The Getaway (1972 film)
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| The Getaway | |
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 The Getaway DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Sam Peckinpah |
| Written by | Novel: Jim Thompson Screenplay: Walter Hill |
| Starring | Steve McQueen Ali MacGraw Ben Johnson Sally Struthers |
| Music by | Quincy Jones |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Release date(s) | December 13, 1972 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 122 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Getaway is a 1972 crime movie, starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. The screenplay was written by Walter Hill, and the film was directed by Sam Peckinpah.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
Doc McCoy is put in prison because his partners chickened out and flew off without him after exchanging a prisoner with a lot of money. Doc knows Jack Benyon, a rich 'business'-man, is up to something big, so he tells his wife (Carol McCoy) to tell him that he's for sale if Benyon can get him out of prison. Benyon pulls some strings and Doc McCoy is released again. Unfortunately he has to cooperate with the same person that got him to prison.
[edit] Remake
A 1994 remake, under the same title, featured Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Michael Madsen, and James Woods. See The Getaway (1994 film)
[edit] El Rey
The major difference from the novel to the film is that of the books final sequence taking place in the fictional Mexican town of El Rey. This is a town filled with criminals who realize that there is nowhere left to run. This sequence was cut for the film, but has been alluded to in major works such as From Dusk Till Dawn.
[edit] Trivia
- Writer Jim Thompson was originally hired to adapt his own novel for the movie. Thompson worked on the screenplay for four months and produced a prose treatment, a first draft, and alternate scenes and episodes. Thompson's script included the original borderline-surrealistic ending of the novel featuring the kingdom of El Rey. Steve McQueen objected to what he thought was a depressing ending and had Thompson replaced with screenwriter Walter Hill.
- The film was rated PG by the MPAA in the United States. A few years later, in retrospect, this was considered a mistake and the board believed that the film should have been rated (what was then) one step higher, an R. [1] Interestingly, this film was given an X certificate in the UK.
- McQueen uses a M1911 throughout the film.
- McQueen met Ali McGraw in the film, who left Robert Evans after some years of marriage and become his second wife.
- Actor Richard Bright played the part of the railway thief but Sam Peckinpah wanted him to have the bigger part of "Rudy Butler" played by Al Lettieri. It is after discussions with McQueen that Richard got the small part. He told Sam that Richard would not be looking like a threat since they were both the same height.
[edit] References
- ^ Movie Guide for Puzzled Parents by Lynn Minton, Delacorte Press, 1984.
[edit] External links
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| Films directed by Sam Peckinpah |
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| The Deadly Companions • Ride the High Country • Major Dundee • The Wild Bunch • The Ballad of Cable Hogue • Straw Dogs • Junior Bonner • The Getaway • Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid • Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia • The Killer Elite • Cross of Iron • Convoy • The Osterman Weekend |
