The Young Racers

The Young Racers (1963)

A little death each day, a lot of love every night!

A former race car driver-turned-writer attempts to expose a ruthless, womanizing Grand Prix racer. A film constructed around footage shot of actual Grand Prix races in Europe.

Date of release
1963-01-01
TMDB
5.3 / 10 (11)
Runtime
1h 24m
Genres
Action, Drama
Director
Roger Corman

Casting

Interesting facts

The Young Racers is a 1963 sports drama film directed by Roger Corman and starring Mark Damon, William Campbell, Luana Anders and Patrick Magee. It is based on the Formula One races in Europe.

Production

The Young Racers was shot on location in Europe to take advantage of the real life grand prix circuits. Director Roger Corman hired Robert Wright Campbell, brother of the lead actor, William Campbell, to write the script. Corman wanted Campbell to base the script on an earlier screenplay he had written about a young American who gets involved with a great bullfighter in Spain.

The film was shot from race to race during the 1962 Formula One season, with the cast and crew taking breaks in between. Races took place in June and July at Monaco, Rouen, Spa in Belgium and England. Corman's assistant was sent ahead to scout the locations and coordinate with the racing teams. Leading competitors such as Jim Clark and Bruce McLaren were featured.

Francis Ford Coppola is credited not only as the sound recordist, but also as the second unit director on The Young Racers, in addition to appearing in the film in an uncredited role. Most significantly, working around the shooting schedule of The Young Racers, Coppola was allowed by Corman to use the same set, crew and actors Luana Anders, William Campbell and Patrick Magee to shoot his first feature, Dementia 13.

Screenwriter Robert Towne is credited as the second assistant director.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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