Quote:
Originally Posted by MTI
There's several great stories related to the filming of "Grand Prix" involving Garner. He did do much of his own driving, while some of the other actors were so terrified, their camera shots were mostly in towed cars. Steve McQueen, who had also been planning a Formula One movie, was so literally "pi$$ed" that when the two lived in the same apartment building, McQueen used to take a leak onto Garner's patio every night from his upstairs unit.
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I never knew that but it is very easy to believe. The actor that played Jean Pierre made all sorts of grimacing faces that you would never expect to see on the face of a driver while concentrating on staying in the groove or setting up to pass. Garner OTOH looked focused as you would expect to see a professional race driver while at work.
I was in Monaco about 10 days after 9/11. There were several of us that flew in for a meeting in Sophia, so we spent the afternoon and evening in Monaco. I drove our rented peugot around wha I believed to be the course. The tunnel and the run along near the harbor were clearly part of the course but I wasnt sure about much of the rest of it. Going through the tunnel gave me goosebumps, and looking into the harbor made me wonder if James Garner was going to be swimming with a helmet.
Another James Garner scene in the movie that was clearly him doing his own driving was when he was driving the Mustang GT 350H to the track.
Grand Prix won an oscar for special effects as I recall. I saw that movie while n high school or shortly after. I was awed at the beginning of the movie with the multiple frames. It was an effect I had not seen before and was really impressed by it.
The filming of the movie was outstanding and seemntly realistic as opposed to see many hollywood car races with hokey stuff like tires squealing on a dirt road.
Another very enjoyable movie of his was with Sally Fields where he played a druggist that fell in love with a younger woman. He had an anique car in that one too.