Movie Review: Bullitt

Movie Review: Bullitt (1968) directed by Peter Yates

Johnny Ross (Pat Renella) has gotten into hot water with “The Organization”, an organized crime group, for skimming funds from their wire racket. Finding things too hot for him in Cnicago, Mr. Ross offers to testify for a Senate sub-committee in San Francisco under the aegis of District Attorney Chalmers (Robert Vaughn). As head of the witness protection detail, Chalmers chooses recommended San Francisco Police Detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt. Chalmers makes it clear that if Bullitt succeeds in this job, the politician can open up career opportunities for him.

Except that Ross is fatally wounded and the officer guarding him in critical condition after Ross deliberately unlocks the hotel room door. Chalmers blames Bullitt for this event, and threatens to have him discharged for incompetence. Bullitt has a limited time to track down the killer and prove what really happened.

This movie is cool. Starting from the Lalo Schifrin music over the innovative credits, it has a late Sixties sense of style and poise. McQueen as a cop who’s maybe a little too detached from his emotions and Vaughn as an oily, arrogant boss who’s more hindrance than help do a good job.

The car chase at the halfway point is deservedly famous and nothing after it in the movie quite compares. Which not to say the airport chase at the end isn’t also exciting, just not as exciting.

It’s interesting to compare this movie to Dirty Harry, which is also about a San Francisco police detective and came out three years later. Bullitt respects and is respected by most of his fellow police officers, doesn’t go out of his way to antagonize people, gets on okay with the press and has a reasonably healthy relationship with his girlfriend Cathy (Jaqueline Bisset). He’s by the book until he suspects a leak in Chalmers’ office, at which point his sneakier actions seem pretty reasonable.

The politics of the movie are also markedly different. Instead of the system getting in the way of justice, it’s one venal politician and those who toady to him and place ambition over getting the job done right. Bullitt’s direct superior, Captain Bennet (Simon Oakland), who supports and protects Bullitt to the best of his ability, is shown as a church-going family man, while Chalmers’ man in the police department, Captain Baker (Norman Fell) gets no such moments.

The coda also plays out differently than later “cowboy cop” movies. While in those films all the bad guys being dead at the end is a win condition (Badaz Stryker will never have to explain his atrocious behavior in court) here it’s a loss. No one is left to testify against the Organization, Chalmers has been embarrassed in front of the press and the Senators, and certainly holds a grudge against Bullitt for that. It’s quite possibly the end of Bullitt’s career, or at least his chances of getting promoted. And his relationship with Cathy has become strained now that she’s seen some of the worst of his job. He looks bleakly into the mirror with no dialogue.

There’s a moment when Chalmers asks to have young black Doctor Willard removed from Johnny Ross’ case within earshot of the doctor. Is he being racist, ageist, or just having a conniption about being told “no” by the doctor? He’s certainly being deliberately antagonistic.

It’s also interesting to see how little security the hospital and airport have; it’s a lot harder to smuggle guns in these days!

Content note: gun violence, we see wounds, and a strangled corpse. Bullitt is clearly sleeping with Cathy outside wedlock. While no one gets naked during the movie, there’s a theater poster with topless women on it that is center of frame for a moment.

Overall: One of the classic cop action movies. All the better because there weren’t any sequels to dilute the brand.