‘Le Mans’ Reveals Stirring Secrets Behind Classic Film
Read the crazy story behind Steve McQueen’s gripping drama, and the Porsche that became a movie star.
If you haven’t seen the classic 1971 racing movie Le Mans, you’re missing out. The legendary Steve McQueen plays top race car driver Michael Delaney, who drives a Porsche 917 that he ends up totaling in a fiery crash. All is not lost, however: When Delaney’s teammate is fired from their team, Delaney takes over his Porsche 917 and wins the race. The movie is a hardcore racing fan’s dream, packed so full of racing footage that it’s 36 minutes into the film before McQueen even speaks his first word of dialogue.
It turns out that there was more drama behind the scenes of Le Mans than there was in front of the cameras. On April 10, a new book about the making of Le Mans will be released. Written by the movie’s property master Don Nunley and McQueen biographer Marshall Terrill, the book’s called Steve McQueen: Le Mans in the Rearview Mirror, and it dishes all the dirt on how a straightforward racing movie turned into a logistical nightmare.
Le Mans had so many problems, it was almost as if the movie was cursed. A driver lost part of his leg in an accident during filming. Production was shut down for a period of time. McQueen butted heads with original director John Sturges. The film went over budget. McQueen himself was also spiraling out of control. During the time he was making Le Mans, he ended his 15-year marriage, his production company went belly-up, and he lost much of his personal fortune. It didn’t help that, at the time, notorious madman Charles Manson had named McQueen as one of his targets. The terrified McQueen began carrying a gun everywhere he went.
Le Mans had so many problems, it was as if it was cursed. It didn’t help that Charles Manson named Steve McQueen as one of his targets.
When Le Mans was finally finished, there was no wrap party. When the film came out, it was savaged by critics, and it flopped at the box office. McQueen was bitterly disappointed. Le Mans had been his dream movie, and after a decade in the making, it was painful to see it crash and burn.
Today, however, the majority of racing fans count Le Mans among the best racing movies ever made. McQueen would be ecstatic to see that his ill-fated film has become a classic. Featuring hundreds of never-before-seen color photos of McQueen on set and racing his Porsche 917 to victory, Steve McQueen: Le Mans in the Rearview Mirror celebrates this seminal racing movie and its tumultuous backstory. Check it out in a bookstore near you this April; it’s sure to be a wild ride.