52 replies to this topic

[Ron Scoma]

In an effort to take up more space around here I thought I'd ask what "car movies" an enthusiast should own?
Or perhaps more importantly, what car movies were produced; since I subscribe to the "buy it all, let the heirs sort it out" philosophy of living?
I don't mean works like Driven but more of the promotional films from Shell and Castrol, etc.
So.... as a start, I think every enthusiast should have:
Motorfilms Quarterly by everyone's favorite, DCN
The Shell History of Motor Racing 02-52
Jaguar at LeMans 53-58
Pit Pass - A Camoradi film
Mexico 1954 - the 1954 Mexican RR
Rendezvous - oft discussed on another thread
The Silver Arrows I got this one out of the Soviet Union in 1987
Bentleys at LeMans 1929-30
Fangio by Hugh Hudson (who later went on to do Chariots of Fire)
Meister Brauser a film on the Scarabs

On some of these I own the rights, others I just have, so this is somewhat of a shameless plug.

There are others, but this is a start.

Kind Regards,

Ron Scoma

[Dennis Hockenbury]

Ron, or anyone, if you happen to know where I can acquire a copy of 'Fangio' by Hugh Hudson I would appreciate the information.

[paulhooft]

In fact I like to have the Fangio video, or CD too
I have the Pirelli Fangio video..
Paul

[Peter Morley]

I've just bought a couple of the "A Gentleman's Motor Racing Diary" videos and they are amazing.
The cameraman was a friend of Rob Walker's and went to the major races - Monaco, Italian, Belgian & British GPs, Goodwood Tourist trophy etc.
And he had pit access, so you get shots that are far more interesting than any TV footage.
The films are amazing.
It seems you can buy the whole set of 10 videos for £100, instead of £14 per video.
Each video is 90 minutes and contain some of the most interesting footage I've ever seen.

[antonvrs]

I can't think of the name of it right now but there's a wonderful short film of Fangio at the Modena Autodromo in a 250F. It must have been made in about '58 or so.
Probably the most impressive motoring film I've ever seen is called V4 Victory. It's the late Joey Dunlop on a 750 V4 Honda superbike at the Isle of man and he narrates an uninterrupted lap (34 miles I think)
in practice with a camera on the bike. It's absolutely stunning. At one point he lofts the front wheel going downhill at 130+ and you lose the horizon for a moment.
And, of course, Le Mans- now available on DVD.
Anton

[Macca]

"Ten Days in Summer" about the Lotus 49 in 1967.

I remember being at the IoM TT in 1984, just after "V4 Victory" had come out, and you could always tell where it was being shown in a shop window or wherever because there would be loads of bikers leaning their heads from side to side to match the lean angle of Joey's bike.

Paul Mackness

[lanciaman]

Originally posted by antonvrs
And, of course, Le Mans- now available on DVD.
Anton

It is a huge disappointment. I guess I was much more enthusiastic and much less critical when it was first screened in theaters and I was deeply involved in racing.

In my dottage, it bothers me that the film has virtually no script, almost no dialogue, and little to do with cars other than the few showcased marques. And the score is awful. Steve McQueen spends most of his face time staring soulfully. There is some reasonably good racing footage and some reasonably good staged footage, but I went to sleep. No wonder it was a commerical flop.

And it doesn't hold a candle to "Grand Prix."

[bill moffat]

"In Car Manx" and "In Car 956" were 2 videos that eventually ran the bearings on my old VHS player. In the early 80's in-car shots were still a bit of a novelty and often of questionable quality..but these were exceptional.

The Manx video put you in the back seat whilst Ari Vatanen strutted his stuff on the first day of the '83 Manx rally. Compelling stuff undiluted by any corny commentary or dreadful music.

The 956 video planted you in the "passenger seat" of Derek Bell's Porsche 956 whilst you lapped 7 circuits (yes, including the proper Nurburgring). Wonderful.

Both are still readily available on DVD...don't miss out !

[bill moffat]

Originally posted by lanciaman


It is a huge disappointment. I guess I was much more enthusiastic and much less critical when it was first screened in theaters and I was deeply involved in racing.

In my dottage, it bothers me that the film has virtually no script, almost no dialogue, and little to do with cars other than the few showcased marques. And the score is awful. Steve McQueen spends most of his face time staring soulfully. There is some reasonably good racing footage and some reasonably good staged footage, but I went to sleep. No wonder it was a commerical flop.

OK if "Le Mans" the film doesn't ring your bell then try "This Time Tomorrow". A film documenting Ford's 1966 victory at Le Mans. No commentary but a wonderful stylistic testament to the 60's. Plenty of racing action, 60's fashion and the wonderful GT40s....

[paulhooft]

A very good series is the 1992 BBC series
The Power and the Glory
380 minutes of auto racing history!
on video at a very nice price!!
Paul Hooft

[paulhooft]

If you have the Shell series
a history of Motor racing
(1902 -1951)
(the Shell series is fantastic... but a little on the expensive side,
so someone gave me a copy as a gift..
as I most of the time.. put Shell in my car..
for up to 30 years now)
and Motor Racing in the 50's, 60 and 70's by Duke...
Like I have ordered:
You have a nice Racing History archive...
1902 to 1979...
to begin with...
Paul Hooft

[paulhooft]

I have just ordered The making of Grand Prix at Amazon.com
It is only $ 6.95 or so
and they have a few other racing movies:
Like a compilation called :
Born to be wild
of 4 old racing movies for 9.95
and some others
(I dont expect them to be...
intellectual high flying movies..,
but nice to have any way)
Paul

[2F-001]

"Lap of the Gods".

Which reminds me; I loaned those tapes to a friend some good while back. I must, must, must retrieve them...

[Pedro 917]

Lesson # 1 : 2 things you should never put out to loan are your tapes and your wife (not necessarily in that order)

[Pedro 917]

Oh and "Porsche The Racing Legend" is great as are :

John Wyer Gulf GT40's and 917's covering the 1968 Le Mans 24 hours and the 1970 season.
The Ringmeisters covering the 1967 German GP at the Ring.
"Nine days in summer" is a must!! (Motor Sport gave it for free with one of their issues a couple of years ago)

[paulhooft]

Two I like to have are:
To please a Lady by Mr. Gable
and The racers (made in mid 50's)
Paul

[dolomite]

I've just bought 'In-Car 956' on DVD from Amazon.

[sandy]

I have been trying for a long time to get a copy of The Racers. Can someone supply a copy? Expenses paid.

[Rob G]

I have a video called "Grand Prix Racing: The Supercharged Era 1924-39" (or something similar to that). It has a lot of fantastic vintage footage as well as a few little recent snippets of the classic cars at play.

[paulhooft]

And there was Supercharged II The Grand Prix Car 1945-1965
We all know that supercharged...
Stopped almost completely... in 1951
But:
Nice Video's to Watch!!
Paul Hooft

[paulhooft]

I am looking for the Racers as well
And To Please A lady!
to be released on DVD!
Paul Hooft

[Superliner II]

Originally posted by paulhooft
A very good series is the 1992 BBC series
The Power and the Glory
380 minutes of auto racing history!
on video at a very nice price!!
Paul Hooft

Great choice. The quality and depth of research is superb. I have had a copy of those video's for several years now and still love watching them. Surprising that i have never seen The Power and the Glory mentioned on here before.

The sound of Neil Corners Mercedes w154 and the Auto Union warming up in the pits at Silverstone and going round copse and up towards maggots, still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck every time i watch it.

I may be wrong but i think i recall seeing Doug Nye listed in the credits.

Laurence C

[paulhooft]

Yes:
for price to Power:
this is the absolute bargain!!
pity that so few know it...
Hope they still have it..
Did you see that Miller Front wheel drive??
Paul Hooft

[Superliner II]

Yes i think i recall that. What struck me was how beautifully restored and kept all the machinery was. That Miller does stand out in mt memory for how beautifull it looks. Some of my favourites from those videos are the 154 Alfetta and the P3 Alfa, ERA's and the pre WW1 'Dinosaurs'. The sound of that coventry climax in a lotus going round what i think is millbrook just blows me away..... and then he gives it some!. I'm a bit rusty recalling some of it in detail. I guess it's time to watch it all again, all 6 hours of it
There is so much history in those 6 hours, its a real gem.

I can fairly say that 'The Power and the Glory' is the main reason that i am into classic racing cars/drivers and not 'Max Power' like the rest of my generation.

Laurence C

[paulhooft]

Somewhere, At this or the GPL or TNF forum
Last week, I saw a story about a not to good German DVD or Video on Auto Racing sold by Amazon.de for euro 9.95
That was before I got down in the middle of
reading the tread...
I cannot find the tread again, and cannot find a clue on Amazon.de.
Can someone give me the title of that movie.
Paul

[antonvrs]

Is the BBC "The Power and the Glory" still available? If so, where and how much? It sounds like a "must have"
Anton

[JacnGille]

Don't forget Bobby Deerfield !

[Pilla]

The same sort of thing as Driven and Gone in 60 seconds etc (I know thats not what you want but its worth a mention) are the BMW short films (BMWFILMS.com) basically they get hollywood action directors, throw alot of money at them and tell them to make a 15 minute film involving a car chase, may not be your cup of tea but they are free to download, and allthough some are crap some are quite entertaining.

[lanciaman]

Originally posted by JacnGille
Don't forget Bobby Deerfield !

I don't think Michael Corleone says much about this in his memoirs.

Interesting only for seeing Alfa's brief bit of Hollywood involvement.

[LittleChris]

Originally posted by Superliner II


The sound of Neil Corners Mercedes w154 and the Auto Union warming up in the pits at Silverstone and going round copse and up towards maggots, still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck every time i watch it.

I've been cataloguing my videos this week and this involves rewatching some of them for snippets that I didn't realise I had. Last nights viewing included a piece done by Tiff Needell that appeared on Top Gear 10 years ago and involved footage of Neil Corner taking his W154 around the Nordschleife - FANTASTIC

[Superliner II]

I've been cataloguing my videos this week and this involves rewatching some of them for snippets that I didn't realise I had. Last nights viewing included a piece done by Tiff Needell that appeared on Top Gear 10 years ago and involved footage of Neil Corner taking his W154 around the Nordschleife - FANTASTIC

You just reminded me that i have got that too on video. I must dig it out next time i go back home to Ireland.

antonvrs Is the BBC "The Power and the Glory" still available? If so, where and how much? It sounds like a "must have"

I dont know where you can get a copy of 'The Power and the Glory' now. I got mine in HMV about 10 years ago and i have not seen it in stock anywhere for a long time. Your best bet is Motorbooks, Chatters or one of the other specialists. I have tried the BBC site a couple of times with no success just out of interest.

There was a specialist book seller at the Autosport show this year who had a lot of rare out of print books and perhaps some videos too. He might be worth asking but i can't remember his name. All i do remember is that he was a large chap with a monocle and had a very rare and desirable copy of Guy Edwards book on sponsorship that i would sell my granny for. Does anybody know who i am talking about?

Laurence

[fines]

No, I don't know your granny...

[Superliner II]

Grow up Fines.

Being smart does not suit you.

The tenor of the place is refreshingly civil, and usually every request gets a meaningful answer.

This from your own site in http://grand-prix-ra...mystery/tnf.htm

[antonvrs]

Originally posted by Superliner II


Grow up Fines.

Being smart does not suit you.



This from your own site in http://grand-prix-ra...mystery/tnf.htm

My, My.......
Anton

[jonovision_man]

One By One (aka. Quick and the Dead)... they showed it on Speed last year, it was great:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071942/

OK, the soundtrack is a bit annoying, with the 70's shots, but the video is great, including a cool circuit run with Jackie Stewart around Nurburgring.

And some disturbing deaths... in fact the openning scene is a guy running across the track and being sliced in two by a passing car... :-(

Captures an amazing time in motorsports, when it was truly life-and-death.

jono

[dretceterini]

Copies of The Racers are usually available on e-bay for a reasonable price. Has anyone here seen a movie called The Devil's Hairpin? Thoughts please...

[Gary C]

as part of my job, today I had to sit and wtach 'Bobby Deerfield' (Al Pacing, 1977). It's the first time I'd ever seen it. My conclusions are : half-baked storyline, with hardly ANY racing footage in it at all!!

[Gary C]

sorry,t hat should have read 'Al Pacino, 1977'

[fines]

Originally posted by Superliner II


Grow up Fines.

Being smart does not suit you.

I'm sorry, Laurence - I was just trying to make a joke! I didn't mean to ridicule you, if that's what you feel I've done. Peace?

[BorderReiver]

Originally posted by jonovision_man
One By One (aka. Quick and the Dead)... they showed it on Speed last year, it was great:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071942/

OK, the soundtrack is a bit annoying, with the 70's shots, but the video is great, including a cool circuit run with Jackie Stewart around Nurburgring.

And some disturbing deaths... in fact the openning scene is a guy running across the track and being sliced in two by a passing car... :-(

Captures an amazing time in motorsports, when it was truly life-and-death.

jono

That sounds very like the Tom Pryce tragedy. If they opened a movie with that I'd be very surprised/appalled.

[fines]

The tenor of the place is refreshingly civil, and usually every request gets a meaningful answer.

You see, this does not automatically exclude non-meaningful answers!;) Every once in a while, one has to be a bit childish (and TNFers are generally good at that) - this is a sort of life philosophy for me! Just lighten up.

[bbocaner]

Originally posted by BorderReiver


That sounds very like the Tom Pryce tragedy. If they opened a movie with that I'd be very surprised/appalled.

It is and they do... in slow motion :

[RTH]

They did . - There is some pretty ugly stuff in this film .

[Aanderson]

Originally posted by paulhooft
Two I like to have are:
To please a Lady by Mr. Gable
and The racers (made in mid 50's)
Paul

Ahh, "To Please A Lady", with Barbara Stanwyck and Clark Gable! That picture has "extras" in it whom I knew as a boy: 4 of my Junior High and High School teachers (I grew up in West Lafayette, just 65 miles northwest of the Speedway.

There were also a couple of Hollywood films made at least partially at Indianapolis in the 1930's, can't recall the names just now.

Also, don't forget "The Roar Of The Crowd" with Mickey Rooney, also has scenes at Indy.

"Winning", with Paul Newman and Robert Wagner is another favorite of mine. Several friends of mine appeared in crowd scenes, I can still pick them out in some short scenes.

[Superliner II]

Originally posted by fines

I'm sorry, Laurence - I was just trying to make a joke! I didn't mean to ridicule you, if that's what you feel I've done. Peace?

Fair enough. Life has thought me that if there is anything bothering me to do something about it. I like to deal with any problems straight away. My philosophy.

I appreciate your apology.

Laurence

[paulhooft]

Think I found The racers on Ebay...
with some luck...,
I hope get to please a lady..
too!!
There was another movie:
Those men are dangerous..
in the fifties..
heard of that one...??

Like most of us are...
but woman are even more...

Paul

[Rob29]

Originally posted by paulhooft
Think I found The racers on Ebay...
with some luck...,
I hope get to please a lady..
too!!
There was another movie:
Those men are dangerous..
in the fifties..
heard of that one...??

Like most of us are...
but woman are even more...

Paul

Paul,'The Racers' and 'SUCH men are dangerous' are one and the same! The latter was the title it was released under in the UK for some reason. I remember going to see it with my mum in 1955.Sadly it has never been released on VHS PAL video.The best I have is a german dubbed version taped from german TV.

[RTH]

Originally posted by Aanderson


Ahh, "To Please A Lady", with Barbara Stanwyck and Clark Gable! That picture has "extras" in it whom I knew as a boy: 4 of my Junior High and High School teachers (I grew up in West Lafayette, just 65 miles northwest of the Speedway.

There were also a couple of Hollywood films made at least partially at Indianapolis in the 1930's, can't recall the names just now.

Also, don't forget "The Roar Of The Crowd" with Mickey Rooney, also has scenes at Indy.

What you are thinking of is "The Crowd Roars " 1932 B&W 85 m starring James Cagney and Joan Blondell directed by Howard Hawkes

This was then remade using word for word script in 1939 as "Indianapolis Speedway " 82m B&W this time with Pat O'Brien and Ann Sheridan directed by Lloyd Bacon .

Both films follow exactly the same story line A racetrack driver wants his kid brother to continue in college and not follow him in to racing - he predicably fails to stop him . In both films there is lots of fascinating period footage of dirt track and board track racing as well as the brickyard.

[paulhooft]

Paul,'The Racers' and 'SUCH men are dangerous' are one and the same!


Thanks remembering me again!!
It is very stupid of me:
In fact:
I should have known better
someone wrote that somewhere, some years ago!!
So I should have know ...
simply forgotten...

Ahh, "To Please A Lady", with Barbara Stanwyck and Clark Gable!

I like to have that one, if possible as a DVD..
but I heard it not out yet

There were also a couple of Hollywood films made at least partially at Indianapolis in the 1930's, can't recall the names just now.
Also, don't forget "The Roar Of The Crowd" with Mickey Rooney, also has scenes at Indy.

I think I like to have the 1932 one, and the 1939 one..

Infact I have the Big Wheel...!! on video, DVD is ordered, coming from amazon.. anyday now
Thanks
greetings from the Netherlands, Europe...
It is not always that easy to get all that information here
But Internet helps a lot!!

Paul Hooft

It's a small world after all
(heard that one in a Disney park,
when in Orlando...)

[EnzoHonda]

Originally posted by BorderReiver
That sounds very like the Tom Pryce tragedy. If they opened a movie with that I'd be very surprised/appalled.

Yes, and it ends with Roger Williamson's fiery death at Zandvoort. Most of the film is good (I don't even mind the acid trip near the end), but showing driver fatalities is always wrong and gives it a "Too hot for TV" kind of image that I don't appreciate.

Anyway, my small collection of racing and automotive videos is currently limited to what I've downloaded off the net or taped off Speedchannel/Speedvision.

"Ferrari: Victory by Design" and "Porsche: Victory by Design" both show each manufacturers history in sports car racing. The Ferrari one is like a wet-dream to me. Also, I've been taping the half-hour "Legends of Motorsport" series lately. Gotta love 70's rally racing.

One thing I've downloaded off the net that I think everyone should have is"Climb Dance." I'm sure many of you will have heard of it, but for those who haven't, it's Ari Vatanen doing the Pikes Peak hill climb in a ridiculously fast Peugeot. Go type "Climb Dance" into Google to find it.

Oh, and thanks for everyone's suggestions. I'm sure many of these films will be appearing on my Chirstmas list this year.