Dvr'd this off one of the movie channels, it's a 2015 documentary on making the Movie Le Mans by McQueen, his decision making process, how it was filmed, battles over scripts, scenes, and the ultimate ending of McQueens involvement with motorsports when the filming ended and with the accident that took the leg of one of the drivers.

In the end despite his superstar status the Studio pulled his directing status and made him simply an actor.

Apparently there was over a million feet of film on racing and the movie of Le Mans.

Its filled with plenty of original film of how they went about making the movie. There are some voice overs from McQueen, interviews with his son, first wife, one of the actresses he was banging on the set during the filming, the reveal of the accident with him driving and the actress and another studio employee, trying to steal a car to get home after the wreck, excellent stuff.

Its very interesting the things you learn about how driven a person he was, his fears from the Tate-Labianca murders where the police found his name on a list of targets by Manson and his merry band of psycos, leading to the reveal his letter requesting approval of his gun permit.

McQueen was obsessive about making a movie that would provide the viewers with the real feel of automotive racing. He went over budget, over board, threatened directors, had one quit, ran off his best screen writer who wrote Bullett and The Thomas Crown Affair, a man McQueen said was the only one in Hollywood who really knew him, over a script.

Le Mans was McQueen at that time in his life, he became obsessed, and his stardom allowed him to run unsupervised until the studio could no longer deal with him.

It was rumored he was seeing two women a day in his trailer, whenever he wanted women would be there, another of his obsessions, women, smoking, racing, acting.

If you haven't see then, watch it, I found myself glued to the story for the full show, if you love racing, and McQueen was your generations man, even if it's not your generation, then watch it.

McQueen nailed the movie, while not a box office smash, you can't watch it and not sense the feelings of being in a race car, how it looks, the turns, you feel the speed, you lean and turn with the driver, McQueen nailed the movie.

It's a cult classic, so watch this documentary and then watch Le Mans. Excellent movie.

In the end McQueen dies in Mexico in the 80's from a rare lung cancer from asbestos, the same asbestos that 1960-70's racing suits were made from....



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3504604/




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD8UfECYn_o

I watched the movie and was underwhelmed. The cars and some of the footage was great, the plot, if you call it that, was poor.

I've heard that story about asbestos suits before but it really isn't true. Those suits (for road racing) were mostly cotton that was dipped in some sort of chemical mixture that was supposed to slow down a fire. Some early drag racing suits had asbestos but he wasn't a drag racer and that type was very thick and too cumbersome for road racing.
Nomex and other fabrics were a great improvement but fuel cells that prevented fuel system punctures were the real answer.

McQueen was exposed to a lot of asbestos in his military career and was also a heavy smoker.

A good story about the suits of the day here.
http://thegarageblog.com/garag...st-at-sebring-in-67/

Thanks for the heads up! I need to check this out!

Le Mans is one of the best racing movies made in my opinion...

And you are looking for another classic racing movie...check out Grand Prix.

McQueen was rather pissed off about Grand Prix. He would stand on the balcony of his Monaco apartment and piss in James Garner's flower pots directly below his apartment. This documentary was great. Well worth it.

As for the asbestos suits, the story I heard was that his mesothelioma came from asbestos in the masks they used to race dirt bikes. Later, I heard that theory refuted. Interestingly, despite all the lawyer ads to the contrary, an oncologist friend of mine told me that the majority of mesothelioma cases they see, have no history of asbestos exposure.
Supposedly at McQueen's memorial service, his dark-haired first wife contributed to his eulogy by stating, " Steve liked to f**k blondes but he married brunettes."