Alicia I love this movie so much

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

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

bankofmarquis In a tribute to films of a bygone era, Director Blake Edwards pays homage to silent film farces of the 1920's - even dedicating this film to "Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy" - with the slapstick comedy THE GREAT RACE - and succeeds, mostly.Reteaming Tony Curtis (as the brave, virtuous and good "The Great Leslie") and Jack Lemmon (as the sinister, dastardly and evil "Professor Fate"), The Great Race is great fun watching these two cartoon characters spar and parry with each other throughout the course of this 2 hour and 40 minute farce.Lemmon, in particular, relishes in dual roles as the menacing Fate, always dressed in black, twirling his mustache and coming up with scheme after scheme to derail Leslie (think the Coyote in the RoadRunner cartoons). His overacting and hammyness in the character is perfect for the tone that this film has set. And his maniacal laugh is one to remember - unless you are remembering the childlike guffaws of the other character Lemmon portrays, the doppelganger of Fate, Crown Prince Frederick. Both these characters are fun to watch and Fate, especially, plays well against his bumbling assistant and foil, "Max", played in utter buffoonishness by the great Peter Falk.Joining Curtis for the "good guys" is Natalie Wood as Suffragette and Newspaper Reporter Maggie DuBois (obviously tailored after real life Suffragette and Newspaper Reporter Nellie Bly). It is said that Curtis and Wood did not get along on set (they had worked together in 2 other films and grew to dislike each other), but their on-screen chemistry cannot be ignored and they are fun together. As is the great Keenan Wynn as Leslie's mechanic and friend Hezekiah Sturdy.But it is not the characters that makes this film go it is the set pieces and frenetic pacing that Director Edwards put before us. From thrilling chase scenes to a Western barroom brawl, to a trip through a blizzard with a polar bear to the "largest pie fight ever put on screen", this film delivers the goods in a wholesome, 1960's way that makes me truly say..."They don't make 'em like this anymore".8 out 10 stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)

reisen55 I love slapstick. Laurel and Hardy and Inspector Clouseau. My wife cannot stand either but will tolerate some Stan and Ollie on occasion so here I have a personal note. I am a 10 year old fan of this film, saw it in 1965 and in later years since. BluRay now. Such is time. Now at the age of 61, I watch it with my wife every September 11 as I am also a survivor of the South Tower, 101st floor, so my hand is on the selection button for that night. I enjoy it immensely - Fate under the Curtiss pusher, the torpedo, race, the saloon fight and all. Right back to Laurel and Hardy in WAY OUT WEST. So here is a personal note for me here for this group - it has flaws but immensely entertaining. Watch it, laugh and enjoy fine performances from a time long ago.

Hitchcoc Some of the hottest stars of 1965 combine to produce a wonderful, comedic adventure movie in the tradition of "Around the World in Eighty Days" and "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World." Jack Lemmon is at his very best as Professor Fate, who tries to stop the irrepressible Tony Curtis (he of the sparkling teeth, the ultimate goody-two-shoes). Throw in Natalie Wood and a lot of incredible cliffhanging events, good versus evil, and you have an adventure that surpasses the aforementioned pair of movies. In this one the chemistry is excellent. While it is ridiculously outrageous, we are quickly taken into the realm of the film and it never lets up for a minute. It hearkens to the classic melodrama. At times I thought that while the sixties were one of the most explosive times in history, the movie industry was pretty sterile, especially when it came to the comedy. This one needs to be seen.

AaronCapenBanner Blake Edwards directed this long farce about a professional daredevil(played by Tony Curtis as "The Great Leslie") who decides, in order to promote automobile sales, to stage a New York to Paris road race. He is challenged and relentlessly pursued by arch-rival Professor Fate(played very broadly by Jack Lemmon) and his inept assistant Max(Peter Falk). The beautiful Natalie Wood plays feminist/suffragette Maggie Dubois, who uses her connection to the local newspaper to attach herself to Leslie, much to his consternation.Plot goes on far too long, but even worse, is seldom funny, since it labors for laughs by throwing in everything from a (literally) mustache-twirling villain, to an extended pie-throwing fight, among assorted car crashes and crazy plot developments.Good cast cannot save it.