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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

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• Adventure
• Family

• 1968
• Ken Hughes
• 139 mins
• U

Summary

Musical fantasy starring Dick Van Dyke. An inventor restores a clapped-out racing car with the help of his eccentric father and two children. They christen it Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and, much to their surprise, the vehicle turns out to have magical powers.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Jeremy Aspinall

When this splendid musical was released in 1968, it was unfairly compared with Disney classic Mary Poppins, not least because of its lacklustre box office. Not a surprise as this adaptation of the Ian Fleming novel shared Poppins star Dick Van Dyke, a super sing-a-long score by the Sherman brothers and a picture-book Edwardian setting. However, director Ken Hughes's fabulous family film about eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts (played by an ebullient Van Dyke) and his onomatopoeically named flying car has its own merits: toe-tapping songs (Me Ol' Bamboo, Toot Sweets, the title song); a script co-written by Roald Dahl; glorious sets (by Ken Adam); and a top-notch cast including Benny Hill, Lionel Jeffries and Goldfinger himself Gert Frobe, as well as an unforgettable baddie in Robert Helpmann's nightmare-inducing Child catcher. OK, it's epic in length and the Potts children may be cutesy but it still looks fantastic and is pure evergreen entertainment.

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7.0/10

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Streaming

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• Sky Store

Credits

Cast

rolenameCaractacus PottsDick Van DykeTruly ScrumptiousSally Ann HowesGrandpa PottsLionel JeffriesBaron BomburstGert FröbeBaroness BomburstAnna QuayleToymakerBenny HillLord ScrumptiousJames Robertson-JusticeChild catcherRobert HelpmannJemimaHeather RipleyJeremyAdrian HallBlondeBarbara WindsorChancellorStanley UnwinCogginsDesmond LlewelynCyrilArthur MullardInventorMax WallSecretary, sweet factoryRichard Wattis

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Crew

rolenameDirectorKen Hughes

Details

Theatrical distributor

United Artists Corp. Ltd

Released on

1968-12-17

Languages

English | English | German | Latin | French

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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