Downhill Racer
Encyclopedia
Downhill Racer is a 1969
film
and the first to be directed by Michael Ritchie
. A drama about ski racing
, it stars Robert Redford
and Gene Hackman
.
Tagline: How fast must a man go to get from where he's at?
with an outside chance of making the U.S. Olympic team.
He joins the team in mid-season in Europe
, 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.
and Swedish
actress Camilla Sparv plays the love interest. Karl Michael Vogler
appears as her boss, a ski company owner.
ski racing action, leading to an exciting climax at the Winter Olympics
. The winter scenes were filmed on location in the Alps
, mostly in January 1969
. Prominently featured are the Lauberhorn
at Wengen
, Switzerland
, and the Hahnenkamm
at Kitzbühel
, Austria
. Also included were Megève
, France
and St. Anton, Austria
.
The off-season scenes were filmed at various locations in Colorado
; the track scene was filmed at a relatively new Potts Field, on the east campus of CU
in Boulder
.
and Billy Kidd
. Sabich, a young and attractive California
n, finished fifth in the slalom
at the 1968 Olympics
, at age 22. Kidd was a U.S. Ski Team veteran from Vermont
who won the silver medal in the slalom
at the 1964 Olympics
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.
downhill
would be realized fifteen years later, when brash upstart Bill Johnson
predicted his victory in 1984
in Sarajevo
, and then delivered, besting silver medalist Peter Müller
of Switzerland
by 0.27 seconds.
A decade later, a humbler Tommy Moe
won on a considerably more challenging course in Lillehammer
, Norway
, taking Olympic gold for the USA in 1994
by a mere 0.04 seconds over the home country favorite, Kjetil André Aamodt
.
1969 in film
The 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...
film
Film
A 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 Ritchie
Michael Ritchie (film director)
Michael 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 racing
Alpine skiing
Alpine 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 Redford
Robert Redford
Charles 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 Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene 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, ColoradoIdaho Springs, Colorado
The 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 Europe
Europe
Europe 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 Coleman
Dabney 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 Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , 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 Vogler
Karl Michael Vogler
Karl 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 CupAlpine skiing World Cup
The 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 Olympics
Alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics
Alpine 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 Alps
Alps
The 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 1969
1969 Alpine Skiing World Cup
The 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 Lauberhorn
Lauberhorn
The 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 Wengen
Wengen
Wengen 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...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland 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 Hahnenkamm
Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel
The 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
Kitzbühel
-Demographic evolution:-Personalities:*Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre , entomologist and botanist*Alfons Walde , expressionist painter and architect*Peter Aufschnaiter , mountaineer and geographer...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , 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 Megève
Megève
Megève 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...
, France
France
The 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, Austria
Austria
Austria , 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 Colorado
Colorado
Colorado 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 CU
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
in Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder 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 SabichSpider Sabich
Vladimir 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 Kidd
Billy Kidd
William 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 California
California
California 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 slalom
Slalom skiing
Slalom 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 Olympics
Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics
Alpine 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 Vermont
Vermont
Vermont 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 slalom
Slalom skiing
Slalom 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 Olympics
Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics
Alpine 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 at the Winter Olympics
Alpine 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...
downhill
Downhill
Downhill 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 Johnson
Bill Johnson (skier)
William 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 1984
Alpine skiing at the 1984 Winter Olympics
Alpine 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 Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |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 Müller
Peter Müller (skier)
Peter 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 Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland 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 Moe
Tommy Moe
Tommy 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 Lillehammer
Lillehammer
is 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...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , 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 1994
Alpine skiing at the 1994 Winter Olympics
Alpine 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 Aamodt
Kjetil André Aamodt
Kjetil André Aamodt is a Norwegian former alpine ski racer, and is the most decorated in history....
.
External links
- Sports Illustrated - "How to Succeed in Racing Without Really Racing" - 24-Nov-1969
- Roger Ebert - review of Downhill Racer - 22-Dec-1969