Bullitt on France 5: three things to know about the cult film with Steve McQueen
A look back at the tumultuous backstage of a monument of American cinema.
Fasten your seat belt, Bullitt by Peter Yates returns this Friday evening on France 5 (and the next day in replay on France.TV). A timeless classic worn by Steve McQueen, to see or rewatch for its legendary chase scene, its masterful editing (awarded at the 1969 Oscars) or the music of Lalo Schifrin.
A hero inspired by a real character
Released in 1968, Bullitt tells 48 hours in the life of a rebellious San Francisco cop trying to unravel the threads of a dark affair between the intimidation of an ambitious police officer and the pressing threat of dangerous gangsters. The screenwriters Alan R. Trustman (The Thomas Crown Affair) and Harry Kleiner (Le Mans) are shown here on screen A dead silencea novel by Robert L. Pike published in the Série Noire 1963 collection. But the character of Franck Bullitt finds his inspiration in a very real character.
Inspector Dave Toschi, the man in charge of finding the famous and elusive Zodiac Killer, a case still unsolved almost 55 years after the first murders. Toschi who was played on screen by Mark Ruffalo in the Zodiac by David Fincher (a project on which he worked as an advisor). And who will also inspire the character of Inspector Harry to his co-writers Harry Julian and Rita M. Fink. To slip into the shoes of Bullitt, Steve McQueen demanded to have the same costumes and the same weapons as Toschi. A taste for detail to perfection.
A stubborn director and an uncompromising star
Executive producer of the film in collaboration with Warner, Steve McQueen was able to choose the director who would direct Bullitt. And he opted for the British Peter Yates who amazed him with his depiction of a spectacular chase through the streets of London in Three billion at once year earlier. But if he ventures into the Hollywood mousetrap for the first time, Yates is not going to let himself be stepped on.
He immediately sets his conditions for signing his contract. This on two non-negotiable points in his eyes: profound modifications of the scenario and filming on natural settings. Warner is ticking and does not intend to give in. And it is Steve McQueen who will prove decisive in this standoff by staunchly supporting Peter Yates. Furious, Warner, who was to collaborate on five other films with the actor, chose to tear up this contract at the end of filming.
A legendary scene
In addition to the unforgettable soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin, Bullitt has gone down in history for its thrilling car chase scene in the streets of Chicago. A 10 minute and 53 second scene that overthrew all the canons of the genre. Three weeks of the twelve over which its filming was spread were devoted to this single sequence of stunning realism because it was filmed in real time, thus ignoring the image acceleration techniques regularly generally used by cinema in this type of scene.
Steve McQueen found himself driving his Ford Mustang at 160 km/h on the streets of San Francisco. He wanted to do this sequence himself, in memory of the terribly embarrassing moment when he had to admit that he had been replaced by a stuntman in the spectacular motorcycle scene in The Great Escape. But he couldn’t do it 100%.
After an accident during a take where he lost control of his car, his wife Neile Adams begged – behind his back – Peter Yates to use a stuntman in his place. And not just any one. One of the masters of the genre Bud Ekins, already at work on The Great Escape. When McQueen discovered him on the set, he was beside himself… but he couldn’t do anything about it. And we can see this by watching this chase on the screen in detail. When McQueen’s face appears in the Mustang’s rearview mirror, he is obviously behind the wheel. Once it’s Ekins, there’s no more plan in the rearview mirror.
