The Great Race

1965
Approved
2h 40m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

20K

YOUR RATING

Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon in The Great Race (1965)

Trailer for this comedy starring Jack Lemon

Play trailer2:51

1 Video

99+ Photos

Parody Road Trip Satire Slapstick Action Adventure Comedy Family Romance Sport

In the early 20th century, heroic Leslie Gallant and his despicable rival Professor Fate engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris while enthusiastic suffragette Maggie Dubois... Read allIn the early 20th century, heroic Leslie Gallant and his despicable rival Professor Fate engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris while enthusiastic suffragette Maggie Dubois enters the race to report on every step of it.In the early 20th century, heroic Leslie Gallant and his despicable rival Professor Fate engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris while enthusiastic suffragette Maggie Dubois enters the race to report on every step of it.

Director
- Blake Edwards
Writers
- Arthur A. Ross
- Blake Edwards
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

20K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Blake Edwards
Writers
- Arthur A. Ross
- Blake Edwards
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 3 wins & 14 nominations total

Trivia
The pie fight scene lasts four minutes and was shot in five days. It is the longest pie fight sequence in movie history. At first, the cast had fun filming the pie fight scene, but eventually the process grew wearisome and dangerous. Natalie Wood choked briefly on a pie which hit her open mouth. Jack Lemmon got knocked out a few times: "a pie hitting you in the face feels like a ton of cement". At the end of shooting the fight, when Blake Edwards called "Cut!" he was barraged with several hundred pies that members of the cast had hidden, waiting for that moment.

Goofs
In the final sprint to Paris, Maggie DuBois's costume changes. Since her costume changes at a phenomenal rate throughout the film, this was probably intentional.

Quotes
[On a melting iceberg]
Leslie: [measures the base] 37 inches to go.
Fate: Oh, 37 inches to go. Huzzah! At the rate we've been melting, that's good for about one more week!
Leslie: You'd better keep it to yourself.
Fate: Oh, of course I'll keep it to myself.
[Leslie walks away]
Fate: [muttering] Until the water reaches my lower lip, and then I'm gonna mention it to SOMEBODY!

Crazy credits
Jack Lemmon is only credited as Professor Fate and not for his second role as Crown Prince Hapnik.

Alternate versions
The Great Race has been re-released in France in 1996. However, after the race starts, all scenes involving people from the newspaper in New York have been cut. The French authorities or distributors took them as a mockery of the French suffragette's, feminist's and women's lib movements.

Connections
Edited into Lo schermo a tre punte (1995)

Soundtracks
The Sweetheart Tree
Words by Johnny Mercer
Music by Henry Mancini
Performed by Natalie Wood (dubbed by Jackie Ward) (uncredited)
Robert Bain guitar accompanist (uncredited)

User reviews201

Review

Featured review

9/10

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

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