In Focus... Bullitt
In Focus is a new collection of articles focussing on an important film appearing on Sky Movies Classics that month. In-depth, analytical and revealing, In Focus aims to shed new light on old films. To get a seat at the table, all we ask is the film be one of the finest examples of its genre.Focus No.3 casts an appreciative eye on Steve McQueen's superstar making vehicle, Bullitt (1968).
No Bullitt, no Dirty Harry (1971) and no The French Connection (1971). And without these three movies the cop genre would be in poor health.
Bullitt was the first cop movie where the star was as cool as Cagney or Bogart in Warner Bros.' classic gangster films, but this time the studio put the leading man on the side of the angels. 
Based on the novel Mute Witness by Robert L. Fish, the film set the template for the insubordinate but effective lawman still in use today.
Forever remembered for that car chase with a Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger tearing up the streets of San Francisco, the movie is actually more than nine and a half minutes of eye-poppingly well shot peeled rubber.
An admirably complex plot requires an attentive eye and ear, as a simple witness baby-sitting assignment spins out into mob hits and political machinations, and the actual business of policing gets lost amidst the powerplays.
Wannabe political force of nature Walt Chalmers (Vaughn) has in custody Johnny Ross, brother to a high-ranking mob boss and star witness in Chalmers career-making show trial.
The Friday before the trial beings, Ross is put under police team protection headed by Lt. Frank Bullitt (McQueen). A no-time-wasted assassination attempt in an anonymous flophouse leaves both Ross and one of Bullitt's men fighting for their lives.
With Chalmers threatening to bury Bullitt's career if his witness dies, the unruffled copper discovers Ross unlocked his room to allow the killers easier access, and over one long weekend investigates the mafioso's movements in the days before the hit, attracting attention from the same hitmen.
A high speed pursuit with the two gunmen and resulting carnage leaves Bullitt on the wrong end of potential dismissal, but a late lead reveals a belter of a twist and a violent showdown in a packed airport.
Like Curtis Hanson with the similarly themed LA Confidential or John Mackenzie with The Long Good Friday, Bullitt is a film where a journeyman director, here Peter Yates, vibed with his material and knew instinctively how it should look on screen. Nothing else Yates has done (including The Dresser) has come close to the cinematic alchemy created here.
Simply put, this is because Bullitt is Steve McQueen and Steve McQueen is Bullitt. As the reticent, insouciant and coolly righteous cop, McQueen finally found the perfect vehicle(s) for his brand of big screen charm, and tailored the role to fit his passions and strengths.
McQueen was a reluctant actor, considering it an unfit job for real men, and clearly wanted to be Inspector Dave Toschi, Bullitt's inspiration, going so far as to have a pistol and ammo holster made identical to the homicide investigator's.
Toschi investigated the notorious Zodiac killings in San Francisco, a case that was the inspiration for Dirty Harry (and Toschi was immortalized on screen by Mark Ruffalo in David Fincher's first rate policier, Zodiac).
