The Great Race BluRay Edition / Not rated but would be G GOOD for ALL
For a long time I have been setting my DVR every time TCM has a showing of The Great Race. TCM broadcasts in HD and I was hoping to see this film in that format. I would then watch the first few minutes only to find VHS quality once again. Delete. For those who did not see this film in theaters in 1965, as I did, you have no idea what treat is in store. The just released BR edition restores the film to its big screen quality for the 1st time.
By 1965 Blake Edwards had a reputation for comedy, having been the Director of The Pink Panther series with Peter Sellers. The Great Race was his shot at a big time epic comedy. For the most part he was 100% successful about 80% of the time. The film had a running time of 160 minutes which was reduced on VHS releases to 140 minutes. Now the full film is back including an Overture, Intermission and End Credit. This is good and bad. A little judicious editing means 140 minutes was about right. A few subplots and scenes can be cut with no detriment to the story.
Why you should watch this film? It contains the biggest pie fight ever filmed. It features double Oscar winner Jack Lemmon as the dastardly Professor Fate. Peter Falk plays his toady. JL’s son says this was his fathers best role in films. Tony Curtis plays the hero Leslie Gallant III aka The Great Leslie. Natalie Wood plays the thoroughly modern young lady and journalist out for women’s equality. Her ever changing costumes alone are worth seeing in HD BR.
The film is loosely based on an actual auto race staged in 1908 from New York to Paris. Over the 160 minute time period you get all kinds of slapstick and physical humor that is hilarious. It includes the above mentioned pie fight as well as a wild west saloon brawl with all the dance hall girl trimmings. A long section filmed in Austria is supposedly somewhere in Russian territory. For the most fun of all, Jack L. takes on a double role, the loopy leader of a small nameless country, Crown Prince Frederick Hoepnick, as well as Professor Fate. As much fun as it can get in a movie.
The film is appropriately dedicated to Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy (being Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy), two of the greatest film comedians of the 20th century. Along the race route across the USofA and North to Alaska then across the Bering Sea on an ice shelf then all the way across Russia to Paris, France this film is truly a comedy epic both in laughs and length. Henry Mancini’s fantastic score keeps everything moving even when at times it slows down a bit.
Extra’s include a 15 minute documentary “Behind the Scenes” short which is mainly a long promo with some actual behind the scenes footage. The original theatrical trailer is also included. The BluRay restores all the color and glory that has been missing for the last 49 years that I remember so well on the big screen. I was a lot younger then. Many of you reading this can say “Wow. That was before my parents were born”. It was worth the wait.
Rated 3.99999 out of 4.0000 reasons to watch the RPM’s and avoid saying “Push the button, Max”