IMDb > Le Mans (1971)
Le Mans
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Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   2,450 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Harry Kleiner (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Le Mans on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
23 June 1971 (USA) more
Genre:
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... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Golden Globe. more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
User Comments:
Still the most authentic motor racing movie ever made more (54 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
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Additional Details

Runtime:
106 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The Porsche 917 which McQueen drove in the film (chassis 022) would later be sold to a privateer for its last competitive year driven regularly by Reinhold Jöst and Willi Kauhsen, before later being sold to race driver and film participant Brian Redman. Redman then sold it to Richard Attwood, the 1970 winner and another film participant, who referred to it as "his pension". Attwood then resprayed it to his 1970 winning color of red with white stripes as well attending numerous shows with it. He later sprayed it to the blue and orange Gulf Oil colors for promotional purposes and auctioned the car off at RM Auctions during the Monterey Historics weekend for less than £1 million in 2000 to Los Angeles Times publisher Otis Chandler, a noted collector. Chandler then sold the car to Bruce McCaw, and it was maintained at Vintage Racing Motors in Redmond, WA. Later, it was moved on to the hands of its current owner, Jerry Seinfeld. more
Goofs:
Continuity: While the track announcements are given in both French and English at the beginning of the race (and movie), throughout the rest of the movie they are in English only, which would not occur at Le Mans. more
Quotes:
Lisa Belgetti: When people risk their lives, shouldn't it be for something very important?
Michael Delaney: Well, it better be.
Lisa Belgetti: But what is so important about driving faster than anyone else?
Michael Delaney: Lotta people go through life doing things badly. Racing's important to men who do it well. When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Then She Found Me (2007) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful.
Still the most authentic motor racing movie ever made, 7 February 2001
9/10
Author: david francis from Melbourne, Australia

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 .

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more (54 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Le Mans (1971)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
McQueen got it VERY wrong GoldenGooner04
*The* Racing movie Scrimss
Are these real race cars or mock ups? gucciphile
Best use of a Porsche in a Movie - as opposed to . . . . aarrkk-2
Unsportsman driving?? jgoodacre
Car explosion after crash gucciphile
more

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