The BULLITT Page

"I was fortunate enough to have been there for the filming of the Bullitt chase scene. It was during the spring of my sophomore year in high school. The chase begins on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco. Much of it begins when stunt driver Bill Hickman buckles his seatbelt in preparation for jumping the traffic light and blasting through the intersection with tires smoking up Chestnut Street. The Mustang, caught in the web of traffic, finally breaks through with McQueen, rocketing up Chestnut after the Charger.

The San Francisco Police Department blocked off several streets to traffic, keeping spectators at a safe distance. Cars parked on the streets were strategically placed by production people to add realism and to protect private property in the area. In one breathtaking segment, Hickman lost control of the Charger and slammed into a parked car. In front of the parked car was a tripod with a camera to catch the Charger coming off of Leavenworth onto Chestnut. The Charger was badly damaged and the camera was completely destroyed. Great editing shows the Charger rounding the turn at Leavenworth and Chestnut, then taking out the camera at high speed. For a split second, you can hear the impact. I was there to hear it in person.

Traffic control, with the assistance of the police department, used walkie-talkies to coordinate traffic flow around the closed streets. Stunt drivers were used in front of real traffic to help contain it, especially at the beginning of the chase when McQueen has problems making the turn at Chestnut and Columbus.

In between takes, touch-up work had to be done on the Charger. Any obvious damage or scratches were corrected.

With all the setting up of stunt drivers, different camera positions, lighting, and the like, it appeared to take forever to film what turned out to be 10 short minutes in the movie. During one of those lulls between shootings, I approached the black Charger, which was parked in a neighbor's driveway. The closer I came, the more obvious the abuse was. There was a camera mounted on a rollbar that was wired to a small generator mounted in the trunk. The Mustang was similarly equipped.

The scenes were rehearsed before shooting. Steve McQueen made a practice run from the top of the block. The director wanted the Mustang to make a sharp lefthand turn from Taylor Street onto Filbert. McQueen got the Mustang into position, then descended the hill, picking up speed. He then headed toward the left corner of the intersection. As he went into the turn, the car bounced up, and he lost control, causing the Mustang to skid across the intersection.

After two tries, McQueen exchanged places with his stunt double, who also had problems making the turn. What made the stunt so challenging was the steep angle of the hill, (some 45 degrees), forcing the driver, to hug the sidewalk in order to complete the turn. The Charger made the same turn by skidding sideways atl the last quarter of the hill, then accelerating coming out. This one segment of the film is just a few seconds but, took two days to film. In another segment, the Mustang literally came flying over the crest of Taylor Street so hard that it bottomed out, smashing the oil pan and pounding the front suspension. Repairs were made and shooting resumed.

Nearly all of the chase takes place in the North Beach section of San Francisco property. The final spectacular segment was filmed on Guadelupe Canyon Road in Daly City, south of San Francisco. The special-effects crew built a service station set on the vacant lot at the bottom of the hill where the chase ends tragically. An office building occupies that lot today. Toward the end of the chase, the Mustang and Charger were held together by a bracket in order to keep the cars separated while being towed. Then the Charger would be released, sending the car to its fiery doom with two dummies inside. In reality, the Charger missed its mark, which should have been through the service station. Instead, it went alongside of the service station. The big fireball and explosion were set off anyway. Good editing saved this scene, which might otherwise have had to be shot again.

It's funny the things we remember from long ago. Back in the city, I asked a man at the location who looked like he was with the film crew what was going on, if he knew the name of the movie, and who the star was. He looked at me, grinned, and said, "I'm needed down the block-but the movie we're filming is called Bullitt starring Steve McQueen." I didn't realize who he was until the movie was released that fall in the theaters. In the movie, they called this man Frank Bullitt.