If you haven’t watched in a while do so again …. Greatest racing film ever made and none will ever be made again like it …. Monaco, Spa, Silverstone, Watkins Glenn
Be sure to watch all of the special features on the DVD
The four stars who play the leading drivers in GRAND PRIX— James Garner, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford and Antonio Sabato actually do their own driving in the film's thrilling competitions. World-famous "Grand Prix" drivers who appear in the picture include 1962 world champion Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, world champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966; five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, '54, '55, '56 and '57), 1961 world champion Phil Hill and the following: Chris Amon, Lorenzo Bandini, Jean Pierre Beltoise, Bob Bondurant, Joakim Bonnier, Ken Costello, Nino Farina, Paul Frere, Richie Ginther, Dan Gurney, Dennis Hulme, Tony Lanfranchi, Guy Ligier, Bruce McLaren, Michael Parkes, Andre Pillette, Teddy Pillette, Peter Revson, Jochen Rindt, Jim Russell, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Jo Schlesser, Skip Scott, Joe Siffert and Mike Spence. Acknowledged as the world's largest spectator sport at the time, auto-racing was probably the only truly international competition. Consequently, the four leading actor-drivers are American, French, English and Italian. The leading oriental star Toshiro Mifune portrays a Japanese racing-car designer and manufacturer. The feminine leading roles are played by American stars Eva Marie Saint and Jessica Walter and French songstress Francoise Hardy, making her English-language acting debut.
Twenty-two racing cars formed major elements of the GRAND PRIX arsenal, together with a caravan of mobile machine shops and equipment carriers. The cars included four Ferraris, four BRMs, three Lotuses, four McLarens, two Brabhams and one American Eagle. Two camera cars, a Ford G.T. 40 and a Shelby Cobra 7-litre, used both for photography and in the direction of track scenes, were capable of traveling even faster than the racing cars themselves. Utilizing mounts on both front and rear, the cameras on the Ford G.T. 40 were controlled by remote-control television monitor within the two-seater occupied by Electronic Camera Operator John Stephens, with drivers Phil Hill and Bob Bondurant chiefly alternating behind the wheel. Another key tool was the Sud-Aviation helicopter, specially adapted for aerial photography with a Nelson Tyler mount and lightweight camera equipped with zoom lens.
Three to five weeks of photography took place at the various locations, all centering about actual race circuits where GRAND PRIX races were being held. In most cases, production supervisor William Kaplan had separate production staffs under his command in the respective countries involved. The races filmed with up to 18 separate cameras were: Monaco Grand Prix—May 22, Monte Carlo Belgian Grand Prix—June 12, Spa British Grand Prix—July 16, Brands Hatch Dutch Grand Prix—July 24, Zandvoort Italian Grand Prix—September 4, Monza A French Grand Prix race was staged exclusively for the film in the first week in August on the 1965 Grand Prix track in Clermont-Ferrand. Although dramatic scenes revolve about the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, the American Grand Prix at Wakins Glen, New York, and the Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City, the races themselves were not needed for the continuity of the screen story.
Grand Prix The Movie: A Complete History
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ABSOLUTELY GREAT movie... we had bad weather that weekend and the only thing they showed in the movie was the Glen Trophy, i was furious!!! i'll have to get the DVD