The Getaway (1972)

A recently released ex-con and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes awry.

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

Walter Hill (screenplay), Jim Thompson (novel)

Stars:

Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve McQueen	...	Doc McCoy
Ali MacGraw	...	Carol McCoy
Ben Johnson	...	Jack Beynon
Sally Struthers	...	Fran Clinton
Al Lettieri	...	Rudy Butler
Slim Pickens	...	Cowboy
Richard Bright	...	The Thief
Jack Dodson	...	Harold Clinton
Dub Taylor	...	Laughlin
Bo Hopkins	...	Frank Jackson
Roy Jenson	...	Cully
John Bryson	...	The Accountant
Bill Hart	...	Swain
Tom Runyon	...	Hayhoe
Whitney Jones	...	The Soldier

Storyline

Carter "Doc" McCoy is a career robber, currently in his fourth year of a ten year prison sentence at the Texas State Penitentiary. After his request for parole is denied despite he being a model prisoner, Doc, unable emotionally to endure life inside, asks his loving wife Carol McCoy to contact crooked businessman Jack Beynon, a man with political connections, to secure his release in return for he being "for sale" to Beynon. Beynon is able to get Doc released, the sale price being for Doc to plan and execute a robbery at a small bank branch in Beacon City, Texas where Beynon knows that $750,000 will be kept in the vault for the next two weeks. Rather than Doc using his own men for the job, Beynon directs that the only other people involved will be the men of his own choosing, Rudy and Frank. There are to be no casualties, which is all right with Doc who is not a murderer. After the robbery is completed and the monies divvied up accordingly, Doc and Carol will cross the border into ...

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Plot Keywords:

husband wife team | kill | robbery | texas | parole | 

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Taglines:

It takes two to make it ......... The big two.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

16 December 1972 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Getaway

Filming Locations:

100 Hopkins Street, San Marcos, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,352,254 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$36,734,619

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$58,831,997

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Artists, Solar Productions, Foster-Brower Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Todd-AO)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to David Foster, Ali MacGraw and Sam Peckinpah got along well, but she was not happy with her performance: "I looked at what I had done in it, I hated my own performance. I liked the picture, but I despised my own work."

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Goofs

When Doc checks in to his old friend's hotel in El Paso, he asks him to carry his wife's luggage up to their room, but Laughlin declines, saying he is alone and can't leave the desk. This exchange is important to Doc's later realization that a trap is being set for him, since he knows that Laughlin never works alone because he needs someone to keep him from drinking and gambling. That clue would never have dropped in the first place, however, because Doc and Carol have no luggage. She enters the hotel with only the money satchel, and they wouldn't need anyone else to carry that.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Parole Board Chairman: I think we can begin. First parole request for Carter 'Doc' McCoy.

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Alternate Versions

To get permission to release the film in Spain, which at the time was ruled by Francisco Franco, an additional sequence was tacked onto the end in which McCoy is captured and returned to prison, because it's bad for the moral health of the people to show that criminals can escape from paying their debt to society.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Action Movies of the 1970s (2014)

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Soundtracks

The Stars and Stripes Forever
(uncredited)
Music by John Philip Sousa
Played during the parade

User Reviews

Good and violent Peckinpah movie

The film centers about a robber named "Doc" McCoy (Steve McQueen) is paroled from a Texas state prison , somewhat to his surprise . His spouse , Carol (Ali McGraw) , has arranged for his freedom by sleeping with the corrupt but politically well connected Jack Benyon (Ben Johnson) . Ben Johnson assigns him a heist helped by Al Lettieri and Bo Hopkins but he's betrayed and the events burst .

In the motion picture there is suspense , drama , thriller, car pursuits and amount of violence reflected in slow-moving shots typical of Peckinpah . From the beginning to the end the action-packed is interminable . The final confrontation at hotel between the starring , Steve McQueen , Ali McGraw and the enemies is breathtaking and overwhelming . The picture has been classified ¨R¨ for crude murders and isn't apt for little boys , neither squeamish . However , it was rated PG by the MPAA in the United States. A few years later, in retrospect, this was considered a mistake and the board believed that the film should have been rated one step higher, an R . Steve McQeen and Ali McGraw's (marriage in real life) interpretation is top-notch . Sam Peckinpah direction is excellent though is better in Western films (Wild bunch , Pat Garret and Billy the Kid , Bring me the head Alfredo Garcia and Major Dundee).

The movie obtained success and originated a remake featured by Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger (marriage in real life, too) although failed at box office . The yarn will appeal to action buffs and Peckinpah fans . Rating : 7/10 .Well catching