The Hunter (film)

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The Hunter
Directed by	Buzz Kulik
Starring	Steve McQueen
Release date(s)	1980
IMDb profile

The Hunter is a 1980 film directed by Buzz Kulik based the exploits of real-life bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson.

The film stars Steve McQueen in the lead role (his last film before his death), and features Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson and Richard Venture in supporting roles.

[edit] Production

The opening scenes were filmed in Kankakee County, IL. The capture of Tommy Price (LeVar Burton) in Herscher and payphone scenes with Papa Thorson (Steve McQueen) talking to Sheriff Strong (Ben Johnson) in Bonfield.

The airport scene where Papa picks up the Trans Am was filmed at the old Lemont, IL airport. The runways were removed in the mid 90's to make way for the current I-355 extension which incidently runs right over the pre-existing runway. Historic downtown Lemont was used for the scene where Steve McQueen performs a burnout in front of the police officer. Also, the current public works building across from the post office was used as the police station and jail. The cornfield chase scenes were filmed on a feed corn farm that shared property with the Lithuanian World Center and is now the site of a current residential development.

A portion of the film was shot in Old Town, Chicago, in the El. Scenes involving Papa driving in a parking garage in a stolen tow truck were shot at Marina Towers; subsequent shots with the fleeing suspect driving off the edge of the Towers were used in a commercial for Allstate Insurance.