Downhill Racer (1969)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Michael Ritchie

Writers:

Oakley Hall (novel)
James Salter (writer)

Release Date:

2 February 1970 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Tagline:

How fast must a man go to get from where he's at?

Plot:

Quietly cocky Robert Redford joins U.S. ski team as downhill racer and clashes with the team's coach, played by Gene Hackman. Lots of good skiing action leading to an exciting climax.

Plot Keywords:

Skiing | Downhill Racer | Ski Race | Character Study | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Robert Redford	...	David Chappellet
Gene Hackman	...	Eugene Claire
Camilla Sparv	...	Carole Stahl
Joe Jay Jalbert	...	Tommy Erb
Tom J. Kirk	...	Stiles
Dabney Coleman	...	Mayo
Jim McMullan	...	Johnny Creech
Oren Stevens	...	Tony Kinsmith
Karl Michael Vogler	...	Machet
Rip McManus	...	Bruce Devore
Jerry Dexter	...	Ron Engel
Kenneth Kirk	...	D. K. Bryan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arnold Alpiger	...	Hinsch
Jack Ballard	...	Candy Vendor
Robert Brendlin	...	Announcer
Carole Carle	...	Lena
Kathleen Crowley	...	American Newspaper Woman
Harald Dietl	...	Journalist
Christian Doerman	...	Brumm
Michael Gempart	...	Hotel Receptionist
Rudi Gertsch	...	Selznick
Walter Gnilka	...	Austrian Journalist
Werner Heyking	...	Helgerson
Robin Hutton-Potts	...	Gabriel
Noam Pitlik	...	T.V. Announcer
Peter Rohr	...	Boyriven
James Sandoe	...	Spectator
Harald Schreiber	...	Oliviera
Heini Schuler	...	Meier
Alexander Stampfer	...	Skier No. 16
Walter Stroud	...	Mr. Chappellet
Ulrike von Zerboni	...	Jeanine
Eddie Waldburger	...	Haas
Marco Walli	...	Istel

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | Norway:12 | Sweden:11 | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Boulder, Colorado, USA

Company:

Wildwood

Trivia:

Natalie Wood worked as an assistant behind the scenes of this movie. She typed script revisions, shopped for wardrobe and props, and also appeared, well-disguised, as an extra in some crowd scenes.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just after the Olympic Downhill Gold Medal racers reach the finish line, an announcer says (in German) "please clear the course; the first racer will be down in 5 minutes."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Welcome to Hollywood (1998)

Decent, fairly enjoyable film.

When Robert Redford delivered this film to the studio upon completion, the suits weren't sure what to do with it. How does one sell a pensive film about Pyrrhic victory? Against Redford's wishes, the studio ultimately marketed the film as a sports movie ("See hottie Robbie in exciting skiing scenes!"), and confused audiences avoided the film in droves. Redford, frustrated with the experience, created the Sundance Film Institute as a reaction to his experiences with "Downhill Racer".

Today, it is for this reason that "Downhill Racer" is best remembered, but one shouldn't overlook the work itself. The film, the first in an unfinished trilogy of films about the price of success (the second was "The Candidate"), is a thoughtful study of competition and competitiveness. Gene Hackman shines as the impatient coach, but Redford gives one of the finest performances of his career as the brooding, singular-minded athlete. Redford's performance is reason enough to watch the film, but the skiing scenes are also quite entertaining, as they fully capture the excitement and exhilaration of Olympic competition. The dark, ironic story, while slight, is still effective enough to make its point.

I shouldn't like to call this film a masterpiece; it isn't. It's a decent slice of cinema that is very unfairly maligned by too many. If you, like those studio executives, prefer a straightforward sports story in which the underdog wins and gets The Girl, look elsewhere. However, if you prefer an intelligent investigation of the human condition, well, you could do worse than "Downhill Racer".