Thursday with Robert Redford

Downhill Racer

Michael Ritchie’s first film is a profile of an athlete learning not to be reckless. It’s strictly interesting as an example in Hollywood’s counter-cultural shift from glamor to slice of life naturalism. Starring Gene Hackman and Robert Redford, and look for younger Dabney Coleman without a mustache, Downhill Racer is as generic as its title. The 102-minute film’s based on a novel by a World War 2 U.S. Marine who graduated from University of California, Berkeley, and became a writer.

Downhill Racer—released in the year of classic Hollywood’s expiration, 1969—has another Berkeley connection and it shows. Michael Ritchie, a native of Waukesha, Wisconsin and the son of a Berkeley professor, was selected by Mr. Redford to direct this first movie for Robert Redford’s production company. Ritchie went on to direct several contest or competition-themed films, such as Smile, The Bad News Bears and The Scout. Downhill Racer was shot with both handheld and 16 mm cameras.

The year 1969 was a turnin…