Line #16 Film/Bullitt


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bullitt_poster_6463.jpg]]
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3	->''"You work your side of the street, and I'll work mine."''
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5	Highly influential 1968 cop movie set in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco. [[Creator/SteveMcQueenActor Steve McQueen]] stars as the eponymous Lt. Frank Bullitt, a TV dinner-eating, workaday CowboyCop (in fact, he's the TropeMaker) who goes after the [[TheMafia Mafia]] hitmen who killed a witness he was protecting.
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7	[[JustHereForGodzilla Best known for]] a legendary, nearly ten-minute-long ChaseScene in which [=McQueen=], largely eschewing stuntmen, famously drove a [[CoolCar dark green 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback]] all over San Francisco in pursuit of two bad guys in a black Dodge Charger. Also one of the first chase scenes filmed with cars at full speed instead of using [[UnderCrank sped-up film]] as a cheat.
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9	Directed by Creator/PeterYates.
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11	----
12	!!This film provides examples of:
13	* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene:
14	** Bullitt and Cathy (Creator/JacquelineBisset) talking about how he might be getting too callous about violence in his job.
15	** The ending, in which Bullitt comes home thinking about how Cathy might be right.
16	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: The book ''Mute Witness'' describes Frank Bullitt as a cop who "eats a lot of ice cream and never solves a case". The rights were originally secured for a movie to star Creator/SpencerTracy, who more closely resembled the book's version of the character, but died before production could begin.
17	* AdaptationalNameChange: In ''Mute Witness'', the hero was Lt. Clancy (no first name). For the movie, the name was changed to the more memorable Frank Bullitt.
18	%% * ArchEnemy: Walter Chalmers and Johnny Ross to Frank Bullitt.
19	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The path of the chase scene jumps all over San Francisco, primarily around Russian Hill, Potrero Hill, and San Bruno Mountain.
20	%% * BadassDriver: Have you seen that chase?
21	%% * BigBadEnsemble: Walter Chalmers and [[spoiler:Johnny Ross]].
22	* BittersweetEnding: See PyrrhicVictory. The final scene of the film has Bullitt go home, see his girlfriend sleeping in his bed, then, without waking her, go quietly into the bathroom to wash up before taking a good, long look at himself in the mirror.
23	* CameraAbuse: Early in the chase, the Charger hits a car, and then suddenly the Charger and skid marks are missing. As shown in the "making of" feature, it had smashed through the camera.
24	* ChaseScene: Boy howdy. Hell, it [[TropeCodifier set the standard]] for the modern filmed car chase as we know it. Before then, most car chases were staged by DrivingADesk and/or [[UnderCrank speeding up the film]].
25	* CoolCar:
26	** Bullitt's Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang 390 CID Fastback (ask a gearhead if they can recite that if you need proof) has become so iconic that Ford has released two Mustang Bullitt editions over the years.
27	** Also, the black Dodge Charger R/T driven by the hitmen. Said black Charger R/T was not only so much faster than the Mustang that the crew had to remove two of its spark plugs and install thin tires from a base Charger to slow it down, but it survived the repeated jumping and abuse of the chase scene filming with ease, while the Mustang needed constant repairs. Cool car indeed. Specifically, there were two of both cars, but only one of the Chargers was an R/T. Afterwards, one Mustang had to be destroyed for liability purposes,[[note]] At one point the oil pan on one was ripped open during a rather hard downhill scene, spewing smoke and oil everywhere; you can see it if you watch carefully.[[/note]] and the other was sold to a production crew member, and disappeared sometime after [=McQueen's=] death.[[note]]Until [[http://jalopnik.com/the-lost-bullitt-mustang-may-have-been-discovered-in-me-1792985833 it showed up again in 2017]], having spent the intervening years in a Mexican scrapyard and been bought to rebuild into [[Film/GoneInSixtySeconds2000 Eleanor!]] Additionally, the surviving stunt car driven by The King of Cool himself, resurfaced in 2018, having developed a story of its own as an unassuming, if unabashedly cool, family car and [[https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/cars/bullitt-mustang-auction-record-price/index.htmlsold for $3.7 ''million'' at auction]], making it the most valuable Mustang, period, beating a ''Shelby'' that sold for 2.2 million in 2019.[[/note]]The R/T Charger was sold to [[http://www.ponysite.de/charger_welch.htm Arnold Welch]], the non-R/T was sold back to the Chrysler dealership, repainted yellow [[HonestJohnsDealership and sold to an unsuspecting customer]] (the same thing happened with ''Film/VanishingPoint'').
28	** Bullitt's girlfriend Cathy has a snazzy yellow Porsche 356.
29	* CowboyCop: Regarded as the [[TropeMakers Trope Maker]], also a fine example of an UnbuiltTrope as things don't turn out quite how we'd expect. Creator/GlennFord in ''Film/TheBigHeat'' is kind of a CowboyCop, but more along the lines of TheUnfettered working for a hopelessly corrupt police force. Bullitt is probably the first pure example.
30	* DaChief:
31	** Captain Bennett. Unlike most examples of the character type, he's a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who gives Bullitt freedom to run the investigation in his own way, and takes the cop's side against Senator Chalmers.
32	** Subverted with Captain Baker, who spends most of the movie with his head up Chalmers's ass.
33	* DiesWideOpen: Dorothy Rennick, found strangled.
34	** And then [[spoiler:Johnny Ross]] at the end.
35	* EveryCarIsAPinto: The legendary car Chase scene ends with the Mafia men's Charger barreling out of the road and careening against a fuel truck before exploding like it was full of dynamite.
36	* FakingTheDead: As it turns out, the real Johnny Ross was playing just about everyone in order to escape scot-free by faking his own death.
37	* FilmNoir: One of the better Post-Classic ones out there.
38	* FreezeFrameBonus: When [=McQueen=] breaks the glass door at the hospital to try and catch the killer, the black 1968 Charger can be seen parked on the left side of the screen, across from an ambulance.
39	* GoodCopBadCop: Bullitt and Delgetti use this on a reluctant witness at one point.
40	* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: The car chase begins with Bullitt deliberately drawing out his would-be killers, then quickly losing them and ending up behind them.
41	%% * IkeaWeaponry: The assassins' Winchester shotgun.
42	%% * IncrediblyObviousTail: The chase scene starts with this.
43	%% * TheInformant: Eddy, who Bullitt meets with at a cafe.
44	* KarmaHoudini: Downplayed with Chalmers. Although he suffers no immediate repercussions for being an ObstructiveBureaucrat, he is left empty-handed without a witness to testify against the Mafia or the means to shift the blame onto the San Francisco Police Department. Without Johnny Ross' testimony, Chalmer's political career and reputation will likely suffer a setback.
45	* KillerRabbit: The mob hitman is a grey-haired man in plain clothes. His driver looks like a middle-aged accountant, but Bullitt has to work hard to keep up with him.
46	* TheMafia: The bad guys in the film. Referred to by Chalmers as "The Organization".
47	* MeaningfulName: Bullitt does, indeed, end up using his gun.
48	* MundaneMadeAwesome: A scene near the climax revolves around ''extreme document printing''.
49	%% * ObstructiveBureaucrat: Walter Chalmers.
50	* PersonalEffectsReveal: This happens as Bullitt and Del go through the dead couple's suitcases and realize why both were killed.
51	* PetTheDog: Much is made of how callous Bullitt is towards the violence he faces on the job. But, at the airport, [[spoiler: after he shoots Ross dead, he covers the dead man's face with his jacket when he sees how upset the bystanders are.]]
52	* PrecisionFStrike: It was even more effective in 1968, when the word in question was very rarely uttered in cinema.
53	-->'''Chalmers:''' Frank, we must all compromise.
54	-->'''Bullitt:''' Bullshit.
55	* ProductPlacement: Ford Motor Company paid for Bullitt to drive a Ford Mustang in the chase scene. As noted elsewhere on this page, they reaped huge dividends. Originally, the chase car was to be a Ford Galaxie sedan, but the suspension required too much modification.
56	* ProtagonistTitle: ''Bullitt''
57	* PyrrhicVictory: Bullitt finds everyone responsible for the death of the witness, and clears the department of the charge that their negligence led to his death. However, all the criminals responsible end up dead--and with them, any chance of bringing the rest of the Mafia to justice.
58	* RatedMForManly: The film not only stars [[Creator/SteveMcQueenActor Steve McQueen]], but it basically created the ChaseScene.
59	* RealityHasNoSoundtrack: The score drops out of the movie as soon as the car chase starts in earnest. The car chase is a symphony of screeching tires, revving motors, bouncing suspensions, and shotgun blasts.
60	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: While the film is unrelated to the Zodiac killings, [[Creator/SteveMcQueenActor Steve McQueen]] based Bullitt on San Francisco Inspector Dave Toschi, who investigated the case.
61	* SexyShirtSwitch: Cathy looks good in Bullitt's shirt.
62	* SickbedSlaying: A hitman sneaks into the hospital with the intent of finishing off his target, but is recognised and chased off by Bullitt.
63	* SleazyPolitician: Chalmers. In fact, he's so sleazy that he's almost a RedHerring. Especially in the scene where he attempts to bribe Bennett into ordering Bullitt to turn Ross over... while Bennett and his family are going into church.
64	%% * SloMoBigAir: During the chase scene.
65	* SatelliteLoveInterest: Cathy, Bullit's much younger girlfriend doesn't get much more depth than being his sympathetic paramour.
66	* TheStoolPigeon: Johnny Ross, a mobster who embezzled money from the mob, then cut a deal with Chalmers to testify against the mob in exchange for immunity and witness protection.
67	* TelevisionGeography: In the chase scene, it seems like every time they take a right turn onto a downhill street, there's a beige Volkswagen Beetle parked on the right with its back to the camera, in the same spot every time...
68	* ThickerThanWater: Pete Ross helps his brother Johnny escape the Chicago hit in the opening. (He's told afterwards that the Organization will find somebody else to do the job... and Pete will pay for it.)
69	* UnbuiltTrope: This was actually the first CowboyCop movie, but seen today, it looks like a deconstruction of the genre: the cop ignores his superiors and dismisses the quite reasonable demands of a slimy politician out of distrust, but accidentally kills all the witnesses and ruins any chances of finding the real mob bosses. The film ends with him staring into a mirror, realizing just how badly he's screwed up.
70	* TheUnsolvedMystery: Bullitt kills a key witness whom he was supposed to bring in alive, so they never find out who is behind the organized crime operation. Movie over.
71	* WhatTheHellHero: Cathy gives Bullitt a mild one when she inadvertently sees his cool and business-like attitude towards the scene of a brutal murder. Tellingly, he doesn't disagree with her assessment.
72	* WitlessProtectionProgram: Johnny Ross, a member of TheMafia, wishes to provide State's evidence and is put in witness protection. Then Mafia hitmen find him and blow him away, forcing Frank Bullitt (who was part of the protection detail) to prove that it wasn't the result of the SFPD being corrupt or incompetent. [[spoiler:Turns out that the man who set it up was Johnny Ross himself, who told the Mafia where to find him so they would kill a body double and, with everybody thinking him dead, he would go off and live large in another country.]]
73	* WitnessProtection: The movie starts with Bullitt on this detail.

Context Film / Bullitt