An ambitious American skier gains a place on the U.S. Olympic ski team competing in Europe.

For Robert Redford, Downhill Racer was not only an early starring role, but a passion project as producer, a case study in protecting independence, and a catalyst for creating Sundance Institute. An athlete in his youth, Redford wanted to explore the American obsession with winning at all costs.

Lauded for its Alpine photography and extraordinary race sequences, Michael Ritchie’s feature debut follows the team’s travel, training, and politics and focuses on David Chappellet (Redford), a loner who fortuitously winds up on the team and is determined to be a champion. Arrogant, detached, and indifferent to his teammates and the women in his life, he typifies the antiheroes of ’60s American cinema. There’s something dull, even uninspired about his ambition, as if he lacks the imagination to see life any other way. Roger Ebert described Downhill Racer as a portrait so complete, so tragic, that it becomes the “best movie ever made about sports — without really being about sports at all.” — JN

Pristine 35mm print courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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