A host of weird and wonderful characters takes part in a 22,000-mile car race from New York to Paris in the early 1900s. The candidates include a dashing hero, a dastardly villain and a suffragette looking to strike a blow for women everywhere. Blake Edwards' comedy, starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk and Natalie Wood.

Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie, convinces turn-of-the-century auto makers that a race from New York to Paris (westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia) will help to promote automobile sales. Leslie's arch-rival, the mustached and black-attired Professor Fate vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a car of Fate's own invention.