Grand Prix

"All the glamour and greatness of the world's most exciting drama of speed and spectacle!"

1966 2h 56m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 240

DramaAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The most daring drivers in the world have gathered to compete for the 1966 Formula One championship. After a spectacular wreck in the first of a series of races, American wheelman Pete Aron is dropped by his sponsor. Refusing to quit, he joins a Japanese racing team. While juggling his career with a torrid love affair involving an ex-teammate's wife, Pete must also contend with Jean-Pierre Sarti, a French contestant who has previously won two world titles.

“All the glamour and greatness of the world's most exciting drama of speed and spectacle!”

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Cast

James Garner
Pete Aron
Eva Marie Saint
Louise Frederickson
Yves Montand
Jean-Pierre Sarti
Toshirō Mifune
Izō Yamura
Brian Bedford
Scott Stoddard
Jessica Walter
Pat Stoddard
Antonio Sabàto
Nino Barlini
Françoise Hardy
Lisa

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Frankenheimer
Writers: Robert Alan Aurthur, John Frankenheimer
Languages: Japanese, English, French, Italian, Portuguese
Countries: United States of America, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Monaco

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 176 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Japanese, English, French, Italian, Portuguese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 7 countries: United States of America, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Monaco.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Frankenheimer, shot by Lionel Lindon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Maurice Jarre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Fredric Steinkamp shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

James Garner and Eva Marie Saint and Yves Montand carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Frankenheimer directs. Lionel Lindon behind the camera. Maurice Jarre scores. Fredric Steinkamp cuts. A long sit — settle in. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Monaco. Dialogue in Japanese, English, French, Italian, Portuguese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 176 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
260 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Japanese, English, French, Italian, Portuguese.
4International production across 7 countries: United States of America, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Monaco.
5Directed by John Frankenheimer, shot by Lionel Lindon. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Maurice Jarre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Fredric Steinkamp shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8James Garner and Eva Marie Saint and Yves Montand carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "All the glamour and greatness of the world's most exciting drama of speed and spectacle!".
10IMDB entry: tt0060472 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 9 themes, including "car race", "racing", "race car driver", "race car crash".

The technical file

Cinematography: Lionel Lindon
Original score: Maurice Jarre
Editing: Fredric Steinkamp
Production design: Richard Sylbert
Makeup / hair: Sydney Guilaroff
Runtime: 176 min · 2h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $9,000,000
Box office: $20,800,000
Return: 231% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Grand Prix (1966)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Sound
Academy Award for Best Sound Editing
Academy Award for Best Film Editing

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

John Frankenheimer

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2016-04-06
★ 8/10
Frankenheimer's F1 Epic is Grand in Itself. In truth the plot of Grand Prix is pretty wafer thin, with not enough story to fully justify the gargantuan run time, yet it's both thrilling and fascinating all the same. Plot essentially centers around the 1966 Formula 1 motor racing championship, with James Garner, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, Eva Marie Saint and Toshiro Mifune heading up the large ensemble cast list. It deals with the trials and tribulations of the drivers, both on and off the track. The human drama is a bit soapy, of which there is much, yet these narrative characterisations help to make us care and understand the protagonists at the core of the story. And of course when the drivers are out there on the track, we know their psychological make-ups, their driving mirroring their motives and emotional fortitude. The racing segments are superbly filmed by Frankenheimer, with multi-angles used to maximise the experience, while he also uses split screen sections to fully immerse us with the key characters. Two crash sequences are genuinely heart stopping, filmed with a clarity that makes us realise that people actually do die in this sport. While the sound work and editing is quite simply stunning. See it on the biggest screen you can, and for home formats get the best possible disc available. 8/10

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