"The Driving Gloves"
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From: Timonium
Another thought about Grand Prix. If you haven't seen it, Honda places a major role in the plot, although the company and Mr. Honda are fictionalized. They are a new entrant, with a new car, and Mr. Honda hires an American driver played by James Garner to try to win the world championship. I won't reveal how it work outs for Honda, but if you haven't seen the film it will be fun to see how Honda and its great founder are portrayed.
Other F1 drivers with small roles in the film include Jack Brabham, Bob Bondurant, Jimmy Clark, Phil Hill, and Bruce Mclaren. It also features quite a few very good actors, including Yves Montand, who plays a Ferrari driver, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Bedford (the terrible driver Bieg mentioned), and Jessica Walter.
As Bieg noted, Grand Prix was directed by John Frankenheimer, known today for the BMW films he's made, and, of course, Ronin, which has one of the best car chase scenes ever filmed. The racing scenes are absolutely spectacular (Monaco is especially breathtaking); they make the scenes in Driven look amateurish in comparison.
I love this film! When it is re-released on DVD, I'm going to have a screening on my home theatre (Sanyo PLV-70 LCD projector with 92" screen) and invite a bunch of S2000 friends over. Bieg, do you want to trek down to Baltimore for this??
Other F1 drivers with small roles in the film include Jack Brabham, Bob Bondurant, Jimmy Clark, Phil Hill, and Bruce Mclaren. It also features quite a few very good actors, including Yves Montand, who plays a Ferrari driver, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Bedford (the terrible driver Bieg mentioned), and Jessica Walter.
As Bieg noted, Grand Prix was directed by John Frankenheimer, known today for the BMW films he's made, and, of course, Ronin, which has one of the best car chase scenes ever filmed. The racing scenes are absolutely spectacular (Monaco is especially breathtaking); they make the scenes in Driven look amateurish in comparison.
I love this film! When it is re-released on DVD, I'm going to have a screening on my home theatre (Sanyo PLV-70 LCD projector with 92" screen) and invite a bunch of S2000 friends over. Bieg, do you want to trek down to Baltimore for this??
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From: Mish-she-gan
Rick,
Whoooooo.... 92" screen! That sounds great. I'd love to get one of the new Plasma TV's when the price drops more than it has already. But for now I'll just have re-watch GP on VHS with my 32" Sony.
Rick, I've mentioned this before but I was fortunate to have some lemonade with Graham Hill and his wife Betty at their rented villa prior to the '62 LeMans race. An occassion I'll never forget.
Bieg,
I've watched Grand Prix numerous times, having the tape, and I agree it's the best. Thanks for the insight on how they did it. I do recall how impressed they were with Gardner's driving ability.
TV can never capture the full effect of watching it at the movie house. I agree Bieg, I was spell bound the first time I saw it and the opening sounds when done with proper stereo equipment brings chills up my back.
A couple years back one of the car club's I'm in rented a movie theater on Saturday morning, invited several other MI car clubs, and for a small fee to cover costs everyone got to enjoy GP in the big house.
As most know, another classic is Steve McQueen in the quintessential racing flick "LeMans". Many folks find the movie a bore because there so little dialog and such long scenes of actual race footage. McQueen doesn't even say a word until over 1/2 hour into the movie. Like GP, they were trying to capture racing on film before they had the wonderful small camera's we have today. That's why it's so sad that any of the recent movies like Driven & Days of Thunder, etc. have had such stupid story lines and unreal footage. GP in DVD would be dynamite.
Whoooooo.... 92" screen! That sounds great. I'd love to get one of the new Plasma TV's when the price drops more than it has already. But for now I'll just have re-watch GP on VHS with my 32" Sony.
Rick, I've mentioned this before but I was fortunate to have some lemonade with Graham Hill and his wife Betty at their rented villa prior to the '62 LeMans race. An occassion I'll never forget.
Bieg,
I've watched Grand Prix numerous times, having the tape, and I agree it's the best. Thanks for the insight on how they did it. I do recall how impressed they were with Gardner's driving ability.
TV can never capture the full effect of watching it at the movie house. I agree Bieg, I was spell bound the first time I saw it and the opening sounds when done with proper stereo equipment brings chills up my back.
A couple years back one of the car club's I'm in rented a movie theater on Saturday morning, invited several other MI car clubs, and for a small fee to cover costs everyone got to enjoy GP in the big house.
As most know, another classic is Steve McQueen in the quintessential racing flick "LeMans". Many folks find the movie a bore because there so little dialog and such long scenes of actual race footage. McQueen doesn't even say a word until over 1/2 hour into the movie. Like GP, they were trying to capture racing on film before they had the wonderful small camera's we have today. That's why it's so sad that any of the recent movies like Driven & Days of Thunder, etc. have had such stupid story lines and unreal footage. GP in DVD would be dynamite.
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From: :spam:u
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Rick Hesel
Just say when! 
I am on the Amazon.com list for the DVD release also. Speed ran the movie a year or so ago and they also had "The Making Of". It was fascinating. Frankenhiemer said it would be next to impossible to do the movie today with the price of cars ect... He also mentioned that with the cockpits so enclosed and full face helmets it would be tough to capture the drama without seeing the actors response. It just happened to be the perfect movie at the perfect period in time. I doubt we shall ever see anything like it (or Steve McQueen's Lemans) again. Incidently Frankenhiemer wanted McQueen NOT Garner to play the role of the American driver. He thought to the day he died that McQueen would have made the movie much more of a success than it was.
I was STUNNED by the scenes at spa in the rain btw.
I love this film! When it is re-released on DVD, I'm going to have a screening on my home theatre (Sanyo PLV-70 LCD projector with 92" screen) and invite a bunch of S2000 friends over. Bieg, do you want to trek down to Baltimore for this??
I am on the Amazon.com list for the DVD release also. Speed ran the movie a year or so ago and they also had "The Making Of". It was fascinating. Frankenhiemer said it would be next to impossible to do the movie today with the price of cars ect... He also mentioned that with the cockpits so enclosed and full face helmets it would be tough to capture the drama without seeing the actors response. It just happened to be the perfect movie at the perfect period in time. I doubt we shall ever see anything like it (or Steve McQueen's Lemans) again. Incidently Frankenhiemer wanted McQueen NOT Garner to play the role of the American driver. He thought to the day he died that McQueen would have made the movie much more of a success than it was.I was STUNNED by the scenes at spa in the rain btw.
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From: Durham, NH
Here's another "geezer" chiming in. When the movie came out, my best friend, Carl, and I went to the Northshore shopping center in Peabody, MA to see it. We made sure to bring our coats so we could sit in the middle of the row and have no one sitting next to us . . . .just so we could "lean" into the corners. It was a fantastic movie and certainly didn't disuade me from my love of fast cars and especially road racing.
My Spitfire story is a few years earlier. In 1966, I had started college and due to coop, was able to buy a car. Of course I needed my father to co-sign a loan for me. I somehow had gotten the impression he would agree to a Spitfire. I went down to the dealer, gave him a small deposit and started dreaming about the car. My balloon was poped as soon as I got home and told my Dad. My first car was a 1960 Plymouth Fury convertable. Quite a re-adjustment!
My Spitfire story is a few years earlier. In 1966, I had started college and due to coop, was able to buy a car. Of course I needed my father to co-sign a loan for me. I somehow had gotten the impression he would agree to a Spitfire. I went down to the dealer, gave him a small deposit and started dreaming about the car. My balloon was poped as soon as I got home and told my Dad. My first car was a 1960 Plymouth Fury convertable. Quite a re-adjustment!
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From: Indy, In.
Grand Prix is my favorite movie ever. LeMans is a distand second. It is a shame that there will never be another racing movie of this quality ever made again. It seems that Hollywood is too concerned with creating a sensational story at the expense of realism.
Another of my favorites, "The Italian Job", also had some great footage and some very cool cars. I have heard that there are plans for a remake using the new Mini. I am already looking forward to seeing this one.
Another of my favorites, "The Italian Job", also had some great footage and some very cool cars. I have heard that there are plans for a remake using the new Mini. I am already looking forward to seeing this one.
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From: :spam:u
What made the movie great was realistic dialog. No Sly Stalone Hollywood crap here.
The following is one of my favorite exchanges and it is the scene where Sarti is talking to the American writer Louise at the party after he won Monaco and Stoddard was seriously injured;
Sarti- I want to tell you something, not about the others, but about myself. I used to go to pieces. I'd see an accident like that and feel so weak inside, that I wanted to quit--stop the car and walk away. I could hardly make myself go past it. But I'm older now. When I see something really horrible, I put my foot down, HARD, because I know that everyone else is lifting his.
Louise- What a terrible way to win!
Sarti- No, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning.
Sarti again in the voice over at the begining of the movie;
Sarti- Danger? Well, of course. But you're missing a very important point. I think, if any of us imagined, really imagined, what it would be like to go into a tree at 150 miles an hour, we would probably never get into the cars at all, none of us. So it has always seemed to me that to do something very dangerous requires a certain absence of imagination!
This next dialog was when the American Driver Pete Aron went to beg the Racing Director of Ferrari for a Ride after he wrecked himself and Stoddard and their two BRMs at Monaco. The Ferrari Racing Director responds;
There are fewer than thirty men in the world qualified to drive Formula One; a mere half-dozen, perhaps, to win. At this moment, I am inclined to think you are not one of them.
Another great subtle thing about how it was filmed was that as Louise falls in love with the driver Sarti we view the races from HER perspective. When she first sees it she does not understand what it is all about. As she falls in love and starts to understand she views the next race in a sort of slow motion pastoral ballet, all color and beauty. As she learns about the ugly side of racing the filming gets more brutal and sinister. It traces what she is feeling about the sport until the last race where she can't bear to watch at all.
Brilliant, just brilliant!
The following is one of my favorite exchanges and it is the scene where Sarti is talking to the American writer Louise at the party after he won Monaco and Stoddard was seriously injured;
Sarti- I want to tell you something, not about the others, but about myself. I used to go to pieces. I'd see an accident like that and feel so weak inside, that I wanted to quit--stop the car and walk away. I could hardly make myself go past it. But I'm older now. When I see something really horrible, I put my foot down, HARD, because I know that everyone else is lifting his.
Louise- What a terrible way to win!
Sarti- No, there is no terrible way to win. There is only winning.
Sarti again in the voice over at the begining of the movie;
Sarti- Danger? Well, of course. But you're missing a very important point. I think, if any of us imagined, really imagined, what it would be like to go into a tree at 150 miles an hour, we would probably never get into the cars at all, none of us. So it has always seemed to me that to do something very dangerous requires a certain absence of imagination!
This next dialog was when the American Driver Pete Aron went to beg the Racing Director of Ferrari for a Ride after he wrecked himself and Stoddard and their two BRMs at Monaco. The Ferrari Racing Director responds;
There are fewer than thirty men in the world qualified to drive Formula One; a mere half-dozen, perhaps, to win. At this moment, I am inclined to think you are not one of them.
Another great subtle thing about how it was filmed was that as Louise falls in love with the driver Sarti we view the races from HER perspective. When she first sees it she does not understand what it is all about. As she falls in love and starts to understand she views the next race in a sort of slow motion pastoral ballet, all color and beauty. As she learns about the ugly side of racing the filming gets more brutal and sinister. It traces what she is feeling about the sport until the last race where she can't bear to watch at all.
Brilliant, just brilliant!
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From: Rochester
Okay, guys, let's be honest. It's a great car movie. I love it for the driving scenes. And kudos to Frankenheimer for the way he chose to make those scenes as realistic as possible. The extended opening at Monaco is brilliant. But the dialogue? Story? C'mon, it's pretty cheezy. It's good enough that it keeps it going. But it's no Citizen Kane.