This review originally appeared on CinemaRetro
By Mark Cerulli
Blake Edwards’ 1965 comedy epic, The Great Race, has been out in various formats for years, but the Warner Archive has finally given it the royal Blu-ray treatment that’s as immaculate as the dazzling white car Tony Curtis drives in the film.
The Great Race was loosely based on the 1908 New York to Paris race and Edwards and screenwriter Arthur Ross threw everything but the kitchen sink at it. Originally developed at United Artists, the project was picked up by Warner Bros when UA balked at the rising cost – which eventually hit a then-unheard of $12 million, making it the most expensive comedy made at that time. Clocking in at two hours and forty minutes, it was also one of the longest running. (Unless compared with Stanley Kramer’s classic It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which ran over three hours in its original roadshow presentation.)
The story follows two bitter rivals, “The Great Leslie”, suavely played by Tony Curtis and his evil nemesis, “Professor Fate” (a first-rate, over the top performance by Jack Lemmon) as they race across three continents from New York to Paris. The Leslie character and his sidekick “Hesekiah” (Keenan Wynn) take the high road while Fate and his bumbling henchman “Max” (Peter Falk) use an array of dirty tricks to cheat their way to the finish line. Achingly beautiful Natalie Wood plays a reporter gamely trying to cover the race. Comedy set pieces abound, most notably a saloon brawl that must have used every working stuntman in Hollywood and the ultimate pie-fight, which cost over $200,000 to film. Beautifully shot by Cinematographer Russell Harlan (Hatari) in locations like Austria, Paris, Death Valley and no less than eight WB soundstages, no expense was spared… and yet the film never received the love it deserved. Critics considered it “overdone”, missing that the film was Edwards’ homage to outrageous slapstick. Although it earned a respectable $25 million, it wasn’t a breakout hit. (In contrast, our beloved Thunderball, which was released the same year, cost $5.6 million to produce and raked in over $140 million. Talk about a great ROI!)
Box office math aside, as pure cinematic fun, The Great Race delivers in spades. Lemmon’s work as the evil villain and a drunk lookalike prince was brilliant, full of manic energy and a real showcase for his skill and range as an actor. Tony Curtis gave another strong performance as the stoic hero who can do no wrong, unfazed by any mishap, including finding a huge polar bear in his back seat! It’s rumored that co-star Natalie Wood didn’t want to make the film and had to be persuaded by WB brass, but she seemed to be having fun and could throw a pie with the best of them. She lit up the screen as an intrepid writer/photographer trying to break free of early 20th century stereotypes of what a woman could and could not do. Seeing her in the various Edith Head-designed costumes reminds one of what a stunning young woman she was.
As to be expected, the image quality is nothing short of pristine in 1080p, with scenes looking almost three-dimensional in their clarity. The audio was bumped up to DTS-HD 5.1 so all of Lemmon’s agonized cries of “Maaaaaaax!” sound great, as does Henry Mancini’s gentle score. The only nitpick is the lack of any new extras – the disc contains “Behind the Scenes With Blake Edwards’ The Great Race” – the vintage studio featurette and a theatrical trailer; both of which were on the 2002 DVD release. They are most welcome, but it would have been even more beneficial if, some years ago, someone had interviewed Edwards, Curtis and Lemmon about the making of this epic comedy. I would have produced those gratis, just to hear more about this wonderful, if overlooked film. Sigh
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