46 replies to this topic

[Roryswood]

Surprised that nobody has passed comment on it , the Motorsport article whetted my appetite , however for me 25 minutes of unseen footage as the basis of the programme was expecting too much .Accepting that it was made for a general audience imposes limits , the Colour footage was excellent ,one of the highlights was Mr Samuelson explaining about the onboard filming ( it brought back memories of the Samuelson Film Services Commer minibus by Corgi which I still have ),low point was Peter Windsor saying Jim Russell was an American racing driver , marks out of 10 , 6

[opplock]

I enjoyed the colour footage, especially of 1965 German GP. The Monaco footage was supposed to be from 1965 but I did spot a Cooper Maserati and Graham Hill in a Lotus so it seems some 1967 footage crept in. 

 

I got the impression that there was some padding required to achieve the required programme length. It could have been shortened by about 1/2 hour. Still it was well worth watching. The spat between James Garner and a local bureaucrat was very entertaining.  

[Doug Nye]

Was James Garner in this 'Day of the Champion' documentary then????

 

DCN

[ensign14]

Yes, as a talking head describing his relationship with Steve McQueen, and in archive footage taken from filming Grand Prix, which was being done at Monaco at the same time as DOTC was scouting it out.

[john aston]

Hollywood...err...icon doesn't make a film . Hold the front page ...   

[Gary C]

The James Garner argument footage is from 'Whicker's World' if my memory serves me correctly.

[1969BOAC500]

The James Garner argument footage is from 'Whicker's World' if my memory serves me correctly.

'Motor Sport' refers to this in their article and I clearly remember watching it many years ago - Garner wrapped in a blanket and apparently quivering with cold and anger......

[68targa]

The all too brief colour footage in Germany was enjoyable to see - vivid colours. 

 

Sir Stirling seems to be driving one of Mr Walker's Brabhams (BT7 or BT11?)

 

I am sure that I noticed Reg Parnell during the JIm Russell sequence from 1963.

[opplock]

Was James Garner in this 'Day of the Champion' documentary then????

 

DCN

 

Indeed he was. I didn't have a stopwatch but did get the impression that Grand Prix got more coverage than the McQueen film.  

[Doug Nye]

Having a kind of popular culture bypass built into what passes for my brain I marvel at the interest shown in these old movies, to be honest, both then and now.  

 

I also struggle to understand the interest shown in movie stars like McQueen and Garner etc.  When told to move aside by one movie unit or another filming race footage in 1965-66, Geoff Goddard memorably growled "I'm also doing a job 'ere and I'm shooting proper blokes doing a proper job, not some bloody fancy-pants actor prancing about pretending to be someone he isn't...".

 

That's right, I was a junior member of the Phillistine tribe.  In fact a bunch of people whom Barrie Gill memorably christened 'The Gloomsbury Club' - unkind, but from his viewpoint well justified - bah-humbug misanthropes, indeed.  The odd thing is that from within it that 'Club' was really enjoying life too; a number of journos and snappers who were just impressed by different things...

 

I will concede that the action footage is interesting, however.  

 

As I have mentioned before I saw some of the 'Grand Prix' shooting, but none of that for the stillborn McQueen film.  I do, however, remember hearing about a Warner Bros unit shooting up at Oulton Park - and numerous people, Graham Hill included, making very contented noises about how well "these Yanks are paying".  It was regarded as entirely mind-concentrating money...for old rope.

 

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 03 January 2021 - 21:05.

[elansprint72]

Roryswood-

Rewind to start.... sorry, I've clearly missed the subject, getting on a bit, don't ya know. Who is "The Champion", what is it about?

[Gary C]

'The Day of the Champion' was a Grand Prix film that Steve McQueen wanted to make...before 'Grand Prix'. They started shooting but it was then stopped. This programme is about it.

[Allan Lupton]

Thank you Gary. I too had no idea what this was all about and now know I am not bothered.

[Jack-the-Lad]

Roryswood-
Rewind to start.... sorry, I've clearly missed the subject, getting on a bit, don't ya know. Who is "The Champion", what is it about?

Thank you Gary. I too had no idea what this was all about and now know I am not bothered.

That’s three of us......

[Jack-the-Lad]

http://primotipo.com...f-the-champion/

[Tim Murray]

Here are a couple of earlier threads:

Day of the Champion

Steve McQueen, ‘Day of the Champion’, Warner Bros

The film was also discussed in the Best and worst racing movies thread; there’s a summary of that discussion in the first thread above.

[john aston]

I do roll my eyes when I recall that a pair of ... umm ....Hollywood Screen God McQueen's race overalls sold for nearly a million dollars.  He was a good looking , usually typecast actor with limited range who once made a plot free film with some terrific footage of 512s and 917s , and he also was  a competent driver, if not quite the Second Coming. I enjoyed Bullitt and  Le Mans but his near beatification by his current generation of fans (who presumably buy all  that  Gulf branded merchandise ) utterly baffles me . 

Edited by john aston, 04 January 2021 - 08:16.

[ensign14]

I would disagree that McQueen had a limited range - I've recently seen The Sand Pebbles (the reason why DotC was never made) and The Towering Inferno, and he's brilliant in both.  Amazing to say about someone in a disaster movie but he is very nuanced in the latter,and utterly believable in the former.

[Giraffe]

Firstly I'd like to wish all TNFers a Very Happy New Year. 

 

Having read through this thread, I'm happy in the knowledge that the spirit of David McKinney is still alive and well! (I can just imagine the pithy comments he would have posted.... )

 

I watched "Steve McQueen, The Lost Movie" and found it an acceptable, if dare I say enjoyable way of passing 90 or so minutes. Some excellent unseen footage (I believe there is more out there if you believe Motor Sport magazine).

 

However one of the highlights for me was spotting Malcolm Sears (who later had the terrible crash at Oulton Park in his Sunbeam Tiger) chatting to McQueen on the set of "Le Mans".

 

Malcolm drove (and crashed) several cars in that film at the behest of McQueen, including the 917/T70 (pictured) and came home with all the two-piece overalls and Bell helmets, but sadly not one of the Heuer timepieces thatSteve gave out which are now worth fortunes.

 

Malcolm's son, Paul was pleased with my "spot"  (last two images c/o Paul Sears).

 

 

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Edited by Giraffe, 04 January 2021 - 13:27.

[nmansellfan]

I enjoyed the programme.  The onboard shots at the 'Nurburgring in '65 with either Moss or Whitmore driving the Lola T70 camera car chasing the 1.5L F1 cars was amazing.

[BRG]

  A lot of unseemly curmudgeonly grumpiness in this thread.  How dare a Hollywood actor be a motor racing enthusiast?  Who did he think he was?  Bah humbug indeed.

[Jack-the-Lad]

I would disagree that McQueen had a limited range - I've recently seen The Sand Pebbles (the reason why DotC was never made) and The Towering Inferno, and he's brilliant in both. Amazing to say about someone in a disaster movie but he is very nuanced in the latter,and utterly believable in the former.

I’m not one of those who deifies McQueen* but he was also outstanding in the title role of the little known and under-appreciated “Tom Horn.” But to be honest, although he played many roles, I think they were, with a few exceptions, basically the same character. And that isn’t to disparage his ability or his success. Many, many actors have followed that path. For him, it was the loner, the outsider, the man who is guided only by his own beliefs and instincts.

*If I had to choose, I’d say Paul Newman far outshone McQueen as an actor, a driver and, observing strictly
as a far distant outsider, a human being.

Edit: I’d like to see Day of the Champion documentary but I’m not sure it’s available in the US.

Edited by Jack-the-Lad, 08 January 2021 - 04:04.

[Doug Nye]

I have and always have had enormous respect for Paul Newman.  I could certainly forgive him earning his living by "...just prancing around pretending to be someone else...".  McQueen?  Certainly moreso than, say, some off the knighted British actORS of past and present times. 

 

DCN

[jtremlett]

What is the difference between racing drivers and actors? They are all just entertainers. None of them are saving the planet or anything are they? If Steve McQueen had decided to pursue a career as a dustman what difference would it have made to the world really? Or the same if it were Stirling Moss?  

[Doug Nye]

Nonsense.  Some provide us with a sporting heritage, some don't.  Some put their lives on the line to achieve it - some merely put their time and what some see as talent on the line, but never risk their own life and limb.  The difference is simply colossal.

 

Dependent upon one's respect scale one group deserves respect - and the other simply does not.  One's attitude to such things is simply a matter of different strokes for different folks.  Each group of admirers will be absolutely certain the other is wrong - and that itself is perfectly right and proper.

 

Cheerful disrespect is entertaining too...  Actors?  Huh.

 

DCN. 

[Myhinpaa]

There was a documentary made some years ago about Paul Newman and his motor racing days.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=4Szj0gCkFuk

 

He seems to put a clear distinction between motor racing and acting.....

 

Comparing getting an Oscar with a decision by a committee as opposed winning a race by simply being the best. @ 2:02

[jtremlett]

Why is sporting heritage more worthy than acting heritage? Why does it matter if you put your life on the line or not? People put their lives on the line for all sorts of things that aren't considered worthy of such celebration and often for considerably less reward.

 

As you may guess by the fact that I'm here, my argument is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. But equally, I do find it absurd the way we elevate certain people and not others whose achievements may actually be far more significant, may involve at least as much risk or just as much skill. 

 

By the way, who won the chariot races at the Circus Maximus in 55 BC and who was on stage at the Teatro di Romano 60 years later? It probably mattered to those who were around at the time but what Archimedes or Pythagoras were doing a couple of hundred years earlier had more lasting significance. 

 

Having said that, don't stop writing the books Doug!

[ensign14]

Well, you say that, but two of the greatest comic actors in the Roman sphere were Plautus and Terence, and their works have survived...

 

And we still have the lists of who won the Olympic chariot racing (the prize went to the owner, so it was basically a constructors' championship only).  Including Kimon, son of Stesagoras, of Athens, who was assassinated after his hat-trick win. By the Establishment who thought he was going to attempt a coup off the back of it.

 

Pythagoras incidentally is a triumph of marketing over achievement (this is the chap after all who would not eat beans because they contained reincarnated embryos waiting for rebirth).  His theorem was well-known before he came along.

[BRG]

Nonsense.  Some provide us with a sporting heritage, some don't.  Some put their lives on the line to achieve it - some merely put their time and what some see as talent on the line, but never risk their own life and limb.  The difference is simply colossal.

 

Seriously, Doug?  It only matters if you risk life and limb to do it?  Have you been reading Hemingway over Christmas or something? There are many great achievements made without risking life and limb, and many of those are far more significant than driving a car faster then a couple of dozen other blokes.  Shakespeare, Madame Curie, Marconi, Robert Watt....etc etc.  

 

Quite why anyone here is going out of their way to denigrate Steve McQueen, who loved car and bike racing, just as we do, is very odd.

[10kDA]

Racing on any level turns out to be expensive. If someone garners the means to participate at a level closer to the top than entry-level, well, more power to them. A driver "working up through the ranks" is rarely able to do so on prize money and some outside financial help is part of the process. Actors can make a lot of money, and they can have a lot of downtime. Some of them spend both on racing. As far as risking one's life, that's why James Garner didn't do much behind-the-wheel racing -  the studio didn't want him to put himself at risk. So he ran A.I.R. for a few years and did pretty well. If somebody known for something else decides to go racing, why criticize? It's like "How dare (insert name here) step out of MY comfort zone?" The results tell only part of the story. Werner Erhard and his huge budget lost the title to a guy whose Mon-Fri job was in the construction business. Both were part-time racers, like most actors who drive race cars. But one guy's efforts are in the history books as a championship and the other guy went back to making money the way he had been doing before.

 

Re: Circus Maximus and Teatro di Romano - probably Kirk Douglas on both counts, and it's good to keep in mind no one's life has ever been inconsequential, history books are always abridged, and people who have worked as dustmen have had far greater influence and been held in far higher esteem than Archimedes or Pythagoras by those close to them..

[Henk Vasmel]

I don't care much for movies, but on hearing the name Steve McQueen, my first thoughts go to the Sebring '70 race. Together with Peter Revson (the better racer of the two of course) they finished a pretty close second in a 3 liter Porsche in a field of 5 liter cars. And that with a broken ankle. Now Peter will have done the serious part of the race, but if he had been a no-hoper, he would never have been able to help him keep the car this far up. And as far as I know, for being classified, you need a certain time behind the wheel as well. It was a twelve hour race. So he has earned the respect of true fans.

[Keith Rolleston]

The shots of McQueen dicing with Christabel Carlisle and Sir John Whitmore in Minis at Brands Hatch show that he could hold his own in a race. He finished third in that race to the other two, but Mini racing in those days was mighty competitive, so I reckon third is good performance.

[elansprint72]

An interesting sporting conversation but I'm surprised that some well-established names here have been blinded by the finance. 

 

If you really want to read about "A Champion" (and no wheels involved) get a copy of "The Hard Years" by Joe Brown.

[moffspeed]

The shots of McQueen dicing with Christabel Carlisle and Sir John Whitmore in Minis at Brands Hatch show that he could hold his own in a race. He finished third in that race to the other two, but Mini racing in those days was mighty competitive, so I reckon third is good performance.

Enjoyed the documentary thoroughly especially the Nurburgring footage. Highly impressed by all the fitted luggage in the back of Christabel's ADO 16 - although it looked as though the car was already receiving some rust treatment to its wheel arches.

 

The Brands footage of the battling Minis was good but if you watch the clip carefully there seems to be an unusual section of Brands between Paddock and (as it was then) Bottom bend which looks suspiciously like Oulton Park ?

Edited by moffspeed, 10 January 2021 - 12:04.

[jonpollak]

Having a kind of popular culture bypass built into what passes for my brain I marvel at the interest shown in these old movies, to be honest, both then and now.

DCN

I enjoyed watching this documentary (Which I downloaded for free off the internet. -Sorry SKY.)

Seeing as I had grown up in a "Hollywood family", consequently having popular culture hard-wired into my early existence, I personally experienced my Fathers part in the making of Grand Prix when I was an 8 year old. I learned quite a lot from this documentary that had never been revealed to me before. My only inkling ( by staying up late during the various cocktail parties at our home while the grown-ups drank and got louder) was overhearing of this 'race to release' and multiple mentions of Warner's "Star Vehicle"as the competitor to the MGM blockbuster that was becoming the family's cash cow in 65/66.

I hadn't heard about 'Day of A Champion' since.
Although I did see 'Weekend of a Champion' by Polanski.
Also loved reading 'Champion Year' By Mike Hawthorn.
Yet I detested 'Champion' by Kanye West as it directly ripped off Steely Dan.

Have I gone off track here?

Sorry, I'll just finish with....
Seeing this film cast a brighter light on what was actually going on behind the scenes so very apropos to my early observations.

Jp

Edited by jonpollak, 01 March 2021 - 18:00.

[Jack-the-Lad]

Can somebody direct us to this documentary on the web if it exists there? Thank you.

[Glengavel]

Yet I detested 'Champion' by Kanye West as it directly ripped off Steely Dan.
 

 

The idea of Kanye West channelling Steely Dan makes my head ache.

[DogEarred]

I hadn't heard about 'Day of A Champion' since.Although I did see 'Weekend of a Champion' by Polanski.Also loved reading 'Champion Year' By Mike Hawthorn.Yet I detested 'Champion' by Kanye West as it directly ripped off Steely Dan
Jp

Any thoughts on ‘Champion the Wonder Horse?...

Edited by DogEarred, 03 February 2021 - 22:52.

[10kDA]

The idea of Kanye West channelling Steely Dan makes my head ache.

 

I had to find out what exactly that clown did. I listened to his song, anonymously, so GIGGLE™ would not "curate" and start steering talentless hacks to my U Toob search results, and heard all I needed to hear within the first 10 seconds so then I could turn it off. So, Channeling - no, fear not, and I didn't think he had it in him anyway. He sampled, which is what apparently passes for creativity these days, a few seconds of "Kid Charlemagne". Your headache should be treatable by avoiding the offending sound.

Edited by 10kDA, 04 February 2021 - 15:41.

[jonpollak]

Any thoughts on ‘Champion the Wonder Horse?...

Unfortunately DE I do not.

But Joni had some thoughts akin to the influence of 'The Western'.

Here they are.

 

"Thank you very much. Well, I've got a room full of friends here and ticket winners here and [audience member yells "we love you Joni!] record company people here. I want to thank you all for coming and thank everyone out there in radio land for tuning in, but I'm just thrilled to be here at the Gene Autry Museum because my generation, I think we all had a hero in one of the singing cowboys 'cause that was before rock and roll so these were the guys, you know, this was like... So I brought my cutout of Roy Rogers here. I think Gene will forgive me. And the evidence of the worship here.

You know when I was a kid I had a hard time. The girls in my neighborhood were pretty tough and although they were playing pretty much the traditional games it was kind of hard to play dollies with them 'cause you know they'd go "My dolly walks and talks and yours doesn't". Or, you know "My dolly wets and yours doesn't". They're all, whatever it was it was the latest movable part I usually didn't have it so... And if you played imaginary dress-up that was pretty rough too. I remember one time with Sandy [?] we were playing imaginary dress-up. I said "I am wearing a gold lamé gown and I'm descending a diamond staircase." And she said, "No you're not, I am!" So there was this big fight that ensued over that.

So, I bought a cap pistol. And with a cap pistol the boys would let you play. There was always some kind of part they'd come to the door and they'd say, "Come on, Joan, get your gun, we're playing war. You can be the German." So I'd get out there and they'd shoot me right away. I'd be lying there on the ground saying "Can I get up yet?" "Not yet, you're dead." So, frequently when the weather was good and you could walk around in your shirtsleeves the boys played Roy Rogers and they always chose a new Roy like every couple of days. And so I kind of wanted to be Roy because Roy was the one at least for one day, you know. Roy for a day it was like he was the playwright and he was the director and he picked the locations and a lot of times the guys they'd just play up to the end of the block. They didn't adventure out too much and I happened to know over by Alexander School there was a ravine with a little weathered foot ridge there which is just great for ambushes and battle scenes, and so I would say to them from time to time "Well why can't I be Roy today?" And I'd always get the same answer. They'd go "You can't 'cause you're a girl." So when I was I don't know 8 or 9, I guess whenever this was taken [referring to a photo in the room of her in a cowboy outfit].

That Christmas I asked for a Roy Rogers suit. Well as you can see they gave me half of it. They missed the boots, but I got 'em now, huh? And... So anyway the first good shirtsleeve weather when the boys were finished with hockey I came out in this costume here and I said "Let me be Roy today" and all I had was full of ideas you know and they said "well you can't" you know I said "why not?" "well because you're a girl" and I said "yah but look it says on my hat right here Roy Rogers and it says on my shirt right here Roy Rogers" "well that doesn't mean you're Roy Rogers. That means you're Dale Evans". "Well why?" "Well because you're wearing Roy's clothes." "Well what does she do?" "Well she stays home and cooks. Come on men!"

 

So I can cook pretty good but I, you know, this is this is a secret between you and me you know. Don't tell anybody that because I'd rather be part of the posse. "

 

https://www.jonimitc...iew.cfm?id=3551

Jp

[john aston]

Good to see I'm not the only one who worships at the shrine of Ms Mitchell . I even named my website after one of her songs ... 

[Nigel Beresford]

Does naming your home wifi "The_Hissing_of_Summer_Lawns" count?

 

It was that or "The_Great_Pagoda_of_Funn".

Edited by Nigel Beresford, 08 February 2021 - 14:58.

[Glengavel]

Good to see I'm not the only one who worships at the shrine of Ms Mitchell . I even named my website after one of her songs ... 

 

The first Joni Mitchell album I bought was 'Hejira', some years ago. I've since bought others (Blue, Hissing of Summer Lawns, Court and Spark) but that still remains my favourite.

[jonpollak]

Been a massive Joni-phile since For The Roses and even more rabid a fan after my very first world tour which was with Tom Scott and the LA Express.

She is,no surprise, officially my muse and her work has been a constant source of joy and astonishment throughout my life.

I would beg Tom to tell me tales of his involvement with her while on long flights or bus trips. He was never at a loss to share some seriously wondrous stories

The stories of her genius and her effect on legendary musicians who are of great standing throughout music are widespread.

Many of these are archived HERE in the Joni Mitchell Library

Ya gotta dig though.

 

I must suggest to casual and even serious fan that they dig deeper into her later offerings and albums.

things like Night Ride Home, Taming the Tiger and Travelogue are amazing compositions and state of the art recordings.

The subtleties,tonality and timbres she weaves into the songs are so cinematic and luscious.

 

So then, below are a couple of stories that I was party to.

 

I spent 2 years working for Prince in 2000& 2001

 

Prince was a regular guest on a tour that I had been doing for over 10 years;  Lenny Kravitz
Lenny decided to take a year off touring and loaned my services to the Paisley camp after Prince commented on how he enjoyed my work with Lenny on his last few shows in 1999. Prince was a hard task master and demanded perfection from everyone involved.We had countless full band and crew post show debriefs on mistakes and miscues and he charted the meetings with his famous clipboard check list. He was the one artist that reminded me of a top line F1 driver with his attention to every detail and nuance accepting no excuses in regard to his performance from every member in the organization. He taught me so much about musical timing and how to visually influence an audience that it formed a huge cornerstone in the execution of my work and remains tantamount to this day.

He and I also had a connection that ran through every thread of our relationship.
Joni Mitchell.

Prince was as rabid a fan as I am and had almost everything she ever recorded in 'the vault' downstairs at Paisley Park.

"Play your cards right and I may just give you one" he told me, after I asked to see the collection while rehearsing for the 2001 tour
He he did indeed present me with a cassette tape of the demo recording of Joni's Hissing of Summer Lawns after answering his famous Joni Mitchell lyric quiz (with no passes) after our last sound check in Chicago. After doing the required audio checks he'd launch into "The Quiz" which consisted of him saying a lyric of one of her songs then going through the band members to see if they could add the next line. If no one could, he would then forward the question, over the PA system, to me sitting behind the lighting desk. The sound man eventually gave me my own talkback microphone to answer him with because the band would inevitably fail the quiz almost every day.
 

--------

 

Here is a story you won't find in the library however.

It was one told to me by the architect of "The Great Pagoda of Funn, Donald Fagen.

 

In the 80's Donald was invited to visit Joni at her place in Bel-Air.

There were already a few people there when he arrived and it had been decided to go see a band at the Baked Potato jazz club on Ventura Blvd.

Everyone decamped to their cars and Donald noticed no one was riding with Joni in her vehicle.

Being of chivalrous intent Don jumped in the passenger seat.

Everyone had departed the Bel-Air estate already when Joni found reverse gear and plowed over half her petunias.

Then, engaging first gear she careened down Beverly Glen all the way to the valley.

When they arrived at the club Donald gingerly got out, went behind the trash cans, and threw up.

Larry Klein, Joni's husband at the time, came up to Donald and said..."Didn't anyone WARN YOU? She's the worst driver in all of North America."

Don's response was.... "Well it's reassuring to know she is absolutely terrible at something".

 

Jp

 

 

 

[ensign14]

I feel the loss of Prince now more deeply given that now would have been the perfect circumstance for him to host a Zoom pop quiz.

[Ian G]

I’m not one of those who deifies McQueen* but he was also outstanding in the title role of the little known and under-appreciated “Tom Horn.” But to be honest, although he played many roles, I think they were, with a few exceptions, basically the same character. And that isn’t to disparage his ability or his success. Many, many actors have followed that path. For him, it was the loner, the outsider, the man who is guided only by his own beliefs and instincts.

*If I had to choose, I’d say Paul Newman far outshone McQueen as an actor, a driver and, observing strictly
as a far distant outsider, a human being.

Edit: I’d like to see Day of the Champion documentary but I’m not sure it’s available in the US.

 

 

Yes,McQueen was from the Charles Bronson acting school,similar character in most of his movies with little facial emotion but still got the empathy and plot across the big screen,you would think he would struggle in his early Stage characters.

After saying that he was in some great Movies.

I thought "Day of the Champion" was Ok as a historical documentary but spoilt by too many opinions aired as facts 50 years after the events.

 

Jackie Stewart's comments re the Movie being canned because of Insurance problems was probably close to the mark,Graham Hill expressed a similar view at the time.I read where McQueen wanted to do his own driving and by the time this leaked backed to Jack Warner along with delay after delay the axe fell.

 

It should be avaiable on Streaming Services in the USA.  

[BRG]

Finally got around to watching this - it had been sitting on my TiVo for a while.  Quite interesting, but the 'rushes' were pretty limited unless there are more tucked away somewhere.  I was interested in the Alan Mann connection as a chum of mine worked for his aircraft company and has talked about him a lot.  A lot of good 'talking heads'.  Anything with Simon Taylor and Nigel Roebuck has to be good value.  Even Peter Windsor too. But overall it was far more a Steve McQueen biopic and the proposed film was just a hook to hang that on.  Lots of people are fascinated by McQueen, rather fewer by a failed film project.

 

My feeling was that Frankenheimer had the edge in the race to make an F1 film right from the get-go and that 'Day of the Champion' was probably never going to match 'Grand Prix'. if it had even been made.  Had McQueen managed to get to the film set on time, I suspect it would still have been axed by Warner Bros.

 

I did like the pure '60s graphics that were used in the documentary.  Definitely a nice period touch!  And of course I enjoyed all the associated racing footage and the 'rushes' were a wonderful snapshot of 1960s motor racing, as well as highlighting - as Sir Jackie mentioned - how horrendously dangerous it all was.  Randon vehicles parked on the edge of the track, unprotected trees and scenery, people wandering around on the track....it is a wonder anyone survived those days.