Le Mans (1971)

Director:

Lee H. Katzin

Writer:

Harry Kleiner (writer)

Release Date:

23 June 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sport

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...

Plot Keywords:

Le Mans | Driver | Accident | Car | Endurance

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

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

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | New Zealand:G | Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Le Mans, Sarthe, France

Company:

Cinema Center Films

Trivia:

The TAG Heuer Swiss watch McQueen insisted on wearing throughout this shoot, was reissued in 2009 in commemoration of its 40th anniversary. The latest (4th) update is a replica of the 1969 original Monaco model, complete with automatic self-winding movement and red chronograph hands. RRP: £3,500.

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.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in O Cheiro do Ralo (2006)

Discovering racing was never more fun. Speed Thrills!

This film has excellent footage of the Porsche 917's that made some fine racing history in the early 1970's. The car did what cars never did before. This film had the best edited work I have seen. The plot was slow and buried in the flow of the race drama. The slow motion crash scenes of this film were ultra-entertaining. It was sad that Actor Steve McQueen went bankrupt creating this film and had to sell off his interests in this film to climb out of debt. Some scenes from this film have been borrowed for use in other high speed entertainment, such as Hardcastle & McCormik.

The Porsche 917's were tops in their day. Only McLaurens F-1's approach the caliber of the 917 in performance. Here are the 917 car's stats: H-12 turbocharged; 1100 BHP; 0-60 in 2.3 seconds; 0-100 in 4.3 seconds, and a top speed exceeding 238 mph - right out of Guinness Book of world records-1971/2. If you would like to discover racing and see how racing teams are coached, and high speed competition is managed, this film is for you.