Grand Prix
Brought alive with cinematic innovations!
Right from the opening frames of the film, Grand Prix sets out it's stall as a visually impeccable spectacle. From the very first moments, where the title of the film is contained within the dark heart of an exhaust pipe, to the final scene, where the world champion walks alone, Grand Prix displays it's absolute fascination with every detail of the sport.
The breathtaking cinematography, the hypnotic split screens, the authentic locations, and the soundtrack of those F1 engines make this triple Academy Award winning film a must see for any motor sport fan.
Shooting
The film is based on a fictionalised version of the 1966 Formula One season, and centres on the four drivers fighting to win the championship, with various sub plots around their relationships with their wives and lovers.
Shooting for the film began in May 1966, and much of the filming took place during or around actual Grand Prix race meetings, adding a genuine feeling of authenticity. That year's races at Brands Hatch, Monaco, Spa, Monza, and Zandvoort were all used.
Location work was completed in October, and Grand Prix was released on 21st December 1966.
Bosley Crowther
Mr. Frankenheimer belts you with such a barrage of magnificent shots of the racing cars, seen from every angle and every possible point of intimacy, that you really feel as though you've been in it after you've seen this film.
Furthermore, the director and Saul Bass fill that mammoth screen from time to time with multiple graphics and montages that look like movies at a world's fair.
Triple and quadruple panels and even screen-filling checkerboards ... hit the viewer with stimulations that optically generate a sort of intoxication with racing.
Info
All of the monochrome photographs here were fortuitously rescued from the collection of Jim Russell, a former racing driver who was involved in making the film.
The photos came to us in the form of faded, fifty year old, original contact strips. These would likely have been hurriedly prepared for the purpose of picking out which negatives would be suitable for proper printing, and subsequent use.
But with a little care and attention, and a bit of a spruce up, it seems to us that many of these photos are worthy of another look.
As far as we are aware, most of these photos are unpublished, or at the very least are not widely available, so this amounts to quite an archive.
We believe that this is a unique, and original collection, and we've certainly never seen anything like it anywhere. So, obviously we couldn't keep it to ourselves.
Hope you enjoy.
Grand Prix is a period piece, but what a period!
