McQueen's Treatment of MacGraw(On Film)

"The Getaway" is fairly famous for that scene where McQueen pulls the car over, gets out, waits for MacGraw to get out...and slaps her repeatedly, pulling back from a full punch "at the last moment."

Today, that is pretty rough stuff to watch. I'll be mean though: a lot of "Ali MacGraw haters" (for her acting) in 1972 used to applaud and laugh when Steve did that(it was "fake," everybody knew.)

Anyway, the joke is over, that scene is rough to watch now with no "reservations for Ali MacGraw haters."

And here's the thing: "The Getaway" maintains its tension about the McQueen-MacGraw relationship in later scenes.

I am thinking of two, both at the train station:

In one, MacGraw is having a drink and is chatted up by the young soldier sitting next to her(a rather harmless character played by a rather amateur actor.) Peckinpah leaves the right side of the frame open...and McQueen steps into it, watching MacGraw parry the young fellow's pass with just a little too much kindness as McQueen seethes a bit. But you can read his mind: this kid's no competition, I don't have to punch him -- but still, she's TALKING NICE to him. (The sting of MacGraw's sexual betrayal is still in McQueen's mind.) So McQueen announces himself impatiently("Hey, baby! Let's go!") and spirits her away from the soldier.

The next scene is worse. McQueen realizes that MacGraw has lost the big money to a train station locker thief. Our memories of his slapping of her come to the forefront as McQueen enacts the REAL rage of a crook who realizes his moll has possibly lost everything. "FIND HIM!" McQueen growls about the locker key thief, grabbing MacGraw's arm roughly.

I have some reservations about "The Getaway." At the time ,it seemed rather slapdash and star-driven for Peckinpah. It was clearly no "Wild Bunch." And yet: it had Steve McQueen's formidable star power and a final shotgun vs machine gun showdown that was in the range of the "Bunch." Modernly, it looks nostalgic(for 1972 and the late McQueen)...but still pretty slapdash.

But what stands out to me about the film now is its edgy, brutal take on McQueen's willingness to brutalize and bully MacGraw -- even though they end up as the happiest of married lovers at film's end!

As so often with Peckinpah, the question is raised: was he being a sexist woman-hater in setting up McQueen's character to slap and intimidateMacGraw? Or was he just being "realistic" about his characters: a career criminal who had spent a long time in prison and couldn't deal with his wife's "infidelity to help him," and couldn't calmly allow her error that almost leads to losing all the money that he stole.