skjam | Entries tagged with steve mcqueen

The Great Escape (1963) dir. John Sturges

During World War Two, the Germans captured quite a few enemy soldiers, primarily aviators who'd been shot down or crashed. The Allied prisoners considered it their first duty to escape from captivity, and several of them caused enough headaches that the Luftwaffe built a new prison camp, Stalag Luft III, to transfer the escape artists and other annoyances to, a special camp built to be escape-proof. Naturally, just because you tell British, Commonwealth and American soldiers that a prison is inescapable doesn't mean they'll just give up. They soon planned the biggest escape attempt of the war. This movie is a fictionalized version of that event, The Great Escape.

Camp Commandant Von Luger (Hannes Messemer) warns senior British officer Ramsey (John Donald) of the new conditions and urges him to get his men to sit tight for the rest of the war, as Von Luger would like to avoid killing the prisoners, who as fellow military men he respects. Ramsey has a severe limp, so knows that he personally won't be involved in any escape attempt, but he's certainly not going to tell his fellow prisoners to fail their duty.

Because this stalag has been designated as the place to send the most incorrigible escape risks, the Germans have as a side effect created an all-star escape team. Leader "Big X" Bartlett (Richard Attenborough), Scrounger Hendley (James Garner), tunnel king Danny (Charles Bronson), forger Blythe (Donald Pleasance), manufacturer Sedgwick (James Coburn), dispersal expert Ashley-Pitt (David McCallum) and other experts. Plus wild card loose cannon Captain Hilts (Steve McQueen) who soon becomes known as the "Cooler King" for being thrown in isolation so often.

From the moment they arrive, the various prisoners start assessing the prison's defenses, potential blind spots and geology. A couple of improvised attempts at escape are shortly quashed. It's quickly decided that tunnels are the best option, so three are begun. Almost everyone is on board with the plan, but Hilts is more concerned with getting himself (and maybe one other person) out than the insane idea of getting oh, say, 250 prisoners to escape at the same time.

Eventually, Hilts realizes he's being a bit too selfish, and starts cooperating. At last the escape happens, and seventy-six prisoners manage to get outside the camp. The remainder of the film follows their attempts to remain free.

While Steve McQueen is top-billed (and his character was made American for box-office purposes; in real life the Americans had been moved to another stalag before the escape happened), the rest of the cast is also strong and many of them get their own moments to shine. It helps that many of them had their own military experience to draw on. Donald Pleasance had even spent time in a German POW camp, while some of the German actors had been in Russian or American camps.

As part of his contract negotiations for the part of Hilts, Mr. McQueen insisted on being able to show off his motorcycle skills, and does all of his own riding (and a couple of other characters') except the big jump stunt. This makes for some exciting riding scenes, even if that part is entirely fictional.

Set design is excellent (and if it looks too clean/nice, remember that British and American POWs were actually treated according to the Geneva Convention most of the time.) There's some lovely German scenery in the last third of the movie as the escapees spread out across Germany. Oh, and the jaunty theme tune is a classic.

Content note: Several people are shot dead, very little blood. One of these scenes is a war crime by the Gestapo (who are villainous Nazis compared to the relatively honorable Luftwaffe.) Fisticuffs. A character commits suicide by guard. Danny has a severe meltdown due to his claustrophobia. Younger or more sensitive viewers may need parental guidance.

Overall: This is deservedly one of the favorite movies of many film fans. Yes, the historical accuracy suffers a bit to include Steve McQueen's character, but the story is well-told enough to forgive this. Highly recommended to war movie and Steve McQueen fans.

Current Music: "Rose & Crown"--The Malones

Nevada Smith (1966) dir. Henry Hathaway

Max Sand (Steve McQueen) is the son of a failed prospector and his wife, a woman of the Kiowa tribe. While he's out doing chores some miles from their house, Max is approached by three men. We will come to know them as Jessie Coe (Martin Landau), Bill Bowdre (Arthur Kennedy) and Tom Fitch (Karl Malden). They claimed to have served with Mr. Sand during the American Civil War (this might be true for one of them) and ask directions. When Max gives those directions, they drive off his horse before setting out for the mine. By the time Max has recaptured the horse and returned, his parents have been murdered in a particularly gruesome way--and all for nothing, as the gold mine is dry.

Max swears vengeance on the killers, as one does. The rest of the movie follows him on that journey.

This 1966 movie is interesting for being a prequel to the 1964 movie The Carpetbaggers, which was based on a 1961 novel of the same name by Harold Robbins. Nevada Smith (an alias adopted by Max after his own name got too hot) was a supporting character (played by Alan Ladd, his last role) in that movie, which had to skip some of the background revealed in the book for time, and was considered juicy enough to carry its own movie.

The biggest hurdle is that 35-year-old Steve McQueen is playing a mixed-race teenager. You're going to have to take the movie's word for it; the other characters call him "kid" or say "you look young" or clock his supposed Native American features, but the make-up team doesn't even try to disguise him.

Max is naive at first, and ill-equipped for a journey in the outside world. But he meets a few kindly strangers like gunsmith Jonas Cord (Brian Keith), who teaches him basic shooting skills and poker, and encourages him to learn to read.

One by one, Max tracks down his parents' killers. He grows steadily more cunning and able to use violence, as well as forming bonds with Kiowa woman Neesa (Janet Margolin) and Cajun woman Pilar (Suzanne Pleshette), though these are both broken by his insistence on following the path of revenge.

Just before his confrontation with final target Fitch, Max encounters monastic priest Father Zaccardi (Raf Vallone), who introduces him to religion and tries to turn the young outlaw from his vengeful ways. What will happen in this final encounter? (Well, from the previous movie we know that Nevada Smith survives and returns to work for Mr. Cord. But besides that.)

There's some nice cinematography, and the action scenes are good. The acting is professional but kind of flat, which may have to do with the script more than the actors. And Mr. McQueen is hideously miscast except for during the action scenes.

Content notes: Murder by torture (mostly offscreen and not showing us the results), prejudice against Native Americans and mixed-race people (including outdated language), prostitution, extramarital sex. General lethal violence as standard for Westerns. Older teens should be able to handle it.

This movie is competently made, but the thought process behind it baffles me. I'm going to say it's the least good Steve McQueen movie I've seen. Recommended as a double feature with The Carpetbaggers which will add depth to the character in the other movie.

There was a 1975 TV movie sequel which I have not seen, and starred none of the same people.

Current Location: Inyo National Forest

The Hunter (1980) dir. Buzz Kulik

Frank "Papa" Thorson (Steve McQueen) is an old-fashioned kind of guy. He collects antique tin toys, struggles to show his emotions, and is a bounty hunter, going after those who have jumped bail to bring them back--usually alive--...for a reward. Right now, he seriously needs the money because his lover, schoolteacher Dotty (Kathryn Harrold) is heavily pregnant with their child. Some pickups, like electronics repairman Tommy Price (Levar Burton), are easy. Others, like the murderous Bernardo (Thomas Rosales, Jr.) are deadly. But even with his body rapidly aging and the past coming back to haunt him, this is the only work Papa knows how to do.

This was the last Steve McQueen movie, as he passed away from cancer a few months later. Knowing this makes his performance as a man who is "getting too old for this shit," feel especially poignant. Papa has spent too long dealing with the underbelly of society, which has given him a jaundiced view of modern civilization. One character suggests that perhaps he was born in the wrong century, but Papa seems more comfortable with the Thirties or Forties, when he was young and idealistic. The story is loosely based on a book about the real life bounty hunter of the same name, so how much of this is straight out of that person's experiences is debatable.

The movie depicts Papa as not a good driver, and being particularly bad at parallel parking. (Playing against type for professional driver McQueen.) He does have a soft heart under his hard, bitter shell--Papa quickly figures out that Tommy is basically a good kid who made mistakes and gives him advice, and a job. Several of his friends (who seem to be former bounties) use his house frequently for poker games, and he means well by his future child, even if he shows it by accepting dangerous assignments for money.

Ritchie Blumenthal (Eli Wallach) is Papa's primary employer, a bail bondsman who would rather pay rewards for skippers than have to collect on the collateral that relatives or friends of the skippers put up. "I already own two restaurants." He's a businessman, and that affects his behavior and personality, but also cares about Papa as a person and wants him and Dotty to be happy.

Violent drug addict Rocco Mason (Tracey Walter) is here primarily to supply a through line for the various chapters of Papa's story. He has a grudge against the bounty hunter for the last time he was brought in, and stalks both Papa and Dotty before abducting the latter towards the end of the movie to force a showdown. He's not a deep character, more of a walking plot device exploiting the fear of crazy/doped up people.

There's a couple of good chase scenes, one between a Trans Am and a harvester in a Nebraska corn field, and another involving roof hopping, the Chicago transit system and a spectacular finish in a parking high-rise.

After the explosive conclusion to the Mason arc, the movie ends on a more hopeful coda as Papa, a father at last, holds his newborn child.

Content note: Quite a bit of violence, some fatal. An off-screen suicide. Abortion is discussed. Children in peril. Alcohol abuse, some rough language. Older teens should be able to handle it, possibly with adult supervision.

This isn't one of the best McQueen movies, but it's solid, and a decent sendoff for one of the iconic actors. Well worth finding and watching if you like Steve McQueen or a very young Levar Burton.

Current Music: "Ice of Phoenix"--Audiomachine

Papillon (1973) dir. Franklin J. Schaffner

Henri Charrière (Steve McQueen), nicknamed "Papillon" after the butterfly tattoo on his chest, is convicted of a crime he did not commit and sentenced to imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana often referred to as "Devil's Island." On the ship taking the convicts there, he makes an alliance with counterfeiter Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), a rather frail man who needs protection but has a stash of money. Dega is confident his wife and their crafty attorney will find a way to free him, so doesn't need to escape himself, but is willing to bankroll Papillon's attempts.

However, the Bagne de Cayenne (of which the Ile du Diable is just one part, has a reputation for being "inescapable" for good reason. The years ahead will be filled with torment and plans ranging from disastrous to partially successful as the two men's friendship deepens.

This movie is based on the autobiography of Henri Charrière of the same title, published in 1969. The book is almost certainly embellished by weaving the stories of other convicts in as though Papillon had done them, and the French government disputed whether Charrière had ever been on Devil's Island to begin with, as opposed to a mainland prison. (That might explain why this is an American movie rather than a French one.)

At two and a half hours, there's a lot of incidents in this movie, including several long scenes with no dialogue as first Papillon spends time in solitary confinement after his first escape attempt, and then time with a native tribe where no one speaks French during his second attempt. Papillon starts the film strong and confident, but ages badly in prison and is near breaking several times. (Shoutout to the makeup department.)

While money can buy some comforts in prison, it turns out not to be very helpful in escaping; everyone Papillon gives a payment to betrays him, while those who help for their own reasons are trustworthy. The pious Mother Superior (Barbara Morrison) is especially galling with her "if you are innocent, God will protect you" after she turns him in but keeps Papillon's pearls.

Mind, while Papillon isn't a murderer (so far as we are ever told), he is a crook, a safecracker who might have been sent to Devil's Island for robbery if he hadn't been framed for the other thing. He's not exactly shy about using knives, either.

Another notable role is Maturette (Robert Deman), an infirmary assistant who actually did commit murder, but is otherwise a fairly decent fellow. It's a portrayal of a gay man that's relatively sympathetic for the time it was made, but as you might expect from films of the time period, he isn't getting to the end alive.

Content note: Lethal violence, some bloody. A man is guillotined. Torture. Animals are killed, mostly for food. Male (from a distance, butts) and female (toplessness) nudity. Rough language, a scene where a character gets a tattoo might be too intense for some viewers.

Overall: an interesting and intense movie that shows off McQueen and Hoffman to advantage. Due to its nature, I cannot recommend this for below senior high viewers.

Bullitt (1968) dir. Peter Yates

Johnny Ross (Pat Renella) has gotten into hot water with "The Organization", an organized crime group, for skimming funds from their wire racket. Finding things too hot for him in Cnicago, Mr. Ross offers to testify for a Senate sub-committee in San Francisco under the aegis of District Attorney Chalmers (Robert Vaughn). As head of the witness protection detail, Chalmers chooses recommended San Francisco Police Detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt. Chalmers makes it clear that if Bullitt succeeds in this job, the politician can open up career opportunities for him.

Except that Ross is fatally wounded and the officer guarding him in critical condition after Ross deliberately unlocks the hotel room door. Chalmers blames Bullitt for this event, and threatens to have him discharged for incompetence. Bullitt has a limited time to track down the killer and prove what really happened.

This movie is cool. Starting from the Lalo Schifrin music over the innovative credits, it has a late Sixties sense of style and poise. McQueen as a cop who's maybe a little too detached from his emotions and Vaughn as an oily, arrogant boss who's more hindrance than help do a good job.

The car chase at the halfway point is deservedly famous and nothing after it in the movie quite compares. Which not to say the airport chase at the end isn't also exciting, just not as exciting.

It's interesting to compare this movie to Dirty Harry, which is also about a San Francisco police detective and came out three years later. Bullitt respects and is respected by most of his fellow police officers, doesn't go out of his way to antagonize people, gets on okay with the press and has a reasonably healthy relationship with his girlfriend Cathy (Jaqueline Bisset). He's by the book until he suspects a leak in Chalmers' office, at which point his sneakier actions seem pretty reasonable.

The politics of the movie are also markedly different. Instead of the system getting in the way of justice, it's one venal politician and those who toady to him and place ambition over getting the job done right. Bullitt's direct superior, Captain Bennet (Simon Oakland), who supports and protects Bullitt to the best of his ability, is shown as a church-going family man, while Chalmers' man in the police department, Captain Baker (Norman Fell) gets no such moments.

The coda also plays out differently than later "cowboy cop" movies. While in those films all the bad guys being dead at the end is a win condition (Badaz Stryker will never have to explain his atrocious behavior in court) here it's a loss. No one is left to testify against the Organization, Chalmers has been embarrassed in front of the press and the Senators, and certainly holds a grudge against Bullitt for that. It's quite possibly the end of Bullitt's career, or at least his chances of getting promoted. And his relationship with Cathy has become strained now that she's seen some of the worst of his job. He looks bleakly into the mirror with no dialogue.

There's a moment when Chalmers asks to have young black Doctor Willard removed from Johnny Ross' case within earshot of the doctor. Is he being racist, ageist, or just having a conniption about being told "no" by the doctor? He's certainly being deliberately antagonistic.

It's also interesting to see how little security the hospital and airport have; it's a lot harder to smuggle guns in these days!

Content note: gun violence, we see wounds, and a strangled corpse. Bullitt is clearly sleeping with Cathy outside wedlock. While no one gets naked during the movie, there's a theater poster with topless women on it that is center of frame for a moment.

Overall: One of the classic cop action movies. All the better because there weren't any sequels to dilute the brand.