Grand Prix (1966)

Pete Aron: Ah, were you in the war?
Izo Yamura: Yes, and you?
Pete Aron: No, I missed it by a year.
Izo Yamura: In the war, I was a fighter pilot. I shot down 17 American planes.
Pete Aron: Okay.
Izo Yamura: I believe that some things must not be left unsaid. There will come a time when you will ask yourself, "What did he do in the war, this man, Yamura?"
Pete Aron: Mr. Yamura, I like you.
Izo Yamura: Why?
Pete Aron: Well, because... because you come right to the point.
Izo Yamura: In a sense, you are here because you drive a car the way I conduct my business. You come right to the point.

---

Izo Yamura: Some years ago, when I decided to race cars, I tried to buy the Jordan-BRM company.
Pete Aron: Oh yes, I had heard that.
Izo Yamura: Impatience on my part. I also manufacture radios and sewing machines. In order to save time, I wanted a proven product. That was not to be, however. Racing cars are not merely another product. They require great attention if any success is to be hoped for.
Pete Aron: Then that's why you're here.
Izo Yamura: I have been racing my cars in Formula One for two years, and have yet to win my first Grand Prix. I intend to win, by whatever means are open to me.
Pete Aron: That's the right attitude. All you have to do is go fast enough and long enough.
Izo Yamura: And with the best drivers! Do you want a job with me?
Pete Aron: Driving?
Izo Yamura: Driving, of course.
Pete Aron: Who are you dumping?
Izo Yamura: Dumping?
Pete Aron: Ah, which one of your drivers are you getting rid of?
Izo Yamura: Neither one. I am entering a third car.
Pete Aron: That'll be expensive.
Izo Yamura: Yes.
Pete Aron: You've got a driver.
Izo Yamura: My racing headquarters is at Silverstone, in England. Can you be there next week?
Pete Aron: Yes, sir.
Izo Yamura: We must begin to think about - Spa!
Pete Aron: Next week, then.
Izo Yamura: By the way, you are a terrible broadcaster!
[Aron turns and starts heading for the door]
Izo Yamura: Oh, Mr. Aron, if giving you the job would have meant firing one of the other drivers, would you still have taken it?
[Aron glares at Yamura]
Izo Yamura: Good!

---

Izo Yamura: Right after the war, my house in Tokyo was used by an American general and his family. When it was returned to me, it had: flowered wallpaper, three new bathrooms, and four new closets. Americans, I think, are over-devoted to bathrooms and closets.
Pete Aron: Well, we accumulate things.
Izo Yamura: And then you lock them away in closets. And the bathrooms?
Pete Aron: No, no, you don't get me on that one.

---

read more quotes from Grand Prix...

During filming, Yves Montand spun out and subsequently was terrified to go fast again. The crew modified a racecar that was then towed behind a Ford GT40. This setup would reach speeds of 130 mph. Montand was more comfortable with this setup than with having to drive the car himself.
Filming required the use of all existing Panavision 65mm cameras.
The cars had to be fitted with spark plug radio noise suppression kits similar to the ones used on passenger cars because otherwise the static produced by their engine electrics interfered with the radio-controlled camera mounts on the cars.
read more facts about Grand Prix...