Warner
Home Video
Length: 160 mins.
Rated:
Not Rated
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen · 2.35:1
Languages: English Dolby 5.1,
French Dolby Mono
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese,
Thai, Korean, Chinese
Extras: Featurette Trailer Filmography Awards
Cast (in credits order)
Jack Lemmon.... Professor Fate/Prince Hapnik
Tony Curtis.... Leslie 'The Great Leslie' Gallant III
Natalie Wood.... Maggie DuBois
Peter Falk.... Maximillian 'Max' Meen
Keenan Wynn.... Hezekiah Sturdy
Arthur O'Connell.... Henry Goodbody
Vivian Vance.... Hester Goodbody
Dorothy Provine.... Lily Olay
Larry Storch.... Texas Jack
Ross Martin .... Baron Rolfe von Stuppe
George Macready.... General Kuhster
Marvin Kaplan.... Frisbee
Hal Smith.... Mayor of Boracho
Denver Pyle.... Sheriff
William Bryant.... Baron's guard
Ken Wales.... Baron's guard
Directed by…Blake Edwards
Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Blake Edwards… story
Arthur A. Ross… screenplay
Arthur A. Ross… story
Dick Crockett... associate producer
Martin Jurow.... producer
Original Music by…Henry Mancini
Cinematography by…Russell Harlan
Film Editing by…Ralph E. Winters
Art Direction by…Fernando Carrere
Set Decoration by…George James Hopkins
Costume Design by…Donfeld Edith
Head
Treg Brown.... sound effects editor (as Tregoweth Brown)
Vinton Vernon.... score mixer
Dan Wallin.... score mixer
I
have loved Blake Edwards’ “The Great Race” since the first time I saw it
as a 70mm Road-Show. Its quirky characters, the locations and of course the zany
comedy all appeal to my sense of fun. Having
this film on DVD is wonderful, but it was crowned by the fact that the quality
of the presentation from Warner Home Video quite exceeded my expectations.
The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) succeeds in anything he does. He is a showman and
manages to always catch the limelight. On the other hand Professor Fate (Jack
Lemmon) with his assistant Max (Peter Falk), must be Acme’s greatest
customers, as everything they do fails – particularly their attempts to rid
the world of The Great Leslie. One
day, the Great Leslie has the idea to initiate a race around the world, from New
York to Paris, in order to promote a new car. Immediately Professor Fate takes
up the challenge and enters the race along with many other competitors.
But he cannot win by playing fair, he must cheat. He just wants to beat
the Great Leslie for once – at any cost. Add a feminist reporter, Maggie
DuBois (Natalie Wood), who insists on covering the race – even if it means
entering it herself, and the resulting mayhem is a riotous and charming comedy
tour from New York to the Mid-West, the Arctic, to a strange European kingdom
and finally, Paris.
The film’s flair comes from the atmosphere of Tony Curtis (as the White
Knight) and his assistant Hezekiah (Keenan Wynn) striving to win – but fairly
– and not quite noticing that Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk (always in Black) –
are doing everything they can to stop/destroy/kill him – with incredibly
ingenuity, but completely ineptly.
Jovial at times and funny and silly at others, the film is filled with great
moments.
Whether it is the homage to the great Laurel and Hardy – which is
perfectly played out by Lemmon and Falk throughout the film – or the innocence
of the romantic encounter between Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, everything is as
carefully crafted as you would expect from as good a director as Blake Edwards.
There is no need to bore people with details of the plot as the film has been on
television many times – nearly always in appalling pan’n’scan.
Seen in its proper ratio not only is the picture better, the jokes are
funnier.
Presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio, the transfer is enhanced for
16x9 TV sets and is virtually free of defects or blemishes. It has been entirely
cleaned up and every scratch or dust mark has been removed to create an
immaculately clean presentation. The
transfer is also free of grain or discoloration and is rich with detail where
the colours are vibrant and lively without ever appearing over-saturated. The
image also has beautiful depth. Blacks are deep and solid, creating shadows that
are finely delineated and contain good details without breaking up. Professor
Fate’s omni-black costumes and gadgets are perfectly countered by the Great
Leslie’s all-white appearance on the screen. Warner Home Video has definitely given this film the attention
it deserves.
The DVD is just as good on the audio. The original track has been remastered and
is presented in full Dolby 5.1, while the use of surround may be limited, the
dynamic range and frequency response shows why the film got the Oscar for Best
Sound Effects (1966) plus four other nominations. To hear the difference, just
switch to the mono French track for a moment that is also on the disc.
“The Great Race” contains a
featurette entitled "Behind The Scenes With Blake Edwards’ The Great
Race." It’s a look at the production during the shoot of the film in 1965
and it’s interesting in its vintage quality. Obviously made as an exhibitor
sales film, there is just a voiceover accompanying the production shots telling
the world what a lovely time everyone had making the film – typical of that
era of filmmaking. The DVD is
rounded out with trailers, filmographies and a list of awards.
I don’t usually worry about commentary tracks, but this is one of those
films – from an era long gone – where it would have been nice to hear the
director or stars (those who are left) telling their stories about the
production – and each other.
Warner Home Video has done a great job in restoring “The Great Race” and
this DVD could not look or sound any better.
If you’re a fan of Blake Edwards’ films or just a fan of good old
family entertainment then the “The Great Race” is a DVD you must have in
your collection.
Trivia Notes:
The credits say that the film was made in Ultra-Panavision – various sources
say that this is incorrect as the film was made in 35mm and blown up to 70mm for
the initial release. However,
in the ‘Making of’ the cameras seen looks very like 70mm Panavision cameras.
The BBFC has the film certificated on 15/7/65 in 70mm with a running time of 204
minutes – even allowing for the 8½ minutes difference there would be from
film to video for this length of film I cannot help wondering where the other 36
minutes are – the DVD contains the Overture, the intermission music and the
play out.
Although market R1 and with an NTSC picture the disc is coded R1, R2, R3 and R4
- but it does have an NTSC picture. Rather strange for Warner Brothers.
In the USA the DVD of “The Great
Race” came out on the same day as “S.O.B.” and “Victor/Victoria”.
For some unknown reason only “Victor/Victoria” has been released in
R2.
review Dec 2002