On his fourth birthday, Steve McQueen’s uncle gave him a red tricycle, and with that a life-long love for racing was born. McQueen (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980) epitomised anti-establishment cool like none other. A troubled childhood compounded by dyslexia and partial deafness saw McQueen spend his teenage years in a remand home. Joining the Marine Corps had McQueen initially rebelling against authority, but he later on embraced Marine discipline and was honourably discharged.
His acting career took off with the western television show Wanted Dead or Alive, playing the bounty hunter Josh Randall. When Frank Sinatra gave the 29-year-old McQueen a break in Never So Few , it was the first step to transferring his haute coolness to the big screen.
The director of Never So Few , John Sturges, cast McQueen in his Seven Samurai adaptation, The Magnificent Seven . In the film, McQueen’s distracting actions when he was in the background, like wiping the brim of his hat or checking his shot gun, annoyed co-star Yul Brynner considerably.
Third time
McQueen’s third collaboration with Sturges, The Great Escape, took his cool quotient to the stratosphere, and also resulted in the famous motorcycle chase sequence. The Great Escape was a multi-starrer, boasting actors such as James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn. Based on a true story, the Second World War film told the story of prisoners trying to escape from a Nazi POW camp.
McQueen plays USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts, whose repeated escape attempts land him in solitary confinement, earning him the sobriquet of Cooler King. Hilts steals a motorcycle, and as he is pursued by German soldiers, manages to jump the first barbed wire fence at the German-Swiss border, but is captured before he can clear the second fence. The movie ends with Hilts back in the cooler, bouncing a baseball against the cell wall, and catching it.
It wasn’t me
Though McQueen had experience racing (earning money by competing at the Long Island City Raceway in the 1950s), the famous leap was done by his friend Bud Ekins because of insurance concerns. McQueen acknowledged Ekins on The Tonight Show , telling Johnny Carson “It wasn’t me. That was Bud Ekins.”
McQueen agreed to star in The Great Escape on the condition that he could show off his riding skills. Hilts drives a 650cc Thunderbird Triumph TR6 Trophy, cosmetically modified to look 20 years older.
The Triumph was McQueen’s favourite bike and one of the first bikes that he bought, along with a Harley Davidson.
When he complained he didn’t have enough riding to do, Sturges put him in a helmet and goggles and shot him chasing Hilts — the magic of movies had him chasing himself! McQueen’s pat on the petrol tank of the motorcycle when he is captured, encapsulates his affection for hot wheels.
Half century
Apart from The Great Escape , the other film where McQueen got a chance to burn rubber was Bullitt . The 1968 thriller, directed by Peter Yates, features McQueen as SFPD detective, Lieutenant Frank Bullitt. Also starring Robert Vaughn and Jacqueline Bisset, the film is famous for its almost 10-minute chase scene, beginning at the Fisherman’s Wharf area of San Francisco.
Fifty years on, the scene is still effective, despite a surfeit of Fast and Furious hijinks and many exploding pile-ups, courtesy Michael Bay. Despite Lalo Schifrin’s jazz-inspired score, the chase has no background sound, so all you hear are the vehicles.
There is an organic rush to the sequence that no amount of shiny CGI can match.
And in the scene where a bike skids into the hurtling cars, McQueen’s character waiting to see the biker has been taken to safety was a nice touch. He drove a Ford Mustang GT 390 in the scene.
McQueen was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. He considered becoming a professional race car driver, competed in off-road motorcycle racing, designed a motorsports bucket seat and owned several classic motorcycles, cars and aircraft. He famously said, “I’m not sure whether I’m an actor who races or a racer who acts.” He did both exceedingly well.
