Story by Pete Vack
 Yes, Darvi was actually that beautiful. Trouble was, she couldn't act.
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Although Hollywood had dabbled in racing movies before 1955, none had ever used the European racing scene as a backdrop; no Hollywood director had carried the cameras to the Nurburgring or to Spa or the Mille Miglia until Henry Hathaway (1898-1985) decided to film a movie based on a novel, "Such Men are Dangerous," by Austrian Hans Ruesch. It was to be a major motion picture and featured an all star cast. Hathaway's film, entitled "The Racers" brought an unknown world of exotic cars, places, and names to the silver screen and to a largely ignorant mainstream America.
A half century ago, the sports car mania might have loomed large in the myopic view of a few rabid foreign car enthusiasts. They were such a rare breed, a Volkswagen owner still honked and waved at a passing Triumph. But in reality, apart from the cosmopolitan areas of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, sports cars, racing, and European Grand Prix events were either unheard of or ignored. Even foreign passenger cars were rare. In 1954, a year when Detroit produced 5.5 million cars, the total number of imports was 25,786, with Volkswagen at 6,344 units leading the tiny pack. There were 9 new Ferraris registered. The only magazine to cover any European racing was Road & Track, still in its infancy. The press, when is was paying attention, was openly hostile to racing. The only event that rated any coverage at all was Indianapolis, which was broadcast live on radio. Barring accidents, auto racing simply didn't ring bells in the U.S.
Imagine, then, the pleasure with which foreign car enthusiasts received the movie "The Racers", which hit the nation's theaters in the summer of 1955. Suddenly, the sepia toned postage stamp photos of the major Grand Prixs and the Mille Miglia seen only in Road & Track came to life in full Hollywood CinemaScope. For the first time, one could see and hear Ascari, Villoresi, Fangio, and the cars they drove.
The plot was as bad as any Hollywood could muster, and Kirk Douglas, for all of his efforts, was never a very good actor, and the dialogue was cornier than Kansas in August. None of the cast filmed in Europe, but stayed on Hollywood sets that duplicated those filmed in Europe. But all that didn't matter. The scenes filmed in Europe during the 1954 season were, and still are, worth the price of admission.
 The 1953 paperback Ballantine edition of Ruesch's book had a sprint car on dirt in the background.
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Ruesch's book "The Racer" (singular) aka "Such Men are Dangerous" and "Number One", was based on the life of the great prewar German driver Rudolph Caracciola., the only German driver who could be compared with Michael Schumacher. Ruesch mimics Caracciola's career from the start, selling cars at a dealership, crushing his leg in a racing accident and facing amputation, to a swift rise to the top in the most powerful Grand Prix cars yet built. Ruesch wrote of a man possessed by the desire to win, sacrificing love and friendship along the path to victory. The movie version, as usual for Hollywood, did little justice to the book, yet the essence of the protagonist was captured with some degree of accuracy by screenwriter Charles Kaufman.
Ruesch wrote the book based on his pre-war racing experiences, which included winning the 1936 Donnington Grand Prix aboard an Alfa Romeo, co driving with Dick Seaman. With considerable skill (Ruesch was a professional writer as well as a race driver) he novelized the lives of the Mercedes Benz and Alfa Romeo teams, circa 1934-1939. While not making too many assumptions, it is safe to say that Ruesch based his characters on real drivers, such as Tazio Nuvolari, Achille Varzi and team manager Alfred Nuebauer.
 Back cover of the Ruesch paperback was a little better. A W163 Mercedes in the foreground, a Maserati and Alfa 158 in the background.
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These characters also passed onto the silver screen, personalities intact. Erik Lester, a German citizen in Ruesch's book, is transplanted to Italy for the movie version, renamed Gino Borgesa, (played by Kirk Douglas) and the racing takes place in 1952-1954 timeframe. Bella Darvi portrays a professional ballerina who falls for Borgesa, a major change from Ruesch’s plot.
The book and movie largely depend on the personality of the main character. Both Lester and Borgesa suffer a painful accident which leaves them with a permanent limp, and yet they survive, even stronger, to go on to yet more fame and success. Determined to reach the top, both leave a trail of bitterness and broken friendships.
With a budget of 2.3 million large green Eisenhower dollars, the producers of the "The Racers" went to Europe and started buying up cars to be used in the film. An unconfirmed story has it that the studio went to Ferrari to ask for some cars. Movie types thought it would be great publicity for the Italian firm. After all, when studio execs wanted Fords, they got them by the dozens, usually free. Ferrari, of course refused. The movie crew turned to John Fitch and Emmanuel de Graffenried for help. Three now-uncompetitive Ferraris—a 212,and two 166Ms, were found to represent the sportscar team, and three Maserati Grand Prix cars served as the basis for the Formula 1 team. An HWM (ex-Stirling Moss) was purchased and acted as Borgesa's private entry.
The Ferraris and Maseratis were customized to create the "Buranos". This work was done in Italy, most probably by a small firm by the name of Autodromo.
Two of the Maseratis purchased were the Enrico Platé 48CLT/48 Maseratis built for the 1952 FI season. Platé had enlarged the 1500cc engines to two liters, the superchargers were removed and the wheelbase shortened. They were not successful and both were sold to Fox for use in the movie. The third Maserati was an A6GCM Interim, as owned by de Graffenried and used in the movie’s Grand Prix segments as well as for a camera car.
Out of the seven cars featured in "The Racers", five are known to survive. Tom Carstens, who had owned the famous black Allard with which Pollack had so memorably defeated Phil Hill at Pebble Beach, had seen the movie and fell in love with the HWM. He called the 20th Century Fox studio and said he wanted to buy the car. The studio replied that Carstens had to buy the lot of cars now sitting in a warehouse. The package included two Maseratis and at least two of the three Ferraris. No problem, said Carstens, who. apparently purchased two Ferraris, 0102E and 0272 M, and the two Plate Maseratis from Fox in order to obtain the HWM.
 Kirk Douglas couldn't drive or act. John Fitch did the driving stints in the HWM at Monte Carlo for Douglas, who stayed in Hollywood.
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The car of Carstens’ dreams became the famous HWM Chevy engined "Stovebolt Special" raced by Bill Pollack in 1956. (See Automobile Quarterly Volume 45 No. 2 for the full story of the Stovebolt Special)
Ferrari 0102 E was originally a 212 Touring barchetta, it was rebodied as a Burano and driven by John Fitch and Salani in the 1954 Mille Miglia as car number 555 both in the film and the actual event. It survives today in a private collection.
Ferrari 0272 M, a 166 rebodied as a Burano, driven by de Graffenried and Paravicini, car number 556 in the film. Now in a private collection.
Ferrari 0278M, another 166 M which was used in the film. It too, is in a private collection today.
The fate of the Platé Maseratis is unclear, but one was reported to have been used as the basis of a the fantastic Manta Ray hot rod built by Dean Jeffries for the movie "Bikini Beach Party" with Annette Funichello. Jeffries emphatically denies this, however. De Graffenried's Maserati was not brought to Hollywood and today is in a private collection.
Not so mysterious is the fate of the leading characters. Now 89, Kirk Douglas who portrayed a particularly bitter Borgesa, is still acting. Fellow drivers Cesear Romero and Gilbert Roland, enjoyed long careers in the movies and both died in 1994. Lee J. Cobb, who was so obviously Alfred Neubauer, left the stage forever in 1976. The fate of the beautiful Bella Darvi, a Pole whose real name was Bayla Wegier, was not so happy. A survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, she later lived in Paris and was discovered gambling at a casino by Fox Studio head Darryl B. Zanuck, who thought she had potential. He and his wife befriended her, and took her to Hollywood to live in their home. In true Hollywood style, Zanuck and Bella were caught red handed by Zanuck’s wife. Bella was thrown out, went to Europe to gamble and found work in B rated movies. She committed suicide in September 1971, still in debt over gambling. Ironically, her big scene at the Monte Carlo Casino, where she gambles to win the money for Borgesa's new race car, was the only scene in which she didn't really have to act.
