The Great Race

The Great Race (1965)

5 corrected entries

(3 votes)

Corrected entry: Professor Fate tries to use a shortcut by following the train tracks. The RR crossing sign says (vertically) "Look out for the Cars" (rather than watch for trains). (01:16:55)


Correction: "Look out for the cars" is a correct and authentic railroad crossing warning for the period. It was a standard phrase used in most parts of the U.S. from the 1800s to the 1950s. The vertical orientation is also authentic. I know this because such railroad crossings were common when I was a kid sixty years ago. My father (who had worked on the CB&Q railroad)explained that "cars" in this case meant railroad cars. My grandfather's railroad rule book from 1900 also confirms the authenticity of "Look out for the cars" as a railroad crossing warning.

Corrected entry: Professor Fate's auto, when it raises itself off the running gear, has no means of propulsion. The drivetrain is not connected to the drive axles by either a driveline or chain.

Correction: The drive and steering are both hydraulic. You can see the hoses from several views.

Corrected entry: Note the scene were Professor Fate and Max are attempting a speed record with the rocket powered rail car. It appears the ignition of the rockets was much more violent than expected, as the crowd jumps in panic when the rockets fire, and retreat in disarray. This is so instantaneous that it does not look planned. Even the stunt doubles in the car cringe in their seats as the car takes off.

Correction: That sounds like a natural reaction. How is it a mistake?

Corrected entry: In the Potsdorf Palace waltz scene, during the Blue Danube waltz, the shot is centered on Tony Curtis dancing with an attractive young woman. However, directly behind him, Jack Lemmon is seen dancing with a uniformed military officer.

Correction: This is not a mistake but rather a character choice. Jack Lemmon's Prince Hapnik is goofy and free spirited, so it's quite plausible that he would grab any one of his loyal subjects to dance with, and would probably find it perversely funny to make an upright military man his waltzing partner.

Corrected entry: The closed-captioning (or subtitles) do not follow the dialog in the movie: (1)cc: "They said I never could" vs. the spoken dialog "Fate the Magnificent" and (2)cc: "what's more" vs. dialog "What's it for?" (the rope and grappling hook). (02:04:45 - 02:09:10)


Correction: The subtitle mistakes are the fault of a computer program. It is not a movie mistake.

Continuity mistake: When the Leslie Special is rolled out to be presented to the Great Leslie the red carpet in the front view starts at the building alignment. The aerial shot as seen from Professor Fate shows a wide gap between the building alignment and the red carpet.

More mistakes in The Great Race

Leslie: Are you a native of Borracho?
Lily Olay: I ain't no native, I was born here.

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Question: How exactly did Leslie initially intend on crossing the Bering or Chukchi Sea from Alaska into Russia? I know he and Professor Fate end up floating on a large mass of ice to do so, but that's not exactly something you can plan for.

Phaneron Premium member

Chosen answer: The cars and drivers were supposed to make the trip by ship from North America across the Bering Strait to a Russian port, where they would resume the race. As it happened, Leslie and Fate were stranded in a blizzard on the North American side before they reached the ship. The ice beneath their cars unexpectedly broke away and drifted across the Bering Strait, improbably arriving at the intended destination port in Russia. As they drift into port, we see Leslie's right-hand man, Hezekiah, waving at them from the Russian dock, which is only possible if Hezekiah made the journey by the very ship that Leslie and Fate missed.

Charles Austin Miller

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