Any sport or activity with many fans invariably makes its way onto the silver screen as the topic in many movies. People enjoy getting a close-up look at the event, which may not be available from the stands. The most popular angle for such a film is delving into the drama behind the scenes. What joys, struggles, and heartbreak color the players’ lives?
Car racing is no exception to this popularity. There are movies about auto racing dating back to the silent era of the 1910s. Movies about race car drivers grew even more popular in the talkie era and throughout the ensuing decades. The greasy glamour of the track and the fast-lane lives of the drivers continues to appeal to filmmakers.
A recent film about car racing is “Gran Turismo,” which came out this summer. Interestingly, it’s a biographical film about professional race car driver Jann Mardenborough. The other thing that’s unique about this film is it was based on the Gran Turismo video game franchise, which has simulated racing on the PlayStation platform since 1997. The movie was made by Sony Pictures, in conjunction with PlayStation Productions.
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“Gran Turismo” was released in the United States on Aug. 25. It was a success at the box office, and it has received mostly positive reviews. The idea of a film based on the Gran Turismo video game has been in the works for ten years, but it wasn’t official until May 2022. The concept of the story’s centering around Mardenborough wasn’t announced until September 2022.The movie starts with the formation of the GT Academy, which Nissan establishes to turn the best players of the Gran Turismo racing simulator game into real race car drivers. The idea is spearheaded by marketing executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom), and he hires race car driver-turned-mechanic Jack Salter (David Harbour) as a trainer, despite his initial skepticism. Meanwhile, Welsh teenager Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) loves playing Gran Turismo and dreams of becoming a race car driver, despite his father’s (Djimon Housou) objections. When Jann sets a time record on a simulated track, he learns he is eligible to compete in a qualification race for GT Academy. He wins the race and joins the Academy, but he has to go through a lot of training, discipline, and suffering to become a real race car driver.
“Gran Turismo” has a surprisingly wholesome story for a recent release. It’s basically the story of a young man who works toward success in a competitive field, a classic tale found in every medium of storytelling. The movie is rated PG-13, which is sadly considered a family-friendly rating these days. The rating description is “for intense action and some strong language.” This action is in racetrack crashes, particularly one traumatic crash which is a very realistic recreation of a real accident Mardenborough had in 2015. Even when avoiding the goriness of R-rated films, modern movies always include excessive violence. This isn’t essential in a car racing movie, however, as illustrated by race car movies from Hollywood’s Golden Era. Consider, for instance, “The Big Wheel” from 1949.
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“The Big Wheel” stars Mickey Rooney as a young race car driver, who was based on real-life driver Mauri Rose. A low-budget United Artists release, it was Rooney’s first movie after leaving MGM. One of the film’s producers was boxing champion Jack Dempsey. This movie has fallen into the public domain, so it can be watched for free on YouTube or on Amazon Prime Video, albeit in rather poor quality.In the film, Billy Coy (Rooney) arrives in Carrel, California, looking for work as a mechanic. Garage owner Red Stanley (Thomas Mitchell) finds him a job after he realizes his father was a famous race car driver, Cannonball Coy. Red was his mechanic and close friend, so he was driving with him the day he crashed and died during the Indianapolis 500. Billy makes friends with Louise Riley (Mary Hatcher), a tomboy whose father owns the local racetrack, and she tries to become more feminine because of her interest in him. After failing to qualify for one race because of an arrogant mistake, Billy ends up driving for car owner Deacon Jones (Monte Blue). Although he crashes in his first race because another driver (Michael O’Shea) sabotages him, Billy ends up winning races and making headlines. However, everything changes when his teammate (Steve Brodie) crashes and dies during a race.
These two movies are very similar. Both films center around a young race car driver who was based on a real person, although “Gran Turismo” is an actual biopic, while only the protagonist of “The Big Wheel” was inspired by Mauri Rose. In 1950, Bill Holland, the 1949 winner of the Indianapolis 500, sued the filmmakers because he thought the movie’s plot was too much like the race and insinuated that he had won by default, like Rooney’s character. Both Jann and Billy are mentored by mechanics with racing experience, Jack and Red, respectively. Each young man meets the young woman with whom he falls in love through his racing. Both drivers end up in trouble with the police at some point but end up competing in a race shortly afterward anyway. The biggest similarity is both drivers end up feeling responsible for the death of another person during a race, a fellow driver for Billy and a spectator for Jann. Despite this tragedy, both men end up competing in a very important race at their respective films’ climaxes, with similar outcomes for both.
Still a Winner
“Gran Turismo” is about a young man who learns race car driving from playing a video game, while “The Big Wheel” is about the son of a famous driver who becomes a race car driver himself. Obviously, there are certain things all race car movies have in common. However, these two movies share more similarities than most would, because both are about young men’s journeys to become famous drivers.The true story of Jann Mardenborough’s journey is quite inspiring, since he was a young man who had the chance to pursue his dream, against the odds. There’s no reason why this couldn’t have been a movie that the whole family could enjoy together. As usual, filmmakers felt it was necessary to include serious foul language and more violence than was necessary.
“The Big Wheel” proves a race car movie can be entertaining and exciting with restrained violence and no profanity. For this reason, it’s still a winner, 74 years after it was released.
