Grand Prix (1966)

100% of critics liked it
(5 reviews)
86% of users liked it
(3,849 ratings)

There's a few million dollars' worth of star power and a nickel's worth of plot in the lavish race-car melodrama Grand Prix. Among the participants in this annual cross-continent competition are characters played by James Garner, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, and Antonio Sabato. Interested parties… More There's a few million dollars' worth of star power and a nickel's worth of plot in the lavish race-car melodrama Grand Prix. Among the participants in this annual cross-continent competition are characters played by James Garner, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, and Antonio Sabato. Interested parties include Toshiro Mifune (his voice dubbed by Paul Frees), Adolfo Celi, and Claude Dauphin, while the women who agonize on the sidelines include Eva Marie Saint, Jessica Walter, and Françoise Hardy. The racing sequences are top-rank, cleverly utilizing those 1960s devices of helicopter angles and multiple screens. Oscars went to editor Frederic Steinkamp (among others) and the sound-effects supervisor Franklin E. Milton. Filmed on location, Grand Prix made back its cost about half a week into its run. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 55 min.
Directed By: John Frankenheimer
Written By: Robert Alan Aurthur, William Hanley
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Dec 21, 1966 Wide
On DVD: Jul 11, 2006
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
this idea that while anything's possible through technology, the debt of that ambition is paid out in blood.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
Yes, the driving scenes dazzle, but Frankenheimer also embeds his 1966 Cinerama epic with some interesting commentary about risk-taking professions in general and the Formula One driver in particular. [Blu-ray]
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Ah, the joys of movies on disc, to be able to watch the film again by clicking only on the racing sequences. They are more than worth the price of the BD. (Blu-ray Edition)
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Despite its melodramatic glimpses into the drivers' private lives, the racing sequences more than make up for the deficiencies.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
The story alone is enough to almost make you become interested in auto racing.
Chuck O'Leary, FulvueDrive-in.com
Four decades later, John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix remains the best film ever made about professional auto racing.

Read all 6 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

El Hombre I

As the showpiece film for Formula One, Grand Prix is a cult favorite in the racing community. The racing sequences are tremendously exciting, shot from inside, in the air, along the track, in a chase car, pretty much everywhere that a camera can go. The fact that most of it was shot… More
As the showpiece film for Formula One, Grand Prix is a cult favorite in the racing community. The racing sequences are tremendously exciting, shot from inside, in the air, along the track, in a chase car, pretty much everywhere that a camera can go. The fact that most of it was shot at high speed in real life, much of it at actual Formula One races, gives it a very authentic look. The personal stories, which seem to drag quite a bit, are filler in between races, but it's Frankenheimer's direction that puts you right behind the wheel. <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view&current=grandprix.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/grandprix.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
cody f

Frankenheimer sure knows how to shoot a car chase.Great looking film with spectacular races. The plot is ok. I miss SuperPanavision!

Cast

            James Garner as Pete Aron

            Eva Marie Saint as Louise Frederickson

            Yves Montand as Jean-Pierre Sarti

            Toshiro Mifune as Izo Yamura

            Brian Bedford as Scott Stoddard

            Jessica Walter as Pat

            Antonio Sabato as Nino Barlini

            Francoise Hardy as Lisa

            Adolfo Celi as Agostini Manetta

            Claude Dauphin as Hugo Simon

            Enzo Fiermonte as Guido

            Geneviève Page as Monique Delvaux Sarti

            Jack Watson as Jeff Jordan

            Donal O'Brien as Wallace Bennett

            Jean Michaud as Children's father

            Albert Remy as Surgeon at Monte Carlo

            Rachel Kempson as Mrs. Stoddard

            Ralph Michael as Mr. Stoddard

            Alan Fordney as Sportcaster

            Anthony Marsh as Sportcaster

            Phil Hill as Tim Randolph

            Graham Hill as Bob Turner

            John Bryson as Photographer David

            Evans Evans as Mrs. Tim Randolph

            Arthur Howard as Claude

            Bruce McLaren as Douglas McClendon

            Jack Brabham
            
            Jim Russell
            
            Joakim Bonnier
            
            Richie Ginther as John Hogarth
See full cast