Frank Bullitt

Appropriate praise has been placed on the groundbreaking chase scene about an hour into the film Bullitt (1968). Amazing considering its brief, near ten-minute screen time, but the film seems made up of gravitating brief moments. Yes, everyone knows about the repeated, differing camera positions to film the hilly San Francisco chase: the curse of multiple viewings. Yes, there have been more extended, unrealistic chase scenes in a couple of films to follow in an effort to "outdo" this film. But none are believable in real life. This driver knows his way around a Ford Mustang GT. Despite early script and character confusion, realism sums up the entire film. Of course, the chase without Lalo Schifrin’s perfectly matched jazzy “cat and mouse” score would be unimaginable.

Beyond this presumed “car guy film,” Steve McQueen is at his apex in a role perfectly suited for his subtleties. A strong "re-actor," this film showcases that talent in an early scene as the Lieutenant returns to the hotel where a contract killing took place. There is no dialogue. No music. Only the sound of highway traffic coming through an open window of a hotel near a freeway. Contemplating how the murder could have happened, his minute expressions, eye movements, and body language make this seemingly dull scene very powerful. 

Another defining scene concerns the hospital communication station where Bullitt is confronted by a politically ambitious federal prosecutor, Chalmers, played by Robert Vaughn. It is a scene that is overwhelmingly realistic and believable. Foretelling the tension coming in the famous chase, the two characters come to terms. They do not like each other. Bullitt’s tolerance reaches its end with the self-aggrandizing Chalmers. With direct eye contact, he states, “You work your side of the street, I’ll work mine.” 

The capture above is the spark that ignites the car chase.

Broadcast Pioneers

Westbrook Van Voorhis (1903-1968) was a radio broadcaster and narrator for television programs and movies. He is perhaps best known for his work on the Blue Network's "March of Time" radio and newsreel series. His trademark was his powerfully strong voice which led to his becoming known as the "Voice of Doom" depending on the news' subject. His oft-parodied booming catchphrase, "Time...marches on!" was another trademark.

Van Voorhis became a radio broadcaster late in the 1920s, working for station WOR and the CBS and NBC networks. Based on Van Voorhis' "March of Time" radio news series from 1931 to 1945, it became a fifteen to thirty-minute newsreel series that aired prior to the theater's main feature to keep American audiences abreast of select news stories. Sponsored by Time Inc., the series ran from 1935 to 1951. He narrated each episode of the 1954–1956 NBC series Justice, and the narration for the 1957 television series Panic!. 

Van Voorhis was originally scheduled to be the announcer for The Twilight Zone television show but only narrated the television pilot, "Where is Everybody?." His narration was however revoiced before broadcasting by the show's creator and writer, Rod Serling. 

Destination: Holiday Inn

Trailways Transportation System was founded by Burlington Transportation Company, Santa Fe Trails Transportation Company, Missouri Pacific Stages, Safeway Lines, Inc., and Frank Martz Coach Company in 1936. In competition to Greyhound Lines, the system provided coast-to-coast service as the National Trailways Bus System. During the 1950s and 1960s, four of the five original Trailways members consolidated to become part of a new company, Continental Trailways, which eventually operated the majority of Trailways routes. Continental Trailways was acquired in 1968 by Holiday Inn. The lodging chain's advertisements often featured a Trailways coach at the entrance. Trailways remained a subsidiary of Holiday Inn until 1979, when they sold Trailways to a private investor, Henry Hillman Sr., of Pittsburgh. Today Trailways members are spread across North America to provide charter bus service, bus tours and scheduled route services.

Note: A common sight on American highways in the 1960s was the Eagle Model 01 (above). For over four decades, some 8,000 Eagle "hightop" coaches were built in four countries on two continents. A thorough history of the Eagle coaches here.

A Noted Television Theme

 

Robert David Grusin (1934-) is an American composer, arranger, producer, and jazz pianist. He has composed scores for feature films and television and won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including ten Grammy Awards. Grusin has scored nearly 100 films, including his Oscar win for best original score for The Milagro Beanfield War, as well as Oscar nominations for The Champ, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Firm, Havana, Heaven Can Wait, and On Golden Pond.

His television work is equally expansive with music for numerous series from the Sixties through the Eighties. His themes for The Name of The Game and It Takes a Thief, both 1968, were particularly cool in their day. Though not the arrangement heard on the series, Johnny Gregory aka Chaquito is the definitive version for the Robert Wagner series here.

A Noted Television Theme

 

Based on a 1966 television movie, Fame is the Name of the Game, starring Tony Franciosa, The Name of the Game (1968-1971) was a groundbreaking 90-minute television series with three rotating stars, Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack. They never appeared together. The program had the largest budget of any television series at that time. It was part of NBC's "wheel" series which went on to spawn other rotating series, a few of which were quite successful. The Name of the Game rotated each week among the three characters who all worked for a large publishing empire in some capacity. 

The trendy late Sixties opening graphics were accompanied by a jazzy, pulsating theme by the multi-award-winning, Dave Grusin (1934-), American composer, arranger, producer, and pianist. Audio link at theme.