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

8/10

Worthy of modern restoration and DVD issue.

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 !