Grand Prix (1966)

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Robert Alan Aurthur (screenplay)
Robert Alan Aurthur (story)

Release Date:

21 December 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

American Grand Prix driver Pete Aron is fired by his Jordan-BRM racing team after a crash at Monaco that injures his British teammate...

Plot Keywords:

Race | Automobile Racing | Formula 1 | Ford Mustang | Monte Carlo Rally

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 4 nominations

Cast

James Garner	...	Pete Aron
Eva Marie Saint	...	Louise Frederickson
Yves Montand	...	Jean-Pierre Sarti
Toshirô Mifune	...	Izo Yamura
Brian Bedford	...	Scott Stoddard
Jessica Walter	...	Pat Stoddard
Antonio Sabato	...	Nino Barlini
Françoise Hardy	...	Lisa
Adolfo Celi	...	Agostini Manetta
Claude Dauphin	...	Hugo Simon
Enzo Fiermonte	...	Guido
Geneviève Page	...	Monique Delvaux-Sarti
Jack Watson	...	Jeff Jordan
Donald O'Brien	...	Wallace Bennett (as Donal O'Brien)
Jean Michaud	...	Children's father

Runtime:

179 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Italian | Portuguese

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Brands Hatch racing track, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Cherokee Productions

Trivia:

The cars had to be fitted with spark plug radio noise suppression kits similar to the ones used on passenger cars because otherwise the static produced by their engine electrics interfered with the radio-controlled camera mounts on the cars.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Brands Hatch race, Phil Hill and Yamura are watching the action on track from the pit lane. They face the part of the circuit behind the pit lane. Pete Aron's car has developed a fault and Phil Hill shouts, noticing that Aron's car is leaking fuel. The cars continue around the circuit and come onto the pit-straight. Aron's car is now on fire. Phil Hill now proclaims 'it's on fire!' but he is still in the viewpoint that he was before, meaning that he would've been looking in completely the wrong direction and would not have seen the flaming car from that precise point.

Quotes:

[Addressing Pete Aron at the Ferrari factory]
Agostini Manetta: What means far more to me than anything else is: our good name! Our reputation represents desire for perfection of the highest quality. I gamble that reputation gladly, because I have *absolute* faith in every car that leaves this factory. But I will not risk it on a driver in whom I cannot have an equal faith. There are fewer than thirty men in the world qualified to drive Formula One; a mere half-dozen, perhaps, to win. At this moment, I am inclined to think you are not one of them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Flat Out: Formula One in the Sixties (2006) (V)

a period piece-- but of a great period

It's hard to rate this film. Its got a soap opera plot pasted on to some really fine cinematography, editing, music and racing sequences. The real stars of this film are the cars, the beautiful F1 'cigar' cars of the 60's with their exposed engines and elegant lines. Within a handful of years aerodynamics and advertising would change the look of racing forever. Even the plot hints at the change taking place at the time-- from the gentlemen's league of the 50's to the ravenously commercial and brutally competitive environment that Formula 1 was to become. Frankenheimer followed the tour through a season, to the storied old tracks such as Nurburgring, Spa and Monza (before safety and television considerations changed them to much shorter, less idiosyncratic shadows of their former selves). There are cameos by Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Jim Clark and Lorenzo Bandini, names tinged with tragedy in retrospect. Technically this film is quite an achievement. Many of its developments, however, did not really take, such a multiple images, and the splicing of soft music to intense action scenes. The film, then, is not one of great importance in movie history. But there are a lot of racing fans who hold a special, if not top, place for Grand Prix in their lists of favourite films.