Peter Yates
This was British director Peter Yates’ first American film.
The filmmaker was personally selected for this movie by McQueen, because Yates had filmed a realistic car chase through the streets of London in Robbery (1967).
Traditionally, car chases are filmed by second units, but director Yates insisted on doing it himself, knowing that McQueen would be performing a lot of the stunts himself.
Editing: Cuts and Dissolves
This film is edited entirely by cuts except in two instances.
The first occurs when the jazz club scene dissolves to a shot of McQueen lying in bed.
The second occurs after the Dodge crashes into the gas station and burns, when the shot of the two dead villains dissolves to a scene at the police station.
