Speeding Bullitt: The Life and Films of Steve McQueen

Produced and hosted by Kelsy Norman, Speeding Bullitt: The Life and Films of Steve McQueen takes an in-depth look at the Hollywood icon. Episodes include conversations with writers, actors, and other storytellers, as well as detailed reviews of McQueen’s movies. Time starts now.

On the Set of Bullitt 04/18/2024

On the Set of Bullitt During the summer of 1968, Leilani Chun found herself on the set of Bullitt alongside Steve McQueen. She joins me on this bonus episode of the show, to share her interaction with "The King of Cool." /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/30878583

Episode 100 - Steve McQueen Forever 04/05/2024

Episode 100 - Steve McQueen Forever On this episode of Speeding Bullitt: The Life and Films of Steve McQueen, I'm joined by Marshall Terrill, writer and Steve McQueen expert. Together, we explore McQueen's relationship with his third wife, Barbara Minty, his struggle with Mesothelioma, and his passing on November 7, 1980. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/30694153

Episode 99 - The Hunter 03/01/2024

Episode 99 - The Hunter Dr. Jason Ney, Associate Professor of English at Colorado Christian University and film historian, joins me to discuss Steve McQueen's final film, The Hunter. We explore the cars featured in the movie, the film's cast of ridiculous characters, and the exciting stunt work performed by Steve McQueen and Loren Janes. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/30181793

Episode 98 - Tom Horn 12/15/2023

Episode 98 - Tom Horn Mickey Guinn, retired actor, stuntman, and driver for Hollywood Local 399 Teamsters joins me to talk about befriending Steve McQueen on the star's penultimate film, Tom Horn, and to share stories about working with many actors including William Shatner, Bette Davis, and Jim Carrey. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/29090898

Episode 97 - The Old Place 11/16/2023

Episode 97 - The Old Place Florence Esposito takes me back to The Old Place in Agoura Hills, California during the early to mid-70s, where she worked and mingled with Steve McQueen and other Hollywood stars at the beloved rustic bar. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/28670468

Episode 96 - An Enemy of the People 10/27/2023

Episode 96 - An Enemy of the People The Steve McQueen expert Marshall Terrill joins me to provide insight into McQueen's rarely seen 1978 film, An Enemy of The People. We also discuss the extensive interview Steve gave Charles Champlin at Loyola Marymount University in 1978, which I also present in its entirety. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/28437689

Episode 95 - Fading into the Background 10/12/2023

Episode 95 - Fading into the Background In 1974, Steve McQueen starred in The Towering Inferno, the top grossing film of the year. By 1975, he became a recluse, and faded into the background of Hollywood. On this episode of the podcast, the Steve McQueen expert, Marshall Terrill, joins me to talk about the icon's time away from the spotlight. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/28295423

Episode 94 - Lee Marvin 09/22/2023

Episode 94 - Lee Marvin Lee Marvin expert Dwayne Epstein joins me to discuss his new book, Killin' Generals: The Making of The Dirty Dozen, the Most Iconic WW II Movie of All Time, and to explore the life and films of one of Steve McQueen’s contemporaries, and the man credited with drastically altering the way real violence is depicted on film, Lee Marvin. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/28110032

Episode 93 - The Best Disaster Movies 09/07/2023

Episode 93 - The Best Disaster Movies Writer, actor, podcaster, and fellow disaster movie fan Dion Baia joins me on this lengthy episode to discuss the best Disaster movies ever made, The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure. We also review the history of disaster movies and explore the career of Irwin Allen. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/27973437

Episode 92 - A Tiny Spark 08/04/2023

Episode 92 - A Tiny Spark Documentary filmmaker, producer, and author, Laurent Bouzereau explores the impact disaster movies have had on his career, especially Steve McQueen’s The Towering Inferno. He also shares what he learned about the classic disaster film from talking to his friends, Robert Wagner and Faye Dunaway. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/27654744

Episode 91 - The Towering Inferno 07/20/2023

Episode 91 - The Towering Inferno Carlena Gower, Angela Allbright in The Towering Inferno, joins me to reveal what it was like working with Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, to talk about being on the set of the greatest disaster movie ever, and to discuss her life and career after the film. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/27525240

Episode 90 - Blobfest 2023 06/29/2023

Episode 90 - Blobfest 2023 It's that time of year again, when movie fans congregate at The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania to celebrate Steve McQueen’s 1958 classic sci-fi monster movie, The Blob. Chuck Francisco, aka Dash Daring, joins me on this episode of Speeding Bullitt to discuss this year’s Blobfest programming. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/27327591

Episode 89 - Dustin Hoffman and The Graduate 06/15/2023

Episode 89 - Dustin Hoffman and The Graduate After seeing The Graduate in 1968, Steve McQueen couldn’t believe Dustin Hoffman was going to be a movie star. Five years later, they starred in Papillon together. Beverly Gray, author of 2017’s Seduced by Mrs. Robinson: How The Graduate Became the Touchstone of a Generation, joins me to discuss Dustin Hoffman and The Graduate. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/27162774

Episode 88 - Cinema Behind Bars 06/02/2023

Episode 88 - Cinema Behind Bars Kevin Kehrwald, author of the book Prison Movies: Cinema Behind Bars, and a professor in the English department at Frostburg State University, where he founded the Film Studies program, joins me to discuss the history of prison movies; exploring films and actors from all decades, including movies about women in prison and prison comedies. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/27021699

Episode 87 - Life on a Prison Island 05/18/2023

Episode 87 - Life on a Prison Island Caroline Delbert, freelance writer and reporter, and contributing editor at Popular Mechanics, discusses her recent article, Forced Exile: The World’s Dubious History of Prison Islands, as we explore the history of life on various prison islands, like Devil's Island from the Steve McQueen film, Papillon. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/26837475

Episode 86 - Papillon 05/04/2023

Episode 86 - Papillon Writer and Steve McQueen expert Marshall Terrill joins me to discuss McQueen’s life after The Getaway, a conversation that includes some never before shared information about Steve’s relationship with Ali MacGraw and a cast member of The Reivers. We explore McQueen and Dustin Hoffman’s relationship on the set of Papillon, the film’s connection to The Beatles, and we compare the 1973 epic to the 2017 remake. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/26748819

Episode 85 - The Getaway, 1994 04/13/2023

Episode 85 - The Getaway, 1994 Author, actor, and co-host of the Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers podcast Dion Baia joins me to discuss the 1994 remake of 1972's The Getaway. We talk about the performances of several actors in the 1994 version of the film and compare them to their counterparts in the original version. We take a look at where the cast of the 90s film are now, and we speculate on what sequels and remakes of other McQueen projects would or could look like. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/26530710

Episode 84 - The Magnificent Seven, 2016 03/30/2023

Episode 84 - The Magnificent Seven, 2016 Daniel Epler from The Cobwebs Podcast joins me to compare Antoine Fuqua’s version of The Magnificent Seven to John Sturges’ 1960 classic remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film, Seven Samurai. We discuss the film's diverse cast of characters, talk about what we like better about the 2016 iteration of the movie, and we speculate on future versions of the Western classic. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/26397651

Episode 83 - Wanted: Dead or Alive, the Movie 03/16/2023

Episode 83 - Wanted: Dead or Alive, the Movie In the first episode of a series that explores remade and reimagined Steve McQueen projects, Will from the Exploding Helicopter podcast and website joins me to discuss 1987's reimagined Wanted: Dead or Alive, a film that attempts to connect to Steve McQueen’s Western TV show of the same name. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/26148162

Episode 82 - Steve McQueen's Record Collection 02/16/2023

Episode 82 - Steve McQueen's Record Collection Drummer and Jazz historian Steven Cerra joins me to explore Steve McQueen’s record collection, as seen in LIFE photographer John Dominis’ 1963 photograph of the “King of Cool” listening to Jazz records in his Palm Springs bungalow. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/25952325

Episode 81 - Spencer Tracy 02/02/2023

Episode 81 - Spencer Tracy James Curtis, author of Spencer Tracy: A Biography, joins me to discuss the life and films of one of Steve McQueen’s favourite actors, Spencer Tracy. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/25806369

Episode 80 - Hardboiled Jim Thompson 01/19/2023

Episode 80 - Hardboiled Jim Thompson Georgetown University professor Dr. Susanna Lee, author of Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction and the Decline of Moral Authority and Detectives In the Shadows: A Hard-Boiled History, joins me to discuss the hardboiled crime fiction of Jim Thompson, including his 1958 novel turned Steve McQueen movie, The Getaway. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/25654926

Episode 60 - Bruce Buffer Remembers Steve McQueen REVISITED 01/05/2023

Episode 60 - Bruce Buffer Remembers Steve McQueen REVISITED As we say goodbye to 2022, and welcome in 2023, I share with you the most listened to/downloaded episode of Speeding Bullitt of the past year, with a new intro providing insightful background information about the podcast. Bruce Buffer, the official octagon announcer for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), shares stories about surfing, martial arts, and hanging out with Steve and Chad McQueen in Malibu, California. During the second half of the show, I share my thoughts on the Steven Spielberg Bullitt project. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/25513809

Episode 79 - How to Rob a Bank 12/22/2022

Episode 79 - How to Rob a Bank Steve McQueen robbed banks in The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery, The Thomas Crown Affair, and The Getaway; Clay Tumey robbed banks in real life. Clay joins me to discuss what led to him robbing banks, to talk about how prison changed him, and he shares his thoughts on Hollywood depictions of heists and bank robberies. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/25383306

Episode 78 - The Getaway 12/10/2022

Episode 78 - The Getaway Writer and Steve McQueen expert Marshall Terrill joins me to provide an update on the books he’s been writing, to talk about fact and fiction in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, and to discuss Steve McQueen’s Junior Bonner and The Getaway. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/25285707

Episode 77 - Cinema Speculation 11/24/2022

Episode 77 - Cinema Speculation Acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino has released his nonfiction film theory book, Cinema Speculation, which includes chapters on Bullitt and The Getaway. On this episode of Speeding Bullitt, McQueen expert Marshall Terrill and I unpack the McQueen content of the book, as well as discuss the latest Steven Spielberg Frank Bullitt news. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/25124502

Episode 76 - Girl on the Run 11/10/2022

Episode 76 - Girl on the Run It’s Noirvember, and on this episode of Speeding Bullitt, Daniel Epler from The Cobwebs Podcast joins me to explore Steve McQueen’s very first appearance on film in the ultra low budget film noir, 1953’s Girl on the Run. During the second half of the episode listeners share their thoughts on Steve McQueen. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/24964293

Episode 75 - Man from the South 10/20/2022

Episode 75 - Man from the South Novelist, actor, and co-host of the Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers podcast, Dion Baia, joins me to discuss Steve McQueen's two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Human Interest Story from 1959 and Man from the South from 1960. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/24752346

Episode 74 - Songs in the Key of McQueen 10/06/2022

Episode 74 - Songs in the Key of McQueen Musicians have been singing about Steve McQueen for over 50 years, including singer-songwriter Patterson Hood, co-founder of the Drive-By Truckers. Patterson joins me to talk about his song, Steve McQueen, and to explore the origins of his fascination with "The King of Cool". /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/24604671

Episode 73 - Rodeo Roundup 09/22/2022

Episode 73 - Rodeo Roundup Novelist and co-host of the Six-Gun Justice Western pop culture podcast, Paul Bishop, discusses Junior Bonner and explores the history of rodeo books, TV shows, and films. Matthew Asprey Gear, writer, educator, and film historian follows Paul to dive into the life and career of the woman who plays McQueen’s mother in Junior Bonner, Ida Lupino. /episode/index/show/speedingbullitt/id/24447114

Speeding Bullitt: The Life and Films of Steve McQueen

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