The making of Bullitt - the movie

[kiwigtx]

A little insight into some of the work involved in making the movie.

 

[kiwigtx]

7 interesting facts about the movie....

 

[super-bee_ski]

Ho cool was that!

 

[oldbee]

Hickman(Charger driver) was driving the car that was behind James Dean when he crashed&tried. Don't remember where I saw/heard that.

 

[Budnicks]

Those were pretty cool...

 

[Car Nut]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Dennis H]

Going to see Bullitt 50th tomorrow at Oakridge in San Jose at 2:00 PM. Sitting in G11 and G12.
Have never seen anything but chase clips. Have seen 3 movies in theatre since Ice Station Zebra with Ernest Borgnine in 1968. Looking forward to big screen full movie. The King of Cool and a black Charger driven by the best stunt man ever. Does not get any better.

 

[Dennis H]

Love the way Steve puts the cigarette in his mouth and taps the lock button down. Reminds me of myself, without the movie star looks. Noticed the single (leg) streak from the Stang in one clip, and the wheel hop in reverse.

 

[oldbee]

Dennis, don’t embarrass us with any perverted stuff in the movie house! Lol

 

[Johnpat]

They pass the same cars several times in chase scene.
The cars are shot at different angles so you really have to look for it.

 

[Car Nut]

 

[Richard Cranium]

I'm going to see Bullitt on the big screen this Tuesday. It's making limited runs in select theaters for the 50th anniversary. Although I've seen it on tv a bunch of times, I think that it's going to be cool seeing it in a theater.

 

[DeltaV]

Hickman(Charger driver) was driving the car that was behind James Dean when he crashed&tried. Don't remember where I saw/heard that.

Dean and Rolf Wuetherich, Dean's mechanic, rode in the Porsche. Following were photographer Sanford Roth and Bill Hickman, driving a Ford station wagon that had a trailer for the Spyder attached.

Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/james-dean-dies-in-car-accident-1779341

 

[Richard Cranium]

Went to see it last night with 3 friends & I was surprised that there was only about 10 of us (total) in the theater.

Seeing the chase scene on the big screen was great. The camera scenes inside the cars made you feel like you were actually in them, but the dialog & acting style are pretty well dated. One thing you could clearly see on the big screen versus tv is that the Charger has turn down exhaust tips, which means that it was a CA sold car.

 

[Ron H]

I still have an article (if I can find it) that described some the details it took two weeks just to film that scene and seeing the videos here can see why. It was a first for trying to capture real action...ageless

 

[fratzog lover]

One thing you could clearly see on the big screen versus tv is that the Charger has turn down exhaust tips, which means that it was a CA sold car.

They got 2 Chargers from a local dealer.

 

[chtampa]

I went to see it last night and showed my wife the hubcap and the beetle appearances. Steve was the mans man then. Only pulled his gun once unless you want to count Bisset. He was a quiet performer like John Wayne was. It made you listen to every word.

 

[Ron H]

What I think I remember in the article I mentioned in my earlier post, is the wealth of modifications the 'stang required to hold up against the SF streets and only the Charger's T-bars were adjusted to increase the ground clearance. I think the Dodge had 600 miles on the odometer when it was destroyed. Some 20 years ago I was in SF and my wife joined me later as the 1st part of the trip was for biz. I rented a Malibu as I recall and drove some of the streets in the film for kicks. I couldn't get much over like 15MPH without my better half yelling at me to slow down lol. The slam downs were pretty significant at that. Some appreciation for how the drivers flew over the hills lofting off the pavement. Steve did part of the run then let a pro driver take the rest. Heard various reasons for this as he was obviously an experienced racer by then; but then maybe the producer thought he'd crash and stall the finish of the movie..

 

[oldbee]

I went to see it last night and showed my wife the hubcap and the beetle appearances. Steve was the mans man then. Only pulled his gun once unless you want to count Bisset. He was a quiet performer like John Wayne was. It made you listen to every word.

Yes,it’s dated nowadays; loved ur “only pulled gun once” comment. I would’ve done it multiple times(especially if she had a wet t-shirt on!)

 

[Ron H]

What's so nifty is no special effects like they can do now...I thought there might have been one part where they sped up the film like they did in the old movies. Got to give the original Vanishing Point flick credit considering it was a low budget movie and how really difficult it was back when with cameras to film. Some of the shots were neat showing shifting of the pistol grip and the rally dash. Had to think though that Dodge got great gas mileage with one fill up at a station and another with a largely empty five gallon container that "filled up" the tank through the entire movie lol.