Graham Hill Movies

This glossy Alistair MacLean action programmer concerns the machinations involved in smuggling an Eastern European scientist out of France and into the United States while being pursued by gang of international pirates, who want the scientist for themselves so that they can grab the secrets that the scientist holds and sell them to the highest bidder. The film deals with Neil Bowman (David Birney), a carefree American who is hired by French land baron the Duc de Croyter (Michel Lonsdale) to make sure that the scientist finds his way safely aboard a jet bound for America. Lila (Charlotte Rampling), a svelte British photographer, happens upon the scene and snuggles up to Neil, right before barriers are throw in their way by the pirate-kidnappers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

There's a few million dollars' worth of star power and a nickel's worth of plot in the lavish race-car melodrama Grand Prix. Among the participants in this annual cross-continent competition are characters played by James Garner, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, and Antonio Sabato. Interested parties include Toshiro Mifune (his voice dubbed by Paul Frees), Adolfo Celi, and Claude Dauphin, while the women who agonize on the sidelines include Eva Marie Saint, Jessica Walter, and Françoise Hardy. The racing sequences are top-rank, cleverly utilizing those 1960s devices of helicopter angles and multiple screens. Oscars went to editor Frederic Steinkamp (among others) and the sound-effects supervisor Franklin E. Milton. Filmed on location, Grand Prix made back its cost about half a week into its run. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide