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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968 film)

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This about the film. For the stage musical adaptation, see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical).

Chittyfilm

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical adventure film based on the book by Ian Fleming.

Cast[]

Singing roles[]

Non-singing roles[]

Plot[]

Set in the 1910s, the story opens with a montage of European Grand Prix races in which a particular car appears to win every race. In the final race, the car swerves to avoid a girl and a dog, loses control, crashes, and catches fire, bringing its racing career to an end. The car ends up in an old garage in rural England, where two children, Jeremy and Jemima Potts, have grown fond of it. They are told by a junkman that he intends to buy the car from the garage owner, Mr. Coggins, for scrap. The children (who live with their widowed father Caractacus Potts, an eccentric inventor, and his equally peculiar father) implore their father to buy the car before the junkman does, but he does not have the money. While playing truant, they meet Truly Scrumptious, a beautiful upper class woman with her own motorcar. She brings them home to report their truancy to their father. Truly shows interest in Caractacus' odd inventions, but he is affronted by her insistence that his children should be in school.

One day, Caractacus discovers that the sweets produced by a machine he has invented can be played like a flute. He tries to sell the "Toot Sweets" to Truly's father, Lord Scrumptious, a major confectionery manufacturer. He is almost successful until the factory is overrun by dogs responding to the whistle. He takes his automatic hair-cutting machine to a carnival to raise money, but it accidentally ruins the hair of a large, angry customer. He eludes the man by joining a song-and-dance act, accidentally stealing the show; he earns enough in tips to buy the car. Potts rebuilds the car in his own eccentric way, using such materials as an old boat hull and a chimney breast. He nicknames the car "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" for the noises its engine makes. In the first trip in the car, Potts, the children, and Truly go for a picnic on the beach, where Truly becomes very fond of the Potts family and vice versa. Caractacus tells them a tale about nasty Baron Bomburst, the tyrant of fictional Vulgaria, who wants to steal Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for himself.

As Potts tells his story, the quartet and the car are stranded by high tide, and find themselves under attack by pirates working for the Baron. Chitty suddenly deploys huge flotation devices and transforms into a power boat, and they escape Bomburst's yacht and return to shore. The Baron sends two comical spies to capture the car, but they briefly capture Lord Scrumptious then Grandpa Potts, mistaking each for the car's creator. Caractacus, Truly, and the children see Grandpa being taken away by airship, and they give chase. When they accidentally drive off a cliff, Chitty sprouts wings and propellers and begins to fly. They follow the airship to Vulgaria, and find a land without children; the Baroness Bomburst abhors them and imprisons any she finds. Grandpa has been ordered by the Baron to make another floating car, and he bluffs his abilities to avoid being tortured. The Potts' party is hidden by the local Toymaker, who now works only for the childish Baron. Chitty is discovered and taken to the castle. While Caractacus and the toymaker search for Grandpa and Truly searches for food, the children are captured by the Baron's Child Catcher.

The Toymaker takes Truly and Caractacus to a grotto far beneath the castle, where the townspeople have been hiding their children. They concoct a scheme to free the children and the village from the Baron. The Toymaker sneaks them into the castle disguised as life-size dolls for the Baron's birthday. Caractacus snares the Baron and the children swarm into the banquet hall, overcoming the Baron's palace guards and guests. In the ensuing chaos, the Baron, Baroness, and Child Catcher are all captured. The Potts and Truly fly back to England. Jeremy and Jemima finish the story themselves: "And Daddy and Truly were married and lived happily ever after!" Truly seems to find this suggestion appealing, but Caractacus is evasive, believing that the class difference between them is too great. When they arrive home, Caractacus is surprised to find his father and Lord Scrumptious playing a lively game of toy soldiers. Scrumptious surprises him with an offer to buy the Toot Sweet as a canine confection. Caratacus realising that he will be rich rushes to tell Truly the news. They kiss, and Truly agrees to marry him. As they drive home, he acknowledges the importance of pragmatism, as the car takes to the air again.

Musical numbers[]

  • "You Two" - Caractacus, Jeremy and Jemima
  • "Toot Sweets" - Caractacus and Truly
  • "Hushabye Mountain" - Caractacus
  • "Me Ol' Bamboo" - Caractacus Potts and Chorus
  • "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" - Caractacus, Jeremy, Jemima and Truly
  • "Truly Scrumptious" - Jeremy, Jemima and Truly
  • "Lovely Lonely Man" - Truly
  • "Posh!" - Grandpa
  • "Hushabye Mountain" (reprise) - Caractacus and Truly
  • "The Roses of Success" - Grandpa and Inventors
  • "Happy Birthday" - Baron
  • "Chu-Chi Face" - Baron and Baroness
  • "Doll On a Music Box/Truly Scrumptious" (reprise) - Caractacus and Truly
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