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''Le Mans'' is a 1971 film depicting a fictional
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...
auto race starring
Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and ...
and directed by
Lee H. Katzin Lee H. Katzin (12 April 1935 - 30 October 2002) was an American film director. Early life and education He was born in Detroit, Michigan, and became a TV director in the late 1960s, including episodes for ''Bonanza, Mission: Impossible ''and '' ...
. The film began as a John Sturges project, before he was replaced during filming. It features actual footage captured during the 1970 race held the previous June.


Plot

Top flight Le Mans racing driver Michael Delaney spots former rival Piero Belgetti's widow Lisa buying flowers in the days before the race; he then drives to the scene of the accident which killed her husband the previous year. He has a flashback of Belgetti losing control of his Ferrari, forcing him to crash as well. Like many others, Lisa appears to feel Delaney was responsible, at least in part, for the accident. At the race she is understandably downcast while working through her emotions. In an awkward scene, Delaney looks for a place to sit in a nearly empty track commissary, only to ask Lisa if he may join her, claiming that it is the only seat left. There is obvious tension between them, but also respect and a hint of mutual attraction. After 13 hours of racing, Erich Stahler spins his Ferrari 512 at Indianapolis Corner, causing teammate Claude Aurac to veer off the track in a major accident. Momentarily distracted by the flames of Aurac's car, Delaney reacts too late to safely avoid a slower car, striking the guardrail and then bouncing several times across the road, striking the guardrails on each side of the road multiple times, totaling his
Porsche 917 The Porsche 917 is a sports prototype race car developed by German manufacturer Porsche to exploit the regulations regarding the construction of 5-litre sports cars. Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine which was progressively enlarged from ...
. Both survive, but Aurac's injuries are extensive and he is
medevac Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...
ed to a hospital by helicopter. Lisa appears at the track clinic where Delaney is briefly treated. She is distraught at his crash, which stirs up emotions from Piero's passing she had been seeking to put in the past. Delaney consoles her and rescues her from a horde of reporters. After he puts her in a waiting car, a journalist asks Delaney whether his and Aurac's accident can be compared to the one with Belgetti in the previous year's race. Delaney merely stares him down. Porsche driver Johann Ritter senses that his wife, Anna, would like for him to quit racing. He suggests it, thinking she will be overjoyed. She demurs and says she would like it only if he likes it. He chides her a bit about not being entirely honest. Later the decision is taken out of his hands when team manager David Townsend replaces him for not being quick enough on the track. Anna tries to comfort him, reminding him that he was planning to quit anyway. Lisa goes to Delaney's trailer to talk with him. After his brush with death she is even more drawn to him and despairs that he may meet the same fate as her husband, but Delaney finds the thrill too addictive to quit. Townsend enters and asks him to take over driving Ritter's car. After a moment's unspoken communion with Lisa, he follows Townsend who tells him "Michael, I want you to drive flat out. I want Porsche to win Le Mans." In the closing minutes of the race the two Porsches and their rival Ferraris vie for the win, with Delaney in the #21 car and teammate Larry Wilson in #22. The Ferrari leading the race retires due to a flat tire, leaving Wilson in the lead and only Delaney's archrival, Stahler, to contend with. The faster pair quickly catches Wilson. Delaney passes Stahler for second place. Slower traffic in his lane forces Delaney to brake, allowing Stahler to overtake on the left. Delaney
drafts Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
the German, then both move alongside Wilson. Delaney then takes actions that seem intended to guarantee a 1–2 Porsche win rather than going for first himself. Rather than try to pass Wilson, then possibly Stahler, Delaney switches to the right lane and drafts Wilson allowing both to pull up with Stahler. Then for good measure he bumps Stahler twice. When Stahler tries to pass again Delaney steers toward him, looking likely to bump Stahler again and send him into the guard rail, forcing him to throttle back and brake to avoid that outcome thus ensuring the desired 1–2 win for Porsche.


Cast

*
Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and ...
as Michael Delaney, Le Mans driver for the team Porsche * Siegfried Rauch as Erich Stahler, Delaney's rival who drives for Ferrari * Elga Andersen as Lisa Belgetti, widow of Delaney's former rival Piero Belgetti * Ronald Leigh-Hunt as David Townsend * Fred Haltiner as Johann Ritter * Luc Merenda as Claude Aurac, Eric Stahler's teammate * Christopher Waite as Larry Wilson, Michael Delaney's teammate who drives for team Porsche * Louise Edlind as Mrs. Anna Ritter *
Angelo Infanti Angelo Infanti (; 16 February 1939 – 12 October 2010) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1961 and 2010. He was born on 16 February 1939 in Zagarolo, Italy. He died on 12 October 2010 in Tivoli, Italy due ...
as Lugo Abratte * Jean-Claude Bercq as Paul-Jacques Dion * Michele Scalera as Vito Scaliso * Gino Cassani as Loretto Fuselli * Alfred Bell as Tommy Hopkins *
Carlo Cecchi Carlo Cecchi (born 25 January 1939 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy) is an Italian actor. Born in Florence, Cecchi studied under the Living Theatre and with the Workshop of Eduardo De Filippo. In 1968, he made his debut for cinema in '' La sua gior ...
as Paolo Scadenza


Production

''Le Mans'' was filmed on location on the Le Mans circuit between June and November 1970, including during that season's actual 24 Hours of Le Mans race in mid-June. McQueen had intended to race a
Porsche 917 The Porsche 917 is a sports prototype race car developed by German manufacturer Porsche to exploit the regulations regarding the construction of 5-litre sports cars. Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine which was progressively enlarged from ...
together with
Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...
, but the #26 entry was not accepted. Instead, he is depicted as starting the race in the blue #20
Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...
-
Porsche 917 The Porsche 917 is a sports prototype race car developed by German manufacturer Porsche to exploit the regulations regarding the construction of 5-litre sports cars. Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine which was progressively enlarged from ...
K driven by
Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing ...
and
Brian Redman Brian Herman Thomas Redman (born 9 March 1937 in Burnley, Lancashire and educated at Rossall School, Fleetwood, Lancashire), is a retired British racing driver. Racing for Carl Haas and Jim Hall's Chaparral Cars, Brian Redman won the 1974, '75 ...
. The race-leading white #25 Porsche 917 "Long tail" was piloted by Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens Jr. The Porsche 908/2 which McQueen had previously co-driven to a second place in the
12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second rou ...
was entered in the race by McQueen's ''Solar Productions'', complete with heavy
movie camera A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either on an image sensor or onto film stock, in order to produce a moving image to project onto a movie sc ...
s capturing actual racing footage. This #29 camera car, which can be briefly seen in the starting grid covered with a black sheet (at approximately 17:51) and again at just before the 79 minute-mark (at 1:18:42) racing past the starting line, was driven by Porsche's Herbert Linge and Jonathan Williams. It travelled 282 laps, or and finished the race in 9th position, but it was not classified as it had not covered the required minimum distance due to the stops to change film reels. It did, however, manage to finish 2nd in the P3.0 class. Additional footage shot after the race used actual Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512s, in competition liveries. In the crash scenes comparatively expendable
technologically obsolete Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer maintained or required even though it may still be in good working order. It usually happens when something that is more efficient or less risky r ...
Lola T70 The Lola T70 is a sports prototype developed by British manufacturer Lola Cars in 1965. Lola built the aluminium monocoque chassis, which were typically powered by large American V8s. The T70 was quite popular in the mid to late 1960s, wit ...
chassis were fitted with replica Porsche and Ferrari bodywork. Though depicted as the factory-backed
Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in reference to their logo. ...
team, the 512's used were borrowed from Belgian Ferrari distributor
Jacques Swaters Jacques Swaters (30 October 1926 – 10 December 2010) was a racing driver from Belgium and former team owner of Ecurie Francorchamps and Ecurie Nationale Belge. Racing career Swaters made his debut in the 24 Hours of Spa in an MG co-driv ...
after
Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...
balked at supplying cars due to the script's Porsche team victory. David Piper, driving a camera car 917K that had a camera seat removed, lost a part of a leg as a result of a crash during filming. McQueen had wanted to employ Christopher Chapman's new multi-dynamic image technique in the film, as had been done at his instigation with '' The Thomas Crown Affair'', in which he starred in 1968. Chapman advised against it, much to McQueen's disappointment; in Chapman's words, "it was much too big a film, with too many writers; it wouldn't work that way." McQueen and
John Sturges John Eliot Sturges (; January 3, 1910 – August 18, 1992) was an American film director. His films include ''Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955), '' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957), '' The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), '' The Great Escape'' (19 ...
planned to make a movie called ''Day of the Champion'', which was going to occur at the same time that ''
Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...
'' was in production; lingering troubles with getting production to start meant that McQueen (who rejected an offer to star in Prix) had to focus on other projects such as '' The Sand Pebbles'' (1966). McQueen formed his own production company in Solar Productions and came into association with
Cinema Center Films Cinema Center Films (CCF) was the theatrical film production company of the CBS Television Network from 1967 to 1972. Its films were distributed by National General Pictures. The production unit was located at CBS Studio Center in the Studio City ...
to help make the film. Elements of the would-be movie would be re-used in Le Mans, which would start filming in 1970. Unfortunately, Sturges would drop out of the project when Cinema Center did not find the progress of the filming satisfactory (to the point where they wanted to replace McQueen with
Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award from four nominations, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, the Cec ...
); Sturges was quoted as saying "I'm too old and too rich" to put up with trouble. Alan Trustman, hired to write the film after having written for previous McQueen features such as ''
Bullitt ''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleine ...
'' (1968), suffered a falling out with McQueen and was fired from production, which would hinder further attempts in his scriptwriting career. Lee H. Katzin, known for television work, was brought in to finish the project while McQueen had to strike a deal with Cinema Center that saw him lose creative control.


Reception

On review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 69% based on 13 reviews.


Documentary

'' Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans'' is a 2015 documentary film, detailing the actor's quest to make the 1971 film ''Le Mans'', complete with interviews from his wife at the time Neile Adams McQueen, co-stars Louise Edlind and Siegfried Rauch, and McQueen's son Chad McQueen; it also includes recordings from John Sturges and Steve McQueen.


See also

* ''Le Mans 1955'' (film) * List of American films of 1971 *
TAG Heuer Monaco The TAG Heuer Monaco (originally Heuer Monaco) is a series of automatic chronograph wristwatches originally introduced by Heuer in 1969 in honour of the Monaco Grand Prix. The Monaco was revolutionary for being the first automatic square cased ...
* ''Grand Prix'' (film) *'' Truth in 24'' *''
Ford v Ferrari ''Ford v Ferrari'' (titled ''Le Mans '66'' in some European countries) is a 2019 American sports drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller. It stars Matt Damon and Christi ...
''


References


Further reading

* Michael Keyser, Jonathan Williams, ''A French Kiss With Death'', Bentley Publishers, 1999 - A lengthy, profusely illustrated and very readable history of the making of the movie


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Mans 1970 films 1970s action drama films 1970s sports films American auto racing films Sports films based on actual events Films directed by Lee H. Katzin American independent films Films set in France 24 Hours of Le Mans Cinema Center Films films Films scored by Michel Legrand 1970 drama films 1971 drama films Films with screenplays by Harry Kleiner 1970s English-language films 1970s American films