Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (Paramount Pictures) (1969)

THE STORY (Not for Publication) In a remote outpost on the North-West Frontier, two pukka British Army Officers celebrate the acceptance of their application to enter the Monte Carlo Rally. Major Digby Dawlish (PETER COOK) is overjoyed that he now can test a number of wonderful inventions. His co-driver will be his meek subordinate, Kit Barrington (DUDLEY MOORE). On a golf course in England, Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage (TERRY-THOMAS) learns he has inherited an automobile factory which makes the family car, the ‘‘Nifty-Nine.’’ But he is only half-owner; his late father had lost the other half to a young American gambler, Chester Schofield (TONY CURTIS). Chester has moved into the factory and started building an American-type speedster, the ‘‘Triple S.’’ Cuthbert cannot bear to see the profits of the ‘‘NiftyNine’ go into mass-production of the “Triple S.’’ He proposes a solution: he and Chester will drive their respective cars in the Monte Carlo Rally, winner take all company stock. Chester agrees. in Germany, Schickel (GERT FROBE), a burly get-away driver, is lifted out of prison and whisked to a hotel where two sinister characters inform him that he has been ‘‘chosen”’ to drive a Mercedes in the Rally and to smuggle jewels hidden in a spare tire. Schickel’s partner is Otto (PEER SCHMIDT), another ex-jailbird. In Rome, policeman Marcello (LANDO BUZZANCA) is summoned to the office of his superior, Angelo Pincelli (WALTER CHIARI). Marcello is overjoyed, they have jointly won the National Lottery. But car-crazy Angelo has already invested their winnings in a Lancia and entered it in the Rally. Marcello reluctantly agrees to come along. On the coast road leading to Monte Carlo, a Peugeot speeds in and out of traffic. Its driver is a pretty lady doctor, Marie-Claude (MIREILLE DARC). Her companions are two medical students, Pascale (MARIE DUBOIS) and Dominique (NICOLETTA MACHIAVELLI). They plan to enter the Rally to prove that women can drive as well as men. The rally begins. Driving south over the English moors, Chester encounters Betty, (SUSAN HAMPSHIRE) a lovely aristocrat who has lost her horse. There is instant mutual attraction, and when she learns he plans to drive alone all the way to Monte Carlo, she climbs in the car. She intends to travel only a short way with him, but the lift gets extended again and again. The cars from Stockholm are passing a frozen lake. A wrong turn brings Dawlish and Kit, closely followed by Schickel and Otto, onto the ice in the midst of hockey and curling games, down a bobsled run, into a herd of reindeer and up a funicular railway. In Italy there is a road-hogging rivalry between Angelo and Marcello and the French girls. The Italians’ Lancia loses its mudguards on one side in a race over a narrow bridge. Then the Italians make off with the girl’s clothes as they stop to rid themselves of dust with a swim in the lake. At night all the contestants converge on a ski hotel in Chamberry in the French Alps. There is an avalanche ahead and they must spend the night. Everyone -is involved in wrong bedrooms. Betty and Chester are assigned the same room but have a misunderstanding and again Chester gets no sleep. Next morning all the cars are on the same mountainous road to Monte Carlo. Dawlish tries out one of his inventions, an ingenious ‘‘snow melter,” but comes to grief against a tree. Angelo and Marcello are forced into a snowdrift, get hauled out, are knocked into it again by the French girls and the Lancia loses most of its bodywork. Schickel and Otto have a puncture, discover the jewels in the spare tire, are about to appropriate them and escape into Switzerland, when a shot from the mountain convinces them that the gang is always watching, and they resume their journey. Chester is so weary he falls asleep at the wheel. Betty tries to drive, but lands the car precariously on the edge of a frozen waterfall. The prize is presented in front of the Royal Palace of Monaco. Cuthbert is about to receive the trophy but is disqualified for stealing a tire. The trophy is next handed to runner-up Schickel but the police catch up with him for smuggling the jewels and he and Otto are marched away in handcuffs. The Italians then are declared the winners, but they gallantly renounce the trophy in favor of the French girls. Chester has fallen asleep, and his car pushed over the finish line by Betty; he hasn’t won the race, but he’s won her. CAST Learnt SCHR s ei e eee TONY CURTIS RR nj Bre aie cs a a a SUSAN HAMPSHIRE Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage ................ TERRY-THOMAS eee. cake eeee S y \ eae Ce rae ERIC SYKES ots |, I MN GO 3 2 RR gg Sa ge GERT FROBE Ose... Poms. Ee he eeme eaters ears PEER SCHMIDT Pn abee DIY TD: eu eee. Re kar ee PETER COOK cee atu eee, a ey DUDLEY MOORE Pier uiCher ss fo. ey ea ees WALTER CHIARI Medtce 0 AGO ee Oe, eee LANDO BUZZANCA Werecaude ss eee. ee iced Bee MIREILLE DARC Reese. Sole: Leen ee MARIE DUBOIS eo Sr ere eee ae NICOLETTA MACHIAVELLI Deoreecur Werner, 4.55). . cicS has DRA He eens Ve BOURVIL CREDITS Produced and directed by Ken Annakin; Screenplay by Jack Davies and Ken Annakin; Associate Producer, Basil Keys; Director of Photography, Gabor Pogany; Production Designed by Ted Haworth; Editor, Peter Taylor; Costumes Designed by John Furniss; Credit Titles Designed by Ronald Searle; Art Directors, Elven Webb, Boris Juraga; Special Effects, Dick Parker; Car Constructor and Technical Adviser, David Watson; Production Supervisors, Baccio Bandini, Peter Manley; Assistant Director, Girogio Gentili; Camera Operator, Idelmo Simonelli; Sound Recordist, John Brommage; Sound Editor, David Hawkins; Make-Up, Amato Garbini; Hair Stylist, Gabriella Borzelli; Continuity, Joy Mercer; Scenic Artist, Duncan Spencer; Set Dressing, Dario Simoni; Construction Manager, Aido Puccini; Additional Costumes, Orietta Nasalli Rocca; Wardrobe Supervisor, Bona Nasalli Rocca; Gaffer, Luciano Marrocchi; Chief Grip, Romeo Governatori; Director (Paris Sequences), Sam Itzkovitch; Cameraman (Paris Sequences), Walter Wottitz; Art Director (Paris Sequences), Marc Frederix; Production Manager (Paris Sequences), Andre Cultet; Cameraman (Swedish Sequences), Bert Palmgren; Art Director (Swedish Sequences), Erik Bjork; Production Manager (Swedish Sequences), Carl-Henry Cagarp; A Ken Annakin Film Technicolor-Panavision. RUNNING TIME 125 MINUTES Curtis Heads Daring Men Tony Curtis was born June 3, 1925, in Brooklyn, of Hungarian immigrant parents. His name was Bernie Schwartz and early in his life he had to learn to cope with the jungle tactics of neighborhood hoodlums. A turn for the better came when he became a Boy Scout and exchanged the steamy asphalt streets of the city for summers at camp. He dropped out of high school, joined the Navy early in World War II and served aboard the submarine U.S.S. Dragonette. While loading torpedoes at Guam, he was injured and paralyzed for several weeks. After recovering, he was discharged and he returned to finish school. A New Look Stull #MCR2 Mat 1A CHESTER SCHOFIELD, A BRASH YOUNG AMERICAN, has wagered his share of a factory on winning the Monte Carlo Rally. Tony Curtis heads an international cast in Paramount Pictures’ “Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies,”’ in Technicolor, opening Theatre. A ROYAL AUDIENCE—Sweden’s King Gustaf VI granted permission to producer-director Ken Annakin to film a key sequence for Paramount Pictures’ “Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies,” on the large square in front of the royal palace in Stockholm. The permission was readily granted, King Gustaf’s only comment being: “May I watch?” He did, with binoculars from a secondstory window in the Palace. “Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies,” in Technicolor, which opens ................ at the AREER PRESS Theatre, is a salute to the courageous drivers of the famed Monte Carlo Automobile Rally, in those good old days before the European event went “professional.” The all-star international cast is headed by Tony Curtis. Ken Annakin produced and directed the film, which he co-authored with Jack Davies. Still #MCR138 His earliest acting experience was at the YMHA on East 92nd Street in New York and he studied at the Dramatic Workshop under the GI Bill. A series of minor roles led to a Greenwich Village production of Clifford Odets’ ‘Golden Boy.” A Universal Pictures talent scout caught his performance in the title role at the Cherry Lane Theatre, and in a few days, Bernie Schwartz now Tony Curtis, was in Hollywood. “T was like a kid turned loose in a candy store,” Curtis recalls. “T gobbled up everything. I went in for flashy clothes and bought a Rolls Royce on time. I had to impress the world—well, the Hollywood world—that I’d arrived.” His big breakthrough on the screen came in a film called ‘Criss Cross.” He was unbilled, but the studio began to get mail addressed to “that cute guy who danced with Yvonne De Carlo.” The next film had Curtis’ name among the credits and the fan mail doubled. The studio responded and in 1951 he was starred in “The Prince Who Was A Thief,” complete with star dressing room. His early starring roles were in other “swashbucklers’—“‘Son of Ali Baba” and “The Black Shield of Falworth.” Through hard work his range began to develop and his talent to deepen. He explored character in “Houdini” and “The Great Imposter,” contemporary adventure in “Six Bridges to Cross” and “Trapeze” and spectacle in films like “The Vikings,” “Taras Bulba” and “Spartacus.” He handled deeper character studies in such films as “The Sweet Smell of Success” and “The Defiant Ones.” For the latter, he was nominated for an Academy Award. Curtis emerged as a_ polished farceur, thanks to Billy Wilder, who cast him with Jack Lemmon in “Some Like It Hot.” He then plaved in such comedies as ‘Operation Petticoat,’ “Who Was That Lady?” “Sex and the Single Girl’ and “Goodbye, Charlie.” Today, with 50 films behind him, Curtis is recognized as an actor of remarkable versatility and he is able, on the strength of his immense popularity at the box office, to pick and choose what he wants to do. In “Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies,’ Tony Curtis embodies the giddy, raccooncoated optimism of the late 1920’s. The film is a tribute to the courageous amateurs who once participated in the grueling Monte Carlo Auto Rally. Curtis heads an international cast in the film which was produced and directed by Ken Annakin in Panavision and TechMICOLON ;ODEMIN Piers csces, sciassoes at the Theatre. Mat 2B CONTESTANTS GATHER FOR CHAMPAGNE as they celebrate the climax of the Monte Carlo Rally. (left to right) Lando Buzzanea, Mireille Dare, Marie Dubois, Nicoletta Machievelli and Walter Chiari are among the international cast starring in Paramount Pictures, “Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies,” in Technicolor, opening SN oa epee Theatre. at the Still #MCR40 Mat 1B MARIE-CLAUDE, A FRENCH LADY DOCTOR, resorts to notso-ladylike tactics to gain entry into the Monte Carlo Rally. Mireille Dare and Bourvil are among the international cast in Paramount Pictures’ ‘“Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies,” in Technicolor, opening ........ at the erg as Theatre. Reminiscent of the Silent era In addition to its nostalgic view of vintage automobiles, Ken Annakin’s “Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies” pays tribute to the days of the great silent screen—which ended at roughly the same time as the Rally’s amateur standing. Tony Curtis plays the American entrant—a character inspired directly by the wonderful Harold Lloyd, complete with spectacles and boundless optimism. When Lloyd was informed that Curtis was “impersonating” him, he remarked with a smile: “I couldn’t think of anyone who could more _ suitably portray a Harold Lloyd of this generation. I have followed the Curtis career with great interest and have always admired the buoyant energy and enthusiasm that comes through in Tony’s screen performances.” Gert Frobe—best known in America, perhaps, as Goldfinger— plays the German entrant, a characterization loosely derived from the screen personality of Fatty Arbuckle and French star Mireille Darc plays a latter-day version of Pearl White. In all, 14 top-notch international performers cavort across the screen in the Paramount Pictures release “Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies,” in TechniCOLOT; eODCNUM Giaics..ss-...cesensere at the Novacsuta nen aarate Theatre. The film was produced and directed by Ken Annakin from a_ screenplay he wrote with Jack Davies. Column Items INTERNATIONAL CAST — Paramount Pictures’ “Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies,’ in Technicolor, which opens ach Meets At thes ....kcees Leatre: boasts an international cast of 14 stars. The film deals with the early days of the famed Monte Carlo Automobile Rally and each of the international performers plays an entrant from a different land. Tony Curtis, bright-eyed and bespectacled, represents the United States. Terry-Thomas, Eric Sykes, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore compete for Great Britain; Gert Frobe and Peer Schmidt for Germany; Nicoletta Machiavelli, Marie Dubois and Mireille Dare for France and Walter Chiari and Lando Buzzanca for Italy. In addition, Susan Hampshire, as an English aristocrat, goes along for the ride, and France’s Bourvil plays the Rally Secretary, in charge of the trophy.