• At the turn of the 20th century a host of colorful characters set out on a 20,000-mile auto race from New York to Paris, and hilarity ensues. (1965)Running Time: 164 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR Age: 085391109129 UPC: 085391109129 Manufacturer No: 11091

Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk. A comedy about a wild and crazy auto race from New York to Paris in 1908. A stoic hero, a dastardly villain and a determined female reporter are among the cast of zany competitors. 1965/color/147 min/NR/widescreen.

The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) and Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) challenge each other to win 'the great race', a foolish flight of fancy that will take them through the Wild West, fighting off polar bears in the Artic and thwarting Royal imposters in Europe.

Coming along for the ride is feisty sufragette Maggie DuBois (Natalie Wood at her loveliest), and Fate's dimwitted assistant Max (Peter Falk). Watch the hopeless quartet as they attempt to win the greatest race of the century - with hilarious results!

Featuring Vivian Vance and Dorothy Provine (as the sexy saloon singer Lily Olay). Henry Mancini's score includes "The Sweetheart Tree" and "He Shouldn't-a, Hadn't-a, Oughn't-a Swang on Me".

The DVD presents the film in a wonderfully clean print, in its 2:35:1 cinema ratio, complete with the Overture, Intermission and Exit Music sequences. The soundtrack has been newly-remastered in dynamic 5.1 from the original session tapes.

The DVD also includes a Making-of featurette and the trailer. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).

30 of 31 found the following review helpful:


Fate loves ...  Sep 04, 2000
Like many of the reviewers, I first saw this great film as a child with my father. We have laughed about it ever since, and my own children also know that "Fate is a fink!" The movie spoofs the old Simon Legree silent movies and combines hilarious slapstick, outrageous sight gags, the historic 1908 New York to Paris automobile race (Remember the Thomas Flyer?), incredible round the world locations, an Old West saloon fight, great old cars and props, priceless performances by Jack Lemmon (sans frozen moustache), Tony Curtis (great swordplay but, alas, no Cary Grant impersonation), Peter Falk (hilarious in goggles) and the exquisite Natalie Wood (under the Sweetheart Tree). And don't forget the sendup of the Prisoner of Zenda with the fantastic Ross Martin who was then also starring as Artemus Gordon in the Wild, Wild West television series with Robert Conrad. The music by Henry Mancini is among his best, and the soundtrack is recently available. Even the opening credits are classic, including the harried projectionist and the audience booing Professor Fate! This could be an awesome widescreen DVD with plenty of saloon fight, sword duel and pie fight outtakes; current interviews with Curtis, Lemmon, and Falk; Blake Edwards commentary;...and please, a few more stills of Natalie Wood!

25 of 28 found the following review helpful:


the Movie is GREAT! The DVD isn't!!!!  Jun 06, 2002
A lot of people were waiting with anticipation for the release of The Great Race on DVD. This is a very funny classic movie! The new print is GREAT!But Warner has made a huge mistake on this DVD.The problem, and it is a major one, is with the new Dolby Digital soundtrack. In some scenes in the beginning of the movie the dialogue is barely audible. And during the opening credits when everyone boos Professor Fate and cheers The Great Leslie, someone switched it to everyone cheering the villain and booing the hero. The French audio track has the original soundtrack which correctly has the boos for Fate and cheers for Leslie.This is a MAJOR mistake! Warner should recall this DVD and restore the soundtrack to the way it is supposed to be. For fans of this movie, it ruins what would otherwise be a great DVD.

11 of 11 found the following review helpful:


Great Race DVD -It's about time!!!  May 22, 2002 By George Rosete
I have been waiting for this movie to come out on DVD. I've even written to Blake Edwards asking, "What is the hold up?"
Get ready, citizens of Boracho! Finally it's coming out!
Every time I saw Jack Lemmon in interviews I was always curious and disappointed that 'The Great Race' was never mentioned among his favorite films. Of course he made many other wonderful classic movies and I enjoyed his performance in all of them...but 'The Great Race' has been my favorite comedy for a long time. I practically can recite it along with the characters. I enjoyed some of the other reviewer's (here) favorite lines from the movie. They are my favorites too.
If you haven't seen this movie or if you haven't seen it in a long time...do yourself a favor and grab it. The laughs never stop. The casting is perfect...Tony Curtis with Keenan Wynn as his sidekick...Jack Lemmon with Peter Falk as his...Natalie Wood...Ross Martin...Vivian Vance...Larry Storch ("Now will you give me some fightin' room?!")...and many others. It doesn't get any better or funnier than this.
Hurray for the DVD. Believe me, you'll enjoy it.

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