Bonnie's Kids (1973)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Arthur Marks

Writer:

Arthur Marks (writer)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Half A Million In Cash Was Missing. THEY WANTED IT ... And They'd Spill Blood To Get It! THEY HAD IT ... And They'd Do Anything To Keep It!

Plot:

Sisters Myra and Ellie have finally had enough of their miserable, dead-end lives. When their step-father...

Plot Keywords:

Sister Sister Relationship | Black Suit Clad Killer | Murder | Briefcase | Pretty Girl

Cast

Tiffany Bolling	...	Ellie
Robin Mattson	...	Myra
Scott Brady	...	Ben Seeman
Steve Sandor	...	Larry
Timothy Brown	...	Digger
Alex Rocco	...	Eddy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hal Baylor
Sharon Gless	...	Greasy spoon waitress
Leo Gordon	...	Charley
Hedgemon Lewis
Christine Murray
Luanne Roberts	...	Rosemary
Max Showalter	...	Frank
Lenore Stevens	...	Diana

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X | USA:R | Iceland:16

Company:

Tommy J. Productions

Trivia:

Sharon Gless' film debut.

Movie Connections:

References Double Indemnity (1944)

Soundtrack:

Escape

A true seventies exploitation classic!

I do love a good sleazy seventies crime flick, and Bonnie's Kids is certainly a very good sleazy seventies crime flick! The main reason this film works so well is because everything about it is absolutely spot on - writer-director Arthur Marks creates a real gritty and sleazy atmosphere that fits his plot brilliantly, while lead actresses Tiffany Bolling and Robin Mattson both manage to pull off performances that are sexy and tantalising as well as being deceptive and as far away from 'innocent' as you can get! The film makes best use of its elements and what we end up with is pure drive in gold! The plot focuses on two girls, Ellie and Myra, the daughters of deceased town tramp "Bonnie". After their no good stepfather tries to rape the younger daughter, the older one blows him away with a shotgun and the two daughters decide to go and stay with their only relative, Uncle Ben, in his lavish mansion in El Paso. The two get involved with their new lives, and soon enough the older daughter is asked to run an errand for her uncle, but when a chance to steal a load of money presents itself; she takes it...

The plot of this film is great in that we get a basic premise and from there it's never clear where it's going to go. Arthur Marks' script has plenty going on in it; the main story always revolves around the girls, but there's enough going elsewhere and with other characters to ensure that it's always interesting and the 105 minute runtime is certainly not packed with filler! The film is also good in that it's clearly a product of the time in which it's made - everything about the film clearly sets it in the seventies; the fashions, the music, the cars, houses etc are all exactly what you'd expect from a film like this. There's a real lot of themes that are common in seventies exploitation that made it in too, from sex and shooting to lesbianism and teenage angst. The fact that the film is not predictable is carried on all the way to the end, and the climax really does come as a big surprise and was not what I was expecting! Overall, this might not appeal to all tastes, but for my money, Bonnie's Kids is an out and out drive in classic and should not be missed by anyone who considers themselves a fan of films like this one!