Steve Mcqueen

If you check the latest OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY under the word 'cool,' you'll probably just find a photo of Steve McQueen! From the late 1950s to 1980, no American actor so embodied 'cool' as Terence Steven McQueen. This 2008 volume, part of the 'Movie Icons' series from Taschen GmbH/Barnes & Noble, offers up a visual tribute to the late - and sorely missed - actor. After scoring with his 1957-60 WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE series, McQueen successfully transitioned to movies, one of the few TV actors to do so. Although third-billed on the 1960 MAGNIFICENT SEVEN flick, he stole the film from headliner Yul Brunner. Further successes included THE WAR LOVER (1962), THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963), SAND PEBBLES (1966), THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR and BULLITT (both 1968), PAPILLON (1973), etc. McQueen's characters were of a kind - intense, driven, tightlipped but oh-so-cool loners who lived by their own rules. After a short summary of McQueen's life and career, author Alain Silver serves up a 'visual filmography' of McQueen's films. Each film is illustrated with two-five photos, some in color, along with very brief comments or quotes. A one-page chronology, four-page filmography and a brief bibliography wrap up the 192-page book. (NOTE: The text is duplicated in German and French). In short, McQUEEN is a nice, inexpensive introduction to its subject and a visual treat for cinema fans. Recommended. ****** To my mind, McQueen's defining role was Virgil Hilts, the 'Cooler King' in THE GREAT ESCAPE. Pitted against history's greatest villains, the contempt McQueen's character felt for his Nazi captors was palpable, lurking just below the surface of Hilts' cool, calm and collected demeanor. The movie really came alive during Hilt's motorcycle sequences with the concluding jump over barbed wire fences one of cinema's most enduring sequences.