MovieChat Forums > The Great Race (1965) Discussion > Favorite lines/parts?

Favorite lines/parts?

posted 14 years ago by billgh4
52 replies | jump to latest

Here are mine.

1. Jack Lemmon telling the dog on his bed 'I hate you.' xD
2. 'I won't do it!' 'Then you leave us with no alternative.' 'I'll do it!'
3. Where Jack Lemmon (as the prince) startles himself with his hand, the 'snake,' hahaha
4. When Hezekiah gets hit right on the the head while walking into the cell.

In fact it seems like there were DOZENS of getting-hit-right-on-the-head shots, and all hilarious.

Very good comedy, those were some of the best moments to me. Yours?

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] cole-jim 10 years ago

Most memorable for me is Profesor Fate's laugh. Ha!...HaHa!
And Max always calling him "Profesa" for short.

[–] mrgogonyc 9 years ago

As a kid, Professor Fate jumping out of the corporate boardroom, hanging on the flagpole, falling to the trampoline and bouncing to fall in the manhole killed me then. It still holds up in my middle age.

My dad and uncle were extras in this film in KY. I scour the screen for them and cannot see them. But they could never find themselves in it, either.

If it is not in the frame, it does not exist!

[–] riccom 8 years ago

@mrgogonyc

My dad and uncle were extras in this film in KY. I scour the screen for them and cannot see them. But they could never find themselves in it, either.

Are they still around?
I'd be curious if they were at the Balloon stunt (Mereworth Farm, near Lexington)
the Biplane Stunt (???, maybe Mereworth farm also)
or the Rocket stunt (Duckers Station, near Frankfort)

http://leslie-special.info In appreciation of The Great Race.

[–] Gadare 8 years ago

Unfortunately, riccom, they are not around anymore.

Was there a well in one of those early scenes? I forget and I should know as I've seen it so often. I think my dad was around the destruction of the barn.

Ahh.... now I remember him saying that Keenan Wynn could not remember his lines for the balloon scene. Daddy was pissed that the guy was paid so much and couldn't even do his job...lol.

And he kept saying that they were supposed to be in France for some of his scenes. Some of the rock fences in the latter part of the film (About when "Sweetheart Tree" is sung) look very much like Central KY.

Hope that helps.

I slept with you and you're in love with my husband. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?

[–] riccom 8 years ago

Sorry to hear about your relatives. It's all so long ago that most of the people involved are no longer around. :(

There was a pond in front of the barn that Fate ends up at after each stunt.
He crashes through the barn at the end of the Biplane stunt, and into the mud in front of it at the end of the Rocket stunt.
The only other person visible in those scenes (apart from Fate and Max) is the farmer.
Two other users ( baldy007 and j-onan ) both claim to be related to him in this topic: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059243/board/flat/41533578

I can't think of any other well/water in those stunts.

Ahh.... now I remember him saying that Keenan Wynn could not remember his lines for the balloon scene. Daddy was pissed that the guy was paid so much and couldn't even do his job...lol.

Keenan/Hezekiah doesn't have any lines in that scene in the final movie. Maybe that's why ;)

http://leslie-special.info In appreciation of The Great Race.

[–] Gadare 8 years ago

Boy! You know this movie!

Neither Daddy or my uncle were the farmer. Or the pigs.

The Hezekiah balloon scene is in the first part of the film, when Leslie is going up in the balloon for the stunt and Fate pierces it with the arrow and we see Leslie escape over that beautiful KY countryside.

Welcome to IMDB! Looks like you are going to bring a lot to the party!

"I slept with you and you're in love with my husband. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

[–] riccom 8 years ago

The Hezekiah balloon scene is in the first part of the film, when Leslie is going up in the balloon for the stunt and Fate pierces it with the arrow and we see Leslie escape over that beautiful KY countryside.

I have located one of the background scenes when the balloon is up in the air.
Have a look at http://leslie-special.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6

It's here: https://goo.gl/maps/T2DoKYRgkUs
Which is mid-way between Lexington and Frankfort, closer to Versailles.

I'm located in Australia, so I'm limited to using Google maps to try to identify the backgrounds :)

http://leslie-special.info In appreciation of The Great Race.

[–] riccom 8 years ago

There's some contemporary newspaper photos taken at the Balloon stunt at
http://www.courier-journal.com/picture-gallery/news/2015/05/27/gallery-l-the-filming-of-the-great-race/28032117/

http://leslie-special.info In appreciation of The Great Race.

[–] Gadare 8 years ago

Other tidbits you might enjoy:

My dad said that Peter Falk and Wynn played pool with the extras and carried on with them all day during downtime when there was no filming. Lemmon would say "Hello, how are you?" and Curtis stayed in his trailer not acknowledging them at all. It infuriated Daddy that Leslie only got hit with one pie in the pie fight. Mentioned it a number of times on the way home...LOL.

My mom was aghast that of the pictures my dad took, they were all of the cars and none of the stars.

I slept with you and you're in love with my husband. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?

[–] mrgogonyc 9 years ago

Also, in his lair, when Fate is having dinner. His silent reaction when Max asks "Do you want me to feed you?" is scene chomping hilarious.

If it is not in the frame, it does not exist!

[–] WhispersOfWinter 9 years ago

I have many favorite parts, but one of the most memorable for me is during Professor Fate's first airplane stunt. He gradually gets more hysterical when yelling at Max to fly higher until we finally get a shot of him practically being dragged along the ground while screaming "MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This shot gets me everytime. :)

[–] jasperparker 9 years ago

One of my favorite scenes takes place just after Lily Olay finishes her number and sits down to talk with The Great Leslie. She's kind of crowding Maggie Dubois out of her chair to get next to Leslie. While talking to Leslie, she turns back to look at Maggie and then does a double take when she sees how Maggie is looking at her. This scene cracks me up everytime.

[–] Gadare 8 years ago

And how Lily says "Scoot over, honey" to Maggie.

I slept with you and you're in love with my husband. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?

[–] bworm76 7 years ago

Yes! And just before that when Lily is singing and keeps hitting Maggie in the face with her feather boa,the slow-burn onNatalie Wood's face is PRICELESS!

[–] Gadare 7 years ago

Love that, too. Natalie was a fine comic actress in this film.

"Victor, what are we going to do to stop this fiendish tit?"

[–] buggerjenbutt 8 years ago

When Natalie wood breaks into the garage, and professor fate and max run past the moose head and the rest of the moose is on the other side. Homage to the Kate great Ernie Kovacs

[–] overseas7 (3627) 4 years ago

Push the button, Max.............MAAAAXXXXX!!!

[–] bsantosu (155) 2 months ago

When they go through the Russian village, Fate stands up: “I AM PROFESSOR FATE! And nobody reacts.