Others say...

"Timeless and Funny"
I remembered seeing this in my youth so I popped it in the queue on Netflix, mainly for my seven-year-old. It's long but she never got bored with it. The humor is both subtle and broad; Jack Lemmon at his height! Blake Edwards (director) is a master at what is funny. The body of evidence is undeniable.
Anyhoo, we watched this movie several times before returning it. When I was packing it into the red envelope, my girl says to me "... could we keep it? I want to watch it again.". She never has to twist my arm when it comes to good, clean fun. As soon as the Amazon box arrived, she wanted to watch it again. She doesn't know who all the cameo actors are, but that's immaterial to the fun.
If there were more than four stars, I'd click them all. The gags still make me laugh after a dozen showings. If you were a fan of the pie fights in those Stooges shorts, this pie fight will make them seem amature. I don't know why I waited so long to add this to our permanent collection.

"Happy to see a classic on DVD"
An all time favorite of mine. Saw it when it first came out in the theatre. Worth watching again and again over the years. Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk are hilarious.

TB

"family fun"
Have had some problem with this but maybe it's just my player, don't know. Sometimes it plays ok and other times it has glitches.

"Maaaaaxxxxx!!!"
My lifelong friend and I believe this to be one of Jack Lemmon's finest performances, one that he obviously totally enjoyed. Our favorite scene occurs when, after surviving the trek across North America, and crossing on a melting iceburg, barely making their way to Asia, they arrive in a Russian village. With the townspeople standing there to greet them, but in stoney silence, Professor Fate says "Obviously they don't know who I am." He stands in the car and with a drammatic gesture declares "I am Professor Fate!". This is met with more stoney silence,(a truly hillarious moment) whereupon he and Max start fumbling in an English-Russian dictionary to find the words to say. Maggie Dubois (a recent hostage in their long trek) reveals "I speak, read an write English, French, and Russian." and stands up and greets the suspicious crowd in their native tongue, which results in a rousing reaction. Only Blake Edwards could have made this movie what it is, a timeless piece of filmmaking, based loosely on a factual event.

I have five kids, and it wasn't until my last that I found an immediate soul mate with my sense of comedy. She can't get enough of this movie, and we share the hillarity together as often as we can stand it. There is a great line in every scenario - we just love the exchanges between Fate and Max ("Where are you??!!" "Behind the rock!" "Which rock?" " This rock, you idiot!!")

They just don't make movies like this anymore. It doesn't get any better.

"Push the button, Max!"
"The Great Race" remains one of my all time favorite light confections. This crazy comedy has the wonderful Blake Edwards absurdities and screwy jokes that we enjoyed in an age prior to the bitterness and darkness we seem to enjoy wallowing in today.

The stars of the movie are fabulous. Jack Lemon is great as the melodrama-style villain Professor Fate and Peter Falk is eternally memorable has his feckless and long suffering assistant, Max. Tony Curtis gets the staring role as the spotless hero, The Great Leslie. His teeth glisten, his white clothes are dazzling, his hair is in place, and his white car never seems to pick up dirt. Keenan Wynn is his silent, strong, and able assistant, Hezekiah. Of course, the glory of the movie was the beautiful Natalie Wood as the suffragette and reporter, Maggie Dubois. She left us far too soon.

The story is inspired by the real 1908 Great Race from New York to Paris. The Suffragette movement tied in nicely with the rise of women's liberation in 1960s America, so that is in the story, too. Neither the race nor the women's issues is handled all that seriously. They are merely plot points to hang the jokes on and around. The wonderful melodrama of the magnificence of The Great Leslie and the dastardly (is that word used anywhere outside of melodrama?) Professor Fate is the engine that drives the movie. Fate hates Leslie and will stop at nothing (Nothing!) to beat him.

There are jokes about Fate's car (the Hannibal 8) and its secret weapons that never work and Leslie's car, the Leslie Special) that can withstand anything and never even get dirty. One of my favorite sections of the movie takes place on the ice flow.

Max: "We got to do something!"
Fate: "Oh, don't worry. Before this iceberg melts and we drown like rats, we're going to do plenty"
Max: "What?"
Fate: "We're going to starve!"

Then this exchange between Fate and Leslie discussing the rate of the ice flow melting:
Leslie: "You had better keep this to yourself"
Fate: "Of course I will keep it to myself" then after Leslie walks away he says to himself (us):
Fate: "Until the water reaches my lower lip! Then I'm going to mention it to somebody!"

And the movie features the largest pie (and most colorful) pie fight ever filmed. Those are real pies and the crew devoured hundreds of leftovers! The movie also has some wild west fun, sword fights, and a delightfully goofy race through Paris.

A wonderfully silly movie that is still wonderful entertainment.

Enjoy!

Strongly recommended.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI