Bullitt
An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.
- Director: Peter Yates
- Genre:Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller
- Runtime:114 minutes
Cast
Steve McQueen : Bullitt
Robert Vaughn : Chalmers
Jacqueline Bisset: Cathy
Don Gordon : Delgetti
Robert Duvall : Weissberg
Official Site:-
Ambitious politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn), is holding a Senate subcommittee hearing in San Francisco on Organized Crime in America. Hoping that by bringing down mobster Pete Ross (Vic Tayback) with the aid of key witness Johnny Ross, Pete’s brother, Chalmers’ political standing might improve. The story takes place the weekend before the hearing, from Friday night (during the opening credits) to Sunday night.
Following the theft of $2,000,000, and his escape to San Francisco, Johnny (actually Albert Renick) (played by Felice Orlandi) 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. Before Ross enters the hotel, he makes several phone calls. Late Saturday night, while Stanton is guarding him, the desk clerk calls and says Chalmers and a friend are seeking Ross. Stanton calls Bullitt, who tells him not to let them in, as Chalmers would not show up at 1:00 in the morning. Meanwhile, Ross takes the security chain off the door. Suddenly, a pair of hitmen, Mike (Paul Genge) and Phil (played by stunt driver Bill Hickman), burst into the room and shoot both Inspector Stanton and Ross, seriously wounding them both.
Bullitt wants to investigate who shot the pair and find the Mafia boss who ordered the hit. Chalmers attempts to shift blame on to Bullitt and the San Francisco Police Department.
One of the hit-men then appears at the hospital to finish Ross off, but is discovered and chased by Bullitt. After failing to catch the hit-man, Bullitt returns to discover Ross has died from stab 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 minder Captain Baker (Norman Fell) receive no help from Bullitt. Chalmers increases pressure on Bullitt by serving his boss, Captain Bennett (Simon Oakland), with a writ of habeas corpus to produce the witness, just as Bennett arrives at Grace Cathedral church with his family. Bullitt reconstructs Ross’s movements with the cabbie (an early role for Robert Duvall) who brought him into the city and investigates phone calls made by Ross. He finds one to a hotel in San Mateo, to a woman registered under the name Dorothy Simmons. With the hearing the next day, Bullitt suspects the dead mobster may not be who he seems. After picking up his Ford Mustang, Bullitt is tailed by the two hit-men. Bullitt manages to lose them in the back streets and then later appears in their rear view mirror, leading to the now-legendary car chase, culminating in the hit-men’s Dodge Charger hitting a gas station and bursting into flames, killing both occupants. Read more
