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Grand Prix question (1 Viewer)

Vahan_Nisanain

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TCM just aired this film during their James Garner tribute, and I have a question about it:
Is there a version of this film on video with the original MGM logo that started the picture? It was similar to the one used for their Hotel in Las Vegas. Only two other films used it: 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Subject Was Roses.

The print on TCM used the previous logo from the 1960's.
 
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Allansfirebird

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I'm pretty sure the logo seen at the front of Grand Prix is the one originally used. Doctor Zhivago, made the previous year, had the same logo. The one used on 2001 didn't come into use until 1967 or 1968, I believe.
 
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AdrianTurner

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BBC ran this in HD a week ago, perchance on the day James Garner died. The picture was in 2.20:1, fabulous quality and it was the original logo with the 'in Cinerama' credit at the beginning.
 
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RolandL

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Magazine ad
grandprixad.jpg


Movie poster
grandprixsubway.jpg


Ticket flyer
gptf.jpg


gptfb.jpg
 

Vahan_Nisanain

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Yep, they all featured the MGM Circle logo, that was only seen on three of their films.

There's a 1991 LBX laserdisc. Does that one have the MGM Circle logo that was only seen on three of their films?
 
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cinerama10

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RolandL said:
Magazine ad
grandprixad.jpg


Movie poster
grandprixsubway.jpg


Ticket flyer
gptf.jpg


gptfb.jpg
The ads above bought back memories of when I saw GRAND PRIX at the Warner in NYC. I also saw the film in Cinerama in New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and the U.S.A. . Those were the days when cinema going was unlike today, an event.
 
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Douglas R

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Vahan_Nisanain said:
Yep, they all featured the MGM Circle logo, that was only seen on three of their films.
What evidence is there, apart from an entry in Wikopedia which gets repeated everywhere, that GRAND PRIX ever had the round stylized logo? I saw both GRAND PRIX and 2001 at the Casino Cinerama in London. 2001 opened in May 1968 and I noted the new round logo at the beginning of the film, thinking it was the first time I'd ever seen it. GRAND PRIX had opened the previous year and I'm certain it had the usual Leo the Lion logo.

I don't know about THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES because I've never seen it but I can't see why that would have had the round logo considering there were many other MGM films released between 2001 and that film. Unless someone can prove otherwise I'd say only 2001 ever had the round logo..
 

Vic Pardo

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I've still never seen GRAND PRIX, although I do have it on DVD. I just remember the Mad Magazine satire where the announcer declares, "And the winner is...the car with the Panavision camera filming the race!" :lol:

The film is historically significant because it was Toshiro Mifune's first Hollywood film.
 

GlennF

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This is the kind of film that is great on Blu-ray. You can watch the car races, which are excellent and the likes of which will never be seen again, and skip the drama, which is pretty soap operaish (sp?)
 

jauritt

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cinerama10 said:
The ads above bought back memories of when I saw GRAND PRIX at the Warner in NYC. I also saw the film in Cinerama in New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and the U.S.A. . Those were the days when cinema going was unlike today, an event.
I believe it would be more appropriate to say that you saw the film on a Cinerama screen, as Grand Prix was filmed in Super Panavision 70, not Cinerama.
 

Douglas R

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jauritt said:
I believe it would be more appropriate to say that you saw the film on a Cinerama screen, as Grand Prix was filmed in Super Panavision 70, not Cinerama.
I think it's more accurate to say that Cinerama changed from being a 3 panel 35mm system to a single lens 70 mm system. After all, GRAND PRIX wasn't just a 70mm film stuck on the Cinerama screen, it was intended during production to be a Cinerama presentation as was 2001, BATTLE OF THE BULGE, KRAKATOA, CUSTER OF THE WEST (all those point of view shots) and others.
 

RolandL

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jauritt said:
I believe it would be more appropriate to say that you saw the film on a Cinerama screen, as Grand Prix was filmed in Super Panavision 70, not Cinerama.
This is similar to today, when people say "you need to see this in IMAX 3D" or "I saw it in IMAX 3D". IMAX and IMAX 3D use to be 70mm 15 perf. Now its just a digital projection on an IMAX or fake IMAX screen.
 

Nelson Au

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Hey guys, I was in a kind of James Garner mood having watched the brand new Criterion release of The Great Escape and some Rockford Files episodes recently. I viewed Grand Prix this evening. It’s still a great racing film, I think I’ve seen it in every home video format except VHS from laser discs to DVD to the blu ray. The blu ray looks great!

i made it a note to double check the MGM logo at the proper start of the film right after the overture. The MGM logo on the blu ray is Leo the lion. I’ve never seen this film at the theater in Cinerama so I have idea if the MGM logo was ever like the stylized one at the start of 2001.
 

JoeDoakes

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I just watched this for the first time. I think it could have been better cast. I like James Garner, but this role should have gone to Steve McQueen. Garner is as his best when he is talking. Only Steve McQueen could have said as much as needed with so few lines. Jessica Walters was miscast. She really doesn't fit the role of the coquette, but I think she got the role because she was such a good actress. She delivers every line perfectly. She would be a much better fit in Play Misty for Me.. Eva Marie Saint was 41 or 42 when she made this. Even though she was playing against a few years senior Yyes Montand, today, the actress in that part wouldn't be older than 28. But of course, Yyes Montand is the exception. He is perfect.
 

Jack P

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I thought Jessica Walter did fine in her role. To me, Eva Marie Saint totally embarrassed herself in a part that was ludicrously contrived. Walter and Francoise Hardy I felt played characters reflective of what we see in racing (Walter as the wife who has to make peace with her man's desire to race; Hardy as the groupie). Saint's part though was shallow as was her performance.

I do agree that everything about Garner's role comes off as something that McQueen would have been much better in, because the character is given a minimal backstory and says little compared to the others. That "loner" image defines McQueen, not Garner.
 

Robin9

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I've never watched Grand Prix and thought the film would be better with a different cast. I like it the way it is. There are numerous other films which I do think would have been improved with different actors. (Different directors too sometimes!)
 

Keith Cobby

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I think the racing scenes are very good, John Frankenheimer was excellent as a director of action. The rest of the film not so good, although I like it as a fan of James Garner and Eva Marie Saint. The blu ray is very nice, although I don't like the multiple split screen effects.
 

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