Aug. 29, 1964 - Director John Frankenheimer, fresh from wrecking a multi-million-dollar train for United Artists, will soon be shifting to a new mode of transportation. During the interminable months he spent guiding Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, and Burt Lancaster through the WWII occupation drama called “The Train,” the director spent his spare time as a fascinated spectator of the auto-racing centers in England, Germany, and the Côte d’Azur.
The result of Frankenheimer’s sideline pursuits is a brand-new story idea called, naturally enough, “Grand Prix.” It will trace the careers and motivations of a group of top competitive racers — with nationalities varying enough to suit the international market.
Since the energetic creator of “Seven Days in May” and “The Manchurian Candidate” is lucky enough to be able to pick and choose his projects these days, he has had no difficulty in setting his idea in motion. Edward Lewis and Lewis John Carlino, respectively producer and writer of his next two pictures, snapped at the subject, and the script is already underway for summer, 1965.
Frankenheimer is giving serious consideration to utilizing the audience participation possibilities of Cinerama for his racing car saga. He just saw what the youthful filmmakers of “To Be Alive” did with the medium in their speeding scenes at the Johnson’s Wax pavilion at the World’s Fair, and after that, the prospect of zipping along those racing roads on three vast screens has become awfully hard to resist.
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