Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans

This doco focuses on the time when film star Steve McQueen tried to take control of his career. After the success of Bullitt and The Thomas Crown Affair, McQueen sought to pursue his dream of creating a film about his passion: race-car driving. The result, Le Mans, was a box-office flop.

McQueen, who did a lot of his own motorcycle and car driving stunts, drove a Porsche with a broken clutch-foot to finish second at Sebring. Based on previously unseen footage, the documentary interweaves the newly discovered material and McQueen's private recordings with interviews with many of the surviving production team to reveal the true story of how the film was made. The documentary depicts how McQueen set up his own production company called Solar Productions and, with the collaboration of a new Hollywood company named Cinema Center Films, would film the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in the summer of 1970. Cinema Center Films invested $6 million in the movie, the largest budget ever for a McQueen film. John Sturges would direct the picture; he had worked with Steve in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. Additionally Alan Trustman, McQueen's most trusted writer, was initially chosen to write the script.

The documentary suggests that the disasters on set and the financial problems that plagued the film had more of an effect on McQueen than anyone thought at the time, leading to the collapse of his business empire and marriage. Le Mans was a creative and box-office disappointment upon its release the following year, although it retains a reputation, particularly among auto sports fans, for the documentary-like authenticity with which it catches the racing ethos and experience.