The Great Race (1965)

Why its here:
A chance to see Tony Curtis (who is fabulous here) and Natalie Wood (who we hadn't seen since she was a child in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir). This was supposed to be a fantastic epic comedy.

Specs:
Color. Nearly 3 hours.

Our family's rating on a scale of 1-10:
6.75

More about the film and our reaction to it:
It may be a great race, but its only a good movie.  The Great Race is hampered in part by the fact that we've seen this movie, twice, before. Perhaps wishing to ride the success of Around the World in 80 Days and Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, this film canvases much the same metaphoric and literal territory, in glorious technicolor and at over 3 hours in length.  Problem is, the others did it better. There was plenty of time for my mind to wander and I found myself getting bored - a rare occurrence indeed during our festival.

The performances are strong and the film generally very well-made and entertaining, but the plot lacked focus and well, just dragged on. What is it with these 60s epic films?! Lawrence of Arabia, Its a Mad ... World, My Fair Lady and now The Great Race have all clocked in at 3 hours + and included intermissions. We are ready for something short!

Iconic Image:

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

Why it's here:
Combo love story and ghost story. How can you go wrong with that.

Specs:
Over and hour and a half, black and white.
Set at the turn of the century England

Our family's average rating on a scale of 1-10:
7.63

More about the film and our reaction to it:
Although the film is not a horror film or a thriller, and the "ghost" in the case ends up being very nice, audiences should know that before we get comfortable with our ghost, the movie is actually quite frightening. When Mrs. Muir is looking to rent a lonely seaside cabin, and it appears that the house is haunted, tension is intensionally played up and the film is sure to frighten some kids.

The scariness evaporates as soon as we get to know the ghost better. The "relationship" between him and our leading lady is wonderful and quirky enough to carry the movie. The acting is very good throughout, especially Rex Harrison as the ghost. Natalie Wood even appears as Mrs. Muir's young daughter.

One of the coolest things about this picture was seeing Palos Verdes, in LA, where the seaside cabin was filmed. So amazing, circa 1947, to see all that primo real estate empty -- and the area so remote. Crazy to think that any part of LA could have passed as the quaint English seaside. But it worked.

Iconic shot: