Coate: In what way was Ken Hughes an ideal choice to direct?
Cork: Ken Hughes was a delightful director. He had worked for Cubby Broccoli on a number of lesser-known films in the Warwick Films days, including Jazz Boat, and, more importantly, The Trials of Oscar Wilde, a film Cubby Broccoli dearly loved, and one that broke his heart. With Trials, Hughes showed he could mount a big-budget, lavish film. When Hughes became involved in the 1967 Casino Royale, many might have thought that he would have been blackballed from working on a film produced by Cubby Broccoli. Nothing could have been further from the truth. But Hughes was also a writer, and he took over Roald Dahl’s script, which Dahl said many times he wrote only for the money. According to Hughes, by the end, he wrote “every fucking word.” Somewhere, Richard Maibaum entered into the mix, because he and Dahl were both credited on the film. Regardless, Dahl and Hughes are on-record as saying that Hughes was most responsible for the script that was filmed, and neither liked the other much. Dahl was in the uncomfortable position of complaining that he didn’t much like the job, that the final script was a mess, and that he was not being given enough credit in the film’s publicity (including not being invited to stand in the reception line at the Royal Premiere). It is like the person complaining that the food at a restaurant is terrible, and the portions are too small. Nonetheless, he received screen credit, and most believe that Dahl must have come up with the iconic Child Catcher, a point Hughes disputed in interviews after Dahl’s passing.
Regardless, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a Ken Hughes film. If Dahl wasn’t invited to meet the Queen, it was because Hughes didn’t want him there. And if the script and tonal changes in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were a mess, it was because Hughes thought they worked. All that said, Hughes did a great job of putting the camera where it needed to be, of capturing the Disney-esque perfection in each shot, of exploiting Ken Adam’s brilliant sets, and maintaining a sense of exuberance in what is at best a mediocre script for which he can take the blame.
Coate: How does the movie compare to Ian Fleming’s novel?
Cork: Fun fact: it takes less time to read the original book than it does to watch the film! The book takes place “modern day” (early 1960s). Spoiler alert: the book does not end with everyone finding out it was all a dream. There is also no love story. Caractacus Pott (in the novel there is no “s” on the end of his last name) is a former Royal Navy man, with the rank of commander, just like James Bond, but he is also happily married to a largely silent wife name Mimsie. And it is certainly implied that Commander Pott has a British accent, which Dick Van Dyke does not attempt in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
There are many similarities, but somewhat like comparing the novel You Only Live Twice to the film version, stacking up the two is a frustrating experience. The book, hardly longer than a short story, has a delightful spirit of adventure that builds on itself quite nicely. The movie is set in some abstract Edwardian Poppins-esque universe, and seems a mishmash of bits inspired from the book, or the Bond films, or Mary Poppins, or The Great Race, or The Sound of Music. Yet, its charm comes from its lack of focus. It is a Dagwood sandwich of a film; too big, messy, but surprisingly tasty.
Coate: Where do you think Chitty ranks among 1960s era musicals?
Cork: The songs in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang are every bit as wonderful as Mary Poppins, but tough to rank on the level of The Sound of Music or Oliver!. I would put it solidly in the middle of the pack.
Coate: What is the legacy of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
Cork: Did you ever see Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds? The Jew Hunter is the World War II version of the Child Catcher. Deadpool references the Child Catcher. The Child Catcher has been parodied in commercials and on television shows. He is one of the great characters of 60s family movies. That kind of popular culture resonance is a key part of the legacy.
The car, of course, with the various incarnations of it being purchased by a variety of celebrities, including director Peter Jackson and Top Gear host Chris Evans has remained iconic.
Yet, one of the film’s greatest legacies is the West End musical adaptation that played from 2002 until 2005, which somehow proved to be far more coherent and emotionally engaging than the film. The intimacy of the stage setting, and the remarkable illusion of the car taking flight over the audience, combined with an excellent adaptation, new songs, and delightful choreography brought new life to the film story.
Potentially the most lasting legacy was the collective impact on movie musicals. The lack of any major break-out hits in the 1967-69 crop of big-budget, roadshow musicals basically killed the genre. Movies were moving from old grand palaces situated downtown to multiplexes built like boxes on bypasses in suburbia. The screens were smaller and the stories more intimate. Even as musicals bubbled up here and there, the roadshow experience was withering. Film studios did not want to wait for months for touring films projected in 70mm with reserved seating to make back their money. They tired of taking bloated movies that stumbled as roadshows and cutting them down to fit the needs of exhibitors (The Happiest Millionaire, for instance, saw its runtime cut from over 160 minutes on the roadshow release to 118 minutes for wider distribution). Chitty Chitty Bang Bang did not suffer that fate, but its failure, along with the less-than-remarkable box office of Battle of Britain (produced by Cubby’s Bond partner Harry Saltzman) focused the minds. Cubby and Harry, two very different men, realized that whatever magic touch they had with Bond might not translate to other films. They decided, no matter how much each might get under the other’s skin, to dive back into the world of 007 with gusto.
Saltzman would go on to dabble in many other ventures, some with financially devastating results. Albert R. Broccoli, despite a few half-hearted attempts, would never producer another non-Bond film.
Coate: Thank you, John, for sharing your thoughts about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
IMAGES
Selected images copyright/courtesy 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, CBS-Fox Home Video, MGM Home Entertainment, United Artists Corporation, Warfield Productions. Roadshow ticket stubs and program from the collection of Robert Morrow.
- Michael Coate
Michael Coate can be reached via e-mail through this link. (You can also follow Michael on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)
