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RUNTIME
Did you know
Tight 38-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
The Tortoise and the Hare
1966 0h 38m EN
👍
7.0
SOLID
★7.0TMDB · 2
Drama
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
A huge articulated Pirelli truck and an E type Jaguar car pass and repass along Italy's breathtaking Autostrada Del Sole, to the accompaniment of jazz, pop and Vivaldi music.
“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”
Cast
Liz Allsop
Girl in Car
Gino Gottarelli
Truck Driver
Lucy Hornak
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Hugh Hudson
- Writers
- Hugh Hudson, David Cammell, Jean de la Fontaine
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United Kingdom
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 🍿
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Hugh Hudson directs. Wolfgang Suschitzky behind the camera. Stephen Cross cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Tight 38-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
- 260 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
- 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
- 4Directed by Hugh Hudson, shot by Wolfgang Suschitzky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5Editor Stephen Cross shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 6Liz Allsop and Gino Gottarelli and Lucy Hornak carry the top of the cast.
- 7IMDB entry: tt0290897 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 8Only 2 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Wolfgang Suschitzky
- Editing
- Stephen Cross
- Runtime
- 38 min · 0h 38m
- Status
- Released
- Original language
- EN
Also by
Hugh Hudson
Community reviews
What people are saying
- CinemaSerf★ 7/10
For all of our hi-tech drone technology nowadays, I doubt we’d ever be able to make a more enjoyable travelogue of Italy as we follow the glamorous young Liz Allsop in a stylish E-type Jaguar as she crosses the country in a sort of race, but not really, with Gino Gottarelli who is at the wheel of a lorry barely capable of making a minimum speed limit never mind a maximum one. As both make their way, they encounter each other whilst the accompaniment plays us a wide variety of Italian (and other) popular and classical music. Aside from being quite a testament to the construction of the Autostrada Del Sole through some of the more hostile geography of this mountainous land, it also serves to show off just how beautiful Italy can be - both in it’s ancient towns and villages with the pink stone and slate glinting in the sun through to the jagged mountain tops and sunsets that split the forests with a perfectly photographed brilliance. There’s a little mischief, loads of product placement and I couldn’t help but wonder why they picked a British car to tour a nation of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo but the pace of their respective travels works engagingly here. It’s clearly designed to showcase all things Italian from the landscape to the Gucci and the Pirelli, and if you just sit back and let it wash over you, then the least you will want is some Chianti with your Mozzarella.
Production companies
Who made it
- CA
Cammell Hudson Associates
Key crew
- EditorStephen Cross
- Title DesignerRobert Brownjohn
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical1966-01-01
