Le Mans

– Steve McQueen is ideally cast as a champion race car driver, participating in the famed 24-hour race..

Type:
Movie
Rating:
6.80 / 10
Duration:
One Hour and 46 Minutes
Release Year:
1971
Le Mans (1971)

Steve McQueen is ideally cast as a champion race car driver, participating in the famed 24-hour race headquartered in Le Mans, France. Though dedicated to Going for the Gold, McQueen finds time to romance widowed Elga Andersen. The dramatic angle to this plot wrinkle is that McQueen may well have been responsible for the death of Andersen's husband during a previous car pile-up. Director John Sturges, who'd previously helmed Steve McQueen's legendary motorcycle chase scenes in The Great Escape, was originally slated to direct Le Mans, but withdrew from the project; it was then taken over by Lee H. Katzin.

Story Timeline:
Producing Country:
USA
Filming Locations:
Editor's Pick for:
Release Date:

23 Jun 1971

Language:

English, French, Italian, German

MPAA Content-Rating:
Approved

Director:

Lee H. Katzin

Writer:

Harry Kleiner

Main Actors:

Steve McQueen, Siegfried Rauch, Elga Andersen, Ronald Leigh-Hunt

Plot:

Almost in breadth and depth of a documentary, this movie depicts an auto race during the 70s on the world's hardest endurance course: Le Mans in France. The race goes over 24 hours on 14.5 kilometers of cordoned country road. Every few hours the two drivers per car alternate - but it's still a challenge for concentration and material. In the focus is the duel between the German Stahler in Ferrari 512LM and the American Delaney in Gulf Team Porsche 917. Delaney is under extraordinary pressure, because the year before he caused a severe accident, in which his friend Lisa's husband was killed.

Production:

Solar Productions

Ratings:
Internet Movie Database:
6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes:
70%
Metacritic:
52%