JERICHO, NY, July 1, 2002 – On Saturday, July 6, AMC honors leading man Steve McQueen and his contributions to the great American movie experience when it presents the "McQueen For A Day" festival. The line-up of three quintessential McQueen films includes BULLIT, THE GETAWAY and HELL IS FOR HEROES.
The festival begins at 10:30 AM (ET) with the cop thriller BULLITT (1968). McQueen stars as San Francisco detective Frank Bullitt, who is determined to keep a star Mafia informant in his protection alive until the trial, while he hunts down his friend's killers. Nominated for two Academy Awards®, the film won for Best Film Editing, partly because of its memorable car chase scene through the steep hills of the city. Robert Vaughn co-stars as a drug kingpin, and Jacqueline Bisset portrays Bullitt's girlfriend. (Also at 4:20 PM.)
In the World War II drama HELL IS FOR HEROES (1962), airing next at 12:30 PM (ET), McQueen portrays Private John Reese, a loner yet an indispensable soldier in a small platoon fending off the German advance through France. James Coburn, Fess Parker, Bobby Darin and Bob Newhart – in his feature film debut – co-star as fellow soldiers.
The festival concludes at 2:10 PM (ET) with the Sam Peckinpah action/suspense film THE GETAWAY (1972). McQueen is jailed bank robber Doc McCoy, who gets paroled when his wife (Ali McGraw) makes a deal to give the local sheriff (Ben Johnson) a cut of their next big heist. But the sheriff has no intention of letting the two escape. Sally Struthers co-stars.
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