Despite all the acting talent here (Glenn Ford, Ricardo Montalban, Hope Lange, Charles Boyer, Telly Savales), this film just doesn't come across well. For one thing, casting the self-confident and charming Ricardo Montalban as a clumsy, impoverished duke was all too wrong, there's no way you could believe he couldn't play polo or was not an accomplished horseback rider. He's just too sophisticated to be unsophisticated. The same goes for casting Telly Savales, more known for playing tough guys, as the rather quiet, softspoken uncle/guardian.
But more of a mistake was trying to make a romantic couple out of Glenn Ford (former racecar driver John Lathrop Davis) and Hope Lange (spoiled, willful heiress Millie Mehaffey). They have no chemistry whatsoever, so both their arguments and their love scenes fell flat. And are we really supposed to believe that Millie, who plans to race in the Grand Prix and admires all the former winners, didn't know who John was right away? I don't think so!
A much better couple (with the right chemistry, too) was Ricardo Montalban and Ulla Jacobsson; as Gaspard and Janine. I wish the story had been focused on them. It would have been a much better movie.
But more of a mistake was trying to make a romantic couple out of Glenn Ford (former racecar driver John Lathrop Davis) and Hope Lange (spoiled, willful heiress Millie Mehaffey). They have no chemistry whatsoever, so both their arguments and their love scenes fell flat. And are we really supposed to believe that Millie, who plans to race in the Grand Prix and admires all the former winners, didn't know who John was right away? I don't think so!
A much better couple (with the right chemistry, too) was Ricardo Montalban and Ulla Jacobsson; as Gaspard and Janine. I wish the story had been focused on them. It would have been a much better movie.