Once Upon a Wheel

Once Upon a Wheel
File:Newman1971.jpg Once Upon a Wheel
Directed by	David Winters
Starring	Paul Newman (host), Mario Andretti, Hugh Downs, Dean Martin, Cesar Romero
Country of origin	Vereinigte Staaten
Original language	Englisch
Production
Producers	David Winters, Burt Rosen
Running time	60 min
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	April 18, 1971 (1971-04-18)

Once Upon a Wheel is a 1971 ABC television documentary on the history of auto racing. It was hosted by Paul Newman, and was directed and produced by David Winters. The production house behind it was Winters/Rosen, the project was sponsored by Coca-Cola, and premiered on ABC.

The project came about when the production house Winters/Rosen had financial difficulties. Winters suggested to his partner Burt Rosen, that he could grab some footage at a celebrity race car event to pitch a racing special. Newman who attended, signed a release memo for the event. Afterwards Rosen pitched special to Coca-Cola starring Newman instead of cameo, leaving Winters having to convince Newman to star in it, who at the time didn't want to do television. Once Winters explained to his vision, Newman joined both to spend more time doing his hobby racing and as a passion project. It marked Newman's first appearance as a lead in a television project. While in the US the film was released on television, Newman suggested to Winters to add some footage and release it theatrically internationally.

Production

The documentary, hosted and narrated by Paul Newman, was made by the production house Winters/Rosen, with David Winters directing and producing.

Winters explained that the project came about when his production company Winters/Rosen had financial difficulties, and if the company didn't come with $100.000 they would go bankrupt. At the time Winters had been invited to celebrity race car event, that Newman, with whom he had a friendship, was also attending. Winters suggested to his partner Burt Rosen the idea of making a racing special, to which Rosen replied that if he had Paul Newman's name on a deal memo he could pitch it to Coca-Cola as a sponsor. With footage that Winters shot at the event, he got Newman's name on a release form for that specific event. To much of his frustration, Rosen went on to pitch the project with Newman as the star, not a cameo. So it was left Winters to convince Newman who had publicly stated prior disinterest in television. A meeting was organized, where Newman initially turned it down the project because it was for TV. Winters who studied car racing decided to give him the book he used, which Newman had read and adored. This allowed Winters to detail how the project was envisioned, and Newman accepted.

The project marked Newman's return to television work after a decade long absence, and his first time as the lead of a program.

Newman a race car enthusiast said " the show gives me a chance to get close to a sport I'm crazy about, I love to test a car on my own, to see what I can do, but racing with 25 other guys is a whole different thing. There are so many variable, the skill demanded is tremendous".

Racecar driver Bob Bondurant, Newman's instructor who appears in the film, explained that Once Upon a Wheel was a passion project for Newman "because he wanted to learn how to drive" and that he turned project that would have paid him a much lager salary.

Cameos and interviewee included Mario Andretti, Kirk Douglas, Hugh Downs, Dean Martin, Cesar Romero, Dick Smothers and many others.

During post-production, Winters said that Newman, who liked what he saw, gave him the idea to add some additional footage to sell it as a theatrical film worldwide.

Winters also explained that Coca-Cola wanted to do a giant add campaign with Newman, to which Rosen accepted without his or Newman's acknowledgement and had to explain this to Newman who collaborated without making a fuss.

Sponsors

Coca-Cola bottlers sponsored the show, and Mr. Newman appeared in magazine ads (wearing a Coke racing jacket). Viewers could order special collectibles related to the show: 8-track cartridges or cassette tapes of music from the show (featuring a previously unreleased title song, written for the film by The Association, amongst the 13 featured tracks), a cooler which held Cokes and ice, a Coca-Cola jacket similar to Newman's, and racing jacket style patches.

Bewertungen

Ben Gross of the Daily News explained the documentary "provided action plus human interest" and that delivered presenting the "excitement, glamor, glowing exhilaration and dark despondency" of the race car world. He felt that the most interesting aspects were related to the human elements such as "the personal lives, the hopes, the triumphs, and disappointment of the pro drivers."

In her Pottsville Republican review Cynthia Lowry called it a "successful effort." She noticed the use of slow motion to show the franticness of changing a tire mid-race, and the way they edited the shots of cars crashing look like a ballet. At times, she found the music obstructive, but overall the documentary held her attention.

Dwight Newton of the San Francisco Examiner said that Once Upon a Wheel is "compiled with old film clips, latter day outtakes, fascinating new material and excellent background music." He went on to praise the syncopation of the black and white archival footage used in the film.

Rick Dubrow in his review published in The Windsor Star found Once Upon a Wheel to be entertaining and said that director "Winters always manage to lot of handsome visual image on the home screen." He also felt that the music elevated the racing scenes.

See also

• List of American films of 1971

Works cited

• Winters, David (2018). Tough guys do dance. Pensacola, Florida: Indigo River Publishing. ISBN 978-1-948080-27-9.

External links

• Overview on New York Times Website
• Once Upon a Wheel at IMDb