A fine British director who worked both here and in the UK, Peter Yates’ films varied between smart, sensitive comedy-dramas like “Breaking Away” and “The Dresser” and hard edged crime and action films like “Bullit,” “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” as well as the TV series “Secret Agent.” To mark his passing, we’ll salute him with a couple of key scenes from his best known movies. Starting with an endlessly copied scene that made for a lot of new gigs for movie stunt drivers.
Bonus clips are after the flip.
A brief, funny scene with Paul Dooley, Dennis Christopher, and Barbara Barrie from “Breaking Away.”
As movie debuts go, it appears that Yates’ debut wasn’t quite in “Citizen Kane” territory. “Summer Holiday” was a vehicle for pop idol Cliff Richard and doesn’t appear to have been much more. Still, this clip is sort of fun. And fans of Elvis Costello may discover for the first time (I think I learned this and forget it), where the first few chords and words of the song, “The Beat” come from.
As alway, much more at MUBI.
