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The Great Race
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 1965
Rated: NR
Film Length: 160 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (2.35:1)
The movie with the 20,000-mile
or one-million-laugh guarantee
Wow! Where did this movie come from?
As a fan of big-screen comedies, I never knew
about The Great Race. Imagine my delight
at spending nearly three hours with this almost
perfect comedy.
From Pink Panther Director Blake Edwards,
comes a textbook model of the big-screen comedy
adventure. Arriving two years after It's A
Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Edwards assembled
an all-star cast and a fast-paced script that
told the story of a turn-of-the-century whacky
New York to Paris automobile race across three
continents.
What makes this film so fun is that it plays like
a cartoon episode of Dastardly and Muttley,
where you have good guy The Great Leslie (Tony
Curtis) being chased by his arch-rival, the
mustached and black-attired Professor Fate (Jack
Lemmon)and his cohort Max (Peter Falk). The bumbling
fiends are hilarious to watch as invention after
invention built to destroy Leslie, ends up turning
on the evil duo.
The Great Leslie, after setting many world records,
proposes a great car race to begin in New York and
end in Paris. Of course, Professor Fate vows to
enter the race and win, and thus starts the chase
where anything and everything happens along the way,
including the beautiful Maggie DuBois(Natalie Wood),
a headstrong female reporter whose out to prove
that women can press the pedal to the metal just
like any man.
I was glued to my screen for the first half of
the film, enjoying the shenanigans of Professor
Fate and sidekick Max. It was like watching a
live-action cartoon, and I really was having a
grand time with it all. There were some really
cool contraptions such as the submarine, rocket
sled, and pedaled air balloon. The film also
features one of the most extravagant barrom brawls
I have ever seen. However, after the first hour,
the film takes a bit of a nose dive as the story
turns to double identities and royalty being
crossed in the town of Potzdorf. The film just
becomes too long, and by the time it picks up in
its final 10 minutes, you are nearly in a daze.
Still, so much credit has to be given to the
entire cast that seems to be having the time
of their lives. Dedicating this film to Stan
Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Director Blake Edwards
has loaded this film with every sort of sight
gag imaginable, and you can readily feel the
spirit of the comedy team throughout the movie.
I also enjoyed the grandeur of watching a by-gone
era of film that comes complete with an OVERTURE,
INTERMISSION, ENTR'ACTE and EXIT MUSIC --
all scored by the great Henry Mancini.
How is the transfer?
This is another gorgeous technicolor transfer
that just shines on DVD. Warner has created a
brand new digital transfer that looks sensational.
The quality of the print is immaculate with nary
a sign of film blemish. There are vivid colors
to be seen in just about every frame, keeping
well balanced and never becoming oversaturated
(especially the reds). In fact, the clarity
of this film is so perfect, you can see the
imperfection seams from the movie's optical effects.
This DVD sports a brand new restored and
remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that sounds, well,
just okay. Most of the film soundtrack remains
in the front three channels. There is surround
information being sent to the rears, but alas,
it is recorded at such low levels that it never
gets noticed. In fact, you really can count on
one hand how many times you actually hear information
from the rear speakers. Though there is nice
stereo separation across the front, the soundtrack
doesn't seem to pack a lot of punch, often sounding
more "tinny" than robust.
If you still take into consideration the beautiful
job that Warner has done restoring this film, you
can easily overlook the 5.1 mix that was never
part of the film's original release.
Special Features
An original 1965 Warner promotional featurette,
Behind the scenes with Blake Edward's The
Great Race, takes us on a movie sound stage
where the famous barroom brawl is about to take
place. On the sidelines, the actresses are
putting on their makeup, and Tony Curtis and
Jack Lemmon are enjoying a game of pool. We get
a glimpse of some of the choreography being put
together for the barroom fight. Want to see how
the balloon escape was done at the start of the
movie? You'll be amazed at how it was done without
the help of trick photography. We watch the stars
arrive in Vienna, Austria to a welcoming crowd of
fans. Once in Vienna, Blake Edwards and Producer
Martin Jurow are seen scouting out locations that
were used in the last hour of the film. This is
quite an interesting featurette that is quite
enjoyable thanks to the fact that it feels like
you are watching a movie star's home movies from
a foreign country where a big movie is being filmed.
(length: approx. 15 minutes)
The film's original theatrical trailer is
included as well as a one-page Cast listing
and a wasted page dedicated to the one Academy
Award the film received.
Final Thoughts
If you are a big fan of the over-the-top
comedy productions of the 1960's, you owe it
to yourself to pick up a copy of The Great
Race. Visually, this movie is a work of art,
and for at least its first hour, it plays out
like one of those hilarious cartoons that you so
fondly remember from your childhood. Jack Lemmon
and Peter Falk steal this movie and never give
it back. For that alone, it's worth a purchase.
Release Date: June 4, 2002
