Jean-Pierre Sarti (Ferrari) – A Frenchman who has been World Champion twice, is nearing the end of his career and is feeling increasingly cynical about racing itself.
Pete Aron (first Jordan BRM, then Yamura) – An American attempting to repeat past successes and overcome his reputation as a reckless, second-tier driver; he signs with the newcomer Yamura Motors.
Scott Stoddard (Jordan BRM) – A British driver recuperating from a bad crash that left him hospitalized; he becomes dogged by recurrent pains while dealing with the emotional turmoil of his rocky marriage.
Nino Barlini (Ferrari) – A charismatic yet arrogant Italian racer, he's Ferrari's No. 2 driver, being a promising rookie and former world motorcycle champion.
The film's subplots revolve around the women who try to live with or love the racers with dangerous lifestyles. The married Sarti begins an affair with American magazine writer Louise Frederickson, who initially has little interest in motorsports. Aron has a brief romance with Stoddard's unhappy wife Pat while Stoddard deals with living in the shadow of his family's history, being unsure if he can live up to the prestigious racing legacy of his late brother.
The story concludes at the Italian Grand Prix, its winner likely to become World Champion. Sarti's wife Monique shows up just before it begins; she comes face-to-face with Louise and tells Sarti that she'll never grant him a divorce, even as Sarti wishes to end their unhappy union. Sarti's car has technical difficulties at the race's start, with the other drivers facing a close contest for first. Sarti is killed in a spectacular crash. In recognition, his Ferrari teammate, Barlini, is flagged off the course by team leader Manetta, resulting in a tight race between Aron and Stoddard to the finish line, Aron getting the checkered flag. While a jubilant Aron magnanimously invites Stoddard to the winner's platform to join him, the shock of Sarti's death takes its toll on the celebration. The film ends with Aron alone, walking along the circuit of the final racetrack.
Director John Frankenheimer later said when he made the film he had the "choice of making a Grand Hotel type picture or a Test Pilot type picture" and he chose the former.[4] Swedish actress Harriet Andersson was originally cast as the female lead, but was replaced by Eva Marie Saint after the first week of filming.[5]
The making was a race itself as fellow Hollywood icons Steve McQueen and John Sturges planned to make a similar movie exploring the life of racers, with the McQueen/Sturges team initially using the title Day of the Champion.[6]Due to their contract with the German motorsports complex Nürburgring, Frankenheimer had to turn over 27 reels shot there to Sturges.[clarify] Frankenheimer got ahead in schedule terms anyway, however, and McQueen's project ran into a wide variety of problems. His racing film, entitled Le Mans, was released in 1971.
The production team began by using connections to Grand Prix drivers such as Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby and former Grand Prix World Champion Phil Hill, who all assisted them in trying to break through an otherwise reluctant European establishment. The filming process meant disrupting vital practice runs and otherwise getting in the way of the actual racers' activities. The Grand Prix team initially faced a particularly lukewarm response from Ferrari, with the firm concerned that the movie would overly sensationalize their work. Frankenheimer spliced together approximately thirty minutes of detailed footage after filming in Monte Carlo, temporarily halted the movie's production, and sent the short piece over to the company's management. He received such a positive response that he gained unprecedented access, being allowed to shoot inside Ferrari's production floor alongside the real racing vehicles. The director used this budding relationship to push other entities to help with the film-making process. Many real-life drivers of the era ended up making cameo appearances in Grand Prix, several even briefly speaking alongside the actors.[7]
Filming on the streets of Royat, which stood in for Monaco in some scenes; James Garner is driving the following car
The F1 cars in the film are mostly mocked-up Formula Three cars made to look like contemporary Formula One models, although the film also used footage from actual F1 races.[9] Because Yamura Motors is a fictional race team, the producers struck a deal with Bruce McLaren's newly formed McLaren team to have his car, the McLaren M2B, painted with Yamura's colors. The paint scheme used was designed to resemble that used on the contemporary Honda RA272 cars competing during this period. On two occasions, because the McLaren could not take part in these races, another car was painted in the same colours: Bob Bondurant's BRM at Spa, and at Zandvoort for the Dutch GP, the Lotus 25 BRM entered by Reg Parnell for Mike Spence.
Some of the footage was captured by Phil Hill, the 1961 World Champion, who drove a modified camera car in some sessions during the actual 1966Monaco and Belgian Grands Prix.[10] In order to realistically film the racing cars at speed, the camera car used for much of this filming was a Ford GT40,[11][12] a fast and powerful endurance racing car of the same type that dominated races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the last half of the 1960s. This was some of the earliest experimentation with in-car cameras for F1, particularly in terms of first-person shots aimed at putting the audience in the position of the racers.[7]
The actual level of driving ability possessed by the movie's actors varied wildly. Bedford couldn't drive at all and was only ever in the car for close-up type shots, with the production's driving instructor calling the actor's situation "hopeless". Montand and Sabàto faced significant challenges, both of them struggling with even basic skills. Garner, on the other hand, proved competent enough that he trained exclusively with iconic Shelby Cobra driver Bob Bondurant, with the actor's interest in cars growing greatly as a direct result of his involvement in the film. Garner's talents on the road became strong enough that some of the professional drivers, including Bondurant, remarked that the actor could have been a successful Grand Prix driver if he had not gone into making films; in fact, Garner went on to sponsor his own Formula racing team, captured in the 1969 documentary The Racing Scene. His devotion to the part in Grand Prix caused him to do his own stunt in the scene in which a fuel leak in his vehicle sets it on fire.[7] Garner's car was fitted with a higher rollbar and had no seat, since he was too tall to fit in a contemporary F3 car.
The blue and red helmet design that James Garner's character uses is often confused with that of then-Grand Prix race driver Chris Amon from New Zealand; the colours are reversed. Brian Bedford's character’s design was the same as real life 1966 BRM driver Jackie Stewart. As Bedford couldn't drive, this was done so that they could shoot footage of Stewart driving the BRM (with a balaclava over his face to hide that it wasn't Bedford). Sarti's helmet was John Surtees', and Barlini's was Lorenzo Bandini's.
The camera cars used during actual GP races were a Lotus 25 Climax at Monaco and a McLaren M2B Ford at Spa, both driven by 1961 F1 World Champion Phil Hill. A camera was mounted at the front only at Monaco, and an additional one filming the driving wheel was in place at Spa. Aerial shots were filmed from an Alouette III helicopter. These shots were taken so close to the actual roads that the cameraman's shoes became stained with bits of greenery from the tips of nearby trees.[7] Several other camera cars were used during the shooting of staged races, including a modified Ford GT40 and an AC Cobra.
Although making various technological innovations in their filmmaking, numerous difficulties bogged down the movie's production. During filming with wet roads, several cars lost control to the point that one driver broke his shoulder bone and another nearly careened into the upstairs window of a house. The production team often decided to include unplanned accidents caught on film in the final movie, coming back hours later to shoot before-and-after scenes so that things fit in the final cut. For major accidents that were part of the story-line, the crew constructed a special cannon-like device that could fire gutted cars a considerable distance.[7]
Title designer Saul Bass was credited as visual consultant, montages and titles. He made extensive use of multiple split screens.[14][15] During the making of the film, both Frankenheimer and Garner were interviewed by television personalityAlan Whicker for the BBC series Whicker's World.[7]
Upon its 1966 release, New York Times critic Bosley Crowther called the film "a smashing and thundering compilation of racing footage shot superbly at the scenes of the big meets around the circuit, jazzed up with some great photographic trickery ... Mr. Frankenheimer belts you with such a barrage of magnificent shots of the racing cars, seen from every angle and every possible point of intimacy, that you really feel as though you've been in it. The octane pace race editing, interspersed with proper high speed car-to-car camera angles; long drivers' Point-of-View (POV) angles (try to stop your head moving in sync with the turns...); and a revolutionary split-screen device motif, further introducing car racing footage not seen before in modern film. Furthermore, the director and Saul Bass fill that mammoth screen from time to time with these split-screens and montages that made the racing sequences fairly jump with pure octane . Triple and quadruple panels and even screen-filling checkerboards ... hit the viewer with stimulations that optically generate a sort of intoxication with racing. It's razzle-dazzle of a random sort, but it works."[15] However, Crowther concluded "the big trouble with this picture ... is that the characters and their romantic problems are stereotypes and clichés... You come away with the feeling that you've seen virtually everything there is to see in grand-prix racing, except the real guys who drive those killer cars."
Variety called the film "one of those rare pictures that draws its basic strength, excitement and interest-arresting potential through the visual (the pure art of cinema) and if it lacked brilliant virtuosity in the action department it would be just another flimflam."[18] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times called it "the new, definitive, great film about auto racing", adding that after three hours "if one emerged with the feeling that maybe there has been just too much, here is one case in which I can state happily that it is better than too little."[19] Leo Sullivan of The Washington Post wrote, "John Frankenheimer's 'Grand Prix' is brought alive with cinematic innovations and is frequently set ablaze with excitement."[20]Brendan Gill of The New Yorker described the film as "big, brave, eye-bedazzling, earsplitting, and sometimes almost heart-stopping."[21]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "The cars, of course, steal all the thunder, but one is a little disappointed to find the drivers and their private lives so little elevated beyond the level of pulp fiction. Still, as a spectacle Grand Prix is on the whole such a success that the fact it isn't anything more than a spectacle hardly matters."[22]
Forty-five years later, upon its release on Blu-ray Disc, The New York Times reviewed the film again, with Dave Kehr saying in 2011 "considered purely from a technical point of view, the new disc is a beauty, with crisp, richly textured images that do justice to the original 65-millimeter Super Panavision format, and a roaringly dimensional soundtrack ... As a movie, though, Grand Prix was never that grand. First shown as a reserved-seat, road-show attraction in Cinerama theaters, it is little more than a 176-minute version of the roller-coaster ride This Is Cinerama that introduced the format in 1952, a high-speed tour of the principal stops on the Formula One tour, with the spectator, as often as possible, strapped into the driver's seat."[3]
Sir John Young Stewart OBE is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships and twice finishing as runner-up over those nine seasons. He was the only British driver to win three championships until Lewis Hamilton in 2015.
Christopher Arthur Amon was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand Prix. His reputation for bad luck was such that fellow driver Mario Andretti once joked that "if he became an undertaker, people would stop dying". Former Ferrari Technical Director Mauro Forghieri stated that Amon was "by far the best test driver I have ever worked with. He had all the qualities to be a World Champion but bad luck just wouldn't let him be".
The 1959 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Aintree Circuit on 18 July 1959. It was race 5 of 9 in the 1959 World Championship of Drivers and race 4 of 8 in the 1959 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the 14th British Grand Prix and the third to be held at the Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, a circuit mapped out in the grounds of the Aintree Racecourse horse racing venue. The race was held over 75 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 362 kilometres.
The 1966 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Monaco on 22 May 1966. It was race 1 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the first World Championship event of a new era for Formula One, for which engine regulations were altered from 1.5 litres of maximum engine displacement to 3.0 litres. The race was the 24th Monaco Grand Prix.
The 1966 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 12 June 1966. It was race 2 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the 26th Belgian Grand Prix and was held over 28 laps of the 14.1-kilometre circuit for a race distance of 395 kilometres.
The 1966 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 2, 1966, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 8 of 9 in both the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the ninth United States Grand Prix. It was the sixth to be held at Watkins Glen. The race was held over 108 laps of the 3.78-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 408 kilometres.
The 1967 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 7, 1967. It was race 2 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers, albeit four months after Pedro Rodríguez's unexpected victory at Kyalami. The 100-lap race was won by Brabham driver Denny Hulme after he started from fourth position. Graham Hill finished second for the Lotus team and Ferrari driver Chris Amon came in third.
The 1968 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit Mont-Tremblant in St. Jovite, Quebec, Canada on September 22, 1968. It was race 10 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 90-lap race was won by McLaren driver Denny Hulme after starting from sixth position. Hulme's teammate Bruce McLaren finished second and BRM driver Pedro Rodríguez came in third.
The 1968 Formula One season was the 22nd season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 19th FIA World Championship, which commenced on 1 January, and ended on 3 November after twelve races, and numerous non-championship races. Graham Hill won the second of his World Championship titles, with Lotus.
The 1966 Formula One season was the 20th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine-race series that commenced on 22 May and ended on 23 October. The season saw the "return to power" with the introduction of the '3 litre formula', doubling maximum engine capacity from 1.5 litres. Jack Brabham won the World Championship of Drivers and Brabham-Repco was awarded the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers.
Karl Jockum Jonas "Joakim" Bonnier was a Swedish sportscar racing and Formula One driver who raced for various teams. He was the first Swede to both enter and win a Formula One Grand Prix.
Pedro Rodríguez de la Vega was a Mexican racing driver. He began his Formula One career in 1963, won the 1967 South African Grand Prix in a Cooper and the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix in a BRM. He was the older brother of Ricardo Rodríguez.
Lorenzo Bandini was an Italian motor racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Scuderia Centro Sud and Ferrari teams. He had one win in 42 Formula One races, and died from an accident at the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix when his open-wheel Ferrari 312 overturned and caught fire.
Robert L. Bondurant was an American racecar driver who raced for the Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle teams. Bondurant was one of the most famous drivers to emerge from the Southern California road racing scene in the 1950s, and achieved success in North America and in Europe. His Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has been responsible for training generations of American racing drivers.
Brian Herman Thomas Redman is a retired British racing driver.
Richard James David "Dickie" Attwood is a British motor racing driver, from England. During his career he raced for the BRM, Lotus and Cooper Formula One teams. He competed in 17 World Championship Grands Prix, achieved one podium and scored a total of 11 championship points. He was also a successful sports car racing driver and won the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driving a Porsche 917, the first of Porsche's record 19 victories at the famous race.
The McLaren M2B was the McLaren team's first Formula One racing car, used during the 1966 season. It was conceived in 1965 and preceded by the M2A development car. Designed by Robin Herd, the innovative but problematic Mallite material was used in its construction. The car was powered by Ford and Serenissima engines but both lacked power and suffered from reliability issues.
Ecurie Bonnier, Ecurie Suisse, Joakim Bonnier Racing Team and Anglo-Suisse Racing Team were names used by Swedish racing driver Joakim Bonnier to enter his own cars in Formula One, Formula Two and sports car racing between 1957 and his death in 1972. Commonly the vehicles were entered for Bonnier himself, but he also provided cars for a number of other drivers during the period.
Michael Turner is a British illustrator who specialises in motoring and aviation paintings. He is regarded as one of the early examples of such type and is one of the most highly regarded of all. Turner counts racing drivers, teams, sponsors, pilots, motor and aircraft manufacturers, R.A.F. and Army messes, museums and private collections as his client lists and has hosted a number of solo shows all over the world, plus other specialist shows.
Herbert James Russell, better known as Jim Russell, was an English racing driver, garage owner and founder of the Jim Russell Racing Driver School. He died on 30 March 2019, shortly after undergoing an operation for a hip replacement.
↑ Armstrong, Stephen B., ed. (March 22, 2013). John Frankenheimer: Interviews, Essays, and Profiles. Scarecrow Press. p.102. ISBN978-0810890565. The only race shoot that did not occur at a "live" race weekend was the film's French Grand Prix. The real French race in 1966 was held at the flat and featureless Reims circuit, and so Frankenheimer staged a mock race at Clermont-Ferrand, which allowed the luxury of time to fill in many of the story elements and flesh out some of the characters.
↑ "Phil Hill". Motor Sport magazine archive. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
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