Le Mans - The Movie

SOLAR BOOK LE MANS AND 26 G5/6 CARS FOR MCQUEEN FILM
The Porsche 908 camera car entered for Le Mans by Solar Productions, the company making
the Steve McQueen film about the race, was still going well at the finish in the hands of Herbert
Linge and Jonathan Williams, despite losing an hour at the start. Over 250,000 ft of film were
shot by this car during the race and there were six more static cameras around the circuit. This
week filming has begun in earnest at the track which Solar Productions have hired for the next
12 weeks. Every hotel in the Le Mans area has been booked up for drivers, mechanics,
cameramen, technicians and so on and Solar have assembled a complete "village" as their
headquarters near the circuit.
The director of the film, whose story starts at the start of the 24 hours and finishes at the end
of it, is John Sturges who worked with McQueen in The Great Escape and Bullit. In charge of
special effects will be the young Swiss specialist who was responsible for the ski and bob
chases in On Her majesty's Secret Service. A total of 26 proper Group 5 and 6 cars, their
drivers and mechanics, will be at the circuit for the next 12 weeks: in all, filming will take five
months and the film will cost $6 million. It is expected to go on general release early next year.