Why Is The Great Race So Great?
These days, with Hollywood movies going the way they are (well, most anyway), people tend to turn to older movies for entertainment, just because, well, they don’t make ’em like they used to.
And one movie I like to recommend is The Great Race, a 1965 Blake Edwards production I actually discovered by accident while doing research into classic movie villains.
This two-something hour affair starts Tony Curtis as Leslie, a heroic type who participates in an event known as The Great Race, using a fantastic souped-up car to get the job done. But the evil Professor Fate, portrayed in winning fashion by Jack Lemmon, doesn’t want him to win so easily. So he builds his own car, the devastating Hannibal Twin-8, alongside his comic foil (a young Peter Falk), and enters the race on his own terms.
Also getting involved in the affair is a reporter (Natalie Wood) that looks to cover the race for feminism’s sake (it was big at the time), and, surprise, along the way she forms a bit of kinship with Leslie. Who knows, the kids might even fall in love.
The Great Race focuses on being one of those 60s “epic” films, the kind you don’t really see that much because, well, budget. Blake Edwards spent a good dime on this one, as it features all sorts of set pieces. One second it’s in a Western town where a fight breaks out and there’s a gasoline explosion; the next, it’s in a faraway kingdom with a foolish but lovable king (also played by Lemmon) ruling over the land, only for evil types to try and overthrow him with a swap.
Oh, and there’s a pie fight. A huge pie fight. So huge, in fact, word has it that Edwards had to film it multiple times because some of the pies went bad and the smell was horrendous. They even took pictures of it for prosperity’s sake. (If you listen during the scene, you actually hear cameras going off and capturing the moment.)
So, yes, it’s silly. Of course it is. There’s even a sword fighting sequence between Curtis and a foil that ends with the baddie jumping off a balcony head first into a row boat, for some reason. But never mind.
The tone for The Great Race is all about comical, cartoony style stuff. In fact, the antics of Professor Fate were so much so that they inspired the creation of Snidey Whiplash in those Wacky Races cartoons, among many others. Lemmon played the role so well (his son said he really got a kick out of both roles, even after falling into a cake TWICE), and Falk looked like he was having a ball right beside him.
That said, I did hear about some drama that came from this. Along with the pie incident, there was word that Wood wasn’t exactly fond of filming the movie, and even had some sort of emergency hospital visit following its completion. But she apparently did it to film a different role in another movie, so…I dunno. That’s something for the “darker tales of Hollywood” to cover.
Also, as I mentioned, the film did go over budget, probably resulting in it being a box office disappointment compared to other successes that Edwards would have. Again, I barely heard about this one compared to, say his work on 10 and the Pink Panther movies.
But upon seeing it, I have a great appreciation for The Great Race. It’s comical in just the right way, and its sequences are a lot of fun to watch — whether it’s Fate going off about the glory of its Hannibal Twin-8 as it blows parts of his house to bits (“MAAAAAAAX!”), or Curtis just trying to be a gentleman throughout, and surviving the pie fight with nary a scratch — up to a certain point, actually delivered by Wood.
I mean, you have to accept a sense of whimsy for a film that does everything from hosting a musical number in a Western bar that results in a ridiculous, stunt-filled fight to the destruction of the Eiffel Tower (relax, it was fake), all with a grandoise musical style and plenty of comical hijinks. It’s also worth noting how great Falk is in this, especially in a scene where he has a conversation with a guard that ends with the right amount of smoothness. (“Bless you, my son.” *whonk*)
Not to mention Henry Mancini going nuts on the soundtrack, mixing many American themes together into something original — and fitting the manic nature of the film as a whole.
I love this movie; and if you give it a chance, I think you will too. Just roll with it, because they just don’t make ’em like this anymore.
Have a great week, everyone! Even if you don’t have a Hannibal Twin-8 to get you through it.
