The Getaway
Short description
A career criminal named Doc McCoy is released from prison early with the help of his wife, who has made a deal with a corrupt businessman. The price of his freedom is one more bank robbery, carried out with a crew the businessman has chosen. The job goes wrong, and Doc and Carol end up fleeing with the money while both the police and the men who set up the robbery pursue them toward the Mexican border. The screenplay by Walter Hill adapts a novel by Jim Thompson.
Sam Peckinpah directed the film, the seventh in the chronological list of his features, arriving between Straw Dogs and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid during a productive stretch in the early 1970s. Steve McQueen plays Doc McCoy and Ali MacGraw plays his wife, Carol; Ben Johnson, Sally Struthers, Al Lettieri and Slim Pickens appear among the credited cast of 37. Made for around 3 million dollars, the film returned roughly 37 million dollars worldwide, a strong commercial result for its budget.
Audience response has been solid: on IMDb it holds 7.3/10 from about 35,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.1/10 from a much smaller number of votes, suggesting a durable reputation among viewers. A critics' rating of 6.9/10 from 24 reviews places professional opinion slightly below the general audience score. The film runs 123 minutes and was released in December 1972.
What's left behind the scenes
- Steve McQueen, the actor playing Doc McCoy, modified the scene in which he holds two police officers at gunpoint so that his character first blows up a police car.
- During the production of the film, director Sam Peckinpah's problems with alcohol noticeably worsened; he liked to repeat that he was unable to film anything while sober.
- The slap delivered by Steve McQueen's character to Ellie Mcgovern's character (who played Carol McCoy) was not in the script. The actress clearly did not expect such a thing, which is evident from her reaction.
- Under the terms of his contract with First Artists, Steve McQueen had final cut privilege, which infuriated director Sam Peckinpah when he found out. According to McQueen's co-star Richard Bright, during editing, McQueen selected only the takes in which he himself looked good.
- Luis Delgado served as Steve McQueen's stunt double. Delgado's wife gave him a van for his birthday. James Garner volunteered to drive the van to San Antonio to surprise Delgado. It was Garner who sat behind the wheel of the orange Volkswagen during the robbery scene. When Garner asked Sam Peckinpah to pay him for this, Peckinpah asked how much, and Garner replied, "Whatever you think is appropriate." Peckinpah took a dollar out of his pocket and handed it to Garner.
- Screenwriter Walter Hill enjoyed Richard Bright's performance in Jerry Schatzberg's drama 'Panic in Needle Park' (1971) so much that he strongly recommended casting Bright as Rudy. Fourteen years earlier, Bright had already worked on a project with Steve McQueen, but in this instance, McQueen envisioned Rudy differently. In the end, Sam Peckinpah cast Bright, but in a different role.
- The prison scene that opens the film was shot on location, and Steve McQueen was surrounded by actual prisoners in this scene.
- Producer Albert S. Ruddy, who knew the actor from work on 'The Godfather' (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972), suggested casting Al Lettieri. Like Sam Peckinpah, Lettieri struggled with alcohol abuse, which led to a noticeable lack of professional discipline.
- A conflict erupted with Paramount Pictures over the film's budget. Producer David Foster had only 30 days to find another studio, otherwise the exclusive rights to the film would go to Paramount Pictures. Ultimately, he accepted an offer from First Artists Group.
- For the role of Carol McCoy, director Sam Peckinpah wanted Stella Stevens, whom he had directed in the 1970 comedy western 'The Ballad of Cable Hogue'. Producer Robert Evans insisted that the role be given to his wife, Ali MacGraw—a decision he later regretted, as Steve McQueen and MacGraw began an affair, leading to MacGraw's divorce from Evans and her subsequent marriage to McQueen.
- Initially, Jim Thompson was hired as the screenwriter and tasked with adapting his own 1958 novel of the same name for the screen. This took Thompson four months. Steve McQueen disliked the depressing ending of Thompson's proposed script, and he was replaced by Walter Hill.
- It was originally intended that Peter Bogdanovich would direct the film, starring Sybil Sheeps, Bogdanovich's girlfriend at the time. Steve McQueen watched Bogdanovich's drama 'The Last Picture Show' (1971), which was preparing for release. He liked the film, and a deal was struck with Bogdanovich. At that moment, Warner Brothers approached Bogdanovich with an offer to direct the comedy 'What's Up, Doc?' (1972), on the condition that he begin filming immediately. Bogdanovich suggested filming both movies simultaneously, but Warner Brothers refused. When Steve McQueen found out, he told Bogdanovich that he could easily find another director. Incidentally, the famous car chase scene in 'What's Up, Doc?' is a parody of the chase McQueen participated in for Peter Yates' action film 'Bullitt' (1968).
- While preparing for the shoot, Ali MacGraw learned how to shoot and drive.
- Sam Peckinpah and Steve McQueen argued periodically during filming. Once, in the heat of an argument, McQueen grabbed a bottle of champagne and threw it at Peckinpah. The latter ducked just in time, and the bottle missed him. Instead of apologizing, McQueen simply laughed.
- Real police cars were used in the filming—from the San Marcos and Sierra Blanca police departments in Texas, as indicated by the markings on the sides.
- In one scene, the car carrying Steve McQueen and Elly MacgetRow rams the porch of a house, resulting in a shattered windshield. As soon as the car is out of town, the windshield miraculously restores itself.
- At the station, Elly MacgetRow's character holds a key numbered 090, but when she hands it to the character played by Steve McQueen, the number becomes 249.
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