La Grande Course autour du monde

Original title: The Great Race

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

21K

YOUR RATING

Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon in La Grande Course autour du monde (1965)

Trailer for this comedy starring Jack Lemon

Play trailer2:51

1 Video

99+ Photos

Adventure Epic Parody Road Trip Satire Slapstick Action Adventure Comedy Family Romance

In the early 20th century, heroic Leslie Gallant and his despicable rival Professor Fate engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris while enthusiastic suffragette Maggie Dubois... Read allIn the early 20th century, heroic Leslie Gallant and his despicable rival Professor Fate engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris while enthusiastic suffragette Maggie Dubois enters the race to report on every step of it.In the early 20th century, heroic Leslie Gallant and his despicable rival Professor Fate engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris while enthusiastic suffragette Maggie Dubois enters the race to report on every step of it.

Director
- Blake Edwards
Writers
- Arthur A. Ross
- Blake Edwards
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

21K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Blake Edwards
Writers
- Arthur A. Ross
- Blake Edwards
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 3 wins & 14 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 2:51

The Great Race

Photos315

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Storyline

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Trivia
The 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.

Goofs
In the final sprint to Paris, Maggie's costume changes. Since her costume changes at a regular rate throughout the film, this was probably intentional.

Quotes
[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 credits
The opening/closing and intermission titles all appear in the form of a magic lantern slideshow (an early form of cinema), with each credit having a custom slide.

Alternate versions
The 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.

Connections
Edited into Lo schermo a tre punte (1995)

Soundtracks
The Sweetheart Tree
Words by Johnny Mercer
Music by Henry Mancini
Performed by Natalie Wood (dubbed by Jackie Ward) (uncredited)
Robert Bain guitar accompanist (uncredited)

User reviews204

Featured review

10/10

One of the most underrated movies of all time.

I cannot believe that "The Great Race" did not make it on AFI's 100 Funniest Movies list (well, actually I CAN believe it, since those lists seem very messed up to me). In fact, it has not gotten nearly as much recognition as it deserves.

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.