June 13 - Le Mans

Tonight’s movie is a drama with scenes that happen on June 13. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

LE MANS                  

       

Race car driver Michael Delaney sees Lisa Belgetti,  the widow of a former rival and thinks back to the crash that killed Belgetti. On June 13, 1970 [7:16 – 1:03:21] the 24 Hours of Le Mans Endurance auto race begins, with Delaney driving for team Porsche. On his first break from driving, Michael meets Lisa, who has a new boyfriend Ferrarri driver Claude Aurac.  Fellow Porsche driver Johann Ritter and his wife discuss the possibility of him retiring from racing. It starts to rain and eventually after a crash, all the teams are forced to switch to rain tires. On his second break Michael eats dinner with Lisa. The next day Eric Stahler of Team Ferrari spins out, causing team member Aurac to crash. The explosion of Aurac/.s car distracts Michael and he crashes as well. Michael rescues Lisa from a horde of reporters who are grilling her about the accident. The pair talk about auto racing. Then Porsche car #21 has rear suspension problems, while the lead Ferrari car has ignition troubles. The Porsche coach replaces Ritter in car #21 with Michael.  As they reach the end of the race it is Ferrarri, Porsche, Porsche, Ferrari. The lead Ferrarri has a blown tire and has to quit. Michael blocks the other Ferrari, driven by his arch-rival Stahler and enables the other team Porsche driver to win the race.

Producer - Jack Reddish

Director - Lee H. Katzin

Screenwriter - Harry Kleiner

Runtime -  1 hour 46 minutes

Released – June 23, 1971

Starring –

Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney

Siegfried Rauch as Erich Stahler

Elga Andersen as Lisa Belgetti

Ronald Leigh-Hunt as David Townsend

Fred Haltiner as Johann Ritter

Luc Merenda as Claude Aurac

Christopher Waite as Larry Wilson

Louise Edlind as Mrs. Anna Ritter

Angelo Infanti as Lugo Abratte

Jean-Claude Bercq as Paul-Jacques Dion

Michele Scalera as Vito Scaliso

Gino Cassani as Loretto Fuselli

Alfred Bell as Tommy Hopkins

Carlo Cecchi as Paolo Scadenza

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015.