THE GETAWAY & PAPILLON!

[Note from Michael: This marks the second to the last week of "The Steve McQueen Film Festival". Our Final Feature will be posted on April 5th; Special Quotations from Steve will be featured April 6th; On April 7th, I have a Special Tribute for all Bloggers & Lurkers who have patiently hung in here with me since February. Finally, On April 8th: Easter Sunday, I will post a simple but memorable "Send Off" that is very timely. Around this week way back in 1968, Warner Brothers & Steve's Solar Productions filmed the famous car chase for the action film, "Bullitt". Here we go! ]

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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 he needed for his character "Doc"McCoy--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 with paparazzi attempting 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 her role as "Jenny" in 1970's "Love Story".

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McCoy is a bank robber who nevertheless follows his own moral code. Interesting note: Friend and 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. A gripping action film, THE GETAWAY still holds up. 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 as Henri 'Papillon' Charriere; Dustin Hoffman as the brilliant Louis Dega; Victor Jory: Indian chief, Don Gordon returns (from "Wanted Dead or Alive", "The Magnificent Seven" and "Bullitt") as Julot and Anthony Zerbe is Toussaint, the Leper Colony chief. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. 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 with McQueen asking Don Gordon, "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 Brynner in "The Magnificent Seven" or with Frank Sinatra in "Never So Few" he manages to steal the movie out from Dustin Hoffman. Both stars truly brought out the very best in one another.

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ENJOY !