart from the fact that it is a piddling long and the bit where they go off to vulgaria is a bit overextended. My family has now been to see the stage show twice likewise, and we are all business firm "blindside bang" nuts. If your kids have not seen this movie, then they haven't had a proper babyhood!
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My Babyhood
One of the greatest children's films ever, it is function of my upbringing and I still sentry it as an adult, it still looks great.
Fabricated by the same team who did the James Bond movies using the same quality techniques, and the original story written by the same author Ian Fleming, and although not true-blue to information technology, the screenplay was written by Roald Dahl and is first-class.
The interim was superb, well almost, Dick Van Dyke refused to exercise an English accent, because of the complaints he received subsequently doing one poorly in Mary Poppins, so it was odd that an American was the son of a British soldier, only otherwise was groovy, particularly as the Mannequin doing a dance, Sally Ann Howes was great as Truly Scrumptious, and has the near cute singing phonation, apparently they wanted Julie Andrews, but for me Emerge'due south performance was always better, more beautiful and is a more superb vocalist, so they landed well with her. The kids did Ok, expert interim for children of their ages, although Heather Ripley did not go along interim and Adrian Hall who did a bit of TV, shortly stopped also, but they were lovely.
The excellent support and cameo actors did great, Robert Helpmann (an Australian Dancer) was brilliant as the Childcatcher, 1 of the scariest performances for children, always! With Benny Hill, Lionel Jeffries, Anna Quayle, James Robertson Justice, Barbara Windsor, Desmond Llewellyn, Gert Frobe (both of 007 fame), Arthur Mullard, Davy Kaye, Victor Maddern, Peter Arne, Max Wall and Stanley Unwin all contributing well in their Cameos.
Management was splendid, although the director Ken Hughes did not appear to like his chore, he did it well and the scenes and photography are cute, using authentic (although information technology is a fantasy) locations in England, Austria and Germany.
My favourite scenes are Benny Colina Toymaker/The Childcatcher in the High german Town of Rothenburg-ob-de-Tauber, the Children invading the Castle (Schloss Neuschwanstein), Charactacus Potts inventions in his house, Lionel Jeffries singing in the exterior toilet as he dips into the sea, and the Mannequin dance in the castle (apparently washed in 1 take), although really every scene is dandy.
One of the best, if not the all-time, Children's Fantasy movies, delight don't spoil it and make a sequel or re-make.
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Hard to dislike
Charming, but incredibly unfocused. Starts very sweetly and promisingly. However, from a betoken it takes one bizarre random turn subsequently another. Even so very sweetness and innocent, only devoid of a plot (surprising, considering the screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, based on an Ian Fleming volume). The random scenes needn't have been so irritating if director Ken Hughes had just kept them to a minimum, as the residuum of the movie is groovy. Yet, the fairy tale sequence goes on for an eternity.
Good performances past Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes in the pb roles. The kids, Heather Ripley and Adrian Hall, are great too. Good back up from James Robertson Justice. Interesting to see Benny Hill in the fairy tale sequence - one of the few highlights of that part.
Music is so-so. Some songs were downright cringeworthy.
Overall, the charm and innocence more than make up for the random plot, and information technology would exist very difficult to dislike the picture. Kids volition dear information technology.
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Null better than aged whisky, even ameliorate Scotch
Warning: Spoilers
They don't brand them like that anymore. A real double feature with intermission music and go out music, the outset part catastrophe in some catastrophe and the second part starting with the aforementioned catastrophe that turns upside down into a miracle. But information technology is a lot more than that.
This musical is for children and it has all the characteristics that were considered normal in those days, I mean some forty years ago or and then. Music of course, squeamish songs of grade, but besides the myth of the car, paid for the Ford Corporation or company, and the perfect family with a male child, a girl and a dog, with a grandpa and an unmarried begetter and of course a beautiful young lady near by.
Only the story goes far beyond and during a trip to the beach, the father starts telling a fantastic story that unveils itself as if information technology were true in the main story. It will exist called a dream, information technology will be called some kind of a tale, fairy tale maybe, and that sounds a lot better than the "mise en abyme" of the Hollywood effete snobs. And it is a lot better for children who love stories within stories inside stories, and in this case there are probably four or five, one inside the other, that come out like Jacks in the box and open up like Russian dollies, some Matryoshka full of surprise and the whole Bulgarian situation to which the children are captured, the grandfather is deported and the father and his immature lady friend are baited and attracted is such a Russian dolly with the village and then the castle and in between several layers of prisons, dungeons and hush-hush inescapable labyrinths.
At each corner of these tunnels and corridors y'all accept more dangers and dangerous soldiers or wardens than yous may even count. It is a country where children are forbidden and when in that location is i or more, they are captured and deported to some concentration camp where they grow abroad from the sun and adults till they die.
So from pirates nosotros jump to a barbarous king who is a child who has never matured and only wants toys to play with and real soldiers to play war as if they were some can soldiers. Then the master objective becomes the liberation of the children, of the village and the getting rid of this immature king who should have been institutionalized a long time ago. Merely in a way, in his ain perverse way, he is funny and the tale will grab him up and send him back to real life under the identity of some Wall Street entrepreneur or speculator.
We fifty-fifty forget the whole affair is a love story with the two children choosing their future mother and manipulating their father into marrying her. But exercise they know what they are doing? They seem to live on what was a norm in those days that a son and a daughter could not grow up if they did non have a father and a mother, without forgetting a dog and a house with a garden. And I forgot: they take to exist poor at first and become rich in the end.
Information technology is definitely a precursor or pioneer of both Indian Jones and Back to the Future, though watching it in our modern world is like going back to the past when the dream was a real dream and the fun of the movie theater was not competing with the humdrum never ending fun of Goggle box and of course the even worse virtual bathroom in which we are soaking if not drowning all the time, the Net and the Cloud. As for flying in the clouds, this auto is sure expert, as adept at least every bit the car of the Crazy mad scientist of Back to the Futurity.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
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A family archetype somewhere between "Mary Poppins" and "Willy Wonka", from the people who brought you James Bond
I know that I was exposed to CHITTY CHITTY BANG Bang (1968), at least to some caste, as a child. There were certain things I remembered. The flying car, of grade. The creepy kid catcher. The mechanical doll sequence. But I'm non certain I ever sat through the entire motion picture, as I had no real recollection of the story. So my recent viewing was practically like seeing the picture for the start time.
At well-nigh ii and a half hours long, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG is an epic of a family unit film, and it covers a lot of ground. The first forty minutes or and then are a bit wearisome, every bit we spend fourth dimension getting to know the main players. Dick Van Dyke is a penniless Rube Goldberg-type inventor raising two children. Lionel Jeffries is the eccentric begetter/grandad, late of the British regular army. Sally Ann Howes is the well-bred daughter of a candy tycoon. We become to encounter some of Van Dyke's kooky inventions and there are extended sequences at a candy manufactory and a carnival. This early portion of the pic is underwhelming.
The movie really "starts" once the fantasy story kicks in. Van Dyke fixes upwardly an former racing car and takes the kids out for a picnic. Subsequently a pleasant 24-hour interval at the beach, Van Dyke spins a tale that then becomes the narrative of the film. Fantasy and reality are blurred as Van Dyke and his kids (and Emerge Ann Howes, and Lionel Jeffries) are pursued by those who covet the fancy new car of the film'due south title. In this fantasy, the automobile can both float on water and fly through the air, thanks to Van Dyke'southward genius. The take a chance takes our heroes to a small-scale kingdom ruled past Gert Fröbe (GOLDFINGER - 1964) where children are forbidden.
The film actually picks up with the switch to fantasy. It's a delightful take a chance with some fun comedic $.25 and slapstick antics. And the songs are great, including "Posh!", "Chu-Chi Face", "Doll On a Music Box", "Truly Scrumptious", and of form the triumphant theme "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".
The story is total of imaginative spark. Flying motorcars. Zeppelins toting shacks beyond the sea. Villainous barons who ride over-sized toy horses. It's a fairy tale land. Something out of a dream. The two bumbling Vulgarian spies are a anarchism. They get-go announced disguised every bit cowl vents on a ship deck. Their comedy is nigh cartoony in style.
Lionel Jeffries, often bandage older than his true historic period, gives a spirited performance. Information technology is his best-known role. Emerge Ann Howes is lovely and has a cracking singing vocalism. Dick Van Dyke shows off his talent for physical one-act in a marionette routine. Fröbe'southward Baron is a blustery Bavarian buffoon, humorously inclined to wife-icide. Robert Helpmann's sinister "Child Catcher" is unforgettable and has been known to induce nightmares.
CHITTY CHITTY Bang BANG has an interesting pedigree. The script was co-written past children's author Roald Dahl ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"). The movie is based on a novel by James Bail scribe Ian Fleming, and was produced by Albert Broccoli of the 007 films. Regular Bond collaborator Ken Adam was in charge of production blueprint, and the cast too features Bond veterans Gert Fröbe ("Auric Goldfinger") and Desmond Llewelyn ("Q"). Songwriting brothers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman were hired to duplicate their success with Disney'due south MARY POPPINS (1964), which as well starred Dick Van Dyke. (In fact, a couple musical numbers in CHITTY recall Van Dyke's powerhouse "Step in Fourth dimension" number in POPPINS.)
All this background makes CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG a peculiar film. A family classic somewhere betwixt MARY POPPINS and WILLY WONKA, from the people who brought you James Bail.
While good family unit fun, CHITTY CHITTY Bang Blindside does non reach the distilled perfection of MARY POPPINS. That before film had garnered all sorts of Academy Award recognition, winning five Oscars out of 13 nominations. But CHITTY is beloved by generations of moviegoers. The direction seems weak or messy at times, and the story and performances didn't do much for me out of the gate. Just once the adventure starts, the movie settles into place. The songs of the Sherman Brothers are memorable and sure characters and scenes get out an impression.
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A timeless 60s musical starring Dick Van Dyke
Alarm: Spoilers
I haven't seen this movie in years every bit I seen information technology on TV as a little girl. Today I got information technology on DVD and watched it. The flick is about an eccentric inventor(played past Van Dyke)who is a widower with ii children. His two children spots an sometime banger that was fix for auction by another human being so his two children come across a woman named Truly(played by Emerge Ann Howes) who offers them a ride domicile as they were suppose to go to schoolhouse.Meanwhile their father ends up getting the car instead of the other man who wanted to buy it simply didn't after and then he builds it out of the new again and it turns from being a Grand Prix machine into a magical flying motorcar that flies and enters a whole new earth by using their imaginations. For example Mr Potts imagines Pirates almost a beach that they visit and other magical creations that they imagine.
Overall packed with corking songs including the title song Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from the same composers that gave united states of america Mary Poppins and starring a great set of actors this is one feel good musical that we don't normally go anymore in cinema history. If I had whatever complaints about this film its gotta exist the running fourth dimension which is a whooping 2 hours and 45 minutes long. As well the songs to their credit are skillful but they are sometimes in ane ear and out the other. But having said that its a timeless classic that anybody must sentry or own on DVD to add to their film collection. Emerge Anne Howes reminds me of Julie Andrews as sometimes I thought it was her as she has the aforementioned accent and mannerisms as her. Dick Van Dyke was great as the over the top inventor Mr Potts who has to heed his two children on his own and befriends Truly afterwards on in the film who joins him and his children in his new invention with the old banger.
Proceed an eye out for Barbara Windsor who was in Eastenders as Peggy Mitchell and also in some of the Carry On films.
My overall rating is a nine/10. Archetype
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Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062803/reviews
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