Locotenentul Bullitt

Bullitt
Film poster by Michel Landi
Rating
Titlu original	Bullitt
Gen	film de crimă crime thriller film[*][[crime thriller film (film genre)|​]] film de acțiune film bazat pe un roman[*]​
Regizor	Peter Yates
Scenarist	Alan Trustman Harry Kleiner
Bazat pe	Mute Witness de Robert L. Fish
Producător	Philip D'Antoni Robert E. Relyea
Studio	Solar Productions[*][[Solar Productions |​]]
Distribuitor	Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Director de imagine	William A. Fraker
Montaj	Frank P. Keller
Muzica	Lalo Schifrin
Distribuție	Steve McQueen Robert Vaughn Jacqueline Bisset
Premiera	17 octombrie 1968  (1968-10-17)
Durata	113 minutes
Țara	Statele Unite
Filmat în	San Francisco
Locul acțiunii	San Francisco
Limba originală	English
Premii	Premiul Oscar pentru cel mai bun montaj (Frank P. Keller[*][[Frank P. Keller (American film editor (1913-1977))|​]], 1968)
Nominalizări	Premiul Oscar pentru cel mai bun montaj (Frank P. Keller[*][[Frank P. Keller (American film editor (1913-1977))|​]], 24 februarie 1969) Premiul Oscar pentru cel mai bun mixaj sonor (24 februarie 1969)
Buget	$5.5 million
Încasări	$42,300,873
Parte a seriei	National Film Registry
Prezență online

Bullitt is a 1968 American police procedural film starring Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Vaughn. It was directed by Peter Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. The story was adapted for the screen by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness by Robert L. Fish, a pseudonym for Robert L. Pike. Lalo Schifrin wrote the original jazz-inspired score, arranged for brass and percussion. Robert Duvall has a small part as a cab driver who provides information to McQueen.

Released on October 17, 1968, the film was a critical and box office smash, later winning the Academy Award for Best Film Editing (Frank P. Keller) and receiving a nomination for Best Sound. Writers Trustman and Kleiner won a 1969 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Bullitt is notable for its car chase scene through the streets of San Francisco, regarded as one of the most influential car chase sequences in movie history.

In 2007, Bullitt was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2008, the Ford Motor Company produced the Mustang Bullitt model for the 40th anniversary of the film. The Bullitt nameplate on the steering wheel honored the movie that made the Mustang one of the most popular cars of the 1960s and 1970s. The green color was also brought back for the anniversary edition.

Plot

Ambitious politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) is holding a Senate subcommittee hearing in San Francisco on organized crime in America. To improve his political standing, Chalmers hopes to bring down Chicago mobster Pete Ross (Vic Tayback) with the aid of key witness Johnny Ross (Pat Renella), Pete's brother. Bullitt takes place the weekend before the hearing, from Friday night (during the opening credits) to Sunday night.

Following his theft of $2,000,000 in mob money and subsequent escape from Chicago to San Francisco, Johnny is placed in the San Francisco Police Department's protective custody for the weekend. Chalmers requests Lieutenant Frank Bullitt's (Steve McQueen) unit to guard him.

Bullitt, Sergeant Delgetti (Don Gordon) and Detective Carl Stanton (Carl Reindel), give Ross around-the-clock protection at the Hotel Daniels, a cheap flophouse near the Embarcadero Freeway. Late Saturday night, inexplicably Ross carefully unchains the hotel room door (doing it in a way that Stanton does not see); and seconds later, a pair of hitmen (Paul Genge and stunt driver Bill Hickman), burst into the room and shoot both Detective Stanton and Ross, seriously wounding them both.

Bullitt wants to investigate who shot the pair and find the Mafia boss who ordered the hit. Upset, Chalmers attempts to shift blame on to Bullitt and the San Francisco Police Department. Ross subsequently dies of his wounds. Bullitt suppresses news of the death, asking Doctor Willard (Georg Stanford Brown) to "misplace" the chart and have the body placed in the morgue under a John Doe identity.

Chalmers arrives at the hospital on Sunday morning and is angered that Ross has disappeared. He is further incensed when he and his police minion Captain Baker (Norman Fell) receive no help from Bullitt. Chalmers places pressure on Bullitt to produce Ross, to no effect. After picking up his Ford Mustang, Bullitt is tailed by the two hitmen, resulting in a famous car chase that ultimately kills the hitmen. Back at the police station, Bullitt is interrogated, and is given until Monday morning to follow his remaining lead.

Bullitt reconstructs Ross's movements, finding the cab driver who brought him to the hotel. He is told by the cabbie that Ross had made a long distance call and a local call from a pay phone before he came to the hotel. The local call was to a different hotel. Bullitt finds his way to that hotel, where he finds a woman registered under the name Dorothy Simmons (Brandy Carroll), who has been murdered as well. It might have appeared that the Chicago mob had merely killed an accomplice while hunting down Ross. However, in examining her luggage (which had been sent ahead to the airport), Bullitt gets his breakthrough in the case.

While inspecting the dead woman’s luggage, Bullitt and Delgetti find the clues that lead Bullitt to suspect the dead mobster may not have been who he seemed. Mrs. Dorothy Simmons’ luggage contained two sets of passport and airline ticket folders (both empty), two sets of brand new clothing and toilet articles for a man and a woman, two brochures from a Chicago based international travel agency (advertising one of their Rome vacation packages), and hidden in the pockets of the two sets of clothing, two sets of completed travelers checks, for nearly $100,000 each. One set was signed by Mrs. Dorothy Rennick, the other signed by her husband, Mr. Albert Rennick. Bullitt has just about broken the case. He suspects a substitution and a double-cross switch. He tells Delgetti to contact the Immigration Service in Chicago to obtain the passport applications of Mr. & Mrs. Albert & Dorothy Rennick, with their photos.

Once he has these, Bullitt realizes that the real Johnny Ross hired the Rennicks to prepare a false identity for Albert (as Johnny Ross); while he (Johnny Ross) had also paid for them to flee the country under their legitimate names and identities. Since the Rennicks had no police record, they only knew of Ross from his legitimate business as an accountant in Chicago. Neither Albert nor Dorothy had any idea what Ross had in store for them.

After Chalmers arrived at the morgue, he demanded from Bullitt a signed admission that Ross died while in his custody. Bullitt demurs, and when the faxed copy of the Rennicks' passport photos arrives, Chalmers is shown to have sent the police to protect the wrong man. The Ross brothers (Johnny and Peter), set Albert Rennick up in order to be killed as "Johnny Ross" so the real Johnny Ross could escape the slow motion death sentence of the mob looking for him for the rest of his life. Johnny then killed Dorothy Rennick to silence her.

Albert Rennick parading around San Francisco announcing himself as (“Mr. Johnny Ross"), of Chicago allowed in effect, Johnny Ross to be killed, just as the Chicago mob wanted. Dorothy Rennick an untidy loose end and was dispatched just hours before Rennick’s flight to Rome. Ross had planned it perfectly, since he was going to change Albert Rennick's ticket for a single flight to London as Albert Rennick anyway.

At the airport Bullitt realizes the one final switch that Ross had planned to use. When the search of the Rome flight reveals no Ross or Rennick, Bullitt guesses that Ross has booked a reservation on another international flight leaving about the same time. This guess turns out to be right. Bullitt discovers the real Johnny Ross on another flight (a non-stop to London) booked at the last minute; with a Rome ticket exchanged to pay for the flight. A chase across the working runways of San Francisco Airport ensues, with Bullitt eventually shooting and killing Ross after chasing him back into the terminal.

Chalmers ends up talking to Bullitt about the discovery of Ross' actions and the killings out at the airport, and despite Chalmers' constant efforts to thwart Bullitt from doing his job, ironically Chalmers rides away in a chauffeured limousine, where the camera focuses in on the bumper sticker, which reads "Support Your Local Police."

Distribuție

• Steve McQueen - Bullitt
• Jacqueline Bisset - Cathy
• Robert Vaughn - Chalmers
• Don Gordon - Delgetti
• Simon Oakland as Captain Bennet
• Norman Fell - Baker
• Robert Duvall - Weissberg (taxi driver)           

• Georg Stanford Brown as Dr. Willard           
• Justin Tarr as Eddy
• Carl Reindel as Carl Stanton
• Felice Orlandi as Renick
• Vic Tayback as Pete Ross
• Robert Lipton as 1st Aide

• Ed Peck - Westcott
• Pat Renella - John Ross
• Paul Genge as Mike
• John Aprea as Killer
• Al Checco as Desk Clerk
• Bill Hickman as Phil

Release

Box office performance

The film has garnered both critical acclaim and box office success. Produced on a $5.5 million budget, it grossed over $42.3 million in the United States, making it the 4th highest grossing film of 1968.

Critical reception

Bullitt was well received by critics and is considered by some as one of the best films of 1968. Renata Adler made the film a NYT Critics Pick, saying its a "terrific movie, just right for Steve McQueen—fast, well acted, written the way people talk"; accord to Adler, "the ending should satisfy fans from Dragnet to Camus."

Among 21st century critics, it holds a 97% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, representing positive reviews from 32 of 33 critics as of October 2011. In 2004, The New York Times placed the film on its list of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made. In 2011, Time magazine listed it among the "The 15 Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time", describing it as "the one, the first, the granddaddy, the chase on the top of almost every list", and saying "Bullitt‘s car chase is a reminder that every great such scene is a triumph of editing as much as it is stunt work. Naturally, it won that year's Academy Award for Best Editing".

Awards and honors

The film was nominated and won several critical awards. Frank P. Keller won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. The film was also nominated for Best Sound. Bullitt was also nominated for several BAFTA Film Awards, including Best Director for Peter Yates, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Vaughn, Best Cinematography for William A. Fraker, Best Film Editing for Frank P. Keller, and Best Sound Track. Keller also won the American Cinema Editors Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film. The film was awarded the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography (William A. Fraker) and the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing - Feature Film. The film was also successful at the 1970 Laurel Awards. It won 2nd place Golden Laurel awards for Best Action Drama, Best Action Performance (Steve McQueen) and Best Female New Face (Jacqueline Bisset). In 2000, the Society of Camera Operators awarded Bullitt its "Historical Shot" award to David M. Walsh. Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner won that year's Edgar Award for Best Mystery Screenplay.

Legacy

The Ford Mustang name has been closely associated with the film. In 2001, the Ford Motor Company released the Bullitt edition Ford Mustang GT. Another version of the Ford Mustang Bullitt, which is closer to resembling the original film Mustang, was released in 2008.

Steve McQueen's likeness as Frank Bullitt was used in two Ford commercials. The first was for the Europe-only 2001 Ford Puma, which featured McQueen driving the car around San Francisco before parking it in a studio apartment garage beside the film Mustang and the motorcycle from The Great Escape. In a 2004 commercial for the 2005 Mustang, McQueen appears and drives the new Mustang after a man receives a Field of Dreams-style epiphany and constructs a racetrack in the middle of a cornfield. The infamous chase scene was also recreated and implemented into the 2011 video game Driver: San Francisco.

American Film Institute lists

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
  • Det. Lt. Frank Bullitt – Nominated Hero
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills - #36
• AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated

Basis for Frank Bullitt

McQueen based his Frank Bullitt character on San Francisco Inspector Dave Toschi, with whom he worked prior to filming. McQueen even copied Toschi's famous "fast draw" shoulder holster. Toschi later became famous, along with Inspector Bill Armstrong, as the lead San Francisco investigators of the Zodiac Killer murders that began shortly after the release of Bullitt. Toschi is played by Mark Ruffalo in the film Zodiac, in which Paul Avery (Robert Downey, Jr.) mentions that "McQueen got the idea for the holster from Toschi".

Referințe

Note

Legături externe

• Bullitt la Internet Movie Database
• Bullitt la Allmovie
• Bullitt la Internet Movie Cars Database
• Bullitt la Rotten Tomatoes