The Great Race

Name: The Great Race
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sport, Comedy, Romance
Released: July 1, 1965
Duration: 160 min
Rating: 71
Cast: Arthur O'Connell, Dorothy Provine, Jack Lemmon, Keenan Wynn, Larry Storch

1965

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Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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7.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. | Release Date: July 1, 1965 | Approved

Starring: Arthur O'Connell, Dorothy Provine, Jack Lemmon, Keenan Wynn, Larry Storch, Natalie Wood, Peter Falk, Ross Martin, Tony Curtis, Vivian Vance

Summary: In the early 20th century, two rivals, the heroic Leslie and the despicable Professor Fate, engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris.

Director: Blake Edwards

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Sport, Comedy, Romance, Western, Family

Rating: Approved

Runtime: 160 min

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Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr

It's highly inventive, self-conscious camp, made in 1965, well before the genre wore itself out in superciliousness. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

While many of the jokes don't pay off, it's still funny enough to merit your attention. Mancini's score adds pace and flow. This spectacle is almost totally uncontrolled, and therein lies much of its charm. Read full review

Crosby Day

An uproarious piece of fluff about a turn-of-the-century New York-to-Paris automobile race complete with a noble hero, a snarling villain and a spirited suffragette. The Great Race, while not in a league with Some Like It Hot, is deftly directed by Blake Edwards. [02 Apr 1995, p.75]

Staff (Not Credited)

The Great Race is a big, expensive, whopping, comedy extravaganza [from a screen story by Blake Edwards and Arthur Ross], long on slapstick and near-inspired tomfoolery whose tongue-in-cheek treatment liberally sprinkled with corn frequently garners belly laughs. Read full review

J. Hoberman

Natalie Wood is on hand as a cheroot-smoking suffragist (with a phenomenal wardrobe), but the movie is largely powered by Lemmon’s energy, roaring like Jackie Gleason as the bombastic Professor Fate and later appearing as his double, the klutzy crown prince of a Ruritanian kingdom. Read full review

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User Reviews

stacyshystovska

Jan 7, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ‘’The Great Race’’ (1965) is a comedy movie that was directed by Blake Edwards. Its production began with a budget of $12 million. The stars are Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Natalie Wood, who are incredibly suited their roles. Tony Curtis is known for his acting in movies of different genres. Some of his most interesting movies are ‘’The Vikings’’ (1958), ‘’Some Like It Hot’’ (1959), ‘’Spartacus’’ (1960) and ‘’The Last Tycoon’’ (1976). ‘’The Great Race’’ is one of Blake’s most famous works. The other one is ‘’Breakfast at Tiffany's’’ (1961) with Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard.

This movie is about a race from New York to Paris. The Great Leslie is the main character who takes part in this race. Professor Fate would like to take part in this race too. This race begins and they with other participants go on an unusual adventure. They visit many places, meet many people and try not to lose in this long race. ‘’The Great Race’’ got an Oscar for Best Effects. The length of this movie is 2 hours 40 minutes. It can be said that you just do not feel this length, because you are so much into it. It is a wonderful adventure movie with romance and a lot of action scenes. Written by by Anastasiia Shystovska… Expand

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Compi24

Dec 7, 2019

Basically a two-hour and fourty-five minute long Looney Tunes sketch performed in the live action format. If the prior sentence doesn't set off at least a few sets of alarm bells in your head, then I don't know what to tell you. Slapstick can be an effective tool, yes, but only when theBasically a two-hour and fourty-five minute long Looney Tunes sketch performed in the live action format. If the prior sentence doesn't set off at least a few sets of alarm bells in your head, then I don't know what to tell you. Slapstick can be an effective tool, yes, but only when the characters, stakes & conflict in play are firm enough to support a genuine comedic reaction from the audience. It's also most prudently used in short form storytelling (i.e. cartoons, shorts, skits, etc.) for even the most successful of reactions to pratfalls or pies in the face are fleeting in comparison to how audiences typically process other narrative devices. It's hard to play the long con with this kind of humor. It's damn near IMPOSSIBLE to play the three-hour long con with this kind of humor. And "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World" this movie is not. I appreciate Blake Edwards's spirit in setting forth with this piece. The actors seem to be having a great time -- especially the late, great Jack Lemmon. The set pieces, though monotonous after a time, are put together coherently. But nearly every other element -- the narrative, the character work, the pacing -- is lacking. No one is interesting. Our protagonist is horrifically characterized, with almost little to no identifiers given to him other than "he's good" and "he wears white." Natalie Wood's character is so haphazardly constructed, reflecting an overall issue in the thematic content therein. What were they trying to get across? Egalitarianism is good? Bad? Inevitable? It's so confused and thrown together. There are entire sequences (oh, no, not scenes -- SEQUENCES) that can go. There's absolutely no reason this needed to be this long. "The Great Race" is easily one of the more difficult watches I've had to endure as of late.… Expand

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