Grand Prix is an action film released in 1966. It was directed by John Frankenheimer with music by Maurice Jarre. It starred Yves Montand, James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Bedford and Antonio Sabato. Toshirô Mifune has a supporting role as a race team owner. The unique racing cinematography is one of the main draws of the film. Although not a big commercial success, it did win minor Best Effects and Sound Oscars in 1967 and gained cult status among racing fans.Plot summary
The film follows the fate of four Formula One drivers through one Grand Prix season:
- Jean-Pierre Sarti (played by Montand) - a Frenchman, previously twice world champion, who is nearing the end of his career.
- Pete Aron (played by Garner) - an American, who is on the come-back trail.
- Scott Stoddard (played by Bedford) - an Englishman, recuperating from an almost fatal crash, and trying to emulate the success of his older brother.
- Nino Barlini (played by Sabato) - an Italian, who is a promising rookie.
Sub-plots revolve around the women who try to live with these men with such dangerous life-styles.Trivia
- The F1 cars in the movie are mostly mocked-up Formula 3 cars made to look like contemporary F1 models, although the film also used footage from actual F1 races. Some of this was captured by Phil Hill, the 1961 World Champion, who drove modified camera cars in some sessions during the 1966 Monaco and Belgian Grands Prix. This was some of the earliest experimentation with in-car cameras for Formula 1.
- There are many incidents within the film that were inspired by real events in motorsport. Yamura cars are based on the Honda Formula One operation, and Aron gives them their first win - American Richie Ginther had given Honda their first Grand Prix victory in 1965. Stoddard's crash into the Monaco harbour was most likely inspired by the accidents of Alberto Ascari in the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix and Paul Hawkins' in the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix. Nino Barlini is based on the Lorenzo Bandini, a similarly fiery(!), competitive Italian killed at the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix in a fire. The withdrawal of the Ferrari cars following Sarti's death was inspired by a tradition previously displayed by Alfa Romeo and Mercedes (Le Mans 1955 disaster), amongst others. However, on the two occasions previous to filming when a Ferrari driver had been killed in a race (Wolfgang von Trips at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix and Peter Collins at the 1958 German Grand Prix), the Ferrari team continued.
- Pete Aron's helmet is the one used by perenially luckless New Zealander Chris Amon; Scott Stoddard's is that of Scottish driver Jackie Stewart, who also drove for BRM at the time. Two times World Champion Graham Hill appears as the minor character Bob Turner. Jim Clark and Guy Ligier are among those seen in archive footage.
- More coincidentally, in 1991 Eddie Jordan would set up a Jordan Grand Prix team. When the team were hunting for an engine deal in late 1992, mischievous rumours were circulated that the team would be linking up with the short-lived BRM sports car prototype, which would have resulted in a Jordan-BRM team, as in the film.
- Almost thirty years later, this film provided the main inspiration for the racing simulation Grand Prix Legends, which was released in 1998. Like its cinematic counterpart, this also proved no commercial blockbuster but gained popularity among racing fans due to its emphasis on racing realism.
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