Chasing the ghosts of "Bullitt"

Wall Street Journal

(San Francisco) - At the very top of Taylor and Vallejo streets here on Sunday morning, I stopped to take in the view. Idling in a 2011 Ford Mustang V6, I looked down through the windshield at the impossibly steep hill below, immortalized in the 1968 film "Bullitt" starring Steve McQueen.

Seated next to me was Loren Janes, 79, McQueen's longtime stunt double and the last surviving member of the "Bullitt" car crew. Mr. Janes drove the green Mustang in the movie's most daring and riveting scenes=97 the one down Taylor Street and the other along Guadalupe Canyon Parkway. I even brought along a CD of the "Bullitt" soundtrack for the ride.

Two weeks after the death of "Bullitt" director Peter Yates, Mr. Janes and I set out to honor him by driving the movie's chase route=97 cautiously. "Peter wanted everything about the chase to feel risky and rough," said Mr. Janes, whose stuntman credits include more than 500 movies and 2,100 TV episodes. "Peter never got cold feet about any of the stunts that coordinator Carey Loftin lined up. He knew that a memorable film needed to be on the edge."

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Reply to
Robin
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Thanks for posting this.

Reply to
Tom

I remember seeing this with my Dad. Before the film started he offered a 'gloria in excelsis Deo' to the scene. In reverent tones, he described this 'greatest chase scene of all time' and it became one of the bonds between us.

*R* *H*
Reply to
Rockinghorse Winner

Gloria in excelsis deo Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis Laudamus te Benedicimus te Adoramus te Glorificamus te Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens Domine fili unigenite, Jesu Christe Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius patris Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis Qui tollis peccata mundi suscipe deprecationem nostram Qui sedes ad dexteram patris miserere nobis Quoniam tu solus sanctus Tu solus Dominus Tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.

I've always been a little more into Bikes then cars (just a smidge) so for me it was another McQueen hit, The Great Escape.

While not a McQueen movie, I think Ronin had a great scene as well. One of the best lines in a Car chase has got to be Michael Caine's famous "You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off" in "The Italian Job".

Reply to
Zombywoof

Yes, Ronin was a great movie. Sadly, I don't think many people saw it when it came out. What a cast! I think it was one of Frankenheimers last hurrahs. Awsome chase:

Gloria Patri et filii et spiritui sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

*R* *H*
Reply to
Rockinghorse Winner

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