Today Cinema Sunday goes back in time to 1968 for a movie musical with a most unusual pedigree. Based on a book written by Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, here is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
The film features songs by Robert Sherman and Richard Sherman, the song writing brothers who contributed music to many a Disney film including Mary Poppins.
And speaking of Mary Poppins, the movie stars Dick Van Dyke. The producers were keen on also casting Julie Andrews but politely declined.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is not a Disney film. It looks and sounds like it almost could be a Disney film but not quite. It's a bit off from the Disney style.
A lot of that off kilter not quite Disney vibe can be attributed to Roald Dahl who co-wrote the screen play. While director Ken Hughes claimed to have re-written the whole thing, there are clear and distinct Roald Dahl touches to anyone familar with Matilda, James & the Giant Peach and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Odd self absorbed adults with no patience for children and even the good grown ups are not exactly recognizable as mature, responsible adults.
Which brings us to Dick Van Dyke as inventor Caractacus Potts, the single father of two children, Jeremy and Jemima, who run around the countryside unattended and are fed by their father's Rube Goldberg devices because otherwise, he stays distracted by whatever invention has absorbed his attention for the last five minutes.
Caractacus is a very clever man but perhaps too clever for his time in the early 20th century, inventing various things that the science and technology of the era has not quite caught up to.
Caractacus does love his children and when Jeremy and Jemima plead with him to restore a wrecked car they found in a junkyard, a Grand Prix racing car that crashed and burned in 1909, well, Caractacus feels he owes the kids some attention. And turning a nothing wreck into a something car is a challenge that is hard to refuse.
And turn it into something he does as Caractacus transforms the broken, burned twisted metal wreck into a sleek and functioning car.
It's not without it's quirks as the engine makes peculiar noises like "chitty-chitty" and "bang-bang".
Hence the refurbished automobile is dubbed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
The kids are more than impressed with this vehicle and it goes a long way to impress the young heiress, Truly Scrumptious.
Yes, you know this was something written by Ian Flemming when the adult female lead is named "Truly Scrumptious".
Earlier in the film, Truly has been a bit contemptuous of Caractacus Potts,the lack of safety and practicality of his inventions, his lack of focus and his apparent lack of attention to his children.
Seeing Caractacus actually succeed in building something that really works in the form of a sleek and shiny Grand Prix roadster and spending time with his kids does something for Truly Scrumptious that makes her heart go all "chitty-chitty" and "bang-bang".
So Caractacus, Jeremy, Jemima and Truly take a drive in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to spend a perfectly glorious day at the beach. It is ever so delightful.
Seeing a boat on the horizon, the kids ask their dad to tell them a story which Caractacus obligingly does.
And this movie we've been in so far becomes a different movie.
On that boat is mean, nasty Baron Bomburst, the tyrant of fictional Vulgaria and he wants to steal Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Oh no! The fiend!
Well, this mean, nasty baron will not get his paws on this beloved car today as our heroic quartet escapes the baron's boat when Chitty Chitty Bang Bang expands a pontoon boat underneath the car and sails away over the ocean out of the evil car grabber's grasp!
But nasty Baron Bomburst will not be denied as he sends pirates onto shore the steal the car on land.
The pirates succeed only in spiriting away the children's Grandpa, Bungie Potts who the pirates mistake as the inventor of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But our heroes are in pursuit!
But WAIT! Tragedy! That pursuit takes Chitty Chitty Bang Bang over a cliff!
And we pause for intermission.
Yes, this movie has an intermission.
And we're back!
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang goes over a cliff....
And flies!
This fantastic magical car flies Caractacus, Jeremy, Jemima and Truly to Vulgaria where children have been outlawed!
What a terrible, joyless place!
So it's up to our heroes to stop mean, nasty Baron Bomburst to save Grandpa Bungie Potts, rescue the exiled children of Vulgaria and protect Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
With the children of Vulgaria free once more and Granda rescued, our intrepid heroes fly off in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...
Back to the beach where Caractacus finishes his story.
Caractacus dismisses any possibility a future together with Truly because he's poor and she's rich which she takes offense at.
Don't worry about these crazy kids. It all works out in the end as Truly agrees to marry Caractacus as the film ends with the two love birds driving off in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Which takes to the air once more.
And we've reached... the end.
The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Dept.
Benny Hill whose burlesque British comedy show was syndicated to America back in the 1970's appears here as the Toymaker, forced to make toys for the baron since kids are outlawed.
Desmond Llewelyn who appeared as "Q" in dozens of James Bond films appears as here as Mr. Coggins, the junkyard owner where the rusted burned out wreck of the Grand Prix racer is first seen.
Also from the Bond films is Gert" Fröbe as Baron Bomburst. Fröbe was Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond film Goldfinger.
The story behind the story of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is that it was a bedtime story that Ian Fleming made up for his kids. While recovering from a heart attack, Fleming turned that story into a book. He wrote the book in long hand; as he was recovering from a heart attack, he was supposed to be resting and not working so his family took away his typewriter.
Overall, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a delightful confection of a movie, perfect for children but adults can enjoy it too for Fleming's Bondian influences and Roald Dahl's patented subversions of the tropes of entertainment for children.
And how can you go wrong with a fantasy musical with Dick Van Dyke in the lead?
I recall seeing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when I was child and my mom had a record album of music from kid films that included this movie's theme song. We enjoyed listening to that record a lot.
And it was a pleasure to introduce Andrea to this film. It was just the perfect sort of movie for her.
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