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Downhill Racer
''Downhill Racer'' is a 1969 American sports drama film starring Robert Redford, Gene Hackman and Camilla Sparv, and was the directorial debut of Michael Ritchie. Written by James Salter, based on the 1963 novel ''The Downhill Racers'' by Oakley Hall, the film is about a talented downhill skier who joins the United States Ski Team in Europe to compete in international skiing competitions. Sylvester Stallone appeared in one scene as an extra in his film debut. ''Downhill Racer'' was filmed on location in Kitzbühel and Sankt Anton am Arlberg in Austria, Wengen in Switzerland, Megève and Grenoble in France and Boulder and Idaho Springs in Colorado, United States. The film received positive reviews upon its theatrical release; Roger Ebert called it "the best movie ever made about sports—without really being about sports at all." Plot American downhill skier David Chappellet arrives in Wengen, Switzerland to join the U.S. ski team along with fellow newcomer D. K. Bryan. Both me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Ritchie (film Director)
Michael Brunswick Ritchie (November 28, 1938 – April 16, 2001) was an American film director, producer, and writer of films with comical or satirical leanings, such as ''The Candidate'' and ''Smile''. He scored commercial successes directing sports films, like ''Downhill Racer'' and ''The Bad News Bears'', and Chevy Chase's '' Fletch'' comedies and Eddie Murphy's ''The Golden Child''. Personal life Ritchie was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the son of Patricia (née Graney) and Benbow Ferguson Ritchie. His family later moved to Berkeley, California, where his father was a professor of experimental psychology at the University of California at Berkeley and his mother was the art and music librarian for the city. He attended Berkeley High School before becoming interested in film, and was accepted at Harvard University following high school. He told Robert Redford's biographer, author Michael Feeney Callan, that academic interest in film culture was the basis and drive f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wengen
Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to 5,000 during summer and to 10,000 in the winter. Wengen hosts the classic Lauberhorn ski races of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in January. History Wengen was first mentioned in official documents in 1268, and the origin of the name is unknown. Primarily an alpine farming community, the village began to be visited by tourists in the early 19th century. Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley's ''History of a Six Weeks' Tour'' and Byron's '' Manfred'', in which the scenery of the area is described, were published in 1817. This literature became the advent of the modern tourism industry for the village. Felix Mendelssohn, to whom there is a memorial above the village, also visited in the early nineteenth century. Guesthouses and hotels began to b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim McMullan
James P. McMullan (October 13, 1936 – May 31, 2019) was an American actor from Long Island, New York, best known for his role as Dr. Terry McDaniel on the 1960s series ''Ben Casey'' and as Senator Andrew Dowling on the CBS primetime soap opera ''Dallas''. McMullan studied Industrial Design at New York University and Parsons School of Design; he graduated from the University of Kansas in 1961 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. Career He went to Hollywood in 1961 to visit a friend and through a chance meeting with playwright William Inge, was given a screen test for Sam Peckinpah's ''Ride the High Country'' (1962) (Peckinpah also directed the screen test). The test was sent to Universal Pictures, which put him under a seven-year contract, the start of a successful 30-year film career. In 1962 McMullan appeared as Jess Kroeger on the TV western '' The Virginian'' on the episode titled "Impasse." McMullan starred as John Moore on the short-lived CBS-TV series ''Beyond West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Michael Vogler
Karl Michael Vogler (28 August 1928 – 9 June 2009) was a German actor, probably best known for his appearances in several big-budget English language films. In ''The Blue Max'' (1966), he co-starred with George Peppard and Ursula Andress as the squadron commander, and in ''Patton'' (1970), he portrayed General Erwin Rommel. In between, he was in Robert Redford's '' Downhill Racer'' (1969) as a ski company owner. Vogler primarily worked in German film and television, often typecast as authority figures. He was also an acclaimed stage actor, perhaps best remembered for playing Horatio to Maximilian Schell's ''Hamlet'' in 1960's Munich August Festival and a subsequent television adaptation. Born in Remscheid, Germany and brought up in Bregenz, Austria, Vogler was the son of a blacksmith. After graduation, he started his career as theatre actor and made his debut in Innsbruck in 1950. Between the 1970s and 2005 he made appearances on German TV and European films. Vogler died at ag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympic Medal
An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid out in detail in the Olympic protocols. Medal designs have varied considerably since the Games in 1896, particularly in the size of the medals for the Summer Olympic Games. The design selected for the 1928 Games remained for many years, until its replacement at the 2004 Games in Athens as the result of controversy surrounding the use of the Roman Colosseum rather than a building representing Greek roots. The medals of the Winter Olympic Games never had a common design, but regularly feature snowflakes and the event where the medal has been won. In addition to generally supporting their Olympic athletes, some countries provide sums of money and gifts to medal winners, depending on the classes and number of medals won. Introduction and e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jungfrau Railway
The Jungfrau Railway (german: Jungfraubahn, JB) is a mountain railway in the Bernese Alps, connecting Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland to the Jungfraujoch, across the Valais border. The railway, which uses a and racks, runs from the station of Kleine Scheidegg () to the Jungfraujoch (). It is the highest railway in Switzerland and Europe, the Jungfraujoch being the highest railway station on the continent and well above the perennial snow line. As a consequence, the railway runs essentially within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the neighbouring Eiger and Mönch, to protect the line from snow and extreme weather. Another particularity of the Jungfrau Railway is the high elevation of its starting point, at the hub of Kleine Scheidegg, also the highest in Europe. The Jungfrau Railway got its name from the highest of the three high peaks above it: the Jungfrau ( en, maiden, virgin; ), the latter mountain being the initial goal of the project. A lift connecting the summi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel
The Hahnenkamm is a mountain in Europe, directly southwest of Kitzbühel in the Kitzbühel Alps of Austria. The elevation of its summit is above sea level. The Hahnenkamm (''German'': rooster's comb) is part of the ski resort of Kitzbühel, and hosts an annual World Cup alpine ski race, the ''Hahnenkammrennen''. The most famous slope on the Hahnenkamm is the classic downhill course, the ''Streif'' (streak, or stripe), which is regarded as the most demanding race course on the World Cup circuit. The course features highly technical, "fall-away" turns (reverse bank), many with limited visibility. It also contains several flat gliding sections, immediately preceded by difficult turns, placing a premium on both technical and gliding skills. The ''Streif'' is located on the mountain's northeast face which in January is mostly in the shade, adding the difficulty of flat vision to the already exceptionally demanding run. Hahnenkamm races The ''Hahnenkammrennen'' are the annual ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arlberg-Kandahar
The Arlberg-Kandahar race (often abbreviated A-K or AK) is an annual alpine skiing event. The first edition of the race was held in 1928 in St. Anton, in the Arlberg district of Austria. The location originally alternated between St. Anton and Mürren, Switzerland. Later, it began to be held in other locations as well, such as Chamonix, France, Sestriere, Italy, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Name The two organizers of the original 1928 race were the Ski Club Arlberg in Austria and the British Kandahar Ski Club, based in Mürren. The latter is named after the British military commander Frederick Roberts, Earl of Kandahar, the major benefactor of the club. (At the first downhill race organized by skiing pioneer Arnold Lunn, held at Crans-Montana in 1911, Roberts donated the trophy, the Roberts of Kandahar Challenge Cup.) History Lunn, founder of the Kandahar Ski Club, met Hannes Schneider of the Ski Club Arlberg in 1927. Together they organized the first slalom race in Arl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lauberhorn Ski Races
The Lauberhorn ski races (Lauberhorn World Cup alpine ski races (german: Lauberhornrennen) ( downhill, slalom, and combined) are among the highest-attended winter sports events in the world, attracting around 30,000 spectators each year. An established attraction is the airshow by the Patrouille Suisse, the aerobatic demonstration team of the Swiss Air Force. The 2016 races were held 15–17 January ( super-combined, downhill, and slalom). The races in Wengen in the Bernese Oberland are held in mid-January, usually the week prior to the Hahnenkamm, in Kitzbühel, Austria, another classic downhill race run since the early 1930s. The Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald, north of the Kleine Scheidegg. Its summit is at an elevation of above sea level. The downhill course is the longest in the world; its length of over results in run times of two and a half minutes (about 30–45 seconds longer than standard downhi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is an alpine skiing competition organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). History The inaugural world championships in alpine skiing were held in 1931. During the 1930s, the event was held annually in Europe, until interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, preventing a 1940 event. An event was held in 1941, but included competitors only from nations from the Axis powers or nations not at war with them. The results were later cancelled by the FIS in 1946 because of the limited number of participants, so they are not considered official. Following the war, the championships were connected with the Olympics for several decades. From 1948 through 1982, the competition was held in even-numbered years, with the Winter Olympics acting as the World Championships through 1980, and a separate competition held in even-numbered non-Olympic years. The 1950 championships in the United States at Aspen were the first held outside of Europe a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Neil Steinberg of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' said Ebert "was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic," and Kenneth Turan of the ''Los Angeles Times'' called him "the best-known film critic in America." Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern writing voice and critical views informed by values of populism and humanism. Writing in a prose style intended to be entertaining and direct, he made sophisticated cinematic and analytical ideas more accessible to non-specialist audiences. While a populist, Ebert frequently endorsed foreign and independent films he believed would be appreciated by mainstream viewers, which often resulted in such fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Idaho Springs, Colorado
The City of Idaho Springs is the Statutory City that is the most populous municipality in Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. Idaho Springs is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,717. Idaho Springs is located in Clear Creek Canyon, in the mountains upstream from Golden, some west of Denver. Founded in 1859 by prospectors during the early days of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, the town was at the center of the region's mining district throughout the late nineteenth century. The Argo Tunnel drained and provided access to many lodes of ore between Idaho Springs and Central City. During the late twentieth century, the town evolved into a tourist center along U.S. Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 40, which ascend Clear Creek Canyon through the historic mining district. The town today is squeezed along the north side of Interstate 70, with a historical downtown in the central portion, a str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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