Quote:
Originally Posted by MrB
Def going to see this.
Also going to track down "Grand Prix" never even heard of it (I'm only a youngin'  )
But I'm a big fan of James Garner (Support Your Local Sheriff  ) |
Hi Simon,
Then you will like him in Grand Prix.
There is a sequence in Grand Prix where Garner's car, as scripted, catches
on fire as he is racing to the finishing line. The rear of the car is engulfed in
flames but the sheer speed of the car keeps the flames from entering the cockpit.
But he then needs to stop.
Garner later wrote in his memoirs -
Quote:
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Originally Posted by James Garner
"Toward the end of the shoot, I did a fire stunt with butane bottles that I ignited with a switch in the cockpit on the final turn. When I crossed the finish line going about 120, I slammed on the brakes and threw another switch to put out the flames. But something went wrong and the car erupted in a giant fireball. I scrambled out of the cockpit as the crew blasted me in the face with fire extinguishers and smothered me in an asbestos blanket. I wasn't hurt, but it shook me up. The producer wasn't happy that I'd done the stunt and neither was Lloyd's of London. They canceled my policy, and for the rest of the picture I drove without insurance."
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As Larry pointed out, watch for the faces of many iconic F1 drivers who make
cameo appearances in the movie as themselves including Jack Brabham,
Graham Hill, Phil Hill, Jim Clark and Juan-Manuel Fangio.
Frankenheimer's sound editor went to enormous effort, recording the sound
of every car in every gear, so as the film cuts between the cars there is this
wonderful harmonically rich symphony as each car has its own distinctive sound.
Director John Frankenheimer made many other fantastic films, including
the Manchurian Candidate [1962], The Bird Man of Alcatraz [1962],
The Train [1964], Seven Days in May [1964], Seconds [1966] but his life-long passion
for fast cars and his technical experience in filming Grand Prix came back in
the form of those amazing car chase sequences when he made Ronin [1998].
Apparently Grand Pix has also been recently re-released on Blue-ray.
