The Great Race

"The movie with 20,000-miles or one-million-laughs guarantee!"

1965 2h 40m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🍅

68%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 394🍅68%Rotten Tomatoes●71Metacritic★7.2IMDB · 20,762

ComedyAdventureRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie, convinces turn-of-the-century auto makers that a race from New York to Paris (westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia) will help to promote automobile sales. Leslie's arch-rival, the mustached and black-attired Professor Fate vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a car of Fate's own invention.

“The movie with 20,000-miles or one-million-laughs guarantee!”

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Cast

Jack Lemmon
Professor Fate
Tony Curtis
The Great Leslie
Natalie Wood
Maggie Dubois
Peter Falk
Max
Keenan Wynn
Hezekiah
Arthur O'Connell
Henry Goodbody
Vivian Vance
Hester Goodbody
Dorothy Provine
Lily Olay

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Blake Edwards
Writers: Arthur A. Ross, Arthur A. Ross, Blake Edwards
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 160 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

61 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Blake Edwards, shot by Russell Harlan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Henry Mancini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ralph E. Winters shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The movie with 20,000-miles or one-million-laughs guarantee!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Blake Edwards directs. Russell Harlan behind the camera. Henry Mancini scores. Ralph E. Winters cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 160 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
261 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
4Directed by Blake Edwards, shot by Russell Harlan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Henry Mancini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ralph E. Winters shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The movie with 20,000-miles or one-million-laughs guarantee!".
9IMDB entry: tt0059243 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "new york city", "paris, france", "car race", "inventor".