GRAND PRIX is John Frankenheimer's film about the nine-leg world championship of Formula 1 auto racing, and stars James Garner as driver Pete Aron. During the opening race in Monaco, a collision sends Pete's car flying into the Monte Carlo harbor, and British driver Scott Stoddard (Brian Bedford) into a wall. While Pete survives unhurt, Scott may lose the use of his legs, and many hold Pete responsible. Jean-Pierre Sarti (Yves Montand), whose marital boredom has led to an affair with fashion editor Louse Frederickson (Eva-Marie Saint), wins the next race at Clermont-Ferrand. Afterwards Pete accepts the sponsorship of Japanese business magnate Izo Yamura (Toshiro Mifune), and begins to romance Stoddard's jaded young wife Pat (Jessica Walter). Pete wins the Belgian leg of the contest, but Sarti goes into a depression after skidding on a wet track and killing two children in a crash. After Pete also takes the German Grand Prix, Stoddard amazingly returns for the Dutch event, and, driving on sheer grit, pulls out a victory. He proves it's no fluke by also winning in Watkins Glen, N.Y. and in Mexico, making the championship competitive once again. Essentially a soap opera interspersed with racing footage, the film's existence was ascribed by Frankenheimer to his fascination with the sport and a desire to spend time in Europe. That said, the racing sequences are still among the most realistic ever put on film, jammed with wide-angle helicopter shots, you-are-there car-mounted cameras, and then-fashionable split-screen sequences. GRAND PRIX is a definitely a film or racing fans.
Theatrical Release: Dec. 21, 1966
Shooting locations: Monano, Clermont-Ferrand, France, Monza, Italy, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Watkins Glen, N.Y., U.S., and Zandvoort, Netherlands.
Crash stunts were executed by firing a given car out of a hydrogen cannon at 125 m.p.h..
Frankenheimer decided to use the split-screen technique after watching its use the recent World Series, and from viewing the visual experiments of Charles Eames.
The 70mm car-mounted camera was so heavy that the rear suspension of the car had to be jacked up to accommodate it.
Most of the film was shot with 1000mm telephoto lenses.
Robert Redford turned down the James Garner part.
HD-DVD Features:
Elite Red HD Case
Widescreen - 2.20
Audio:
Dolby Digital Surround Sound Plus 5.1 - English
Dolby Digital Surround Sound Plus 1.0 - French, Latin Spanish
Subtitles - English SDH, English, French, Latin Spanish - Optional
Closed Captioned - English - Optional
Additional Release Material:
Documentay - 1. "Flat Out: Formula One in the 60's"
2. Pushing the Limit: The Making of GRAND PRIX"
3. "The Style and Sound of Speed"
4. Brands Hatch: Chasing the Checkered Flag"
Featurette - 1. 'Grand Prix: Challenge of the Champions"
Theatrical Trailer
Director of Photography
Lionel Lindon:
Production Designer
Richard Sylbert: Production designer, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF
Special Effects
Milt Rice:
Costume Designer
Sydney Guilaroff: Costume Designer, GRAND PRIX (1966)
Review 1:
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Containing the most exciting racing footage committed to a major motion picture, John Frankenheimer's GRAND PRIX strap you and its international cast into the driver's seat for a furious, adrenaline-fueled Cinerama experience."
Source: Premiere
p.96 11/01/2006
Review 2:
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he on-track stuff, as you'd expect from John Frankenheimer, is petrolhead heaven."
Source: Total Film
p.131 11/01/2006
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