It's a really big production with confidence to burn, the kind of epic-scaled nonsense that pleases by virtue of its sheer grandiosity. Edwards doesn't mind delaying the plot for 40 minutes of blackout sketches devoted to goofy rockets, submarines, airplanes and balloons. The race stops for a gigantic Western saloon brawl that's actually funny, and comes complete with a punchy musical number from Dorothy Provine ("Welcome to Borracho, Honey!"). And The Great Race spends an even bigger chunk o'time to stage a fully fleshed-out rerun of The Prisoner of Zenda. As the Great Leslie, Tony Curtis races, fights, and woos Natalie Wood without ever breaking a sweat or losing his composure - and he almost escapes being hit in a (naturally) gigantic pie fight. When the script calls for thousands of peasants to greet the racers at a beautiful castle, we see thousand of real extras, and a real castle. This picture must have cost a bundle - on its Paris scenes alone.

The script allows the stars to literally shine in their roles, what with Leslie's teeth glinting when he smiles, and Miss DuBois having a new color-coordinated outfit for every scene. Tony Curtis is able to coast on his considerable charm, and Ms. Wood has a potentially frustrating character, a suffrage firebrand who really wants a man to carry her off to the Casbah. But she plays the cigar-smoking reporter with such spunk and zeal, we can't help but love her.

It's not their fault, but Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk are the weak link. The Great Race is dedicated to Laurel & Hardy, and Lemmon and Falk are given too much physical comedy that apes Hal Roach's famous duo. Their comedy situations develop in much the same way - slow burns are traded back and forth, and the drawn-out literalism gets tedious fast. The key to Laurel and Hardy is that they're so reassuringly consistent, we just adore them, no matter what stupid things they do. Not so for Fate and Max, who are made to keep up their schtick long after it's run dry. There's altogether too much "Bwah hah hah"-ing and shouting at Max while running in circles or tripping over one another.

Of course, this kind of humor may be just your thing. And there are many great bits, like the way Lemmon says, "Tell me, Podner, who is this Texas Jack?", or Max assuring Leslie that the hostages in need of rescue are indeed waiting across a midnight moat: "Dey're dare! Dey're dare!"

If the story doesn't totally fulfill, Blake Edwards' production does. The film has so many big-scale ballroom dances, crowds at the finish line ... and some good special effects, that animate its cartoony dirigible, Fate's James Bond - like killermobile, and a collapse of the Eiffel tower.

Arthur O'Connell, Marvin Kaplan, and Vivian Vance provide fun cutbacks to New York, while television regulars Provine (The Roaring Twenties), Larry Storch (F-Troop) and Ross Martin (Wild Wild West) carry off major supporting roles. Old George Macready from Gilda is a perfidious prime minister, and if you look quick you'll see Texas Ranger Frank Hamer from the next year's Bonnie & Clyde, Denver Pyle, as the Sheriff of Borracho.

Warners' DVD of The Great Race indeed looks great, richly reproducing Henry Mancini's appropriately retro music (along with someone dubbing Natalie for an okay ballad called "The Sweetheart Tree"). For that roadshow feel, the show retains the overture, intermission and exit music.

The main extra is a lavish and long featurette from 1966, apparently finished in 35mm and Panavision but pan'n scanned here. It's fluff, but it has an inordinately amount of interesting behind-the-scenes footage, with staged shots of the stars on location, etc.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
The Great Race rates:
Movie: Good
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Featurette
Packaging: Snapper case
Reviewed: June 13, 2002