Do You Have a Kirk Douglas Trophy in Your Attic?
By Walter Elliott
Racers, locals and their descendants in and around Syracuse, New York, might be scouring their attics and basements for materials on a 1955 “Kirk Douglas Trophy” promotional road rally in the city since the passing on February 5 of the actor from Hollywood’s “Golden Age.”
Members of the SCCA’s Central New York Region held a Monte Carlo-style time/speed/distance rally on March 20, 1955. The top three finishing drivers – from among drivers wheeling Corvettes, Thunderbirds, Jaguars, MGs and Porsches – would receive what were described as “Kirk Douglas Trophies.”
The rally was part of the Central New York premiere of “The Racers,” starring Douglas, at Schine’s Paramount Theater. The 1,495-seat theater, located at 426 S. Salina Street in Syracuse, had been refitted with CinemaScope projectors in 1953, a factor in 20th Century Fox’s choosing of the 1914-built theater for the movie’s regional debut.
“The Racers,” directed by Henry Hathaway, was the first major U.S. studio motion picture filmed on European race courses, including Spa-Francorchamps, the Nurburgring and the streets of Monte Carlo. Some of the action footage has SCCA members Phil Hill and John Fitch driving for Douglas.
The movie was based on the 1953 book by pre-World War II driver/novelist Hans Ruesch. While Ruesch had an Erich Lester driving for a German team, screenwriter Charles Kaufman had Douglas portray Gino Borgesa – an Italian bus driver driven by road racing glory. Borgesa becomes increasingly reckless despite admonishments by Nicole Laurent (Bella Darvi), a ballerina who falls for him.
Participating drivers in the road rally ran a 40-mile course in “Salt City,” starting at the Schine’s front door. The Syracuse Post-Standard ran a photo of city residents Mr. and Mrs. Charles Flack in their MG at the start of the rally – but that is about the sum of the available details. No follow-up story was ever published.
It is not known if Douglas was present for the premiere, nor even if he knew of the rally and “his” trophy.
“The Racers,” among the 96 motion pictures and TV movies Douglas acted in and/or produced, is considered one of his lesser works. Critics found the movie to be cliché-ridden and the film, produced for a contemporary $2.73 million, tallied only $1.75 million at the box office.
“The Racers,” however, may possibly rank above 1979’s “The Villain” among Douglas’ more dubious performances. The actor-producer, best known for “Spartacus” (1960), was lead character Cactus Jack in “The Villain,” hired to rob Charming Jones (Ann Margaret) of her inheritance. Hal Needham, a former stuntman who produced the “Smokey and the Bandit” series and who at one time co-owned a NASCAR Cup team, directed Douglas to take his own pratfalls and stunts in what can be best called a western movie parody-turned-live-action Wile E. Coyote cartoon.
More successfully, Paul Newman hired Douglas to be among the voice-over narrators in the 1986 ABC-TV “Once Upon a Wheel” racing history special. Among those with whom Douglas shared voice-over credits was Cesar Romero – who portrayed champion driver Carlos Chavez in “The Racers.”
Douglas, who despite suffering a debilitating stroke in 1996, lived to the age of 103 after more than 100 television and motion picture credits and three Oscar nominations. He was among those remembered in the February 9 Academy Awards broadcast. That same ceremony saw Best Picture nominee “Ford v Ferrari” receive Oscars for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing.
Persons who have information and/or material on the March 20, 1955, “Kirk Douglas Trophy” rally are invited to contact the International Motor Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen, New York or this writer through CarShowSafari.