Le mans movie 1971

Le mans movie 1971, Filmed in 1970 and released in 1971, the movie Le Mans was not met with favorable reviews by movie critics but it remains one of the classic motor racing movies ever made. Although almost completely devoid of a discernible plot by traditional standards, the film is none-the-less entertaining for sports car enthusiasts because of the incredibly realistic racing scenes and total on-location filming. In fact, racing fans actually point to the lack of a plot as a plus, since nothing interferes with the racing, which is after all how McQueen wanted the film to be in the first place.

What little plot there is centers around the central character played by McQueen, Michael Delaney, an American race car driver who is returning to drive at Le Mans after surviving a serious accident the previous year. The first 36 minutes of the film are without any dialogue from any of the actors. The voice of Lee J. Cobb can be heard in the role of the track announcer, and his commentary serves to explain some of the more arcane aspects of the sport to members of the audience who may not be sports car or racing fans. But even after the main protagonists begin to speak, the dialogue is brief and rather uncomplicated. The race cars and the race dominate the film. As McQueen intended.

To learn a tremendous amount about the making of the movie, the circuit, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the cars, and the drivers, purchase the book "A French Kiss with Death". Not only is it filled with detail about the making of the movie, but it is crammed with mostly never before seen photos of McQueen and the actual locations used for the film.

If you don't already own the Le Mans DVD, buy it. It supports Dolby Surround Sound and the cinematography is outstanding. It's a must-have for Steve McQueen fans, as well as sports car racing fans.

Below are links to images captured from the Le Mans DVD showing the circuit and environs as they appeared in 1970, and links to photos I shot in 2005 and 2006 showing the same locations. In some cases they have changed little. In other cases there have been substantial changes. The Circuit des 24 Heures is still largely in the same configuration it was in 1970, although the entire stretch that passed by Maison Blanche on highway D139 has been bypassed by a curve which takes the race track onto the permanent Circuit Bugatti. While most of the remaining corners and curves have had their radii modified, and the 4-mile Mulsanne straight has had two chicanes inserted to slow the cars, the circuit would no doubt be very familiar to McQueen