The Great Race (1965)

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:

During the ballroom scene, Jack Lemmon's character as the crown prince can be seen dancing with one of the military officers.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the Western town when Professor Fate is talking to the town mayor, the smoke from the Professor's car blows back over the characters and the mayor starts to cough. Max, expecting a cut starts to "ham" at the edge of the shot.

Quotes:

[Fate's car is met by a group of austere villagers]
Max: You give 'em beads, that makes 'em friendly.
Professor Fate: Obviously, they don't know who I am.
[Fate stands up]
Professor Fate: I AM PROFESSOR FATE!
[the crowd is silent. Fate slinks back into his seat]
Max: Wanna try the beads?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Behind the Tunes: Crash! Bang! Boom! - The Wild Sounds of Treg Brown (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

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

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!. ****