KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

SimonJack The 1960s saw two comedy films made about two real, legendary automobile contests. The first was "The Great Race" in 1965. It was a hilarious rendition of an actual event held in 1908. That was a race around the world that involved far fewer cars than shown in the movie. In my comments on that film (18 April 2014), I give a history of that event, and some details about the museum where the winning car and trophy are housed today. The National Automobile Museum is located in Reno, Nevada. One can spend more than a day going through that world-class museum.The second race film of the 1960s was this one, about the Monte Carlo Rally. "Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies" came out four years after the first film. The rally is a real event that has taken place annually since 1911, except during the years of World War I and World War II. Critics generally panned "The Great Race," which was the most costly comedy made to that time. It had a budget of $12 million. But the public liked the film. The critics and public liked "Jaunty Jalopies," which also made a nice profit. But it wasn't as popular in the U.S. as had been "Race." I think "Race" clearly was a much funnier comedy. It had some outrageously funny scenarios, including the best and longest filmed pie fight in history. "Jaunty Jalopies" on the other hand, has many moments that bring chuckles or smiles. But there ae no standout hilarious scenes. What's best about this film is its international cast and the cars and reproductions that showed innovations. The rally in its early years was a showcase for new automobile innovations. In this film, this is show with two English characters and a car entry by Major Dawlish and Lt. Barrington, played respectively by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Terry-Thomas plays the part of a cad so well, but in this film his part isn't that funny. Many of the actors give good performances, and the string of mishaps one after another is funny. But "Jalopies" never rises above a chuckle. The original European title for this movie was, "Monte Carlo or Bust." Movie buffs may be interested in some more history of the real event in this film. The Monte Carl Rally is sponsored annually by the Automobile Club de Monaco. Since 1973 it has been run in stages – as many as 35 in 1986, and as few as 13 in 2011. As in the movie, contestants have choices of places to start from – usually four to six – all equidistant from Monte Carlo. Until 1972, the event was as shown in the movie – with cars traveling a long route from five different staring places, to arrive at the same place. Then, the surviving cars competed in a short timed distance race. Since 1973 and the multiple stages, the total distances have ranged from 867 km (539 miles) in 1986, to 329 km (204 miles). Since 1995, all rallies have been below 500 km (310 miles), and they have tended to level off at around 400 km or lower (248 miles). While the rally remains highly popular, the reduced distances likely are due to considerable increases in traffic on the roads and difficulties in shutting down roads to public traffic and other logistics of the event.

drednm This one is a misfire on all counts. Most of the cast is lousy, the story is dull, the direction nonexistent, and the film is too long. It drones on and on cutting from one group in the car rally to another. The Germans and Italians and the "girls" are almost impossible to understand, so that cuts what you can follow to three groups. But all the little subplots go nowhere and the special effects are hideously bad. Location shooting mixes with bad studio shots and the bizarre mix of 60s fashion in a 1920s setting is stupid. Other than the cars, nothing in this film would remind anyone of the 1920s. To be fair, Susan Hampshire is bright, Terry-Thomas is always good, and Peter Cook and Dudley Moore seem to find the right comic voice for this type of farce. Tony Curtis is dreadful. Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques are wasted in nothing parts. Jack Hawkins is dubbed. Even the usually reliable Gert Frobe is defeated by the unfunny script. Not a sequel to THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES and nowhere near its equal in charm or comedy. Jimmy Durante for some reason sings the lame theme song but does not appear in this film. The film barely broke $1M at the US box office so I assume this was a huge flop ... and deservedly so.

jimbo-53-186511 Various competitors from 15 different countries start off at 5 different checkpoints in order to compete in the Monte Carlo rally; those drivers that make it to the pre-arranged checkpoint at Chamberry in the French Alps will then complete the final leg to Monte Carlo. However, all 5 routes will take the drivers across some of the most challenging roads and inevitably mayhem and problems ensue along the way.The first thing that's obvious with this film is that it hasn't aged particularly well; there are several scenes where the film has been sped up which I can only assume was done for comedic effect, this may have been funny at one time, but viewing this film in 2014 it looks cheap and to me isn't particularly funny. Likewise, the opening scene has many instances that I considered to be 'dumb' but funny - the scene where the guy crosses a river on the back of an elephant, disappears under the water and emerges on the back of a crocodile was completely stupid, but I'd be lying if I said that it didn't make me laugh. This early scene really sets the tone for the film, it's just 'dumb' fun and I suspect that if you didn't find the opening scene funny then you may find that you will not enjoy the film as a whole.Aside from the silly scenes where the film has been sped up, the rest of the film generally works. The main characters that enter the rally have their own agendas for entering the rally and these set-ups create some interesting and often hilarious rivalries - the Curtis/Thomas rivalry is by far the funniest and thankfully this rivalry gets the most focus. I think that they share the funniest scenes and this is helped by wonderful acting by both Curtis and Thomas. Curtis is energetic, charismatic and perhaps slightly arrogant whereas Thomas is the uptight toff - both actors play off each well. Sykes stars as Perkins who is Thomas' long suffering assistant and also plays his role well too. The German and Italian involvement in the Monte Carlo rally does tend to fall back on clichés regarding their nations which is a little disappointing, but we do get enough laughs from their various mishaps for this not to matter so much.Monte Carlo or Bust is a dumb and silly film no question, but it did consistently tickle my funny bone - there are a few scenes that really got me laughing. It's not a perfect film and not all of it works, but more than enough of it works to make it worth watching.

fom4life The great thing about cinema is that it takes you to times and places that you normally wouldn't travel to without the aid of this modern marvel of storytelling. Instead of watching auto racing in modern slick cars whizzing around a track very fast in a dizzying circle, you get to travel through the 1920's European countryside in antique cars which zoom and clunk its to Monte Carlo. Watching Nascar you may see an interview with a rather normal guy with commercial logos everywhere on his and his car's being. In 'Jaunty Jalopies' you get to meet not so normal eccentric folk who today might be on some type of medication. There's Chester Schofield (Tony Curtis) a hip roaring 20's American car manufacture who owns half a car manufacturing plant that he won in a card game. The other half is owned by Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas) the son of Sir Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas). His father was the big louse of a villain who tried to scheme and cheat his way to victory during the 1910 Airplane race which can be seen in 'Jaunty Jalopies' predecessor 'Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965). Sir Cuthbert doesn't want Yank innovation spoiling British ingenuity and uses the Monte Carlo Rally as a chance to place a bet with Chester where winner takes all of the car plant. The bet is on. The Race is On. The nastiness is on as Sir Cuthbert pleads and plots dastardly plans to make sure Chester doesn't win the race. The other characters who race along the road of comedy include Perkins (Eric Sykes): Cuthbert's un-loyal side kick who is forced into helping Cuthbert's nasty schemes due to his being blackmailed.Betty (Susan Hampshire): A woman who went looking for her horse and instead became Chester's race car companion. Major Dawlish (Peter Cook): a proud British inventor and his loyal sidekick Lt. Barrington (Dudley More): Their innovations to their auto mobile sometimes work great and other times not so great. These two provide the biggest laughs in film and thus the most smiles.Willy (Gert Frobe): A highly recommended getaway driver sprung from prison to smuggle stolen Jewels for a bunch of German crooks. He is accompanied by his companion on the journey Count Levinovitch (Jack Hawkins). There is a great scene where the Count breaks Willy out of prison. After that these two are only mildly amusing throughout the rest of the picture except when shown in rivalry with Dawlish and Barrington. Then there are the other major throw-away characters which include two cops Marcello (Lando Buzzanca) and Angelo ( Walter Chiari). One is somewhat normal and the other is overly horny. He practically assaults won of the other female drivers by dragging her into his hotel room. Which brings us to the trio of french female drivers (Mireille Darc, Marie Dubois and Nicoletta Macchiavelli) A female doctor and her patawon's.If you want a good car comedy race movie with interesting characters, great action gags, and some amusing chuckles watch 'Jaunty Jalopies'. If you want a great film of the same genre, watch Tony Curtis in the superior 'The Great Race', which probably has the best pie fight put on film since Laurel and Hardy. No pie fight in JJ. Some amusing sights, including a chase through a ski slope and Jimmy Durante singing the opening song, but again no pie fight. I remember watching pie fights with the three stooges and also on the Brady Bunch and thought' It would be fun to get into a pie fight.' In college I shoved an apple pie in a friend's face to see what would happen. I learned that pie's in the face is very uncomfortable and annoying. And if you want a terrible car comedy race movie watch 'The Cannonball Run 2) but I would stick with the Tony Curtis racing films.