Zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts nehmen zwei Rivalen, der heldenhafte Leslie und der verabscheuungswürdige Professor Fate, an einem epischen Autorennen von New York nach Paris teil.Zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts nehmen zwei Rivalen, der heldenhafte Leslie und der verabscheuungswürdige Professor Fate, an einem epischen Autorennen von New York nach Paris teil.Zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts nehmen zwei Rivalen, der heldenhafte Leslie und der verabscheuungswürdige Professor Fate, an einem epischen Autorennen von New York nach Paris teil.
- 1 Oscar gewonnen
- 3 Gewinne & 14 Nominierungen insgesamt
- Barfly
- (Nicht genannt)
- Barfly
- (Nicht genannt)
Empfohlene Bewertungen
One of the movie's several charms is that it draws heavily from Victorian clichés that still linger in the public mind, gives them a gentle comic spin, and then drops them into the tale of an early 1900s auto race from New York to Paris by way of Siberia. Add to this a heap of favorite character actors, a big budget, flamboyant period costumes, and the biggest pie fight ever filmed, and you have a movie where there is always something to enjoy on the screen.
The great thing about THE GREAT RACE are the performances, which are very broad but endowed with a sly humor. The comedy accolades here go to Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk as the notorious Dr. Fate and his bumbling sidekick Max--wonderful bits of acting that will have you hooting with laughter in every scene--and Dorothy Provine scores memorably in a cameo as Lily Olay, the bombshell singer who presides over the most rootin'-tootin' saloon this side of the Pecos.
But every one, from Tony Curtis and the lovely Natalie Wood down to such cameo performers as Vivian Vance, get in plenty of comic chops as the film drifts from one outrageous episode to another: suffragettes crowding a newspaper, the biggest western brawl imaginable, polar bears, explosions, daredevil antics, and a subplot lifted from THE PRISONER OF ZENDA agreeably crowd in upon each other. True, the film does seem over-long and may drag a bit in spots, but it never drags for very long, and it's all in good fun--and the production values and memorable score easily tide over the bare spots. Lots of fun.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
It is simply one of the funniest movies I have ever seen! The whole cast shines (especially Lemmon, who should have won an Oscar for Best Scene Stealer). Besides the great slapstick, there are a million subtle details that you don't notice unless you are really paying attention. This is why the movie is still great after several viewings: each time you watch it, you are bound to catch some little joke you didn't see before.
Everything about this movie cracks me up. The contrast in character between Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon is just great, the chemistry between the different characters is great, the movie parodies are great, the sets are great, the slapstick is great, and the dialogue is great. Even the MUSIC is funny... every time that goofy theme music for Professor Fate starts playing, I start laughing.
If you haven't seen this, I highly suggest you rent it. Yes, it is long, but it is one of the few comedies I have seen that keeps up the laughs consistently... it never sags or has dull moments. It is downright hilarious from start to finish.
And to top it all off, it has some very cool cars.
The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) and Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) are competing daredevils at the turn of the 20th century. Leslie is the classic hero, Fate the classic villain. Leslie proposes an around the world automobile race and Fate sees this as a chance to - finally - best Leslie by fair means or foul. Complicating matters is a suffragette (Natalie Wood) who insists on entering the race so she can report on it. Arthur O'Connell plays the newspaper editor whom she comically browbeats - and shocks - into employing her.
The most impressive aspect of The Great Race is the lively performance by Jack Lemmon who dominates the film in every frame in which he resides. Lemmon had done comedy and drama up to this point, but it was a departure for him to do farce and do it as the villain, although there are plenty of spots where he is humanized to the point that you don't really think of him as such. He also had tremendous support from the sidekick role of Max as played by Peter Falk. While Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood may have been considered the leads of the film, in the end it was Jack who stole the whole show.
"The Great Race," a delightful parody of silent film, is still one of my favorite epic comedies. The adventures of Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood and Peter Falk as they compete in the early twentieth century to win a New York to Paris auto race. This movie is a ride on the Hilarity Express, from the opening credits to the closing scene. Always make me laugh hysterically . And has any other film even approached the firing in rapid salvoes of 2,357 pies in the biggest food fight in cinematic history !!
If you haven't seen this, I highly suggest you rent it. Yes, it is long, but it is one of the few comedies I have seen that keeps up the laughs consistently... it never sags or has dull moments. It is downright hilarious from start to finish. And to top it all off, it has some very cool cars.
"Push the button, Max!" 9/10
Comedy is always a thing of personal taste. I suspect that there will be those who will rave about how wonderful The Great Race is while others will call it a waste of time and money. There will be few in the middle ground. I fall into the rave category. To me this movie is sheer FUN.
The visuals are splendid and awesomly huge. The costumes fabulous and the location settings vast. Everything is over the top, yet there is still room for small subtleties and in-jokes. The actors have a ball. Jack Lemmon just sneaks in as the best scene stealer but the able cast hold their own too. The Great Race just cries out for a restoration job and a release on DVD - please !
Wusstest du schon
- WissenswertesThe pie fight scene lasts only four minutes but took five days to shoot and is the longest pie fight sequence in movie history. At first, the cast had fun filming the pie fight scene, but eventually the process grew tiresome and dangerous. Natalie Wood choked briefly on a pie which hit her open mouth. Jack Lemmon got knocked out a few times: "A pie hitting you in the face feels like a ton of cement." At the end of shooting the sequence, when Blake Edwards called "Cut!" he was barraged with several hundred pies that members of the cast had hidden, waiting for that moment.
- PatzerIn the final sprint to Paris, Maggie's costume changes. Since her costume changes at a regular rate throughout the film, this was probably intentional.
- Zitate
[On a melting iceberg]
Leslie: [measures the base] 37 inches to go.
Fate: Oh, 37 inches to go. Huzzah! At the rate we've been melting, that's good for about one more week!
Leslie: You'd better keep it to yourself.
Fate: Oh, of course I'll keep it to myself.
[Leslie walks away]
Fate: [muttering] Until the water reaches my lower lip, and then I'm gonna mention it to SOMEBODY!
- Crazy CreditsJack Lemmon is only credited as Professor Fate and not for his second role as Crown Prince Hapnik.
- Alternative VersionenThe Great Race has been re-released in France in 1996. However, after the race starts, all scenes involving people from the newspaper in New York have been cut. The French authorities or distributors took them as a mockery of the French suffragette's, feminist's and women's lib movements.
- VerbindungenEdited into Lo schermo a tre punte (1995)
- SoundtracksThe Sweetheart Tree
Words by Johnny Mercer
Music by Henry Mancini
Performed by Natalie Wood (dubbed by Jackie Ward) (uncredited)
Robert Bain guitar accompanist (uncredited)
Top-Auswahl
15 Fast and Fun Racing Movies
15 Fast and Fun Racing Movies
Details
- Erscheinungsdatum
- Herkunftsland
- Sprachen
- Auch bekannt als
- La carrera del siglo
- Drehorte
- Produktionsfirmen
- Weitere beteiligte Unternehmen bei IMDbPro anzeigen
Box Office
- Budget
- 12.000.000 $ (geschätzt)
- Laufzeit2 Stunden 40 Minuten
- Seitenverhältnis
- 2.35 : 1