The Rat Race (1960) DVD-R

Starring Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds, Jack Oakie, Kay Medford, Don Rickles
Directed by Robert Mulligan

Print: color
Runtime: 105 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

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.