Push
The Button, Max!
 This
past weekend Beloved Girlfriend and I scanned
the local cinema listings for something new and
possibly entertaining. It was a rather dreary
lot to choose from and, deciding that we wanted
something written above the 6th grade level,
we chose to stay home and stream a 45-year-old
movie... and had a great time in the
process, too.
It was "The
Great Race", that furiously-paced, globe-hopping, 1965 slapstick comedy
starring Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, and Jack Lemmon. The story was loosely based
on a real New York-to-Paris race that occurred way back in 1908 and was directed
by the fabulous Blake Edwards .
I was astonished at the amount of honest entertainment this movie still provides,
in its own goofy way. Though really just a 160-minute car chase it purposely
showcased the kitchen sink of movie memes... fabulous vehicles, arch villains,
dashing heroes, scantily-clad suffragettes, clever banter, toe-tapping-tunes,
sword fights, gun fights, pie fights, secret weapons, castles, polar bears, cowboys,
indians, tongues planted hip-deep in cheeks... hell, even the music is funny,
written by the legendary Henry "Pink Panther" Mancini. Lyrics for two
of the songs were penned by the equally stellar Johnny Mercer. And the cherry
on top is the Oscar it won for Best Sound Effects.
If you've never seen it, it's definitely worth viewing if only to see Jack Lemmon
chew all the scenery down to its atomic nubbins, not to mention watching Mr.
Curtis' eyes literally flash whenever he smiles.
And bring along a calculator. You'll need it to count Ms. Woods copious costume
changes. ;^)
PS, the other Lemmon/Curtis film that is not to be missed is "Some
Like It Hot", also starring a little-known actress named Marilyn Monroe.
-------------
Some of you may have noticed that I altered the caption of this
comic. That's because too many Tea Party dweebs thought I
was
actually criticizing
affirmative action and started Following me on Twitter.
Those guys are really fucking stupid.
=Lefty=
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