Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Blistering performances.

This Blake Edwards-Arthur Ross gem opens like a cartoon serial - with Tony Curtis as a white clad adventurer dubbed The Great Leslie in a Road Runner-like role and all-in-black Jack Lemmon - assisted by Peter Falk as Max - is the jealous Professor Fate playing the Wile E. Coyote - and ends with a Prisoner of Zenda send-up - with Lemmon in the title/dual role and Curtis as the hero that battles Ross Martin (and George Macready) to save his mechanic (Keenan Wynn) and the emancipated suffragette reporter that Natalie Wood plays.In between is a delightfully entertaining story wrapped around a fictional early twentieth century automobile rally from New York to Paris that features elaborate set pieces, including an iceberg used to cross the Pacific (one wonders what the plan would have been if not for this accident), and incorporates countless sight gags - like a grand pie fight - from the kind of comedies that Laurel and Hardy (to whom the film is dedicated) made.This comedy won an Academy Award for its special sound effects, was nominated for Russell Harlan's lavish color cinematography, editing by Ralph Winters, sound, and its original song "The Sweetheart Tree" performed by Wood (dubbed by Jackie Ward), though Dorothy Provine's "He Shouldn't A Hadn't A Oughtn't A Swang on Me" is much more memorable.Arthur O'Connell plays Wood's reluctant publisher while Vivian Vance plays his pre-Nineteenth Amendment activist wife; Marvin Kaplan plays O'Connell's hapless assistant. Larry Storch and Denver Pyle are among those who appear in the obligatory Wild West (complete with barroom brawl) sequence.

Blake Edwards dedicated "The Great Race" to Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy, a high standard to set for a comedy. One factor Mr. Edwards forgot, however, was that Laurel and Hardy comedies were low budget and relatively short, and brevity and comedy go hand in hand. Epic comedies with epic lengths, such as "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World,' "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines," and "The Great Race" may have funny moments, but they cannot sustain the laughs throughout their excessive running times. These films were all produced during the 1960's, when big budget roadshow movies were in vogue; overtures, intermissions, and exit music were essential to charge higher prices for reserved seats. Thus, many modest film concepts were inflated to justify special engagements."The Great Race" has a lot going for it, however. The charming opening titles mimic lantern slides from the silent era, and the classic cars and flying machines are a delight. The cast is also first rate. Jack Lemmon is Professor Fate, the dastardly Snidley Whiplash of the film, a sneering, mustached villain pitted against Tony Curtis as the Great Leslie, always immaculately clad in white, with teeth and eyes that occasionally gleam. Natalie Wood plays Maggie Dubois, a suffragette who manages to change from one dazzling costume and outlandish hat to another, no matter what her predicament. The stylish costuming also provides running jokes, not only with Wood's eye-popping outfits, but with Curtis's impossibly-white clothes that never get soiled. Although Lemmon is occasionally over-the-top in his dual role as Fate and as a Ruritanian prince, both Curtis and Wood do quite nicely. At times, like the film, Lemmon tries too hard, especially as the Crown Prince. Composer Henry Mancini tries a bit too hard as well; while "The Sweetheart Tree" is a nice song, by the closing credits, the audience has heard it one time too many.The concept of a New York to Paris automobile race, similar to the plane race in "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines," released the same year, provides lots of opportunity for comedy. However, the plot veers off into a "The Prisoner of Zenda" subplot that only dilutes the action and provides Lemmon with an excuse to overact. Pie fights and barroom brawls can be funny in the hands of such talents as Laurel and Hardy, but Edwards, obviously blessed with an astronomical budget, attempts to stage the biggest barroom brawl and the biggest pie fight ever. Like Stanley Kramer did with "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," Edwards tries too hard, and more becomes less. Despite excessive length, "The Great Race" has enough to merit a look; the sum of its parts is greater than the whole. If the budget had been slashed and the footage tightly trimmed to essentials, Edwards's fond look at silent comedy might have been the total winner he envisioned and merit the dedication to Laurel and Hardy.

Sometimes villains can be even more fascinating characters than the heroes. Which is kinda strange because they should be people we shouldn't even like since they do things that are amoral or break ethical boundaries. It could be because at some points we can easily emphasize with certain feelings they have or simply they have more persona than the hero or simply more of a life. This is another one of my favorite comedies and I think is also under the radar and a bit forgotten.In a way the film sort of parodies on the notion of the good guy and bad guy motif. The plot is ridiculous feels but that's part of what makes it funny because this film is sort of a live action cartoon. It was a long movie but just as fast as the cars go, the pacing goes by so fast and constantly moves I hardly noticed.The production value was good it was shot in a bunch of location which makes it all the better which means no cheating with any effects. I really like the race sequences and stunts which were all real cars and all real driving. There is a bit of action like a sword fight which is probably on of my favorite one on one battles because of the length of time and the different foils and techniques used.The locations they all go to all pretty much play like a live action Mad Magazine comic. Like in that magazine each of the snafus they get into are random and completely ridiculous, it's almost like for a moment these characters have just jumped into another movie. From a western, "Prisoner of Zelda" dilemma, an epic pie battle, it's just crazy you have to see to believe.I simply like the characters. Tony Curtis is great as Lesile whom is so perfect it's nauseating, he's pretty much a parody on our amount of expectations on what we want our protagonists to be which is to be all so perfect. Lesile is that in spades all so perfect, yet all so dull, simply because this protagonist has that fundamental problem of having a lifestyle but no real life.Natalie Wood is great and hot as Maggie Dubois whom is almost a Lois Lane like reporter that is just so determined by all means to get her point across. And I just love how high she is on her feminist beliefs, which makes her all the more funny because of the double standard to some of them which she is consciously not entirely aware of. It's funny how she delivers grief or unintentional grief toward both sides of the spectrum. Though the only bad thing in the film for me, would be who she falls for in the end, I kind which it was Professor Fate she fell for since he's more interesting and would of made more sense. But then again that might have deterred the villain quality for Fate unless she converted to being a villain, so I can't complain too much about that.But of course the main attraction is Professor Fate played brilliantly by Jack Lemon. This character is my favorite role from him, he's literally a live action cartoon villain. He looks like Snide Whiplash from the cartoon Duddley Do Right with that mustache and wardrobe. he was also a partial inspiration to villain Dr. Horrible in the web mini series "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog".He's character is pretty much a blowhole but a fun one that just simply wants to beat or kill Lesile by any means necessary. It's just funny how much he just puts it out there, not even bothering to keep himself undercover even though logically that is what villains should do, at the rate of exposure it's surprising that he's hasn't been arrested yet.I even like his back and forth with his flunky played by one of my favorite actors Peter Falk and yes for the record I'm a "Columbo" fan; his character himself is hilarious because of how dumb he really is, but a little touching because of how loyal he is to Fate and is probably the Fate's only friend.It's just funny how many tricks he's trying to pull to sabotage and beat Lesile in the race almost more than those power ups you'd get in the "Mario Kart" video games. But just like Wille Coyte's schemes in the Road Runner cartoons they don't work.But he's interesting not just in persona but you can sort of emphasize with him a bit. As he's a person you can easily see he's simply a person that doesn't have all the break in life and is really trying hard to have a piece of the good life. Which is part of why he hates Lesile so much because Lesile is a person that practically has all those breaks in life, without even trying. It's sort of like with us where some of us have to work hard or exercise a painful amount of patience to get what we want, while there are some in a higher class that have things handed to them and not always appreciated it. Yeah, I know it hardly seems fair, but this all the more made me on Prof Fate's side and made us want him to win, despite not entirely deserving it (he is playing dirty after all)."The Great Race" goes the distance.Rating: 4 stars

The Great Race has been described as live action cartoon, and that is when it's comedy is at it's most appealing. In the opening minutes Prof fate and Max (Lemmon and Falk)endure cartoonish falls, crashes and explosions, and the comparison to old WB cartoons is apt. Then we get into the plot , and as soon as the racers hit the American west, machinations of the characters take over and the slapstick falters. By the time the story reaches the mythical kingdom of Potsdorf (or something), the plot is dragging the film down badly. It mostly limps home from there. The thing that makes the film watchable is the spectacle, faux early 20th century costuming, stunt work and attention to detail, all of which are outstanding. This is one of the better looking comedies you will ever see, with bright colors everywhere and confident and elaborate staging.It almost doesn't matter that it's not really very funny.