Le Mans (1971)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Lee H. Katzin

Writer:

Harry Kleiner (writer)

Release Date:

23 June 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sport

Tagline:

Steve McQueen takes you for a drive in the country. The country is France. The drive is at 200 MPH!

Plot:

Almost in breadth and depth of a documentary, this movie depicts an auto race during the 70s on the...

Plot Keywords:

Accident | Driver | Car | Le Mans | Concentration

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Steve McQueen	...	Michael Delaney
Siegfried Rauch	...	Erich Stahler
Elga Andersen	...	Lisa Belgetti
Ronald Leigh-Hunt	...	David Townsend
Fred Haltiner	...	Johann Ritter
Luc Merenda	...	Claude Aurac
Christopher Waite	...	Larry Wilson
Louise Edlind	...	Mrs. Anna Ritter
Angelo Infanti	...	Lugo Abratte
Jean-Claude Bercq	...	Paul-Jacques Dion
Michele Scalera	...	Vito Scaliso
Gino Cassani	...	Loretto Fuselli
Alfred Bell	...	Tommy Hopkins
Carlo Cecchi	...	Paolo Scadenza
Richard Rüdiger	...	Bruno Frohm

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | New Zealand:G | Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Le Mans, Sarthe, France

Company:

Cinema Center Films

Trivia:

All Ferraris appearing in the movie were borrowed from Belgian Ferrari distributor Jacques Swaters, since the Ferrari factory had refused its participation because the movie ends with a victory for Porsche.

Goofs:

Continuity: The main accident scene has at least four cars involved, but only the important two are mentioned by the track announcer.

Quotes:

David Townsend: Michael, I want you to drive flat out. I want Porsche to win Le Mans.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Viktor Vogel - Commercial Man (2001)

Still the most authentic motor racing movie ever made

One of my Christmas presents last year was a copy of Michael Keyser's book "A French Kiss With Death" about the making of this movie (I had to drop a BIG hint!). Having just finished the book I watched the movie again with a much greater understanding of how it came to be made and the problems which plagued its production.

It is probably extremely rare for a major feature film to have absolutely no script - not even an outline - and no female lead after two months of shooting, but that was indicative of the sort of movie McQueen was determined to make. The race IS the story, and the story of the race is very well told. McQueen's racing experience, his need to have credibility within the racing world and the large number of real racing drivers and real racing cars involved all add up to an authenticity which exceeded that of Frankenheimer's "Grand Prix" and which is still unequalled. A couple of minor errors in the cars' paint jobs fail to dampen the reality of the on-track action.

It is true that the off-track storyline is a little weak, and some of the performances are a bit hammy, but McQueen absolutely nailed the "feel" of the Le Mans race. For this reason it is many race fans' favourite movie. It's certainly mine .