The building "He said, 'We're filming a movie called 'Bullitt,' starring Steve McQueen.' Bullitt, The French Connection, The Seven-Ups. It continues eastbound on Guadalupe Canyon Parkway There is also a shot looking south from the Cathedral showing the Masonic Temple Below are some photos (along with the fire alarm box), although the name has changed. Below are some photos of places featured in the film as they appeared in 1968, and . and the Fairmount Hotel behind Chalmers. McQueen eventually developed a reputation for friction with Hollywood establishment types and became reclusive in his later years, but the "Bullitt" shoot was clearly a three-month love affair between the actor and San Francisco. The Dodge Charger hits the wall where Larkin Street curves left Bill Hickman (Phil), who drives the Dodge Charger, actually did drive the Charger in the movie. For some, they're getting stronger. In the next clip, they pass in front of the Safeway again. was and different lighting), and here is Army and Precita in 2002 with the The palm trees have grown substantially as have the trees planted between the motel and U.S. 101. at Columbus and Chestnut, and again on Larkin Street at Francisco). lighting: here is the very next frame with a 1956 Dodge Coronet where the Pontiac Frank Bullitt shopped at a market at 1199 Clay Street, "Bullitt" enthusiast Dave Kunz reported the above conversation on his Web site, after questioning executive producer Robert Relyea at a recent "Bullitt" reunion. which now occupies this space is the Gramercy Towers Tires squeal and the chase quickly shifts back and forth between seemingly random locations in Potrero Hill and Russian Hill. ". William Hickman (January 25, 1921 February 24, 1986) was an American professional stunt driver, stunt coordinator and actor in the U.S. film industry. However, when McQueen reported for duty to find stuntman Bud Ekinssitting in his car, dressed as McQueen, he was furious. "I was parked on the set and they needed four or five cars moved. The original typed letter on Steve McQueens Solar Production Companys letter head asking to buy back his car in 1977 was also on hand. McQueen famously crashed a motorcycle a few years earlier in The Great Escape.. In the next clip, the Dodge has leapt 6 blocks across Van Ness, heading north on Laguna Street. Bullitt meets his informant, Eddie, at Enrico's "But I'm guessing 'Bullitt' would be on almost every list. Steve wouldn't have had it any other way.". The 1968 "hero" Ford Mustang driven by Steve McQueen in the classic action film "Bullitt" sold for $3.74 million at auction Friday in Florida. and becomes Francisco Street and loses another hubcap (which magically gets reattached in later Check out both maps after the jump. . Note the white Pontiac Firebird. 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. but the shot from the second camera angle Bullitt. 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. 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. 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. Here it is in 2002. In its place is the new I just had to walk the street that was made famous in the movie "Bullit" staring Steve McQueen. In The Seven-Ups, Hickman drove the car being chased by the star of the film, Roy Scheider, who is doubled by Hickman's friend and fellow stuntman, Jerry Summers. The Bullitt Mustang color was officially called Highland green. Hickman spent some of these earlier days as driver and friend to James Dean, driving Dean's Ford station wagon towing Dean's famed 550 Spyder nicknamed "Little Bastard", and often helping and advising him with his driving technique. But the car chase was good. Here is the view from the first camera angle in 2002. High-speed chase: bales of pot hurled at Arizona cops by Mexican drug smugglers during car chase. "Bullitt" premiered on Oct. 17, 1968, and audiences were blown away by the chase sequence. At Chestnut and Columbus "And he drove that car, drove the hell out of it, and came back and picked up in the middle of that sentence. In a professional driver's touch (before compulsory restraints were introduced in California), Hickman's character buckles his seat belt before flooring it at the beginning of the pursuit by the Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang 390 GT, driven by Steve McQueen. From the interior shots looking forward inside the Mustang, its easy to see which one is driving. After Bullitt misses a turn and does a reverse burnout, only the right rear tire burns rubber as he drives away from camera. Car Chase, San Francisco. There are several basic locations from which the film crew operated Bernal Heights The chase starts off at slow speeds, with the Charger creeping behind the Mustang. Anthony Bologna had no idea he had stumbled into the greatest movie car chase of all time. 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They continue on 20th Street and turn right heading north on Kansas. Summon the vacuum with your phone! The car chase took about three weeks to shoot, and was nearly as frantic behind the scenes as it appears on film. NOBODY WILL EVER TOP . Director Peter Yates called for speeds of about 75 to 80 miles (120 to 129 kilometers) per hour, but the cars (including those with the cameras) reached speeds of over 110 miles (177 kilometers) per hour. ", In another interview with James Dean expert Warren Beath, Hickman is quoted as saying, "We were about two or three minutes behind him. The doomed informant Ross is first spotted by the baddies in the lobby of the . None of us had the money, in case our car gets damaged, to fix it. It is the same green Volkswagen in each frame. Photos of present-day San Francisco are copyright Ray Smith. A motorcycle skids and crashes during the car chase. The Chargers "I said, 'What's going on here?' were it not for the green Volkswagen. Chalmers confronts Frank Bullitt at the ambulance entrance of the Hall of Justice at Harriet Street and Ahern. Although credited as Killer in the credits, Aprea only appears briefly in the opening credits sequence, shooting at Rosss car during his escape. Hickman had many bit parts in classic television series of the 1950s and 1960s, such as Bat Masterson, The Man from UNCLE and Batman. Vallejo and Divisadero in the Pacific Heights section of the city. The creators of "Bullitt" got more than their money's worth. Here is there. The Dodge Charger was driven by Bill Hickman, who also "We had dinner there one night and came up with the idea of not speeding up the camera," Fraker said. It became the gold standard for all car-chase films. There's this buildup, and you can feel the tension.". Taylor Street at . and in 1968. Here is that road in 2002. Fraker said the fastest speeds came along Marina Boulevard. Hickman was an extra in Dean's 1951 feature movie debut, Fixed Bayonets!. The production company used two Mustangs and two Dodge Chargers to film the chase scenes. . Another car, a Pontiac Firebird, also appears in several sequences (once at Bimbo's 365 dm_518338fe7542a. 2002 the view had changed little. Every modern movie car chase owes a debt to Bullitt. (Parental Guidance Ca. It is now called the Black Cat, a restaurant. THANKS FOR THE GREAT PICTURES AND MEMORIES.BULLITT HAS THE BEST CAR CHASE EVER.FRENCH CONNECTION IS SECOND. I had a hernia after that.". Bullitt set the standard for all movie car chases to follow, making it the most iconic and influential chase scene of all time. The soundtrack is glorious, too - and we don't mean the music soundtrack. The crooked part of Lombard Street was designed in 1922, after it was determined that the 27% grade of the hill was too steep for most vehicles, and even pedestrians. The twin towers of Sts. Lombard Street is best known for the one-way section on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, in which the roadway has eight sharp turns (or swi. During the early scenes of the car chase, a gas station is seen. Bullitt didn't just start a new trend. Locations were painstakingly documented almost ten years ago by Ray Smith on a website that's required reading in Bullittology 101. 3. Even after all these years.". Unfortunately for him, ambitious senator Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn), the head of the aforementioned subcommittee, wants to shut his investigation down, hindering Bullitt's plan to not only bring the killers to justice but discover who leaked the location of the hideout.CREDITS:TM \u0026 Warner Bros. (1968)Cast: Steve McQueen, John Aprea, Bill HickmanDirector: Peter YatesProducers: Philip D'Antoni, Robert E. RelyeaScreenwriters: Alan Trustman, Harry Kleiner, Robert L. FishWHO ARE WE?The MOVIECLIPS channel is the largest collection of licensed movie clips on the web. The chase climaxes with his Charger careening off into a gas station at which the fuel pumps erupt into a massive fireball. Hickman was to do all his own driving; portraying one of two hit men, he drove an all black 1968 Dodge Charger 440 Magnum R/T through the streets of San Francisco, using the hills as jumps. and as it appeared in August of 1999. I pulled him out of the car, and he was in my arms when he died, his head fell over. . McQueen was keen to do as many of his own stunts as possible. They couldn't just willy-nilly pursue by going block after block after block in the same neighborhood.". If you feel the need to get out of your car, know that street parking is a longshot; the nearest parking garage is about six blocks away at 721 Filbert Street. This indicates that the Mustang was not equipped with limited-slip differential (the gears that transfer power from the driveshaft to the rear axle half-shafts). Then McQueen's Mustang bumps the shotgun-toting killers' Charger, leading to an explosive finale. 10:11. much in 2002 as it did in F-type streetcar is seen coming the opposite direction. As an aside, the driver of the Mustang when the Charger is sent careering into the petrol station is Carey Loftin, who starred as the truck driver in the 1971 thriller Duel, Steven Spielberg's first feature-length film.We've almost gone full circle. The trees have grown quite a bit. Two Mustangs and two Dodge Chargers were used for the chase scene. There was a hole in the boot where a smoke machine was installed to help enhance the cloud made from the rear tires in particular where Bullitt missed the turn reversed and shot off again. of places featured in the film as they appeared in 1968, and more recently in July and It has not been driven until recently when it was used by Ford to promote the 2018 Bullitt Mustang, shown at the Detroit international auto show. Hotel at the corner of California and Mason. I have driven some of it in North Beach, but not the whole route. The stars of the movie were Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, a Mustang 390 GT (actually two) and a Dodge Charger 440 Magnum. The Mustang understeers badly and he is forced to stop and back up in order to make the turn. By September of 2002 it looked very different. They then come to a stop for two cable cars at Hyde and Filbert Streets. Highland Green Mustangs had 390 cubic inch engines, while the Chargers had 440 cubic inch engines. While playing around with Google Maps, we discovered that a user posted a map detailing the exact route of the legendary *Bullitt *chase scene. Here is the curve as it appeared in 1999. You can stream it for free on YouTube. Here is that view in 2002. Strapped into a Highland Green-hued, four-speed 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback GT, and going at speeds of up to 110 miles per hour, Steve McQueen raced through the cinematic landscape (and the San . If he had lived he might have become a champion driver. They make another left from Jones onto Lombard and head Heres how to get a broader selection. The chase in "Bullitt" is long and thrilling, but more than a little confusing. (Keen-eyed viewers can see the Charger passing the gas station after the explosion. To me it looked spectacular.". The other was repaired after filming and sold, passing through two owners before it was purchased by Robert Kiernan in 1974 for $6000. is clearly visible (here is a section in 2002 showing San Francisco Bay in the background). If you're a car guy (or girl for that matter) it doesn't get any better than Steve McQueen going mad through the streets of San Francisco in his 390-powered Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback chasing after the sinister 1968 Dodge Charger in the movie "Bullitt" (1968). "These two cars were literally flying down Taylor Street.". " Bologna recalls. Notice the green Volkswagen Beetle in all of these shots. Anyone familiar with the streets of San Francisco can tell [], All the Settings You Should Change on Your New Samsung Phone, Give Your Back a Break With Our Favorite Office Chairs, The 12 Best Electric Bikes for Every Kind of Ride, Its Always Sunny Inside a Generative AI Conference. Here is a shot from the film of the chase turning out Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for CHASE CAR - 1968 Dodge Charger R/T, Steve McQueen Bullitt 1/64 Scale Diecast Car at the best online prices at eBay! Here we collect the 33 best car chases ever put in movies, and rank them all. were 4-speeds, as were the Mustangs. Chalmers serves Captain Sam Bennett with a writ of habeas corpus and has his minions witness the service from their position on Earlier, when Bullitt tracks down the cab driver at the car wash, there is brief view of a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro. "If you ask five different guys what their favorite car chases are, they'll give you five different lists," Kunz said. in the Potrero Hills district again. Suddenly McQueen is on the southernmost end of the city, heading toward Daly City. The building in the right portion of the frame is no longer there. The intersection looks very different in 2002. Here is that view in 2002. This scene was kept in the film by Friedkin as it added reality to the whole sequence, however, the scene where the woman steps out into the street with a baby carriage was staged. During the chase, McQueens face is reflected in the mirror. From there, the chase materializes in Potrero Hill for two blocks, then teleports 3 miles north to Russian Hill and into North Beach. corporate headquarters for the Gap Inc. An elevated highway ran right Answer 1 of 16: Steve McQueen's chase scene in the movie Bullitt is a classic chase scene. a photo of the motel as it appeared in July of 2002. The Ultimate Guide to Setting Up Your Smart Home. gas station TomoNews US. Police and filmmakers agreed that filming one continuous chase through San Francisco would be too dangerous. It wasn't until the young Bologna was watching the movie on the big screen that he realized he had been talking that day to the actor. "Every once in a while I know it's still playing because I get a little check for 6 bucks.". WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. While Hickman had many small acting (mainly driving) parts throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he worked primarily as a stuntman. 1:28. Weissberg returns Bullitt to the car wash at Bayshore near Marin. 33. They accelerate down Marina Boulevard with the Marina Green and the Golden Gate Bridge briefly visible in the background. The next scenes are in the Bernal and Potrero areas, with green hills to the southwest on the horizon and quick view of downtown San Francisco to the northwest in another. At the time, San Francisco was not a big filmmaking center, but Mayor Joseph L. Alioto was keen to promote it. This is the view looking back up on (south) Taylor above Filbert, In January 2018, the original green Mustang GT from the film was brought out into the spotlight (after being in hiding for decades by the NJ owners) on stage at the Detroit Motor Show with Ford to introduce the new 2019 Bullitt Mustang. That's because, unlike other movies at the time, the stunt driving was all done for real. Potrero and Army streets in Bernal Heights. "It was a very, very exciting time to be in San Francisco, and we were foreigners, and it just blew us apart. Steve McQueen stars as the eponymous Lt. Frank Bullitt, a TV dinner-eating, workaday Cowboy Cop (in fact, he's the Trope Maker) who goes after the Mafia hit men who killed a witness he was protecting.. Best known for a legendary, nearly ten-minute-long Chase Scene in which McQueen, largely eschewing stuntmen, famously drove a dark green . About 21 seconds later, and 5 miles away, Coit Tower appears in the Mustangs front window to the east. Bullitt (1968) - San Francisco. For example San Francisco General Hospital is close to Filbert Street, with Coit Tower and Saints Peter and It is also a serious hazard to pedestrians, who are accustomed to a more reasonable sixteen-degree incline. turn onto Larkin Street (heading north) from Lombard However, Hickman is clearly shown in several of the publicity stills from The Wild One. Fort Mason's piers with the Presidio of San Francisco, are gone. At the corner of Larkin and Chestnut streets Bill Hickman gets the Charger into a serious oversteer east on Lombard. Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle's culture critic and co-founder of Total SF. Starts at Fairmont Hotel; south on Mason; west on California to Hyde. Here it is on a sunny day. Brebner recalls scores of memorable conversations with the star. "We said none of us would ever use our own vehicle in pursuits and stakeouts -- because of insurance purposes, for one thing. They turn left headed west on Filbert Not a word of dialogue is spoken during the 11-minute long sequence. Reviewed April 4, 2014. Here is that view in 2002. Ford. They were denied permission to film on the Golden Gate Bridge. Nearly 50 years since its release in 1968, Bullitt is still regarded by many as the best movie car chase of all time. They turn hard left onto Columbus Avenue, a four-lane street with concrete median. 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. Thirteen years before this film, being a friend of actor and budding race driver James Dean, he was accompanying Dean to a race in Salinas, California. This sequence features several repeats, with the It had spent most of the last 40 years in a garage . In the scene where stunt driver Bud Ekins lays down a motorcycle, there are several radio towers visible on the hill in the background. And I did.". He made them break the scenes off. above and behind the Charger in this frame. The article featured a promotional gimmick of photographing the 2008 Mustang and 2008 Charger simulating the chase scene with the writers breaking down the chase, moment by moment, to explain each cars strengths and weaknesses. There are also two The switchback's design, first suggested by property owner Carl Henry and instituted in 1922, was born out of necessity in order to reduce the hill's natural 27% grade, which was too steep for most vehicles. University Street, which is all the way across the city to the south. He covers Bay Area culture, co-hosts the Total SF podcast and writes the archive-based Our SF local history column. The next scenes are from different camera angles that capture the same sequence as the two cars head downhill and turn west off the same street. What differs from the usual car chase is that Gene Hackmans character is chasing an elevated train from the street below (the scene was filmed in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, with most of the action taking place on 86th Street). On assignment for the Wall Street Journal, I was in San Francisco to drive the original Bullitt chase scene in a new, 2011 Ford Mustang V6. The Mustang would have done a two-wheel burnout if it were equipped with a limited-slip differential. Here is the view looking back up Francisco. Jamie The next cut puts them 8 miles away, back in the Vistacion Valley district, turning right from University Street on to Mansell Street. He later learned that the car had topped out at 124 miles per hour. The end of the chase was Bill's own idea, a'homage' to the death of Jayne Mansfield, where one of the cars smashes into the back of an eighteen-wheel truck, peeling off its roof like a tin of sardines. Bullitt's car is a 1968 Ford Mustang 390 GT 2+2 Fastback. Retired Det. McQueen managed to slow down the Mustang by downshifting and maneuvering the vehicle on a street that inclined upward. However, it was the car chase alongside Steve McQueen in the 1968 film Bullitt for which he is usually remembered. Here is this view in 2002. front of the chase, which is an obvious continuity lapse. We said, 'This is our town for 10 weeks, and we're going to use it.' . The Charger veered wide right but the explosion went off anyway, making the shot too expensive to repeat. "There were no special effects, it was all just stunt driving," said Kunz, who has since built a replica of McQueen's "Bullitt" car.