The Great Escape (Dir. John Sturges, 1963): One of the most ingenious and suspenseful adventure films of all time, The Great Escape is a masterful collaboration between director John Sturges, screenwriters James Clavell (Shogun) and W.R. Burnett and composer Elmer Bernstein. Based on a true story this film also stars, Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson and James Coburn. The Thomas Crown Affair (Dir. Norman Jewson, 1968): Thomas Crown (Steve McQueen) is a lone wolf in chic clothing. He's a Boston tycoon, who masterminds a daring bank job, even though he doesn't need the money. What he needs is the thrill of the heist, the adrenaline rush of not getting caught. Catching crooks is where insurance investigator Vicky Anderson (Faye Dunaway) comes in. She always gets her man. But this time she may be too much in love to give him up. McQueen and Dunaway are lovers and adversaries in a stylish cat-and-mouse thriller written by Alan R. Trustman and directed by Norman Jewison. Jewsion makes exciting use of split screen images as the action leaps from the boardroom to the boudoir, the polo field to a glider cockpit. The Oscar winning Best Song (1968) "The Windmills of Your Mind" sets the perfect tone for the swirl of romance and intrigue... The Magnificent Seven (Dir. John Sturges, 1960): Yul Brynner stars as one of seven master gunmen who aid the helpless farmers of an isolated village, pitted against an army of marauding bandits in this rousing action tale based on Akira Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai. Released in 1960, John Sturges' masterpiece garnered an Oscar nomination for Elmer Bernstein (for Best Score) and launched the film careers of Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn and James Coburn. Sand Pebbles (Dir. Robert Wise, 1966): It's the story of China, a slumbering giant that rouses itself to the cries of its people - and of the Americans who are caught in its bloody awakening. It's the story of Frenchy (Richard Attenborough), a crewman on the USS San Pablo who kidnaps his Chinese bride from the auction block. Most of all, it's the story of Jake Holman (Steve McQueen), a sailor who had given up trying to make peace with anything: including himself.
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