The roar and whine of engines sending men and machines hurtling over the 10 top road and track courses of Europe, the US and Mexico – the Grand Prix circuits – are the prime motivating forces of this actioncrammed adventure that director John Frankenheimer and producer Edward Lewis have interlarded with personal drama that is sometimes introspectively revealing, occasionally mundane, but generally a most serviceable framework.
Frankenheimer has shrewdly varied the length and the importance of the races that figure in the film and the overplay of running commentary on the various events, not always distinct above the roar of motors, imparts a documentary vitality. The director, moreover, frequently divides his outsized screen into sectional panels for a sort of montage interplay of reactions of the principals – a stream of consciousness commentary – that adroitly prevents the road running from overwhelming the personal drama. – Variety
John Frankenheimer
USA 1966
176 min | English | Super Panavision 70
John Frankenheimer
Born in 1930 in New York, USA. He studied at Williams College and began his career in television before moving into film in the late 1950s. In the 1960s, he rose to become one of Hollywood’s best-known directors with films such as The Manchurian Candidate and Grand Prix. Died in 2002 in Los Angeles.
Films (selection)
Birdman of Alcatraz 1962 | The Manchurian Candidate 1962 | The Train 1964 | Seven Days in May 1964 | Seconds 1966 | Grand Prix 1966 | 53 Pick-Up 1986 | Dead Bang 1989 | Ronin 1998
D: John Frankenheimer | B: Robert Alan Aurthur | DOP: Lionel Lindon | E: Fredric Steinkamp, Henry Berman, Stewart Linder, Frank Santillo | S: Gordon Daniel, Franklin Milton, Roy Charman | P: Edward Lewis | M: Maurice Jarre | With James Garner, Yves Montand, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Bedford