''Monte Carlo or Bust!'' is a 1969

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

, also known by its American title, ''Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies''. A co-production of the United Kingdom, France and Italy, the story is based on the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Albert I, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert I, the rally ...

– first raced in 1911 – and the film, set in the 1920s, recalls this general era. A lavish all-star film (Paramount put $10 million behind it), it is the story of an epic car rally across Europe that involves a lot of eccentric characters from all over the world who will stop at nothing to win. The film is a sequel to the 1965 hit '' Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines''.

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 1911 – 8 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members ...

appeared as Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage, the equally dastardly son of Sir Percy Ware-Armitage, whom Thomas had played in the earlier film. Some others of the cast from the first film returned, including Gert Fröbe and

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

. Like the earlier film, it was written by Ken Annakin and Jack Davies and directed by Annakin, with music by Ron Goodwin. The title tune is performed by

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

. The credits sequence animation was the work of Ronald Searle, who was also featured in Annakin's earlier ''Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines''.

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...

and Susan Hampshire played other contestants in the race; Curtis also starred in the similar period-piece comedy ''

The Great Race ''The Great Race'' is a 1965 American Technicolor epic slapstick comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, written by Arthur A. Ross (from a story by Edwards and Ross) and with music by Henr ...

'' (1965) from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

The film was originally intended to be called ''Rome or Bust''. The American distributors

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

re-titled it ''Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies'' to tie it to Annakin's 1965 film; re-editing also meant cuts, up to a half-hour, from the original British release.

Plot

In the 1920s, the Monte Carlo Rally attracts competitors from all over the world. Rivals from Britain, Italy, France and Germany find that their greatest competition comes from the United States in the form of Chester Schofield, who had won half of an automobile factory in a poker game with the late father of

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage. Ware-Armitage has entered the race in a winner-take-all to exact revenge and win back the lost half of the company. The international cast of characters appear to mirror their national foibles. British Army officers Maj. Digby Dawlish and Lieut. Kit Barrington, who have entered to preserve the honour of the British Empire, drive an outlandish vehicle festooned with odd inventions. Italian policemen Angelo Pincelli and Marcello Agosti seem to be more interested in chasing three French women, led by Doctor Marie-Claude). The German entry from overbearing Willi Schickel and Otto Schwartz turn out to be convicts, driving with stolen gems on board. As the race begins, the contestants find that not only are they in a 1,500-mile battle with each other, but dangerous roads and the elements including a massive avalanche, are just as formidable. Chester and his new co-driver, Betty, end up duelling with Cuthbert. Various misfortunes plague each of the contestants, with Cuthbert, poised to win, being disqualified for cheating, the British Army team blowing up, the Germans being arrested and Chester falling asleep at the wheel. In the end, the Italians are declared the winners and share their winnings with the French women's team to help people injured in the snowslide. Chester does eventually cross the finish line, albeit because Betty and some others have pushed his car.

Cast

In alphabetical order * Bourvil as Monsieur Dupont * Lando Buzzanca as Marcelo Agosti *

Walter Chiari Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles. Biography Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originall ...

as Angelo Pincilli *

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

as Major Digby Dawlish *

as Chester Schofield * Mireille Darc as Marie-Claude * Marie Dubois as Pascale * Ulf Fransson as French peasant (uncredited) * Gert Fröbe as Willi Schickel/Horst Muller * Susan Hampshire as Betty * Jack Hawkins as Count Levinovitch * Nicoletta Machiavelli as Dominique *

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...

as Lt. Kit Barrington *

Peer Schmidt Peer Eugen Georg Schmidt (11 March 1926; Erfurt, Weimar Germany – 8 May 2010; Berlin) was a German actor who specialized in film actor, films, television and dubbing. He is best known as the German voice of Gérard Philipe, Marlon Brando and Jean ...

as Otto Schwartz *

as Perkins *

as Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage * * and also with * Jacques Duby as motorcycle policeman * Hattie Jacques as lady journalist * Derren Nesbitt as Waleska * Nicholas Phipps as Golfer * William Rushton as John O'Groats race official * Michael Trubshawe as German rally official *

Richard Wattis Richard Cameron Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffords ...

as golf club secretary * Walter Williams as German customs official

Production

Development

Ken Annakin had a huge success with ''Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines''. In September 1965 he announced he would make a follow-up to that film set in the early days of automobile racing. Its working title was ''The Monte Carlo Rally and All That Jazz''. He wrote the script with Jack Davies, with whom he had collaborated on ''Those Magnificent Men''. He wanted to re-use some of the old cast, including Terry Thomas, Gert Fröbe and Alberto Sordi, plus one American, possibly James Garner. Annaking estimated the film would cost under $6 million. In March 1968 Annakin announced that Tony Curtis would star. The cast would also include Terry Thomas, Gert Fröbe, Eric Sykes, Walter Chiari, and Alberto Sordi. Finance was provided by Paramount and filming would take over six months in Rome, Monte Carlo and the Italian and French Alps. "I love the international flavor of it", said Annakin.

Shooting

Besides the studio work at the Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome and Lazio, Italy, principal photography took place from 31 March–May 1968 at a large number of locations: England, Paris, France, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monte Gelato Falls, river, Italy and Åre, Jämtlands län, Sweden. Most of the exotic locations were from the second-unit directors while studio process shots mainly inserted the lead actors into the scenes. Annakin had difficulties working with his American screen idol, Tony Curtis, and considered him, "brittle, self-centered and a bully". Curtis, however, enjoyed his time in Rome, one of the primary filming locations and became romantically linked to his co-star, Susan Hampshire. An excerpt from composer Ron Goodwin's cue, "The Schickel Shamble" became the theme music for the long-running

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

comedy series ''

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' is a BBC radio comedy panel game. Billed as "the antidote to panel games", it consists of two teams of two comedians being given "silly things to do" by the host. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parody of ...

'' which later featured Willie Rushton as a regular panellist.

Automobiles

Tony Curtis is driving an Alvis Speed 20 (1932–36) named the "Triple S, Six-Sylinder Special", and Gert Fröbe is in a Mercedes SSK (1928–32). Terry-Thomas's car first is a Ware-Armitage, while his official entry is in a "Nifty Nine, Mark II", probably it's a 1929 Austin Heavy 12/4 Burnham. The other British team is in a

Lea-Francis Lea-Francis was a British motor manufacturing company that began by building bicycles. History Richard Henry Lea, R. H. Lea and Graham Francis, G. I. Francis started the business in Coventry in 1895. They branched out into car manufacturing i ...

, outfitted with an array of ingenious contraptions including the Dawlish Klaxon, the Dawlish Periscope, the Dawlish Snow Stoppers, the Dawlish Snow Melter, bits to turn it into the Dawlish Super Snow Tractor, Dawlish Extending Foglamp and rocket boosters. Marcelo and Angelo are in a Lancia Lambda, while Dominique drives a Peugeot 201 ... and lurking in the background are a bullnose Morris Oxford (1919–26) and a Blower Bentley (1927–31). Ex-racer David Watson was in charge of the cars. "The automobiles should give me a good 30 percent of the comedy", said Annakin.

Music

The music was composed by Ron Goodwin. The title track, (called "Monte Carlo or Bust" despite the US name change to the film) is sung by

. A piece of music playing during a German prison escape scene, called "The Schickel Shamble", has been used as the theme music for ''

'' since its inception in 1972.

Release

The film opened 28 May 1969 at the Astor Theatre and Beekman Theatre in New York City. The film grossed $46,800 in its opening week.

Reception

''Monte Carlo or Bust!'' was favourably received by audiences and critics alike. The comparison to Annakin's earlier work, notwithstanding, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' review noted, "... the picture is lively and often hilarious, as the drivers hang on for dear life and the old cars honk, collide and careen. There is hardly a turn without a bang-up or a mix-up." In the opinion of the writer

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

, Peter Cook as Major Dawlish, and Dudley Moore as Lt. Barrington, are the performers who have the humour in the film that survives best. Peter Cook's Major Dawlish is the creator of a series of fairly ludicrous inventions – the feeling hovers "that it might be all over for Britain."Sweet, Matthew (speaking on). "The movie that changed my life'", ''BBC Radio 2'', 21 August 2009. Sweet states that it is a send-up of the British Empire, "which is very 1960s and not far from the sort of thing they would have been doing in The Establishment Club in

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

a few years earlier, where really for the first time, these upper-class

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

s had been sent up with a vein of cruelty as well as a vein of affection. I think you can see it as a kind of post-Empire film." Cook and Moore play the representatives of Empire: ::Major Dawlish (Cook): ''I think it's pretty clear whose side the Lord is on, Barrington.'' ::Barrington (Moore): ''England, sir?'' ::Major Dawlish (Cook): ''Naturally.'' More recent reviews have not been as complimentary, with

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...

characterising it as mid-fare, a movie that has "some funny scenes, but backfires a bit too often."Maltin 2009, p. 1404.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Annakin, Ken. ''So You Wanna Be a Director?'' Sheffield, UK: Tomahawk Press, 2001. . * Curtis, Tony and Peter Golenbock. ''Tony Curtis: American Prince, My Autobiography''. New York: Harmony Books, 2008. . * Davies, Jack, Ken Annakin, Allen Andrews and Ronald Searle. ''Monte Carlo or Bust!: Those Daring Young Men in their Jaunty Jalopies.'' London: Dennis Dobson, 1969. . * Hildick, E. W. ''Monte Carlo or Bust! ''London: Sphere, 1969. . * Maltin, Leonard. ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2009''. New York: New American Library, 2009 (originally published as ''TV Movies'', then ''Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide''), First edition 1969, published annually since 1988. .

External links

* * *
Entry at imcdb.org
*''

'' (1965), a similar comedy film inspired by the

1908 New York to Paris Race Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

directed by

Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio scripts ...

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