The Great Race (1965)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers:

Arthur A. Ross (screenplay)
Blake Edwards (original story) ...

Release Date:

1 July 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Musical | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

THE GREAT LAUGH SHOW OF ALL TIME!

Plot:

Comedy about an early 20th century car race across three continents.

Plot Keywords:

Car | Race | Pie Fight | New York | Automobile

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Jack Lemmon	...	Prof. Fate
Tony Curtis	...	The Great Leslie
Natalie Wood	...	Maggie Dubois
Peter Falk	...	Max
Keenan Wynn	...	Hezekiah
Arthur O'Connell	...	Henry Goodbody
Vivian Vance	...	Hester Goodbody
Dorothy Provine	...	Lily Olay
Larry Storch	...	Texas Jack
Ross Martin	...	Rolfe Von Stuppe
George Macready	...	General Kuhster
Marvin Kaplan	...	Frisbee
Hal Smith	...	Mayor of Boracho
Denver Pyle	...	Sheriff
William Bryant	...	Baron's Guard

Also Known As:

Blake Edwards' The Great Race (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

160 min | Spain:146 min (DVD edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (RCA Sound System) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

South Korea:All | USA:Approved | Spain:T | Norway:7 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Six Hannibal-8 cars were built for the movie. Three of these used the "lazy tongs" lifting mechanism. This mechanism was so fragile that it broke constantly.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene on the beach in the tent when Leslie and Maggie DuBois drink champagne, Leslie puts on a phonograph record of "The Desert Song." The film is set in about 1908; "The Desert Song" did not premiere until 1926.

Quotes:

Maggie DuBois: You mean amazing because I'm a woman.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Home Improvement: The Great Race (#2.25)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

The Sweetheart Tree

Lemmon's most underrated role

Now I've read most of the comments on this film and while I might agree with some of the more specific comments regarding the looser and less plausible plot in the last third of the film and that Natalie Wood might have been more of a contribution and less of a distraction, these are moot points. The film is funny, enjoyable and a great tribute to the heyday of silent villains and heroes in a way that doesn't overdo it. Curtis' flashing smile, Wynn's turn-of-the-century mechanic character, the harried and frazzled O'Connell as Goodbody, and especially Falk's on-again, off-again sycophant/lackey/nobody's fool Max are memorable and fun. But as much as I like the main movie, my fave bits are the early scenes in which Professor Fate, always in black and macabre emblems, tries to outdo the stunts of the gleaming white, perfect and popular Great Lesile Gallant III. The stunts are fun, witty and totally unbelieveable. The plane pickup, the rocket train, the garishly painted torpedo with a mawkishly wonderful gramaphone speaker on top are priceless Victorian images of a time that we all imagine existed but never really did. Lemmon is a gem as Fate, right from the great use of his eyes under thick brows and black hat, to the spooky house in his own Munster's décor to the crème de la crème, the Hannibal Twin 8 race car. That car is a masterpiece of mechanical and artistic design. I wonder where it is now. Even the sound it generates in the film, that sinister and harmonious hum are perfect for Fate's élan.

What I've never understood is why I never heard more of Lemmon's comments on this film. It had to be fun to make and work with Curtis, but the role of Fate is so underrated. You never see it mentioned in Biography or any anthologies of Lemmon's work. I still roll in peals of laughter at his dizzy 'Let's see the Great Leslie try THAT one on for size...' as he passes out in the mud. Or when Max breaks off the moustache in the freezing storm, and all you see is Fate's astonished look of shock followed by a sideways glare that could cut glass. The last part of the film, the entire Prince Hapnik and Potsdorf sequences are less than helpful, and they really aren't needed, despite a record pie fight, but it does serve to give Lemmon another role, diametrically different from Fate. Again he uses his eyes and his voice to great effect. `Baron Rolf von SHTUPP!!'(Any relation to Lilly von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles?) With perfect timing. I mean it. Try it some time and you'll never match that unique panache which Lemmon displayed. All in all, a wonderful and fun film. No deep message, just good turn-of-the-century atmosphere, great gags and lively dialogue. Enjoy, and don't take it too seriously. After all, it's not PEARL HARBOR, is it? **** our of **** for me.