The Getaway (1972)

Taglines: It takes two to make it……… The big two.

The Getaway movie 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 Mexico to live out their lives away from capture. The robbery doesn’t come off quite according to Doc’s plan, with the result being Doc and Carol going on the run as they try to make their way into Mexico with their share of the loot.

Various people are in their pursuit, some who know that they will try to cross into Mexico at one of the two major West Texas border crossings. Other bystanders get directly or indirectly involved in the proceedings, which affects what happens. Two of those people, seeming straight-laced couple Fran and Harold Clinton, get involved more intimately than would have been first anticipated. Though it all, Doc and Carol have to work through some of their own issues, which arise out of a revelation about Doc’s release from prison.

The Getaway is a 1972 American action thriller film based on the 1958 novel by Jim Thompson. The film was directed by Sam Peckinpah, written by Walter Hill, and stars Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson, Al Lettieri, and Sally Struthers. The plot follows imprisoned mastermind robber Carter “Doc” McCoy (McQueen), whose wife Carol (MacGraw) conspires for his release on the condition they rob a bank in Texas. A double-cross follows the crime and the McCoys are forced to flee for Mexico with the police and criminals in hot pursuit.

Peter Bogdanovich, whose The Last Picture Show impressed McQueen and producer David Foster, was originally hired as the director of The Getaway. Thompson came on board to write the screenplay, but creative differences ensued between him and McQueen and he was subsequently fired along with Bogdanovich. Writing and directing duties eventually went to Hill and Peckinpah, respectively. Principal photography commenced on February 7, 1972, on location in Texas. The film reunited McQueen and Peckinpah, both of whom had previously worked together on the relatively unprofitable Junior Bonner which was released the same year.

The Getaway premiered on December 13, 1972. Despite the negative reviews it received upon release, numerous retrospective critics gave the film good reviews. A box office hit earning over $36 million, it was the second-highest-grossing film of the year, and was one of the most financially successful productions of Peckinpah’s and McQueen’s careers. A remake starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger was released in 1994.

Directed by: Sam Peckinpah
Starring: Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson, Al Lettieri, Sally Struthers, Slim Pickens, Richard Bright, Jack Dodson, Dub Taylor, Bo Hopkins, Roy Jenson, John Bryson
Screenplay by: Walter Hill
Cinematography by: Lucien Ballard
Film Editing by: Robert L. Wolfe
Set Decoration by: George R. Nelson
Art Direction by: Angelo P. Graham, Ted Haworth
Music by: Quincy Jones
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: National General Pictures
Release Date: December 13, 1972