The Getaway was Peckinpah’s bid to make a conventional genre film—one in which the forward motion of the plot is never interrupted by melancholy ruminations, extended flashbacks (or flash forwards) or complex montage sequences. Among the film's exceptional qualities are its relentless, restless pace and its wonderful pairing of matinee idol Steve McQueen as the crook and the gorgeous Ali MacGraw as his partner. Based on a novel by pulp master Jim Thompson and scripted by future auteur Walter Hill, The Getaway is a tough noir tale that reveals Peckinpah's talent for lean, propulsive filmmaking is equal to that of his mentor Don Siegel.