Bullitt

Trivia: In the restaurant scene near the beginning of the film, the actor playing the waiter accidentally flips the corner of the menu in Steve McQueen's eye, but it was left in the finished film.

Trivia: There are many stories on the internet claiming a cameraman was killed when the charger hits the camera during this chase. On the DVD extras, we see this scene from a different angle. The charger hits the camera and we see it break up, but there is no-one near the camera. Obviously the cameraman set the camera rolling, then retreated - smart guy.

Trivia: Although we never know the names of the hitmen, Bill Hickman (who drove the Charger) is listed as 'Bill' in the end credits. He was so well respected for his stunt work - and had remained largely anonymous in previous films - he was given an identity for Bullitt.

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Suggested correction: We do know their names. The hitmen are credited as "Mike" (Paul Genge) and "Phil" (Bill Hickman).

Trivia: For several scenes, stuntman Bud Ekins doubled for star Steve McQueen. Ekins also doubled for McQueen for the 60 foot jump over the Austrian-Swiss border fence in "The Great Escape."

Trivia: During the protracted 11-minute car chase scene between the Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger, we repeatedly see a number of the same incidental cars in background traffic. For examples: In addition to the green VW Beetle that magically reappears in several nonsequential shots, the same white 1968 Firebird also repeatedly appears (as many times as does the Beetle), and the same lavender Cadillac nearly collides head-on with the Charger at two different points in the chase. This is mainly because many of the shots had up to 8 cameras shooting from different angles, and there was a lot of redundant footage. So, the same cars noticeably kept popping up time and again (and the Charger somehow threw 7 or 8 hubcaps). These were all blatant editing problems; however, strangely enough, Bullitt still won the 1969 Academy Award for Film Editing. Go figure.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: The famous car chase took three weeks to film, and lasts 10 minutes and 53 seconds.

Continuity mistake: Steve McQueen passes the same green Volkswagen at least three times while chasing the black Dodge Charger R/T. This is due to the same downhill portion being shown to us from multiple angles to artificially extend the length of the scene.

More mistakes in Bullitt

Chalmers: Ross.
Bennet: Albert Edward Renick, used car salesman, Chicago.
Chalmers: Who's Renick?
Bullitt: He was the man who was shot in the Hotel Daniels. You sent us to guard the wrong man, Mr. Chalmers.

David George

More quotes from Bullitt

Question: What character did the actor John Aprea play in the movie? The credits at the end lists him as 'The Killer', but who did he kill? He wasn't one of the two hit men at the hotel.

Answer: Notice: Aprea is credited as "Killer", not "The Killer." I think this confuses reviewers, as they assume he must be one of the hit men. However, the hit men are credited as "Phil" (Bill Hickman) and "Mike" (Paul Genge). Genge is much older than Aprea and Aprea does not look like the grey-haired hit man, as another contributor has pointed out already. There is no other killer in the plot. Perhaps Aprea's scenes were cut.

Answer: The doctor that alerts Bullitt that the grey-haired hitman is in the hospital looks like Aprea. He calls himself Dr. Kenner, and that character is uncredited. Maybe "Killer" was supposed to be "Kenner" in the credits?

Answer: Aprea portrays the Organization hood who shoots wildly at Johnny Ross as Ross' car careens out of the parking lot into and down the alley during his getaway in Chicago.

Answer: In a Bullitt movie clip on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) website, it identifies John Aprea as the killer who goes to the hospital to murder the witness. Bullitt chases him to the basement toward the end of the film.

raywest

The killer that Bullitt chases is Paul gange (listed in the credits in the role of "Mike") despite the TCM website. Aprea is listed in the movie's credits as the killer, but also lists gange as Mike. Look the name up on IMDB and you can see from his photo that he is the guy Bullitt chases. Why John Aprea - at least 20 years younger than the killer in the movie - is credited as the killer, I have no idea. And I have no idea where in the movie Aprea really appeara.

More questions & answers from Bullitt

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