Event Details
In person: film editor Richard A. Harris and Academy Governor Jason Reitman
Selected by the Directors Branch
Robert Redford used the clout from the success of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid—and his personal obsession with winter sports—to spearhead this character study set in the international world of downhill skiing. Redford plays David Chappellet, a talented athlete for whom relationships are secondary to his drive to compete. Michael Ritchie made his impressive directorial feature debut with this atypical sports drama, filming his actors at authentic skiing events. Ritchie’s later three decades demonstrated his aptitude in a wide variety of genres and included classics such as the original The Bad News Bears (1976) and the Oscar-winning political satire The Candidate (1972), which reunited him with Redford.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.
1969 | 101 min. | USA | Color | English/German/French | Rated PG | 35mm
DIRECTED BY: Michael Ritchie
WRITTEN BY: James Salter
WITH: Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Camilla Sparv, Joe Jay Jalbert
35mm print courtesy of Paramount Pictures Archive.