My family just loves this movie. The characters are wonderfully played up by the top notch cast. As noted by others, Professor Fate is just a hoot. Then there's the sight gags like the sun glinting off Leslie's teeth in one shot. After you watch the movie the gag line, "Push the button Max," will stay with you forever *grin*.Of course the most fabulous scene in the movie is in the confectionery near the end of the movie. I suppose others have given more of a description, but I'll just say it is the absolute best scene of its type ever done. I can't imagine what it would be like if they'd had to do a retake, ha ha. While there are just too many great scenes in this movie this scene makes watching the movie worth every minute.It even has one of the better endings as well. Certainly a movie worth watching. And again. And again. *smile*

It's the turn of the century America. The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) and Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) are competing daredevils performing for the crowds. The Great Leslie convinces the new car-makers to sponsor a race from New York to Paris. Maggie DuBois (Natalie Wood) is a suffragette. Maximilian Meen (Peter Falk) is Fate's assistant. These and many others set off westward towards the Bering Strait and Russia in their automobiles.Director Blake Edwards tries his hand at a road race movie. A few of these comedies got made during this era. It's got some slapstick but it's not that funny. The characters tend to be very wacky especially Jack Lemmon. The production is big and no expense is spared. Despite its pedigree, I do not find enough laughs in this screwball comedy.

Directed by Blake Edwards THE GREAT RACE is a comic movie that is interesting & entertaining but makes little or no sense whatsoever. The car race ostensibly sets out from Paris to New York but manages to meander just about everywhere including somewhere near the South Pole where a polar bear jumps into a car. Along the way we encounter Cossack soldiers, a monastery & God knows what else, (but not a nunnery!) There are some very entertaining cameo appearances the best of which, for my money, was Dorothy Provine playing saloon singer Lily Olay singing a song called, "They Shouldn'ta Hadn'ta Ought'na Swang On Me". The movie is chock-full of slapstick humour & towards the end features a multi-coloured custard pie fight in which the number of people involved & the number of custard pies thrown in people's faces is absolutely astounding. The main characters are played by Jack Lemmon & his sidekick Peter Falk (aka Columbo),Tony Curtis & Natalie Wood. Jack Lemmon was always great to watch & the other three principal stars are also excellent. As I say it is definitely worth watching but this is altogether a crazy movie.

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.