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The Rat Race (1960)

Maybe this will help: Tony Curtis is himself, really strong, and if you like him, you'll like him. Debbie Reynolds is kind of at her best, for me, less trivial than she is sometimes portrayed. She doesn't dance or sing, but is just a girl trying to make it in New York. Throw in Don Rickles at an exaggerated but believable role, with less humor and more grotesqueness. Finally, though big sax man Gerry Mulligan gets big letters in the credits, he appears, as himself, only briefly (though we do get to hear him play for a few seconds).

But let's turn this around and talk plot. In a very broad way, this is a kind of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" a year earlier. Nice guy lands in New York without a clue and local woman is braving it on her own and having to compromise her principles in the process. Even the music, by Elmer Bernstein, is in a Henry Mancini style (only rarely dipping into any real jazz, for those looking for that). Though painted as a story of boy meets girl and the improbable follows the unlikely, the basic premise is heartwarming and true to a lot of our dreams of making it, and making it with the right person (both).

I liked this movie a lot. It's even photographed by Alfred Hitchcock's cinematographer, Robert Burks, and so it looks good, too, in mildly widescreen Technicolor. It's a situation drama/comedy--there is no sensing that this is actually real. In that sense it's really a 1960 era movie, when artifice had reached a truly plastic kind of height (sometimes with wonderful results, but even classics like, say, "West Side Story" have a style from the times that is neither classic 1940s Hollywood in its believability nor totally creative invention as with those rare movies here and there all through the decades). The point is, you have to like this kind of set-up style to start with. You probably know whether movies like some of the Doris Day classics or even Marilyn Monroe movies are up your alley.

Or "Breakfast at Tiffany's," or the black and white counterpart in a different sense, "The Apartment." I think this Curtis/Reynolds romantic comedy is totally overlooked, and deserves a close look. There are ever some fabulous if fleeting shots of busy New York City. And if you've never heard of the director, Robert Mulligan (no relation to Gerry), don't worry. He did pull off one all time classic handled with similar panache--"To Kill a Mockingbird." Yeah, don't underestimate this one.

I was 9 years old when I first saw this movie, which was probably too young. I think it was the "B" movie accompanying "Bells Are Ringing" with Judy Holliday. To me (at that age), the movie was very grim, but mesmerizing. Main characters were extremely likable. You could not help but feel badly for Pete Hammond and Peggy Brown who were good folks but had to deal with such adversity. Watching the movie, one could not help but feel so badly for them (Tony Curtis' character for being trusting and having his musical instruments stolen, and Debbie Reynold's "hard" character (with a heart) for sacrificing to help Tony's character out and being abused by Don Rickles' character and his henchman.

Norman Fell and Don Rickles were very effective as the "heavies". To this day, I think of Don Rickles as "Nellie" in this film. I'm a Rickles fan, but can't make myself like him (smile).

Also love the NYC scenes, and film is almost nostalgic (NYC, the way it was in 1960).

Definitely a "must see". Great actors in their environment and in a past era. I have a VHS tape, but will order a DVD as soon as I log off :-) Tim

Tony Curtis, (Pete Hammond Jr.) plays the role as a musician who plays a saxophone, clarinet and flute and he leaves Milwaukee, Wisconsin and heads to New York City to start out on his career. Pete has a hard time trying to find a cheap place to live and winds up sharing an apartment with a girl named Peggy Brown, (Debbie Reynolds) who is a dancer and singer and has lived in New York for a few years and is having a hard time trying to find a job doing what she likes. Peggy does work in a dance hall where men buy tickets for every dance and the establishment is owned by Don Rickles who is a very shady character who has a great interest in Peggy and has loaned her $600.00 and begins to want her to repay him in more ways than one. This is a great film because Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds and Don Rickles played very dramatic roles and they all gave outstanding performances. Veteran actor Jack Oakie, (Mac, Owner of Macs Bar) gave a great supporting role and also some comedy. If you have not seen this film, you are missing a great 1960 Classic, so keep an eye out for this film on TV. Enjoy.

Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds were my main reasons for seeing 'The Rat Race'. The idea of the story also intrigued me, as did seeing Jack Oakie in a late role, Don Rickles in an early one and having the great Elmer Bernstein being the composer. There was the worry though as to how Curtis would fare in the setting, and whether Reynolds would be too glamorous within a story that does have some grit.

Luckily, what 'The Rat Race' had going for it works very well in its favour, nothing is squandered. 'The Rat Race' has grit and charm, but it is also very entertaining where almost everything works and any initial worries were blown away very quickly. Quite a breath of fresh air compared to some things seen recently, of my recent viewings of Curtis' works it's among his better ones, and worthy of a little more credit than it gets.

Maybe at times 'The Rat Race' is a little too talky.

From personal opinion, as nit-picky as this sounds, Curtis and Reynolds are slightly too pretty amidst a purposefully drab setting and a story that has its grit.

Apart from those, there is very little to dislike. It is lovingly photographed and its locations are picturesque and atmospherically drab, which is more than fitting with the tone. Robert Mulligan directs with energy and is careful not to make things go over the top or too tame.

Bernstein's score is a major asset, haunting and smouldering with the main theme being a very difficult one to forget. The script on the most part has wit, sharpness and is free of fat and too much froth. The story is full of energy and charm, the romantic elements are adorable, the comedy genuinely funny, and the grittiness of some of the story is handled very well.

Curtis and Reynolds are immensely likeable and are irresistible together. Rickles has seldom been more deliciously repellent, while Jack Oakie and Norman Fell amuse.

Overall, very entertaining and recommended. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Midwestern saxophonist Tony Curtis (as Pete Hammond Jr.) arrives in New York City, seeking fame and fortune. Instead, he finds himself lost in "The Rat Race". Mr. Curtis quickly meets disillusioned Debbie Reynolds (as Peggy Brown). Ms. Reynolds works as a paid dancing partner, for sailors and other lonely men. The two decide to pool their resources by sharing an apartment, agreeing to a platonic living arrangement. The roommates frequent the local watering hole, and hear older, wiser owner Jackie Oakie (as Mac) and landlady Kay Medford (as Soda) dispense words of wisdom. Curtis loses his musical instruments. Then, Reynolds loses her job.

Will Curtis and Reynolds gain romance?

Robert Mulligan's version of Garson Kanin's play, which starred Barry Nelson and Betty Field, never really takes off. Curtis and Reynolds (and the film, generally) look way too sharp to be Mr. Kanin's desolation row denizens, clawing their way to the top. Don Rickles is a highlight, as Reynolds' brutal, sadistic boss. Norman Fell is amusing, as the telephone man. Reynolds is unexpectedly glamorous, almost more suited for the lead in "Butterfield 8"; and, she looks especially sexy undressing for the lecherous Mr. Rickles.

***** The Rat Race (7/10/60) Robert Mulligan ~ Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds, Don Rickles