“Slick, stylish and ineffably cool, this was perhaps McQueen's defining role. Also mention goes to the unaccredited star of the film; San Francisco.” – EMPIRE MAGAZINE

 

+ INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION!

This is a special screening, as the film will be introduced by a Historian, specialist of American History: Dr Joe Street, from Northumbria University. We will also be discussing the film with him after the screening.

 

THE PLOT

An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.

Ambitious politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) is holding a Senate subcommittee hearing in San Francisco on Organized Crime in America. To improve his political standing, Chalmers hopes to bring down Chicago mobster Pete Ross (Vic Tayback) with the aid of key witness Johnny Ross, Pete's brother. The film takes place the weekend before the hearing, from Friday night (during the opening credits) to Sunday night.

Following his theft of $2,000,000 in mob money and subsequent escape from Chicago to San Francisco, Johnny (Felice Orlandi) is placed in the San Francisco Police Department's protective custody for the weekend. Chalmers requests Lieutenant Frank Bullitt's (Steve McQueen) unit to guard him.

Bullitt, Sergeant Delgetti (Don Gordon) and Detective Carl Stanton (Carl Reindel), give Ross around-the-clock protection at the Hotel Daniels, a cheap flophouse near the Embarcadero Freeway. Late Saturday night, a pair of hitmen (Paul Genge and stunt driver Bill Hickman), burst into the room and shoot both Inspector Stanton and Ross, seriously wounding them both.

 

REVIEWS

“A terrific movie, just right for Steve McQueen -- fast, well acted, written the way people talk.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES

“McQueen is great in Bullitt, and the movie is great, because director Peter Yates understands the McQueen image and works within it. He winds up with about the best action movie of recent years.“ – ROGER EBERT, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

“Slick, stylish and ineffably cool, this was perhaps McQueen's defining role. Also mention goes to the unaccredited star of the film; San Francisco.” – EMPIRE MAGAZINE

“The action sequences are brilliant, done without trickery in real locations (including a great car chase which spawned a thousand imitations) to lend an extraordinary sense of immediacy to the shenanigans and gunfights.” – TIME OUT

“Yates ([director] knew enough to help hone McQueen’s own ineffable cool to its sharpest profile as the dedicated existential cop who looks like an apostle of hard bop.” – SIGHT AND SOUND

 

CAR CHASE

 Bullitt is notable for its car chase scene through the streets of San Francisco, regarded as one of the most influential car chase sequences in movie history.

The car chase is "now-classic car chase, one of the screen's all-time best." – Leonard Maltin, Film Historian

“The film’s technical achievement is still awe-inspiring: Bullitt was arguably the first high speed chase shot on the streets at normal speed that feels stomach-in-the throat realistic.” – SIGHT AND SOUND

McQueen’s ambition was to create a groundbreaking and believable car chase in the steep-ramped streets of San Francisco, which sent high-powered cars airborne. It has inspired many rival chases since, but remains among the most effective.

FACTS ABOUT THE CAR CHASE:

- The total time of the scene is 10 minutes and 53 seconds

- Two 1968 390 CID V8 Ford Mustangs (325 bhp) with 4-speed manual transmission were used for the chase scene, both owned by Ford Motor Company and part of a promotional loan agreement with Warner Bros

- Filming the chase scene took three weeks - Steve McQueen was an accomplished driver and drove in the close-up scenes, but contrary to myth he only drove in about 10% of the chase in the film

- The editing of the car chase by Frank P. Keller likely won Keller the editing Oscar for 1968, and has been included in lists of the "Best Editing Sequences of All-Time".

FORD

In 2008, Ford produced the Mustang Bullitt model for the 40th anniversary of the film. The Bullitt nameplate on the steering wheel honored the movie that made the Mustang one of the most popular cars of the 1960s and 1970s. The green color was also brought back for the anniversary edition.

 

ABOUT STEVE MCQUEEN (1930-1980)

- He was nicknamed "The King of Cool”

- His image is still often used today in adverts, and as of 2007, McQueen had entered the top 10 of highest-earning dead celebrities - He didn’t have a very happy childhood - he was deserted by his father and his mother was an alcoholic. She later married a man who used to beat her and Steve up.

- He was raised as a Roman Cathlolic

- He was involved in petty crime in his youth - as a gang member and petty criminal.

- In 1947, McQueen joined the United States Marine Corps and was quickly promoted to Private First Class and assigned to an armored unit

- In the late 1950s, he went to New York to become an actor. His starred in the TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive and made his breakthrough in films such as The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Great Escape (1963)

- Bullitt is widely recognized as his best performance

- He was an avid motorcycle and racecar enthusiast. When he had the opportunity to drive in a movie, he performed many of his own stunts. Perhaps the most memorable are the car chase in Bullitt and motorcycle chase in The Great Escape

- He died of lung cancer in 1980

 

 

THE DIRECTOR: PETER YATES (1929-2011)

Peter Yates was a British director, and died recently, in January 2011.

Here are a few facts:

- British director, born in Hampshire

- In the 1950s, he worked as a racing driver and manager for the great British champion Stirling Moss

- In the 1960s, Yates directed seven episodes of The Saint television series and seven of Danger Man

- Bullitt (1968) was his first US feature, and his most famous film

- Other of his films include: Robbery (1967), Murphy’s War (1971), The Hot Rock (1972), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), For Pete’s Sake (1974), Mother, Jugs and Speed (1976), The Deep (1977), Breaking Away (1979), The Dresser (1983)

You can read an article about his career in the Sight and Sound here 

 

 Price: £5 (full price) / £3.50 (conc)
OR £4.50 online here http://www.wegottickets.com/event/134495