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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.

An ambitious jazz musician tries to make it in The Big Apple despite hardships. Meanwhile he befriends a desperate taxi dancer trying to hold on to her self-respect.

The 105-minutes amounts to a sour valentine to New York City. The ending is predictable from the start. Why else cast two big Hollywood stars in the leads. The fact that Peggy (Reynolds) and Pete (Curtis) finally get together is not because of the City, as we might expect, but in spite of it. Thus the screenplay breaks with Hollywood convention of big cities with a soft heart. Note, for example, how the landlady's morning grouch gets quickly reflected in other grouchy New Yorkers.. That sort of uncompromising attitude may be the movie's best part.

Otherwise, it's Reynolds breaking with her malt shop image, as a hard case who registers zero smiles throughout. At the same time, the effort to break with the Tammy image (Tammy And The Bachelor, {1957}) is too pointed and resolute to be convincing. Curtis, on the other hand, is fairly amiable, and not quite as miscast as Reynolds. Still, his Bronx accent sort of comes and goes for a guy supposedly from Milwaukee. Having two stars at the peak of popularity also means giving them adequate screen time to satisfy their fans. But that also means padding a slender storyline with lots of talk that too often drags out the runtime. Note too, how awkwardly the script plays with the key topic of prostitution, a word or even concept that dare not speak its name, thanks to the suffocating Production Code.

Anyway, Oakie and Medford supply subtle amusement, while Rickles chews the scenery like he's starving for attention. All in all, it's a 105-minutes that doesn't wear well, despite being cutting edge at the time. All in all, I'm glad that Reynolds soon went back to the personality roles she was so good at.

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

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

If you're thinking of Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds with their Hollywood glamor - you're in for quite a surprise - this is grittier stuff than they usually did - altho - not guttery or depressing - as it would be in todays milieu

try to overlook the residue of Tonys Bronx accent - and enjoy his eager Midwestern saxophonist arriving in the jazz musicians mecca - Noo Yawk City

except he's not in a typical Hollywood success story - here the emphasis is on disillusionment - and its actually risqué for its time - with Tony and struggling dancer Debbie Reynolds sharing an apartment - both actors are very good - Debbie could have used more such roles

the script is too talky perhaps - too much like a stage play - the most memorable thing for me beside the stars is the music - especially the throbbing theme song played over the opening scenes of Tony's cross country bus ride - from the plains of the Midwest - to smog shrouded NYC

and i can still hear in my mind the driving version of THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC played with real life saxophonists Sam Butera and Jerry Mulligan - and Joe Buskin at the keys - that scene demonstrates how convincing Curtis was at faking playing a saxophone - notice his red face while playing the large baritone sax - when i was in the school band - i could barely get a sound out of one of them