Seeing some of the images put on the other day by Paul of his full length feature,(you lucky geezer) i just had to view ours. So here it is, still in great shape, showing the early signs of fade but certainly nothing to bother us. This is one of the better edits with the exception of that poxy Marketing ending with not a single title or logo in sight. So annoying.
When we bought this one from Roger here in Movieland international, (many years ago), he rang me to say pop over and see whats come in today.
When i got there i saw a collection the length of his hallway, lots we wanted but on the top was this one. He said "you an have this one cheap if you like coz theirs a green scratch to the right according to the previous owner". I asked how much, he paused, and said £25? I snapped his hand off. Even back then this was ridiculously cheap.
When we took it home with some other goodies i couldn't wait to view it, well, how jammy was i,
Part one starts up, sure enough there is a green scratch, but as soon as the titles have passed, that first image is the last of it, the rest of the film on all three parts is A1. We were very pleased that Roger hadn't viewed it.
Anyway, here is the plot borrowed from wiki and edited to cover this excellent 3 x 400 footer. We viewed it the once and then immediately got it onto a decent 800ft Bonum spool.
Ralph "Papa" Thorson (Steve McQueen) is a modern day bounty hunter who hunts down and captures criminals who have skipped on their bail to bring them back for a 20% of the reward to his bail bondsman employer.
In the opening scene, Thorson arrives in a small, African American town in Texas where despite being a terrible driver of cars (a running joke used throughout the film), he captures fugitive Tommy Price (LaVar Burton) for fleeing on his bail. Next, Thorson drives to another small Texas town where he is to bring in a dangerous punk, named Billie Joe, whose kinfolk include Sheriff Strong, a corrupt redneck lawman who warns Thorson not to get involved. Papa ignores him and ends up in a violent fight with the fugitive.
At home, Thorson is revealed to be an old-fashioned guy who has a love of antiques and classical music, drives a 1950s convertible and keeps an antique gasoline pump in his house. His schoolteacher girlfriend Dotty (Kathryn Harrold) is pregnant and would like "Papa" to be there for her when the baby is born, but his work continually keeps him on the road.
Thorson works for elderly and veteran bail bondsman Ritchie Blumenthal (Eli Wallach) who sends him out on dangerous assignments to chase down fugitives in all parts of the USA. However, Throson himself is pursued by a psychotic killer who was one of Thorson's former convicts, Rocco Mason (Tracey Walter) and begins following Dotty.
Thorson's adventures continue when he is sent to rural Nebraska to bring back two fugitives, called the Branch Brothers. He flies out to Nebraska, rents a fancy 1979 Pontiac Trans Am car and drives to the Branch farmhouse where the two psycho brothers steal his car and try to kill him with dynamite. Thorson commandeers a crop cutter machine and chases after the two Branch Brothers through a cornfield which ends when a stick of dynamite dropped by them blows up their car, but they both survive. Thorson arrives back at the local airport to deliver back the destroyed Trans Am and bring the Branch Brothers on the plane back to L.A.

Blumenthal next sends Thorson to Chicago to pick up fugitive Bernardo (Tom Rosales) a dangerous ex-con which leads to a long chase sequence as Thorson and Bernardo exchange gunfire with each other at an apartment building. Thorson chases Bernardo on foot through the streets and to an elevated train where Thorson is forced to climb on the roof of the train to avoid getting shot at. The chase leads to the Marina City complex where they both steal cars, (well, Thorson nicks a breakdown truck), and chase each other to the top level the parking garage, where the psychotic fugitive drives off the edge and plunges several stories into a river to his apparent doom.
After returning to Los Angeles that evening, Thorson learns from Price that Dotty has been kidnapped by Rocco Mason and is holding her at the high school where she teaches. Thorson arrives when Mason attempts to kill him with an M-16 assault rifle. Unarmed, Thorson lures Mason into one classroom where he floods the room with flammable gas where once Mason opens fire, the sparks ignites the gas and blows up the room with Mason in it.
Having dealt with Mason, Thorson immediately needs to rush Dotty to the hospital when she begins to go into labour. Despite being a terrible driver, he manages to get to the hospital where he collapses, exhausted, in the lobby area. He comes to in the final scene to walk back outside where Dotty has given birth and he holds his new baby.
Here we have a real piss off Marketing ending with nothing more than a freeze frame, not a single title or logo in sight.

Every collector must know about this movie, it wasn't one we set out to buy, it was literally a chance of luck and am i glad i bought it. Classic 80s with drama, chases, fights and just the right amount of comedy. Very highly recommended if you dont have it.

Roger sure did you a great "turn" there Tom.

Fabulous story and a film to match! 😊😊

Lovely pictures.

A beauty ... Looks great

buy the way, my mistake, 1 x 800ft NOT 10

I have this one too, one of my favourites and one of my most watched over the years, Universal did some great 3 x 400''s over the years that have held up really well colour wise. I have an absolutely gorgeous print of The Prophecy which you don't see crop up very often.

It looks as good as mine Tom, and the colour has held up very well, sadly this shows just how ill Steve McQueen was in some of the shots here, gone too soon.

It does Paul, like many i wonder what other films he would have ended up either acting in or directing.