Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Original Soundtrack
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Richard M. & Robert B. Sherman
Label: MGM Soundtracks
Magazine Review Date: 1/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 40
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: RCD10702

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang |
Richard M. & Robert B. Sherman, Composer
Dick Van Dycke, Singer Irwin Kostal, Conductor Lionel Jeffries, Singer Original Film Cast Richard M. & Robert B. Sherman, Composer Sally Ann Howes, Singer |
Composer or Director: Ernest Gold
Label: MGM Soundtracks
Magazine Review Date: 1/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 46
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: RCD10704

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World |
Ernest Gold, Composer
Ernest Gold, Composer Ernest Gold, Conductor Original Soundtrack |
Author:
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was another 70mm roadshow presentation. Filmed in Super Panavision and described modestly in the advertising blurb as “the most fantasmagorical musical entertainment in the history of everything”, this overblown adaptation of Ian Fleming’s charming story received a cool reception from the critics in 1968 but has since become a great favourite on television. The rather elementary score by the Sherman brothers pales besides their work for Mary Poppins (1964), and yet it all has a certain unassuming appeal thanks to the typically polished musical direction of Irwin Kostal and the sincere performances of Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes. The songs range from the jaunty high spirits of “Me ’ol bamboo” and the catchy title-song, to the more uncomfortably sugary “Truly Scrumptious” and “Hushabye Mountain”. Here, too, the remastering has spruced up the sound of the old LP.
While Rykodisc should certainly be thanked for this new series of reissues it is slightly niggling to see that they are marketing these discs as “Original MGM Soundtracks” complete with Metro’s famous Leo trademark. As many of the films in the series were distributed by United Artists some years before the company became a subsidiary of MGM, this description is a little misleading. Furthermore, unlike the lovingly researched series of true MGM soundtracks available through EMI in the UK, none of the Rykodisc CDs include any additional music. The only extras are largely redundant snippets of dialogue (Mad World also has brief but interesting comments from Gold and director Stanley Kramer) and, for computer buffs, a multimedia program. The packaging is also rather disappointing, for despite the inclusion of new notes and many stills, the large, unwieldy fold-out sheet that makes up the inlay is neither as convenient nor as practical as a booklet.
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