Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans

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1

[interposing voices]

WOMAN:
Camera B rolling.

DIRECTOR:
And action.

[race cars driving]

[sirens]

[chopper noises]

MAN:
OK.

Uh, why don't we just dive in

and have a look at uh-- Steve,

what do you think of the

circumstances that might have

led up to the disease itself?

How do you perceive that?

STEVE MCQUEEN:
Two ways.

One is asbestos poisoning in

my lungs, which is very rare.

Two is, I think,

there were times

when I was under pressure.

I had a battle in my

business with somebody

for about five years, so

I think I really wanted

to let go under pressure.

NARRATOR:
It all began

when a super star

who loved auto racing decided

to do a picture about his sport.

WOMAN:
That was most

seminal moment in his life.

MAN:
What was happening when we

were shooting this movie should

happen to no man.

MAN:
I just wanted to

get it down on film, what

I thought it was all about.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the male world

film favorite, Steve McQueen.

[applause]

STEVE MCQUEEN:
Thank you.

MAN:
If you had your

life to do over again,

would you do it the same way?

STEVE MCQUEEN:
Damn right.

[Laughing]

Every bit of it,

because I think film

is a very important medium.

When he was the number one

superstar in the world,

he was, like, I

think, 38 years old.

People went nuts

wherever he went.

He was American Royalty.

Groovy.

Thanks.

[applause]

I started on a farm, in

the state of Missouri,

and I lived there in

my youth, and I got

out of there as quick as I can.

NARRATOR:
His

background gave him

a courageous element that stood

him in very, very good stead

at that time.

STEVE MCQUEEN:
I don't know

very much about art or music,

except things that I like.

Basically, I come

from the gutter,

and I'm not a compromiser.

MAN:
He didn't give

a sh*t, you know?

If there was a fight to be had,

he would not turn his back,

and it doesn't

matter who it was.

INTERVIEWER:
I bet

you're a perfectionist.

Well, I try to do a good job.

You know, I try.

"The Thomas Crown Affair"

and "Bullet" were my two

pictures with Steve McQueen.

I convinced him that every

time he went on the set,

no matter what

the director said,

he should recite the mantra.

I decide what is right

and what is wrong,

and I don't have to

explain it to anybody.

I like women, but I'm a

little afraid of them.

I'm not going to

make a commitment,

because if you make a commitment

to a woman, they can hurt you.

I won't pick a fight, but

if you pick a fight with me

or back me into a corner,

I will f***ing kill you.

He used to recite

that to himself

when he went on

the set, regardless

of what the directions were.

And he played that character,

I thought, just brilliantly.

INTERVIEWER:
Which do you enjoy

more, acting or producing?

STEVE MCQUEEN:
Well,

I'm sort of hung.

I like producing, as

long as I'm acting,

because I think the ultimate

is to have creative control.

He loved the part in the

"Thomas Crown Affair,"

playing Tommy Crown.

Big business guy, no one

knows anything more than him.

He aspired to that character.

He wanted to feel like

he was a bit of a mogul.

STEVE MCQUEEN:
Now,

the movies are changed.

It's not a game anymore.

It's big bucks, heavy bucks.

And those people play

for keeps out there.

He got this into his head, that

he would build us an empire.

After "Thomas Crown," he

said, I'm going to build us

an empire, baby doll.

STEVE MCQUEEN:
If I

have my name on there,

they can no longer

pawn me off as just

a candy ass movie star who

they've got to be easy with.

This puts me out

front as an executive.

So therefore, they

have to deal with me.

The juice.

He got the juice man,

he got the power.

It was a very smart,

intelligent, sophisticated move

for him to form a

production company

called Solar, and exercised

his clout in the way he did.

And the first

person that he told,

his agents that he wanted to

reach out to be his partner

was my father.

I'm standing here with Bob

Relyea, the executive producer

of Solar Productions.

We had been through

"The Magnificent Seven."

We'd been through

"The Great Escape."

The company was a

very well organized,

real production company.

The relationship that Steve

and I had in our families

was extremely close.

INTERVIEWER:
You

actually throw a temper?

Can you?

Injustice bothers

me a lot sometimes,

and I get angry about

things, and so forth.

And I suppose I fly off

the handle sometimes.

MAN:
Steve trusted Bob.

If there was a problem, he'd

just grab him by the shoulder,

and he'd take him

off to the side.

As much as you want this, Steve,

this passion doesn't mean sh*t.

And Steve got it.

It was a real coup to get him

to come to Cinema Center Films,

and to be involved

with his company.

That, in itself, was a

major accomplishment.

It wasn't just "I'm the

biggest star in the world."

It was I'm going to

decide what films I make.

I'm going to decide

who the directors are,

and I'm going to make

that racing picture

that I always wanted

to make, and it's

going to define my career.

I race motorcars,

because I enjoy it.

I like the competitive element.

I like beating the other guy.

I do enjoy the feeling of power.

WOMAN:
It was his thing.

It was his passion.

And if you find your passion in

life, you know you got it made.

I remember the first time I

raced, I was very frightened.

It scared me.

I didn't like the idea

of being frightened,

and I wanted to overcome it.

That was one element.

The other element, and

it is a very pure thing.

It's one of the few things

in life you can't fix.

When you're out

there by yourself,

you're very much by yourself.

MAN:
The risk taking, the

need for adrenaline, the what

do I have to lose attitude

that he seemed to project,

it just matched McQueen's

soul, his personality,

and his essence.

Racing drivers are

a different breed.

When you're in the

car behind the wheel,

you tune everything off.

There's one thing that

you are focused on,

and that is to perform, to win.

And he had that.

NARRATOR:
For 20

years, an almost

forgotten airport has echoed

to the fury of cars and speed.

MAN:
Sebring was as close as you

get to the brother of Le Mans.

If you're ever

going to get a taste

of what it's like to be in an

endurance race, this is it.

WOMAN:
Just a week before,

he had broken his foot

in the motorcycle race.

And I said, you

better not do this.

He said, no.

He said, I can do

it, I can do it.

INTERVIEWER:
What about

shifting and clutching?

Must be pretty difficult.

Well, it's a little difficult.

I can't use afoot rest.

And we've put some

sandpaper on the bottom,

taped it on, so I keep it on

the clutch pedal, adjust it.

We went for it.

It was like a Hollywood script.

COMMENTATOR:
A surprise to most

of the 57,000 who looked on

was the McQueen

Revson Porsche 908.

The two have done

a Masterful job.

WOMAN:
What was incredible

about that race is suddenly,

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