GRAND PRIX
director John Frankenheimer, 1966
This is an awful movie. FFing boring.
Even Mifune is no good; small wonder, he didn't understand a word of what he was saying and just had a great dialogue coach.
Enunciation phonetically perfect, meaning/feeling zilch. Which fits in with the script, let's face it.
Uncredited co-director Henry Hathaway said about it (in Take One magazine):
"They wanted to give me a car or send me to Europe. But I had a car and I'd been to Europe... What the hell."
Whenever I watch it, I keep fast forwarding until the next Saul Bass sequence.
But then, it's worth it!
One nagging remark:
the movie was shot in Ultra Panavision for Cinerama presentation, which entailed using a 1:1.25 anamorphic lens.
For the video release, of course this was cut off to regular 1:2.25 70mm proportions.
We'll never never ever get to see it again as it was meant to be seen.
The same applies to
George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told
Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Henry Hathaway's Circus World
Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
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