"THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES" (1969) Review

"THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES" (1969) Review

Back in 1965, filmmaker Ken Annakin and 20th Century Fox studio chief released a all-star comedy about an international air race between London and Paris in 1910. "THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES" not only proved to be a major hit, it also received numerous movie award nominations in both the United States and Great Britain. Four years later, Ken Annakin created a sequel to the 1965 movie called "THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES" (aka "MONTE CARLO OR BUST"). 

"THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES" told the story about a group of international racing car drivers who participate in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1929. Superficially, one would not view this movie as a sequel to "FLYING MACHINES", since it is about a road race, not an air race. But the movie was made by the same producer/writer/director as the first film, Ken Annakin. It possessed its own jaunty theme song - "Monte Carlo or Bust", which was performed by Jimmy Durante. The movie also featured three actors from the 1965 movie - Terry-Thomas, Eric Sykes and Gert Fröbe. More importantly, Thomas' character, Sir Cuthbert Ware-Armitage, proved to be the son of Thomas' character from "FLYING MACHINES", namely Sir Percival Cuthbert Ware-Armitage. In fact, Sir Cuthbert's reason for participating in the Monte Carlo Rally stemmed from a mistake committed by his late father. So, yes . . . "JAUNTY JALOPIES" is a sequel to the 1965 film.

The Monte Carlo Rally began as an endurance test for many drivers and the vehicles they drove. The competitors would set off from different locations in Europe and meet in Monaco. The day after the competitors reach Monte Carlo, they would end up racing each other via a road that threads through the Maritime Alps and back to Monte Carlo and the finish line. Although "JAUNTY JALOPIES" indicated that the race began at five different European locations, the movie featured competitors starting at three:

*From John O'Groats, Scotland - Wealthy American automobile magnate Chester Scofield won half of the Ware-Armitages' automobile factory in a poker game with Sir Percival Armitage-Ware. Following the latter's death, his son Sir Cuthbert challenges Chester to enter the Monte Carlo Rally. Whoever crosses the finish line first - officially - wins as sole owner of the company. Sir Cuthbert blackmails his company foreman Perkins into serving as his co-driver. And Chester, who began the race alone, acquires a co-driver in the form of an English aristocratic beauty named Betty (surname unknown). 

*From Stockholm, Sweden - Eccentric British Army officer Major Digby Dawlish and his aide Lieutenant Kit Barrington enter the Rally to advertise Dawlish's odd inventions for his car. Both end up clashing with a German convict/race driver Willi Schickel (who is impersonating a murdered driver named Horst Mueller and his co-driver Otto Schwartz, who have entered the Rally to smuggle stolen gems for an exiled Russian aristocrat named Count Levinovitch.

*From Ragusa, Italy - Two Roman police officers named Angelo Pincelli and Marcello Agosti enter the Rally to earn a big enough reward for Angelo to avoid marrying the promised daughter of a supervisor. Their biggest competitor proved to be a French doctor named Marie-Claude and her two co-drivers, medical students Pascale and Dominique; who enter the Rally in the name of Women's Rights.

While reading a few articles about "THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES", I noticed that many bloggers and critics tend to compare this film with the 1965 movie . . . and to the former's detriment. Many regard "THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THE FLYING MACHINES" as superior to "JAUNTY JALOPIES", regardless of whether they liked the latter or not. I recall one major criticism that film critic Leonard Maltin made about "JAUNTY JALOPIES". He claimed that the 1969 movie failed to completely re-capture the atmosphere of the late 1920s in the way "FLYING MACHINES" managed to re-capture the late Edwardian era. And I am afraid he is right. Despite the mid-1960s beehive hairdos worn by the actresses, watching "FLYING MACHINES" made me feel as if I had stepped back into those last years before the outbreak of World War I. On the other hand, "JAUNTY JALOPIES" did not exactly re-capture the atmosphere of the late 1920s. Mind you, Production Designer Ted Haworth and Costume Designer John Furniss gave it their all. Their work certainly contributed to the movie's late 1920s setting. But in spite of their work, the movie still failed to fully re-capture the era of its setting. One person I cannot help but blame is composer Ron Goodwin. Although Goodwin had wrote an entertaining score that emphasized the movie's comedy and sense of travel, it failed to invoke a sense of the Roaring Twenties - at least in Europe. And unlike "FLYING MACHINES", which featured several scenes in which the competitors and other characters managed to socialize; "JAUNTY JALOPIES" only featured one scene that featured all of the competitors together. I am referring to the scene in which the competitors meet at an inn in Chambéry, France for an overnight stay, before they set on the road to Monaco. "THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES" also had one or two scenes that seemed to have been cut rather quick by the film's editor, Peter Taylor. I got the feeling both Ken Annakin and Taylor were trying to rush the movie's narrative along - especially before the last sequence of the race. And although I liked the movie's pre-credit sequence that introduced the Digby Dawlish and Kit Carrington characters in British Indians, I found the sequence's portrayal of Indians a little tacky and racist . . . even if it was spoofing British Imperialism and characters like Dawlish and Carrington.

But despite the movie's naysayers and some of its flaws, I liked "THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES". Actually, it is one of my favorite movies released in the 1960s. And I also like it more than "THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES", of which I am a big fan. One, it has the advantage of being a movie about a road trip. In the case of "JAUNTY JALOPIES", it starts out as three road trips that merge into one. The humor featured in this film is very similar to the humor featured in "FLYING MACHINES". Another reason why it enabled me endure it a lot more is that the major characters struck me as more rounded and complex than most of those featured in the 1965 film. A good comparison would be the characters portrayed by Gert Frobe in both films. His Colonel Manfred Von Holstein character from "FLYING MACHINES" has always struck me as the cliché of a typical high-ranking German Army officer and a very narrow one. On the other hand, Frobe portrayed a former German race driver-turned-criminal in "JAUNTY JALOPIES" named Willi Schickel, who seemed a lot more complex (and clever) than the one-dimensional character he had portrayed in "FLYING MACHINES". Even Eric Sykes' role as Terry-Thomas' subordinate and plant manager in this film struck me as an improvement over the sniveling chauffeur he portrayed in the 1965 film. "JAUNTY JALOPIES" also benefited from better on-screen romances. Hell, the romances featured in this film - either between Chester and Betty, or Marcello and Marie-Claude - were MAJOR improvements over the romances from the first movie. 

In my opinion, the biggest virtue that "THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES" possessed over "THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES" proved to be its narrative. If I must be frank, the second film possessed tighter writing. To this day, I remain frustrated that the air race featured in the 1965 film only lasted during its last 45 minutes - one third of the film. Due to Ken Annakin and Jack Davies' screenplay and the movie's setting, the Monte Carlo Rally was featured in MOST of the film's narrative - aside from the first 15 to 20 minutes that introduced the major characters and the sequence in Chambéry. Not only did I find this to be a big improvement over the 1965 film's narrative, I am grateful that most of "JAUNTY JALOPIES" is set during the actual race. And I am surprised that not one other blogger or film critic has ever noticed this.

I tried to recall if I found any particular performance off putting. And if I must be honest, I did not. "THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES" featured some funny and excellent performances. Tony Curtis was very charming, yet zany as American driver Chester Scofield. I liked how he balanced Chester's aggressive ambition with a shy sweetness toward his leading lady. Speaking of her, I really enjoyed Susan Hampshire's portrayal of the complex and aristocratic Betty. In fact, due to her charming and manipulative nature, I found her to be the most interesting female character in both movies. One would expect Terry-Thomas' portrayal of Sir Cuthbert Armitage-Ware to be an exact replica of the character's father, the mustache-twirling Sir Percival. Yet, I found his Sir Cuthbert to be more subtle and manipulative than his father . . . and better company, despite his villainy. Eric Sykes, who also appeared in the 1965 film, got a chance to portray a more rounded character as Perkins, Sir Cuthbert's semi-brave factory manager, who ends up being blackmailed by his employer to serve as a co-driver.

What I found interesting about "THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES" were the screen pairings that seem to dominate the film. And they all clicked so well. Gert Frobe's portrayal of the extroverted Willi Schickel contrasted very well with Peter Schmidt, who gave a nice performance as the former's reserved and slightly nervous co-driver and fellow convict, Otto Schwartz. Among the movie's cast were Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, who portrayed the two British officers, Major Dawlish and Lieutenant Kit Barrington. Cook and Moore were already a screen team when they made this movie. And both proved in this movie that their chemistry was as strong and funny as ever. Mireille Darc, Marie Dubois and Nicoletta Machiavelli made a charming and intelligent trio as the three French drivers who entered the Rally on behalf of women's rights. But I was very surprised by the chemistry between Walter Chiari and Lando Buzzanca, who portrayed the two Italian policemen, Angelo Pincilli and Marcelo Agosti. Not only did they proved to be a very effective screen team, I found them just as funny as Cook and Moore. I should not have been surprised, considering that they had worked together before. Bourvil portrayed the pompous, yet sarcastic Rally official, Monsieur Dupont. And I found him especially funny in a scene with Mireille Darc, as her character convinces him to allow women to participate in the Rally and in that bizarre, yet hilarious scene at the Rally's finish line.

As I had stated earlier, there are many who regard "THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES" as not only inferior to 1965's "THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES", but something of a loss in the end. However, I am not one of them. It has its flaws. But there are too many aspects of the 1969 film that struck me as an improvement over the 1965 film. More importantly, I found "JAUNTY JALOPIES" so entertaining that it has become one of my favorite comedies . . . and movies that was released during the 1960s. I have to thank writer-director Ken Annakin, along with the all-star cast led by Tony Curtis, Susan Hampshire and Terry-Thomas for making this movie so entertaining for me.