1
00:00:50,300 --> 00:00:52,098
Camera B rolling.

2
00:00:52,386 --> 00:00:53,558
And action.

3
00:01:40,017 --> 00:01:41,564
OK.

4
00:01:41,852 --> 00:01:46,483
Uh, why don't we just dive in
and have a look at uh... Steve,

5
00:01:46,773 --> 00:01:50,778
what do you think of the
circumstances that might have

6
00:01:51,069 --> 00:01:53,037
led up to the disease itself?

7
00:01:53,322 --> 00:01:55,450
How do you perceive that?

8
00:01:55,741 --> 00:01:57,459
Two ways.

9
00:01:57,743 --> 00:02:03,466
One is asbestos poisoning in
my lungs, which is very rare.

10
00:02:03,749 --> 00:02:05,501
Two is, I think,
there were times

11
00:02:05,792 --> 00:02:07,635
when I was under pressure.

12
00:02:07,919 --> 00:02:11,219
I had a battle in my
business with somebody

13
00:02:11,506 --> 00:02:14,350
for about five years, so
I think I really wanted

14
00:02:14,635 --> 00:02:18,640
to let go under pressure.

15
00:02:28,690 --> 00:02:30,909
It all began when a super star

16
00:02:31,193 --> 00:02:34,823
who loved auto racing decided
to do a picture about his sport.

17
00:02:39,701 --> 00:02:41,999
That was most
seminal moment in his life.

18
00:02:46,291 --> 00:02:49,761
What was happening when we
were shooting this movie should

19
00:02:50,045 --> 00:02:53,140
happen to no man.

20
00:02:53,423 --> 00:02:56,643
I just wanted to
get it down on film, what

21
00:02:56,927 --> 00:02:58,007
I thought it was all about.

22
00:03:21,451 --> 00:03:23,624
Ladies and gentlemen,
the male world

23
00:03:23,912 --> 00:03:26,461
film favorite, Steve McQueen.

24
00:03:36,675 --> 00:03:37,675
Thank you.

25
00:03:43,265 --> 00:03:44,742
If you had your
life to do over again,

26
00:03:44,766 --> 00:03:46,734
would you do it the same way?

27
00:03:47,018 --> 00:03:48,190
Damn right.

28
00:03:49,855 --> 00:03:53,610
Every bit of it,
because I think film

29
00:03:53,900 --> 00:03:54,980
is a very important medium.

30
00:04:02,367 --> 00:04:04,327
When he was the number one
superstar in the world,

31
00:04:04,411 --> 00:04:06,379
he was, like, I
think, 38 years old.

32
00:04:06,663 --> 00:04:09,166
People went nuts
wherever he went.

33
00:04:09,458 --> 00:04:12,177
He was American Royalty.

34
00:04:12,461 --> 00:04:12,962
Groovy.

35
00:04:13,253 --> 00:04:14,253
Thanks.

36
00:04:18,300 --> 00:04:20,223
I started on a farm, in
the state of Missouri,

37
00:04:20,510 --> 00:04:25,016
and I lived there in
my youth, and I got

38
00:04:25,307 --> 00:04:26,547
out of there as quick as I can.

39
00:04:29,352 --> 00:04:31,571
His background gave him

40
00:04:31,855 --> 00:04:35,450
a courageous element that stood
him in very, very good stead

41
00:04:35,734 --> 00:04:37,156
at that time.

42
00:04:37,444 --> 00:04:40,288
I don't know
very much about art or music,

43
00:04:40,572 --> 00:04:43,701
except things that I like.

44
00:04:43,992 --> 00:04:48,418
Basically, I come
from the gutter,

45
00:04:48,705 --> 00:04:49,745
and I'm not a compromiser.

46
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,093
He didn't give a shit, you know?

47
00:04:57,380 --> 00:05:00,133
If there was a fight to be had,
he would not turn his back,

48
00:05:00,425 --> 00:05:02,928
and it doesn't
matter who it was.

49
00:05:03,220 --> 00:05:05,314
I bet you're a perfectionist.

50
00:05:05,597 --> 00:05:07,770
Well, I try to do a good job.

51
00:05:08,058 --> 00:05:09,150
You know, I try.

52
00:05:23,448 --> 00:05:26,076
"The Thomas Crown Affair"
and "Bullet" were my two

53
00:05:26,368 --> 00:05:27,620
pictures with Steve McQueen.

54
00:05:33,834 --> 00:05:38,010
I convinced him that every
time he went on the set,

55
00:05:38,296 --> 00:05:40,048
no matter what
the director said,

56
00:05:40,340 --> 00:05:43,719
he should recite the mantra.

57
00:05:44,010 --> 00:05:46,513
I decide what is right
and what is wrong,

58
00:05:46,805 --> 00:05:50,150
and I don't have to
explain it to anybody.

59
00:05:50,433 --> 00:05:53,653
I like women, but I'm a
little afraid of them.

60
00:05:53,937 --> 00:05:55,484
I'm not going to
make a commitment,

61
00:05:55,772 --> 00:05:59,618
because if you make a commitment
to a woman, they can hurt you.

62
00:05:59,901 --> 00:06:02,620
I won't pick a fight, but
if you pick a fight with me

63
00:06:02,904 --> 00:06:07,284
or back me into a corner,
I will fucking kill you.

64
00:06:07,576 --> 00:06:09,704
He used to recite
that to himself

65
00:06:09,995 --> 00:06:11,918
when he went on
the set, regardless

66
00:06:12,205 --> 00:06:14,424
of what the directions were.

67
00:06:14,708 --> 00:06:17,177
And he played that character,
I thought, just brilliantly.

68
00:06:23,592 --> 00:06:27,017
Which do you enjoy
more, acting or producing?

69
00:06:27,304 --> 00:06:30,649
Well, I'm sort of hung.

70
00:06:30,932 --> 00:06:33,731
I like producing, as
long as I'm acting,

71
00:06:34,019 --> 00:06:37,193
because I think the ultimate
is to have creative control.

72
00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:41,075
He loved the part in the
"Thomas Crown Affair,"

73
00:06:41,359 --> 00:06:43,361
playing Tommy Crown.

74
00:06:43,653 --> 00:06:48,204
Big business guy, no one
knows anything more than him.

75
00:06:48,491 --> 00:06:51,711
He aspired to that character.

76
00:06:51,995 --> 00:06:55,966
He wanted to feel like
he was a bit of a mogul.

77
00:06:56,249 --> 00:06:59,719
Now, the movies are changed.

78
00:07:00,003 --> 00:07:00,720
It's not a game anymore.

79
00:07:01,004 --> 00:07:03,632
It's big bucks, heavy bucks.

80
00:07:03,924 --> 00:07:05,564
And those people play
for keeps out there.

81
00:07:08,511 --> 00:07:13,312
He got this into his head, that
he would build us an empire.

82
00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,695
After "Thomas Crown," he
said, I'm going to build us

83
00:07:16,978 --> 00:07:18,275
an empire, baby doll.

84
00:07:26,029 --> 00:07:27,246
If I have my name on there,

85
00:07:27,530 --> 00:07:30,329
they can no longer
pawn me off as just

86
00:07:30,617 --> 00:07:34,793
a candy ass movie star who
they've got to be easy with.

87
00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,380
This puts me out
front as an executive.

88
00:07:38,667 --> 00:07:42,092
So therefore, they
have to deal with me.

89
00:07:42,379 --> 00:07:43,426
The juice.

90
00:07:43,713 --> 00:07:45,306
He got the juice man,
he got the power.

91
00:07:49,886 --> 00:07:53,390
It was a very smart,
intelligent, sophisticated move

92
00:07:53,682 --> 00:07:55,650
for him to form a
production company

93
00:07:55,934 --> 00:08:00,155
called Solar, and exercised
his clout in the way he did.

94
00:08:00,438 --> 00:08:02,486
And the first
person that he told,

95
00:08:02,774 --> 00:08:04,974
his agents that he wanted to
reach out to be his partner

96
00:08:05,026 --> 00:08:06,026
was my father.

97
00:08:08,947 --> 00:08:12,827
I'm standing here with Bob
Relyea, the executive producer

98
00:08:13,118 --> 00:08:15,166
of Solar Productions.

99
00:08:15,453 --> 00:08:17,797
We had been through
"The Magnificent Seven."

100
00:08:18,081 --> 00:08:20,209
We'd been through
"The Great Escape."

101
00:08:20,500 --> 00:08:23,720
The company was a
very well organized,

102
00:08:24,004 --> 00:08:25,756
real production company.

103
00:08:26,047 --> 00:08:28,425
The relationship that Steve
and I had in our families

104
00:08:28,717 --> 00:08:31,345
was extremely close.

105
00:08:31,636 --> 00:08:32,756
You actually throw a temper?

106
00:08:33,013 --> 00:08:34,014
Can you?

107
00:08:34,305 --> 00:08:36,307
Injustice bothers
me a lot sometimes,

108
00:08:36,599 --> 00:08:38,442
and I get angry about
things, and so forth.

109
00:08:38,727 --> 00:08:41,731
And I suppose I fly off
the handle sometimes.

110
00:08:42,022 --> 00:08:44,775
Steve trusted Bob.

111
00:08:45,066 --> 00:08:48,696
If there was a problem, he'd
just grab him by the shoulder,

112
00:08:48,987 --> 00:08:52,412
and he'd take him
off to the side.

113
00:08:52,699 --> 00:08:59,674
As much as you want this, Steve,
this passion doesn't mean shit.

114
00:08:59,956 --> 00:09:00,956
And Steve got it.

115
00:09:10,925 --> 00:09:14,896
It was a real coup to get him
to come to Cinema Center Films,

116
00:09:15,180 --> 00:09:17,933
and to be involved
with his company.

117
00:09:18,224 --> 00:09:20,602
That, in itself, was a
major accomplishment.

118
00:09:28,818 --> 00:09:31,446
It wasn't just "I'm the
biggest star in the world."

119
00:09:31,738 --> 00:09:33,832
It was I'm going to
decide what films I make.

120
00:09:34,115 --> 00:09:36,959
I'm going to decide
who the directors are,

121
00:09:37,243 --> 00:09:38,843
and I'm going to make
that racing picture

122
00:09:39,037 --> 00:09:40,517
that I always wanted
to make, and it's

123
00:09:40,747 --> 00:09:41,787
going to define my career.

124
00:09:57,013 --> 00:10:00,563
I race motorcars,
because I enjoy it.

125
00:10:00,850 --> 00:10:02,648
I like the competitive element.

126
00:10:02,936 --> 00:10:05,155
I like beating the other guy.

127
00:10:05,438 --> 00:10:06,718
I do enjoy the feeling of power.

128
00:10:13,488 --> 00:10:14,488
It was his thing.

129
00:10:17,492 --> 00:10:20,416
It was his passion.

130
00:10:20,703 --> 00:10:26,881
And if you find your passion in
life, you know you got it made.

131
00:10:27,168 --> 00:10:29,408
I remember the first time I
raced, I was very frightened.

132
00:10:29,629 --> 00:10:30,721
It scared me.

133
00:10:31,005 --> 00:10:31,722
I didn't like the idea
of being frightened,

134
00:10:32,006 --> 00:21:05,198
and I wanted to overcome it.

135
00:10:32,882 --> 00:10:35,476
That was one element.

136
00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:37,600
The other element, and
it is a very pure thing.

137
00:10:37,762 --> 00:10:39,682
It's one of the few things
in life you can't fix.

138
00:10:43,184 --> 00:10:44,411
When you're out
there by yourself,

139
00:10:44,435 --> 00:10:45,607
you're very much by yourself.

140
00:10:48,606 --> 00:10:52,861
The risk taking, the
need for adrenaline, the what

141
00:10:53,153 --> 00:10:58,159
do I have to lose attitude
that he seemed to project,

142
00:10:58,449 --> 00:11:04,377
it just matched McQueen's
soul, his personality,

143
00:11:04,664 --> 00:11:05,711
and his essence.

144
00:11:08,626 --> 00:11:11,505
Racing drivers are
a different breed.

145
00:11:11,796 --> 00:11:13,548
When you're in the
car behind the wheel,

146
00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:17,470
you tune everything off.

147
00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,014
There's one thing that
you are focused on,

148
00:11:21,306 --> 00:11:28,064
and that is to perform, to win.

149
00:11:28,354 --> 00:11:29,355
And he had that.

150
00:11:44,662 --> 00:11:46,255
For 20 years, an almost

151
00:11:46,539 --> 00:11:52,171
forgotten airport has echoed
to the fury of cars and speed.

152
00:11:52,462 --> 00:11:57,639
Sebring was as close as you
get to the brother of Le Mans.

153
00:11:57,926 --> 00:11:59,348
If you're ever
going to get a taste

154
00:11:59,636 --> 00:12:02,515
of what it's like to be in an
endurance race, this is it.

155
00:12:02,805 --> 00:12:06,184
Just a week before,
he had broken his foot

156
00:12:06,476 --> 00:12:08,194
in the motorcycle race.

157
00:12:08,478 --> 00:12:10,105
And I said, you
better not do this.

158
00:12:10,396 --> 00:12:11,396
He said, no.

159
00:12:11,564 --> 00:12:13,362
He said, I can do
it, I can do it.

160
00:12:13,650 --> 00:12:15,072
What about
shifting and clutching?

161
00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:16,657
Must be pretty difficult.

162
00:12:16,945 --> 00:12:23,078
Well, it's a little difficult.
I can't use a foot rest.

163
00:12:23,368 --> 00:12:25,746
And we've put some
sandpaper on the bottom,

164
00:12:26,037 --> 00:12:28,415
taped it on, so I keep it on
the clutch pedal, adjust it.

165
00:12:40,009 --> 00:12:41,009
We went for it.

166
00:12:45,723 --> 00:12:47,475
It was like a Hollywood script.

167
00:12:52,105 --> 00:12:55,325
A surprise to most
of the 57,000 who looked on

168
00:12:55,608 --> 00:12:58,202
was the McQueen
Revson Porsche 908.

169
00:12:58,486 --> 00:13:00,033
The two have done
a Masterful job.

170
00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,044
What was incredible
about that race is suddenly,

171
00:13:10,331 --> 00:13:11,548
they were winning.

172
00:13:11,833 --> 00:13:12,880
With this combination,

173
00:13:13,167 --> 00:13:15,010
Sebring could have
a storybook finish.

174
00:13:20,717 --> 00:13:23,641
Approaching the 11th hour,
the Porsche closes the gap

175
00:13:23,928 --> 00:13:27,478
on the faltering Ferrari.

176
00:13:27,765 --> 00:13:30,894
The McQueen pits were
overjoyed, thinking

177
00:13:31,185 --> 00:13:32,265
the Ferrari was in trouble.

178
00:13:35,231 --> 00:13:40,283
And out of the darkness, one
car would emerge the victor.

179
00:13:40,570 --> 00:13:43,039
It took Mario Andretti two cars

180
00:13:43,323 --> 00:13:47,669
to beat us and only pass us
on the last laps of the race.

181
00:13:52,957 --> 00:13:54,959
The 12 hours
of Sebring was over,

182
00:13:55,251 --> 00:13:58,221
and Ferrari had won.

183
00:13:58,504 --> 00:14:00,347
McQueen Revson was second.

184
00:14:02,967 --> 00:14:06,267
We were mobbed at
the end of the race.

185
00:14:06,554 --> 00:14:13,153
Steve gets up on the car
and gives the peace signal.

186
00:14:13,436 --> 00:14:16,656
And it was like Moses
parted the waters

187
00:14:16,939 --> 00:14:21,740
or God appeared in the sky.

188
00:14:22,028 --> 00:14:23,028
Silence.

189
00:14:29,786 --> 00:14:31,663
That was my biggest
thrill, for me,

190
00:14:31,954 --> 00:14:34,548
because I guess being an
actor, people don't really

191
00:14:34,832 --> 00:14:36,880
expect you to do
it as well, and I

192
00:14:37,168 --> 00:14:41,344
was a big man of my house with
my kids for awhile, anyway.

193
00:14:41,631 --> 00:14:45,261
That was a major, major
happy time in his life.

194
00:14:45,551 --> 00:14:47,770
I remember when he came home.

195
00:14:48,054 --> 00:14:49,351
Yeah.

196
00:14:49,639 --> 00:14:51,639
He was in a good mood for
about a month after that.

197
00:15:07,365 --> 00:15:09,413
After the Sebing Race, he wasn't

198
00:15:09,700 --> 00:15:12,328
looked at just like,
oh, he's the actor,

199
00:15:12,620 --> 00:15:14,463
superstar, Steve McQueen.

200
00:15:14,747 --> 00:15:16,670
He was admired by
the other drivers

201
00:15:16,958 --> 00:15:18,175
as a real, professional racer.

202
00:15:35,518 --> 00:15:39,364
The interweaving of film
and racing was now perfect.

203
00:15:39,647 --> 00:15:40,647
It was a natural.

204
00:15:43,609 --> 00:15:49,787
His next step was the 24 Hours
of Le Mans and to race there.

205
00:15:58,374 --> 00:16:01,628
This was going
to be a lasting memory

206
00:16:01,919 --> 00:16:05,640
of Steve McQueen, this film.

207
00:16:05,923 --> 00:16:09,894
Steve wanted to really do the
movie of all time, the movie

208
00:16:10,178 --> 00:16:13,853
for all generations, the movie
that captures the smells,

209
00:16:14,140 --> 00:16:18,987
the noise, the feeling of
car racing like no other film

210
00:16:19,270 --> 00:16:20,270
ever had.

211
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:21,480
It was a really big deal.

212
00:16:26,819 --> 00:16:28,196
- Hi, guys.
- Bonjour.

213
00:16:28,488 --> 00:16:29,488
How you doing?

214
00:16:30,156 --> 00:16:31,156
Merci.

215
00:16:31,365 --> 00:16:32,036
Wow.

216
00:16:32,325 --> 00:16:35,044
It's been what, 40 years?

217
00:16:36,787 --> 00:16:38,460
Ha!

218
00:16:38,748 --> 00:16:40,295
Before Solar was even started,

219
00:16:40,583 --> 00:16:42,301
McQueen decided he
was going to make

220
00:16:42,585 --> 00:16:45,054
the ultimate racing picture.

221
00:16:45,338 --> 00:16:48,592
There was a project called
"The Day of the Champion"

222
00:16:48,883 --> 00:16:51,477
that never got made.

223
00:16:51,761 --> 00:16:52,761
It was shut down.

224
00:16:55,264 --> 00:16:58,939
John Frankenheimer got
there first, with "Grand Prix."

225
00:16:59,227 --> 00:17:00,820
Oh my god, get out.

226
00:17:01,103 --> 00:17:02,696
Get out of here, you.

227
00:17:02,980 --> 00:17:05,074
Give this guy hell, this driver.

228
00:17:05,358 --> 00:17:06,826
Get the Ferrari out of here.

229
00:17:07,109 --> 00:17:10,363
Change the lens on
that, and let's go.

230
00:17:10,655 --> 00:17:13,158
I've got to remember
which is which.

231
00:17:13,449 --> 00:17:15,952
James Garner was
involved in "Grand Prix."

232
00:17:16,244 --> 00:17:17,621
I've been driving it backwards.

233
00:17:17,912 --> 00:17:21,041
And that left a very
bitter taste in Steve's mouth.

234
00:17:21,332 --> 00:17:22,972
Jim, where exactly do
you use your brakes?

235
00:17:23,084 --> 00:34:47,425
All right.

236
00:17:23,876 --> 00:17:25,799
All right, good.

237
00:17:26,087 --> 00:17:28,840
Another actor, and here he
was, taking the subject matter,

238
00:17:29,131 --> 00:17:31,975
and running with it.

239
00:17:32,260 --> 00:17:34,388
Steve's apartment was
above James Garner's apartment

240
00:17:34,679 --> 00:17:36,226
in the same neighborhood.

241
00:17:36,514 --> 00:17:39,108
And Steve would urinate
out the window at night

242
00:17:39,392 --> 00:17:42,566
on the flower boxes
of James Garner below.

243
00:17:42,853 --> 00:17:46,403
And as he performed this act,
he went, you pissed on my film.

244
00:17:46,691 --> 00:17:48,068
And now, I piss on you.

245
00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:48,985
What is that?
Paint?

246
00:17:49,277 --> 00:17:49,778
No, no.

247
00:17:50,069 --> 00:17:51,742
Close your eyes.

248
00:17:53,489 --> 00:17:54,786
It's all right.
Cut it out.

249
00:17:55,074 --> 00:17:56,074
It's not funny.

250
00:17:56,325 --> 00:17:57,678
I can see him sitting
in the theater,

251
00:17:57,702 --> 00:17:59,921
watching that and
saying, oh, shit.

252
00:18:00,204 --> 00:18:03,253
It's just another movie.

253
00:18:03,541 --> 00:18:07,262
His sense of racing
was so personal.

254
00:18:07,545 --> 00:18:10,173
If there was going to be
one definitive movie about

255
00:18:10,464 --> 00:18:12,307
that sport, he wanted to do it.

256
00:18:20,641 --> 00:18:24,191
This is a treatment for "Le
Mans" and general comments

257
00:18:24,478 --> 00:18:28,608
dated October 2nd, 1969.

258
00:18:28,899 --> 00:18:30,492
Ha.

259
00:18:30,776 --> 00:18:34,076
"Grand Prix," a prime
example of a director

260
00:18:34,363 --> 00:18:35,990
playing with himself in public.

261
00:18:38,701 --> 00:18:41,921
We have to reach high in
a picture like "La Mans,"

262
00:18:42,204 --> 00:18:44,127
or there is no
purpose in making it.

263
00:18:47,668 --> 00:18:52,595
Well, how perfect is this?

264
00:18:56,010 --> 00:18:57,762
OK.

265
00:18:58,054 --> 00:18:59,054
Battle stations.

266
00:19:07,980 --> 00:19:11,905
We all remember the scene
in "Apocalypse Now," where

267
00:19:12,193 --> 00:19:16,323
up the river, Kurtz has
built a piece of America

268
00:19:16,614 --> 00:19:18,457
in the middle of hostile jungle.

269
00:19:21,410 --> 00:19:24,414
That is what Steve
McQueen decided

270
00:19:24,705 --> 00:19:29,461
to lower in to rural Le Mans,
and that was SoLA Village.

271
00:19:45,101 --> 00:19:47,195
We want to photograph
the entire race,

272
00:19:47,478 --> 00:19:49,947
and then we want to recreate it.

273
00:19:50,231 --> 00:19:51,983
And we want to use
the same drivers.

274
00:20:16,382 --> 00:20:18,182
Suddenly, out of the
blue, we're asked to work

275
00:20:18,426 --> 00:20:19,444
on a movie with Steve McQueen.

276
00:20:19,468 --> 00:20:20,468
It was like, whoa.
Wow.

277
00:20:20,553 --> 00:20:21,553
Why not?

278
00:20:21,679 --> 00:20:23,147
And then on top
of that, you knew

279
00:20:23,431 --> 00:20:25,791
you were going to earn $200 a
day, which was a lot of money.

280
00:20:29,228 --> 00:20:30,228
Excellent.

281
00:20:30,479 --> 00:20:32,698
Absolutely excellent.

282
00:20:32,982 --> 00:20:36,657
We were given a Porsche 911
each to trundle around in,

283
00:20:36,944 --> 00:20:39,163
and it was good news.

284
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:48,586
Well, it's quite a pleasant
surprise to be invited.

285
00:20:48,873 --> 00:20:52,343
I knew Steve quite well, and
it was very nice of Steve,

286
00:20:52,626 --> 00:20:55,254
letting me go racing
at the weekends,

287
00:20:55,546 --> 00:20:58,049
and letting his pilot and
airplane to come back in time

288
00:20:58,340 --> 00:20:59,540
for filming on Monday morning.

289
00:21:03,053 --> 00:21:05,431
David Piper.

290
00:21:05,723 --> 00:21:06,975
We used to call him the pirate.

291
00:21:11,103 --> 00:21:13,947
I think of the pipe
hanging out of his mouth.

292
00:21:14,231 --> 00:21:15,653
He was a grand, old guy.

293
00:21:22,948 --> 00:21:27,169
Mr. Sturges, you've directed
Steve McQueen in several films,

294
00:21:27,453 --> 00:21:28,613
including "The Great Escape."

295
00:21:28,871 --> 00:21:32,171
And now, you're
here in "Le Mans."

296
00:21:32,458 --> 00:21:34,460
John Sturges
is directing this film.

297
00:21:34,752 --> 00:21:36,152
We've done three
films together now,

298
00:21:36,212 --> 00:21:38,931
and I tell you, we've
had nothing but fun,

299
00:21:39,215 --> 00:21:40,535
simply because
we've had the time,

300
00:21:40,633 --> 00:21:42,513
and we get excited about
doing really good work.

301
00:21:45,846 --> 00:21:47,848
John was an incredible director.

302
00:21:48,140 --> 00:21:52,236
It was Steve working with
John on "Great Escape"

303
00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:56,275
and "Magnificent Seven" which
made the myth, and the man,

304
00:21:56,565 --> 00:21:58,863
and Steve McQueen who he was.

305
00:21:59,151 --> 00:22:01,950
The hero of the film
is racing in this scene.

306
00:22:02,238 --> 00:22:04,411
That's what it's about.

307
00:22:13,290 --> 00:22:15,088
We have the star.

308
00:22:15,376 --> 00:22:16,593
We had the drivers.

309
00:22:16,877 --> 00:22:20,552
We had an incredible array
of technical support.

310
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,060
We had everything,
except the script.

311
00:22:24,343 --> 00:22:26,641
He said that the script
isn't entirely finished.

312
00:22:26,929 --> 00:22:28,990
We're waiting for the end of
the race to finish the script,

313
00:22:29,014 --> 00:22:30,357
to finalize the script?

314
00:22:30,641 --> 00:22:34,191
Well, we do want to adjust
our story to the way things

315
00:22:34,478 --> 00:22:35,980
happen that we
actually photograph.

316
00:22:36,272 --> 00:22:37,272
That's correct.

317
00:22:40,526 --> 00:22:45,282
It's common in Hollywood
to start without a script.

318
00:22:45,573 --> 00:22:46,573
It's not the right way.

319
00:22:46,699 --> 00:22:47,871
It's not the economic way.

320
00:22:48,158 --> 00:22:51,207
But it's common, and
anybody who says it's not

321
00:22:51,495 --> 00:22:52,495
hasn't been there.

322
00:22:55,416 --> 00:22:57,384
They had done it
once before, Sturges,

323
00:22:57,668 --> 00:22:58,669
McQueen, and my father.

324
00:22:58,961 --> 00:23:00,588
They had done it on
"The Great Escape,"

325
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:02,507
and it turned out well.

326
00:23:02,798 --> 00:23:05,347
And after "Bullitt," my father
said the studio would have

327
00:23:05,634 --> 00:23:07,737
written him a blank check just
to produce the phone book,

328
00:23:07,761 --> 00:23:09,763
if he wanted to.

329
00:23:10,055 --> 00:23:12,934
We have the best people
in the business with us.

330
00:23:13,225 --> 00:23:15,319
Bob Relyea, he's our
executive producer.

331
00:23:15,603 --> 00:23:16,883
John Sturges, he's our director.

332
00:23:17,062 --> 00:23:19,531
He probably is the biggest
director in America,

333
00:23:19,815 --> 00:23:21,655
and he's probably one of
the best in the world.

334
00:23:21,692 --> 00:23:23,615
So with all those
things going for us,

335
00:23:23,903 --> 00:23:25,530
plus Steve McQueen
and Le Mans, I

336
00:23:25,821 --> 00:23:27,949
think we've got a
picture that's going

337
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,460
to make an awful lot of money
and make a lot of people happy.

338
00:23:31,744 --> 00:23:34,714
This is the story
of racing, man.

339
00:23:34,997 --> 00:23:36,920
This is the guts.

340
00:23:37,207 --> 00:23:38,299
Glass is all right.

341
00:23:38,584 --> 00:23:39,176
All right.

342
00:23:39,460 --> 00:23:40,677
OK.

343
00:23:40,961 --> 00:23:45,057
You got motor racing,
and you got Steve McQueen.

344
00:23:45,341 --> 00:23:46,763
What have you got?

345
00:23:47,051 --> 00:23:49,679
You've got everything.

346
00:23:52,431 --> 00:23:55,230
"Le Mans" was going
to be our number

347
00:23:55,517 --> 00:23:57,895
one picture for the year.

348
00:23:58,187 --> 00:24:01,157
It was a sure thing
for Hollywood.

349
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:03,033
This could not miss.

350
00:24:21,001 --> 00:24:23,299
It's the oldest, most
famous race in the world.

351
00:24:26,256 --> 00:24:31,012
As you arrive to Le Mans and
come up beside the cathedral,

352
00:24:31,303 --> 00:24:33,623
suddenly, the adrenaline will
start to get in your stomach.

353
00:24:36,725 --> 00:24:40,446
That was when I realized
I was at Le Mans.

354
00:24:40,729 --> 00:24:42,948
I knew we were driving
into the unknown.

355
00:24:43,232 --> 00:24:45,860
You're going to be driving
at speeds that a racing

356
00:24:46,151 --> 00:24:48,495
car's never been before.

357
00:24:48,779 --> 00:24:50,577
It was terrifying.

358
00:24:50,864 --> 00:24:51,864
Go.

359
00:25:01,166 --> 00:25:05,842
It was a very fast
flowing circuit.

360
00:25:06,130 --> 00:25:11,307
Very dangerous, but all
circuits were dangerous.

361
00:25:11,593 --> 00:25:15,097
When I started racing, no
one was worried about safety.

362
00:25:15,389 --> 00:25:17,187
I mean, almost every
race I went to,

363
00:25:17,474 --> 00:25:22,025
someone was killed...
Sometimes, two or three people.

364
00:25:22,312 --> 00:25:23,312
Life was cheap.

365
00:25:29,445 --> 00:25:31,447
Those cars weren't very safe.

366
00:25:31,739 --> 00:25:34,242
They were like sharp knives,
if you had an accident.

367
00:25:34,533 --> 00:25:36,501
They cut you to pieces.

368
00:25:36,785 --> 00:25:40,585
A car catches on fire,
and that's the end of it.

369
00:25:40,873 --> 00:25:41,544
We have trouble!

370
00:25:41,832 --> 00:25:42,503
We have trouble.

371
00:25:42,791 --> 00:25:43,462
Out at Nissan Dodge.

372
00:25:43,751 --> 00:25:44,877
See the smoke billowing.

373
00:25:45,169 --> 00:25:46,796
There is a problem.

374
00:25:47,087 --> 00:25:49,340
You don't have
time to make two decisions.

375
00:25:49,631 --> 00:25:52,384
You have time only to make
one, and it must be right.

376
00:25:52,676 --> 00:25:56,601
You are sitting in a motor car
that maybe has 600 horsepower

377
00:25:56,889 --> 00:25:58,516
and 30 gallons of gasoline.

378
00:25:58,807 --> 00:26:01,731
So you know that if you
crash in this vehicle,

379
00:26:02,019 --> 00:26:03,896
an impact is going
to be disastrous.

380
00:26:14,031 --> 00:26:16,875
There's nothing very
glamorous about racing,

381
00:26:17,159 --> 00:26:18,285
except when you're winning.

382
00:26:23,874 --> 00:26:25,114
You get to the end of the race.

383
00:26:25,292 --> 00:26:28,421
You're leading the race.

384
00:26:28,712 --> 00:26:34,845
You're almost in tears on
the last couple of laps, just

385
00:26:35,135 --> 00:26:39,265
hoping you can get
across the line.

386
00:26:39,556 --> 00:26:43,652
Here they come,
toward the checkered flag.

387
00:26:43,936 --> 00:26:49,943
Ford wins the 1969
24 hours of Le Mans.

388
00:26:50,234 --> 00:26:53,579
And you don't get a situation
like that in life very often,

389
00:26:53,862 --> 00:26:55,990
you know.

390
00:27:03,497 --> 00:27:04,919
You like speed, don't you?

391
00:27:05,207 --> 00:27:06,208
Hm?

392
00:27:06,500 --> 00:27:08,093
You like speed, don't you?

393
00:27:08,377 --> 00:27:09,549
Oh, it's nice.

394
00:27:09,837 --> 00:27:10,837
It's cold.

395
00:27:13,590 --> 00:27:16,309
The original idea
was for Steve to drive

396
00:27:16,593 --> 00:27:19,221
Le Mans the actual 24 hours.

397
00:27:19,513 --> 00:27:23,268
The real question
here is this is Steve McQueen,

398
00:27:23,559 --> 00:27:26,403
and we are wondering
whether or not Steve

399
00:27:26,687 --> 00:27:28,064
McQueen will run in the race.

400
00:27:33,652 --> 00:27:36,496
If I weren't so rotten
inside for money,

401
00:27:36,780 --> 00:27:38,300
I would probably tell
them to go screw.

402
00:27:44,037 --> 00:27:46,165
But I need the money
to make the film.

403
00:27:49,251 --> 00:27:50,753
And I will not race at Le Mans.

404
00:27:54,506 --> 00:27:55,974
It was too big a risk.

405
00:27:56,258 --> 00:28:00,809
And if something were to happen
to him in the actual race,

406
00:28:01,096 --> 00:28:04,191
that would put the film on hold
and probably never get done.

407
00:28:07,227 --> 00:28:09,025
That's how much it meant to him.

408
00:28:09,313 --> 00:28:11,782
He gave up his shot
at competing at Le

409
00:28:12,065 --> 00:28:15,285
Mans for the sake of the film.

410
00:28:15,569 --> 00:28:17,663
Well, the insurance company
won't let Steve drive

411
00:28:17,946 --> 00:28:20,119
in the race, as he told you.

412
00:28:20,407 --> 00:28:24,753
We're going to be covering the
race itself very extensively,

413
00:28:25,037 --> 00:28:27,085
with cameras everywhere.

414
00:28:27,372 --> 00:28:29,921
And we expect to work
approximately three months

415
00:28:30,209 --> 00:28:31,882
afterwards, staging the picture.

416
00:29:17,256 --> 00:29:19,179
Solar
Productions ready the camera

417
00:29:19,466 --> 00:29:20,466
car for the race.

418
00:29:27,849 --> 00:29:30,773
My real contribution
was driving the camera

419
00:29:31,061 --> 00:29:34,531
car during the actual race.

420
00:29:34,815 --> 00:29:38,615
It was the car that Steve
and Peter Revson had finished

421
00:29:38,902 --> 00:29:41,997
second at Sebring, and
then they converted

422
00:29:42,281 --> 00:29:45,251
it to carry three cameras,
one in front, two at the back.

423
00:29:50,038 --> 00:29:53,133
When the camera car
was being fixed up Le Mans,

424
00:29:53,417 --> 00:29:54,760
Steve was all around that.

425
00:29:55,043 --> 00:29:57,387
And you could see written
all over his his face,

426
00:29:57,671 --> 00:29:59,844
I want to be sitting
where you are sitting

427
00:30:00,132 --> 00:30:01,975
and to take this race on.

428
00:30:13,395 --> 00:30:16,023
Most important was the start.

429
00:30:16,315 --> 00:30:18,317
They wanted to get the
start from in the car.

430
00:30:34,583 --> 00:30:37,462
Going through the pit area,
with the full grand stand of

431
00:30:37,753 --> 00:30:41,599
don't know how many
thousand people in it... this

432
00:30:41,882 --> 00:30:44,476
was genuine stuff.

433
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:48,390
We were told to film
especially the leaders.

434
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,149
So you'd photograph them
coming up behind you,

435
00:30:51,433 --> 00:30:52,855
and then switch
with the front one

436
00:30:53,143 --> 00:30:55,817
on to catch them overtaking
you, and pulling away.

437
00:31:02,319 --> 00:31:05,243
Unless they'd had all
the footage that they got,

438
00:31:05,530 --> 00:31:08,374
they could've never
made the film.

439
00:31:08,658 --> 00:31:09,658
They were brilliant.

440
00:31:18,543 --> 00:31:20,966
The camera car was bringing need

441
00:31:21,254 --> 00:31:24,349
to the screen what
a driver would

442
00:31:24,633 --> 00:31:32,633
see... cars passing at speed, car
dicing, all part of the vision.

443
00:31:39,106 --> 00:31:41,484
Here it is, after all this time.

444
00:31:58,083 --> 00:32:00,461
And it started again,

445
00:32:00,752 --> 00:32:04,757
and I meant every word,
and I liked what I said,

446
00:32:05,048 --> 00:32:07,892
and I liked what I heard.

447
00:32:08,176 --> 00:32:10,270
And I started to think.

448
00:32:10,554 --> 00:32:15,606
I could think about
starting again.

449
00:32:15,892 --> 00:32:20,113
We were laughing again
over memories, and wine,

450
00:32:20,397 --> 00:32:23,526
and the years in-between
didn't seem a long time.

451
00:32:23,817 --> 00:32:27,947
When I smiled, he knew why.

452
00:32:28,238 --> 00:32:31,492
In a while, it was
starting again.

453
00:32:31,783 --> 00:32:33,160
We had so many similarities.

454
00:32:33,452 --> 00:32:36,797
And I started to think.

455
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:42,257
We were raised by mothers who
really were not particularly

456
00:32:42,544 --> 00:32:43,921
ready to be mothers.

457
00:32:44,212 --> 00:32:45,964
Our fathers left us.

458
00:32:46,256 --> 00:32:48,429
We built our career together.

459
00:32:48,717 --> 00:32:50,344
We had children
together, and we were

460
00:32:50,635 --> 00:32:52,137
married for a very long time.

461
00:32:52,429 --> 00:32:55,353
You're walking along the street,

462
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:56,766
or you're at a party.

463
00:32:57,058 --> 00:33:00,733
Or else you're alone and
then you suddenly dig...

464
00:33:01,021 --> 00:33:03,240
My mom... I don't know
how old she is now.

465
00:33:03,523 --> 00:33:04,523
She won't tell me.

466
00:33:04,733 --> 00:33:07,532
But she still does her act.

467
00:33:07,819 --> 00:33:09,992
There's no
controlling the unrolling

468
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,282
of my faith, my friend.

469
00:33:12,574 --> 00:33:16,044
Who knows what's Written
in the magic book?

470
00:33:16,328 --> 00:33:17,796
Well, my parents
met in the '50s.

471
00:33:18,079 --> 00:33:19,626
She was a star on Broadway.

472
00:33:19,915 --> 00:33:22,009
And she's good at what she
does, and she enjoys it.

473
00:33:22,292 --> 00:33:23,384
She loves it.

474
00:33:23,668 --> 00:33:25,011
I sure did like that.

475
00:33:25,295 --> 00:33:26,981
She was about the sexiest
girl I ever saw in my life.

476
00:33:27,005 --> 00:33:29,508
I guess it was ever a thing
of falling in love with a girl

477
00:33:29,799 --> 00:33:32,302
at first sight, I guess that
was it, because boy, I sure had

478
00:33:32,594 --> 00:33:33,846
to chase her for a long time.

479
00:33:54,658 --> 00:33:57,628
It was just our
destiny to be together.

480
00:33:57,911 --> 00:34:01,415
I walked out of Carnegie
Hall, and he came right to me.

481
00:34:01,706 --> 00:34:02,207
And he said, hi.

482
00:34:02,499 --> 00:34:03,876
You're pretty.

483
00:34:04,167 --> 00:34:05,167
And I was stunned.

484
00:34:05,418 --> 00:34:06,886
And I said, well,
you're pretty too.

485
00:34:29,025 --> 00:34:31,027
I remember there
was a long drive.

486
00:34:43,498 --> 00:34:44,590
Yeah.

487
00:34:44,874 --> 00:34:48,048
This was my home for
three months, man.

488
00:34:48,336 --> 00:34:51,715
The people my dad or
Solar rented it from,

489
00:34:52,007 --> 00:34:54,009
they lived on that floor, there.

490
00:34:54,301 --> 00:34:57,054
And they had a nutty
daughter, if I remember.

491
00:34:57,345 --> 00:35:00,440
We pulled in here, and she
was chasing a chicken around.

492
00:35:00,724 --> 00:35:02,522
And she had a fucking
ax in her hand.

493
00:35:02,809 --> 00:35:04,527
And she grabbed it
and cut its fucking

494
00:35:04,811 --> 00:35:06,779
head off, right in front of us.

495
00:35:07,063 --> 00:35:09,316
It was the first time I
ever saw a chicken running

496
00:35:09,608 --> 00:35:12,202
around with no head right here.

497
00:35:12,485 --> 00:35:14,283
I'd come from Brentwood.

498
00:35:18,658 --> 00:35:21,582
I didn't want to go to Le Mans.

499
00:35:21,870 --> 00:35:25,215
However, because Chad had
been doing badly in school,

500
00:35:25,498 --> 00:35:26,920
I said, OK.

501
00:35:27,208 --> 00:35:30,337
If you improve your
grades, we'll go.

502
00:35:30,629 --> 00:35:33,257
And he did, so I had to go.

503
00:35:36,468 --> 00:35:41,019
I used to wait right out here
to see dad's Porsche coming up.

504
00:35:44,184 --> 00:35:45,185
The fact that you're here

505
00:35:45,477 --> 00:35:46,979
with the likes of Hertz and...

506
00:35:47,270 --> 00:35:50,649
Would you like some gum'?

507
00:35:50,940 --> 00:35:52,567
Thank you.

508
00:35:52,859 --> 00:35:58,161
When the flower children came
along, everything changed.

509
00:35:58,448 --> 00:36:00,621
Everything changed.

510
00:36:00,909 --> 00:36:03,753
He was almost 40.

511
00:36:04,037 --> 00:36:06,711
There was suddenly free
sex, and free love, and free

512
00:36:06,998 --> 00:36:08,420
this, and free everything.

513
00:36:08,708 --> 00:36:10,051
He said to me one day.

514
00:36:10,335 --> 00:36:12,929
He said, I have to work so
hard for love in this house.

515
00:36:13,213 --> 00:36:15,215
He said, I can
get it for free out there.

516
00:36:19,094 --> 00:36:21,813
His conquest of
women behind his wife's

517
00:36:22,097 --> 00:36:25,567
back probably averaged
about a dozen women a week.

518
00:36:25,850 --> 00:36:28,524
It was a little
less than two a day.

519
00:36:28,812 --> 00:36:30,735
They wanted to say, I had
sex with Steve McQueen.

520
00:36:40,865 --> 00:36:45,666
He loved cars, liquor,
women, and he was interesting,

521
00:36:45,954 --> 00:36:47,126
and cool, and dangerous.

522
00:36:47,414 --> 00:36:48,791
See, they liked
the danger in him.

523
00:36:51,710 --> 00:36:53,428
Whatever Steve's
activities might

524
00:36:53,712 --> 00:36:57,592
have been when he had a break
in the afternoon, so to speak.

525
00:37:01,136 --> 00:37:02,604
His trailer was never empty.

526
00:37:18,737 --> 00:37:21,536
I had came from the Royal
Dramatic School in Stockholm,

527
00:37:21,823 --> 00:37:23,541
and I was there for the job.

528
00:37:26,411 --> 00:37:27,958
Only if you'd like it better.

529
00:37:32,041 --> 00:37:33,759
He had something hidden.

530
00:37:34,043 --> 00:37:39,516
Maybe that also made him
attractive on the screen.

531
00:37:39,799 --> 00:37:46,398
And as a woman, that's something
that I want to get to know.

532
00:37:46,681 --> 00:37:48,775
I don't know who cast her.

533
00:37:49,058 --> 00:37:52,653
Think Steve had an eye for her.

534
00:37:52,937 --> 00:37:53,654
She appealed to him.

535
00:37:53,938 --> 00:37:55,018
She was an attractive lady.

536
00:37:58,151 --> 00:38:03,954
My respect for him was
not as big as his for me.

537
00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:07,460
We shared this thing
about the accident.

538
00:38:19,339 --> 00:38:22,718
I had worked for
Steve about two years,

539
00:38:23,009 --> 00:38:25,933
almost, before we did "Le Mans."

540
00:38:26,221 --> 00:38:28,895
I was involved more
with the car racing

541
00:38:29,182 --> 00:38:31,856
and other personal matters.

542
00:38:35,563 --> 00:38:37,281
I had dinner
together with Steve,

543
00:38:37,565 --> 00:38:42,241
and the count and the countess
from whom he rented this castle

544
00:38:42,529 --> 00:38:44,952
in which he was living.

545
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:46,240
He would drive me home.

546
00:38:49,035 --> 00:38:51,834
It was like 12:00, 1
o'clock in the morning.

547
00:38:52,121 --> 00:38:54,249
And Steve comes into my
room and says, come on.

548
00:38:54,541 --> 00:38:55,713
We've got to go.

549
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:57,311
Where are we going?
Why don't we go tomorrow?

550
00:38:57,335 --> 00:38:57,836
I'm tired.

551
00:38:58,127 --> 00:38:59,127
I haven't slept.

552
00:38:59,337 --> 00:39:01,715
He told me to screw
myself and said,

553
00:39:02,006 --> 00:39:02,632
what are you worried about?

554
00:39:02,924 --> 00:39:04,050
You're only 21.

555
00:39:04,342 --> 00:39:05,382
You'll sleep when you die.

556
00:39:08,096 --> 00:39:10,064
I never knew her name.

557
00:39:10,348 --> 00:39:12,021
I never got introduced.

558
00:39:12,308 --> 00:39:13,935
And it wasn't just any night.

559
00:39:14,227 --> 00:39:16,275
It was my first night
arriving in France.

560
00:39:19,232 --> 00:39:23,112
I sat down next to
him in the front seat.

561
00:39:23,403 --> 00:39:24,683
Steve was not driving a Porsche.

562
00:39:24,863 --> 00:39:26,783
He was driving a Peugeot,
or something like that.

563
00:39:34,455 --> 00:39:37,709
He was driving like a
maniac, and it started to rain.

564
00:39:42,964 --> 00:39:44,762
And I keep telling
him to slow down,

565
00:39:45,049 --> 00:39:48,303
and he keeps telling
me to shut up.

566
00:39:48,595 --> 00:39:50,768
Suddenly, there was a curve.

567
00:39:55,018 --> 00:39:58,363
He drove at the side, and
we rolled over the field.

568
00:40:00,982 --> 00:40:05,203
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch... I remember
them smashing their heads

569
00:40:05,486 --> 00:40:08,410
into the windshield.

570
00:40:08,698 --> 00:40:10,450
I went flying.

571
00:40:10,742 --> 00:40:14,121
I remember looking at my arm,
holding on, as we're crashing

572
00:40:14,412 --> 00:40:15,412
down, and it just broke.

573
00:40:15,455 --> 00:40:16,707
I could see it snap.

574
00:40:20,084 --> 00:40:21,084
I was just out.

575
00:40:27,926 --> 00:40:31,931
Tss... And I
remember reaching up,

576
00:40:32,221 --> 00:40:36,897
and opening the door, and
pushing the door open, and cut.

577
00:40:40,021 --> 00:40:43,070
Steve thought that I was dead,
because I was lying there.

578
00:40:47,487 --> 00:40:50,411
The water, the light
rain, woke him up.

579
00:40:50,698 --> 00:40:53,827
And he said, what
the fuck happened?

580
00:40:54,118 --> 00:40:55,118
Holy shit.

581
00:40:55,328 --> 00:40:56,875
What have I done?

582
00:40:57,163 --> 00:40:58,255
Oh my god, she's dead!

583
00:40:58,539 --> 00:40:59,539
Is she dead?

584
00:40:59,707 --> 00:41:01,459
And of course, my
arm's like this.

585
00:41:01,751 --> 00:41:04,470
It's just hanging.

586
00:41:04,754 --> 00:41:06,256
And she comes to.

587
00:41:06,547 --> 00:41:09,175
She seemed OK, not too bad.

588
00:41:09,467 --> 00:41:10,468
He didn't have a scratch.

589
00:41:14,973 --> 00:41:20,946
They didn't call an ambulance,
because they didn't want this

590
00:41:21,229 --> 00:41:24,233
to get official, of course.

591
00:41:24,524 --> 00:41:27,152
We saw a little farmhouse.

592
00:41:27,443 --> 00:41:29,241
Steve says, there's a car there.

593
00:41:29,529 --> 00:41:32,874
Let's go hot wire it.

594
00:41:33,157 --> 00:41:37,958
And all of a sudden, we
hear the dogs barking.

595
00:41:38,246 --> 00:41:41,375
And this French guys
comes out in pajamas,

596
00:41:41,666 --> 00:41:44,761
and he's got a shot gun, and
old, big gun in his hand.

597
00:41:45,044 --> 00:41:47,888
And he's screaming in French
something...

598
00:41:48,172 --> 00:41:49,172
POW!

599
00:42:06,899 --> 00:42:09,493
My makeup, early in the
morning, she didn't know.

600
00:42:09,777 --> 00:42:13,953
She asked me why I had bruises,
but they were not too big.

601
00:42:14,240 --> 00:42:17,835
And I said, ah, well, you know.

602
00:42:18,119 --> 00:42:22,750
The production team, so to
say, must have known about it.

603
00:42:23,041 --> 00:42:24,884
Well, I know that
there was an accident,

604
00:42:25,168 --> 00:42:26,340
but I don't want to go there.

605
00:42:26,627 --> 00:42:27,753
I don't want to go there.

606
00:42:35,178 --> 00:42:38,102
I took the Wrap for it.

607
00:42:38,389 --> 00:42:41,313
They said that I was the
one who caused the problem,

608
00:42:41,601 --> 00:42:46,528
but the fact that Steve was with
the girl was never revealed.

609
00:42:46,814 --> 00:42:50,284
You just have to protect
Steve, and it's no big deal.

610
00:42:50,568 --> 00:42:52,070
Nobody got killed.

611
00:42:52,361 --> 00:42:52,953
Don't worry about it.

612
00:42:53,237 --> 00:42:54,237
It's part of our jobs.

613
00:42:57,825 --> 00:43:01,546
What would have happened if
it'd been on the headlines

614
00:43:01,829 --> 00:43:04,958
just before we started shooting
the movie saying, Steve

615
00:43:05,249 --> 00:43:08,503
McQueen, the great
driver, he had an accident

616
00:43:08,795 --> 00:43:10,718
with a young actress.

617
00:43:12,423 --> 00:43:13,423
Could you imagine?

618
00:43:18,096 --> 00:43:19,564
He was so afraid.

619
00:43:19,847 --> 00:43:23,147
I could see how scared
he was that I would

620
00:43:23,434 --> 00:43:25,061
ruin him and his production.

621
00:43:29,607 --> 00:43:32,702
He said to me, I'd appreciate
it if you don't talk about this.

622
00:43:32,985 --> 00:43:33,985
So I said...

623
00:43:34,570 --> 00:43:37,824
No, I Won't.

624
00:43:53,548 --> 00:43:56,222
The cars pass
through the sleepy French towns

625
00:43:56,509 --> 00:43:58,136
and countryside.

626
00:43:58,427 --> 00:44:02,728
Strange, slow parade
of muttering monsters.

627
00:44:03,015 --> 00:44:04,015
Rolling.

628
00:44:07,603 --> 00:44:09,947
McQueen were trying to
achieve something that hadn't

629
00:44:10,231 --> 00:44:12,074
been done in mainstream
films about a sport

630
00:44:12,358 --> 00:44:14,031
that he had a true passion for.

631
00:44:14,318 --> 00:44:15,786
Cars under way.

632
00:44:16,070 --> 00:44:17,788
He really wanted
to break through

633
00:44:18,072 --> 00:44:19,432
and do a film that
was as authentic

634
00:44:19,699 --> 00:44:22,202
as you could possibly get.

635
00:44:22,493 --> 00:44:25,713
He wanted to put the
person in the theater, put

636
00:44:25,997 --> 00:44:27,340
them in the seat of a race car.

637
00:44:27,623 --> 00:44:31,924
He wanted them to feel what
he felt as a driver himself.

638
00:44:32,211 --> 00:44:34,680
That was always his intent.

639
00:44:34,964 --> 00:44:38,264
Wes, I think this is the first
time this sort of a production

640
00:44:38,551 --> 00:44:39,928
has been undertaken.

641
00:44:40,219 --> 00:44:41,596
Yes, it is.

642
00:44:41,888 --> 00:44:44,232
This is the first time anything
like this has been filmed.

643
00:44:48,936 --> 00:44:50,706
The things with this
car and the mounts on it,

644
00:44:50,730 --> 00:44:51,999
and the cameras on
it that have never

645
00:44:52,023 --> 00:44:53,583
been used bef0re...
They're entirely new

646
00:44:53,774 --> 00:44:58,120
mounts, entirely new concept of
the way to shoot a racing film.

647
00:44:58,404 --> 00:44:59,882
So far, everything is
going so beautifully,

648
00:44:59,906 --> 00:45:00,906
it's almost unbelievable.

649
00:45:03,951 --> 00:45:06,454
They were
able to achieve camera mounts

650
00:45:06,746 --> 00:45:11,673
on automobiles that never before
had ever thought of being used.

651
00:45:11,959 --> 00:45:18,137
To be able to get the feeling
of speed on film, helping us

652
00:45:18,424 --> 00:45:22,224
crash which we call
the film barrier.

653
00:45:22,511 --> 00:45:25,435
When Steve talked about
breaking the film barrier,

654
00:45:25,723 --> 00:45:29,694
he was using language
that Hollywood didn't use.

655
00:45:29,977 --> 00:45:33,322
Nobody ever thought
of doing it that way.

656
00:45:33,606 --> 00:45:36,780
What he was trying
to do was give

657
00:45:37,068 --> 00:45:39,491
the total visual experience.

658
00:45:43,532 --> 00:45:47,332
I'll tell you, Steve was ahead
of his time with his vision.

659
00:45:52,875 --> 00:45:54,548
As far as
reality film's concerned,

660
00:45:54,835 --> 00:45:56,803
that's where it's at.

661
00:45:57,088 --> 00:46:00,058
That's where it should be.

662
00:46:00,341 --> 00:46:01,968
He wanted it
shot at race speeds.

663
00:46:08,933 --> 00:46:11,607
If you're
going 20, 40 in the race,

664
00:46:11,894 --> 00:46:15,819
we're doing 240 in
every shot we do.

665
00:46:18,567 --> 00:46:20,047
Every driver that
was on that picture,

666
00:46:20,194 --> 00:46:22,538
I mean, they were risking
their lives every single day

667
00:46:22,822 --> 00:46:24,950
they were there.

668
00:46:25,241 --> 00:46:27,744
These scenes that they
shot were choreographed.

669
00:46:28,035 --> 00:46:30,584
You had to do a ballet
out on the track

670
00:46:30,871 --> 00:46:33,340
and do what the director
had asked you to do.

671
00:46:39,130 --> 00:46:41,758
The making of
film was, in many ways,

672
00:46:42,049 --> 00:46:45,679
a lot more dangerous
than the race.

673
00:46:45,970 --> 00:46:51,352
And Steve did also not have
much of a sense of danger.

674
00:46:51,642 --> 00:46:53,202
So everything was
pushed to the extreme.

675
00:46:56,188 --> 00:46:58,361
Now, we're going
220 miles an hour.

676
00:46:58,649 --> 00:46:59,821
Now, we're dicing.

677
00:47:00,109 --> 00:47:01,531
Now, we're setting up a shot.

678
00:47:01,819 --> 00:47:03,196
Not what might
happen consciously

679
00:47:03,487 --> 00:47:05,615
to a driver in his mind.

680
00:47:05,906 --> 00:47:08,910
At a certain spot, we're
asking drivers to do this.

681
00:47:12,371 --> 00:47:13,371
It's death.

682
00:47:36,354 --> 00:47:38,072
Dereck Bell is the first driver

683
00:47:38,356 --> 00:47:40,484
to experience a narrow escape.

684
00:47:40,775 --> 00:47:41,492
Get out the way there.

685
00:47:41,776 --> 00:47:43,574
Get the men out of the way.

686
00:47:43,861 --> 00:47:45,784
Steve and I were doing a shot.

687
00:47:46,072 --> 00:47:48,200
Suddenly, the car
sort of just exploded.

688
00:47:48,491 --> 00:47:51,415
It sort of Went up
in flames in my face.

689
00:47:53,954 --> 00:47:55,422
And it appeared that he

690
00:47:55,706 --> 00:47:58,334
took to unfasten the seat belt
and climbing out of the door.

691
00:47:58,626 --> 00:48:00,799
It's when I got burned.

692
00:48:01,087 --> 00:48:04,512
Oh, I just got very
burnt around here.

693
00:48:04,799 --> 00:48:06,597
It could have been a lot worse.

694
00:48:06,884 --> 00:48:08,852
I could've been dead,
just as easy as that.

695
00:48:19,105 --> 00:48:20,948
Steve was committed.

696
00:48:21,232 --> 00:48:23,530
He put his but on the line.

697
00:48:23,818 --> 00:48:25,536
Let's put it that way.

698
00:48:25,820 --> 00:48:28,494
Every day, we shot
with him in the car.

699
00:48:32,034 --> 00:48:34,253
How can I get this shot'?

700
00:48:34,537 --> 00:48:35,538
That's Steve McQueen.

701
00:48:35,830 --> 00:48:37,673
That's the loner with the dream.

702
00:48:41,001 --> 00:48:44,505
If you have this unlimited film
barrier that you want to crash

703
00:48:44,797 --> 00:48:47,016
through, you're going to
be worried about if you're

704
00:48:47,299 --> 00:48:49,722
going to die in the process?

705
00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:09,660
In the film, I played
a race car driver.

706
00:49:09,947 --> 00:49:12,450
I drove for Ferrari.

707
00:49:12,741 --> 00:49:14,334
And Steve drove for Porsche.

708
00:49:19,957 --> 00:49:22,506
I do some paintings.

709
00:49:27,173 --> 00:49:31,553
You need a place where
you are by yourself.

710
00:49:31,844 --> 00:49:34,563
And of course,
Steve is here too.

711
00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:44,023
Steve always did it different.

712
00:49:44,315 --> 00:49:45,515
We were talking about reading.

713
00:49:45,774 --> 00:49:48,402
And I said, I don't
like reading too much.

714
00:49:48,694 --> 00:49:53,951
I read my scripts, and aw, I
don't like it either, he said.

715
00:49:54,241 --> 00:49:57,165
I only read one book
in my life, he said,

716
00:49:57,453 --> 00:50:01,083
a book about
Alexander the Great.

717
00:50:01,373 --> 00:50:04,172
And I was very impressed
by one sentence, he said.

718
00:50:06,962 --> 00:50:10,557
I can't get the world, but
I didn't conquer myself.

719
00:50:10,841 --> 00:50:12,263
Get off!

720
00:50:12,551 --> 00:50:13,551
Action.

721
00:50:16,263 --> 00:50:17,560
Who are you?

722
00:50:17,848 --> 00:50:21,478
Especially as an actor,
you ask yourself.

723
00:50:21,769 --> 00:50:22,769
Who are you, really?

724
00:50:28,442 --> 00:50:29,739
Sometimes, I had
a feeling he was

725
00:50:30,027 --> 00:50:33,998
always searching for something.

726
00:50:39,870 --> 00:50:40,962
My theory had always

727
00:50:41,247 --> 00:50:44,717
been the racing world
is no less creative

728
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:47,002
in expression than film itself.

729
00:50:50,339 --> 00:50:52,683
It's only an oddity,
because it's a blood sport.

730
00:50:57,012 --> 00:50:59,185
He wanted to leave
his scratch marks

731
00:50:59,473 --> 00:51:01,976
on the history of filmmaking.

732
00:51:02,268 --> 00:51:03,736
I'm a driver.

733
00:51:04,019 --> 00:51:05,521
I'm an actor, and a filmmaker.

734
00:51:13,904 --> 00:51:16,373
He was quasi directing.

735
00:51:16,657 --> 00:51:17,749
He would say, look.

736
00:51:18,033 --> 00:51:19,956
It would be great to
get a shot like this.

737
00:51:20,244 --> 00:51:23,714
It caused quite a bit of
conflict with John Sturges.

738
00:51:23,998 --> 00:51:26,217
This will be a serious film, and

739
00:51:26,500 --> 00:51:28,878
since the romantic interests
will be kept down to a minimum,

740
00:51:29,169 --> 00:51:32,469
this will concentrate on sports
car racing and the 24 hours

741
00:51:32,756 --> 00:51:33,257
at Le Mans.

742
00:51:33,549 --> 00:51:35,017
Is that right'?

743
00:51:35,301 --> 00:51:37,445
Well, I'll go with you that we
concentrate on the race, yes.

744
00:51:37,469 --> 00:51:39,813
Whether anything else is
kept to a minimum or not-

745
00:51:40,097 --> 00:51:42,600
I don't know.

746
00:51:42,891 --> 00:51:45,064
Steve was an executive producer.

747
00:51:45,352 --> 00:51:47,320
He outright Sturges.

748
00:51:47,605 --> 00:51:49,198
This was not the
same McQueen that

749
00:51:49,481 --> 00:51:51,449
worked with Sturges
on "The Magnificent

750
00:51:51,734 --> 00:51:53,907
Seven" or "The Great Escape."

751
00:51:54,194 --> 00:51:56,117
You've got to
believe in what you're doing.

752
00:51:56,405 --> 00:51:59,033
I believe in what I do.

753
00:51:59,325 --> 00:52:01,498
And if I'm shooting
my best shot for me,

754
00:52:01,785 --> 00:52:04,789
then I'm doing my
best for the audience.

755
00:52:05,080 --> 00:52:07,629
But my obligation's
got to be to myself.

756
00:52:12,504 --> 00:52:15,633
To me, he became the
character, which I

757
00:52:15,924 --> 00:52:19,394
described to him in the mantra.

758
00:52:19,678 --> 00:52:20,678
He made his own rules.

759
00:52:20,929 --> 00:52:22,209
He knew his own right and wrong.

760
00:52:22,431 --> 00:52:24,934
He didn't have to
answer to anybody.

761
00:52:25,225 --> 00:52:27,068
Well, I'll get all these
idiots away from you.

762
00:52:28,771 --> 00:52:31,866
If they tell you you're a genius

763
00:52:32,149 --> 00:52:35,278
with sufficient frequency,
you start to believe that.

764
00:52:35,569 --> 00:52:39,415
And I think most people out
there who get that sort of fame

765
00:52:39,698 --> 00:52:43,669
have a great deal of
difficulty handling it.

766
00:53:00,344 --> 00:53:03,769
It was a wild time.

767
00:53:04,056 --> 00:53:07,276
It was a time of
great rebelliousness

768
00:53:07,559 --> 00:53:10,233
and attempting to overthrow
the gods of Hollywood.

769
00:53:14,233 --> 00:53:16,861
Jay Sebring was a very
good friend of ours.

770
00:53:19,988 --> 00:53:22,537
And I liked Sharon Tate.

771
00:53:22,825 --> 00:53:25,704
Sharon was married to
Roman Pilanski at the time,

772
00:53:25,994 --> 00:53:26,994
and she was pregnant.

773
00:53:29,665 --> 00:53:32,088
Jay said, why don't
you and Neil come over

774
00:53:32,376 --> 00:53:33,628
and have dinner with us?

775
00:53:33,919 --> 00:53:35,967
And Steve said, oh, yeah, sure.

776
00:53:36,255 --> 00:53:40,852
I knew I wasn't coming,
and I didn't want to go.

777
00:53:41,135 --> 00:53:43,029
The bodies will have to
be made in the examination

778
00:53:43,053 --> 00:53:44,145
by the coroner.

779
00:53:44,430 --> 00:53:45,699
There's no
evident cause of death?

780
00:53:45,723 --> 00:53:47,771
Not that we can
say at this time.

781
00:53:48,058 --> 00:53:52,655
People kept calling the next
day and said, is Steve OK?

782
00:53:52,938 --> 00:53:56,818
An employee came to
work at 10050 Cielo

783
00:53:57,109 --> 00:54:02,115
and found several
bodies in the house.

784
00:54:02,406 --> 00:54:03,874
And then I find out that there

785
00:54:04,158 --> 00:54:07,913
had been these murders, and
they thought Steve was there.

786
00:54:08,203 --> 00:54:11,798
A tentative identification
of the persons are as follows.

787
00:54:12,082 --> 00:54:15,461
Sharon Polanski, Jay Sebring.

788
00:54:15,753 --> 00:54:17,300
Steve was supposed
to be at the party.

789
00:54:17,588 --> 00:54:19,056
Abigail Folger.

790
00:54:19,339 --> 00:54:22,058
But he ran into a lady or
something, and didn't show up.

791
00:54:22,342 --> 00:54:26,813
Voytek Frykowski, and
another man who is unknown.

792
00:54:27,097 --> 00:54:28,857
Was there anything
scrolled on the front door

793
00:54:29,016 --> 00:54:30,108
of that house in blood?

794
00:54:30,392 --> 00:54:31,552
I can't answer that question.

795
00:54:31,769 --> 00:54:32,486
How you doing, Charlie?

796
00:54:32,770 --> 00:54:33,441
Good.

797
00:54:33,729 --> 00:54:34,901
How are you this morning?

798
00:54:35,189 --> 00:54:36,315
His name was Charles Manson,

799
00:54:36,607 --> 00:54:40,953
and he had a gang of misfits.

800
00:54:41,236 --> 00:54:42,579
Body is badly mutilated.

801
00:54:42,863 --> 00:54:44,490
This, I'd rather not discuss.

802
00:54:44,782 --> 00:54:47,831
I'd never heard
of people who massacred the way

803
00:54:48,118 --> 00:54:51,247
they massacred these people.

804
00:54:57,795 --> 00:54:58,921
It's all a play, isn't it?

805
00:55:04,134 --> 00:55:06,853
They found his name
on the list of other people

806
00:55:07,137 --> 00:55:10,391
that Manson wanted to murder.

807
00:55:10,682 --> 00:55:11,729
It'd freak him out a lot.

808
00:55:24,655 --> 00:55:28,580
Dear Eddie... Eddie
Rubin was our attorney.

809
00:55:28,867 --> 00:55:31,040
As you know, I have been
selected by the Manson group

810
00:55:31,328 --> 00:55:32,750
to be marked for death.

811
00:55:33,038 --> 00:55:35,712
In some ways, I find it
humorous, and in other ways,

812
00:55:35,999 --> 00:55:37,626
frighteningly tragic.

813
00:55:37,918 --> 00:55:41,388
But I must, I must
consider it may be true.

814
00:55:41,672 --> 00:55:43,970
If you could call Palm
Springs and have my gun

815
00:55:44,258 --> 00:55:47,979
permit renewed, as it is the
only sense of self-protection

816
00:55:48,262 --> 00:55:49,764
for my family and myself.

817
00:55:50,055 --> 00:55:52,149
I'm waiting for an
immediate reply.

818
00:55:52,432 --> 00:55:53,900
My best, Steve.

819
00:55:54,184 --> 00:55:59,184
This was 1970, on
the set of "Le Mans."

820
00:56:07,531 --> 00:56:08,731
Steve was already what I would

821
00:56:08,991 --> 00:56:13,713
call in a heightened
state; extremely paranoid.

822
00:56:13,996 --> 00:56:15,293
Everything was raised.

823
00:56:15,581 --> 00:56:19,427
The levels of craziness,
anxiety were heightened.

824
00:56:19,710 --> 00:56:21,508
Everything is zz... up.

825
00:56:31,763 --> 00:56:33,515
He was never
the same at any one point.

826
00:56:38,437 --> 00:56:40,360
That marriage was
fraying at the seams.

827
00:56:43,275 --> 00:56:48,031
When they appeared on
set, they appeared on and on.

828
00:56:48,322 --> 00:56:49,322
They appeared devoted.

829
00:56:52,451 --> 00:56:56,422
But you can also see in Neile's
expression, a certain weariness

830
00:56:56,705 --> 00:56:57,705
to the whole situation.

831
00:57:02,377 --> 00:57:06,757
He said, by the way,
I'm having friends

832
00:57:07,049 --> 00:57:08,471
visit me from all over Europe.

833
00:57:08,759 --> 00:57:09,305
I said, really?

834
00:57:09,593 --> 00:57:10,593
Who are they?

835
00:57:10,844 --> 00:57:14,348
He said, well,
they're mostly women.

836
00:57:14,640 --> 00:57:16,062
And you know, that
really got to me,

837
00:57:16,350 --> 00:57:17,772
and I remember sobbing away.

838
00:57:21,271 --> 00:57:22,271
She was wonderful.

839
00:57:22,356 --> 00:57:24,404
She was a smart woman.

840
00:57:24,691 --> 00:57:26,851
I would say to him, you're
going to ruin your marriage.

841
00:57:27,110 --> 00:57:30,034
What is wrong with you?

842
00:57:30,322 --> 00:57:35,328
Until one night, I told him,
I had gotten even with him.

843
00:57:38,497 --> 00:57:42,343
Steve asked Neile whether
she'd ever had an affair.

844
00:57:42,626 --> 00:57:45,129
I said, well, as a matter
of fact, I said, yeah, I had.

845
00:57:53,720 --> 00:57:55,063
I was the one
person in the world

846
00:57:55,347 --> 00:58:00,569
that he trusted, the
one person he thought

847
00:58:00,852 --> 00:58:02,946
he could do anything to.

848
00:58:03,230 --> 00:58:04,230
I would never retaliate.

849
00:58:07,693 --> 00:58:09,946
For him to hear
that coming from me

850
00:58:10,237 --> 00:58:13,457
was totally unbelievable to him.

851
00:58:17,953 --> 00:58:20,627
He was really, really,
deeply wounded.

852
00:58:26,294 --> 00:58:28,843
It was him, not her.

853
00:58:29,131 --> 00:58:31,554
He's the one that
just had this hunger.

854
00:58:34,720 --> 00:58:36,080
And you think,
my god, the next day

855
00:58:36,346 --> 00:58:37,699
he's got to get up,
and go out, and drive

856
00:58:37,723 --> 00:58:39,691
a 917 at 200 miles an hour.

857
00:58:42,394 --> 00:58:44,692
The whole situation
was problematic.

858
00:59:09,546 --> 00:59:12,299
The one thing he wanted
to do is what we were doing.

859
00:59:12,591 --> 00:59:16,221
He wanted to be a racing driver.

860
00:59:16,511 --> 00:59:17,979
It's a combination

861
00:59:18,263 --> 00:59:21,893
of trying to use a motor car and
yourself as one complete unit.

862
00:59:22,184 --> 00:59:25,358
It's really an umbilical
connection between the two,

863
00:59:25,645 --> 00:59:27,022
the man and the machine.

864
00:59:29,941 --> 00:59:32,785
248 miles an hour.

865
00:59:33,070 --> 00:59:38,372
Just imagine losing control
and hitting that Armco rail.

866
00:59:43,497 --> 00:59:49,095
Well, racing, it's life.

867
00:59:49,377 --> 00:59:53,382
Anything that happens before
or after is just waiting.

868
00:59:56,301 --> 00:59:57,803
That's a good
sentence for Steve.

869
01:00:00,514 --> 01:00:03,609
Sometimes, I had the
feeling it is like this.

870
01:00:08,480 --> 01:00:12,030
It meant a lot to him,
almost everything.

871
01:00:18,281 --> 01:00:20,124
And we had a scene where
we get out of the car

872
01:00:20,408 --> 01:00:22,001
after two hours of driving.

873
01:00:22,285 --> 01:00:24,379
Of course, you sweat.

874
01:00:24,663 --> 01:00:27,086
And the makeup man
came, and put some water

875
01:00:27,374 --> 01:00:31,004
in my face, and hair.

876
01:00:31,294 --> 01:00:33,342
And he wanted to
do this to Steve.

877
01:00:33,630 --> 01:00:35,632
And Steve said,
no, no, no, no, no.

878
01:00:35,924 --> 01:00:37,517
He stepped in his car.

879
01:00:37,801 --> 01:00:40,850
He drove a couple of
rounds, got out of the car.

880
01:00:41,138 --> 01:00:43,436
He was sweating naturally.

881
01:00:43,723 --> 01:00:47,569
And he said, Siggy,
look at this.

882
01:00:47,853 --> 01:00:51,778
It's swollen here, the vein.

883
01:00:52,065 --> 01:00:55,490
So that is the perfect thing.

884
01:00:55,777 --> 01:00:59,407
The makeup man can't do this.

885
01:00:59,698 --> 01:01:02,577
It has to be real.

886
01:01:02,868 --> 01:01:04,290
And Steve wanted it like this.

887
01:01:10,667 --> 01:01:12,840
As an actor,
if you get in the position

888
01:01:13,128 --> 01:01:15,677
to be able to have
control, or as a filmmaker,

889
01:01:15,964 --> 01:01:18,888
you must carry your project.

890
01:01:19,176 --> 01:01:21,349
Carry it all the way
through, to the end.

891
01:01:21,636 --> 01:01:23,058
That means you can't give up.

892
01:01:23,346 --> 01:01:25,314
You can't let a thing go.

893
01:01:25,599 --> 01:01:27,034
And nobody will make
a decision for you,

894
01:01:27,058 --> 01:01:28,378
and nobody's smarter
than you are.

895
01:01:38,320 --> 01:01:41,415
There was really no script.

896
01:01:41,698 --> 01:01:43,325
We were winging it.

897
01:01:43,617 --> 01:01:46,996
In the meantime, until we
got somewhat of a script,

898
01:01:47,287 --> 01:01:50,541
we were shooting just footage.

899
01:01:50,832 --> 01:01:53,255
Hollywood is a
formula they like,

900
01:01:53,543 --> 01:01:55,591
and they like to stick to it.

901
01:01:55,879 --> 01:01:59,224
They wanted to have
more of a love story.

902
01:01:59,507 --> 01:02:03,262
My dad wanted cars and realism.

903
01:02:07,015 --> 01:02:11,771
You had a mental picture
of a documentary, something that

904
01:02:12,062 --> 01:02:15,612
was paired down to give you
the total experience of what

905
01:02:15,899 --> 01:02:18,823
was going on.

906
01:02:19,110 --> 01:02:21,989
People like myself felt Le Mans

907
01:02:22,280 --> 01:02:27,377
would make a great background
for a dramatic story.

908
01:02:27,661 --> 01:02:31,666
That debate caused
writers to come,

909
01:02:31,957 --> 01:02:37,714
and go, and take a shot at the
script that would make sense.

910
01:02:38,004 --> 01:02:40,132
They were called
dueling caravans,

911
01:02:40,423 --> 01:02:42,892
because they were lined
up next to each other.

912
01:02:43,176 --> 01:02:49,149
Who could get the latest new
script on Steve's desk first?

913
01:02:49,432 --> 01:02:52,356
He was trying to write the
great American novel when he

914
01:02:52,644 --> 01:02:54,066
was trying to write the script.

915
01:02:54,354 --> 01:02:57,654
And because the first sentence
written was in the greatest

916
01:02:57,941 --> 01:02:59,614
sentence ever
written, he couldn't

917
01:02:59,901 --> 01:03:02,495
get himself to that point,
putting it down on paper.

918
01:03:05,407 --> 01:03:07,409
Everybody that went
to the box office back then

919
01:03:07,701 --> 01:03:08,719
said, oh, he's going to win it.

920
01:03:08,743 --> 01:03:09,743
He's going to win it.

921
01:03:09,995 --> 01:03:11,713
So let's throw a
little wrench in this.

922
01:03:11,997 --> 01:03:13,637
I'm going to give him
something different.

923
01:03:16,167 --> 01:03:17,167
OK, Steve.

924
01:03:17,335 --> 01:03:18,587
You walk into this caravan.

925
01:03:18,878 --> 01:03:21,176
You see this girl you
haven't seen in a long time.

926
01:03:21,464 --> 01:03:24,263
And she looks up at
you and says, hello.

927
01:03:24,551 --> 01:03:26,303
What would you say, hello?

928
01:03:26,594 --> 01:03:29,814
And he said, not necessarily.

929
01:03:30,098 --> 01:03:31,725
That was the lowest
point for me.

930
01:03:32,017 --> 01:03:34,270
I thought, we're never
going to get a script.

931
01:03:43,695 --> 01:03:46,949
If I had written the script,
I know it would have worked.

932
01:03:47,240 --> 01:03:49,789
It would have worked.

933
01:03:50,076 --> 01:03:51,076
I was his boy.

934
01:03:51,202 --> 01:03:52,499
I was his writer.

935
01:03:52,787 --> 01:03:55,461
His favorite expression is
the son of a bitch knows me.

936
01:03:55,749 --> 01:03:57,171
I don't know how,
but he knows me.

937
01:04:03,965 --> 01:04:05,933
The meeting took
place in Steve's home.

938
01:04:14,851 --> 01:04:18,651
He insisted that the
character had to be a loser,

939
01:04:18,938 --> 01:04:20,815
and I didn't want
to write a loser.

940
01:04:23,818 --> 01:04:27,664
You have to remember,
I was also a star.

941
01:04:27,947 --> 01:04:32,453
I thought I had a Write
to insist on my position.

942
01:04:32,744 --> 01:04:40,744
He just wanted to lose in that
movie, and I don't know why.

943
01:04:41,586 --> 01:04:45,261
Steve wanted to have
something more than just

944
01:04:45,548 --> 01:04:48,722
Steve McQueen doing
Steve McQueen on film.

945
01:04:49,010 --> 01:04:50,290
You're talking
about something he

946
01:04:50,512 --> 01:04:53,857
wanted to do that was more
important than acting.

947
01:04:59,062 --> 01:05:01,611
You shouldn't argue
with a superstar,

948
01:05:01,898 --> 01:05:05,243
even if you helped
make him a superstar.

949
01:05:05,527 --> 01:05:08,201
I was the highest paid
screenwriter in town

950
01:05:08,488 --> 01:05:10,411
when I went to that meeting.

951
01:05:10,698 --> 01:05:13,793
And after that meeting,
the phone never rang again.

952
01:05:42,772 --> 01:05:45,525
His love of cars
were so infectious

953
01:05:45,817 --> 01:05:47,410
that is screwed me up for life.

954
01:05:51,865 --> 01:05:54,414
Since day one when I
got here, I'm like, dad,

955
01:05:54,701 --> 01:05:56,829
can you just give me a ride
in one of the race cars?

956
01:05:57,120 --> 01:05:58,997
That's all I wanted.

957
01:05:59,289 --> 01:06:01,383
Must've been two months
went by, and my dad

958
01:06:01,666 --> 01:06:03,134
turned the car around.

959
01:06:03,418 --> 01:06:04,854
He opened his right
door, the side door,

960
01:06:04,878 --> 01:06:06,630
and went like that,
turned around,

961
01:06:06,921 --> 01:06:08,173
and he sat me on his lap.

962
01:06:08,465 --> 01:06:12,015
And I just put my hands
inside of his hands.

963
01:06:12,302 --> 01:06:13,904
For a second, he pulled
his hands out the wheel,

964
01:06:13,928 --> 01:06:15,350
and I was steering the 917.

965
01:06:15,638 --> 01:06:17,436
And that was pretty bitching.

966
01:06:23,396 --> 01:06:24,113
Yeah, baby!

967
01:06:24,397 --> 01:06:26,024
Ha, ha!

968
01:06:26,316 --> 01:06:32,073
Chad didn't tell us
that he hit a wall in Daytona.

969
01:06:32,363 --> 01:06:35,333
He's got 16 screws on his
neck, and he's got a rod

970
01:06:35,617 --> 01:06:38,291
on either side of his spine.

971
01:06:38,578 --> 01:06:41,957
I broke everything in my body.

972
01:06:42,248 --> 01:06:43,434
And the reason
I'm wearing shades

973
01:06:43,458 --> 01:06:44,801
is my right eye
is still towed in.

974
01:06:50,381 --> 01:06:52,099
I was in a coma for
three and a half weeks.

975
01:06:52,383 --> 01:06:54,010
Did I say that?

976
01:06:54,302 --> 01:06:55,303
Would I change anything?

977
01:06:55,595 --> 01:06:56,096
No.

978
01:06:56,387 --> 01:06:56,933
I wouldn't.

979
01:06:57,222 --> 01:06:58,222
Pretty neat, huh?

980
01:07:03,353 --> 01:07:05,822
There is nothing
better, nothing better.

981
01:07:08,608 --> 01:07:11,282
I mean, motorsports is the
strongest drug in the world.

982
01:07:27,835 --> 01:07:29,803
We attempted
to show in the film,

983
01:07:30,088 --> 01:07:32,932
rather than to explain it,
just to show why a man races.

984
01:07:36,302 --> 01:07:38,680
The feelings that
he gets from it.

985
01:07:38,972 --> 01:07:42,693
It's a great sense of freedom.

986
01:07:42,976 --> 01:07:44,899
It's a high of one
sort or another.

987
01:07:54,320 --> 01:07:57,494
To drive a car in
perfect condition to the limit

988
01:07:57,782 --> 01:07:59,462
was the most gratifying
thing you ever did.

989
01:08:02,495 --> 01:08:04,015
It's almost like a
ballet, with the car

990
01:08:04,163 --> 01:08:06,541
going in through the corners.

991
01:08:06,833 --> 01:08:10,258
And it's a thing of beauty.

992
01:08:10,545 --> 01:08:11,545
It is a work of art.

993
01:08:18,136 --> 01:08:21,231
I went 330 kilometers per hour.

994
01:08:24,684 --> 01:08:28,860
The faster I went, the
more relaxed I was.

995
01:08:29,147 --> 01:08:32,492
But when it's finished,
you have the time to think,

996
01:08:32,775 --> 01:08:37,201
and then you're glad that
nothing happened more.

997
01:08:41,951 --> 01:08:45,455
It overtakes drivers,
without them knowing it.

998
01:08:45,747 --> 01:08:49,672
The freedom of an eagle
floating in the sky

999
01:08:49,959 --> 01:08:53,259
was something that
racing brought to him.

1000
01:09:04,474 --> 01:09:08,695
Whatever that other stuff was
that came from his upbringing,

1001
01:09:08,978 --> 01:09:09,978
he could set that aside.

1002
01:09:13,274 --> 01:09:14,274
Death is so close.

1003
01:09:14,484 --> 01:09:15,861
It's right on my shoulder.

1004
01:09:16,152 --> 01:09:19,907
And yet, there's a peace here.

1005
01:09:20,198 --> 01:09:23,042
And he actually found
such joy in that, that he

1006
01:09:23,326 --> 01:09:24,526
wanted to give that to people.

1007
01:09:28,956 --> 01:09:31,709
I've always wanted to shoot
a motor racing picture,

1008
01:09:32,001 --> 01:09:35,551
because it's always been
something close to my heart.

1009
01:09:35,838 --> 01:09:40,264
I sometimes thought, well,
maybe I shouldn't do it.

1010
01:09:40,551 --> 01:09:42,019
When something is
close to you, you

1011
01:09:42,303 --> 01:09:46,149
have a tendency to become too
much a perfectionist with it.

1012
01:09:46,432 --> 01:09:48,981
And I don't think there's
any race driver that can

1013
01:09:49,268 --> 01:09:50,440
really tell you why he races.

1014
01:09:53,314 --> 01:09:56,693
But I think he could
probably show you.

1015
01:10:05,785 --> 01:10:09,335
He was not Hercules.

1016
01:10:09,622 --> 01:10:12,546
He was Icarus.

1017
01:10:12,834 --> 01:10:18,716
Steve wanted to fly so
high, and he didn't quite

1018
01:10:19,006 --> 01:10:23,261
understand the point where the
wax starts to leave your wings.

1019
01:10:45,491 --> 01:10:47,744
Through the
set, through the set.

1020
01:10:48,035 --> 01:10:49,582
And cars are rolling.

1021
01:10:58,254 --> 01:10:59,722
I was rolling.

1022
01:11:00,006 --> 01:11:01,108
They had to pay the drivers.

1023
01:11:01,132 --> 01:11:02,192
They had to pay the camera men.

1024
01:11:02,216 --> 01:11:03,433
They had to pay the sound men.

1025
01:11:03,718 --> 01:11:05,678
They had to pay the people
that fed them at lunch.

1026
01:11:07,805 --> 01:11:10,729
And the people in the cinema
center were checking in.

1027
01:11:11,017 --> 01:11:12,244
How are things going over there?

1028
01:11:12,268 --> 01:11:13,986
Well, not so good.

1029
01:11:14,270 --> 01:11:16,113
We ain't got no story.

1030
01:11:16,397 --> 01:11:20,027
We were approximately
$1.5 million over budget.

1031
01:11:20,318 --> 01:11:23,117
And the studio was expecting
a Steve McQueen movie to bail

1032
01:11:23,404 --> 01:11:26,704
us out, and we didn't have it.

1033
01:11:26,991 --> 01:11:28,584
We were going to make
the most expensive

1034
01:11:28,868 --> 01:11:31,963
documentary in the world,
if somebody didn't talk.

1035
01:11:32,246 --> 01:11:34,999
Everybody was looking
for the same thing,

1036
01:11:35,291 --> 01:11:36,964
with one exception...
With one exception,

1037
01:11:37,251 --> 01:11:38,531
and that would be Steve McQueen.

1038
01:11:46,803 --> 01:11:52,025
The truth is we had gone
into a rather lengthy debate

1039
01:11:52,308 --> 01:11:54,026
over the basis of the film.

1040
01:11:57,730 --> 01:12:00,859
My father went back to
his production office,

1041
01:12:01,150 --> 01:12:05,656
and in a fit of rage, threw
a lamp against the wall.

1042
01:12:09,325 --> 01:12:12,795
He said, this picture's
fucking out of control.

1043
01:12:13,079 --> 01:12:14,359
And it was at
that moment that he

1044
01:12:14,497 --> 01:12:17,296
turned and saw Bob Rosen
reclining on his couch,

1045
01:12:17,583 --> 01:12:20,302
reading a magazine.

1046
01:12:20,586 --> 01:12:21,626
Wrong guy was in the room.

1047
01:12:24,882 --> 01:12:30,560
Bob called the studio and said,
we've got real problems now.

1048
01:12:30,847 --> 01:12:32,645
They're falling out
among themselves.

1049
01:12:36,811 --> 01:12:38,358
I don't remember that happening.

1050
01:12:38,646 --> 01:12:39,192
Could it have happened?

1051
01:12:39,480 --> 01:12:40,823
Yeah.

1052
01:12:41,107 --> 01:12:44,236
But it wasn't like a revelation.

1053
01:12:44,527 --> 01:12:46,871
Everybody knew the picture
was out of control.

1054
01:12:49,740 --> 01:12:54,621
Cinema Center's answer was
we'll take the picture over.

1055
01:12:54,912 --> 01:12:57,415
Now, we call the shots,
and we make the decision.

1056
01:12:57,707 --> 01:12:59,755
We don't care which
script you make.

1057
01:13:00,042 --> 01:13:02,591
Just make one of them.

1058
01:13:02,879 --> 01:13:05,507
And you, Steve,
will lose your salary,

1059
01:13:05,798 --> 01:13:07,766
will not get your points.

1060
01:13:08,050 --> 01:13:11,975
You have nothing to do with
this picture, except act.

1061
01:13:12,263 --> 01:13:14,891
We don't got no picture.

1062
01:13:15,182 --> 01:13:17,150
Last night, they took
the picture away from us.

1063
01:13:30,615 --> 01:13:33,960
It says, I have
read the foregoing

1064
01:13:34,243 --> 01:13:36,871
and agree to render
services only as an actor

1065
01:13:37,163 --> 01:13:39,461
in the picture.

1066
01:13:39,749 --> 01:13:47,349
And then my dad signed
his name, "in blood."

1067
01:13:47,632 --> 01:13:48,632
It's brilliant.

1068
01:13:48,799 --> 01:13:51,552
It goes in character
with my dad.

1069
01:13:51,844 --> 01:13:52,844
I love this shit.

1070
01:13:57,183 --> 01:13:58,935
There's a great
deal of compromise involved

1071
01:13:59,226 --> 01:14:02,275
in movies, I suppose, and I get
a bit undone when people try

1072
01:14:02,563 --> 01:14:04,736
to use me, or there's
compromises, or injustice,

1073
01:14:05,024 --> 01:14:06,321
and I fly off the handle.

1074
01:14:11,405 --> 01:14:14,500
Steve was furious
with my father.

1075
01:14:14,784 --> 01:14:16,377
At this point, in
McQueen's mind,

1076
01:14:16,661 --> 01:14:18,959
my father had gone over to
the other side of the fence

1077
01:14:19,246 --> 01:14:20,246
and betrayed him.

1078
01:14:23,834 --> 01:14:27,964
This racing picture was
so close to all of us

1079
01:14:28,255 --> 01:14:30,849
that when the
studio took it over,

1080
01:14:31,133 --> 01:14:35,104
Mr McQueen felt that
that had put a knife

1081
01:14:35,388 --> 01:14:38,688
in the heart of the company.

1082
01:14:38,975 --> 01:14:42,024
And Steve and I did
not speak again.

1083
01:14:44,730 --> 01:14:45,730
You betrayed me.

1084
01:14:45,815 --> 01:14:46,875
You stabbed me in the back.

1085
01:14:46,899 --> 01:14:48,116
I'll never talk to you again.

1086
01:14:54,448 --> 01:14:57,452
Loyalty was
a big thing with my dad.

1087
01:14:57,743 --> 01:15:04,251
If my dad felt in any way that
he had been burnt, that was it.

1088
01:15:04,542 --> 01:15:07,091
I don't think my
father betrayed Steve.

1089
01:15:07,378 --> 01:15:09,258
But I think he fell again,
as a business person,

1090
01:15:09,380 --> 01:15:11,661
as a professional, that that
was going to be the course it

1091
01:15:11,757 --> 01:15:13,134
was headed for, no matter what.

1092
01:15:16,345 --> 01:15:18,768
Thanks very much, Bob Relyea.

1093
01:15:19,056 --> 01:15:20,336
Thank you very
much, Mr. Sturges.

1094
01:15:20,558 --> 01:15:21,558
Bye.

1095
01:15:25,354 --> 01:15:27,777
John came to me.

1096
01:15:28,065 --> 01:15:30,534
And he said, I'm going to quit.

1097
01:15:30,818 --> 01:15:34,823
And it came about because of
the relationship with Steve.

1098
01:15:35,114 --> 01:15:37,617
John Sturges was
brought in to make

1099
01:15:37,908 --> 01:15:42,630
a theatrical motion picture with
characters and a story in it.

1100
01:15:42,913 --> 01:15:46,759
The more John tried
to have it his way,

1101
01:15:47,043 --> 01:15:50,343
the less ground
Steve would give him.

1102
01:15:50,629 --> 01:15:54,600
He said, I'm too fucking
old and rich to put up

1103
01:15:54,884 --> 01:15:56,978
with this type of shit anymore.

1104
01:15:57,261 --> 01:15:58,261
Goodbye.

1105
01:16:04,769 --> 01:16:07,443
Now, here we are, half
way in the production,

1106
01:16:07,730 --> 01:16:10,404
and they don't have a director.

1107
01:16:10,691 --> 01:16:11,691
Now, what?

1108
01:16:16,405 --> 01:16:17,406
There's a lot of ways

1109
01:16:17,698 --> 01:16:20,042
that man can be
hurt in business.

1110
01:16:20,326 --> 01:16:21,794
They can hurt your head.

1111
01:16:22,078 --> 01:16:23,955
They can hurt you financially.

1112
01:16:24,246 --> 01:16:25,714
They can gut you.

1113
01:16:25,998 --> 01:16:28,626
Or they can cause that thing
to pop up in your throat.

1114
01:16:28,918 --> 01:16:30,228
A couple of times
a day, you start

1115
01:16:30,252 --> 01:16:31,492
thinking about it a little bit.

1116
01:16:33,839 --> 01:16:36,217
He was nothing but success
up to the point of "Le Mans."

1117
01:16:36,509 --> 01:16:38,637
Everything that he
did turned to gold.

1118
01:16:41,472 --> 01:16:43,272
And now, "Le Mans,"
everything turned to shit.

1119
01:17:00,449 --> 01:17:02,622
I've always wanted
to know if Steve had

1120
01:17:02,910 --> 01:17:05,254
walked off the production
at that point, what

1121
01:17:05,538 --> 01:17:06,538
would've happened.

1122
01:17:08,833 --> 01:17:11,336
Call it ego.

1123
01:17:11,627 --> 01:17:12,627
Call it his name.

1124
01:17:15,464 --> 01:17:18,468
It's not good press if the
world's number one box office

1125
01:17:18,759 --> 01:17:25,483
attraction walks off a film, a
film that meant so much to him.

1126
01:17:25,766 --> 01:17:27,768
There was no quit in my dad.

1127
01:17:28,060 --> 01:17:29,733
He had something
that he started,

1128
01:17:30,020 --> 01:17:31,647
and he wanted to finish it.

1129
01:17:47,580 --> 01:17:49,753
We're rolling, guys.

1130
01:17:50,040 --> 01:17:50,632
Thank you.

1131
01:17:50,916 --> 01:17:52,008
Guys, settle, please.

1132
01:17:57,006 --> 01:17:58,206
I come in on a Monday morning.

1133
01:17:58,340 --> 01:17:59,740
And Jerry Henshaw
comes in, says how

1134
01:17:59,884 --> 01:18:02,603
would you like to go to France?

1135
01:18:02,887 --> 01:18:03,887
That's how it happened.

1136
01:18:06,932 --> 01:18:08,809
They had no story.

1137
01:18:09,101 --> 01:18:12,526
They knew that Steve was
never going to win the race.

1138
01:18:12,813 --> 01:18:14,690
That's about what they knew.

1139
01:18:14,982 --> 01:18:16,342
I can see him
now with the glasses,

1140
01:18:16,567 --> 01:18:19,446
and that funny hat he
wore the whole time.

1141
01:18:19,737 --> 01:18:23,662
He wasn't this mogul, this
great icon of the movie world.

1142
01:18:23,949 --> 01:18:27,544
He was a guy called Lee Katzin,
who nobody had heard of.

1143
01:18:27,828 --> 01:18:30,109
Poor old Lee didn't know the
front of a car from the back,

1144
01:18:30,206 --> 01:18:31,799
so that wasn't helpful.

1145
01:18:32,082 --> 01:18:34,255
McQueen hadn't chosen
him, didn't like him,

1146
01:18:34,543 --> 01:18:36,386
wasn't impressed by him.

1147
01:18:36,670 --> 01:18:39,924
And he was obliged
to work with him.

1148
01:18:40,216 --> 01:18:41,559
They did a take in the pits.

1149
01:18:41,842 --> 01:18:44,470
And Lee said, one more please.

1150
01:18:44,762 --> 01:18:45,762
Steve got up.

1151
01:18:45,804 --> 01:18:46,976
And he said, listen, asshole.

1152
01:18:47,264 --> 01:18:48,857
I'll tell you when
we get one more.

1153
01:18:49,141 --> 01:18:50,141
Move to your next shot.

1154
01:18:50,309 --> 01:18:53,904
And if I like it, I'll show up.

1155
01:18:54,188 --> 01:18:57,943
The problems of individual's
egos were there.

1156
01:18:58,234 --> 01:19:00,908
It wasn't a lot of
fun that way, at all.

1157
01:19:16,252 --> 01:19:17,252
Come on.

1158
01:19:17,378 --> 01:19:18,538
I want to show you something.

1159
01:19:29,223 --> 01:19:29,849
Come on.

1160
01:19:30,140 --> 01:19:31,140
Walk with me.

1161
01:19:38,899 --> 01:19:41,527
I want to get down here, because
this is where Dave Piper lost

1162
01:19:41,819 --> 01:19:43,071
it, right in this right hander.

1163
01:19:58,585 --> 01:20:01,680
We'd been filming
in the morning.

1164
01:20:01,964 --> 01:20:05,218
Everything went according
to plan, no problem.

1165
01:20:05,509 --> 01:20:09,013
Went to lunch, came
back to the circuit,

1166
01:20:09,305 --> 01:20:12,354
and the director wanted
the Ferraris to be

1167
01:20:12,641 --> 01:20:14,109
leading with a Porsche behind.

1168
01:20:17,730 --> 01:20:20,779
They haven't decided what
the script was going to be,

1169
01:20:21,066 --> 01:20:22,784
and they wanted both options.

1170
01:20:32,786 --> 01:20:40,786
I drove just as I had
driven in the morning, went

1171
01:20:42,921 --> 01:20:44,468
into this right hand corner.

1172
01:20:50,095 --> 01:20:52,393
The back end just went.

1173
01:21:15,454 --> 01:21:17,798
Word had gotten
back to the compound

1174
01:21:18,082 --> 01:21:19,584
that there was an accident.

1175
01:21:19,875 --> 01:21:21,627
And I got that.

1176
01:21:21,919 --> 01:21:25,014
And I was thinking, geez,
I hope it's not my dad.

1177
01:21:25,297 --> 01:21:27,516
I hear the triad a lot.

1178
01:21:27,800 --> 01:21:29,222
And so what's going on?

1179
01:21:29,510 --> 01:21:32,810
He says, I want to show you
what can happen in motor racing.

1180
01:21:33,097 --> 01:21:37,273
Steve, I'm calling you to tell
you that we're having accident.

1181
01:21:37,559 --> 01:21:40,563
David Piper, he's been
taken to hospital.

1182
01:21:40,854 --> 01:21:43,903
This was all grass, and
I remember a couple cows.

1183
01:21:44,191 --> 01:21:46,660
And there was a wheel assembly,
sitting out in the middle

1184
01:21:46,944 --> 01:21:48,287
of fucking nowhere.

1185
01:21:48,570 --> 01:21:51,744
Uh, well, he had a crash.

1186
01:21:55,411 --> 01:21:59,132
He was left bolted
onto the engine in the seat,

1187
01:21:59,415 --> 01:22:01,215
and the rest of the car
took off and left him.

1188
01:22:04,795 --> 01:22:08,470
You can see there's quite a lot
of blood coming out of your leg

1189
01:22:08,757 --> 01:22:11,055
in your overalls.

1190
01:22:11,343 --> 01:22:16,099
But it's a tremendous
relief that you're

1191
01:22:16,390 --> 01:22:19,985
still conscious and alive.

1192
01:22:20,269 --> 01:22:21,862
David has been injured.

1193
01:22:22,146 --> 01:22:23,898
I just spoke to the pilot.

1194
01:22:24,189 --> 01:22:26,817
He will come in at night.

1195
01:22:27,109 --> 01:22:28,736
It was my doctor.

1196
01:22:29,027 --> 01:22:30,627
He said, we're going
to have to amputate.

1197
01:22:35,784 --> 01:22:37,864
I said, well, take it off
four inches below the knee,

1198
01:22:37,995 --> 01:22:38,995
and I'll take my chances.

1199
01:22:49,173 --> 01:22:52,768
My mom took me, my
sister to see Dave.

1200
01:22:53,051 --> 01:22:55,179
And I remember
the room was dark,

1201
01:22:55,471 --> 01:22:58,475
and I remember he
had a sheet over him.

1202
01:22:58,765 --> 01:23:04,818
And you could clearly see
that below his knee was gone.

1203
01:23:05,105 --> 01:23:06,105
I lost it there.

1204
01:23:06,356 --> 01:23:07,356
I lost that much.

1205
01:23:24,291 --> 01:23:25,543
Would your accident have

1206
01:23:25,834 --> 01:23:28,633
happened if a proper
script had been in place?

1207
01:23:28,921 --> 01:23:29,921
Oh, no.

1208
01:23:30,130 --> 01:23:31,570
It probably wouldn't
have done, yeah.

1209
01:23:31,798 --> 01:23:33,234
Definitely wouldn't have done,
because they wouldn't have

1210
01:23:33,258 --> 01:23:34,378
wanted to do the shot twice.

1211
01:23:37,346 --> 01:23:39,974
It shouldn't have happened.

1212
01:23:44,686 --> 01:23:46,734
With David Piper,
Steve was very, very aware

1213
01:23:47,022 --> 01:23:49,741
and very worried about it.

1214
01:23:50,025 --> 01:23:54,371
You'd think it was his fault.

1215
01:23:54,655 --> 01:23:56,953
It's his film.

1216
01:23:57,241 --> 01:23:58,868
The bucks stops at the top.

1217
01:24:06,667 --> 01:24:09,420
I never saw him afterwards.

1218
01:24:09,711 --> 01:24:10,711
No.

1219
01:24:13,840 --> 01:24:17,720
Just never happened
to see him again.

1220
01:24:24,893 --> 01:24:26,440
It was a film
that took us four months

1221
01:24:26,728 --> 01:24:28,526
to shoot, and was
very difficult,

1222
01:24:28,814 --> 01:24:32,193
and we had a couple
of very bad accidents.

1223
01:24:32,484 --> 01:24:34,737
It was the most difficult
film I've ever done.

1224
01:24:46,081 --> 01:24:48,755
One morning, at Solar Village,

1225
01:24:49,042 --> 01:24:51,170
no one else was there
but myself and Steve.

1226
01:24:51,461 --> 01:24:54,305
And he said, Lee, I see
what you're trying to do,

1227
01:24:54,590 --> 01:24:56,183
and I'm not going to fight you.

1228
01:24:56,466 --> 01:24:57,610
I'm not going to be against you.

1229
01:24:57,634 --> 01:25:00,387
I want to work with you.

1230
01:25:00,679 --> 01:25:04,104
From that time on,
it was wonderful.

1231
01:25:04,391 --> 01:25:08,692
We battered out an outline
that Steve agreed to.

1232
01:25:08,979 --> 01:25:11,903
It took 6, 8, 'l O weeks
for this to happen.

1233
01:25:12,190 --> 01:25:17,196
And finally, we got basically
what we had in the movie,

1234
01:25:17,487 --> 01:25:19,910
in terms of dialogue.

1235
01:25:20,198 --> 01:25:22,997
When people risk their
lives, shouldn't it be

1236
01:25:23,285 --> 01:25:24,753
for something very important?

1237
01:25:28,123 --> 01:25:31,093
Well, it better be.

1238
01:25:31,376 --> 01:25:36,223
He was trying to vindicate
the purpose of the film

1239
01:25:36,506 --> 01:25:40,136
by making sure it was
finished and would be

1240
01:25:40,427 --> 01:25:46,025
a testament to the personal
bravery of his most respected

1241
01:25:46,308 --> 01:25:47,935
pals, the motor racing drivers.

1242
01:25:57,486 --> 01:26:00,490
It was late October or November.

1243
01:26:00,781 --> 01:26:05,503
And the trees were
turning yellow.

1244
01:26:05,786 --> 01:26:09,290
It should be within

1245
01:26:09,581 --> 01:26:12,835
So they had to paint the leaves.

1246
01:26:13,126 --> 01:26:14,298
Ugh, my goodness.

1247
01:26:17,130 --> 01:26:19,349
In November,
1970, filming finally

1248
01:26:19,633 --> 01:26:23,308
wrapped three months
over schedule,

1249
01:26:23,595 --> 01:26:25,768
and about $1.5
million over budget.

1250
01:26:31,853 --> 01:26:38,202
He was sort of
melancholy, I think.

1251
01:26:38,485 --> 01:26:39,702
He said, it's done.

1252
01:26:44,324 --> 01:26:48,500
The last day of filming,
he got out of his car,

1253
01:26:48,787 --> 01:26:54,169
and he unbuckled his wrist
watch, and walked over to me,

1254
01:26:54,459 --> 01:26:56,712
and handed me the watch.

1255
01:26:57,003 --> 01:26:58,721
And he said, I want
you to have this.

1256
01:26:59,005 --> 01:27:01,224
Thank you for keeping me
alive all these months.

1257
01:27:05,887 --> 01:27:08,140
Le Mans is close to me.

1258
01:27:08,432 --> 01:27:10,901
I love motor racing.

1259
01:27:11,184 --> 01:27:14,063
It was a film that was
very, very close to me,

1260
01:27:14,354 --> 01:27:15,901
and we all hope
it turns out well.

1261
01:27:19,568 --> 01:27:22,287
Camera number three, marker.

1262
01:27:22,571 --> 01:27:24,244
Camera number four, marker.

1263
01:27:24,531 --> 01:27:26,704
Camera number five, marker.

1264
01:27:26,992 --> 01:27:30,121
We now have
speed on all the cameras.

1265
01:27:30,412 --> 01:27:34,042
I will call action, and
then it'll be a count of 10.

1266
01:27:34,332 --> 01:27:39,179
If anything happens to me,
Allie gets my pickup truck.

1267
01:27:39,463 --> 01:27:40,743
Guys, can you hear me all right?

1268
01:27:40,922 --> 01:27:41,514
All right.

1269
01:27:41,798 --> 01:27:43,971
The fire brigade ready?

1270
01:27:44,259 --> 01:27:45,260
All right.

1271
01:27:45,552 --> 01:27:47,225
Now, may I have your
attention please?

1272
01:28:16,958 --> 01:28:19,211
I don't care
what anybody else says.

1273
01:28:19,503 --> 01:28:22,848
I think he was satisfied
as a filmmaker at what

1274
01:28:23,131 --> 01:28:27,056
he had done for this picture.

1275
01:28:27,344 --> 01:28:30,348
I've never seen the movie.

1276
01:28:30,639 --> 01:28:33,358
It's too difficult for me.

1277
01:28:33,642 --> 01:28:37,488
Steve lost his wife, lost
his marriage, lost the film,

1278
01:28:37,771 --> 01:28:38,771
lost everything.

1279
01:28:47,030 --> 01:28:49,203
All of that loss, at that point

1280
01:28:49,491 --> 01:28:53,246
in time, I think it really
speaks to how deeply he cared

1281
01:28:53,537 --> 01:28:58,043
about that project, and how it
was so tied into his persona,

1282
01:28:58,333 --> 01:29:01,553
and his soul, that I think he
sensed that if it wasn't going

1283
01:29:01,837 --> 01:29:03,105
to happen on that
film, it wasn't going

1284
01:29:03,129 --> 01:29:06,759
to happen in his lifetime.

1285
01:29:07,050 --> 01:29:08,051
Being an actor is a gas.

1286
01:29:08,343 --> 01:29:10,766
Being a movie star
is a pain in the ass.

1287
01:29:11,054 --> 01:29:15,605
And when that happens, you
stop your personal growth.

1288
01:29:15,892 --> 01:29:19,692
And that's the thing
that I suffered from.

1289
01:29:19,980 --> 01:29:22,278
When he wanted to give back,

1290
01:29:22,566 --> 01:29:26,196
Hollywood wasn't there for him.

1291
01:29:26,486 --> 01:29:31,538
He had this vision that
came out of his heart.

1292
01:29:31,825 --> 01:29:34,499
I don't think any of those other
movies came out of his heart.

1293
01:29:40,792 --> 01:29:42,965
The world just became
a different color

1294
01:29:43,253 --> 01:29:44,470
to him, after that film.

1295
01:29:57,434 --> 01:30:01,564
"Le Mans" is a
turning point in his life.

1296
01:30:01,855 --> 01:30:05,610
When he left Le Mans, he
turned his back on the sport.

1297
01:30:05,901 --> 01:30:09,496
The zest he had for
driving fast had gone.

1298
01:30:13,533 --> 01:30:15,035
As far as me moving on myself,

1299
01:30:15,327 --> 01:30:17,546
I think I'm more into
life than cinema.

1300
01:30:17,829 --> 01:30:21,129
My conception can only be
motorcycles, and speed,

1301
01:30:21,416 --> 01:30:22,416
and things like that.

1302
01:30:22,459 --> 01:30:23,051
I don't want to do that anymore.

1303
01:30:23,335 --> 01:30:24,335
I don't do it no more.

1304
01:30:27,172 --> 01:30:28,172
Now, I'm clean.

1305
01:30:31,343 --> 01:30:33,186
Well, it's done.

1306
01:30:33,470 --> 01:30:34,710
I've got to try something else.

1307
01:30:39,309 --> 01:30:42,984
Do I really want
to do this anymore?

1308
01:30:43,271 --> 01:30:46,400
Do I want to go that fast?

1309
01:30:46,691 --> 01:30:50,116
And I think with David
Piper's accident,

1310
01:30:50,403 --> 01:30:54,579
an awareness of
the vulnerability

1311
01:30:54,866 --> 01:30:56,038
was in his psyche.

1312
01:31:02,207 --> 01:31:04,426
What he cared
most about in that picture

1313
01:31:04,709 --> 01:31:06,803
were the drivers.

1314
01:31:07,087 --> 01:31:08,760
He loved the drivers.

1315
01:31:16,680 --> 01:31:18,899
Oh.

1316
01:31:19,182 --> 01:31:23,858
Dear Sid, so many times before,
in the history of motion

1317
01:31:24,145 --> 01:31:27,194
pictures, brave men have
lost their lives and limbs,

1318
01:31:27,482 --> 01:31:29,530
and people have
forgotten about it.

1319
01:31:29,818 --> 01:31:33,163
I feel very strongly
that we should dedicate

1320
01:31:33,446 --> 01:31:37,701
the first premier to David
Piper and give all the proceeds

1321
01:31:37,993 --> 01:31:40,337
to him and his family.

1322
01:31:40,620 --> 01:31:44,500
Would you please pass
this on to the higher ups?

1323
01:31:44,791 --> 01:31:47,214
And I do think we
do this to racing

1324
01:31:47,502 --> 01:31:50,346
for what they gave this film.

1325
01:31:50,630 --> 01:31:53,474
My best, Steve McQueen.

1326
01:31:53,758 --> 01:31:56,386
Oh, how wonderful.

1327
01:31:56,678 --> 01:31:58,430
Gosh, that is terrific.

1328
01:32:01,683 --> 01:32:04,357
I really lost touch
when I was in hospital.

1329
01:32:04,644 --> 01:32:09,150
I never heard of
anything like this.

1330
01:32:09,441 --> 01:32:12,194
How very nice.

1331
01:32:12,485 --> 01:32:14,954
Well, Steve's heart was really
in the right place, wasn't it?

1332
01:32:15,238 --> 01:32:16,238
It's fantastic.

1333
01:32:30,420 --> 01:32:33,594
I just wanted
to get it down on film for what

1334
01:32:33,882 --> 01:32:35,259
I thought it was all about.

1335
01:32:35,550 --> 01:32:37,790
And I guess it's going to be
up to the audience to decide

1336
01:32:38,011 --> 01:32:39,171
whether I was right or wrong.

1337
01:32:43,683 --> 01:32:45,401
Oh, it was a lot of cars.

1338
01:32:49,439 --> 01:32:52,864
And I was waiting for my scenes.

1339
01:32:55,236 --> 01:32:57,614
Most actors do that, first
time they see a movie.

1340
01:33:03,286 --> 01:33:05,755
I was disappointed.

1341
01:33:06,039 --> 01:33:07,349
I could never see
how it was going

1342
01:33:07,373 --> 01:33:09,171
to be a roaring
success at the time,

1343
01:33:09,459 --> 01:33:10,579
because there was no script.

1344
01:33:14,464 --> 01:33:16,637
But then I saw the
film two years ago,

1345
01:33:16,925 --> 01:33:18,893
and I went, god,
that's brilliant.

1346
01:33:22,597 --> 01:33:25,567
It's the most wonderful
documentary of one of the most

1347
01:33:25,850 --> 01:33:29,525
glorious times of motor
racing on the greatest

1348
01:33:29,813 --> 01:33:30,813
track in the world.

1349
01:33:34,025 --> 01:33:37,495
From an actor's point
of view, loves it.

1350
01:33:37,779 --> 01:33:40,953
But from his point of view,
from a driver's point of view,

1351
01:33:41,241 --> 01:33:42,538
lovely.

1352
01:33:42,826 --> 01:33:45,170
And from a car's point
of view, beautiful.

1353
01:33:51,042 --> 01:33:53,921
It gets acclaim, because
it's trying to be pure.

1354
01:33:54,212 --> 01:33:55,759
It's not a Hollywood concoction.

1355
01:33:59,425 --> 01:34:01,678
But What the film
doesn't capture

1356
01:34:01,970 --> 01:34:02,970
is dramatic storytelling.

1357
01:34:10,103 --> 01:34:13,403
Problems, they vanish
in all the years.

1358
01:34:19,988 --> 01:34:25,370
I think he would have
been proud that we did it.

1359
01:34:25,660 --> 01:34:27,207
Proud that he did it.

1360
01:34:44,637 --> 01:34:49,143
What's happened now is a
cult is following this picture.

1361
01:34:51,936 --> 01:34:56,783
People who are into
cars revere this film.

1362
01:34:57,066 --> 01:34:59,410
That's all they want to
talk about is "Le Mans."

1363
01:34:59,694 --> 01:35:01,617
It has taken on a
life of its own.

1364
01:35:07,911 --> 01:35:10,585
The thing that Steve did
that moved cinema forward

1365
01:35:10,872 --> 01:35:13,751
was his absolute
insistence on authenticity.

1366
01:35:16,502 --> 01:35:20,006
You just have to say,
you went for it, guy.

1367
01:35:20,298 --> 01:35:21,891
I say, power to him.

1368
01:35:25,386 --> 01:35:26,808
They still are
not able to capture

1369
01:35:27,096 --> 01:35:31,021
what we captured inside those
cars with the real drivers

1370
01:35:31,309 --> 01:35:32,936
today.

1371
01:35:33,228 --> 01:35:36,732
Steve McQueen, he had no fear.

1372
01:35:53,373 --> 01:35:58,379
When he went to Mexico
to get treatment,

1373
01:35:58,670 --> 01:36:00,593
he had a copy of the
film shipped to Mexico,

1374
01:36:00,880 --> 01:36:02,560
and showed it to the
patients in the house.

1375
01:36:08,471 --> 01:36:15,776
I think it was his last
goodbye to everything.

1376
01:36:16,062 --> 01:36:20,067
He was just a nice man who
lost his way along the way,

1377
01:36:20,358 --> 01:36:21,575
and found it back.

1378
01:36:21,859 --> 01:36:27,616
And hopefully, he's up
there, having a good time.

1379
01:36:27,907 --> 01:36:30,251
Like I used to say,
safe travel, honey.

1380
01:36:43,047 --> 01:36:44,765
I always get a sense
he's watching me,

1381
01:36:45,049 --> 01:36:48,644
but close your eyes,
and listen to that.

1382
01:36:48,928 --> 01:36:50,646
Close your eyes and
listen to this again.

1383
01:36:56,311 --> 01:36:57,733
So that's what my
dad envisioned,

1384
01:36:58,021 --> 01:36:59,193
bringing that to life.

1385
01:37:02,317 --> 01:37:05,947
But I think today he
would say, ah, now,

1386
01:37:06,237 --> 01:37:07,784
you guys finally get it.

1387
01:37:31,346 --> 01:37:35,647
My big thing is daydreaming.

1388
01:37:35,933 --> 01:37:39,403
You know when you
daydream, you go to sleep.

1389
01:37:39,687 --> 01:37:41,530
In my life, my
daydreams came true.

1390
01:37:45,693 --> 01:37:46,973
It's just that I run out of gas.