Bullitt

“Police officer Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) is tasked with protecting a key witness who is due to testify against organised crime. When the man is nevertheless killed in an assassination attempt, Bullitt keeps his death a secret in order to buy time for his investigation. Peter Yates’ Bullitt is regarded as a classic of modern action cinema. It established Steve McQueen as the genre’s first superstar and set new standards in filmmaking, particularly with the legendary car chase lasting more than ten minutes.” (zeise.de)

“Lalo Schifrin was commissioned to compose a raw, urban film score. During a meeting with McQueen, the latter pointed out to him that Bullitt was a simple sort of bloke. Schifrin replied that he would write a simple score for him, but one based on the blues. He used a small ensemble to create his bluesy jazz soundscape, which included guitar, bass and electric bass, flute, saxophone, strings, piano and many other instruments. The end result is an extremely rhythmic and bluesy jazz-pop fusion that perfectly accompanies both the intense action and the more intimate interludes.’ (Craig Lysy, moviemusicuk.us, Feb 2018)