Steve McQueen on Blu-ray

[Michael24]

Happy birthday to the King of Cool!

Today would have been Steve McQueen's 90th birthday.

[dommie]

I was living in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco when Bullitt was filmed. I was a film student in S.F. at the time. For those that are familiar with San Francisco, McQueen was renting an apartment in a building on Jackson St. near Franklin, that was owned by a friend of my mother and I asked if I could visit the set which was arranged. The opening scene where McQueen meets Robert Vaughn, at his house, was filmed at a mansion on the corner of Vallejo and Divisadero, a block away from where I was living at the time. I visited the set a couple of times. One of those times was watching them film the car chase on Marina Blvd. in the Marina District of S.F. If you check out that scene, it is the part of the chase when they drive past a Safeway Market (which can be seen in the background) and then head towards the Golden Gate Bridge. I actually had a part time job at that market when I was a student. Meeting McQueen was a kick. This was one of those experiences that convinced me that I was on the right track to pursue a career in the entertainment industry and I never regretted that decision.

[Michael24]

That's a great story, Dommie. Thanks for sharing.

Bullitt and Dirty Harry are the two movies I most associate with San Francisco. I'm always thinking of them and hearing their scores in my head whenever I'm there. I grew up in the south bay, so I spent a lot of time in SF, especially around the old military bases that my dad often did volunteer work at helping with restorations and open houses. Several years ago my brother and I went to a Giants game and spent the day walking around the city. We got pictures of the apartment building where Bullitt lived and went into the little market across the street, then walked down to the Marina District. That Safeway is still there. I love San Francisco.

[dommie]

Originally Posted by Michael24

That's a great story, Dommie. Thanks for sharing.

Bullitt and Dirty Harry are the two movies I most associate with San Francisco.

Dirty Harry was actually written for McQueen but he turned it down because he felt it was too close to his role in Bullitt. McQueen was well known for his efforts to avoid being type cast in any one specific genre of film. If you look at the list of roles he turned down, even when he was active, you can see a definite attempt to avoid doing the same thing more than once.

I always looked at McQueen's early passing, at age 50, as being one of the great tragedies of the film industry. I often wondered what roles he might have played in some of the films that were made after his passing. In the 70's, during his self-imposed retirement, he was offered almost every leading role because of his super-star status, all of which he turned down. The word around Hollywood was that McQueen did have a number of films in development that he probably would have made had he lived. Among these films that he was supposedly prepping at the time of his death were First Blood, which we all know ended up in Sylvester Stallone's hands, The Bodyguard, in the role ultimately filled by Kevin Costner, and the Tom Selleck film, Quigley Down Under. I could definitely see him in the latter two roles, even as they were played by Costner and Selleck, but I think that First Blood would have been an entirely different film with McQueen as opposed to Stallone.

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by dommie

Dirty Harry was actually written for McQueen but he turned it down because he felt it was too close to his role in Bullitt. McQueen was well known for his efforts to avoid being type cast in any one specific genre of film. If you look at the list of roles he turned down, even when he was active, you can see a definite attempt to avoid doing the same thing more than once.

Exactly why he rejected The Driver.

Speaking of the Eastwood and McQueen connection, at one point they were seriously discussing playing Willard and Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, respectively. I still love to imagine how that version of the movie would have turned out.

[rip63]

Originally Posted by dommie

In the 70's, during his self-imposed retirement, he was offered almost every leading role because of his super-star status, all of which he turned down.

He still did around half a dozen in the 70's though, including The Towering Inferno, The Getaway, Junior Bonner and Papillon.

[Rzzzz]

I read Spielberg tried to talk McQueen into taking the Richard Dreyfus role in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and they met at a bar and spent most of the day drinking. Just when Spielberg thought maybe he was making some progress, McQueen told him he couldn't star in the movie because he couldn't cry on cue. Spielberg offered to cut the scene out but McQueen said that would be wrong as he felt it was a beautiful scene....

[Michael24]

I believe Spielberg relates that story in the documentary on the Close Encounters Blu-ray. I think McQueen would have been great in that. I can't really picture him in First Blood (it would have been a very different film) but Quigley, Down Under would have been a good one for him.

Like Dommie said, I would love to have seen what movies he might have made during the '80s. Based on his interest in unconventional material like An Enemy of the People, which I thought he was brilliant in, it's interesting to think what other projects he may have picked.

[grahams76]

Originally Posted by rip63

He still did around half a dozen in the 70's though, including The Towering Inferno, The Getaway, Junior Bonner and Papillon.

Yes, but after 1974 be pretty much completely withdrew.

[mike962]

Originally Posted by Eschenpod

There's a great documentary called Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans that I've watched a couple of times on cable TV..

the biggest irony about Le Mans is Steve finishes 2nd in the movie but his rival PAUL NEWMAN did finish 2nd for real in 1979

granted one his co-driver was Rolf Stommelen who was an absolute ace driver in the Porsche 935

[seagal]

https://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...g&action=click


I love that picture. Both have to get along fine with each other.

[dommie]

Originally Posted by grahams76

Yes, but after 1974 be pretty much completely withdrew.

And it was during the last half of the 70's decade when he turned down such projects as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman (1978), The Gauntlet, Deliverance (the Burt Reynolds role), The Missouri Breaks, Death Wish, Islands in the Stream, and A Bridge Too Far, just to name a few. I firmly believe that McQueen would have continued to have a stellar career well into his senior years and would have eventually won a Best Actor Oscar. It would have been very interesting to see him evolve as an actor as he would continue to age. Unfortunately, we will never know.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by dommie

And it was during the last half of the 70's decade when he turned down such projects as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman (1978), The Gauntlet, Deliverance (the Burt Reynolds role), The Missouri Breaks, Death Wish, Islands in the Stream, and A Bridge Too Far, just to name a few. I firmly believe that McQueen would have continued to have a stellar career well into his senior years and would have eventually won a Best Actor Oscar. It would have been very interesting to see him evolve as an actor as he would continue to age. Unfortunately, we will never know.

Deliverance came out in 1972, but I see where you're getting at. I know that McQueen was poised to make a comeback in 1980 just before he died, but as the 80s wore on I'm not sure he would have been a good fit for where the movie industry was at that time. I think he would have either gone back into retirement or done more low key work like a TV guest appearance here or there and perhaps making a proper comeback in the early 90s during the indy revival. I really don't envision him ever winning a Best Actor Oscar, but in the right role he could have won a Supporting Oscar a-la James Coburn.

[seagal]

Originally Posted by dommie

And it was during the last half of the 70's decade when he turned down such projects as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman (1978), The Gauntlet, Deliverance (the Burt Reynolds role), The Missouri Breaks, Death Wish, Islands in the Stream, and A Bridge Too Far, just to name a few. I firmly believe that McQueen would have continued to have a stellar career well into his senior years and would have eventually won a Best Actor Oscar. It would have been very interesting to see him evolve as an actor as he would continue to age. Unfortunately, we will never know.

Do you have some proof that he really turned down "Deliverance, The Gauntlet" and "Cuckoo´s Nest"?

As far as I know he was not a candidate doing those films.

"Cuckoo´s Nest" was just between Nicholson and Burt Reynolds. Director Milos Forman wanted Burt Reynolds. He said "Reynolds has poor charisma, poor charisma". Producer Michael Douglas wanted Jack Nicholson.

As far as I know McQueen never got an offer. The same with "Deliverance".

Director John Boorman needed somebody who was able to be in control of three people. He saw Reynolds hosting "The Tonight Show". In that show as a host he had to be in control of three people.

Gast 1, guest 2 and the music act.

I´ve never heard that McQueen ever got an offer.

[Thebackseat]

I saw The Hunter (1980) about a year ago and really enjoyed it. Would pick that up on Blu if it ever gets released.

[bonehica]

Originally Posted by Thebackseat

I saw The Hunter (1980) about a year ago and really enjoyed it. Would pick that up on Blu if it ever gets released.

The Hunter would be a Day 1 for me.

[Michael24]

I watched An Enemy of the People on DVD last night. I really hope WAC will release it (and Tom Horn) on Blu-ray. It's certainly watchable on DVD but the print is very old and there are strange anomalies in the sound throughout. When I caught it on TCM a couple years ago it looked really good, with strong colors, so there must be an HD version already.

I really enjoy this film a lot. It's so different from anything else McQueen made but shows a different side of him that is just as enjoyable as when he's in cool, stoic mode. I've read it became a pet project for him and he poured himself into it, and you can easily tell that by watching it. It's a role he completely disappears into. His performance is terrific.

[seagal]

Originally Posted by Thebackseat

I saw The Hunter (1980) about a year ago and really enjoyed it. Would pick that up on Blu if it ever gets released.

I have the amazonprime HD version of Steve´s last film and the transfer is nice.Hopefully Paramount will release it someday.

The "train sequence" is really good but I really like the whole film.

[dommie]

Originally Posted by seagal

Do you have some proof that he really turned down "Deliverance, The Gauntlet" and "Cuckoo´s Nest"?

As far as I know he was not a candidate doing those films.

"Cuckoo´s Nest" was just between Nicholson and Burt Reynolds. Director Milos Forman wanted Burt Reynolds. He said "Reynolds has poor charisma, poor charisma". Producer Michael Douglas wanted Jack Nicholson.

As far as I know McQueen never got an offer. The same with "Deliverance".

Director John Boorman needed somebody who was able to be in control of three people. He saw Reynolds hosting "The Tonight Show". In that show as a host he had to be in control of three people.

Gast 1, guest 2 and the music act.

I´ve never heard that McQueen ever got an offer.

As noted on IMDB (which is supposedly a reliable source):

He was Warner Bros.' choice for the role of Lewis Medlock in Deliverance (1972), but he turned it down.

After The Towering Inferno (1974) he was offered several multi-million-dollar roles but refused them all. He turned down the chance to star in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Superman (1978), Raise the Titanic (1980) and the opportunity to star in and direct a film called "Deajum's Wife".

Turned down a $4-million offer to star in The Gauntlet (1977) when Barbra Streisand was originally attached to the picture with Sam Peckinpah set to direct. McQueen and Streisand did not get along due to a clash of egos and politics and refused to appear together (although, according to Streisand biographer Christopher Andersen, the two did have an affair at one point). Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw were then a considered pair, before Clint Eastwood took over as director and cast himself and Sondra Locke in the lead roles.

There are also multiple Steve McQueen biographical sites that list these same films, along with a number of others, that were reportedly offered and subsequently turned down by the actor.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by dommie

As noted on IMDB (which is supposedly a reliable source):

He was Warner Bros.' choice for the role of Lewis Medlock in Deliverance (1972), but he turned it down.

After The Towering Inferno (1974) he was offered several multi-million-dollar roles but refused them all. He turned down the chance to star in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Superman (1978), Raise the Titanic (1980) and the opportunity to star in and direct a film called "Deajum's Wife".

Turned down a $4-million offer to star in The Gauntlet (1977) when Barbra Streisand was originally attached to the picture with Sam Peckinpah set to direct. McQueen and Streisand did not get along due to a clash of egos and politics and refused to appear together (although, according to Streisand biographer Christopher Andersen, the two did have an affair at one point). Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw were then a considered pair, before Clint Eastwood took over as director and cast himself and Sondra Locke in the lead roles.

There are also multiple Steve McQueen biographical sites that list these same films, along with a number of others, that were reportedly offered and subsequently turned down by the actor.

It's really not. It's user driven and anyone can submit "trivia" without any citations or method of verification. They say you should only submit items you know to be true but they don't follow through on that. It's even less reliable than Wikipedia in that regard.

In any event, I'm sure that some of these offers happened (I know the Gauntlet thing for sure) but you should also take some of these with a grain of salt because a lot of times whenever there is/was a big role a lot of names get bandied about but it doesn't necessarily mean a firm offer is made or that they're actually attached to the project. I mean just about every male actor alive was "considered" for the role of Superman but I highly doubt that McQueen was ever seriously considered for that role not least of which because he would have been way too old for the part.