The Hunter is a 1980 American biographical action thriller film[2] directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Steve McQueen.

The cast also features Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson and Richard Venture.

Ralph "Papa" Thorson arrives in a small town in Illinois where, despite being a terrible driver, he captures fugitive Tommy Price for fleeing his bail.

Thorson works for elderly bail bondsman Ritchie Blumenthal, who sends him on dangerous assignments to chase down fugitives in all parts of the U.S.

Meanwhile, Rocco Mason terrorizes Dotty at her workplace, which leads Thorson to try to protect her, but she instead tries to make him give up his bounty hunter way of life and to take her to a Lamaze class.

Panicked, the psychotic fugitive steps on the gas in panic, but he overshoots a turn, causing him to accidentally drive off the edge and plunge to his death in the Chicago River.

Returning to Los Angeles, Thorson learns from a badly beaten Price that Dotty has been kidnapped by Rocco Mason, who is holding her at the high school where she teaches.

Richard Levinson and William Link wrote the initial script based on Christopher Keane's biography of the real Ralph "Papa" Thorson.

The capture of Tommy Price in Herscher, and payphone scenes with Papa Thorson talking to Sheriff Strong, were filmed in Bonfield.

The stunt with the fleeing suspect driving off the Marina City garage and plunging into the Chicago River was recreated in 2006 for a TV advertisement for Allstate Insurance.

McQueen was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of terminal lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma, on December 22, 1979, the month after filming had ended.

The chronic cough he developed a year earlier and shortness of breath became more pronounced, causing some delays in the filming of his performances.

[15] In Leonard Maltin's publication, TV Movies, the film is given a BOMB rating, and the entry states, "McQueen's last picture and probably his worst".