Grim Pix

Sorry, "Grim Pix" is the title of the MAD magazine version of Grand Prix, and I couldn't resist.

We watched Frankenheimer's Grand Prix on the recommendation of Larry Ardlette of the defunct blog Welcome to L.A. Sorry, Larry, we liked Le Mans better.

Grand Prix follows four Formula One racers in one championship season: brash American James Garner, who causes a wreck and disables (soon to be ex-) teammate, British Brian Bedford. Bedford winds up semi-crippled, but determined to race and win, due partly to an obsession with his dead brother, Racer X - no, wrong movie. Next we have world-weary Frenchman Yves Montand - his character's name, Jean-Paul Sarti indicates his existential ennui. Finally, conceited young Italian Antonio Sabato. We also get Toshiro Mifune as a Japanese builder, and Adolpho Celli as the Ferrari builder.

Each of these racers is given a romantic interest: Bedford's wife leaves him when he gets racked up; can't take the suspense of him getting creamed so often. She shacks up with Garner, who is just as likely to buy it on the track, but she doesn't care as much. Eva Marie Saint, looking business-like, innocent and brittle, falls for married Montand. And lucky Sabato, his girl is French popstar Francoise Hardy, who doesn't drink, smoke, or dance, but...

But we didn't come to this movie for the soap opera, we came for the racing. And considering this is a 3-hour movie, we get a lot less racing than you might expect. What we do get is good, especially the starting scenes of the Monaco Grand Prix. There is a nice combination of aerial shots and shots from the car's point of view. There's some split screen stuff that looks dated but well-done.

Some of the other races are less compelling - Momza (I think) was done in slow-mo, with a sweet sound track and drifting pollen/butterflies/etc to signify the blossoming Saint/Montard love affair was interesting, but not a choice I would have made. But some great racing scenes, no doubt.

But Le Mans had an immediacy that set my heart racing in a way the Grand Prix just didn't. Le Mans covered a single 24-hour race, drawing you into the detailed strategy. In Grand Prix, you didn't always know who was ahead in a race.

Then there was the story - Obviously Grand Prix spent more running time on the 4 love affairs, but Le Mans acheived almost as much saying much less. Although he had almost no dialog, we fell closer to McQueen than to Garner, a very similar character. Both were involved in (or possibly caused) a crash. Both felt guilt, but wouldn't let it get in the way of winning. But in the end, we feel more for McQueen just watching him race then we do watching Garner with his victims' wife.

Watch them both. Watch Grand Prix first (it was made first, after all). Then let me know what you think.