Main Cast: Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds, Jack Oakie, Kay Medford, Don Rickles
Release Year: 1960
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
Plot
A somewhat uneven but still entertaining comedy-drama, The Rat Race, by director Robert Mulligan, co-stars Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds as Peter Hammond, Jr. and Peggy Brown, two performers who meet in New York and are thrown together by their mutual poverty. Peter arrives on a bus from the Midwest with his sax in hand and high hopes for a career. He gets a one-room walk-up and then meets Peggy, a dancer down on her luck who needs a place to stay. Ever the gentleman, Peter offers her space in his apartment and they string up a modesty curtain to divide their separate domains. But luck is not kind to Peter, right from the beginning. Some pranksters hose him down with cold water on his first trip into the city and he later gets his precious saxophone stolen by a trio of devious musicians/thieves. Peggy offers companionship in the face of difficulties, and before long the platonic relationship has distinct romantic overtones. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
The Rat Race is an uneven and not totally satisfying film, but it's also enough "off the beaten path" to be of interest. Manhattan has been the idealized setting of many a film, but Rat is one of the earlier examples of a subgenre in which "the City" is indifferent at best and downright evil at worst, and that gives Rat a tang and a flavor that many will find surprising. It's also refreshing to see a film in which the two leads don't either immediately fall for each other or hate each other (until they thaw and come to realize they're really in love), but instead find each other kind of. . .okay. . .and then let the relationship build from there. Unfortunately, writer Garson Kanin takes these good set-ups and stumbles with them; he doesn't find the right tone, doesn't get the pay-offs that are needed. Robert Mulligan's sensitive direction plays it straight, which is good for finding some nice nuances but which doesn't solve the unevenness inherent in the material. And it must be admitted that, as engaging as the stars are, neither Debbie Reynolds nor Tony Curtis is 100% right for her/his part. Reynolds tries very hard but can't ever quite lose all of the movie star sheen; it doesn't prove fatal, but it does keep one slightly removed. And Curtis just isn't believable as an innocent kid from the country; his innate worldliness (and New York accent) keep coming through. But there's marvelous work from Kay Medford, Jack Oakie and a scummy Don Rickles to help matters. Not a solid winner, but an interesting and worthwhile "almost." ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Wishing to pursue a career as a jazz saxophonist, Pete Hammond Jr. (Curtis) takes a bus from his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to New York City and optimistically begins looking for work. However, jobs are extremely hard to find, and Pete's instruments are stolen by a group of obscure musicians who pretend to be a famous band and stage a fake audition for him. Meanwhile, he crosses paths with Peggy Brown (Reynolds), a model and dancer who has become jaded and cynical after years of struggling to survive in the city. When Pete discovers that she has just been evicted from his newly rented apartment, and that she is penniless and has no home to return to, he offers to let her stay with him until she finds a new home. Without a job, she is forced to rely on his generosity, and over time, as the two of them work at various low-paying jobs, they stay together in the apartment as friends. When Pete finds work on a cruise ship, he writes to Peggy every day, and when a loan shark threatens her with violence, Pete gives him his watch and saxophones. The film ends as Pete tells Peggy he loves her, she agrees to tentatively begin a romantic relationship, and they kiss affectionately.
