le mans

Director: lee h. katzin

Actor: steve mcqueen,siegfried rauch,elga andersen,ronald leigh-hunt

Data Published: Wed Jun 23 1971

Genres: Action,Adventure,Drama,Sport

Key Words: motor sports,car racing,automobile,american abroad,race

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067334/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Mans_(film)

Description: Le Mans is a movie starring Steve McQueen, Siegfried Rauch, and Elga Andersen. Almost at the verge of documentary, film depicts a single auto race from the ground up.

Plot: Top flight Le Mans racing driver Michael Delaney spots former rival Piero Belgetti's widow Lisa buying flowers in the days before the 1971 race; he then drives to the scene of the accident which killed her husband the previous year. He has a flashback of Belgetti losing control of his Ferrari, forcing him to crash as well. Like many others, Lisa appears to feel Delaney was responsible, at least in part, for the accident. At the race she is understandably downcast while working through her emotions. In an awkward scene, Delaney looks for a place to sit in the crowded track commissary, only to ask Lisa if he may join her. There is obvious tension between them, but also respect and a hint of mutual attraction. After 13 hours of racing, Erich Stahler spins his Ferrari 512 at Indianapolis Corner, causing teammate Claude Aurac to veer off the track in a major accident. Momentarily distracted by the flames of Aurac's car, Delaney reacts too late to safely avoid a slower car, striking the guardrail and then bouncing several times across the road, striking the guardrails on each side of the road multiple times, totaling his Porsche 917. Both survive, but Aurac's injuries are extensive and he is medevaced to a hospital by helicopter. Lisa appears at the track clinic where Delaney is briefly treated. She is distraught at his crash, which stirs up emotions from Piero's passing she had been seeking to put in the past. Delaney consoles her and rescues her from a horde of reporters. After he puts her in a waiting car, a journalist asks Delaney whether his and Aurac's accident can be compared to the one with Belgetti in the previous year's race. Delaney merely stares him down. Porsche driver Johann Ritter senses that his wife, Anna, would like for him to quit racing. He suggests it, thinking she will be overjoyed. She demurs and says she would like it only if he likes it. He chides her a bit about not being entirely honest. Later the decision is taken out of his hands when team manager David Townsend replaces him for not being quick enough on the track. Anna tries to comfort him, reminding him that he was planning to quit anyway. Lisa goes to Delaney's trailer to talk with him. After his brush with death she is even more drawn to him and despairs that he may meet the same fate as her husband, but Delaney finds the thrill too addictive to quit. Townsend enters and asks him to take over driving Ritter's car. After a moment's unspoken communion with Lisa, he follows Townsend who tells him "Michael, I want you to drive flat out. I want Porsche to win Le Mans." In the closing minutes of the race the two Porsches and their rival Ferraris vie for the win, with Delaney in the #21 car and teammate Larry Wilson in #22. The Ferrari leading the race retires due to a flat tire, leaving Wilson in the lead and only Delaney's archrival, Stahler, to contend. The faster pair quickly catch Wilson. Delaney passes Stahler for second place. Slower traffic in his lane forces Delaney to brake, allowing Stahler to overtake on the left. Delaney drafts the German, then both move alongside Wilson. Rather than try to pass Stahler, then possibly Wilson, Delaney drops back and bumps Stahler, forcing him to throttle back to avoid spinning out when the Ferrari goes partially off the pavement. Delaney then uses the guardrail to block the aggressive Stahler's last ditch effort to overhaul, ensuring a win for Porsche. The teammates cross the finish line 1-2.