Downhill Racer is a
1969The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
filmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and the first to be directed by
Michael RitchieMichael Brunswick Ritchie was an American film director.Ritchie was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the son of Patricia and Benbow Ferguson Ritchie...
. A drama about
ski racingAlpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
, it stars
Robert RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
and
Gene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
.
Tagline: How fast must a man go to get from where he's at?
Plot
Dave Chappelet is a self-centered, ambitious ski racer from
Idaho Springs, ColoradoThe City of Idaho Springs is a municipality in the U.S. state of Colorado that is the most populous settlement in Clear Creek County, Colorado. Idaho Springs is located in Clear Creek Canyon, in the mountains upstream from Golden, some thirty miles west of Denver...
with an outside chance of making the U.S. Olympic team.
He joins the team in mid-season in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and immediately clashes with the team's head coach, Eugene Claire, as well as the more experienced teammates. The ego-driven Chappelet complains about his assigned race positions and shows little interest in team success or morale.
After a couple of strong downhill performances that make him a rising contender, a ski equipment manufacturer begins to seek Chappelet's endorsement and his assistant Carole takes a romantic interest in him, which may or may not be sincere.
Chappelet becomes the U.S. team's best hope after top downhiller Johnny Creech is injured in a pre-Olympic race. Claire doesn't like counting on Chappelet, but a great deal is at stake and Chappelet delivers the race of his life winning the gold medal at the Olympics.
Production
The assistant coach of the U.S. Ski team is played by
Dabney ColemanDabney Wharton Coleman is an American actor, best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.-Early life:Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary...
and
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
actress
Camilla Sparv plays the love interest.
Karl Michael VoglerKarl Michael Vogler was a German actor probably best known for his appearances in several big-budget English-language films of the 1960s and 1970s, including The Blue Max where he co-starred with George Peppard and Ursula Andress followed a few years later by Patton, in which he portrayed Erwin...
appears as her boss, a ski company owner.
Locations
Lots of good
World CupThe FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...
ski racing action, leading to an exciting climax at the
Winter OlympicsAlpine skiing has been contested at every Winter Olympics since 1936, when a combined event was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. From 1948–80, the Winter Olympics also served as the World Championships in Olympic years...
. The winter scenes were filmed on location in the
AlpsThe Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, mostly in January
1969The third World Cup season began in December 1968 and concluded in March 1969. Karl Schranz of Austria won the first of two consecutive overall titles...
. Prominently featured are the
LauberhornThe Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald. Its summit is at an elevation of 8110 feet above sea level....
at
WengenWengen may refer to:*Wengen, a village and winter resort in Switzerland*La Val, a commune in South Tyrol, Italy with the German name "Wengen"*in Germany:**Wengen , a village in the municipality of Nennslingen in Mittelfranken...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and the
HahnenkammThe Hahnenkamm is a mountain in Austria, directly south of Kitzbühel, in the Kitzbühel Alps. The elevation of its summit is above sea level.The Hahnenkamm is part of the ski resort of Kitzbühel, and hosts the annual World Cup alpine ski races, the Hahnenkammrennen...
at
Kitzbühel-Demographic evolution:-Personalities:*Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre , entomologist and botanist*Alfons Walde , expressionist painter and architect*Peter Aufschnaiter , mountaineer and geographer...
,
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Also included were
MegèveMegève is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.Megève is a famous ski resort near the Mont-Blanc in the French Alps...
,
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and St. Anton,
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
The off-season scenes were filmed at various locations in
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
; the track scene was filmed at a relatively new
Potts Field, on the east campus of
CUThe University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
in
BoulderBoulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
.
Inspiration
The suspected inspiration for the lead character in the film was a composite of
Spider SabichVladimir Peter Sabich, Jr. was an American alpine ski racer. He was a member of the U.S. Ski Team in the late 1960s and competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics; he was the pro ski racing champion in 1971 & 1972.-Early life:...
and
Billy KiddWilliam Winston "Billy" Kidd is a former alpine ski racer, a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 1962-70 and a pro racer from 1970-72...
. Sabich, a young and attractive
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
n, finished fifth in the
slalomSlalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
at the
1968 OlympicsAlpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Grenoble, France. The six events were held at Chamrousse from February 9–17, 1968.Jean-Claude Killy won all three men's events, repeating Toni Sailer's triple-gold of 1956...
, at age 22. Kidd was a U.S. Ski Team veteran from
VermontVermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
who won the silver medal in the
slalomSlalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
at the
1964 OlympicsAlpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Innsbruck, Austria, from January 30 to February 7, 1964.The men's downhill was held on Patscherkofel , the other five events at Axamer Lizum....
at age 20. Those close to Sabich remember him as much more positive and easy-going than Redford's character, Dave Chappellet. While Kidd was more aloof than Sabich, he too was more light-hearted (and had a much better sense of humor) than Chappellet.
Realization
The far-fetched notion of an American winning the men's
OlympicAlpine skiing has been contested at every Winter Olympics since 1936, when a combined event was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. From 1948–80, the Winter Olympics also served as the World Championships in Olympic years...
downhillDownhill is an alpine skiing discipline. The rules for the Downhill were originally developed by Sir Arnold Lunn for the 1921 British National Ski Championships....
would be realized fifteen years later, when brash upstart
Bill JohnsonWilliam Dean "Bill" Johnson is a former alpine ski racer with the U.S. Ski Team. He was the first American male to win an Olympic gold medal in alpine skiing, winning the downhill at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Bill has 2 sons, named Tyler and Nick...
predicted his victory in
1984Alpine skiing at the 1984 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Sarajevo, Yugoslavia .The men's races were held at Bjelašnica, the women's at Jahorina from February 13-19, 1984....
in
SarajevoSarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, and then delivered, besting silver medalist
Peter MüllerPeter Müller is a Swiss former champion alpine ski racer, a prominent downhiller during the 1980s. A world champion in 1987 in the downhill, he was a silver medalist the downhill in two world championships and two Olympic games .Müller was the World Cup season titlist in the downhill in 1979,...
of
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
by 0.27 seconds.
A decade later, a humbler
Tommy MoeTommy Moe is a former alpine ski racer. He is now retired from international competition and lives in Wilson, Wyoming...
won on a considerably more challenging course in
Lillehammeris a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, taking Olympic gold for the USA in
1994Alpine skiing at the 1994 Winter Olympics consisted of ten events held near Lillehammer, Norway. The speed events were held at Kvitfjell and the technical events at Hafjell, from February 13-27, 1994.-Downhill:February 13, 1994-Super G:February 17, 1994...
by a mere 0.04 seconds over the home country favorite,
Kjetil André AamodtKjetil André Aamodt is a Norwegian former alpine ski racer, and is the most decorated in history....
.
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