The Hunter (1980)

Steve McQueen’s final film before his death from cancer isn’t regarded as a classic, but it ought to be.

He plays a bounty hunter whose task it is to bring in dangerous criminals. The plot is enjoyably open-ended, with several threads interwoven. McQueen acts more than usual, which makes for an enjoyable watch.

There’s also a lot of humour and some genuinely exciting scenes. I especially liked the running joke about his inability to park a car.

The Sand Pebbles (1966)

China in the 1920s. Steve McQueen plays Jake Holman, an engineer on a US gunboat patrolling the Yangtze river. It’s an unusual ship in that the Americans employ a Chinese crew, who effectively do all the hard work in an uneasy master/slave relationship. 

Richard Attenborough is a sailor named Frenchy who becomes attached to a young woman he saves from a life of prostitution (Marayat Andriane as Maily). Candice Bergen is Shirley Eckert, the pretty missionary McQueen falls for. 

It’s incredibly long (over three hours), but a lot happens. It’s also the sweatiest film I’ve ever seen. Everyone seems to be perspiring all of the time. Steve McQueen is the usual monosyllabic anti-hero. He seems to struggle with what little dialogue he does have, with an oddly wobbly mouth on the sentimental scenes. 

I did wonder why The Sand Pebbles ever got made. It’s a strange story and it doesn’t have any obvious hook. Director Robert Wise had just worked on The Sound of Music, and the showdown in the missionary courtyard did partially resemble the abbey crypt scene from that superior film.

Papillon (1973)

An epic adaptation of Henri Charrière’s autobiographical novel, with Steve McQueen starring as the author and Dustin Hoffman playing his friend and companion.

It’s compelling and fairly downbeat, although it possibly suffers from trying to squeeze a huge book into 150 minutes of screen time. So much happens. Papillon's time in a prison in French Guiana includes two brutal spells in solitary confinement. The first is of two years, and we are shown in detail how devastating that experience is for him. The second spell lasts for five years, and this is not shown at all – a brilliant decision that serves to underscore the unimaginable horror of battling starvation and madness for so long a time. We also see his various incredible escape experiences, which involve lepers, nuns, island tribespeople and a raft made of coconuts.

Given his rivalry with Paul Newman, it’s tempting to see this as McQueen’s attempt to “do a Cool Hand Luke” – a Cooler Hand Luke, perhaps? – and it’s certainly a role with depth to it. The extremes of suffering he is expected to depict make for more of a soul-searching performance than usual. As usual, though, he hardly has any dialogue. It’s rare that you ever see a McQueen character deep in conversation.

Distinctive and memorable, it’s an odd film that stays with you.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

Excellent crime drama with a refreshing visual flair.

Steve McQueen is a wealthy Boston playboy who masterminds elaborate bank robberies for his own amusement, rather than because he needs the money. I like the manic laughter he emits on a few occasions. Faye Dunaway plays the independent insurance investigator who knows that he did it but – while attempting to find proof – begins to fall for his charms. It’s a deliberately ambiguous romance. Can they trust each other? Is she just doing her job or is she in love with him? And does he love her in return? We don’t know and it’s unclear whether they do either.

There’s a brilliant scene in which the couple play chess. It works on both a literal and metaphorical level, with each trying to outwit the other. It’s also a sort of seduction, with hands and eyes sublimating sensual presence as the game unfolds.

There’s an unusual, stylish use of split-screen techniques. Sometimes these are used to convey multiple action scenes occurring simultaneously. At other times they are purely a visual effect, used for artistic reasons only.

The music was composed by Michel Legrand and the hit song “The Windmills of Your Mind” – somehow perfect for the film – was recorded by Noel Harrison.

In typical Steve McQueen style, he’s cast in such a way that he’s once again the elegant and effortlessly cool loner. You do wonder how he might have fared in a less flattering role.

A superb remake came out in 1999.

The Towering Inferno (1974)

A big Hollywood blockbuster disaster film about a fire breaking out in a state-of-the-art skyscraper. Paul Newman (the architect) and Steve McQueen (the chief fireman) lead an all-star cast that includes Fred Astaire, Richard Chamberlain, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, O.J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn and Robert Wagner.

At 165 minutes it’s long indeed, but surprisingly it doesn’t feel slow or laboured. I last saw it as a child and I enjoyed it then, which wouldn’t have been the case if it was a stodgy, ponderous epic.

In places it’s trashy, and there were a few unintentionally funny moments. But there was also real drama and tension. At times it was truly horrifying – such as when Jennifer Jones falls out of the exterior lift and then bounces off the sides on the building on her way down.

The cast is strong. Paul Newman makes for a very likeable hero and manages to rise above the material he’s given. Faye Dunaway does the same, with a cool, restrained intelligence. Richard Chamberlain is just right as the edgy, selfish electrical engineer and son-in-law of the builder. You know it’s not going to end well for him and sure enough he comes to a sticky end.

Only Fred Astaire – playing a doddery old conman who unexpectedly falls in love – seems wrong for his role.  He loses the woman but inherits her cat, which O.J. Simpson has kindly rescued.

I’m not sure this film could have been made now, post-9/11 and post-Grenfell Tower. Intriguingly, it’s adapted from two novels (with both plots and climaxes woven together), but although it’s a work of fiction there’s a dedication at the beginning to all the real-life firemen who died in the course of their duties.

Bullitt (1968)

Steve McQueen is detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, tasked with protecting a witness for US Senator Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn). But of course things don’t go to plan. McQueen, as usual in his films, looks good and is a powerfully brooding presence without having to say much. He rarely seems to spark off other characters, and he never gets much dialogue.

I liked Jacqueline Bisset as his girlfriend Cathy and wished she had been in it more.

It’s a nice drama with a spectacular car chase in the streets of San Francisco, but the ending is oddly flat and disappointing with nothing really resolved. I understand that they wanted to keep it downbeat, but it felt very unsatisfactory.

Junior Bonner (1972)

Charming Sam Peckinpah film about a rodeo rider (Steve McQueen) hoping to make his fortune while juggling family problems. My copy came free with a newspaper a few years ago.

It’s shot in a remarkable way that juxtaposes fast, feel-good country tunes with insanely dangerous horse and bull manoeuvres.

The highlight is a surreal extended barroom brawl that gets out of hand while Junior quietly gets to know his new girlfriend Charmagne (Barbara Leigh). The scene is given a weirdly trippy feel with dubby sound effects mingling with the country band playing in the room – another striking juxtaposition.

The quirky narrative keeps you guessing until the end. Will Junior’s alcoholic dad get back with his mother? Or will he realise his dream of moving to Australia? And will Junior win the big prize money by lasting eight seconds on the most terrifying bull? And will he get the girl?

The ending isn’t obvious at all, but it is satisfying.

The Great Escape (1963)

A classic, of course, but it’s a stranger film than you might think. I don’t like the relentlessly chirpy, intrusive music, which often trivialises the drama and turns it into farce. The tone just feels wrong. There’s often gentle wit in the script, so the music didn’t need to “jolly it up”.

Steve McQueen is highly watchable and charismatic. It’s impossible to rate his acting because he doesn’t really act at all. He has very few lines. Mostly, he just looks good and gets the most glamorous part (motorcycle chase, escape expertise, nice clothes).

Far more engaging were the characters played by Donald Pleasance (who is losing his sight) and James Garner (who cares for him).

The cast is the very definition of “all-star”: an amazing list of A-list names including James Coburn, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson and David McCallum.

Most of the time the Nazis seem too kindly. And it was unrealistic that there was never a hint of dissent between the officers in the camp.

All that aside, the escape is genuinely exciting. And the ending – not what you might expect – is fairly satisfying.