The Rat Race (1960)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Memorable, crazy movie

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Absolutely Fantastic

Not quite innocent,but not really guilty either;that's Miss Debbie Reynolds in "The Rat Race".Many men are susceptible to a woman with a slightly bruised aspect to her and Mr Tony Curtis is no exception. It's a movie where "10 cents a dance" meets "Scrapple from The Apple" as cool jazz man Curtis shares an apartment with broke and weary taxi dancer Reynolds who has unwisely accepted a large loan from her boss Mr Don Rickles who is keen on her repaying him in the traditional showbiz manner. Daring for its time in its acceptance of the ambivalence of the character played brilliantly by Miss Reynolds,the movie gives a fairly bleak view of New York nearly fifty years ago,an era we are frequently led to believe nowadays was a golden one indeed.Clearly not if you were struggling in the lower stratum of the entertainment profession. Garson Kanin's play was 20 years ahead of its time.Less bleak than its contemporary "The Connection",but quite shocking for mainstream audiences with its portrayal of the bottom feeders of show business,the bullies,the pimps,gangsters and the compromises decent young people were forced to make to follow their chosen paths.Not to mention an unmarried couple living together. There is some fairly belicose Elmer Bernstein music diffused by an extract of typical late 1950s West Coast cool and Mr Curtis is very convincing as the aspirant jazzer with integrity (i.e.no money) Sedate by today's standards,"The Rat Race" marked a transition from 1950s movies to 1960s movies in content and tone.Not until "New York,New York" was there a more impressive portrayal of an average saxophone player and his showbiz lady,and my goodness how the movies - and the world - had changed by then.

One of the better Debbie Reynolds vehicles of the 60s, but still not particularly good. Reynolds plays a NYC dance hall girl living on the skids in Kay Medford's seedy apartment house. Through a depressing series of misfortunes, she ends up with struggling musician Tony Curtis as a roommate. Every crisis imaginable befalls the couple as they try to "make it" in the big city. Despite the presence of comics Medford and Jack Oakie (who together act as a sort of skid row Greek chorus), THE RAT RACE is pretty bleak. Director Robert Mulligan makes a point of avoiding any humor (except for the many verbal jabs Reynolds lobs at nice guy Curtis) and the lack of levity leaves the film dead. Norman Fell appears in a brief and very uncomfortable scene as a telephone repairman whom Reynolds convinces not to shut off her phone. In a very rare straight role, Don Rickles plays Reynold's sleazy boss.

Exceptionally thin drama, written by Garson Kanin from his own play, about a horn player from Milwaukee arriving in New York City by bus, taking over the boarding room usually held by a down-on-her-luck taxi-dancer; they meet and, seeing there are two beds in the place, he proposes they share the room and help each other out. As the naive musician, Tony Curtis is convincing fumbling about nervously with his horn cases, but the moment where he realizes his roommate is really a cute little number never quite arrives. Curtis and co-star Debbie Reynolds do a little bickering, a little soul-sharing, and the next we know he's writing her love letters. Reynolds has a good girl's version of 'tough' down pat, though when boss Don Rickles calls her a "Goldilocks" he's not far off; this is strictly a one dime-a-dance girl who would never sacrifice virtue for rent money. Kanin's script spends a lot of time on extraneous circumstances, particularly when Rickles makes Debbie strip in his office (nothing comes of this, not even a tart exit line). Curtis gets an audition which turns out to be a fake, yet the sequence seems designed only to plug a little music into the scenario, and it's a nowhere moment which doesn't pay off. Throughout, Elmer Bernstein's music seems heavy-handed, as does the writing for the supporting characters. Curtis and Reynolds are seen as a couple of struggling nice kids--not above stepping into the gutter, but not without total remorse. It's all a facade but, for an 'unglossy' glossy star-vehicle, it has its pleasures. **1/2 from ****

I loved this movie about two struggling young people and the friendship and love that grows out of those struggles. You won't find any glamour in this film, but it manages to be much more beautiful than many a movie oozing pearls, silk and mahogany. All characters are interesting, likeable and well-drawn. Rickles is fantastic as an uncouth, vulgar boss, the personification of a soul destroyed. Everything is just right. As usual, it is small movies that reach the greatest heights. I once saw screenwriter Kanin and his wife Ruth Gordon on "Donahue". I'm sorry I didn't take any notes.