Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie, convinces turn-of-the-century auto makers that a race from New York to Paris (westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia) will help to promote automobile sales. Leslie's arch-rival, the mustached and black-attired Professor Fate vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a car of Fate's own invention.
The Great Race is a lavish, affectionate homage to silent-era slapstick and early Hollywood serials, boasting gorgeous Technicolor production values and committed comic performances from Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Natalie Wood. The pie-fight sequence alone is legendary. However, the film is very long and uneven, with the Ruritanian prince subplot feeling like a detour that deflates momentum. The ending is abrupt and predictable, wrapping up the romantic and competitive arcs without much payoff. Cinematography is bright and handsome but conventional for a big studio spectacle of its era. Novelty is moderate — it lovingly synthesizes rather than reinvents its influences, making it charming but not singular.