Corrected entry: Steve McQueen performed all his own driving, including a reverse burnout during the chase scene which was not scripted. He had mistakenly missed a turn, but the footage was still kept in the final print.
Continuity mistake: When the security guard is shot at the airport, the door is shattered by the bullet leaving a visible hole. In the closing scene, when the priest is giving the last rites, the glass in the door is intact. (01:50:00)
Suggested correction: The security guard was shot by Ross through the left door. As the priest is giving the last rites, seen through the unbroken glass of right door, the security guard who arrived on scene with Delgetti can be seen removing his hat through the shattered glass of the left door.
Deliberate mistake: Vaughn is reading the Wall Street Journal folded in half as his limo leaves the airport at the end of the movie. The headline is facing the camera right side up, which means the folded part he is reading has to be upside down. No doubt WSJ paid for the spot and demanded their name be right side up.
Suggested correction: Having just watched the movie the WSJ is folded when Vaughn enters the backseat of the limo, but as the camera moves to a front on view as the limo pulls away Vaughn can be seen unfolding the newspaper before he begins reading.
Corrected entry: Jaqueline Bisset and Steve McQueen are driving in her yellow Porsche on the busy freeway. A grey saloon and 3 red lorries feature behind in the shot. Bisset and McQueen stop the car and get out for a chat on the side of the road. They then get back in and drive off, with same grey car and 3 red lorries behind them!
Correction: At the start of the scene a blue car is on the off ramp as McQueen and bisset pull off the highway in the yellow Porsche. After the cliff top scene it cuts back to the highway and the same blue car is just leaving the highway with the yellow Porsche 3 cars behind it. They just used an earlier piece of the same shot.
Correction: They are not shown driving away in this scene. There is a brief shot of the car parked on the shoulder, and one red truck can be seen approaching, but it is a highway and there's probably other red trucks traveling there.
Corrected entry: Steve McQueen smashes the window on the door to get out of the hospital as he chases the assassin. Why doesn't he just unlock it from the inside?
Correction: The assassin had used a mop to wedge the door shut from the outside. I'm sure McQueen first tried to open the door normally and was forced to break the window in the door to remove the mop.
Corrected entry: When Bullit walks his boss to the elevator in the hospital, the floor number 24 is painted on the wall next to the elevator. But the elevator has far too few buttons to reach the 24th floor. Also, the boss pushes the seventh button from the bottom to leave via the ground floor. (00:32:30)
Correction: It's an express elevator which doesn't go to the lower floors, therefore the buttons start at a higher number.
Correction: In large buildings the elevators are numbered. Each elevator car has a different number. It is useful for maintenance and licensing. It is not the 24th floor, it is elevator #24.
Factual error: When the hitman shoots the Mustang's windshield, the damage is not consistent with a shotgun blast at close range. The windscreen is actually hit in two separated areas. Winchester would be very unhappy if their guns really shot like this.
Suggested correction: It's fairly realistic for a shotgun blast to be scattered like the one to the Mustang's windshield. Shotguns throw a loose pattern that is often random in their impact.
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.
Suggested correction: We do know their names. The hitmen are credited as "Mike" (Paul Genge) and "Phil" (Bill Hickman).
Corrected entry: Just before the hit, Stanton rings Bullitt from the hotel room and Bullitt says he will be there in 5 minutes. When Bullit arrives, the injured parties are coming down in the lift. Later Bullitt enters the hotel room and we see photos of the shot man on the wall. So, in the time it took Bullitt to get dressed and arrive, the police had summoned a photographer who took the photos, the medics had arrived, stabilised 'Ross' and prepared him to be moved. That's a lot to do in 5 minutes.
Correction: Saying 5 minutes just means he'll be headed there directly. Traffic or other delays would take longer. When he says 5 minutes, he means he'll be headed there right away, probably after completing something that he thinks will just take a short time.
Correction: Traffic at 1:00 in the morning?
Correction: McQueen WANTED to do all his own stunt driving, but he simply couldn't perform many of the maneuvers to directorial satisfaction and he was hastily replaced by professional stunt drivers.
Charles Austin Miller