Henry Mancini - The Great Race 1965 (1999)

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Henry Mancini - The Great Race 1965 (1999)

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"The Great Race is one of those classic films that is just excellent entertainment, again directed by Blake Edwards with Jack Lemmon as the villain (black clothes, twirly moustache and a car full of lethal gadgets) pitted against Tony Curtis (always clean white suit, equally white car, sparkly teeth and the pretty girl on his arm). The slap-stick nature of the film gives Henry Mancini the opportunity to flex his musical muscles and use every musical cliché possible to recall the times of the silent films, particularly while enhancing Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk's dastardly deeds. The frenzied 'They're Off' and the turbulent 'The Great Race March' are superb examples of Mancini flat out, while another treat is the inclusion of one of the great Mancini - Mercer songs, 'The Sweetheart Tree' with its saloon-style piano backing. The score is brought to clever and comedic climax with the Alp-style 'Pie-In-The-Face Polka'.
Two brilliant, classic Henry Mancini scores on one CD, fantastic. The original LP scores were released when stereo effects were popular and the well-separated left / right tracks add to some very enjoyable and nostalgic listening. An absolute must."