Steve McQueen - Lt. Frank Bullitt

Johnny Ross works for Chicago mobster Peter Ross, his brother. In April 1968 Johnny Ross escapes two attempts on his life and flees to San Francisco, where he is placed in protective custody by politician Walter Chalmers, who hopes to use Ross to further his own national aspirations. To protect Ross, Chalmers asks the SFPD to assign Detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt and his partners, Sergeants Don Delgetti and Carl Stanton, to guard him at a flophouse near an overhead freeway.

It looks like a simple assignment, but at 1 AM the next day it all goes awry in a blast of a shotgun, leaving Stanton and Ross fighting for life at San Francisco General. Bullitt gets what information he can, but breathing down his neck is the angered Chalmers who vows to ruin Bullitt's career should Ross die. Bullitt gets a break when the gunman appears at the hospital to finish off Ross, and Bullitt gets a good look at him; now Bullitt must smoke out the gunman and his backup man before Chalmers carries out his threat, leading to a high-speed pursuit, a fiery crash at a gas station, and a fingerprint check that leads to a stunning discovery about Ross, and about a couple staying at a swanky hotel in San Mateo.

Bullitt's friend is shot and the witness is left at death's door by two hit men who seem to know exactly where the the witness was hiding. Bullitt begins a search for both the killer and the leak, but he must keep the witness alive long enough to make sure the killers return. Chalmers has no interest in the injured policeman or the killers, only in the hearings that will catapult him into the public eye and wants to shut down Bullitt's investigation. This movie includes one of the finest car chases put on film, bar none. A must see for Mustang and Charger fanatics. McQueen did alot of his own driving.

Steve McQueen was a superstar in the true sense of the word. He is probably the most emulated movie actor ever. He was into motorcycles and race cars long before it became "hip" in Hollywood to do so, and he raced both professionally. At one point in his career, he considered taking up auto racing full time, showing that his passion for racing and fast machines was more than a publicity move, as it seems to have become for today's actors.

Some facts about Steve McQueen:

  • Although he was the highest paid star of the 1960's Steve McQueen had a reputation for being tightfisted. On some films he would demand 10 electric razors, and dozens of pairs of jeans. It was later found out he gave this stuff to the Chino Reform School for boys, where he spent a few years himself.
  • Left-handed. 
  • Was expelled from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) for riding his motorcycle through the College of Fine Arts building. 
  • Steve McQueen was issued a Private Pilots license by the FAA in 1979 after learning to fly in a STEARMAN BI-PLANE which he purchased for that purpose. After his death it was sold at action with a large collection of vehicles by the estate in 1982. 
  • Trained in the martial arts under both Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.
  • Served in the United States Marine Corps.
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