El rally de Montecarlo y los locos del volante

My comment above is not at all to dissuade you from watching this frequently funny film it is mostly to recognize the colossal amount of money invested in these all star road romps that raced thru the 60s. MAD MAD WORLD and MAGNIFICENT MEN and GREAT RACE and then this along with the whopper period musicals (DARLING LILI) had production accountants suicidal. From 1964 to 1970 I can count 33 massive 'roadshow' musicals and 20 'roadshow' comedy adventure epics. Cinemas were weekly opening something with 22 stars and costing 22 million and all in 70mm and on reserved seats. Like concert overload, these overloaded films became so frequent that they lost their appeal. Like eating a ton of fruit salad. I found this film: THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES as a 3rd rung on the 'race' list extremely well made but with an inordinate amount of back projection and insert studio shots edited into scenes that were already in the can from location shooting, almost duplicating the film indoors for small spot shots. The rear projection scenes even involved crowded backgrounds (see the Sweden scenes) and duplicates of the main actors who only were inserted in the close ups... so some major stars actually did not go to some locations, just the second unit and the extras and stand-ins ... all cleverly inserted together with studio pick-up and dialog bits. The Terry-Thomas scenes and the Pete and Dud pukka British dastardry are by far the funniest and the Italian nonsense by far the most grating, sadly because they also feature the adorable Walter Chiari. So overloaded with scenes, antics and pantomime J-JALOPIES almost becomes impossible to follow, a fact itself recognizes because of the frequent split screen 'where are they now' compilation assemblies. Tony Curtis is hilarious and replays his Great Leslie image from THE GREAT RACE. J-JALOPIES is all terrific expensive Euro fun and well worth watching with kids and teens on family movie night. But the cost of this production! eek!

Like many other racing comedies, 'Those Daring Young Men in their Jaunty Jalopies' suffers from simply having too much going on at once. The film has so many different characters it tries to devote time to, it's easy to forget everything that's going on. It seemed like whenever Tony Curtis appeared on the screen I thought "Oh yeah, forgot he was in this." The film might be considered a multi-car wreck had it not been for Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Cook plays a British inventor, Moore his trusty sidekick. These two have all the best lines in the movie, and their deadpan delivery is perfect.

This picture is one of those fondly remembered childhood movies for me. I'd have been six when it came out and I bought a VHS copy when that was released. It was as goofy a movie as I remembered. Tony Curtis forever muttering "darn, heck and h.e. double l" when things went wrong; Terry-Thomas being his usual beastly self. The movie is full of old friends. This is one I'd like to see fully restored (it originally had a stereo soundtrack - mentioned on the credits), and released on DVD.

In the 1920's several international characters gather to compete in the gruelling Monte Carlo Rally. Some will employ fair means or foul to ensure victory.

This film was a follow up of sorts to 1965's 'Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines', although it also bares similarities to 'The Great Race'(in which Tony Curtis once again starred). Sadly it is not in the same class as either. It lacks the coherence, wit and spectacle of 'Flying Machines', despite Ken Annakin being at the helm once more. In fairness to him the main problem is the screenplay - its simply not that funny. This causes an over reliance on the visual gags, and here again the film falls short. The effects aren't terribly special even for 1969. Some of the characters are also downright irritating - I'm thinking particularly of the Italians - bulging eyed, flailing armed, noisy oafs.

There are some compensations however. Dear old Terry-Thomas and Eric Sykes repeat their double act from the previous film to some effect, and Susan Hampshire is every inch the English Rose. But its Peter Cook and Dudley Moore who steal the show as a British Army Officer/Inventor and his Batman respectively. They have all the best lines and manage to deliver them in a typically deadpan and upper class manner. Example:- As their car hurtles down a snowy hillside out of control, and having tried every concievable method of stopping it to no avail, Cook calmly announces "This simply won't do at all!" Priceless.

Not a total disaster then, but considering the talent involved, with better writing and more careful work all round it could have been, and indeed should have been, so much better.

My wife prefers "The Great Race" over this film. Both films are period comedies involving automobile races. Both star Tony Curtis. As for me, I prefer "Those Daring Young Fools in Their Jaunty Jalopies" (aka "Monte Carlo or Bust.") Why? The supporting cast.

First of all, I'm a huge Terry-Thomas fan. So for me, this was reason enough to purchase a LaserDisc of this film. Eric Sykes, Gert Frobe, et al are all good too! This is also a sequel of sorts to "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines." Terry-Thomas plays the grown son of the character that he played in the earlier film. And, Eric Sykes is back as his side-kick. Both films also feature Gert Frobe as a German, and both films were directed by Ken Annakin.

There is an awkward edit just prior to the final stage of the rally, but it appears to have been done on purpose (for effect).

I've suddenly remembered that there are at least two versions of this film. The European cut of this film ran 122 minutes. The American cut ran 93 minutes. The LaserDisc release (which I mentioned earlier) is the longer European cut in widescreen with the American opening title sequence. I have never seen the shorter version, so I can't comment on it's relative merits as compared to the longer version.