Grand Prix **** (1966, James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand, Toshiro Mifune) – Classic Movie Review 6533

Director John Frankenheimer’s 1966 car race soap opera movie is extremely lively and good-looking, and meticulously crafted, ending up with three Oscars.  ‘Glamour! Speed! Spectacle!’ – yes that’s what we’ve got here.

James Garner, Brian Bedford, Yves Montand and Antonio Sabato battle it out for honours on the track, with great scenes of the European Formula 1 Grand Prix race, remarkably filmed by cameraman Lionel Lindon.

Garner plays demoted American Grand Prix driver Pete Aron, who signs on to drive for the Japanese Yamura team, and becomes romantically involved with the estranged wife of Scott Stoddard (Bedford), his injured British team mate.

Admittedly it is less good off the track in writer Robert Alan Aurthur’s screenplay, but Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand and Toshiro Mifune are personable performers, giving charismatic turns. The film may seem dated now, but not faded. Indeed, it has dated well and is a bit of a Sixties style object, and still very enjoyable, particularly for the Grand Prix’s many fans. Also in the interesting, Sixties trendy cast are Jessica Walter, Françoise Hardy, Adolfo Celi, Claude Dauphin and Geneviève Page.

This very well made film, with imaginative work in the laboratories, merited its three technical Oscars for the split-screen Best Film Editing (Fredric Steinkamp, Henry Berman, Stu Linder, Frank Santillo), Best Sound (Franklin E Milton) and Best Sound Effects (Gordon Daniel).

It was made in Super Panavision for the vast Cinerama screen, so there are obvious problems for home viewing.

It is produced by Edward Lewis, scored by Maurice Jarre and designed by Richard Sylbert.

For realism, and pleasure, Garner did all his own driving.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6533

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