The documentary is split into four sections: "The Men", "The Machine", "The Spectator" and "The Race". "The Men" is about the motivation and characteristics needed to participate in races. "The Machine" covers the speed needed to service a car during a race, and the history of the automobile. "The Spectator" examines the experiences of a regular spectator, the wives while their husbands are racing, and Newman going from spectator to racer. "The Race" starts with the human nature of the sport, and ends with conversations with champions and the competitions they aim to win.
The project was produced by Winters/Rosen. Initially, Newman turned it down because he didn't want to do television, but he accepted once Winters explained his vision. It then became a passion project for Newman, and it marked his first time starring in a television project. Though the film was aired on television in the United States, Newman suggested to Winters to add some footage and release it theatrically internationally.
Upon its release, the film generally received good reviews for its directing, pace, photography, music, and human interest stories.
Summary
The film is divided into four segments: "The Men", "The Machine", "The Spectator" and "The Race".
After covering the champions, Newman talks about racers who never win but always come back to race. Racer Butch Sheer, for example, works in junkyard, has a wife and children, races every weekend in order to fulfill his dream of being in the upper echelons of racing.
In the second part, "The Machine", Newman explains the necessity of speed in the service pit during a race, explaining that even a minute can be too long in certain circumstances.
Newman continues the segment with the history of the automobile, comparing modern cars with those from the early days, and he points to the subsequent generation that had the bug to drive. Despite sometimes being an object of mockery in cinema, automobiles moved to mass production, and many people wanted to modify them for racing. The segment ends with presenting the land speed record from the oldest to the newest.
Newman talks with wives of the racers, who tell about the anxieties they face when their husbands are racing at such high speeds.
The final segment, "The Race", begins with Newman talking about the human nature behind the concept race. He then explains that competitiveness starts very young, and that car racing often starts with kids at the soapbox derby. Interviews with racing champions convey the emotions they go through while racing and pursuing the championships.
Production
Paul Newman during the shoot of Once Upon a Wheel
The documentary, hosted and narrated by Paul Newman, was made by the production house Winters/Rosen, with David Winters directing and producing.[1]
Winters explained that the project came about when his production company Winters/Rosen had financial difficulties, and if the company didn't come up with $100,000, it would go bankrupt. At the time, Winters had been invited to a celebrity race car event that Newman, with whom he had a friendship, was also attending. Winters suggested the idea of making a racing special to his partner Burt Rosen, to which Rosen replied that if he had Paul Newman's name on it, he could pitch it to Coca-Cola as a sponsor. With footage that Winters shot at the event, he got Newman's name on a release form for that specific event. To much of his frustration, Rosen went on to pitch the project with Newman as the star, not a cameo. So it was left to Winters to convince Newman, who had publicly stated prior disinterest in television. A meeting was organized, but Newman initially turned down the project because it was for TV. Winters, who studied car racing, decided to give Newman the book he used, which Newman read and adored. This allowed Winters to detail how the project was envisioned, and Newman accepted.[2] One of the arguments that helped to convince Newman to take part in the project, was explaining that it "wouldn't be just shots of cars zooming around the tracks."[3]
The project marked Newman's return to television after a decade-long absence,[4] and his first time as the host of a program.[5] Newman, a race car enthusiast, said, "The show gives me a chance to get close to a sport I'm crazy about, I love to test a car on my own, to see what I can do, but racing with 25 other guys is a whole different thing. There are so many variables, the skill demanded is tremendous."[6] Racecar driver Bob Bondurant, Newman's instructor who appears in the film,[7] explained that Once Upon a Wheel was a passion project for Newman "because he wanted to learn how to drive", and that he refused projects that would have paid him a much larger salary.[8] The race tracks locations used were in California, Ohio, North Carolina, Indiana, Florida, Canada, Mexico, Austria, Germany, and Italy.[1]
Winters also explained that Coca-Cola wanted to do a giant ad campaign with Newman, which Rosen accepted without his or Newman's knowledge. So he had to explain this to Newman, who collaborated without making a fuss.[2] Newman appeared in magazine ads wearing a Coke racing jacket. Viewers could order special collectibles related to the show: 8-track cartridges or cassette tapes of music from the show, a cooler that held Cokes and ice, a jacket similar to Newman's and racing jacket style patches.[citation needed]
Reception
Ben Gross of the Daily News said that the documentary "provided action plus human interest", and that it delivered, presenting the "excitement, glamor, glowing exhilaration and dark despondency" of the race car world. He felt that the most interesting aspects were related to the human elements, such as "the personal lives, the hopes, the triumphs, and disappointment of the pro drivers".[10]
In her Pottsville Republican review, Cynthia Lowry called it a "successful effort". She noticed the use of slow motion to show the franticness of changing a tire mid-race, and the way they edited the shots of cars crashing to look like a ballet. At times she found the music obstructive, but overall the documentary held her attention.[11]
In his syndicated review published in The Miami Herald, Jack Anderson, who didn't like the sport of car racing, expressed a better understanding of it. He praised the photography, the locations and the various studies it presents. He said that "auto racing can be exciting, and Newman and the ABC cameraman conveyed this excitement very well".[12]
Harry Harris of The Philadelphia Inquirer found it to be fast-moving but haphazard. His overall consensus was that it is "absorbing and exciting even for non fastness fan".[13]
Jerry Bishop of the Longview Daily News despised it. He felt it was racing trivia mixed with messy editing, instead of the spectacle promised with the story of car racing. He said "it was incomplete, inaccurate and inconclusive".[14]
Jerry Coffey, in his Fort Worth Star-Telegram review, found it too random and superficial, but praised the photography and music.[15]
Tom Hopkins of Dayton Daily News opined that the show started slowly, and that the segment about the losing racer was hokey, but that it moved very well afterwards. He added that "the photography was imaginative and a rock music background gave the program an unusual quality".[16]
Jerry Greene of Florida Today said that the portrait of the racer who keeps losing was the strongest part of the film, and that it came too early and took away from the rest that was still first-rate. His consensus was that Once Upon a Wheel is "probably the most poignant and fascinating presentation on auto-racing that has appeared on television".[17]
Dwight Newton of the San Francisco Examiner said that Once Upon a Wheel is "compiled with old film clips, latter day outtakes, fascinating new material and excellent background music". He went on to praise the syncopation of the black-and-white archival footage used in the film.[18]
Rick Dubrow, in his review published in The Windsor Star, found Once Upon a Wheel to be entertaining, and said that director "Winters always manage to lot of handsome visual image on the home screen". He also felt that the music elevated the racing scenes.[19]
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, racing driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Silver Bear, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Speed Racer, also known as Mach GoGoGo, is a Japanese manga about automobile racing. It was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 Shōnen Book. It was released in tankōbon book form by Sun Wide Comics and later re-released in Japan by Fusosha. Adapted into anime by Tatsunoko Productions, its 52 episodes aired on Fuji TV from April 1967 to March 1968. In the US, the show aired in syndication at approximately the same time. The anime was later re-broadcast on Tokyo MX from July 1 to September 25, 2008.
Wacky Races is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for CBS on Saturday mornings. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with all of the drivers hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer". The show was inspired by the 1965 comedy film The Great Race.
Mario Gabriele Andretti is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only three drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, the World Sportscar Championship, and NASCAR. He has also won races in midget car racing and sprint car racing.
Philip Toll Hill Jr. was an American racing driver. He was one of two American drivers to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, and the only one who was born in the United States. He also scored three wins at each of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races.
Daniel Sexton Gurney was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, and Trans-Am Series. Gurney is the first of three drivers to have won races in sports cars (1958), Formula One (1962), NASCAR (1963), and Indy cars (1967), the other two being Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Days of Thunder is a 1990 American sports action drama film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes, Caroline Williams, and Michael Rooker. It also features appearances by real life NASCAR racers, such as Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, and Harry Gant. Commentator Dr. Jerry Punch, of ESPN, has a cameo appearance, as does co-producer Don Simpson.
Grand Prix is a 1966 American sports drama film directed by John Frankenheimer, produced by Edward Lewis, and written by Robert Alan Aurthur with uncredited story contributions by Frankenheimer and rewrites by William Hanley. It stars an international ensemble cast, including James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, Jessica Walter, Françoise Hardy and Antonio Sabàto. Toshiro Mifune has a supporting role as a race team owner, inspired by Soichiro Honda. The picture was photographed in Super Panavision 70 by Lionel Lindon, and presented in 70mm Cinerama in premiere engagements. Its unique racing cinematography is one of the main draws of the film.
Ice racing is a form of racing that uses cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, or other motorized vehicles. Ice racing takes place on frozen lakes or rivers, or on groomed frozen lots. As cold weather is a requirement for natural ice, it is usually found at higher latitudes in Canada, the northern United States, and in northern Europe, although limited indoor events are held in warmer climates, typically on ice hockey rinks. Tracks in North America vary from 1/4 mile to several mile-long circuits.
Hot Wheels: AcceleRacers is a 2005 computer-animated series of four films produced by Canadian company Mainframe Entertainment, which also produced the television series ReBoot. Available on DVD and VHS, it has also been shown on Cartoon Network.
Masami Hirosaka is a Japanese radio controlled car driver who is considered to be the world's most successful with a record fourteen IFMAR World Championships in 1/12 scale electric, 1/10 scale Pan, 1/10 scale 2WD off-road and 1/10 scale 4WD, all electric. Hirosaka's peers have nicknamed him "Master Masami". He was considered to be one of the highest paid drivers in RC racing, until he retired from the activity. His last IFMAR race was the 2008 world championship in Thailand. His retirement ceremony was on May 3, 2009.
Anthony "Andy" Granatelli was an American businessman, most prominent as the CEO of STP as well as a major figure in automobile racing events.
Doc Hudson is an anthropomorphic 1951 Hudson Hornet who appears in the 2006 Pixar film Cars. In the film, Doc is the medical doctor and local judge for Radiator Springs. After meeting a rookie racecar Lightning McQueen, Doc reveals that he is a former Piston Cup racer known as the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, and returns to the Piston Cup to act as Lightning's crew chief in his races. It is implied that Doc died before the events of Cars 2, and he appears in flashback sequences in Cars 3.
The Indianapolis 500 auto race has been the subject for several motion pictures. It has also received countless references in television, film, commercials, books, and other media. The following is a list of such references.
Mabel at the Wheel is a 1914 American motion picture starring Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand, and directed by Mabel Normand and Mack Sennett. The film is also known as Hot Finish.
David Winters was an English-born American actor, dancer, choreographer, producer, distributor, director and screenwriter. At a young age, he acted in film and television projects such as Lux Video Theatre,Naked City; Mister Peepers,Rock, Rock, Rock, and Roogie's Bump. He received some attention in Broadway musicals for his roles in West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959). In the film adaptation of West Side Story (1961) he was one of the few to be re-cast. It became the highest grossing motion picture of that year, and won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
The 2001 edition of The Winston was held on May 19, 2001, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. This was the 17th running of the event. The race is mostly remembered for the start, when rain progressed onto the track, causing cars to get loose and crash into the wall. One of the first ones to crash was Kevin Harvick, in his first appearance at the speedway. Then Jeff Gordon got sideways and wrecked after tapping Jeff Burton from behind, then Michael Waltrip wrecked Gordon, destroying his car, at which point the race was stopped. All of the drivers returned with back-up cars. At the end, Gordon came across the line and won his third All-Star race, tying Dale Earnhardt. Drivers Johnny Benson and Todd Bodine advanced from The Winston Open, with Benson winning the Open and Bodine winning the No Bull 5 Sprint race. This was the first Winston event without Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt. Waltrip retired at the end of 2000 and called the 2001 race from the booth, and Earnhardt was killed earlier in the season at the Daytona 500. Both drivers competed in the first 16 events.
Cars 3 is a 2017 American animated sports comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to Cars 2 (2011) and the third installment of the Cars film series, the film was directed by Brian Fee and produced by Kevin Reher, from a screenplay written by Kiel Murray, Bob Peterson, and Mike Rich, and a story by Fee, Ben Queen, and the writing team of Eyal Podell and Jonathan E. Stewart. John Lasseter, who directed the first two Cars films, served as executive producer. The returning voices of Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Guido Quaroni, Cheech Marin, Jenifer Lewis, Paul Dooley, Lloyd Sherr, Michael Wallis, Katherine Helmond and John Ratzenberger are joined by Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper, Armie Hammer, Nathan Fillion, Kerry Washington, and Lea DeLaria, in addition to a dozen NASCAR personalities. In the film, Lightning McQueen (Wilson), now a veteran racecar, must prove that he is still competitive against a new generation of technologically advanced racers, with the help of young technician Cruz Ramirez (Alonzo), to prevent a forced retirement from the Piston Cup.
Jerry Titus was an American race car driver, mechanic, and journalist.
Gran Turismo is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film directed by Neill Blomkamp from a screenplay by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin. Produced by Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions, and 2.0 Entertainment, it is based on the racing simulation video game series of the same name developed by Polyphony Digital. It tells the true story of British teenager Jann Mardenborough, a teenage Gran Turismo player who became a professional racing car driver. The film stars Archie Madekwe as Mardenborough alongside David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell Horner, and Djimon Hounsou.
References
1 2 "Paul Newman explores race car drivers' dangerous fast lives". The World: TV: 7. April 9, 1971.
1 2 3 Winters, David (2018). Tough guys do dance. Pensacola, Florida: Indigo River Publishing. pp.2582–2670. ISBN978-1-948080-27-9.
↑ "Pick of the programs". North Adams Transcript: Radio and television: 3. April 17, 1971.
↑ "'Once upon a wheel' Newman hosts program exploring facets of racings". Press-Telegram. 20: Tele-Vues: Five. April 18, 1971.
↑ "'Once Upon a Wheel' is a first". The Town Talk. LXXXIX: Section B: Eleven. April 18, 1971.
↑ "Paul Newman in 'driver's seat'". Longview News-Journal. 41: Sunday: 3. April 18, 1971.
↑ Hamilton, Judy (April 18, 1971). "And it's pro Bob Bondurant who put him behind the wheel". World-Herald: Entertainment:11-12.
↑ Shull, Richard K. (April 17, 1971). "Teaches Stars to Drive". The Ithaca Journal: Showtime: 21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
