It is one of the greatest car chase sequences in the history of filmmaking.
Approximately an hour into the film Bullitt, two cars begin a dangerous race down the streets of San Francisco, starting in Fisherman’s Wharf. What follows is nearly 11 minutes of heart-stopping action and suspense, a chase so bold and innovative for its time, it helped the film’s editor, Frank Keller, win the 1968 Academy Award for Best Editing. It’s one of the many reasons why the film Bullitt is considered an American classic.
To Tony Piazza, it’s more than just a movie—it’s a cherished part of his childhood memory. He got to spend some time on set as a boy, and the experience gave him some unique insights into the filming and afforded him the chance to meet famed actor and Bullitt star Steve McQueen.
The film celebrates its 50th anniversary and to coincide, Piazza will present a free event hosted by the Santa Maria Public Library. The event includes a presentation by Piazza called Bullitt From Script to Screen, which includes personal stories, home movies, and photos, concluding with a screening of Bullitt.
Piazza is a local writer and film historian who has authored the novels Anything Short of Murder, A Murder Amongst Angels, and Murder is Such Sweet Revenge. His memoir, Bullitt Points, presents a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the classic film and the involvement of the Piazza family in the production.
“My father, back in the 1960s, was the liaison between the city of San Francisco and the visiting motion picture companies that came in to film,” Piazza explained. “One of the films that came during his tenure was Bullitt. Because of my dad, [our] family got the ‘under the rope’ access to the filming.”
Piazza found himself in the middle of the action for some of the most memorable scenes in Hollywood history. In addition to that, he also met the film’s legendary leading man, McQueen. He first met the movie star in the basement of San Francisco General Hospital.
“It was in the basement,” Piazza said. “They were doing the scene where he was chasing the ice-pick killer through the different corridors. … McQueen came over and started talking to me. He spent a good amount of time asking me questions—where did I go to school, what were my hobbies. At the time I was very interested in drawing so he said, ‘Why don’t you come down and do some sketching on the set.'”
McQueen had invited other art students from the local art colleges to come by and sketch scenes from the filming as well. While Piazza never took McQueen up on his offer, he did spend considerable time observing the production, including the filming of the famous chase scene. Piazza was also on set when the final part of the chase sequence was filmed. The scene climaxes with a dramatic explosion as a car crashes into a gas pump.
“That day, we brought our 8-millimeter camera down and filmed what was going on,” Piazza said. “McQueen himself showed up and I got some footage of him.”
He also happened to catch a blooper during the filming. During the original shot, the special effects explosion went off too soon. It could have been disastrous for production, but fortunately the director, Peter Yates, happened to have come to the set the previous day to rehearse some shots and managed to get a zoomed-in shot of the pump that could be used in editing to fix it.
Piazza said one of the great things about watching McQueen work was studying how good he was in long silences. McQueen had dyslexia and preferred to emote rather than tackle long passages of dialogue, resulting in powerful moments of quietude where everything about his character’s journey is told on his face.
After Bullitt, Piazza worked as an extra and stand-in on multiple Hollywood movies and television shows shot in San Francisco during the 1970s, including Towering Inferno, High Anxiety, Magnum Force, and Streets of San Francisco.
Piazza could tell stories for hours based off his encounters with celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Karl Malden, Michael Douglas, Raymond Burr, Walter Matthau, Fred Astaire, Robert Vaughn, and Leslie Nielsen. But discussing Bullitt and its late star McQueen is especially touching for Piazza, who holds on to each scrap of memory from the production as though it were a precious jewel. He said the anniversary event presentation is an excellent opportunity for people to not only get to know more about Bullitt but classic filmmaking in general.
“To me, it was just a great film,” he said. “I think that people will get a glimpse into filmmaking at that time, before CGI and all these other things we have today. You’re really watching the real thing.”
Arts and Lifestyle Writer Rebecca Rose is faster than a speeding Bullitt. Contact her at rrose@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 3, 2018.