Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies

In the 60s, a new genre of film appeared, the "Let's offer them what TV can't" megamovie with a jillion stars, extravagant settings, massive intersecting plots, sometimes absurdly long names, and lavish costumes. "It's a Mad, (repeat) World" was the first of these I remember, but many more were made. This is among the last that was a comedy that I can think of. For good reason.My wife has had a terrible cold and felt rather inert and passive. The perfect night for a comedy to have her rolling in her chair, if not the aisles. I had bought this based upon my huge fondness for Pete and Dud and the glowing reviews here. I didn't think "Unmemorable Men in their Flying Machines" all that funny, but I was promised this was far better. I was lied to. I'd like to watch this film with that person and see where they laugh, because I cannot imagine what they saw that I didn't. My wife fell asleep after 40 minutes and went to bed. I offered to turn the film off so she could finish it later, but she encouraged me to go on. "I'm not too sharp right now, but I'm just not enjoying it very much." She made the smart decision. I kept waiting for the humor, but as the film laboriously and predictably ground on I realized it was never coming. Terry-Thomas was quite good as the utterly heartless cad, but it was a slim joke that offered a spark, not a bonfire, and the spark faded as it was repeated endlessly. Cook and Moore had the same roles they played elsewhere, but neither seemed very interested in the proceedings and gave listless performances. Susan Hampshire, looking like an overly made up Julie Andrews, was dreadful, and Tony Curtis, one of those guys who I've never been able to get (really, name one good film he did?) was annoying at his best, but often exasperating. Allowed to take his limited talents and total lack of humor and run wild, he plopped like an anvil in every scene he was in. If you think a man without his glasses bumping into walls is funny, this is your kind of film. If you think that it takes a gifted physical comedian to pull off such lame tricks, then stay away.With more cheap fake snow than a shopping mall Christmas display, silly and stupid characters, bad foreign accents, a sleazy and prurient attitude about sex, special effects from Woolworth's and a plot as substantial as your average Gilligan's Island episode, this is one awful film. When Jimmy Durante singing your (justifiably unknown) theme song was the highlight, and Jimmy was surprisingly good, you know you're in trouble.(Note--I tried for 2 stars but mistakenly hit the 3 and it does not allow corrections...1.3 is about as high as I would go)

I received the DVD quickly and in the condition the seller advertised. It was well packed and I got good value for my money.

I'm reasonably certain that some-one in Hollywood watched this movie and scripted the cartoon series 'wacky races' (i thinks that's what it was called anyway)4 stars for brilliantly comedic performances from Terry Thomas, Eric Sykes, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore...who are fortunately all fairly heavily featured in this 'episodic' movie which lurches from scene to scene like a badly underfunded and amateurishly cut TV sketch comedy show. Tony Curtis phones in his performance, as does Susan Hampshire..but since they constitute the romantic leads they do get a disproportionately large fraction of screen time.If i recall correctly, this was a joint British/Italian movie production, with casting from both countries. Frankly it's easy to see why there weren't any follow-on or derivative projects. I don't know if the original print was cared for very well, the 'letterbox' size seems uneven at times, as does the contrast level of some of the scenes. Also prudish parents should be aware that there are a couple of 'benny hill' style opportunities for female cast members to show off their 'bouncy bits'....of which they take mild advantage, without salaciousness.Having said that, it's a great movie for 6/7-year olds.......who will simply adore it, until they reach the discriminating age of 8!The whole thing was done SO much better in 'The Great Race' and it was filmed 'no expense spared', whereas the production in this movie was about as pennypinching as possible....so if you're at an age where the candles on the cake have reached double digits......try that title by preference?

The plot is basically a winner take all automobile race to Monte Carlo, with a love interest for Tony Curtis (Susan Hampshire) thrown in, which is set in the days between the two World Wars. The movie is along the same general lines as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines and if you enjoyed that movie you will probably like this one. Terry-Thomas is the foil for Curtis in this movie, and the acting is well done--especially Peter Cook as the British Army officer. You also get to see Gert Frobe (better remembered as Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond movie) in a comedy roll--which he carries off very well. Somewhat reminiscent of the Blake Edwards movie The Great Race (which I preferred to this one). Still--this movie is worth watching more than once. Both of these movies demonstrate that it is possible (if you want to) to make a funny movie without having to resort to profanity to get laughs.

Monte Carlo or Bust.At least this movie barrels along at a breakneck speed (unlike another race movie I won't mention). Love the theme song sung by Jimmy Durante (found it as a free download on the Internet). The race involves one scoundrel (Terry-Thomas), one crook (Gert Frobe), and one pseudo-femme fatale (Susan Hampshire), a couple of half-wits, 3 women, 2 police officers (off duty), and Tony Curtis (not exactly young or "men" but whatever). It's a fun film mainly due to one team: Peter Cook (as an overly confident major) and Dudley Moore (as his faithful sycophant). No matter what the situation they aren't rattled, instead, they pull out one disastrous invention after another, all impractical all spectacular. There's a strip search and a true cliffhanger before they finally narrow it down to a winner. It's fun. It's a keeper. Glad I bought it.

A funny classic slap stick comedy. Lots of silliness and humor and romance of course.

I remember being taken to the cinema to see this back in the day. Great fun, with a fine cast (many of whom were in "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines") and a wonderfully hissable villain in the shape of Terry-Thomas. I wonder if he was the prototype for cartoon bad guy Dick Dastardly?Anyway, if you like good old English comedy, you could do a lot worse than this... Recommended.

Sadly this was unable to be watched as its a different region and this was not really explained so be careful when ordering.

Not quite in the same class as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, but still a very funny British Comedy film with Terry Thomas, Eric Sykes, Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore especially standing out. Perhaps as a forerunner of The Great Race, Tony Curtis appears as the hero/ladies' man and does a very fine job. If you loved Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines you will certainly like this movie.

An excellent movie, however please keep in mind that this DVD is NTSC, Region 1. Therefore unless you have a multi-region DVD player don't order it. You need the Region 1 version, UK, Europe et al

Brilliant film. The container is printed in Spanish and the film titles also Spanish so you need to go into your dvd menu to choose English.