Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Original MGM Motion Picture Soundtrack [Enhanced CD]
When Bond film producer Albert Broccoli decided to adapt 007 creator Ian Fleming's most disparate work (a series of children's books inspired by his dislike of Beatrix Potter's work), he hedged his bets by hiring many of the talents who'd made the Bond series a mega- success: actor Gert Frobe (title character inGoldfinger); famed production designer Ken Adam; and children's author/screenwriterYou Only Live TwiceRoald Dahl. Broccoli teamed them with three of the musical stars (the songwriting Sherman Brothers and actor-singer-dancer Dick Van Dyke) who'd help make Mary Poppins one of the '60s' most successful screen musicals.The result often strayed from Fleming's original plot, and it was only a modest success at the time of its release in 1968. However, its charms have won over successive generations, largely by the Sherman Brothers' Gilbert-and-Sullivan-for-the-knee-sock-set sophistication.--Jerry McCulley