The Great Race won the film an Oscar. In his Top 10 Favorite Comedies video, Doug Walker cited Jack Lemmon's performance as Professor Fate as a major influence for his "Nostalgia Critic" internet persona. The Great Race The Great Race is a 1965 American Technicolor slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, and with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. The supporting cast includes Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn, Arthur O'Connell and Vivian Vance. The movie cost US$12 million (equivalent to $ million in ),
The Wackiest Ship in the Army (film) ship and the Army, puzzling some viewers. (The later TV series spelled out the link.) The director and writer of the film was Richard Murphy, who had written the script for the 1951 film "You're in the Navy Now". The film was originally developed for Ernie Kovacs in the lead role, with Lemmon as the ensign. But at production time Kovacs was unavailable, and Lemmon was considered too old-looking for an ensign. So Lemmon got the lead role and popular actor/singer Ricky Nelson the supporting role. Though acquired before "Operation Petticoat", this film was not released until after that film.