Tell me about Steve McQueen

[Mike 03]

He was a bit before my time, but I have seen TOWERING INFERNO, and there is something about him, for sure.

But what it about Steve McQueen that has gained him idol status? What are his best films?

Tragically, he didn't live to be that old. He must have had that "something" that James Dean had, and other actors who made ineradicable impressions early in their career.

I have this feeling I would like his work, but I'd like to know where to start.

Also, as an aside, my school counselor actually met him. He was an extra in THE TOWERING INFERNO, when they were shooting that film on the plaza of the Bank of America headquarters in San Francisco (back in the day when BofA was headquartered in SF), and he described him as being this amazingly accessible person, who brought food for all the extras and was not stuck up or anything like that.

Those of us who want to learn more about his work, where would you suggest we look?

Why is there this "aura" about him? Where did that originate?

[El Supremo]

1. Short list:

Wanted Dead or Alive TV show
The Great Escape
The Magnificent Seven
The Sand Pebbles
Bullet

He was as cool as James Dean but not as weird.

[lunatica]

2. Here's a list of his movies

Here's a list starting with his last film and ending with his first. If you want a cross section to show his range watch The Great Escape, Nevada Smith, Le Mans, and Papillon. As a young actor he was in the original The Blob. Then you can watch all the rest. He and Dustin Hoffman were very good in Papillon. I got the list from the following site:

http://www.ducksoftware.com/movies/stevemcqueenmovies.html

The Hunter
Tom Horn
The Towering Inferno
Papillon
The Getaway
Junior Bonner
Le Mans
On Any Sunday
The Reivers
Bullitt
The Thomas Crown Affair
Nevada Smith
The Sand Pebbles
Baby, the Rain Must Fall
The Cincinnati Kid
The Great Escape
Love With the Proper Stranger
Soldier in the Rain
Hell is for Heroes
The War Lover
The Honeymoon Machine
The Magnificent Seven
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery
Never So Few
The Blob
Never Love a Stranger
The Defender
Somebody Up There Likes Me

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

It's just the good looks.

Like Paul Newman. Toshiro Mifune. Adrian Brody.

Not necessarily supermodel good looks, just a handsome face that gives a real "presence" on the movie and makes you want to see what he's going to do next.

[CBGLuthier]

3. Watch him steal The Magnificent Seven from Yul Brynner

He was just a natural star and the camera loved him.

[sarge43]

4. Some more worth a look

Papillon
The Reivers
The Cincinnati Kid

Cool in that his acting was very understated. He did just enough to rivet your attention, but not overwhelm the other actors or the action. Plus, he could pack a lot into a expression, a bit of body language, a couple of words.

If you see The Sand Pebbles, carefully watch the scene where he first enters the engine room of his new boat. He puts his character whole raison d'etre into "Hello, engines."

[Captain Hilts]

21. It's really too bad Spencer Tracy had to bail on the Cincy Kid at the last minute. nt

[sarge43]

25. That would have been interesting.

Old and New Hollywood, minimalism actors, what might have been.

[trof]

5. I first met Steve in the late 60s.

No, not really.
Wish I had.
;-)

He had this laid back, deadpan humor.
See "The Great Escape".

And the far off squint.
He'd tilt his head back, just a little, and squint to somewhere off camera.
And you just KNEW he was about to deliver a killer line.
Or maybe say nothing at all.
Just squint.
But the squint spoke volumes.
Like "Fuck with me at your own risk. I really don't want to get into it with you, but if you bring it you'll regret it."
He. Was. Cool.
No question.

[WinkyDink]

6. Steve McQ. was the real deal, beaten as a kid, a street punk, he lived the life. Machismo for real.

A man's man, a woman's man.

I like "The Great Escape." That was his own motorcycle.

Yeah, 50 is way too soon.

[Captain Hilts]

24. Malcontent in the Marine Corps. nt

[jmowreader]

31. Did he own that motorcycle?

I know he did the motorcycle sequence, which made the financial backers REAL unhappy--Steve McQueen was expensive and they didn't want to pay for his funeral.

[mitchum]

7. He emanated cool, but possessed really redneck sensibilities

I like to watch a lot of his work, but would have not cared to hang out with the guy

[texanwitch]

8. I remember reading that he liked under age girls.

Ever since then I can't watch his movies.

[Brickbat]

9. He was a badass in real life, too.

Loved racing. Did his own stunts and driving in movies. Difficult childhood, joined the Marines after a bunch of odd jobs, was demoted to private a few times for rebelliousness. Drugs, drinking, etc.

Plus, schmokin' hot. That goes a long way.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

10. In real life, looked at least ten years older than he looked in films

Met him...can't give too many details because I don't want to give too many details about me, ya know?

Let's just say he was in town. My home town.

He went to the local pizza parlor. There's an Italian game similar to "rock, paper, scissors" that you do with the fingers. He played the game with the pizza parlor owner, won, and got his pizza free.

I was at the newsstand. A woman came in, all excited. She said "I got it!" The owner asked "What?" She held up a piece of paper with the scrawl "Steve McQueen."

I went outside, and he was sitting on a Triumph motorcycle, cigarette wedged in the corner of his mouth, and had to kick-start it several times before it revved up. He looked like hell...all wrinkly and leathery and craggy. Like Steve McQueen, but at least ten years older than any current photo of him in print at the time. Maybe fifteen. But definitely ten. A small crowd gathered. He left.

He also came to town with a red Camaro that he drove like a rocket sled all over town at night. The cops didn;t touch him because he was Steve McQueen.

The stuff I left out is better than the stuff I shared because on DU, I'm Amerigo Vespucci...not the guy who is Amerigo Vespucci in real life.

:toast:

[kwassa]

14. many celebrities, when met, ....

look older and smaller. Without movie lighting and the size of the silver screen, that is how they look.

Just living in LA was enough to run into quite a few celebs over time.

[KG]

11. The Great Escape, Bullitt, and mostly - The Sand Pebbles

Bullitt car chase - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy4RPGx2b9Q

[Captain Hilts]

20. The Best Chase. A few folks have mentioned "The Sand Pebbles" here lately.

An under-rated film. And McQueen looks just right as a career sailor. The right rangy look of a guy that's spent too much time in hot engine rooms.

[bikebloke]

33. Great scene.

That one scene where the crew wants to turn him over to the mob, you could cut the tension with the knife as he walks by them.

[El Supremo]

12. You need to ask Capt. Hilts.

[Captain Hilts]

19. Here I am! My room mate, really never thought about him at all, THEN

she saw "Bullitt," and got bit, as it were.

He's a Bad Boy that, somehow, doesn't seem as dangerous as, say, Mickey Rourke. He was a restless guy, and, like Spencer Tracy, folks that knew him just realized he was just not a 'normal' guy. Even his ex-wife isn't hostile to him. He was just 'different', but in a likable way. Guys on the set of Great Escape who might have otherwise felt threatened by him - James Garner - liked him. But he was a troubled man.

[Swede]

13. Something seemed sad about him all the time.

To me,anyway. He died too young.

[Captain Hilts]

23. Yes. nt

[begin_within]

15. Papillon (1973) is good.

A grim film about the Devil's Island penal colony, but starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. I saw it when it first came out in theaters. Hardly mentioned at all today, but I think it's worth a look.

[CBGLuthier]

17. Very good very good

It truly is almost forgotten and I think it may have been the first of his movies I saw. Certainly the first in a theater. I can even remember the Mad magazine parody which had great fun with Dustin Hoffman's smuggling method and the leprosy part.

[mochajava666]

34. Papillon and The Great Escape are my favorites

Was he also affiliated with the Rat Pack?

[TK421]

16. One hell of an actor...a legend, in fact. Oh, and his son Chad McQueen

played Dutch in The Karate Kid

[Blue_Tires]

18. He turned down a role in "Grand Prix" to make his own racing movie

in "Le Mans", which cost him his fortune, his marraige, and probably burned half of his bridges in Hollywood

[Captain Hilts]

22. Grand Prix is a surprisingly lousy movie. Some great scenes, but not that good. Has there

been a good movie about car racing?

[Blue_Tires]

26. I loved Grand Prix...

much, much better than Le Mans... I know the movie hasn't aged well, and the storyline seems overdone and melodramatic, but the racing cinematography and in-car sound editing was *very* revolutionary for 1966...
For the most part the best racing movies are still documentaries, imo... For all the 'realism' and actual race footage used, (not to mention the glut of famous drivers active in that era), McQueen just should have made a documentary of the '70 Le Mans...

[Captain Hilts]

29. Yes! And I like the soundtrack by Jarre. I love the way it was filmed. There is a lot to like. nt

[av8rdave]

27. Watch Bullitt when you can

Great detective/action movie, but they never had to resort to cosmic special effects or overblown dialogue. The superior acting carried the movie.

It also has one of the best car chase scenes ever. No dramatic special effects or sound, but incredibly realistic and suspenseful.

You'll enjoy it.

[LynneSin]

28. REPUBLICAN

nuff said

[Richardo]

35. I've never understood applying a political filter to entertainers.

Q1: Are you entertained by a person? (Y,N)

Q2: If yes, then why give a shit what political party he or she belongs to? (use both sides of paper if necessary)

I personally am entertained by quite a few artists that are conservative and you know what? I'm still entertained.

[Bunny]

36. Me too.

I loved Jimmy Stewart, and I like Robert Duvall and Gary Sinise, too. I don't care if they are/were Republican. And Steve McQueen was the King of Cool.

[yawnmaster]

37. Did he vote for Bush? eom

[MilesColtrane]

30. He studied Jeet Kune Do with Bruce Lee.

[LeftinOH]

32. Slightly off-topic, but this guy claims to be Steve McQueen's illegitimate son:

-The article is a couple of years old.. but as for the guy's appearance, I have two words: "Holy Crap!" Either he just happens to strongly resemble Steve McQueen -or, he really is who he claims to be.
http://www.japan-zone.com/news/2008/02/index.shtml

Note that there is no 'Fred McQueen' mentioned anywhere in Steve McQueen's official bio. He is only known to have had two children (with wife Neile)- a son Chad McQueen, and daughter who died several years ago.

[yawnmaster]

38. Don't forget "the Blob" eom