Legend has it the green VW Beetle is still driving slowly around San Francisco’s hills, magically causing any hubcaps to fly off any passing Dodge Chargers.
An 8th thing you probably didn’t know. Not only were Bullitt and Dirty Harry based on the same real San Francisco detective, but both Bullitt in ‘68 and Magnum Force in ‘73 had scenes at the San Francisco airport where you can hear the same recorded flight announcement in the background: “Flight 577, Electra II Flagship service nonstop for Washington may now be boarded through gate 5, …. .” So not just car sounds are recycled in these movies.
Here is a little detail that I can add to your list. Yates and McQueen wanted the cars to race across the Golden Gate Bridge, but city officials felt closing the bridge for the chase would be too disruptive, and squashed that idea. Bullitt producer, Phil D'Antoni, got his cars racing across the bridge shot five years later, when he directed his chase cars to cross the George Washington Bridge in his third police film, The Seven-Ups.
It might be 7 things we didn't know about the car chase from Bullitt or other nostalgic memories? But the Bullitt car chase will ALWAYS be the best car chase of ALL time.
Well done..! Another bit of trivia. Stuntman Loren Janes who doubled McQueen in Steve;s last film "The Hunter" did some of the Mustang driving along with Ekins. Also, later in the chase when thery're out on the highway, Ekins is the one that laid down the Motorcycle. Yates asked him why he sat up as he was sliding and he said, "I was making sure Bill (Hickman) saw me."
The sequence on the very steep hill with repeated steps due to the cross streets was filmed from four different cameras in four different places. Subsequently these shots were edited to make it look like different locations at separate points in the chase. It was a mistake for them to have incorporated the dark green VW Beetle in this scene because it's so recognizable that you can't help but wonder why you see it so many times.
Hospital scenes in Bullitt...those long corridors with the pipes etc were cool ...that very corridor is were I got to ride in a wheel chair from one end to the other when I arrived March 28th 1972 around 9 AM...My water had broke and i was having a baby. I loved seeing Bullitt when it first came out and remembered the hospital.....I was in that hospital 3 days then flew home from the airport he did his scenes in........
The scene in the therapy rooms in the basement always got my attention starting with when I saw Bullitt with my parents in November of 1968. Those laundry bags falling still startle me.
Loved #6. Never knew that he didn't drive in some scenes. Also, Bill Hickman was a great friend to James Dean and was driving right behind him when Dean was killed in the accident.
Carey Loftin doubled for Steve McQueen in Bullitt. He drove the truck in Duel. He drove the Dodge Challenger in Vanishing Point. Check out his post on U Tube. Nobody was behind James Dean when he was killed. His mechanic was riding with him and survived. Bill Hickman worked with Carey Loftin in several films. But if anyone was behind Dean at all it would have been his mechanic. Dean was on the way to a race that he entered.
@@wesleycook7687 Do a little research.... Hickman was later quoted as saying: “We were about two or three minutes behind him (James Dean) . I pulled him out of the car, and he was in my arms when he died, his head fell over. I heard the air coming out of his lungs the last time. Didn’t sleep for five or six nights after that, just the sound of the air coming out of his lungs.”
@@stephenclemence5856 Were you even born then? There are several other accounts of James Dean's death. Yours is only one . The driver that Dean hit gave conflicted statements over the years. I've seen several documentaries and each one differs in places. Hickman is probably telling the truth but he was in shock when he came upon the crash. 1955 was a long time ago. Dean's mechanic was riding with him in some accounts but wasn't injured. I've never heard that another car with Bill Hickman in it was behind Dean.
@@wesleycook7687 Bill was behind Jimmy....about 3 or 4 minutes behind. He was driving the Ford with the trailer pictured in the last photo taken of James Dean at Blackwell's Corner. He also received a ticket that day. when Jimmy was cited for speed Bill was too. His was "too fast for a car pulling a trailer".
I could ADD a few things to this great video... My late friend Robert Relyea was BULLITT's executive producer and McQueen's good friend and business partner. Legendary stunt driver Carey Loftin was also involved with BULLITT's car stunts whilst he worked on THE LOVE BUG which was also shooting in San Francisco at the same time. Loftin earned S100,000 the same as the stars on IT'S A MAD,MAD,MAD, MAD world when he co-ordinated and performed the car stunts and other things liking kicking the bucket of Jimmy Durante... Loftin was the truck driver in Spielbergs DUEL... and Loftin was with Bill Hickman on PATTON. He was still doing car stunts in his 70's when I met him on SIMON & SIMON. Quincy Jones was set to do the music score but fell ill, Lalo Schifrin replaced him and completed an original iconic score in 2 weeks. Steve McQueen and Robert Relyea had signed a multi picture deal with Jack Warner's Warner Brothers, but he sold out to Kenneth Hyman's Seven Arts who didn't appreciate Steve shooting on location when he wanted it made locally, so the deal was not honored. Despite Hyman thinking it wouldn't make a profit, BULLITT became a mega hit was often re-released on a double bill with BONNIE & CLYDE.
The Charger didn't lose 6 hubcaps, they used the same footage from several different angles. Notice how they pass the same Lemans and VW bug several times.
ken cohagen // Not to mention the 1968 Chevelle SS396 reroute to the PCH. The Chevelle was initially heading towards them and swerved to avoid hitting them when they came around the corner of that parking lot, then seconds later they were passing the same Chevelle.
Stunt Driver Carey Loftin was the stunt arranger and main driver for McQueen, Bud Ekins was on board because he was friends with McQueen but Loftin was the main guy driving , the sequence took two weeks to shoot, McQueen was around for a few days for the close ups and shots of him driving, the wheel spin and smoking tyres take off was achieved with a smoke canister in the trunk of the car with drilled holes in the inside rear wheel arches to let the smoke out, looks quite effective!!
The late Great Bill Hickman Stunt Driver, In the Dodge Charger, In the Movie, He also did the Stunt Driving in the Movie " The Seven Ups " May He RIP & is Sadly missed by all of his Fans etc.
Also Bill Hickman was driving the station wagon and pulling the trailer behind James Dean in 1955 when Dean was killed in a crash with his Porsche Spider, Hickman said that James Dean died in his arms while Bill was holding him,
Everyone keeps saying that the green VW was passed several times when it was only passed once. It was _shot_ from several different angles and simply replayed.
warner Brors bought 2 Bullitt cars # 1 was the stunt car found in Mexico at scrape yard and now restored worth millions # 2 bought in 1974 for 6 thousand sold at auction for 3.4 mil
There was a TV game show around that time with Tom Kennedy which prominently featured that car as a grand prize. I remember the host's luxurious pronunciation of "Grand Ville".
I drove an '85 Turbo-Tbird up and down SF streets many daytimes. Stuck in five oclock traffic half way up a "street" damn near burned my clutch out. Never really appreciated the chase until up and down SF suburbs at night. It's like an old steep rollor coaster; you think man, this cant be a real street then the next street is steeper! It took cool to drive that car any way possible...
I've heard it said that Yates shot the car chase scenes last, so if the worst happened, the rest of the movie would still be in the can. Also, Yates wanted music for the high-speed part of the chase, but the composer (Lalo Schifrin) talked him out of it, convincing him that the sounds of the engines would be "music" enough.
I guess that Steve was chewing gum during some of his driving - keep your eye on the rear view mirror - street with the retaining wall curves to the left . I never recognized McQueen - always assumed it was Eakins .
My first car when I was 17 in high school in early 70s was a 1966 Ford Galaxie convertible with a 390 and holly 4 barrel carb. Bought it for $500 from a guy who had lost his license for speeding. Still can't believe my dad let me buy it....wish I still had it
In the 2007 movie "Zodiac," Lt. Toschi (played by Mark Ruffalo) said SFPD didn't have a fax - but you can see it right there in this movie. (Nice research!)
The car in the opening scene of the movie was a Bizzarini 5300 GT Strada owned by stunt driver/ coordinator Carey Loftin,who did much of the driving in the Mustang.
@@artvandelay0073 Carey Loftin was the stunt coordinator and he drove the Mustang in the final scene when it tows and releases the empty Charger to crash into the gas station. Loren Janes was the stunt driver who did most of the driving for Steve McQueen. Bud Ekins did some of the driving in the Mustang, too, and he rode the motorcycle that wiped out in the dirt. Supposedly McQueen only did about 10% of the driving. I've never heard that anyone but Bill Hickman drove the Charger. The third car in the chase was a modified Corvette but you never see it. It was the camera platform and it was driven by Pat Houstis.
@@bondhughbond // Thanks for the info. Mind if I ask where you got your info? Is there a behind-the-scenes documentary of the filming of the car chase scenes? Thanks.
@@artvandelay0073 There's a really good interview with Loren Janes that's easy to find. Just Google "Bullitt Loren Janes" and it should come right up. There's a ton of stuff around. I put up another comment here with a list of names to Google in conjunction with Bullitt. Look for that list and have at it. There are lots of great behind-the-scenes photos, too. Have fun!
Bud Ekin(singular) was a dirt bike riding buddy of McQueen who brought him to Hollywood when the studio refused his plans to do the jump in the Great Escape. Ekin went on to a life time career, eventually becoming a second unit director. When he died Turner Classic Movies did an excellent tribute. Bill Hickman came out of sports car racing. He was top notch but never had the desire to turn pro. He & McQueen would spend hours & days at high speed around the now gone Cotati airport road racing course, getting in synch with each other and practicing the script moves until they were just right. Only then did McQueen allow filming.
The gas station that blew up in the end was built to be blown up. Many of the residents in the area thought they were getting a gas station and were excited and then let down when it was blown up.
The mustang was advertised in Road & Track, in exactly the same condition as after the movie, in Oregon, including the Chevy V8. I remember the ad very well. They engine has never been mentioned again, that I am aware of. Sure wish I had that magazine still.
still don't know why the witness who was being protected at the beginning of the movie took the chain off the door, not that the killers wouldn't have gotten in anyway
FRED ROGERS SPOILERS... Because the fake witness wasn’t actually being protected. He just needed to be seen so people would think he was Ross. The way I understand it is that the “witness” was supposed to escape custody according to an agreement with the real Ross. He and his wife had plane tickets Europe. The real Ross, rather than freeing the imposter, decided to have him killed because it would be more convenient for him if people thought he was dead. If you watch that scene again, you can tell that he’s being double crossed. Those hit men weren’t the organization’s men trying to kill Ross. It only looked that way. They were Ross’s men trying to cover his escape.
In the Seven ups car chase if you look closely at the actor riding with Hickman his scared look was real as Hickman was really going for it driving the car hard!
I believe that the driver that McQueen was chasing was the same driver that was in the car that James Dean died in , BUT the accident was not Dean’s or his fault , it was the other driver who came out of a side road, but speed had a lot to do with it , and the lack of seat belts didn’t help in the crash ! Sad !
I would like to add, I noticed the white Pontiac Firebird, right when the chase begins and the Charger hooks a left, then later on in the chase, where they’re going around the bend and the Charger bangs into the wall, the white Pontiac Firebird appears again. Coincidence or is it the same car ? Also I heard this was filmed around Palm Sunday 1968 the part where Steve McQueen in the beginning of the chase turns the corner and you see the United States mailbox. I forgot what documentary it was, but I saw that scene and that’s when they mentioned it being filmed around Palm Sunday -if I’m wrong then right near Easter 1968.. The last thing I wanna add I wish Steve McQueen would’ve driven a 1968 Mercury Cyclone. It was the Dodge Chargers true competitor and a forgotten one compared to the Ford Mustang.
Before the filming of the chase, Steve McQueen, Bill Hickman, Carey Loftin & Bud Ekins tested the Mustang and the Charger at the Cotati track north of SF. They quickly found out that in real life, the Charger could easily outrun the Mustang. Consequently, a lot of performance work had to be done on the 390 in the 'Stang so it could keep up with the 440 Magnum powered Charger. (Under the hood, the Charger was showroom stock).
you missed some I think & I'll try and point them out #1 when the Dodge Charger hit that white car on the corner, they didn't edited out they kept it in #2 When McQueen came in the corner TOO HOT, cause HE missed that turn that was the reasoning in why he had to back-up really fast #3 The extra shifting came from a Mustang GT cause the one he has has a 4-speed transmission, but it shifted 6 times which still sounded pretty cool
There were only about a dozen Jaguar XK-SS made before the factory burned down in the late 1950s. Today they don't come up at auction. They privately change hands for million$.
I read that Janes was McQueens physical stunt man sense Wanted , Dead or Alive . - I believe that it was Janes that was was dodging planes on the tarmac.
Not quite. It cuts from the Marina to the corner of University and Mansell which is on the opposite side on the city. (Street signs are clearly visible) And Guadalupe Canyon Parkway is even farther south.
Ya none of the chase really connected to the areas. My ex father in law knew the areas in the film well and he would always comment this was on this side of the city and this was over here.
Bullitt per the Pike book was set in NYC not Boston. The most unknown is the quick shot of the xkss. Only 16 jags xkss made and the one everybody wants is McQueen. James Dean was killed accidentally by who? Hint: a really unusual name.....
@SC and Snag...The GT40 had 4 different engines, the 255 DOHC alloy V8 (The Indy engine, used in prototypes and early testing ), which was never raced, the 289 (Hipo), which never won at Lemans, the 427 side oiler which won in '66 and '67 and a 302 (bored to 305 and with 4 bolt main caps) running Gurney-Weslake heads which won in '68 and again in '69. I owned a '65 Mustang with the 289 Hipo which was highly modified and featured the actual Ford "Lemans" cam...years earlier my Dad owned a '67 Ford Fairlane GT with a 390 engine, which he later replaced with a 427 mid riser side oiler...so my point is, I have heard up close and personal two of the three GT-40 Lemans engines, and the Bullitt Mustang sounds like none of them, it is definitely NOT a 289 Hipo or a 427...but it does sound like my Dad's old Fairlane when it had the 390...the sound track is definitely a modified Ford 390. Also regarding your comment about a "non-synchro 5 speed GT40, the ZF 5DS-25 5-speed manual transmission used in the '66, '67, '68 and '69 Lemans winning GT40's were fully synchronized in all forward gears.
Carey Loftin doubled for Steve McQueen. He doubled for Gene Hackman. He drove the Challenger in Vanishing Point. Yet , this guy credits Bill Hickman but not Carey.
I have the same model car and the upside down Safariland upside down shoulder holster and the same small Colt revolver too. That is NOT an upside down retention holster in that still. Look at the Bullitt movie poster closely. My holster is an upgraded version from 1980 when that style was phased out, but custom shops can still make these for anyone with money.
Seth B Seth B. I had one of those holsters through the 70s. Misplaced in it a move several years ago. Can you advise where I can get a replacement? Sentimental!!
I found it curious that they used such crappy cars in The Seven-Ups. I can't imagine there weren't some conversations with Bill Hicks and the other stunt drivers about how silly it was to use those cars.
I HAVE A QUESTION! Why didn't the mob have their bellboy just shoot Johnny Ross at the very beginning? It was really Renick - not Ross - but they didn't know that. It would have saved everybody a lot of trouble - even Renick.
I don't get it Steve was a professional racer he could of done EVERY scene w/no issues & even as he drove in LaMans it was more dangerous than Bullit or Great Escape
When I was a little kid , I snuck out to a newly made playground in Anchorage Alaska . While I was there I started hearing cop sirens going off all around the neighborhood . The sirens all started going to the downtown area . We all found out Steve McQueen was arrested downtown the next day . There's two stories to what happened . One is the rumor that there was this big car chase and an eventual arrest of Steve McQueen . And then there's what I think really happened . He was downtown at the time and did a little showing off with his stunt cars skills . He did some high speed reverse spin or whatever . After he did it some policewoman told him that was illegal . So he did it again . Then he got arrested . And then when his name was mentioned on their dispatch is when all the other cops turned on their sirens and went downtown . By the way , using your sirens just to go see some movie star is AGAINST THE LAW BOYS AND GIRLS . I wish it was a big car chase but I think it is the latter . By the way , If you think I'm lying , look for his Anchorage Alaska mugshot .
They used 3 Mustang GT in Bullit 1 had the original 390 c.i.d. But it couldn't keep up to the 440 Charger, so the 2nd and 3rd Mustang GT got a 428 cobra jet with 429 heads and aluminum aftermarket intakes and big Holley carbs for the race scenes
You can't put 429 heads on a 428. The 428 is an FE-series and the 429 is a 385 Lima. They physically cannot be made to fit together because their dimensions are very different. What they did was they milled the heads on the 390s to raise the compression ratio. There were only two 390 Mustangs. But you're correct that they had to modify the Mustang to keep up with the Charger.
The holster you describe as a Safariland "Klipspringer" is totally inaccurate and wrong. The Klipspringer was a belt holster only and identified by a stiff stainless wire clip which was rounded and went between pants and belt. The upside down shoulder holster was a John Bianchi adaptation and not from Perkins' Safariland
I think you might be wrong there. McQueen's holster looks like a Safariland for a snub K frame Smith. Safariland used a white strap to secure around the opposite arm. Its been years since I've seen the movie but I remember thinking McQueen has a holster just like I carried my Mod 19 in. As for the klips thingy, never knew Safariland or Bianchi to have anything like that.
Steve McQueen e una Ford Mustang potevano fare tutto questo grandi entrambi ora la Ford ripropone quella Mustang del 1968 edizione limitata solo 68 macchine col nome Mustang Bullit
When I saw "Bullitt" when it was new, of course I noticed the same dark green Beetle in multiple shots, and I liked that color. In 1971 my father got a Beetle that was that same color, and 5 years later he gave it to me after I'd been driving it since it was new. So I owned a very similar car, which I really liked...till I flipped it on a freeway in 1978. So that was the end of one particular green VW.
They had a 68 Mustang like in the movie but a new Charger and not a 68. Oh that's right, where the hell is anyone going to find a 68 Dodge that still runs?
And I'll tell YOU one thing you definitely DON'T know about British Cars! The Jag is Pronounced Jag U R, Not JagWaar! There ain't a "W" in it! You can pronounce your "big cat" however you wish but please have the common decency to pronounce our (British) "big cat" correctly! Thank you! Have a nice day!
I suppose you also insist that Americans should also return to spelling "color" as "colour", and "program" as "programme", and "center" as "centre". We pronounce as "gua" as "gwa". Get over it.
Legend has it the green VW Beetle is still driving slowly around San Francisco’s hills, magically causing any hubcaps to fly off any passing Dodge Chargers.
An 8th thing you probably didn’t know. Not only were Bullitt and Dirty Harry based on the same real San Francisco detective, but both Bullitt in ‘68 and Magnum Force in ‘73 had scenes at the San Francisco airport where you can hear the same recorded flight announcement in the background: “Flight 577, Electra II Flagship service nonstop for Washington may now be boarded through gate 5, …. .” So not just car sounds are recycled in these movies.
Man I thought I was a Bullitt geek….but you win hands down!…Nicely Done ✅
Cool!👍
A fabulous film, you have to watch it multiple times to work out who is up to what and working for whom!
Here is a little detail that I can add to your list. Yates and McQueen wanted the cars to race across the Golden Gate Bridge, but city officials felt closing the bridge for the chase would be too disruptive, and squashed that idea. Bullitt producer, Phil D'Antoni, got his cars racing across the bridge shot five years later, when he directed his chase cars to cross the George Washington Bridge in his third police film, The Seven-Ups.
Carey Loftin also drove the stunt car as well as Ekins, Loftin was also the crazy truck driver in the movie "Duel"
It might be 7 things we didn't know about the car chase from Bullitt or other nostalgic memories? But the Bullitt car chase will ALWAYS be the best car chase of ALL time.
Well done..! Another bit of trivia. Stuntman Loren Janes who doubled McQueen in Steve;s last film "The Hunter" did some of the Mustang driving along with Ekins. Also, later in the chase when thery're out on the highway, Ekins is the one that laid down the Motorcycle. Yates asked him why he sat up as he was sliding and he said, "I was making sure Bill (Hickman) saw me."
The sequence on the very steep hill with repeated steps due to the cross streets was filmed from four different cameras in four different places. Subsequently these shots were edited to make it look like different locations at separate points in the chase. It was a mistake for them to have incorporated the dark green VW Beetle in this scene because it's so recognizable that you can't help but wonder why you see it so many times.
Hospital scenes in Bullitt...those long corridors with the pipes etc were cool ...that very corridor is were I got to ride in a wheel chair from one end to the other when I arrived March 28th 1972 around 9 AM...My water had broke and i was having a baby. I loved seeing Bullitt when it first came out and remembered the hospital.....I was in that hospital 3 days then flew home from the airport he did his scenes in........
keri caye What a neat story.
Thanks..
Keri; So did it affect what you named your child? ;
keri caye n99
The scene in the therapy rooms in the basement always got my attention starting with when I saw Bullitt with my parents in November of 1968. Those laundry bags falling still startle me.
Not sure why the thumb nail is a scene from the film 'Robbery'?
Loved #6. Never knew that he didn't drive in some scenes. Also, Bill Hickman was a great friend to James Dean and was driving right behind him when Dean was killed in the accident.
Carey Loftin doubled for Steve McQueen in Bullitt. He drove the truck in Duel. He drove the Dodge Challenger in Vanishing Point. Check out his post on U Tube. Nobody was behind James Dean when he was killed. His mechanic was riding with him and survived. Bill Hickman worked with Carey Loftin in several films. But if anyone was behind Dean at all it would have been his mechanic. Dean was on the way to a race that he entered.
@@wesleycook7687 Do a little research.... Hickman was later quoted as saying: “We were about two or three minutes behind him (James Dean) . I pulled him out of the car, and he was in my arms when he died, his head fell over. I heard the air coming out of his lungs the last time. Didn’t sleep for five or six nights after that, just the sound of the air coming out of his lungs.”
@@stephenclemence5856 Were you even born then? There are several other accounts of James Dean's death. Yours is only one . The driver that Dean hit gave conflicted statements over the years. I've seen several documentaries and each one differs in places. Hickman is probably telling the truth but he was in shock when he came upon the crash. 1955 was a long time ago. Dean's mechanic was riding with him in some accounts but wasn't injured. I've never heard that another car with Bill Hickman in it was behind Dean.
@@wesleycook7687 Bill was behind Jimmy....about 3 or 4 minutes behind. He was driving the Ford with the trailer pictured in the last photo taken of James Dean at Blackwell's Corner. He also received a ticket that day. when Jimmy was cited for speed Bill was too. His was "too fast for a car pulling a trailer".
@@wesleycook7687 also, the "mechanic" (Rolf Wuthrich) was in the car with James Dean.
I could ADD a few things to this great video... My late friend Robert Relyea was BULLITT's executive producer and McQueen's good friend and business partner.
Legendary stunt driver Carey Loftin was also involved with BULLITT's car stunts whilst he worked on THE LOVE BUG which was also shooting in San Francisco at the same time.
Loftin earned S100,000 the same as the stars on IT'S A MAD,MAD,MAD, MAD world when he co-ordinated and performed the car stunts and other things liking kicking the bucket of Jimmy Durante... Loftin was the truck driver in Spielbergs DUEL... and Loftin was with Bill Hickman on PATTON. He was still doing car stunts in his 70's when I met him on SIMON & SIMON.
Quincy Jones was set to do the music score but fell ill, Lalo Schifrin replaced him and completed an original iconic score in 2 weeks.
Steve McQueen and Robert Relyea had signed a multi picture deal with Jack Warner's Warner Brothers, but he sold out to Kenneth Hyman's Seven Arts who didn't appreciate Steve shooting on location when he wanted it made locally, so the deal was not honored. Despite Hyman thinking it wouldn't make a profit, BULLITT became a mega hit was often re-released on a double bill with BONNIE & CLYDE.
Very interesting.
The Charger didn't lose 6 hubcaps, they used the same footage from several different angles. Notice how they pass the same Lemans and VW bug several times.
But in a visual narrative sense, the car loses six hubcaps.
ken cohagen // Not to mention the 1968 Chevelle SS396 reroute to the PCH. The Chevelle was initially heading towards them and swerved to avoid hitting them when they came around the corner of that parking lot, then seconds later they were passing the same Chevelle.
Thank you for explaining that ; I always thought it was obvious . Am tired of pointing it out :)
Why so literal? 🃏
@@paulzammataro7185 😆
Stunt Driver Carey Loftin was the stunt arranger and main driver for McQueen, Bud Ekins was on board because he was friends with McQueen but Loftin was the main guy driving , the sequence took two weeks to shoot, McQueen was around for a few days for the close ups and shots of him driving, the wheel spin and smoking tyres take off was achieved with a smoke canister in the trunk of the car with drilled holes in the inside rear wheel arches to let the smoke out, looks quite effective!!
Wasn't a good with the wheel hope either
The late Great Bill Hickman Stunt Driver, In the Dodge Charger, In the Movie, He also did the Stunt Driving in the Movie " The Seven Ups " May He RIP & is Sadly missed by all of his Fans etc.
Pretty good actor, too. He was driving the car behind James Dean when Dean was killed in the accident. They were very close friends at the time.
wasn't that part of this video? great info Einstein
I noted him, in later years, as being General Patton's driver in the George C. Scott movie. Once I noted this it became impossible to miss.
Also Bill Hickman was driving the station wagon and pulling the trailer behind James Dean in 1955 when Dean was killed in a crash with his Porsche Spider, Hickman said that James Dean died in his arms while Bill was holding him,
Best car chase scene ever.
That green VW got passed several times in the Bullit chase.
Everyone keeps saying that the green VW was passed several times when it was only passed once. It was _shot_ from several different angles and simply replayed.
Yeah the Ventura in the 7 ups can be heard going thru gears like a stick, the automatic shift lever is clearly visible thruout the movie
Bill Hickman plays the Fed who blames Popeye for the Feds' friends' death in "The French Connection".
"Friends of Eddie Coyle". Mansfield MA train station. EXCELLENT book.
warner Brors bought 2 Bullitt cars # 1 was the stunt car found in Mexico at scrape yard and now restored worth millions # 2 bought in 1974 for 6 thousand sold at auction for 3.4 mil
The 8th thing was the green bug was the fastest car in the chase!
#8 is that if you pay attention to the chase the same cars driving around are seen in multiple shots.
That green VW bug was all over the Bullitt downtown videography.
no idea how i found this channel but liked and subbed . hello from South western Ontario Canada
The car in the seven-ups wasn't a Pontiac bonneville, it was a 1973 Pontiac Granville
There was a TV game show around that time with Tom Kennedy which prominently featured that car as a grand prize. I remember the host's luxurious pronunciation of "Grand Ville".
I drove an '85 Turbo-Tbird up and down SF streets many daytimes. Stuck in five oclock traffic half way up a "street" damn near burned my clutch out. Never really appreciated the chase until up and down SF suburbs at night. It's like an old steep rollor coaster; you think man, this cant be a real street then the next street is steeper! It took cool to drive that car any way possible...
i noticed the jag at the start but never knew it was his cool
It's actually a Bizzarrini not a Jag. McQueen apparently owned one but this was Carey Loftins.
@@CycolacFan: Yes, I was going to make that correction.
I've heard it said that Yates shot the car chase scenes last, so if the worst happened, the rest of the movie would still be in the can. Also, Yates wanted music for the high-speed part of the chase, but the composer (Lalo Schifrin) talked him out of it, convincing him that the sounds of the engines would be "music" enough.
I like the tidbit about the rear view mirror.
I will be watching for this
I guess that Steve was chewing gum during some of his driving - keep your eye on the rear view mirror - street with the retaining wall curves to the left . I never recognized McQueen - always assumed it was Eakins .
My first car when I was 17 in high school in early 70s was a 1966 Ford Galaxie convertible with a 390 and holly 4 barrel carb. Bought it for $500 from a guy who had lost his license for speeding. Still can't believe my dad let me buy it....wish I still had it
In the 2007 movie "Zodiac," Lt. Toschi (played by Mark Ruffalo) said SFPD didn't have a fax - but you can see it right there in this movie. (Nice research!)
The car in the opening scene of the movie was a Bizzarini 5300 GT Strada owned by stunt driver/ coordinator Carey Loftin,who did much of the driving in the Mustang.
Kevin Corrigan // I thought stunt driver Bud Eakin drove the Mustang when McQueen wasn't behind the wheel?
@@artvandelay0073 Carey Loftin was the stunt coordinator and he drove the Mustang in the final scene when it tows and releases the empty Charger to crash into the gas station. Loren Janes was the stunt driver who did most of the driving for Steve McQueen. Bud Ekins did some of the driving in the Mustang, too, and he rode the motorcycle that wiped out in the dirt. Supposedly McQueen only did about 10% of the driving. I've never heard that anyone but Bill Hickman drove the Charger. The third car in the chase was a modified Corvette but you never see it. It was the camera platform and it was driven by Pat Houstis.
@@bondhughbond // Thanks for the info. Mind if I ask where you got your info? Is there a behind-the-scenes documentary of the filming of the car chase scenes? Thanks.
@@artvandelay0073 There's a really good interview with Loren Janes that's easy to find. Just Google "Bullitt Loren Janes" and it should come right up. There's a ton of stuff around. I put up another comment here with a list of names to Google in conjunction with Bullitt. Look for that list and have at it. There are lots of great behind-the-scenes photos, too. Have fun!
@@bondhughbond // Thank you.
never knew that about McQueen's Jaguar. very cool
I've watched Bullitt a lot, never once did I notice that.
Sadly it's not true, that's a Bizzarrini, not a Jag.
Back in the day these were visceral movies. Shocking in their level of action and violence.
Steve Mcqueen working on a car with rifle on his hip - the definition of cool.....
Bud Ekin(singular) was a dirt bike riding buddy of McQueen who brought him to Hollywood when the studio refused his plans to do the jump in the Great Escape. Ekin went on to a life time career, eventually becoming a second unit director. When he died Turner Classic Movies did an excellent tribute.
Bill Hickman came out of sports car racing. He was top notch but never had the desire to turn pro. He & McQueen would spend hours & days at high speed around the now gone Cotati airport road racing course, getting in synch with each other and practicing the script moves until they were just right. Only then did McQueen allow filming.
Well done!
The gas station that blew up in the end was built to be blown up. Many of the residents in the area thought they were getting a gas station and were excited and then let down when it was blown up.
Excellent 👍
The mustang was advertised in Road & Track, in exactly the same condition as after the movie, in Oregon, including the Chevy V8. I remember the ad very well. They engine has never been mentioned again, that I am aware of. Sure wish I had that magazine still.
Excelente película ya clásica 👍😎❤️
more trivia. Yates used the same street in 2 different shots., Look for the back of the old pickup truck and the VW parked on the right at top of hill
still don't know why the witness who was being protected at the beginning of the movie took the chain off the door, not that the killers wouldn't have gotten in anyway
It would have allowed time for Det. Stanton to prepare a bit. Even at that I don't believe that the little chain would have been a factor.
FRED ROGERS SPOILERS... Because the fake witness wasn’t actually being protected. He just needed to be seen so people would think he was Ross. The way I understand it is that the “witness” was supposed to escape custody according to an agreement with the real Ross. He and his wife had plane tickets Europe. The real Ross, rather than freeing the imposter, decided to have him killed because it would be more convenient for him if people thought he was dead. If you watch that scene again, you can tell that he’s being double crossed. Those hit men weren’t the organization’s men trying to kill Ross. It only looked that way. They were Ross’s men trying to cover his escape.
In the Seven ups car chase if you look closely at the actor riding with Hickman his scared look was real as Hickman was really going for it driving the car hard!
I believe that the driver that McQueen was chasing was the same driver that was in the car that James Dean died in , BUT the accident was not Dean’s or his fault , it was the other driver who came out of a side road, but speed had a lot to do with it , and the lack of seat belts didn’t help in the crash ! Sad !
As well as a English Director the Mustang was painted British Racing Green...
Ford calls it Highland Green.
But for us Latinos that Love Bullitt & Steve McQueen, we nicknamed i Mexican Flag Green
People love that shade of dark green in Mexico.
awesome didn't know
I would like to add, I noticed the white Pontiac Firebird, right when the chase begins and the Charger hooks a left, then later on in the chase, where they’re going around the bend and the Charger bangs into the wall, the white Pontiac Firebird appears again. Coincidence or is it the same car ? Also I heard this was filmed around Palm Sunday 1968 the part where Steve McQueen in the beginning of the chase turns the corner and you see the United States mailbox. I forgot what documentary it was, but I saw that scene and that’s when they mentioned it being filmed around Palm Sunday -if I’m wrong then right near Easter 1968..
The last thing I wanna add I wish Steve McQueen would’ve driven a 1968 Mercury Cyclone. It was the Dodge Chargers true competitor and a forgotten one compared to the Ford Mustang.
Bill H often during the chase had to slow down to let the less powerful 390 Mustang catch up.
bailey9r.......Hickman's Dodge Charger was also fitted with 'skinny' wheels so it didn't handle, accelerate and corner as well as McQueen's Mustang.
Before the filming of the chase, Steve McQueen, Bill Hickman, Carey Loftin & Bud Ekins tested the Mustang and the Charger at the Cotati track north of SF. They quickly found out that in real life, the Charger could easily outrun the Mustang. Consequently, a lot of performance work had to be done on the 390 in the 'Stang so it could keep up with the 440 Magnum powered Charger. (Under the hood, the Charger was showroom stock).
@@thesoultwins72 True but then again nothing handled very well back then. ;
you missed some I think & I'll try and point them out #1 when the Dodge Charger hit that white car on the corner, they didn't edited out they kept it in #2 When McQueen came in the corner TOO HOT, cause HE missed that turn that was the reasoning in why he had to back-up really fast #3 The extra shifting came from a Mustang GT cause the one he has has a 4-speed transmission, but it shifted 6 times which still sounded pretty cool
There were only about a dozen Jaguar XK-SS made before the factory burned down in the late 1950s. Today they don't come up at auction. They privately change hands for million$.
Car chase in San Francisco looks like you seen in Watchdog2.
Best part of Bullit car chase is the double-clutch shifting.
You forgot to mention he lost his brakes and one of the downhill seems that's a big one
I'm sorry, but wasn't Loren Janes that did some of McQueen's stunts?
I read that Janes was McQueens physical stunt man sense Wanted , Dead or Alive . - I believe that it was Janes that was was dodging planes on the tarmac.
MORE!
The Seven Ups has one of the best car chases ever
Best car chase ever. All shot in one take, over 100 MPH on Marina Blvd and Guadalupe Canyon Parkway. No special effects, this was the real deal
Not quite. It cuts from the Marina to the corner of University and Mansell which is on the opposite side on the city. (Street signs are clearly visible)
And Guadalupe Canyon Parkway is even farther south.
Ya none of the chase really connected to the areas. My ex father in law knew the areas in the film well and he would always comment this was on this side of the city and this was over here.
I thought the Mustang had a 390 in it. Chad McQueen (Steve's son) said on a video, it had a 427. I wonder who is right.
I've heard the story of the Mustang having the 427 also,,,but I think in fact they were slightly modified 390's.
We always thought it was a 390, but what the hell..........
@@jeffpittel6926 I'd always heard, going back the entire 50-plus years that it was the 390. I _never_ heard or read of it being anything else.
4 I didn’t know 😉
Bullitt per the Pike book was set in NYC not Boston. The most unknown is the quick shot of the xkss. Only 16 jags xkss made and the one everybody wants is McQueen. James Dean was killed accidentally by who? Hint: a really unusual name.....
Cool vid
what about the rumor of the mustang engine sound effects coming from a non-synchro 5-speed GT40?
soupercooper i heard it was actually a truck that did the foley work, so to speak.
@SC and Snag...The GT40 had 4 different engines, the 255 DOHC alloy V8 (The Indy engine, used in prototypes and early testing ), which was never raced, the 289 (Hipo), which never won at Lemans, the 427 side oiler which won in '66 and '67 and a 302 (bored to 305 and with 4 bolt main caps) running Gurney-Weslake heads which won in '68 and again in '69. I owned a '65 Mustang with the 289 Hipo which was highly modified and featured the actual Ford "Lemans" cam...years earlier my Dad owned a '67 Ford Fairlane GT with a 390 engine, which he later replaced with a 427 mid riser side oiler...so my point is, I have heard up close and personal two of the three GT-40 Lemans engines, and the Bullitt Mustang sounds like none of them, it is definitely NOT a 289 Hipo or a 427...but it does sound like my Dad's old Fairlane when it had the 390...the sound track is definitely a modified Ford 390. Also regarding your comment about a "non-synchro 5 speed GT40, the ZF 5DS-25 5-speed manual transmission used in the '66, '67, '68 and '69 Lemans winning GT40's were fully synchronized in all forward gears.
Rumor has it also some of the sounds were used in Vanishing Point also.
The original Vanishing Point or the second one?
The first.
I live 1 mile from the very last scene where the dodge charger explodes so i ride that road quite often on my motorcycle.
Carey Loftin doubled for Steve McQueen. He doubled for Gene Hackman. He drove the Challenger in Vanishing Point. Yet , this guy credits Bill Hickman but not Carey.
Pontiac Grand Ville not Bonneville
Bill Hickman was such a badass! 😎
I have the same model car and the upside down Safariland upside down shoulder holster and the same small Colt revolver too. That is NOT an upside down retention holster in that still. Look at the Bullitt movie poster closely. My holster is an upgraded version from 1980 when that style was phased out, but custom shops can still make these for anyone with money.
Seth B
Seth B. I had one of those holsters through the 70s. Misplaced in it a move several years ago. Can you advise where I can get a replacement? Sentimental!!
Sorry but number 4 is completely wrong. That's not even a Jaguar, it is in fact a Bizzarrini that belonged to one of the stunt men.
I found it curious that they used such crappy cars in The Seven-Ups. I can't imagine there weren't some conversations with Bill Hicks and the other stunt drivers about how silly it was to use those cars.
I HAVE A QUESTION! Why didn't the mob have their bellboy just shoot Johnny Ross at the very beginning? It was really Renick - not Ross - but they didn't know that. It would have saved everybody a lot of trouble - even Renick.
The Mustang sounds like it has 8 forward gears in the film..
What, nothing about the green VW?
ua-cam.com/video/RxQQ-1jOIvY/v-deo.html
I don't get it Steve was a professional racer he could of done EVERY scene w/no issues & even as he drove in LaMans it was more dangerous than Bullit or Great Escape
Some of your "facts" about "Bullitt" have nothing to do with the movie.
Did you survive?
Knew them all...
For Bullitt fans with an original music : ua-cam.com/video/uqVw3FEHtaw/v-deo.html
His son says the Mustang got a 427 installed.... true or false ?
1badhaircut false it's a 390
Robert Duvall=taxi driver
When I was a little kid , I snuck out to a newly made playground in Anchorage Alaska . While I was there I started hearing cop sirens going off all around the neighborhood . The sirens all started going to the downtown area . We all found out Steve McQueen was arrested downtown the next day . There's two stories to what happened . One is the rumor that there was this big car chase and an eventual arrest of Steve McQueen . And then there's what I think really happened . He was downtown at the time and did a little showing off with his stunt cars skills . He did some high speed reverse spin or whatever . After he did it some policewoman told him that was illegal . So he did it again . Then he got arrested . And then when his name was mentioned on their dispatch is when all the other cops turned on their sirens and went downtown . By the way , using your sirens just to go see some movie star is AGAINST THE LAW BOYS AND GIRLS . I wish it was a big car chase but I think it is the latter . By the way , If you think I'm lying , look for his Anchorage Alaska mugshot .
1 or 2 mistakes in the list.
They used 3 Mustang GT in Bullit 1 had the original 390 c.i.d. But it couldn't keep up to the 440 Charger, so the 2nd and 3rd Mustang GT got a 428 cobra jet with 429 heads and aluminum aftermarket intakes and big Holley carbs for the race scenes
You can't put 429 heads on a 428. The 428 is an FE-series and the 429 is a 385 Lima. They physically cannot be made to fit together because their dimensions are very different. What they did was they milled the heads on the 390s to raise the compression ratio. There were only two 390 Mustangs. But you're correct that they had to modify the Mustang to keep up with the Charger.
Actually they put a 327 sbc in the Bullitt car so it could keep up...Ford big blocks are boat anchors...
I can smell the petrol and rubber!
#1. Bullitt & #2. Seven Ups.
I knew five
The holster you describe as a Safariland "Klipspringer" is totally inaccurate and wrong. The Klipspringer was a belt holster only and identified by a stiff stainless wire clip which was rounded and went between pants and belt. The upside down shoulder holster was a John Bianchi adaptation and not from Perkins' Safariland
I think you might be wrong there. McQueen's holster looks like a Safariland for a snub K frame Smith. Safariland used a white strap to secure around the opposite arm. Its been years since I've seen the movie but I remember thinking McQueen has a holster just like I carried my Mod 19 in. As for the klips thingy, never knew Safariland or Bianchi to have anything like that.
Loren Janes was driving for Steve McQueen and not bud ekins , bud ekins done the bike slide on the motorway
Steve McQueen e una Ford Mustang potevano fare tutto questo grandi entrambi ora la Ford ripropone quella Mustang del 1968 edizione limitata solo 68 macchine col nome Mustang Bullit
They've located the green Mustang. Where's the green Volkswagen these days?
Mike S It's in my garage right now lol.
When I saw "Bullitt" when it was new, of course I noticed the same dark green Beetle in multiple shots, and I liked that color. In 1971 my father got a Beetle that was that same color, and 5 years later he gave it to me after I'd been driving it since it was new. So I owned a very similar car, which I really liked...till I flipped it on a freeway in 1978. So that was the end of one particular green VW.
grand trunk
They had a 68 Mustang like in the movie but a new Charger and not a 68. Oh that's right, where the hell is anyone going to find a 68 Dodge that still runs?
Lots of 68 Chargers still around.
The green rat jaguar xkss is in reality is road legal jaguar d type
"STAAAP BY DA BLAAG." Hey it's pronounced "toss-key" not "toshi".
I smell a cheesy new version of this movie soon
Jag wire? Learn how to say it properly.
Well, isn't that special.
J A G W A H R
Jag u are.
Jag u are.
@@stevenmartinek2653: That's how the Brits say it. But they also say "licence" and "colour."
According to Yates, SF city police and politicians weren't so hot for the production at first
All they needed was a good, stiff dose of "shut up."
They would not let them do part of the scene across the Golden gate bridge.
Terrible movie but awesome chase scene and a great movie to visit San Francisco virtually.
And I'll tell YOU one thing you definitely DON'T know about British Cars! The Jag is Pronounced Jag U R, Not JagWaar! There ain't a "W" in it! You can pronounce your "big cat" however you wish but please have the common decency to pronounce our (British) "big cat" correctly! Thank you! Have a nice day!
I suppose you also insist that Americans should also return to spelling "color" as "colour", and "program" as "programme", and "center" as "centre". We pronounce as "gua" as "gwa". Get over it.