Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969)

“What is this ‘Monty’ – some kind of a race?” — Chester Schofield

At eight words, the title of this film is a mouthful. Combined with animated illustrations by famed British cartoonist Ronald Searle, it speaks beautifully to the chaos of director Ken Annakin’s breakneck adventure to Monte Carlo.

In the 50s and 60s, as the American automobile industry pushed ever forward, race films surged through Hollywood and forced their way into the British and European landscape. Joining other race films of the day like Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), The Great Race (1965), and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), all of which feature lively illustrated title sequences, the British/French/Italian-made and American-imported Jaunty Jalopies was set in motion in madcap fashion. The opening sequence illustrated by Ronald Searle presents a zany journey of grand proportions, featuring wild country and colourful characters. It also literally turns scenes on their head, impressing upon viewers the image of the great wheel, ever turning.

The slapstick comedy features some of the usual suspects of the era: Tony Curtis, Susan Hampshire, Dudley Moore, and Peter Cook. The film’s backbone is the Monte Carlo Rally, an event which began in 1911 as sport and as means of demonstrating automotive innovation. It’s a historic race…

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from Art of the Title http://ift.tt/1GDXxAi