The Great Race (1965) User Reviews

Worthy of modern restoration and DVD issue.

[alembic · 8/10 · 15 February 2001]

In the classic opening credit sequence just before where we are transported back to the days of the "Magic lamp" slide projection shows, we are given a hint of what is to come when a tribute salute " For Mr Laurel & Mr Hardy " appears on the screen. Yes this movie does owe something to the slapstick routines of those two gentlemen yet it has a life of it's own which in many ways far surpasses slapstick. For those people who can only see the sight gags then this movie will only provide mild appeal. Look deeper and appreciate the marvellous comedic talents of Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn and Natalie Wood.

Comedy is always a thing of personal taste. I suspect that there will be those who will rave about how wonderful The Great Race is while others will call it a waste of time and money. There will be few in the middle ground. I fall into the rave category. To me this movie is sheer FUN.

The visuals are splendid and awesomly huge. The costumes fabulous and the location settings vast. Everything is over the top, yet there is still room for small subtleties and in-jokes. The actors have a ball. Jack Lemmon just sneaks in as the best scene stealer but the able cast hold their own too. The Great Race just cries out for a restoration job and a release on DVD - please !

Like "Around the World in 80 Days" except not boring...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 16 April 2022]

... and not as many cameos and not as much emphasis on shooting world locations. It's actually like a cross between that film and "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and is a a lavishly produced homage to the slapstick comedy and exaggerated villains and heroes of early silent films.

The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) and Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) are competing daredevils at the turn of the 20th century. Leslie is the classic hero, Fate the classic villain. Leslie proposes an around the world automobile race and Fate sees this as a chance to - finally - best Leslie by fair means or foul. Complicating matters is a suffragette (Natalie Wood) who insists on entering the race so she can report on it. Arthur O'Connell plays the newspaper editor whom she comically browbeats - and shocks - into employing her.

The most impressive aspect of The Great Race is the lively performance by Jack Lemmon who dominates the film in every frame in which he resides. Lemmon had done comedy and drama up to this point, but it was a departure for him to do farce and do it as the villain, although there are plenty of spots where he is humanized to the point that you don't really think of him as such. He also had tremendous support from the sidekick role of Max as played by Peter Falk. While Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood may have been considered the leads of the film, in the end it was Jack who stole the whole show.

Nostalgic Comfort Viewing

[gftbiloxi · 7/10 · 1 April 2005]

THE GREAT RACE may not be a masterpiece--but it is a perfect choice for a cold and rainy night: stylish, frothy, and often flatly hilarious, it makes for "comfort viewing" at its best.

One of the movie's several charms is that it draws heavily from Victorian clichés that still linger in the public mind, gives them a gentle comic spin, and then drops them into the tale of an early 1900s auto race from New York to Paris by way of Siberia. Add to this a heap of favorite character actors, a big budget, flamboyant period costumes, and the biggest pie fight ever filmed, and you have a movie where there is always something to enjoy on the screen.

The great thing about THE GREAT RACE are the performances, which are very broad but endowed with a sly humor. The comedy accolades here go to Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk as the notorious Dr. Fate and his bumbling sidekick Max--wonderful bits of acting that will have you hooting with laughter in every scene--and Dorothy Provine scores memorably in a cameo as Lily Olay, the bombshell singer who presides over the most rootin'-tootin' saloon this side of the Pecos.

But every one, from Tony Curtis and the lovely Natalie Wood down to such cameo performers as Vivian Vance, get in plenty of comic chops as the film drifts from one outrageous episode to another: suffragettes crowding a newspaper, the biggest western brawl imaginable, polar bears, explosions, daredevil antics, and a subplot lifted from THE PRISONER OF ZENDA agreeably crowd in upon each other. True, the film does seem over-long and may drag a bit in spots, but it never drags for very long, and it's all in good fun--and the production values and memorable score easily tide over the bare spots. Lots of fun.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Lemmon's most underrated role

[markcarlson2222 · 10 March 2003]

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.

Better As Spectacle Than Comedy

[dugan49 · 7/10 · 18 August 2013]

The Great Race has been described as live action cartoon, and that is when it's comedy is at it's most appealing. In the opening minutes Prof fate and Max (Lemmon and Falk)endure cartoonish falls, crashes and explosions, and the comparison to old WB cartoons is apt. Then we get into the plot , and as soon as the racers hit the American west, machinations of the characters take over and the slapstick falters. By the time the story reaches the mythical kingdom of Potsdorf (or something), the plot is dragging the film down badly. It mostly limps home from there.

The thing that makes the film watchable is the spectacle, faux early 20th century costuming, stunt work and attention to detail, all of which are outstanding. This is one of the better looking comedies you will ever see, with bright colors everywhere and confident and elaborate staging.

It almost doesn't matter that it's not really very funny.

One of the most underrated movies of all time.

[Chromium_5 · 10/10 · 19 January 2004]

I cannot believe that "The Great Race" did not make it on AFI's 100 Funniest Movies list (well, actually I CAN believe it, since those lists seem very messed up to me). In fact, it has not gotten nearly as much recognition as it deserves.

It is simply one of the funniest movies I have ever seen! The whole cast shines (especially Lemmon, who should have won an Oscar for Best Scene Stealer). Besides the great slapstick, there are a million subtle details that you don't notice unless you are really paying attention. This is why the movie is still great after several viewings: each time you watch it, you are bound to catch some little joke you didn't see before.

Everything about this movie cracks me up. The contrast in character between Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon is just great, the chemistry between the different characters is great, the movie parodies are great, the sets are great, the slapstick is great, and the dialogue is great. Even the MUSIC is funny... every time that goofy theme music for Professor Fate starts playing, I start laughing.

If you haven't seen this, I highly suggest you rent it. Yes, it is long, but it is one of the few comedies I have seen that keeps up the laughs consistently... it never sags or has dull moments. It is downright hilarious from start to finish.

And to top it all off, it has some very cool cars.

Loved it as a child; not so much now.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 5 December 2015]

I used to enjoy this comedic caper as a kid, but now I find it far less appealing, the broad humour and juvenile slapstick no longer hitting the spot; I guess I really have become more mature as I've gotten older (despite what some people might think). The live-action predecessor to Wacky Races, The Great Race stars Tony Curtis as dashing daredevil The Great Leslie, who proposes an epic automobile race from New York to Paris. Also taking part in the challenge, Leslie's arch rival Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) and his co-pilot Maximilian Meen (Peter Falk), and sexy suffragette Maggie Dubois (Natalie Wood).

160 minutes of silly sight gags and over-the-top farce, with Lemmon as the Dick Dastardly-style villain whose plans always backfire, this film really tries the patience, especially when it turns into a Prisoner of Zenda-style adventure in the final act. Lemmon is particularly hard to take in his dual role as Professor Fate and drunken Crown Prince Frederick Hoepnick. Wood has a sexy scene where she emerges soaking wet from a lake, and, towards the end of the film, there is a huge cake fight in a Parisian patisserie, with the actress, dressed in corset, stockings and suspenders, getting covered from head to foot in cream: I suppose there is something to appeal to the grown-up me after all.

When I was young, I would have rated this an 8/10; now it would struggle to get a 4. I'll be generous and split the difference for IMDb—6/10.

the best of everything!!!

[mcs66manor · 10/10 · 11 February 2005]

The best pie fight,bar room brawl,sword fight,comedic love story...wackiest villain...Saddened it's not mentioned as one of the greatest comedies ever or even mentioned as one of Jack Lemons greatest comedic roles.I'm guilty of quoting movie lines when the time is right and often quote from this movie. "Brandy,Brandy...","now you're using sex as a weapon..","RISE AND SHINE?","..now if you were the mens fencing champion...""NOW CAN I GET ME SOME FIGHTN' ROOM!" I can't believe Tony Curtis was a second choice to play "The Great Leslie".His all American do-gooder mentality is nauseatingly funny. Natalie Wood is beautiful and plays the ultimate suffragette. Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk are a fun duo as Leslies villainous rivals and truly set the tempo of the slapstick.Only Blake Edwards could have pulled off such an epic comedy.Who cares if the the drive around the world does'nt make sense.This movie is a true blue farce in every sense,nothing more and nothing less. Perfect casting and screenplay and the writers should be commended.

Can we get nostalgic for nostalgia?

[winner55 · 7/10 · 8 May 2007]

I'm giving this film extra points because I have such fond memories of it; but the reader should be aware that this is over-rating it as a film.

The bad news: it is way overlong; Edwards always was a terribly self-indulgent parodist, even on the Peter Gunn show; the big pie fight is excruciatingly mishandled; Curtis and Lemmon were told to ham it up and they do, and this gets painful sometimes; the story is silly and the finale unsatisfying.

The good news: Natalie Wood is beautiful and unforgettable and does marvelous. The camera work makes the sound-stage "exteriors" come alive, without ever hiding the fact that they are in a sound-stage (they're intended to look phony). The story does have an oddly epic feel to it which is why it remains watchable despite its length and occasionally unfunny sequences.

The film is of course really of the 1960s genre "camp". Nobody's ever adequately explained the appearance of this genre; the silent films Blake is spoofing here were brilliantly spoofed in their own day by much brighter comic minds like Keaton and Chaplin, so it's not clear why anybody in the '60s thought they needed to be spoofed again. After all, "The Perils of Pauline" is from the same era that gave us Von Stroheim's brutally realistic "Greed"; did movie-makers of the '60s really think they were so much more "mature" and "sophisticated" than Eric Von Stroheim? If not, then why pretend that the silent film era was somehow an age of "innocence" that we had "gone beyond"? '60s camp is, in the last analysis, a collective monument to generational arrogance, nothing more; but I suppose, since this arrogance is a recurring problem in Modern culture, we need reminders that one generation's arrogance is another's fodder for parody.

Comedy, action, drama, romance, gadgets, cars, swordfights, pie fights, dopplegangers, clichés, and more!

[robfollower · 9/10 · 4 February 2020]

Lemmon is brilliant in his dual roles of Prof. Fate and Prince Hoepnick. Completely different characters, yet easily two of Lemmon's best. I always rooted for Prof. Fate to win :) Natalie Wood's Maggie Dubois is energetically comedic, a "modern woman" reporter. She smokes, she cusses, she punches! Natalie Wood was never more beautiful. Tony Curtis' Great Leslie is preposterously perfect. The completely calm eye at the center of this storm, yet the irritant in the eye of the other two principle characters. Peter Falk is perfect as poor Max, the Professor's idiot henchman. The settings are beautiful, the costuming is superb - no wonder it garnered an Academy Award nomination for Cinematography.

"The Great Race," a delightful parody of silent film, is still one of my favorite epic comedies. The adventures of Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood and Peter Falk as they compete in the early twentieth century to win a New York to Paris auto race. This movie is a ride on the Hilarity Express, from the opening credits to the closing scene. Always make me laugh hysterically . And has any other film even approached the firing in rapid salvoes of 2,357 pies in the biggest food fight in cinematic history !!

If you haven't seen this, I highly suggest you rent it. Yes, it is long, but it is one of the few comedies I have seen that keeps up the laughs consistently... it never sags or has dull moments. It is downright hilarious from start to finish. And to top it all off, it has some very cool cars.

"Push the button, Max!" 9/10

Edwards Tries Too Hard for Far Too Long

[dglink · 7/10 · 28 February 2015]

Blake Edwards dedicated "The Great Race" to Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy, a high standard to set for a comedy. One factor Mr. Edwards forgot, however, was that Laurel and Hardy comedies were low budget and relatively short, and brevity and comedy go hand in hand. Epic comedies with epic lengths, such as "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World,' "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines," and "The Great Race" may have funny moments, but they cannot sustain the laughs throughout their excessive running times. These films were all produced during the 1960's, when big budget roadshow movies were in vogue; overtures, intermissions, and exit music were essential to charge higher prices for reserved seats. Thus, many modest film concepts were inflated to justify special engagements.

"The Great Race" has a lot going for it, however. The charming opening titles mimic lantern slides from the silent era, and the classic cars and flying machines are a delight. The cast is also first rate. Jack Lemmon is Professor Fate, the dastardly Snidley Whiplash of the film, a sneering, mustached villain pitted against Tony Curtis as the Great Leslie, always immaculately clad in white, with teeth and eyes that occasionally gleam. Natalie Wood plays Maggie Dubois, a suffragette who manages to change from one dazzling costume and outlandish hat to another, no matter what her predicament. The stylish costuming also provides running jokes, not only with Wood's eye-popping outfits, but with Curtis's impossibly-white clothes that never get soiled. Although Lemmon is occasionally over-the-top in his dual role as Fate and as a Ruritanian prince, both Curtis and Wood do quite nicely. At times, like the film, Lemmon tries too hard, especially as the Crown Prince. Composer Henry Mancini tries a bit too hard as well; while "The Sweetheart Tree" is a nice song, by the closing credits, the audience has heard it one time too many.

The concept of a New York to Paris automobile race, similar to the plane race in "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines," released the same year, provides lots of opportunity for comedy. However, the plot veers off into a "The Prisoner of Zenda" subplot that only dilutes the action and provides Lemmon with an excuse to overact. Pie fights and barroom brawls can be funny in the hands of such talents as Laurel and Hardy, but Edwards, obviously blessed with an astronomical budget, attempts to stage the biggest barroom brawl and the biggest pie fight ever. Like Stanley Kramer did with "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," Edwards tries too hard, and more becomes less. Despite excessive length, "The Great Race" has enough to merit a look; the sum of its parts is greater than the whole. If the budget had been slashed and the footage tightly trimmed to essentials, Edwards's fond look at silent comedy might have been the total winner he envisioned and merit the dedication to Laurel and Hardy.

For Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 30 January 2007]

I wish I could answer this - THE GREAT RACE and THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES both came out in 1965. It would be interesting to know who came up first with the idea of the car and/or the airplane film. Fortunately, aside from some brief cross-referenced scenes, THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN remained bound to the sky as THE GREAT RACE was bound to the earth.

In 1907 the world's first really great automobile race occurred: the Peking to Paris road race. It was such a success that it was hoped that a similar long race would be tried soon after. The result was the 1908 New York to Paris road race, which is the factual basis of THE GREAT RACE. It was won by a Thomas Flyabout, which had an appearance very much like the car driven by the Great Leslie. The cars in the 1908 race were to drive from New York City to Seattle, Washington, then get shipped by steamer to Vladivostok, and then to transverse the Russian Empire, Europe, and finally reach Paris. So keep in mind, there was no use of icebergs as in the film.

Blake Edwards always has enjoyed playing around in his comedies and musicals with images from the times of the story. For example, in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLY one of the two male leads wears eyeglasses, and (to see his girlfriend) climbs the side of an office building - in short (as the story takes place in the 1920s) he is imitating Harold Lloyd in SAFETY LAST. He dedicates this film to Laurel and Hardy, although it is set before the 1920s.

In THE GREAT RACE he uses the forgotten 1908 race to build upon many different social events of the day like the suffragette movement that involves Natalie Wood (as the Nellie Bly like reporter Maggie) and her friend Vivian Vance as the wife (and temporary successor) of husband Arthur O'Connor a newspaper editor. There is also the final days of the American frontier, as seen in the sequences involving the town of Borracho and Tony Curtis' confrontation with Larry Storch over Dorothy Provine. There is (finally) the unsettled state of Balkan Europe, wherein the plot of Anthony Hope's THE PRISONER OF ZENDA is lampooned, concluding with a pie fight.

The film marked the reunion of Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon after their first pairing in SOME LIKE IT HOT, but Lemmon's character there was not as comically sinister as Professor Fate is here. Fate is totally captivated by his own ego. He certainly has engineering ability, but he is incapable of being friendly (when he is about to test out a rocket device early in the film his picture is being taken - some kids are touching the rocket, and he angrily yells at them to go away). He also is stuck with having the faithful but totally inept assistant Max (Peter Falk - who comes close to stealing the film) who constantly is pushing the wrong buttons on Fate's machines, with disastrous effects. And he is constantly trounced by the handsome, accessible, "Frank Merriwell" like "Great Leslie" (Curtis) who is far better organized, and a hell of a deal luckier.

Not that Leslie is without flaws. A man of the Edwardian period, he does not think woman are fully the equal of men. Notice that Leslie's most fair minded complement to Maggie is that her choice of a Stanley Steamer for the race was the wrong car. It is, he says, meant for picnics and Sunday drives. But, he adds, her success in getting it across half of the U.S. before the boiler gave out was quite an accomplishment...and she should be proud. The self-satisfaction is annoying as Maggie shows. I might add that in the period of the film, Stanley Steamers won several races - steam engines can build up tremendous amounts of power but they have to be replenished more frequently than gasoline engines.

Besides the four leads (five if you count the under-used Keenan Wynn) the performances of Storch and Provine were good (Provine being allowed a lively dance hall tune - "He Shouldn'ta, Hadn'ta, Oughtn'ta Swung On Me!", with Storch being unable to get the right amount of room he needs to cut loose on Curtis without falling on his face. Wood (like Provine) was given a nice tune - the charming, "Sweetheart Tree". And in the Balkan section, besides a second role for Lemmon, the conspirators George Macready and Ross Martin make the most of the "Ruritania" story - and demonstrate their own flair comedy (a rarity for Macready).

For Martin it is particularly welcome, as his last appearance under Edwards' direction was as the evil criminal in EXPERIMENT IN TERROR three years earlier. While Baron Von Stuppe (what a name - possibly a cousin to Lily Von Stuppe (Madeleine Kahn) in BLAZING SADDLES) is a villain, he is shown to be confused sometimes - see Wood threaten him with President Theodore Roosevelt's wrath, and start singing the "Star Spangled Banner". Martin doesn't know what to do with this female nut.

successfully frivolous

[gsygsy · 7/10 · 20 November 2006]

One of those movies from my childhood that I recently revisited on DVD. It seems to me to have stood the test of time very well, especially with regard to many of the matte shots, which are remarkable.

This is a completely frivolous movie, and anyone approaching it looking for anything else is bound to be disappointed. It is, inevitably given the story, episodic; it definitely flags in places, and undoubtedly might have had greater success if it had been pruned. But I caught it on TV some years ago and discovered that one of its most charming irrelevancies - Natalie Wood singing Mancini and Mercer's "The Sweetheart Tree" - had disappeared, presumably so that the whole film could fit into the schedules. Not including it also makes a nonsense of Mancini's superb score, which uses the song as one of its principal themes. The 2001 DVD restores the song, which is very gratifying.

The film is dominated by the relationship between Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk. They are, individually and together, outrageously hammy, as are the sight gags associated with them. The brio with which they attack this material is a joy to behold, and they represent the best possible reason to watch the movie. Curtis and Wood manage to stand up in the Lemmon/Falk whirlwind, and somehow survive intact. The comic interludes provided by Arthur O'Connell, Vivian Vance and Marvin Kaplin shouldn't be overlooked: they have some very funny dialogue.

The other stars of the film are the cars driven by Lemmon and Curtis, and the astonishing wardrobe provided for Natalie Wood by Edith Head.

I think the dedicatees of the film, "Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy", would have been pleased with the efforts of all concerned.

What a waste of talent!

[arch-32727 · 1/10 · 16 April 2022]

One of the great turkeys from the 60s. How did this thing make it to the screen? This was on TCM and I only stuck with it because there was nothing else on.

Looks like they put a lot of money into it. Sad. Was that Vivian Vance? That was a treat.

The Greatest Epic Comedy

[Eric-62-2 · 4 September 1999]

Although "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" was the first comedy to get the epic film treatment, "The Great Race" is in my opinion the best epic comedy. It's just a much funnier film with so many laughs in its first half that the more serious part dealing with the palace intrigues and the straight sword fight acts more as a breather for the viewer before it revs up again with the funniest pie fight of all time and the smashing (literally) finale. Jack Lemmon shows why he was probably the most versatile comic actor of the 50-60s next to Peter Sellers (this is a long ways from the Lemmon of "The Apartment" or "Irma La Douce"!). Peter Falk, a decade before "Columbo" is hysterical too, while Natalie Wood never looked more sexy (except for the last part of "Gypsy") than she does here.

They don't make this kind of simple comedy devoid of crudity any longer. That's what makes a film like "The Great Race" something to keep coming back to and enjoying again and again.

Sentimental favourite

[BruceCorneil · 7/10 · 21 August 2003]

Unfortunately , "The Great Race" has been on television SO many times over the years it's become a bit of bore but I'll never forget the pleasure it gave me as a kid when I first saw it on the silver screen . Jack Lemmon scared the living daylights out of me and had me in stitches simultaneously. I've deliberately avoided watching it on the small screen over the years in the hope that it might , eventually , make it back into a local "Revival" cinema . It remains a strong sentimental favourite .

The Great Race Is A Great Comedy

[Maryl · 10/10 · 22 May 2001]

This is director Blake Edwards salute to the early days of films. It is quite long, but worth the time to see this masterpiece, and appropriate for all ages. Its basically the good guy vs the bad guy and the heroine theme but the roles are mixed up in a wonderful way to where each main character is both at different times. I love Maggie DuBois(Natalie Wood) the most because she is such a strong intelligent woman, and yet beautiful and sexy. She would do anything to stay in the race, and did. Professor Fate and Max are not Laural and Hardy but evoke their comedy team spirit strongly. They are the ones that make the bumbling mistakes that make them more human than the perfect Leslie(Tony Curtis). The prince is a silly compliment to Professor Fate, both brilliantly played by Jack Lemmon. Also worth seeing is Vivian Vance as the wife of the newspaper owner, and Larry Storch as the gunfighter. I really liked the submarine, rocket sled, pedaled air balloon, and the vintage cars. Visually, this movie is a work of art, and the music is perfect. The score features Henry Mancini's "The Sweetheart Tree." Yes, there's lust, love and romance here too. This is the quintessential epic comedy of the 60's.

A grand adventure combining action and humor throughout an uproarious New York to Paris auto race circa 1908

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 13 July 2023]

The film takes us back to the early days of old automobiles , a time when there were hundreds of designers rolling out hand-crafted masterpieces fondly called 'motor cars' . The script involves an around-the-world motor car race , organizing an international air race across the English Channel , participants must contend with trickers , cheaters , as well as national rivalries . With good-looking, well-mannered Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) , representing bravery and always impeccably dressed in white . He is the playboy adventurer and motor car enthusiast who has entered the race with a sporty white roadster , being accompanied by his helper Hezekiah Sturdy (Keenan Wynn) . Great Leslie opens doors and stops to help a lady , even if it happens to be in the middle of a race . While bumbling Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) is the villain and Grand Leslie's fiercest opponent, dressed of course all in black with a botcher sidekick (Peter Falk) . They use of some primitive but effective technology , though things go wrong , meaning they need to be first at the finish line . And fiercy suffragette Maggie (Natalie Wood) who's not averse to using her feminine wiles to take advantage . Through the race, they come across quite a few adventures , incidents , and obstacles . But being a long race with much interaction between the racers , their mindsets and priorities may change based on their time together . The great laugh show of all all time ¡ Total laughter ! The funniest motion picture ever made...about the most remarkable auto race ever!. New York to Paris via the Wild West, Alaska, Russia, the baronial halls of Europe, to the Eiffel Tower...with 1000 hair-raising adventures and 1001 roof-raising laughs along the way. From the producers of "My Fair Lady" in the same magnificent medium of Super Panavision "70" and Technicolor. Cost 14 Million Dollars to Make and for Laughs Alone Worth Every Cent of It. The movie with 20,000-mile or one-million-laughs guarantee!

An amusing and funny movie in which an international career takes place from New York to Paris joining a dastardly villain , a noble hero , a spirited suffragette among the competitors . "The Great Race" is a vintage slapstick and slashdash adventure Including a lot of incidents as saloon brawls , a confrontation with a feisty polar bear , pie fights and court intrigue in ¨The prisoner of Zenda¨ wake . Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon (in a double role as Professor Fate/Crown Prince Frederick Hoepnick) are reunited again , this time with Blake Edwards at the wheel of this epic and breathtaking farce . This is an attractive and charming picture , paying tribute to great silent stars : Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton and in ¨Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes¨style . Overly long and completely fun movie in which the likeable couple formed by Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk stands out . Adding a large number of notorious secondaries , as follows : Arthur O'Connell , Keenan Wynn , Vivian Vance , Dorothy Provine, Larry Storch, Ross Martin , George Macready , Denver Pyle , among others.

Including the agreeable music of Henry Mancini including "The Sweetheat Tree" "Pie in the Face Polka" and many more , as well as colorful , brilliant cinematography by Russell Harlan. The motion picture was competently directed by Blake Edwards. Blake had some hit smashes with ¨Pink Panther¨ series who became him a world-wide celebrity , such as ¨A shot in dark¨ , ¨Return of pink panther , ¨Revenge of pink panther¨ , ¨Curse of Pink Panther¨ , ¨Pink Panther strikes again¨ , ¨Trail of Pink Panther¨ , ¨Son of Pink Panther¨ , among others . Since then , there have been many more hit-and-miss comedies , some wildly unsuitable vehicles for his second wife Julie Andrews as ¨The Tamarind seed¨ , ¨Darling Lili¨, ¨SOB¨ , ¨10¨ , ¨That's life¨ . His greatest hits were ¨The party¨ , the tranvestite comedy ¨Victor/Victoria¨ and of course the joyously ¨Breakfast at Tiffany's ¨. The flick will appeal to Tony Curtis , Jack Lemmon and Natalie Wood fans . This is arguably one of the Blake Edwards' best . This consistently entertaining comedy/adventure movie , it deserves 'Two thumbs up' .

One of our all time favorites!

[ppacct · 10/10 · 26 January 2018]

My family just loves this movie. The characters are wonderfully played up by the top notch cast. As noted by others, Professor Fate is just a hoot. Then there's the sight gags like the sun glinting off Leslie's teeth in one shot. After you watch the movie the gag line, "Push the button Max," will stay with you forever *grin*.

Of course the most fabulous scene in the movie is in the confectionery near the end of the movie. I suppose others have given more of a description, but I'll just say it is the absolute best scene of its type ever done. I can't imagine what it would be like if they'd had to do a retake, ha ha. While there are just too many great scenes in this movie this scene makes watching the movie worth every minute.

It even has one of the better endings as well. Certainly a movie worth watching. And again. And again. *smile*

A lot of fun...

[JasparLamarCrabb · 6/10 · 23 November 2006]

Much more fun than the critics of the day would lead one to believe. In the early 1900s, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Natalie Wood compete in a race between New York and Paris using the then new fangled automobile. Chaos ensues. Curtis plays straight-man to the shenanigans of both Lemmon and Wood. As a Black Bart type, Lemmon is a hoot and as a militant suffragette, Wood has never been lovelier. Director Blake Edwards creates a rollicking farce that holds a multitude of pleasures, not the least of which is the undeniable chemistry between not only Curtis and Wood, but between Curtis and Lemmon. They prove that their teaming in SOME LIKE IT HOT was no fluke. The various set pieces include a pie fight, a wild west saloon fight, as well as many ill-advised attempts by Lemmon to sideline Curtis. The supporting cast is very colorful and includes Peter Falk as Lemmon's hapless assistant, Larry Storch as an unlikely town menace, Arthur O'Connell, Marvin Kaplan, a cigarette-smoking Vivian Vance, and, in a very sexy musical number, Dorothy Provine.

" I won't say a word about our sinking. Until it reaches my lower lip, then I'm mentioning it to somebody! "

[thinker1691 · 10/10 · 20 January 2009]

This is a movie which when first shown in 1965 drew audience cheers from the very beginning and continues to draw enthusiastic praise when given special showing on college and University campuses. The reason is due perhaps that all the character roles were hand picked and each actor fitted their part like a glove. The story is based on the numerous fads, college stunts and mechanical record challenges of the early 1900s. In this story we have an automobile race which will start in New York and end up in Paris, France. The duel battle is reminiscent of the old vaudeville plays involving a Canadian Mountie and his old Nemesis Snidely Wipelash. Here we have our hero, The "Great" Leslie (Gallent III) played by Tony Curtis challenged by Prof. Fate (Jack Lemmon) to a very long race. As with early films each lead has a sidekick. Peter Falk is Max and Keenan Wynn is Hezekiah. To give it a modern era setting (1900s) Arthur O'Connel plays Henry Goodbody a Newspaper Editor interested in keep tabs on the contestants in their round the word race. Natalie Wood plays suffragette Maggie Dubois who aspires to be the first woman reporter for the Sentinental. The movie contains all the earmarks of a Classic out of the old school of comedy and thus is sympathetically dedicated to the great comedy duo of the early movie era, Laural and Hardy. To further add enjoyment throughout the film there are added Hollywood stars like Larry Storch, Ross Martin, Denver Pyle and Roy Jenson. A great film for any audience in any era. Excellent movie fare and a genuine Classic!. ****

Oh, to participate in this race!

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 14 June 2005]

Sometimes, it's good to think that certain movies have no purpose except to be funny. "The Great Race" is one such movie. You know how in "Dr. Strangelove", the characters' names describe who they are? Well, in this movie, it's even more exaggerated. Set in 1908, Tony Curtis plays eternally kind stuntman Leslie Gallant III, Jack Lemmon plays the dastardly Professor Fate, Natalie Wood plays photographer Maggie DuBois, Peter Falk plays Fate's assistant Max Meen, and Keenan Wynn plays Gallant's assistant Hezekiah Sturdy.

Think that all sounds crazy? Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg. After Fate and Gallant try to best each other in some stunts (with the latter always doing better, of course), Gallant proposes a New-York-to-Paris race, and so Fate and Maggie enlist. Throughout the race, a series of wacky things happen: a brawl in an old western town, an unwanted trip across the Bering Sea, and a pie fight.

When I first saw "The Great Race" when I was eight, the only cast member whom I recognized was Dorothy Provine, as a singer in the old western town - I had previously seen her in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"; in the process of watching the movie, I learned the names Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood and Peter Falk (Falk also starred in "IAMMMMW", but he didn't appear until very late in the movie, so I hadn't picked up on it). Now, when I look at "The Great Race" cast, it's almost hard for me to believe that it also stars Ethel Mertz, Artemus Gordon, Gen. Batguano, Col. Agarn (from "F Troop") and Otis (from "The Andy Griffith Show). Whoa...

It's pure hilarity from start (one of Fate's dirty tricks) to finish (the French are probably glad that this isn't a true story).

Trivia - those unnecessary cuts

[satwalker99-1 · 8/10 · 29 September 2008]

A couple of points that I don't think have been covered:

One review mentioned this film's chequered career on TV. This is one of several classic "spectaculars" with special cinema first road runs that have suffered evisceration since their original cinema release in the name of schedules which programmers once saw as their priorities. It's a festering sore that goes back many years particularly where ITV was concerned. With the development of DVDs this hated practice has been ameliorated somewhat with many cuts having been replaced (and even extras been added). One of the earliest "victims" was Karloff's "Frankenstein" & the notorious drowning of Maria,the young child.

In my mind the most ludicrous was the case of "It's A Mad....World" where nearly 40mins was lost to TV & DVD - very significant because many of its famous comic cast were listed but never seen, though briefly. There was a restoration a couple of years back but where is it? "S Pacific" lost about 20mins and remains so. Even a restoration of Wayne's "The Alamo" still loses nearly 15mins. We expect to be able to still watch the full versions.... Now in the case of "The Great Race" how many have seen the full version with the amusing "Bouncing Ball" singalong sequence about 20mins from the end after that great Mancini theme "The Sweetheart Tree" is sung by Natalie Wood on the river bank as she strums her guitar? Tony Curtis pauses his shaving to listen. It has been missing ever since the original release(supposedly in Cinerama). Last year (I forget the channel) I was staggered to happen by accident to catch the full version. Today I watched another rerun on Channel 5 and this sequence was still missing. So the full version does exist out there - somewhere.

Natalie Wood on a couple of occasions is seen to be swimming in a pool emerging displaying her ravishing figure. It must have taken some persuasion from Blake Edwards because of her deadly fear of water - the story goes that this arose when in an early film she was the victim of a trick by the director to have her plunged into an icy stream. Of course her drowning in 1981 during the filming of "Brainstorm" (still controversial today)was all the more horrifying because of its irony.

The Great Race

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 8 May 2007]

From director Blake Edwards (The Pink Panther films) this is a great comedy, reuniting the stars of Some Like It Hot. Basically Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis, like Peter Perfect) has a special car made to race from New York to Paris (westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia) and help promote automobile sales. Leslie's arch-rival, the moustached and black-attired Professor Fate (Golden Globe nominated Jack Lemmon, like Dick Dastardly) with cohort Max (Columbo's Peter Falk, like Muttley, without wheezing snickering) vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a car of Fate's own invention. The film was good, until I realised the length (20 minutes under 3 hours!), and they had to bring in a dragging thing with Fate fooling everyone to crown him a King, instead of the man who has a close resemblance, drunk Prince Hapnik (Lemmon, again). It does pick up again though with the pie fight, and Leslie loses on purpose, to Fate, to prove his love for companion Maggie DuBois (Natalie Wood). It is pretty much a live action cartoon, or episode of Wacky Races, with tributes to Laurel and Hardy. It won the Oscar for Best Sound Effects, and it was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Song for "The Sweetheart Tree" (also nominated the Golden Globe) and Best Sound, and it was nominated the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy and Best Original Score for Henry Mancini. Very good!

cries out for gratuitous nudity.

[jthomp-91394 · 1/10 · 1 July 2022]

Looks like it was lifted right out of the Saturday morning cartoons of the day. And not the clever ones.

I can't imagine how it attracted some major stars, just an easy paycheck I guess.

Anyone raving about this is probably a Jerry Lewis fan . I never figured that one out either.