The Great Race - videos, teasers and stills from filming

All videos, teasers and footage from the filming of the film "The Great Race"

The Great Race (1965)

Timing: 2:40 (160 min)

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All about film

Video 2

Photo 14

Actors and characters

The Great Race Trailer 1965

English

2:52

Большие гонки (1965) - Трейлер. The Great Race

Pусский

2:58

What's left behind the scenes

The film is preceded by a six-minute overture. A three-minute musical interlude is placed between episodes. Both the overture and the interlude were cut in Soviet distribution. Also, two scenes were cut from the film in Soviet distribution: a long journey on an ice floe from Alaska to Kamchatka – to reduce screen time, and a visit to Tobolsk by the travelers – for ideological reasons.
During the journey from Alaska to Kamchatka, the ice floe enters fog, and Max signals with the car horn. Unexpectedly, he plays the musical theme from the film "West Side Story" (1961) on the horn.
Despite its comedic plot, the film was inspired by a real event – the 1908 New York to Paris Great Race.
It ranks 55th in attendance among foreign films in Soviet cinema distribution.
The full name of Tony Curtis’s character (The Great Leslie) was Leslie Gallant III.
Preparing for filming, Natalie Wood took fencing and horseback riding lessons and learned to smoke cigars, but the most difficult thing for the actress was learning to drive a steam car.
Work on the film quickly exceeded the budget allocated to the project, and as a result, the film became the most expensive comedy production of its time, as well as one of the longest, with a running time of 160 minutes.
During the pie-throwing scene, Tony Curtis, as the Great Leslie, remained impeccably dressed, while all other characters involved in the scene were covered in pie. Curtis had to change into clean clothes several times, as pieces of pie occasionally hit him.
For the participants themselves, the 1908 New York to Paris auto race was by no means a leisurely drive. Paved roads were scarce during that historical period, and in some parts of the world, they didn't exist at all. The most challenging parts of the competition were in Siberia and Alaska, and not all participants reached the finish line.

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