Grand Prix is an action film released in 1966. It was directed by John Frankenheimer with music by Maurice Jarre. It starred James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford and Antonio Sabato. Toshirô Mifune has a supporting role as a race team owner, inspired from 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. There also were Richie Ginther and Bruce McLaren.

Although not a big commercial success, Grand Prix did win 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 & HD DVD on July 11, 2006.

Plot summary

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, who is nearing the end of his career.
• Pete Aron (played by Garner) - an American, who is on the come-back trail.
• Scott Stoddard (played by Bedford) - a Scotsman, recuperating from an almost fatal crash, and trying to emulate the success of his older brother.
• Nino Barlini (played by Sabato) - an Italian, who is a promising rookie.

There are also two more fictional Formula One drivers:

• Tim Randolph (played by Phil Hill)
• Bob Turner (played by Graham Hill)

Sub-plots revolve around the women who try to live with these men with such dangerous life-styles.

Production

The making was a race itself, as John Sturges and Steve McQueen planned to make a similar movie titled Day of the Champion. 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 1.

The level of driving ability of the stars 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.

Adaptation of real racing events

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

• Yamura cars are based on the Honda Formula One operation, and Aron gives them their first win - American Richie Ginther had given Honda their first Grand Prix victory in 1965.
• Aron's crash into the Monaco harbour was most likely inspired by the accidents of Alberto Ascari in the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix and Paul Hawkins' in the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix.
• Nino Barlini is based on Lorenzo Bandini, a similarly passionate and competitive Italian, killed at the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix in a fire.
• The withdrawal of the Ferrari cars following Sarti's death was inspired by a tradition previously displayed by Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz (1955 Le Mans disaster), amongst others.

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

References

External links

• James Garner Interview on the Charlie Rose Show
• James Garner interview at Archive of American Television - (c/o Google Video) - March 17, 1999