11 years after his last theatrical feature (and far longer since the last one anyone saw), the passing of British director Peter Yates likely won’t leave much of a dent on contemporary audiences. Not knowingly, anyway — though his innovative visual and editing schemes in the iconic 1968 Steve McQueen thriller “Bullitt” helped change the shape of the prototypical Hollywood action sequence. It was, of course, his quieter work on “The Dresser” and “Breaking Away” that landed him four career Oscar nominations. But since those, along with that car chase from “Bullitt,” are all being amply covered in the obits, I thought I’d spotlight a more neglected pleasure: his frisky 1972 caper “The Hot Rock.”
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6 responses to “Peter Yates (1929-2011)”
With a resume that includes the masterpiece “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” one can overlook junk like “The Deep.”
Dammit! Breaking Away is one of my all-time favorite films. I’ve seen it at least 20 times. Here’s a piece I wrote about it:
http://popdistractions.blogspot.com/2010/06/breaking-away.html
I have always liked Breaking Away, Bullitt, and The Dresser but I actually walked out of The Hot Rock. I’ve never seen The Friends of Eddie Coyle but now I feel I must.
I happened to rewatch The Dresser in the past week and am still amazed that Tom Courtenay did not win the Oscar. However, as Robert Duvall was the only American nominated, I guess we know the reason why.
True genius to the art form. Amen
R.I.P.
Bullitt is a classic. I should pop in my Blu-ray of it one of these days, it’s been awhile.