10 Terrible Characters In Otherwise Awesome Movies

9. Cathy (Jacqueline Bisset) - Bullitt

It wouldn't be particularly difficult to fill up this list entirely with feeble, gratuitous love interests, of which the movies have never been short. When complaints arise of there not being enough great roles for women, it's these kind of parts that present the most damning confirmation of this; female characters who are there for no other reason than to look pretty on the arm of the leading man.

There can be no question that Jacqueline Bissett does indeed look very pretty on Steve McQueen's arm in classic cop thriller Bullitt. But that's almost entirely the extent of her involvement in the film, beyond some rather weak monologues about how her beau's police work is desensitizing him, which only serves to make explicit that which was already self-evident.

Everyone remembers Bullitt for McQueen's effortless cool, the epic San Francisco car chase, and Lalo Schifrin's irresistibly funky soundtrack - but it's highly debatable as to how well anyone remembers Bissett's Cathy. It's the sadly standard Hollywood approach of casting an attractive actress in a thankless role; an approach which has by no means died out today.