Bullitt (1968)

I’m slowly starting to warm to Steve McQueen as an actor. I’m not sure I’m on board with his reputation for being so cool, but he does bring a bit of effortless but grizzled with a bit of underlying troubledness to his characters. Here he is the titular character, a San Francisco cop tasked with guarding a Chicago mobster who is scheduled to be a witness at a Senate hearing. After the mobster is killed while in custody, Bullitt tries to keep the case open longer so he can gather more evidence about the guy and his intentions. The film is probably best known for its San Francisco car chase scene, which is indeed fabulous, but it is also a neat crime mystery in its own right, set up well to potentially have sequels with the same character.

Oscar Winner: Best Film Editing

Oscar Nominee: Best Sound