Downhill Racer
Astonishing Alpine location photography and a young Robert Redford in one of his earliest starring roles are just two of the visual splendors of Downhill Racer, the visceral debut feature of Michael Ritchie. In a beautifully understated performance, Redford is David Chappellet, a ruthlessly ambitious skier competing for Olympic gold with an underdog American team in Europe, and Gene Hackman provides tough support as the coach who tries to temper the upstart’s narcissistic drive for glory. With a subtle screenplay by acclaimed novelist James Salter, Downhill Racer is a vivid character portrait buoyed by breathtakingly fast and furious imagery that brings the viewer directly into the mind of the competitor.
Special Features
- Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Interviews from 2009 with actor Robert Redford, screenwriter James Salter, editor Richard Harris, production manager Walter Coblenz, and former downhill skier Joe Jay Jalbert, who served as a technical adviser, ski double, and cameraman
- Audio excerpts from a 1977 American Film Institute seminar with director Michael Ritchie
- How Fast?, a rare twelve-minute promotional feature from 1969
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Todd McCarthy
New cover by Eric Skillman
Special Features
- Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Interviews from 2009 with actor Robert Redford, screenwriter James Salter, editor Richard Harris, production manager Walter Coblenz, and former downhill skier Joe Jay Jalbert, who served as a technical adviser, ski double, and cameraman
- Audio excerpts from a 1977 American Film Institute seminar with director Michael Ritchie
- How Fast?, a rare twelve-minute promotional feature from 1969
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Todd McCarthy
New cover by Eric Skillman
Cast
- Robert Redford
- David Chappellet
- Gene Hackman
- Claire
- Camilla Sparv
- Carole
- Karl Michael Vogler
- Machet
- Jim McMullan
- Creech
- Kathleen Crowley
- Newspaperwoman
- Dabney Coleman
- Mayo
- Kenneth Kirk
- D. K.
- Oren Stevens
- Kipsmith
- Jerry Dexter
- Engel
- Rip McManus
- Devore
- Walter Stroud
- Chappellet’s father
- Carole Carle
- Lena
- Joe Jay Jalbert
- Tommy Erb
- Tom J. Kirk
- Stiles
Credits
- Director
- Michael Ritchie
- Producer
- Richard Gregson
- Written by
- James Salter
- Music
- Kenyon Hopkins
- Director of photography
- Brian Probyn
- Photographed by
- Tony Busbridge
- Photographed by
- Alan Hewison
- Photographed by
- Arthur Wooster
- Photographed by
- Jean-Paul Janssen
- Photographed by
- Jean-Pierre Janssen
- Photographed by
- Joe Jay Jalbert
- Photographed by
- Austin Parkinson
- Photographed by
- Michael Temple
- Art director
- Ian Whittaker
- Assistant directors
- Kip Gowans
- Assistant directors
- Walter Coblenz
- Makeup
- William J. Lodge
- Supervising editor
- Nick Archer
- Editor
- Richard Harris
- Titles designed by
- Don Record
- Production supervisor
- Stanley O’Toole
- Production manager
- Walter Coblenz
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