Downhill Racer (1969)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Michael Ritchie

Writers:

Oakley Hall (novel)
James Salter (writer)

Release Date:

2 February 1970 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Tagline:

How fast must a man go to get from where he's at?

Plot:

Quietly cocky Robert Redford joins U.S. ski team as downhill racer and clashes with the team's coach, played by Gene Hackman. Lots of good skiing action leading to an exciting climax.

Plot Keywords:

Skiing | Downhill Racer | Ski Race | Character Study | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Robert Redford	...	David Chappellet
Gene Hackman	...	Eugene Claire
Camilla Sparv	...	Carole Stahl
Joe Jay Jalbert	...	Tommy Erb
Tom J. Kirk	...	Stiles
Dabney Coleman	...	Mayo
Jim McMullan	...	Johnny Creech
Oren Stevens	...	Tony Kinsmith
Karl Michael Vogler	...	Machet
Rip McManus	...	Bruce Devore
Jerry Dexter	...	Ron Engel
Kenneth Kirk	...	D. K. Bryan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arnold Alpiger	...	Hinsch
Jack Ballard	...	Candy Vendor
Robert Brendlin	...	Announcer
Carole Carle	...	Lena
Kathleen Crowley	...	American Newspaper Woman
Harald Dietl	...	Journalist
Christian Doerman	...	Brumm
Michael Gempart	...	Hotel Receptionist
Rudi Gertsch	...	Selznick
Walter Gnilka	...	Austrian Journalist
Werner Heyking	...	Helgerson
Robin Hutton-Potts	...	Gabriel
Noam Pitlik	...	T.V. Announcer
Peter Rohr	...	Boyriven
James Sandoe	...	Spectator
Harald Schreiber	...	Oliviera
Heini Schuler	...	Meier
Alexander Stampfer	...	Skier No. 16
Walter Stroud	...	Mr. Chappellet
Ulrike von Zerboni	...	Jeanine
Eddie Waldburger	...	Haas
Marco Walli	...	Istel

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | Norway:12 | Sweden:11 | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Boulder, Colorado, USA

Company:

Wildwood

Trivia:

This was going to be Roman Polanski's first American film. Robert Evans of Paramount needed someone to direct Rosemary's Baby (1968) so Polanski was given that project due to the nature of some of his recent films. Robert Redford was also considered for the male lead in that film.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the challenge race between Johnny and Dave (when Johnny crashes) the two skiers first have a pair of red and black skis, but the next shot farther on down the course they both have red skis.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Morgan Stewart's Coming Home (1987)

Success

This is not your typical sports film, which I think accounts for some of the negative reactions from viewers who expected a rah-rah, underdog-coming-from-behind-to-win tale. It's a dark and ironic story.

Essentially, the movie is a meditation on the "bitch-goddess Success." Redford plays an unlikable character: an overgrown child with no interest in any person or thing other than himself; a taciturn athlete who probably deserves to be called "inarticulate," though it's hard to say, as he clearly has no thoughts to articulate anyway. The dark irony of the film is that he *wins* ... and does so rather more because of, rather than in spite of, his failures as a human being.

As Francis Bacon wrote (400 years ago): "Young men worship the 'bitch-goddess success.' We spend most all of our life pursuing her and only a few succeed in catching her. This goddess demands exclusive worship, and thus, other life pursuits are often left, much to our regret in later life. So, too, this exclusive pursuit can leave us morally flabby."

The movie is also interesting as a reasonably-accurate depiction of the top level of ski racing as it existed in the late '60s. (Incidentally, he's not a professional -- ski racing and, more importantly, the Olympics were amateur at the time; and the event is Downhill (as in the title), not Super-G, which didn't even exist until 20 years later).