More Pie

Prior to the biggest "pie in your face" fight of all time from the The Great Race, an inebreated Crown Prince Friedrich Hapnick of Carpania (Jack Lemmon) was prepared for bed by his valet, 

 

who undressed him out of his royal finery, right down to his union suit and girdle. 

Diplomats, closest to the prince, had grown weary of his poor leadership skills and buffoon acts, certainly not worthy of royalty. Baron Rolfe von Stuppe and General Kuhster snuck into his bedroom, kidnapped him, and had the inebriated Crown Prince summarily thrown into jail, still wearing only his combinaisons.

He soon curled up on a jail cell cot and passed out.

Before long a scantily clad, young maiden (Natalie Wood) was placed into the same cell as the union suited prince. Falling back as the gaurd thrust back the cell door, locking it, she landed on the sleeping prince. Although she screamed quite loudly in protest, her guards ignored her, leaving the unfortunate young lady with an unusual cell mate! 

 

My thanks again to Lemmon's Jalem Productions, Edwards' Patricia Productions and Curtis' Reynard Productions, and distributor Warners Brothers as well as the actors who made this movie entertaining.

Movie Trivia -- Answers to: 

This Pie Fight Takes the Cake!! 

As I reported this past Sunday, Lonestar Mike answered Movie Trivia correctly. All his answers hit the mark perfectly. Lonestar commented:

"Was it The Great Race? I remember it was Jack Lemmon who played as Prince Hoepnick (that's the one in the union suit). Also, he played as Professor Fate. Natalie Wood was the female co-star I believe. I know the movie was released in the mid 60's.... Lonestar Mike."

Great job Lonestar, a terrific union suit fan and blog participant in his own right!

Here's more takes from this fun-filled film. Viewing these will probably make you want to find this film in some streaming service to see why Prince Friedrich Hapnick is running around his French village in faded union suit underwear and lands head first into a giant cake!!

 

 

The 1965 film, The Great Race, was the most expensive comedy movie ever made up to that time. The entire cost was twelve million dollars back then, equivalent to over $100 million in today's dollars. The film was produced by Lemmon's Jalem Productions, Edwards' Patricia Productions and Curtis' Reynard Productions, and distributed by Warners Brothers.

 The most famously epic scene was the pie fight in the royal kitchen. More than 4,000 pies had been prepared, arranged and subsequently thrown. Movie fans had never witnessed such a mess. This pie fight eclipsed the iconic Laurel and Hardy film, the 1927 The Battle of the Century, when a mere 3,000 pies were thrown in the actors' faces!

The cost of making the pies in The Great Race was $18,000 which would be over $150,000 today. This one scene cost $200,000 ($1.5 million today) to make and took five days to film. The pie fight lasted less than five minutes! That makes one wonder how many union suits the prince had to change into to finally complete the scene.

Director Blake Edwards believed the pie throwing scene was critical for the movie which earned five Academy Award Nominations. And, won one for Best Sound Editing. Jack Lemmon played a dual role as Professor Fate and Prince Friedrich Hapnick. He's the one running around the village and castle in his long, button-down underwear. Tony Curtis was The Great Leslie, Peter Falk was Maximillian (Max) and the gorgeous and very talented Natalie Wood played Maggie DuBois. Music was by the great Henry Mancini.

Leslie and Professor Fate play turn of the 20th century race car drivers, taking great chances as they raced from New York to Paris. Other drivers entered the race which totaled seven cars taking part. At least that is how many started out. Due to sabotage, only three continued. This film is two shades beyond silly, drags in places and is out dated. Yet it's still fun to watch these incredibly gifted actors make fools of themselves.

Another Movie Trivia for ya:

This epic pie fight takes the cake!! 

(This one should be easier for you than last months) 

We have a winner already!!

Wha' da ya say??...... 

What's the Movie?

Who's the Actor?

What's the actor's character name?

When was the Movie Released?

Bonus Question: Who was the female co-star?

                                                               Updated February 16, 2025

Union Suit Fans: In less than 40 hours I heard from Lonestar Mike with his answers to "Trivia" as shown in the Comment Section below.  His trivia entry:  

"Was it The Great Race? I remember it was Jack Lemmon who played as Prince Hoepnick (that's the one in the union suit). Also, he played as Professor Fate. Natalie Wood was the female co-star I believe. I know the movie was released in the mid 60's.... Lonestar Mike."

Right you are Lonestar!  You know your movies!  Thanks for participating. Watch in the next day or two for additional takes from 1965's The Great Race, Pie Fight!  

YOU take the cake, pal!!

Movie Trivia Answers from my Posting of January 25th:

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

My good friend and fellow union suit wearer, Cory of Waterville, Maine, was the first to identify the actor and the film.

Police officers, Tubby (Lou Costelllo) and Slim (Bud Abbott) travel from America to London, England in this 1953 Universal Studios comedy which also stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Jekyll. When the straight man and his bungling sidekick meet up with the "good" doctor at his mansion, they are invited to spend the night in his guest room. Tubby is not so certain he wants to stay. In fact, he had run to the front door to attempt an escape earlier in the evening. 

 

Something just didn't feel right. 

 

But, Slim told him everything was fine and that they should get to sleep in the fine accomodations so kindly offered by Dr. Jekyll.

 

So, Slim undressesd, slipped into bed and fell fast asleep, placing his bowler across his face. 

But Tubby wasn't convinced. No, something was amiss. 

 

Tubby sitting on the edge of the bed couldn't begin to sleep.

 

 

Not being able to stand it any longer, he decided to investigate and 

quietly crept out of the bedroom while Slim snored on: 

 

Nothing to see here...  

 

What is that creepy feeling?  

 

OMG, a monster?!  

 

Hearing the commotion, Slim wakes up from a deep sleep, jumping out of bed

 in his union suit in which he had been slumbering... 

Slim reaches for his pants. He couldn't go running around the mansion in his long underwear!

 

What in the world is going on, he wonders?  Better go find out.

 

Find this fun, light entertaining film on any number of streaming service. 

Watch it after dark and see yet another famous actor in his union suit!

Thanks to all of you who participated in the latest Union Suit Fan Movie Trivia. Kudos to Cory for being the first to play and identify actor and film. 

Coming soon to Union Suit Fans in the Limelight: 

Strangled by his Union Suit?!?!