Monday, January 10, 2011

Peter Yates (1929-2011)

The British-American director Peter Yates, who died yesterday at the age of 81, will probably be best remembered for the seminal cop and car-chase film Bullitt , one of Steve McQueen's definitive roles, or for his bicycle drama Breaking Away from about a decade later. Rather than write more about his career here, I'll just direct you to my favorite among his movies, the gritty proto-Tarantinian crime drama The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1972), a remarkably faithful adaptation of the George V. Higgins novel that has enjoyed a revival of esteem thanks to a recent Criterion DVD release. It's one of the best American crime films from a great decade for the genre, and it may lead to a greater appreciation of Yates's work if more people discover it now.

3 comments:

Garry said...

What a loss......He was the man!

venoms5 said...

I'm partial to KRULL myself. Love that one.

dfordoom said...

Loved Bullitt. I'd love to see The Friends of Eddie Coyle but I'll have to save up for that one. I hate it when great movies get released by Criterion.