Video Review:  

Le Mans

Director : Lee H. Katzin

reviewed by Larry Cooper

This is the film for you hard-core racers.

Steve McQueen takes you for a drive in the country.  The country is France The drive
is at 200 MPH !

This is the most realistic film about racing ever made; it is based largely on events that actually occurred during the 38th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970. This movie is an absolute time capsule of what it was like to race at Le Mans at what was arguably its zenith : when the Porsche 917's broke the Ford GT-40's streak of 4 victories in a row. The Porsche 917's main competition in 1970 was not the GT-40 though, it was the Ferrari 512 LM. The GT-40 didn't really have a chance. Ford had lost interest and Porsche and Ferrari came full throttle with full factory support and dominated the race.

The movie starts off as a field guide to competing at Le Mans:

You are told that the course is 13.469 Kilometers/ 8.018 miles long. That it is made up of country roads linked to the main highway which provides the famous Mulsanne Straight. Nearly all of the circuit is open to public traffic 363 days of the year, and that the drivers can hit a maximum speed of over 230 MPH on the Mulsanne Straight. You are given a bit of history and reference points:

The first race was held in 1923; the average speed of the winner was 66.69 MPH with a fastest lap speed of 9 min. 39 seconds. In the race held in 1969, the winner had an average speed of 145.508 MPH with a fastest lap of 3 min. 22 seconds. Next, you are told that the race is open to 6 classes of cars, from the smallest production models (Porsche 914's competed in the 1970 event) to the largest sports and prototype entries (the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 LM) all competing at the same time on the same circuit.

You are told there are 55 cars entered for the 1970 event, and there are 110 drivers. No driver is allowed to drive more than 4 hours at a time or more than 14 hours in the entire race and that all the drivers must wear underwear  capable of withstanding a temperature of 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds - (higher than) the temperature of burning gasoline.

Next, you are told of the signaling system, usually used in the case of an accident:
yellow light = danger,  no passing. 
red light = stop
green = normal racing

(The event which hastened the implementation of this system was the tragedy that occurred here in 1955): Concerned about a course laid out in 1923 when cars were much slower, Mercedes driver, Pierre Levegh complained, " We need a signal system. Our cars go too fast." Levegh's premonition of foreboding proved prescient: during the 3rd hour of the race, Jaguar driver Mike Hawthorne was signaled by his pit to stop for fuel, as he stomped on his brakes to get in the pit, an Austin - Healey swerved to avoid him. Pierre Levegh, traveling at more  than 150 MPH in his 300 SLR hit the back of the Healey. and was rocketed into the crowd end over end, its magnesium body becoming a fireball. The densely packed crowd (estimated at 250,000 that day) had no  chance to escape.

The Mercedes exploded components: the engine and front axle carved a swath through the crowd, and the hood decapitated people. It is said that 82 people died and 76 were injured. Ironically Mike Hawthorne and his Jaguar won the race.

Back to the present, 1970. We are told that  in the interest of safety, the traditional running start by the drivers to jump in their cars to start the race has been abandoned, and instead their will be a standing start with cars having set positions on the starting grid based on qualifying times. The race will start shortly. The race always starts at 4 pm on a Saturday and ends 24 hours later at 4 pm on Sunday ; the car that travels the furthest by that time is declared the winner. The winner will have traveled over 3000 miles in that time.  Steve McQueen plays ( fictional ) race car driver Michael Delaney. He drives a 917 for the Gulf-Porsche team. His main adversary is Erich Stahler (played by Siegfried Rauch) who drives a Ferrari 512 LM.

We are told it is 4 minutes before the start of the race....Now is when the movie really starts.....you are in Steve McQueen's Porsche 917. YOU ARE POSITIONED IN THE 2nd Row ON THE STARTING GRID....YOU PUT YOUR HELMET ON. YOU CAN HEAR YOUR HEART BEATING. The announcer at the track starts announcing the grid position for every car, naming the manufacturer and starting driver. You can tell what country  a team's car is from : U.S.A. = blue/white, Italy = red, France =blue, Germany = white/silver, Great Britain=green  Canada =green, Holland =orange, Belgium = yellow, Finland = black.

Every 30 seconds the announcer counts down the time to the start : " 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining..... 2 minutes remaining.....1 minute, 30 seconds remaining."

TWELVE CYLINDER ENGINES ARE BROUGHT TO LIFE ALL AROUND YOU CREATING THUNDER....and yet, the sound you are most aware of is the sound of your heart beating louder and faster in your helmet as the adrenaline is shooting through your body....."1 minute remaining. "You check your gauges....everything looks good. You swivel your head around....you are surrounded by 917's and 512's, with some GT-40's and Lolas a few rows back. You are about to start at Le Mans....And it looks just like Speed Racer come to life. The race starts and you get some beautiful views of the  French countryside...and your competition gets some nice views of the back of a Porsche 917.  As the sun sets, you get awful glare....hope I brought my sunglasses....wouldn't want to come around a turn  fast and find a slow Porsche 911 in front of me at the last second. It starts to rain....now you are in the pits with the Porsche and Ferrari team managers...they are both trying to figure out if it is a passing shower or if it will be steady. If its steady the team that goes to rain tires first will have a big edge.....if it turns out to be just temporary, and you went to rain tires while your competition didn't you lose time for two pit stops to go back to slicks.  Steve McQueen goes into the cafe that is track-side during one of his rest periods. He spots the wife of a driver he was in a terrible accident with at Nurburgring the  previous season....he sits down at her table.

Lisa Belgetti : " When people risk their lives, shouldn't it be for something important?"

Michael Delaney: " Well, it better be "

Lisa : " What is so important about driving faster than anyone else?"

Michael : "A lot of people go through life doing things badly; racing is important to men (remember this is 1970/71 ) who do it well...when you are racing, it's life.....anything that happens before or after is just waiting."

During the race, every time there is an accident, the yellow caution light comes on and the announcer broadcasts to the crowd what cars are involved.  Eventually we get to see what the mobile hospital room, trackside looks like. This isn't a film in the conventional sense. It is more of an intimate look at what it was like to race at Le Mans in 1970. The average person looking for a movie with a plot, fully drawn characters, witty lines and a happy ending won't be satisfied with this movie, but.....If you are a racing fan and want to see a gritty, realistic film on racing you will probably be quite pleased with it....I thought it was great.

If you liked this film, you may also like: Grand Prix (1966)

Larry Cooper is an options trader from New York City.  He is an avid movie buff and loves collecting cars.