Vrooom, Vrooom

Ever since I was a little kid I liked old movies. I am not sure why, but I did. I used to go to the movies with either mom or dad. They took me to some odd movies for the time, but they took me to the blockbusters too. I saw all the Star Wars films in the theatre and the original Superman and two of the Indian Jones. On the other side of the coin, they took me to some odd ones too. These films are not to tarnish the popular ones, but these films belong in the "what were my parents thinking" frame of mind. I saw Blade Runner, Every Which Way But Loose and it's sequel Every Which You Can. I saw Cannonball Run and saw movies like On Golden Pond, and so many others. There are so many to name.

When we got cable in my house when I was nine years old I used to watch music videos when I came home from school. At night when I finished my homework I could watch movies with Dad or food shows (pre Food Network) on PBS with my mother. I would always get excited to see what was on TV the next day to find a movie that looked interesting. A few years later I had a neighbor who had a fast car. He used to come over and talk to my father about going to Lime Rock race track with that car and my father taking his classic motorcycle. The neighbor and I liked cars. I used to come home with issues of Car and Driver or Road and Track from him. In one issue they talked about Mustangs. They talked about the classic years. One Mustang they talked about was the 1968 Mustang featured in the film Bullitt. I never saw Bullitt so I asked my neighbor about it. He told me how great it was and if he found a copy he bring it over. My Dad on the other hand loved the movie too. He told me the story when he came back from the service he went to go see at the drive in. The now famous chase scene was impressive at the Drive in that all the people would hit the breaks in nervousness of them driving.



One day the movie came to the house. The neighbor told my parents to not watch it until he came over. At this point I was 11 years old. He came over and we had dinner with him and his wife and we all sat down and watched Bullitt. After I finished watching the film I wanted to see it again. I was in awe. In the film the music is very carefully placed with the action of the film. I back then did not know this. On the other hand I thought the music was cool and hip for the film. I never thought soundtrack film music could this powerful.

While in High School I would watch older films to listen to the musical score to go with the film. Some movies were good with the film and others did not create what I saw in Bullitt. One movie that did stand out and to this day all other people who do soundtrack work are judged was Ennio Morricone. That I will save for another blog post. What made Lalo Schifrin different was the fact he mixed Jazz and hip music of the time to create such a masterpiece.



Lalo's work is very well known in the Soundtrack world. He has done films such as Dirty Harry and Cool Hand Luke. He was like Quincy Jones rooted in jazz music so his Jazzy scores make the movie become another character of the film. After watching Bullitt I really increased my love of 60's film. To this day I would watch a classic film then a new one. Two things I look for when I watch a film are the cinematographer and the person who does the score. In some instances those two work very well together.

When the soundtrack to the movie Bullitt came out. It must have not been popular. The film was a success, but the music was not. After I saw the film for probably eighth time I went looking for the soundtrack. I had no luck anywhere. I went to NYC to a record store and saw it about a year after looking for it. The price was way to much for my budget. The $100.00 price tag was way to much. This album still does sell for a good penny. I even found it able to download too. I did find it for a cheap $20.00. A month later someone was selling the re-issue for $15.00. I grabbed both just to have them.



So If you have not seen the film Bullitt, then go see it. If you have then I recommend that you search out the soundtrack to it. This is one movie who's classic status along with the soundtrack will be a great match. The 1960's had some great films and great music. Enjoy the fun and excitement of the wonderful film. I am sure you will play the chase scene again and again. Enjoy!!!