The Great Race ***** (1965, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn, Arthur O’Connell) – Classic Movie Review 2737

Director Blake Edwards re-teams the brilliant Some Like It Hot stars Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis as The Great Race’s moustachioed villain and handsome white-suited hero, who fight it out on the road from New York to Paris.

Edwards’s 1965 epic comedy is an affectionate and inspired tribute to the slapstick movies of silent comedy era, though it’s still very much a product of its own Sixties era.

Curtis convinces early 20th century car makers that a race from New York to Paris westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia will help to promote sales. Lemmon vows to beat Curtis to the finish line in the car he’s invented. 

Edwards throws in everything he knows about comedy to sustain its great length, and it works magically, thanks to the great dollops of expertly daft, simple humour in Arthur Ross’s canny screenplay, and to all the performers, but above all to Lemmon’s demonically funny performance as Professor Fate.

But the bright and skilful comedy player Curtis mustn’t be overlooked for praise as The Great Leslie, and Natalie Wood (as Maggie Dubois), Peter Falk (as Fate’s sidekick Max), Keenan Wynn (as Hezekiah Sturdy), Arthur O’Connell and Vivian Vance (as Henry and Hester Goodbody), Larry Storch, Dorothy Provine, Ross Martin, George Macready, Marvin Kaplan, Hal Smith and Denver Pyle provide the perfect backup to the two stars.

There are lots of good scenes as highlights throughout the movie, including especially the duel, the saloon brawl and of course the inevitable custard pie fight, which is exuberantly staged. A dedication to Laurel and Hardy appears at the beginning of the film and the operatic pie fight is Edwards’s main tribute to the boys.

As ever, Edwards employs Henry Mancini to come up with the ideal score, and his Oscar-nominated song ‘The Sweetheart Tree’ with lyrics by Johnny Mercer delights. And, in terms of class, Warner Bros’ lavish production shows, with classy period production designs by Fernando Carrere.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2737

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