BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALNAME:The Great Escape | One Night Only Film Series X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada) BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260518T162115Z UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_38683847533708 DTSTART:20220308T003000Z DTEND:20220308T030000Z DESCRIPTION:Hope College’s Knickerbocker Theatre will feature Steve McQue en\, nicknamed the “King of Cool\,” in its One Night Only Series that focuses on classic films. The series will feature four films on consecutiv e Mondays\, opening with “The Magnificent Seven” on Feb. 28\; continui ng with “The Great Escape” on March 7 and “The Thomas Crown Affair ” on March 14\; and ending with “Bullitt” on March 21. All shows beg in at 7:30 p.m.\n\nWhile McQueen had some film roles early in his career\, including the lead in the 1959 science fiction classic\, “The Blob\,” it was his television role as a bounty hunter in “Wanted: Dead or Alive ” that made McQueen a household name in the late 1950s. A longtime fan o f going fast\, McQueen also earned money on the side by racing motorcycles \, eventually becoming a regular winner during his weekend races. That lov e of speed never left him\, as seen in “Bullitt” and “Le Mans.” On ce his film career took off in 1961\, he left television to bring his well -known “antihero” persona to films. Then\, when he was the highest-pai d actor in Hollywood\, McQueen suddenly took four years off from films to drive around the country in a motorhome\, racing motorcycles. McQueen died in Mexico in 1980 from a heart attack following surgery for what was defi ned by U.S. doctors as “inoperable cancer.” He was 50 years old.\n\nMc Queen’s breakout film was “The Magnificent Seven” in 1960\, showing Feb. 28\, and featuring a strong ensemble cast including Yul Brynner\, Cha rles Bronson\, Robert Vaughn\, Brad Dexter\, James Coburn\, and Eli Walla ch. Based on the 1954 Japanese film “The Seven Samurai\,” “The Magni ficent Seven” is considered one of the best Western films ever made. In the American version\, seven gunfighters are recruited by a poor\, small v illage in Mexico to provide protection from a group of ruthless bandits wh o come and take their food every year. Although they are promised no money \, the seven all agree for different personal reasons to face off against a much larger band of bandits. McQueen’s habit of frustrating people on movie sets showed up here as he famously angered Brenner with his scene-st ealing exploits\, especially since he really was fast on the draw.\n\nMcQu een’s next major film was “The Great Escape\,” showing March 7 — a nother ensemble film\, but this time with McQueen as the featured actor. B ased on a true story\, the film follows a group of British and American so ldiers placed in a high-security Nazi prisoner-of-war camp who plan and ex ecute a mass escape. The film features a host of 1960s stars\, including J ames Garner\, Richard Attenborough\, Charles Bronson\, Donald Pleasence\, James Colburn and David McCallum. McQueen’s character\, Hilts\, uses a motorcycle in much of the escape and in one chase scene\, Hilts jumps a fe nce with the motorcycle\, considered one of the all-time great film stunts . McQueen was not allowed to do the stunt due to insurance requirements on the film\, so a friend of his did it instead.\n\n“The Thomas Crown Affa ir\,” showing March 14\, cemented McQueen’s “cool” reputation. McQ ueen’s Thomas Crown character is a millionaire sportsman and businessman with no need for money. But just for the challenge\, he orchestrates the robbery of more than $2 million from a bank. Insurance investigator Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway) is brought in to find him\, with a promise of 10% of the heist if she discovers who committed the crime. She realizes that C rown is the culprit and tells him so\, but she still needs evidence to con vict him as the two become entangled in an affair. The movie was a major b ox office hit and was remade in 1999 — with another remake in the works. \n\nThe series ends with a rush as McQueen shows his love of speed in 1968 ’s “Bullitt” on March 21. McQueen plays San Francisco police officer Lt. Frank Bullitt\, charged to guard a mobster witness for the weekend. W hen things go awry\, Bullitt leads a fast-paced investigation\, which at o ne point sets him up in one of the most legendary car chases in film histo ry as two mobster hitmen chase Bullitt in his Ford Mustang for over nine m inutes. Director Peter Yates called for the drivers to get up to 70-80 mil es per hour\, but the drivers clocked over 110 miles per hour many times d uring the three weeks it took the film the chase. McQueen was allowed to h andle some of the driving\, given his background as a motorcycle and car r acer and because he now owned the production company making the film. The film also stars Jacqueline Bisset in one of her early breakout roles as Bu llitt’s girlfriend.\n\nTickets are $5 and will be available at the door. \n\nAudience members who need assistance to fully enjoy any event at Hope are encouraged to contact the college’s Events and Conferences Office by emailing events@hope.edu or calling 616-395-7222 on weekdays between 9 a. m. and 5 p.m. Updates related to events are posted when available in the i ndividual listings at hope.edu/calendar\n\nDue to the ongoing global COVID -19 pandemic\, Hope is currently requiring that masks be worn by all indiv iduals while indoors on campus unless in their living space or alone in th eir workspace. GEO:42.790047;-86.103276 LOCATION:Knickerbocker Theatre\, Main Theatre SUMMARY:The Great Escape | One Night Only Film Series URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.hope.edu/event/the_great_escape_one_night_on ly_film_series CATEGORIES:Arts CATEGORIES:Knickerbocker Film Series CATEGORIES:Public Events END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR