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Grand Prix (1966 film)

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Grand Prix
Original film poster by Howard Terpning
Directed byJohn Frankenheimer
Written byRobert Alan Aurthur
Produced byEdward Lewis
StarringJames Garner
Eva Marie Saint
Yves Montand
Toshirô Mifune
Edited byHenry Berman
Stewart Linder
Frank Santillo
Fredric Steinkamp (supervising)
Music byMaurice Jarre
Production
company
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • December 21, 1966 (1966-12-21)
Running time
179 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish

Grand Prix is a 1966 American action film with an international cast. It was directed by John Frankenheimer with music by Maurice Jarre and stars James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, and Antonio Sabato. Toshirô Mifune has a supporting role as a race team owner, inspired by Soichiro Honda. It was photographed in Super Panavision 70 by Lionel Lindon, and presented in 70 mm Cinerama in premiere engagements.

The unique racing cinematography is one of the main draws of the film. Racing fans also enjoy the real-life racing footage and the appearances by real drivers. These included walk-ons (some uncredited) of F1 World Champions Phil Hill, Graham Hill, Juan-Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt and Jack Brabham. Other drivers who appeared in the film include Richie Ginther, Jo Bonnier and Bruce McLaren.[1]

One of the ten highest grossing films of 1966, Grand Prix also won Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects, Best Film Editing and Best Sound in 1967 and gained cult status among racing fans. The film was released on DVD and HD DVD on July 11, 2006.

Plot

The film follows the fate of four Formula One drivers through a fictionalised version of the 1966 Formula One season:

  • Jean-Pierre Sarti (played by Montand) -- a Frenchman, previously twice world champion, nearing the end of his career.
  • Pete Aron (played by Garner) -- an American, who is on the comeback trail.
  • Scott Stoddard (played by Bedford) - a Scotsman, recuperating from a crash.
  • Nino Barlini (played by Sabato) - an Italian, a promising rookie also a former world motorcycle champion.

Sub-plots revolve around the women who try to live with or love men with dangerous lifestyles.

Cast

Non-actors appearing include Broadcaster Raymond Baxter, who interviews Nino Barlini after he wins the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.

Production

The making was a race itself, as John Sturges and Steve McQueen planned to make a similar movie titled Day of the Champion.[2] Due to their contract with the German Nürburgring, Frankenheimer had to turn over 27 reels shot there to Sturges. Frankenheimer was ahead in schedule anyway, and the McQueen/Sturges project was called off, while the German race track was only mentioned briefly in Grand Prix.

The F1 cars in the movie are mostly mocked-up Formula 3 cars made to look like contemporary F1 models, although the film also used footage from actual F1 races. Some of this was captured by Phil Hill, the 1961 World Champion, who drove modified camera cars in some sessions during the 1966 Monaco and Belgian Grands Prix. This was some of the earliest experimentation with in-car cameras for Formula One.

The level of driving ability of the actors varied wildly - Bedford couldn't drive at all, Sabato was very slow and nervous, Montand himself scared very easily early in filming and was often towed rather than driving the car, but Garner was highly competent and took up racing and entering cars as a result of his involvement in the film.

Circuits featured include; Circuit de Monaco (Monaco), Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), Circuit Park Zandvoort (Netherlands), Watkins Glen International (USA), Brands Hatch (United Kingdom), and Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Italy).

The camera car used was a Ford GT40 driven by Phil Hill, the car having cameras mounted at the front and rear of the car, front and rear body panels of the car being removed as necessary. The GT40 was used as, being a Le Mans car, it was one of the few cars that could keep up with the 180mph-plus of the cars featured. Aerial shots at Monaco were filmed from an Alouette III helicopter.

During the making of the film both Frankenheimer and Garner were interviewed by Alan Whicker for the BBC television series Whicker's World.

Adaptation of real racing events

There are many incidents within the film that were inspired by real events in motorsport:

See also

References

  1. ^ Grand Prix (1966) - Full cast and crew
  2. ^ My Husband, My Friend, Neile McQueen Toffel, A Signet Book, 1986
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