McQueen Me

Why aren't modern actors more like Steve McQueen? (The vivid exception would be Daniel Craig, of course, but he's so all-around gorgeous and so very much like McQueen that he's  really another category entirely...so it's best not to discuss it.)

The other night Bullitt was on television, so of course I had to watch it. The plot is terrible and totally disjointed, but the camera-work is amazing, and the whole thing captures late-sixties urban bohemianism perfectly. And then there's the car chase too. While I'm willing to admit that the revs of a Mustang GT Fastback make my heart go pitter-patter, it's usually the man driving it that does the work.

It's not that he's handsome, I mean, he is handsome yet in an unexpected sort of way. The face is deeply lined, the hair's getting thin, he slouches...so what is it? Some people call it "the cool". Nobody was ever as "cool" as Steve McQueen. Unsmiling, unflustered, unemotional...ice cold. How can this possibly be attractive?

McQueen & Bisset in BullittMcQueen is the essence of every woman's dream: the stony alpha male turning into a pool of warmth when he meets the right girl. You can see it with Faye Dunaway in the original Thomas Crown Affair, but it's electric with Jacqueline Bisset in Bullitt. She's chic, steady, and beautiful - the perfect foil to a man for whom everything else going to pieces around him.

And they're so very well-dressed too, aren't they? I don't know why, but the navy blue turtleneck, charcoal pants and brown tweed blazer combo gets me every time. It's an understated, confident, polished look that is still incredibly manly. It's a casual look, but easy and finished - just what every man wants. Maybe this is why the look is just as relevant and wearable today as it was in 1968?

Comments

[Jenny from Chicago]

Daniel Craig.....yummy. cool. and very McQueenesque.

[Jeffrey Vegas]

So I must admit that Mr. McQueen is very likely my first real man crush. As a young prepubescent lad, I would go sit in my mom's late 60's Mustang in the driveway and mentally replay the Bullitt chase scene. Once, I was very nearly grounded for attempting to replicate in my room the exact sound of Great Escape Steve bouncing the baseball against the cell walls. Simply put, he is a treasure of manhood. At each stage of my life, I find that Papillon has paved the way, showing me that yes, you can look, act and just simply be a badass, and the women will eat it up. God how I miss this guy.