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The Great Race Overview:

The Great Race (1965) was a Action - Adventure Film directed by Blake Edwards and produced by Martin Jurow and Dick Crockett.

Academy Awards 1965 --- Ceremony Number 38 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyRussell HarlanNominated
Best Film EditingRalph E. WintersNominated
Best Music - SongMusic by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Johnny MercerNominated
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The Great Race BlogHub Articles:

Film Albums: The Great Race : Music from the Film ( 1965 )

By The Metzinger Sisters on May 20, 2022 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

Blake Edward's classic zany comedy The Great Race featured a great cast of actors ( Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, etc ), great location filming, great set design, AND a great soundtrack....by none other than Henry Mancini. This talented composer was at his peak in the 1960s and... Read full article

The Great Race (1965)

By Beatrice on Sep 18, 2018 From Flickers in Time

The Great Race Directed by Blake Edwards Written by Arthur A. Ross from an original story by Ross and Blake Edwards 1965/USA Warner Bros./Patricia/Jalem Productions/Reynard First viewing?/Netflixrental Any movie dedicated to “Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy” has set itself a high standard.  No... Read full article

The Great Race (1965)

on Feb 25, 2015 From Journeys in Classic Film

Director Blake Edwards wanted to craft a tribute to Laurel and Hardy films, turning out the 1965 road movie, The Great Race. It fits the “road movie” moniker in two ways: characters are literally on the road, and it also boasts a lengthy runtime (complete with intermission) as part of it... Read full article

New From Warner Archive: The Great Race (1965) on Blu-ray

By KC on Sep 22, 2014 From Classic Movies

To get in the proper mood for The Great Race, you need only read the title card at the beginning of the film that respectfully announces, "for MR. LAUREL and MR. HARDY." While the classic comedy duo never attempted a 160 minute comic epic in brilliant color, if they had, it might have turned out a b... Read full article

Professor Fate of "The Great Race" ( 1965 )

By The Metzinger Sisters on Apr 26, 2014 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

Blogathon season is in full force and Speakeasy, Shadows and Satin, and Silver Screenings have teamed up to devise the fiendishly clever Great Villain Blogathon to add to the mix. In our opinion there is no dastardly scheming archetypal villain greater than Professor Fate and so, naturally, we have ... Read full article

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The Great Race Quotes:

Professor Fate: Leslie escaped?
General: With a small friar.
Professor Fate: Leslie escaped with a chicken?
Maggie DuBois: I want to thank you again for this opportunity, Mr. Goodbody.
Henry Goodbody: I had very little choice after your conversation with my wife.
Hester Goodbody: Henry, if you can't be more gracious, shut up!
[repeated line]
Professor Fate: Push the button, Max!
Maggie DuBois: You mean amazing because I'm a woman.
Professor Fate: I'd like to see the great Leslie try that!
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The Great Race Facts
Chris Lemmon, son of actor Jack Lemmon (Professor Fate), said in an interview on KMOX-Radio in St. Louis that he considers Lemmon's role in this film to be his father's finest.
Charlton Heston was originally offered the role of The Great Leslie. He considered it a "funny script" but had to turn the part down when the production schedule for The Agony and the Ecstasy was delayed. Tony Curtis then got the part.
When Professor Fate and Max are being chased by the train, the car was attached to the front of the locomotive by a short bar. The track was also prepared so as to protect the car's tires.
The full name of Tony Curtis's character (The Great Leslie) was "Leslie Galant III".
When Prof. Fate, Max, and Maggie DuBois drive into the Russian town, Maggie repeats to the professor what she had already argued in her first interview with The Great Leslie, that she speaks French, Russian and Arabic. She then speaks a full sentence to the townspeople in Russian. According to her IMDb biography page, Russian is indeed one of the languages Natalie Wood spoke.
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