The Location

Once the plate was sourced, the next stage was to find everything I could about the production. It’s pretty self explanatory that the film was shot on location in San Francisco, but I needed the specific intersection the shot took place on.

Once I started to read about the chase and the filming, I found references to the error from the stunt driver. The driver Bill Hickman was a well known and respected stunt driver and actor at the time.

I used Google Earth and it’s 3D feature to locate the space. Bullitt was filmed in 1968, so this specific intersection has almost definitely changed from the time Steve McQueen and Bill Hickman raced around these streets.

This is an excellent view of the area and gave me a much better understanding of how the street was laid out. The white building Top Right looks like it has changed very little apart from the colour. The rest of the buildings are either not present in the plate or out of shot entirely.

The investigation and research into a project is always where I have the most fun, nothing better than indulging my love of film way into the wee small hours.

Here is the location from Google maps using the satellite option.

The area as it appeared on Google maps.