The Rat Race (1960) User Reviews

Good comedy/drama on the hardships of survival in the big city...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 25 January 2007]

DEBBIE REYNOLDS and TONY CURTIS are excellent as two young people in 60's-era New York City facing adversity with street smart skills developed after abuse from thugs like DON RICKLES (a savage performance), and other so-called big shots.

Curtis takes pity on Reynolds and invites her to share his flat--but his luck fades when his musical instrument is stolen. True love blossoms as Reynolds tries to help him with lots of obstacles thrown in their way by assorted no-gooders.

Garson Kanin directed from his play and he keeps the action moving and the stylish backgrounds show New York City scenes that would make any New Yorker nostalgic for "the way it was".

A downbeat, sometimes bitter dose of comedy/drama that has so much energy and such appealing performances from Reynolds and Curtis, that you'll be drawn into it from the start. Well worthwhile.

A bit of strange casting, but still an excellent story about people

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 11 June 2008]

Why the producers decided to cast New Yorker Tony Curtis in the film, I just can't understand. Why would they cast him of all people considering he is supposed to be playing a guy from Milwaukee who gets lost in the big bad city of New York? With his very strong New York accent, it just didn't make sense. Listening to him, he sounded like he should have been perfectly at home in the Bronx or Brooklyn! Fortunately, the rest of the movie is so good that I really didn't mind the odd casting. In fact, Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds were excellent in the film--with acting and dialog that seemed pretty realistic. They both play "starving artists" who come to New York but find success is somehow always out of sight. I teach at an art school and would like to show this to my students so they can, perhaps, see what it usually is like on the slow road to making a living.

I also appreciated how the writers didn't allow the film to slide too far into sentimentality even though this was a romantic-comedy of sorts. That means when there can be a magical scene where things all work out perfectly, the writers chose instead to allow for a more realistic moment where things worked out,...somewhat. My favorite example was near the end when it appeared that Curtis' musical instruments unexpectedly re-appeared. This LOOKS like a "happily ever after moment" but there is a great twist--a twist that reminds us that in this film, just like in real life, Murphy's Law so often applies. To me, the real magic in the film is how despite all these setbacks and problems, the couple STILL manage to find each other and some shred of happiness. And, if you think about it, this is a great lesson for everyone.

A nice, romantic, funny but occasionally sad and cynical little film about life and little people.

By the way, look for Don Rickles in one of his earliest roles. He plays a guy who is amazingly creepy and cruel--quite a change from his later comedic roles. Also, the sweet guy behind the bar is Jack Oakie in one of his later roles

Great 1960 Film

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 18 March 2008]

Tony Curtis, (Pete Hammond Jr.) plays the role as a musician who plays a saxophone, clarinet and flute and he leaves Milwaukee, Wisconsin and heads to New York City to start out on his career. Pete has a hard time trying to find a cheap place to live and winds up sharing an apartment with a girl named Peggy Brown, (Debbie Reynolds) who is a dancer and singer and has lived in New York for a few years and is having a hard time trying to find a job doing what she likes. Peggy does work in a dance hall where men buy tickets for every dance and the establishment is owned by Don Rickles who is a very shady character who has a great interest in Peggy and has loaned her $600.00 and begins to want her to repay him in more ways than one. This is a great film because Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds and Don Rickles played very dramatic roles and they all gave outstanding performances. Veteran actor Jack Oakie, (Mac, Owner of Macs Bar) gave a great supporting role and also some comedy. If you have not seen this film, you are missing a great 1960 Classic, so keep an eye out for this film on TV. Enjoy.

Beautiful Squalor

[ivan-22 · 29 December 2000]

I loved this movie about two struggling young people and the friendship and love that grows out of those struggles. You won't find any glamour in this film, but it manages to be much more beautiful than many a movie oozing pearls, silk and mahogany. All characters are interesting, likeable and well-drawn. Rickles is fantastic as an uncouth, vulgar boss, the personification of a soul destroyed. Everything is just right. As usual, it is small movies that reach the greatest heights. I once saw screenwriter Kanin and his wife Ruth Gordon on "Donahue". I'm sorry I didn't take any notes.

Romantic Comedy? Not in my universe.

[pp312 · 7/10 · 7 February 2020]

I'm a little surprised that this film is described here as a 'tender romantic comedy'. I remember it as anything but. Yes, there's a romance, but much of it is an acerbic take on the hard underbelly of New York, as indeed you'd expect with a screenplay by Garson Kanin. The scene where Curtis is robbed of his instruments by a phony jazz group, then tries to pick them up from the Police storeroom only to get involved in a convoluted argument with a recalcitrant officer, is one of the most cynical takes on big city life that I can remember. Add that to the scene where Don Rickles forces Debbie Reynolds to strip to her underwear because she can't pay a debt, then says to her, "Now...do you get the point!" and you've got anything but a tender romantic comedy. I don't know, maybe I saw a different Rat Race to everyone else's. But I should mention that the one I saw had a very good dramatic score by Elmer Bernstein, so maybe Elmer and I both got it wrong.

New York, A Wonderful Town!

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 3 July 2015]

Tony Curtis is an ambitious young saxophonist who shows up in New York looking for a job. He's from Milwaukee. (!) He hasn't brought much money, only his instruments, and he's stumped when the Dixie Hotel (!) demands seven dollars a night for a room. (!) LOL. God, I loved New York City in 1960. As a young feller I was on a first-name basis with every one of its park benches in Washington Square.

Curtis manages to find a room for a few dollars a night in a boarding house run by a tough old broad. Oh, she's crust on the outside. But underneath that, she's a real softy. And underneath THAT, she's a real MEAN barracuda.

She finds a shabby room for Curtis by the simple expedient of throwing Debby Reynolds out because she's in arrears. But Curtis, a gentleman of the Midwest, offers to share the room because Reynolds has no other place to go and is one step away from becoming a working girl. Do they fight, you ask? Do they argue? Do they trade favors? Do they fall in love? You're kidding.

It was written by Garsin Kanin who knows the tough underbelly of the city. It began as a play and maybe that accounts for the extended talk fests involving Curtis and Reynolds. The viewer already knows what's going to happen the moment they meet. Neither is going to wind up in the booby hatch. This is not Tennessee Williams.

The writing is uneven. If Jack Oakie, as Mac the bartender, was any more avuncular it would have launched me into a series of clonic spasms. But when Kanin gets the right actors in the right scene, he wins every time. Take Don Rickles, as Reynolds' boss at the dance hall. Kids, a dance hall is a place where you can pay to enter and where lonesome men go to buy tickets to dance with the ladies. The most famous of them was, and maybe still is, Roseland, where I took an attractive young lady named Rose Brown. I don't remember what she looked like but who could forget that name -- "Rose" "Brown." Anyway, Reynolds doesn't make much money dancing with the drunks and the goaty customers, and she's in debt to Don Rickles, who is constantly urging her to "have drinks and a dinner" with a nice rich customer. Just be accommodating. In a completely unnecessary scene, Rickles forces her to remove most of her clothing.

Best scene in the entire film: Tony Curtis gets a chance to audition for a famous combo called The Red Peppers. He shows up, bringing all his four reed instruments, eager for a job. The group is a phony. After a bit of practice, they send Curtis out for beer and pretzels, steal all his instruments and his seersucker jacket, and exit through the window. It's heartbreaking but it's hilarious. The dialog is exquisite. The cynical leader of the group is played by Ed Bushkin, a well-known pianist and composer ("Just Look At Me Now"). And when the saxophonists toot, they really toot, making Curtis look like the tyro he is. Elmer Bernstein, who wrote the musical score, is a group member. Later on, Gerry Mulligan makes a brief appearance.

Both Curtis and Reynolds are professional performers and it shows. But they're miscast. Tony Curtis, born Bernie Schwartz in the Bronx, is a naive youth from Milwaukee? And Debby Reynolds is sexy in a dramatic role but she's too girlish. She has a piping high voice. She's just not convincing as a tough New Yorker, not here and not in "The Catered Affair." Somebody attractive but deeper could have handled it better, maybe someone like Patricia O'Neal.

It's not badly done, not insulting in any way, although it would have been nice to have more than just a few second-unit shots of Jack Dempsey's and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The comic interludes alone make it worth catching.

Surprisingly good and somewhat gritty story about making dreams come true

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 7 February 2015]

Well, this movie surprised me. I was expecting a light comedy. You know, Debbie Reynolds -- Miss "Bundle Of Joy". And then I find her playing a down-and-almost-out character in New York City who is on the verge of plying the oldest trade in the world to make pretty skimpy ends meet. And then, after she falls in love with Tony Curtis, she agrees to in order to get him money to buy instruments.

No, this is no comedy. It's a rather serious look at what some people will do to make their dreams come true, all the while just struggling to make it through. The ending is a bit of a let down...at least it was for me.

What's also interesting about this film is the cast. Tony Curtis as the small town sax player who hopes to strike it big in New York City. Reynolds as the hope-to-be model who is struggling in New York City. Jack Okie in a swell performance as the local bartender. A young Kay Medford as the landlady (it took me a while to realize it was her). Don Rickles in a truly despicable role. A relatively young Norman Fell as a telephone man. And in small roles, real jazz men Sam Butera and Joe Bushkin.

I recommend that...at least once. It's interesting, a little different, and not what you expect it to be.

The Country Mouse

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 24 November 2020]

Tony Curtis plays a saxophone player again (as in 'Some Like It Hot') in this adaptation by Gason Kanin of his own play which follows the same raw narrative arc as Chabrol's 'Les Cousins' and Visconti's 'Rocco and His Brothers' of the culture shock experienced by a kid from the sticks arriving in the big city, to be taken advantage of by the slickers.

With location work in New York and an unusual cast recruited locally (including musician Gerry Mulligan), the jazz milieu is also complemented by an appropriately surging score by Elmer Bernstein.

A hard luck story with soft edges...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 13 March 2008]

Rather thin drama, written by Garson Kanin from his play, stars Tony Curtis as a horn player from Milwaukee who arrives in New York City by bus, taking over the boarding room usually held by Debbie Reynolds, a down-on-her-luck taxi-dancer. The two meet and, seeing as there are two beds in the place, he proposes they share the room and help each other out. As the naïve musician, Curtis is convincing while fumbling about nervously with his horn cases, but the crucial moment when he realizes his roommate is really a cute little number doesn't arrive. Instead, the leads bicker-and-bond--and, we before we know it, he's writing her love letters. Reynolds has a good girl's version of tough down pat, though when boss Don Rickles calls her a "Goldilocks" he's not far off; this young woman is strictly a one dime-a-dance girl who would never sacrifice virtue for rent money. Kanin's script spends a lot of time on extraneous circumstances, particularly when Rickles makes Debbie strip in his office (nothing comes of this, not even a tart exit line). Curtis gets an audition which turns out to be a fake, yet the sequence seems designed only to plug a little music into the scenario, and it's a nowhere moment that doesn't pay off. Throughout, Elmer Bernstein's music seems heavy-handed, as does the writing for the supporting characters. Curtis and Reynolds are seen as a couple of struggling nice kids--not above stepping into the gutter, though not without total remorse. It's all a façade, an 'unglossy' glossy star-vehicle. **1/2 from ****

If I Can Make It There

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 25 October 2008]

In watching The Rat Race today, I was struck by the fact that this film did not lead to any more parts like the one she played here for Debbie Reynolds. She was quite a revelation as the girl who's been around the block a few times and just struggling to stay alive in that meat grinder called New York.

By the time The Rat Race came out, Tony Curtis was already being taken quite seriously as an actor with The Sweet Smell Of Success and The Defiant Ones behind him. But Reynolds was America's sweetheart, still basking in the sympathy of the American public when Elizabeth Taylor stole husband Eddie Fisher. She played good girl roles almost exclusively, but here she takes on a part that you would have more readily cast Elizabeth Taylor.

Curtis is from the Midwest and an aspiring jazz musician who comes to New York, but gets quickly victimized by a cruel city. Reynolds is a woman who is an aspiring model who does what she has to in order to survive. But that's coming to an end as landlady Kay Medford wants her money and thug Don Rickles who she's into wants something else and quick.

The two of them decide to move in together without benefit of clergy, something that was still quite daring with the Code firmly in place. It's strictly economic at first, but you know these two people living one step from the gutter would fall for each other.

The film was based on a play that Garson Kanin wrote and ran 84 performances in the 1949-50 season on Broadway. It starred Betty Field and Barry Nelson on stage and repeating his role from the original cast as a musician con man is jazz great Joe Bushkin.

Besides Reynolds the performance to really watch out for is Don Rickles as murderous hood Nellie. For those of you who think of Rickles as insult comedian to the stars, his performance will knock your socks off. He far more than Debbie was the real surprise here. Jack Oakie has one of his last roles as a philosophical bartender, serving drinks in the downstairs of Kay Medford's boarding house.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Debbie Reynolds might have taken this part to prove she had every bit the acting chops Elizabeth Taylor did. She certainly proved it to me and The Rat Race ranks as one of the best performances by either of the two stars.

A pleasant surprise.

[MOscarbradley · 7/10 · 29 August 2020]

"The Rat Race" began life as a Garson Kanin play and Kanin himself did the screenplay with direction duties going to an up-and-coming Robert Mulligan. It's a rom-com with a hard nose and a tough edge about a naive young saxophone player from Milwaukee, (Tony Curtis, very good), who comes to New York and finds himself sharing a room with an honest, hard-boiled taxi dancer played by Debbie Reynolds. The obvious happens but the writing, direction and acting, (Jack Oakie, Kay Medord and Don Rickles are in the supporting cast), are good enough for that not to be a problem. This movie is something of a charmer and Reynolds is the real surprise. It was probably the first time she had a good, meaty role and she's excellent making you wish she had been given more serious parts during her career. There's also some nice jazz on the soundtrack.

Not a pleasant film but very "effective" and very intriguing

[gollytim · 10/10 · 27 January 2006]

I was 9 years old when I first saw this movie, which was probably too young. I think it was the "B" movie accompanying "Bells Are Ringing" with Judy Holliday. To me (at that age), the movie was very grim, but mesmerizing. Main characters were extremely likable. You could not help but feel badly for Pete Hammond and Peggy Brown who were good folks but had to deal with such adversity. Watching the movie, one could not help but feel so badly for them (Tony Curtis' character for being trusting and having his musical instruments stolen, and Debbie Reynold's "hard" character (with a heart) for sacrificing to help Tony's character out and being abused by Don Rickles' character and his henchman.

Norman Fell and Don Rickles were very effective as the "heavies". To this day, I think of Don Rickles as "Nellie" in this film. I'm a Rickles fan, but can't make myself like him (smile).

Also love the NYC scenes, and film is almost nostalgic (NYC, the way it was in 1960).

Definitely a "must see". Great actors in their environment and in a past era. I have a VHS tape, but will order a DVD as soon as I log off :-) Tim

Not an encouragement for greenhorns.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 10 February 2024]

Naive baby adults need not arrive unless they have a suicide wish. This is the New York City of the late 50's, gritty and mean, where nice people become malcontents just to survive. Rude hotel clerks, punk kids, lecherous bosses and telephone men, cruel landlords and hard luck broads, just a few examples of whom newbie Tony Curtis meets on day one. He's completely miscast in this part as who'd believe the Harlem born actor with the thick New Yawk accent as an innocent sap?

His arrival at landlady Kay Medford's apartment building results in tough talking Debbie Reynolds being evicted but an agreement helps them share the apartment. One big mistake is not having a scene where Curtis tries to convince Medford to agree to it as she can't stand Reynolds. Curtis is a struggling saxophone player (and not in drag this time) while Reynolds is a dancer and model struggling to make ends meet.

On the contrast of all the mean New Yorkers is friendly bar owner Jack Oakie, heart of gold and free advice for every beer he sells. Norman Fell is the man taking out Reynolds' phone who is convinced to accept a date with her in keeping the phone connected, and Don Rickles is Reynolds' lecherous boss, a completely serious role, threatening to rape her. The actor playing the hotel clerk insulting Curtis right after his arrival is just the beginning of his cruel encounters.

As for Medford, she's not even the tough dame with the heart of gold. Her heart lost any trace of niceness years before this, and she's fascinating to watch, especially compared to her role as Streisand's mother in "Funny Girl". Rickles really lays on the villainy for a shocking role. A great montage has Curtis on a Greyhound passing through Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia before he settles in New York. The dark cynicism of the film is truly scary and Reynolds has one of her best dramatic parts. Too bad Curtis, as good as he is, seems so wrong here. For their only pairing, they're good together.

Sax Appeal

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 6 April 2008]

Midwestern saxophonist Tony Curtis (as Pete Hammond Jr.) arrives in New York City, seeking fame and fortune. Instead, he finds himself lost in "The Rat Race". Mr. Curtis quickly meets disillusioned Debbie Reynolds (as Peggy Brown). Ms. Reynolds works as a paid dancing partner, for sailors and other lonely men. The two decide to pool their resources by sharing an apartment, agreeing to a platonic living arrangement. The roommates frequent the local watering hole, and hear older, wiser owner Jackie Oakie (as Mac) and landlady Kay Medford (as Soda) dispense words of wisdom. Curtis loses his musical instruments. Then, Reynolds loses her job.

Will Curtis and Reynolds gain romance?

Robert Mulligan's version of Garson Kanin's play, which starred Barry Nelson and Betty Field, never really takes off. Curtis and Reynolds (and the film, generally) look way too sharp to be Mr. Kanin's desolation row denizens, clawing their way to the top. Don Rickles is a highlight, as Reynolds' brutal, sadistic boss. Norman Fell is amusing, as the telephone man. Reynolds is unexpectedly glamorous, almost more suited for the lead in "Butterfield 8"; and, she looks especially sexy undressing for the lecherous Mr. Rickles.

***** The Rat Race (7/10/60) Robert Mulligan ~ Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds, Don Rickles

the casting, the music, the unconventional

[j_eyon · 14 August 2011]

If you're thinking of Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds with their Hollywood glamor - you're in for quite a surprise - this is grittier stuff than they usually did - altho - not guttery or depressing - as it would be in todays milieu

try to overlook the residue of Tonys Bronx accent - and enjoy his eager Midwestern saxophonist arriving in the jazz musicians mecca - Noo Yawk City

except he's not in a typical Hollywood success story - here the emphasis is on disillusionment - and its actually risqué for its time - with Tony and struggling dancer Debbie Reynolds sharing an apartment - both actors are very good - Debbie could have used more such roles

the script is too talky perhaps - too much like a stage play - the most memorable thing for me beside the stars is the music - especially the throbbing theme song played over the opening scenes of Tony's cross country bus ride - from the plains of the Midwest - to smog shrouded NYC

and i can still hear in my mind the driving version of THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC played with real life saxophonists Sam Butera and Jerry Mulligan - and Joe Buskin at the keys - that scene demonstrates how convincing Curtis was at faking playing a saxophone - notice his red face while playing the large baritone sax - when i was in the school band - i could barely get a sound out of one of them

lovely romance with some darkness

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 30 March 2024]

Milwaukee sax player Pete Hammond Jr. (Tony Curtis) arrives in NYC. He's trying to make it but it's tough going. Aspiring model and taxi dancer Peggy Brown (Debbie Reynolds) gets evicted and Pete moves into the apartment. Nellie Miller (Don Rickles) is the sleazy club owner who is constantly trying to corrupt Peggy.

This is adapted from a play. The story gets a little dark, but it never goes full dark. The movie strips Debbie down to her girdles but no further. It is still a lovely romance and she is America's sweetheart. I would rather they pull back a little to make this a little bit lighter.

20 years ahead of its time.

[ianlouisiana · 8/10 · 10 April 2009]

Not quite innocent,but not really guilty either;that's Miss Debbie Reynolds in "The Rat Race".Many men are susceptible to a woman with a slightly bruised aspect to her and Mr Tony Curtis is no exception. It's a movie where "10 cents a dance" meets "Scrapple from The Apple" as cool jazz man Curtis shares an apartment with broke and weary taxi dancer Reynolds who has unwisely accepted a large loan from her boss Mr Don Rickles who is keen on her repaying him in the traditional showbiz manner. Daring for its time in its acceptance of the ambivalence of the character played brilliantly by Miss Reynolds,the movie gives a fairly bleak view of New York nearly fifty years ago,an era we are frequently led to believe nowadays was a golden one indeed.Clearly not if you were struggling in the lower stratum of the entertainment profession. Garson Kanin's play was 20 years ahead of its time.Less bleak than its contemporary "The Connection",but quite shocking for mainstream audiences with its portrayal of the bottom feeders of show business,the bullies,the pimps,gangsters and the compromises decent young people were forced to make to follow their chosen paths.Not to mention an unmarried couple living together. There is some fairly belicose Elmer Bernstein music diffused by an extract of typical late 1950s West Coast cool and Mr Curtis is very convincing as the aspirant jazzer with integrity (i.e.no money) Sedate by today's standards,"The Rat Race" marked a transition from 1950s movies to 1960s movies in content and tone.Not until "New York,New York" was there a more impressive portrayal of an average saxophone player and his showbiz lady,and my goodness how the movies - and the world - had changed by then.

The wild and the furious

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 23 August 2018]

Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds were my main reasons for seeing 'The Rat Race'. The idea of the story also intrigued me, as did seeing Jack Oakie in a late role, Don Rickles in an early one and having the great Elmer Bernstein being the composer. There was the worry though as to how Curtis would fare in the setting, and whether Reynolds would be too glamorous within a story that does have some grit.

Luckily, what 'The Rat Race' had going for it works very well in its favour, nothing is squandered. 'The Rat Race' has grit and charm, but it is also very entertaining where almost everything works and any initial worries were blown away very quickly. Quite a breath of fresh air compared to some things seen recently, of my recent viewings of Curtis' works it's among his better ones, and worthy of a little more credit than it gets.

Maybe at times 'The Rat Race' is a little too talky.

From personal opinion, as nit-picky as this sounds, Curtis and Reynolds are slightly too pretty amidst a purposefully drab setting and a story that has its grit.

Apart from those, there is very little to dislike. It is lovingly photographed and its locations are picturesque and atmospherically drab, which is more than fitting with the tone. Robert Mulligan directs with energy and is careful not to make things go over the top or too tame.

Bernstein's score is a major asset, haunting and smouldering with the main theme being a very difficult one to forget. The script on the most part has wit, sharpness and is free of fat and too much froth. The story is full of energy and charm, the romantic elements are adorable, the comedy genuinely funny, and the grittiness of some of the story is handled very well.

Curtis and Reynolds are immensely likeable and are irresistible together. Rickles has seldom been more deliciously repellent, while Jack Oakie and Norman Fell amuse.

Overall, very entertaining and recommended. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A bleak race

[JasparLamarCrabb · 3/10 · 2 April 2008]

One of the better Debbie Reynolds vehicles of the 60s, but still not particularly good. Reynolds plays a NYC dance hall girl living on the skids in Kay Medford's seedy apartment house. Through a depressing series of misfortunes, she ends up with struggling musician Tony Curtis as a roommate. Every crisis imaginable befalls the couple as they try to "make it" in the big city. Despite the presence of comics Medford and Jack Oakie (who together act as a sort of skid row Greek chorus), THE RAT RACE is pretty bleak. Director Robert Mulligan makes a point of avoiding any humor (except for the many verbal jabs Reynolds lobs at nice guy Curtis) and the lack of levity leaves the film dead. Norman Fell appears in a brief and very uncomfortable scene as a telephone repairman whom Reynolds convinces not to shut off her phone. In a very rare straight role, Don Rickles plays Reynold's sleazy boss.

It lacks the archetypal romance of Breakfast at Tiffany's, but only by a little. See it!

[secondtake · 8/10 · 24 March 2012]

The Rat Race (1960)

Maybe this will help: Tony Curtis is himself, really strong, and if you like him, you'll like him. Debbie Reynolds is kind of at her best, for me, less trivial than she is sometimes portrayed. She doesn't dance or sing, but is just a girl trying to make it in New York. Throw in Don Rickles at an exaggerated but believable role, with less humor and more grotesqueness. Finally, though big sax man Gerry Mulligan gets big letters in the credits, he appears, as himself, only briefly (though we do get to hear him play for a few seconds).

But let's turn this around and talk plot. In a very broad way, this is a kind of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" a year earlier. Nice guy lands in New York without a clue and local woman is braving it on her own and having to compromise her principles in the process. Even the music, by Elmer Bernstein, is in a Henry Mancini style (only rarely dipping into any real jazz, for those looking for that). Though painted as a story of boy meets girl and the improbable follows the unlikely, the basic premise is heartwarming and true to a lot of our dreams of making it, and making it with the right person (both).

I liked this movie a lot. It's even photographed by Alfred Hitchcock's cinematographer, Robert Burks, and so it looks good, too, in mildly widescreen Technicolor. It's a situation drama/comedy--there is no sensing that this is actually real. In that sense it's really a 1960 era movie, when artifice had reached a truly plastic kind of height (sometimes with wonderful results, but even classics like, say, "West Side Story" have a style from the times that is neither classic 1940s Hollywood in its believability nor totally creative invention as with those rare movies here and there all through the decades). The point is, you have to like this kind of set-up style to start with. You probably know whether movies like some of the Doris Day classics or even Marilyn Monroe movies are up your alley.

Or "Breakfast at Tiffany's," or the black and white counterpart in a different sense, "The Apartment." I think this Curtis/Reynolds romantic comedy is totally overlooked, and deserves a close look. There are ever some fabulous if fleeting shots of busy New York City. And if you've never heard of the director, Robert Mulligan (no relation to Gerry), don't worry. He did pull off one all time classic handled with similar panache--"To Kill a Mockingbird." Yeah, don't underestimate this one.

A movie about musicians for lay people

[sensha · 8/10 · 17 February 2010]

I am surprised at the reviews thus far posted, as they miss one of the major novelties of this movie. While Tony Curtis is never going to win any awards for his musicianship, the little "group" that he tries to join contains some pretty impressive "ringers", especially for a movie that isn't all that much about the musical side of things.

Any group that contains the likes of Gerry Mulligan AND Sam Butera is going to raise more than a few musical eyebrows. As mentioned above, the music used in the film is nothing to get too worked up about, but these two icons (plus the other sidemen that surround them) are reason enough to consider this one "special".

A musical note or two about Curtis is in order here as well. He also played a tenor saxophone player in the iconic Some Like It Hot. While his autobiography is silent as to his actual saxophone playing skills, some of the fingerings that he used in that film were right for the music being played (although out of sync with the actual film sound track). It is mentioned that he has some flute playing skills in the biography, so his being a sax player is not out of the realm of possibility.

The horns that he is seen playing in this movie all appear to be Selmer instruments. When his horns get "lifted" by the boys in the band, Debbie Reynolds goes to bat for him and buys him a set of horns "to get by" on his cruise ship gig. However, the instruments purchased are Leblanc horns, recognizable by the distinctive tweed covered cases in which they came. But, when he is seen performing on the ship, he is again playing Selmer instruments. Since this was well before product placement in movies became common, it may be that he was playing his own horns and the Leblanc cases were used for their visual appeal.

Very nice romantic drama from an earlier age.

[TxMike · 17 September 2013]

The movie opens with Tony Curtis as Pete Hammond Jr. boarding a bus in Milwaukee, headed for New York with his musical instruments, flutes and saxophones. Even though Curtis was 34 when this film was made, his dad is sending him off, telling him to let him know if he needs any money. The bus ride is interesting, it shows it entering Cleveland, Philadelphia, and finally New York, pulling into the Port Authority terminal just a good walk from Times Square, places I was familiar with in the 1980s. It was nice seeing them in an earlier time.

Once in New York we see Pete is definitely a fish out of water, too trusting and several times getting taken by scams. In fact that is the genesis of the title, "Rat Race", people go to New York and seem to turn into "rats", doing what they need to do to survive.

But Pete meets Debbie Reynolds as struggling model Peggy Brown, working at a club where travelers, usually service men and traveling business men, want some place to go to dance with a pretty girl. But Peggy is not only broke, she owes her uncaring boss (Don Rickles in a good role) several hundred dollars in advances. In fact she is being evicted from the daily rate ($3 per night) hotel room as Pete is moving into it. Feeling compassion for her, he suggests that she just share his room, which has two beds and a curtain for privacy, for a few days until Peggy finds a place to go.

I like this movie for several reasons, the 1960s was my time, I was growing up, graduating from high school, going to college, and starting my own career and family. I like both Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds and it was fun to see them together. New York is one of my favorite cities to visit, it was nice to see it back before it developed into what we know it as today.

The movie doesn't get into what might have happened down the road, it just shows us how Pete eventually gets work as a musician, and he and Peggy, after becoming friends sharing a room, fall in love with each other.

Debbie Reynolds is maybe more known for her comedic roles, but here her Peggy Brown is completely serious, and she shows what a fine actress she is. Not long ago I saw her in "Mother" (1996) playing Albert Brooks' mother, and now I see she is still in movies here and there. She has come a long way since "Singing in the Rain" (1953) made when she was still a teenager.

Ill Winds

[writers_reign · 8/10 · 22 August 2020]

It's not difficult to visualise this as a play with a split set comprising the apartment and bar. Garson Kanin has written some tasty screenplays both alone, as here. or with his wife, Ruth Gordon. Once you get past the fact that a bar in Manhattan never has any customers other than Kay Medford, Debbie Reynolds, and Tony Curtis, and musing how owner Jack Oakie can remain solvent, and more or less reach a tacit accommodation the the producers not to raise any awkward questions you're free to bask in the movie and wallow in the snatches of a clutch of great numbers heard over the years in Paramount films. Debbie Reynolds gets right away from her Anne of Green Gables persona and although Tony Curtis can't do much other than be himself he's not too hard to take while Jack Oakie and Kay Medford round out a solid quartet.

Don Rickles stole the show

[glennsart · 8/10 · 13 June 2002]

Everytime I see this movie I am reminded what a fine big screen actor Don Rickles is. You tend to think of his small screen work and comedy routines as being the scope of his ability but that is not the case. Without Rickles' fine acting The Rat Race would have fell flat. In my opinion, he stole the show.

Sour Valentine

[dougdoepke · 26 November 2015]

An ambitious jazz musician tries to make it in The Big Apple despite hardships. Meanwhile he befriends a desperate taxi dancer trying to hold on to her self-respect.

The 105-minutes amounts to a sour valentine to New York City. The ending is predictable from the start. Why else cast two big Hollywood stars in the leads. The fact that Peggy (Reynolds) and Pete (Curtis) finally get together is not because of the City, as we might expect, but in spite of it. Thus the screenplay breaks with Hollywood convention of big cities with a soft heart. Note, for example, how the landlady's morning grouch gets quickly reflected in other grouchy New Yorkers.. That sort of uncompromising attitude may be the movie's best part.

Otherwise, it's Reynolds breaking with her malt shop image, as a hard case who registers zero smiles throughout. At the same time, the effort to break with the Tammy image (Tammy And The Bachelor, {1957}) is too pointed and resolute to be convincing. Curtis, on the other hand, is fairly amiable, and not quite as miscast as Reynolds. Still, his Bronx accent sort of comes and goes for a guy supposedly from Milwaukee. Having two stars at the peak of popularity also means giving them adequate screen time to satisfy their fans. But that also means padding a slender storyline with lots of talk that too often drags out the runtime. Note too, how awkwardly the script plays with the key topic of prostitution, a word or even concept that dare not speak its name, thanks to the suffocating Production Code.

Anyway, Oakie and Medford supply subtle amusement, while Rickles chews the scenery like he's starving for attention. All in all, it's a 105-minutes that doesn't wear well, despite being cutting edge at the time. All in all, I'm glad that Reynolds soon went back to the personality roles she was so good at.