Grand Prix (1966) – Headstrong American driver Pete Aaron (James Garner) makes a rash move at Monaco which injures his teammate Scott Stoddard and results in Aaron being released by the team. While Stoddard is recovering Aaron begins an affair with Pat Stoddard (Jessica Walter). Elsewhere in the paddock Ferrari veteran and two time world champion Jean Pierre Sarti (Yves Montand) sees the end of his career coming quickly and explores a relationship with a beautiful American reporter (Eva Marie Saint). In the meantime the dangerous world of Formula One racing holds center stage as the drivers put their lives on the line.
If you’re an auto racing fan this is one of the movies that you must have in library (along with 1971’s “LeMans” and 2013’s “Rush”. Add any others you like but these are the must haves). Featuring some of the greatest drivers of the day ( Phil Hill, Graham Hill, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt, Jack Brabham, Dan Gurney, Richie Ginther, Jo Bonnier and Bruce McLaren. The two Hills, Fangio, Clark, Rindt and Brabham were all real life World Champions), footage of actual F1 racing, a stellar cast (including Toshiro Mifune as Japanese racing team Yamura owner who hires Aaron after he’s let go) and one of my all time favorite soundtracks. It was one of the top ten grossing films of the year and earned three technical Oscars.
The movie itself created a variety of challenges since director John Frankenheimer insisted on filming cars running at actual racing speeds. Yves Montand couldn’t deal with the danger and was filmed in a car connected to a tow car. In fact they were not running actual F1 cars but lower tier F3 cars with F1 style bodywork added. The final result is that the racing scenes have an authenticity that makes them riveting.
Racing movies face a difficult balancing act. You must have enough realistic racing footage to satisfy racing fans but enough story to satisfy everyone else. “Grand Prix” does an outstanding job of just that with a slight bias toward the racing. By comparison “LeMans” is almost entirely racing footage with very little plot and even less dialogue while “Rush” does an equally good job with just a slight overbalance on the story side. While it is not a great movie by the standards of film, there are few racing movies that can stand with it.
But as much as I love the racing it’s the soundtrack that really sells this movie for me. I have listened to racing sounds and the incredible music of Maurice Jarre for the sheer enjoyment of it.
One of my all time favorite movies.
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