THE GETAWAY & PAPILLON!

It's 1972, and Steve McQueen is tapped by Director Sam Pechinpah to play master thief "Doc" McCoy in THE GETAWAY. The film opens on location in Huntsville Penitentiary in Texas where McQueen spent two weeks with real inmates to gain the authenticity to bring across his character of a complex bank robber who thinks twice and decides once with razor sharp instincts. Filming concluded in El Paso. At the time of this movie, Ali MacGraw was married to Paramount Studios boss Robert Evans. It was Evans who suggested that MacGraw be given a chance to play McCoy's wife"Carol". Interestingly, in her real-life autobiography, MacGraw recalls that she knew she was in real trouble within days of filming, as a powerful love affair ensued with McQueen off screen and made for troubling gossip in the media. Helicopters flew over the film crews daily trying to capture photos of the duo.

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The plot: McCoy tells his wife to get word to influential Sheriff Benyan who has considerable influence with the prison Parole Board that he's "for sale". A deal is struck where McCoy is told to plan an elaborate bank heist with Benyan's goons. When the heist goes awry, the heat gets turned up as McCoy discovers "the price" Carol paid Benyan to extract his freedom. This tension in the plot must be resolved if their marriage is to remain intact. With relatively little acting experience, McGraw had to learn rather quickly how to drive a getaway car and handle a gun. This role was quite a stretch from 1970's "Love Story".

McCoy is a bank robber who nevertheless follows his own moral code. Interesting note: Actor James Garner who was visiting a friend on the set, was enlisted by long-time McQueen stunt coordinator Carey Loftin to use his driving skills. He is driving the Orange colored VW as McQueen and MacGraw are escaping town. A violent film, McQueen acceded to Peckinpah's insistence that once out of prison the McCoy character would need to go slower in the romance scenes with Carol. The obvious on-screen chemistry between McQueen and MacGraw resulted in a real life divorce for MacGraw from Evans and as MacGraw writes in her autobiography, the end of her rising star career in Hollywood as well. After she married McQueen, he insisted that she not act anymore. Her career never recovered. Their real life mercurial marriage lasted five years. A gripping action film, THE GETAWAY still holds up better than the 1994 remake with Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. Quincy Jones was Nominated at The Golden Globe Awards (c) in 1973 for "Best Original Score", and the movie WON The Golden Reel Award for "Best Sound Editing Feature Film--Unknown" by The Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA.

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In 1973, PAPILLON produced one of the most interesting pairings of actors at key career junctures Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Filming took place in Spain and Jamaica. The title literally translated means "butterfly"--as noted by the tattoo McQueen's character wears on his chest. The film is based on Henri Charriere's true life story of life in the notoriously brutal French penal colony in 'Guiane' (French Guiana, South America) on "Devil's Island". Henri is wrongly convicted of murder. Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, and Little Big Man) plays Dega, Charriere's scruffy but brilliant friend. Together, the greatest adventure of escape is carefully planned. The Casting includes: Steve McQueen:Henri 'Papillon' Charriere, Dustin Hoffman: Louis Dega, Victor Jory: Indian chief, Don Gordon: Julot, Anthony Zerbe: Toussaint Leper Colony chief, Directed byFranklin J. Schaffner. Vic Tayback (billed as Victor Tayback, played the informant in the film "Bullitt") and character actor Don Gordon return in new roles. Gordon is most noteworthy as the Sergeant. Steve McQueen was Nominated for "Best Motion Picture Actor-Drama" at The Academy Awards (c) in 1974 and Jerry Goldsmith received the Nomination for "Best Music--Original Dramatic Score". The sheer dynamics, according to Don Gordon, of younger rising star Dustin Hoffman often led McQueen to quip, "The young guys are coming up". Equally unpredictable, Hoffman reportedly kept McQueen on his toes asking, "What's Dustin doing today?" during shooting. The first day of shooting where Hoffman's "Dega" character wears the Coca-Cola bottle-thick lens glasses, McQueen was incredulous. "He's wearing what!" However, just as McQueen had done in years past with minor roles next to major stars such as Yul Brenner in "The Magnificent Seven" or with Frank Sinatra in "Never So Few" when he managed to steal the movie out from beneath those stars, he worked that much harder not to upstaged by an equally-driven Hoffman in this movie project and the two became good friends.

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Two completely different "getaway" stories set in different centuries! Next week will bring our "Virtual Film Festival" to its conclusion. Popcorn, anyone? Yes? Okay...

ENJOY THE MOVIES!