THE NEW KID IN TOWN!

Yesterday's BLOG presented me with quite a challenge. Apart from the fact that Blogger went down so long for what was intended to be a two-hour maintenance, I posted what would have probably won a BOB Award for merely being the longest BLOG in history. Of course, I was attempting something constructive that I've never done before (and probably will never do again). I transcribed a very edited version of personal recollections recorded in 2005 from English Director Peter Yates about the movie you see advertised above. This movie won the Oscar (c) in 1968 for Best Film Editing. You'll find the story line hard to follow. But in this rare instance, according to Director Lawrence Kasdan, there isn't a young film actor alive who hasn't studied the McQueen Character and every aspect of physicality in this movie over and over again. Also, the famed "Car Chase" in this film has never been equaled in 38 years. And frankly, I doubt that it ever will. I have a unique identification with "Bullitt" that brings a smile to my face.

In 2003, I created and produced a small budget independent film called "Turning Back Time" and it involved weeks of scouting locations, drawing story boards and ultimately shooting in 34 degree weather and replicating (with my own restored Mustang GT I owned at the time) the scene where McQueen misses a turn while chasing two killers (a mistake that he intentionally left in the film) and does a "reverse burn out" to pursue the criminals. We spent hours setting up the scene and after a 1/4 speed rehearsal run through and a change of lenses on the tripod camera, we managed to pull it off in one take. The difference was, I blew through a "controlled" intersection and speed shifted up a hill from 0-90 that later cost me a transmission (but it looked good on film). My Indie film was intended for private viewing only by the top brass at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan who considered showing it via their internal video feed, but I disagreed and they respected my judgment. The head of FCM later retired and I incurred a costly but positive learning experience and later moved on to producing and promoting a cable TV project. So, this movie has inspired many car fans like me. Attesting to the cult following it has, the car chase itself has spawned two or three very good websites.

In closing, please allow me to share a a funny story with you. Actor Robert Vaughan received the script to play the crooked politician "Chalmers". He sent it back to Steve and said "This story structure makes no sense, and since you're company is producing it, why are you doing this?" So, Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner reworked the screenplay (based on the book Mute Witness by Robert L. Pike) with McQueen and Director Yates. Vaughn said that as his salary went higher with the revisions, "Strangely enough the story suddenly became clearer to me"!

I DO HOPE YOU'LL LOVE THIS ONE!