Behind the Scenes with Blake Edwards' 'The Great Race'
- Year:
- 1965
- 15 min
- 381 Views
Ladies and gentlemen...
...you are about to witness
the most spectacular feat...
...ever attempted by the greatest daredevil
in the world.
The Great Leslie.
He will be strapped in a straitjacket
before your very eyes...
...and lifted up into the clouds...
...where eagles soar and
Hey, bull's-eye.
There's a hole in the balloon.
- He'll never make it.
- He'll never make it.
- A parachute.
- A parachute.
A parachute!
A parachute!
What?
Ladies and gentlemen,
you are about to witness a feat...
...so dangerous that only one man
would dare attempt it.
The Magnificent Professor Fate.
Attach the hooks.
The professor will defy death
as his assistant...
...swoops down from the sky,
snares the professor...
...on the ground and lifts him into the air.
Contact.
Switch on.
Up, Max! Bring it up!
Coming up.
Max, up, you idiot! Up!
She's up!
Up, you idiot, up!
Too much weight.
I'd like to see The Great Leslie try that one.
After today you will have broken
What are your future plans?
That depends on my success today.
Gentlemen, will you excuse me please?
Be careful, you idiot,
you'll blow us both to kingdom come.
He's getting in the boat.
- You sure you tested the mechanism?
- It can't miss.
All you have to do is throw this switch,
it homes in on the loudest engine noise.
You see, it's picked up Leslie's boat!
Farewell, Leslie.
Away.
Golly!
Look at the pretty face on that...
Get away from there.
I intend to cover the measured mile
in approximately twelve seconds.
Activate the rockets.
One hundred and fifty!
Two hundred and fifty!
- I'll go down in history!
- Three hundred.
They'll erect a monument to me!
I've done it!
- Professor? Professor?
- What?
Well, there's another one Leslie
can try on for size.
Gentlemen.
I've requested this meeting in order
to make you a proposition.
In my opinion your company manufactures
the finest automobile in the world.
The automobile represents progress,
in the most profound sense of the word.
The ultimate example
of American ingenuity and enterprise.
This great nation cannot take a back seat
to competitors like Daimler...
...Mercedes, Napier, Rolls-Royce,
Dietrich or Panhard.
Gentlemen, I propose to prove
that the American automobile...
...your automobile, is without peers.
And just how do you propose
to prove that, sir?
A race.
Really, sir, you surprise me.
Automobile races
are becoming most commonplace.
I mean, a long race. A very long race.
Buffalo to Albany? It's been done.
Chicago to Cleveland? That's been done.
New York...
...to Paris?
You must build an automobile
to the most precise specifications.
Absolutely no!
For a company of this repute,
a great company the likes of this one...
...entrusting its entire automobile future
to a man like Leslie, it's disreputable.
a fraud, a trickster.
Help! Don't! A madman!
I apologize.
I thought you were someone else.
Pulling it out by the roots. I warned you.
The madman. Did you see him trying
to pull my beard out by the roots?
Leslie will lose!
Your automobile will lose! I will win!
He jumped!
I shall build the greatest automobile
Okay, Professor.
This time it will not be Leslie.
It will be I, Professor Fate!
Fate the Magnificent!
And it is with no little pride
that the Webber Motor Car Company...
...unveils its latest
and greatest achievement.
Gentlemen, behold the motor car
of the future!
Holy cow!
Holy Toledo, look at that car!
Yes, it's quite a car.
- I never saw a car like that in my life.
- You never will again either.
Give me the bomb.
Professor, be careful.
After you activate the mechanism,
you only got ten seconds.
I know that. Give me the cord.
We have taken the liberty of naming it
after the man who inspired its creation.
- The Leslie Special.
- I'm deeply honored.
What took you so long?
I had to go to the Rolls-Royce agency.
I had to steal a spare magneto.
It's ready.
Yes, it's ready.
There has never been anything like this.
- Professor, your greatest creation.
- The work of genius.
The finest parts from the greatest
automobiles in the world.
The Hannibal Twin 8.
When the blizzards and snow storms come,
we will continue on just as planned.
Push the button, Max.
When the rains come,
and when the snow melts...
...we shall continue to rise above it.
Push the button, Max!
Nature will chase us, we will beat her.
And brigands, thieves, cutthroats
But we are ready for them.
We will blast them to kingdom come!
We can melt, we can blast.
We can rise above! We are invincible!
Take us down.
Push the button, Max.
Yes.
- Mr. Goodbody.
- What is it, Frisbee?
- You have to come.
- What's the matter?
Well, it's a young lady, sir.
- She's handcuffed herself to the door.
- Handcuffed herself to the door?
- Of the men's room.
What?
Gentleman!
Return to your assignments.
This is a newspaper office.
There will be no lollygagging
in this hallway.
There will be no lollygagging
in this hallway.
Now, young lady, who are you?
I am a female past the age of consent.
the newspaper at my college.
I'll remain handcuffed until I'm the first
female reporter of The New York Sentinel.
Translation
Translate and read this script in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Behind the Scenes with Blake Edwards' 'The Great Race'" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/behind_the_scenes_with_blake_edwards'_'the_great_race'_9308>.
Discuss this script with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In