Sherwood06GT

Anthony Bologna had no idea he had stumbled into the greatest movie car chase of all time. He was only 15 years old and didn't even know who Steve McQueen was until long after the film crews picked up their cameras and left San Francisco.

But Bologna still remembers the little things about May 1968, when "Bullitt" filmed a few blocks away from his Russian Hill home.

There was the static of walkie-talkies, as filmmakers at the bottom of the hill ordered shooting to begin. There was the distant rumbling of V-8 engines before the Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger came into the view. And then both muscle cars hurtled toward the cameras, soaring through the air and crunching to the ground like giant stones skipping across an asphalt stream.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Bologna said last week, standing at the same street corner where he watched the filming. "These two cars were literally flying down Taylor Street."

As a movie, "Bullitt" was confusing, and its centerpiece chase scene had some strange inconsistencies. The bad guys' Charger lost six hubcaps and couldn't hit the broad side of a gas station during the explosive finale. The chase route looks as if it were designed by Siegfried and Roy, with cars disappearing and reappearing at random points in the city.

But the strength of that driving sequence -- a nine minute, 42 second testosterone overload through the precipitous streets of San Francisco -- was still enough to ensure that "Bullitt" would become a classic.

"I've probably seen that movie half a dozen times, and it doesn't make sense to me," said Bud Ekins, the only survivor of four stunt drivers in the film, including McQueen. "There are holes in it. Terrible holes in that movie. But the car chase was good. . . . It started a whole new thing for car chases."

McQueen died in 1980, and many others on the set didn't make it to this month's 35th anniversary of the film's premiere. Those who are still with us remember the three-month shoot vividly, speaking in detail about how McQueen and the rest of the crew took every San Francisco teenager's dream -- barreling down a hill in a sports car and pressing the accelerator -- and changed the way Hollywood filmed action movies.

"Mr. Mayor, you've got yourself a swimming pool."

"Then you've got yourself a city."

According to the legend, McQueen and San Francisco were brought together by a patch of undeveloped ground in a Hunters Point youth park.

"Bullitt" enthusiast Dave Kunz reported the above conversation on his Web site, after questioning executive producer Robert Relyea at a recent "Bullitt" reunion. Relyea said the deal was cut with San Francisco Mayor Joseph L. Alioto, who wanted the moviemakers to pay for a public pool near the Bayview district.

The creators of "Bullitt" got more than their money's worth. The movie starred McQueen as San Francisco police Lt. Frank Bullitt, with Robert Vaughn, Robert Duvall and Jacqueline Bissett in supporting roles, and took place almost entirely in the city. Filming occurred in at least nine city districts -- with a finale on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport.

Upon arriving in the city, producers immediately contacted several homicide detectives, who served as technical consultants on the film.

Retired Det. John McKenna said McQueen and director Peter Yates didn't always take their advice, which turned out to be a good thing for the car chase. No doubt "Bullitt" would have made less impact on movie history if McQueen listened to the cops and replaced his Mustang Fastback with a comparatively impotent police-issue sedan.

"Steve McQueen insisted that he use the souped-up car he had," said McKenna, who retired a decade ago and lives in Folsom (Sacramento County). "We said none of us would ever use our own vehicle in pursuits and stakeouts -- because of insurance purposes, for one thing. None of us had the money, in case our car gets damaged, to fix it.

"The first time I saw (the car) and learned what its intentions were, to be in pursuit, I said 'Oh, gee whiz.' But he had a feel for it. He wanted that car."

The bad guys' car was supposed to be a different Ford model (the automotive company had a deal with the studio), but it couldn't handle the pounding. Local car lots were searched and production started with two identical Mustangs and three sturdy Dodge Chargers.

"Bullitt" premiered on Oct. 17, 1968, and audiences were blown away by the chase sequence.

San Francisco moviegoers were probably a little more cynical about Frank Bullitt's high-speed pursuit. From the opening segment on the former Army Street until the chase's fiery conclusion in Brisbane, the Charger and Mustang seem to leap around the city with no logic, often rounding a corner and turning up dozens of blocks away.

The chase begins in Bernal Heights, as McQueen's Mustang starts a slow cruise and follows the Charger up Army and a couple of side streets. From there, the chase materializes in Potrero Hill for two blocks, then teleports 3 miles north to Russian Hill and into North Beach.

Next, the camera focuses on the interior of the Dodge Charger, as stunt driver Bill Hickman stops the car to attach his seat belt.

"Bullitt" cinematographer William A. Fraker said the two-second seat belt scene was the only portion of the chase that was shot later at a studio in Los Angeles.

"There's a 'click,' and then you know something big is about to happen," Fraker said. "Then you know you're in for a ride."

Tires squeal and the chase quickly shifts back and forth between seemingly random locations in Potrero Hill and Russian Hill. The last trip through Russian Hill features the most famous part of the chase -- where the cars get airborne several times on a steep section of Taylor between Vallejo and Filbert streets.

The biggest lapse in reality comes next, when the Mustang and Charger, speeding west through the Marina district with the Golden Gate Bridge in the horizon, suddenly appear 7 miles south near Daly City. The final scenes are filmed on Mansell Avenue and Guadalupe Canyon Parkway in Daly City and Brisbane, where the Charger was supposed to hit a gas station and explode.

The Mustang and the unmanned Charger were bound together, and a stuntman in the Mustang pulled a switch, which should have sent the Charger in a straight line to a fake gas station built for the scene. The Charger veered wide right but the explosion went off anyway, making the shot too expensive to repeat. (Keen-eyed viewers can see the Charger passing the gas station after the explosion.)

"They seemed a little bit disappointed in that part of it," said McKenna, who witnessed that scene live. "I think the car didn't go up the ramp quite right. To me it looked spectacular."

Indeed it does look spectacular, thanks to creative film splicing by "Bullitt" film editor Frank Keller, who won an Academy Award for his work in the movie.

"There were no special effects, it was all just stunt driving," said Kunz, who has since built a replica of McQueen's "Bullitt" car. "It's almost like foreplay when they start that little cat-and-mouse thing in the beginning. There's this buildup, and you can feel the tension."

Before 1968, most car chases were filmed at slower speeds, then sped up at the studio to give the illusion of danger. Fraker said the "Bullitt" car chase was conceived during an Italian meal with Yates at a small Hollywood restaurant called Martoni's.

"We had dinner there one night and came up with the idea of not speeding up the camera," Fraker said. "We would shoot in the cars at 24 frames, actual sound speed, and speed up the cars."

While people remember McQueen's car -- a Highland Green 1968 Mustang Fastback powered by a 390/4V big block engine -- the real star of the film was the Aeroflex 2C, a portable movie camera that

wingman75

Sherwood thanks for sharing that. Bullitt is one of my favorite movies. I've seen it at least 8 times. I think I'll watch it again tonight.

MalibuJerry350

http://www.hottr6.com/triumph/BULLITT.html

Enjoy!

bodyputtyless

You ever notice how you never hear any Mopar owners talk about the movie "Bullit"? LOL

MalibuJerry350

Actually, the Charger kept pulling on the Stang during the filming. Here's a pretty complete article I found sometime ago on the filming of the chase, including shots of the camera "car", a converted 'vette. Pretty interesting stuff.

http://www.motortrend.com/features/c...itt/index.html

MrSandman

and here it is...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...se+scene&hl=en

kenthicken

I'm a Mopar owner, and I'll comment on "Bullitt:" Bar none, the greatest chase scene on film. And, with regard to the Charger, you do realize that it was pulling away from the 'Stang -- and the 440 wasn't touched (while the Mustang's engine was - a lot). I'm just saying...

05gtdriver

Well the S-code 390 is really just a Thunderbird/Galaxie/truck motor and with 50 less cubes(nearly as bad as when LS-1's with a 65 cube advantage want to compare to a late model GT) than the Charger. A better comparison would 've been if the producers of Bullitt would've waited for the mid year intro of the Mustang GT Cobra Jet.....now we're talking oranges to oranges.

kenthicken

True, true.

bl1nk

Really good article... I havent seen the movie yet but I guess this means I have to go rent it now.