Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.

Director:

Arthur Penn

Writers:

David Newman, Robert Benton

Stars:

Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard

Won 2 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 29 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Warren Beatty	...	Clyde Barrow
Faye Dunaway	...	Bonnie Parker
Michael J. Pollard	...	C.W. Moss
Gene Hackman	...	Buck Barrow
Estelle Parsons	...	Blanche
Denver Pyle	...	Frank Hamer
Dub Taylor	...	Ivan Moss
Evans Evans	...	Velma Davis
Gene Wilder	...	Eugene Grizzard

Storyline

1934. Young adults Bonnie Parker, a waitress, and Clyde Barrow, a criminal just released from prison, are immediately attracted to what the other represents for their life when they meet by chance in West Dallas, Texas. Bonnie is fascinated with Clyde's criminal past, and his matter-of-factness and bravado in talking about it. Clyde sees in Bonnie someone sympatico to his goals in life. Although attracted to each other physically, a sexual relationship between the two has a few obstacles to happen. Regardless, they decide to join forces to embark on a life of crime, holding up whatever establishments, primarily banks, to make money and to have fun. They don't plan on hurting anyone physically or killing anyone despite wielding loaded guns. They amass a small gang of willing accomplices, including C.W. Moss, a mechanic to fix whatever cars they steal which is important especially for their getaways, and Buck Barrow, one of Clyde's older brothers. The only reluctant tag-along is Buck's ...

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Plot Keywords:

bank robber | 1930s | gang | on the run | doomed love | 

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Taglines:

"The strangest damned gang you ever heard of. They're young. They're in love. They rob banks."

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Allegations about Clyde Barrow's homosexuality may have stemmed from the fact that, as an inmate at Texas' Eastham Prison Farm (1930 to 1932), Barrow was repeatedly raped by another male convict. According to Jeff Guinn, author of an authoritative biography of Bonnie and Clyde, Barrow finally killed his assailant by luring him into an isolated area of the prison, and then beating him to death with a lead pipe. It was Barrow's first murder. Another inmate, already serving a life sentence, took the rap for Barrow, who was released from the prison farm in February 1932, a bitter and hardened killer at the age of twenty-two.

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Goofs

In the gas station scene where Bonnie and Clyde meet C.W., the lights used for the camera are reflected in the car's chrome fittings, especially on the back of the rear view mirror.

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Quotes

Bonnie Parker: [to Clyde, after he rebuffs her romantic advances] Your advertising's just dandy... folks would never guess you don't have a thing to sell.

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Alternate Versions

The shots of Bonnie (Faye Dunaway) attempting to perform oral sex on Clyde ('Warren Beatty') were removed from network television versions.

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Connections

Referenced in Bobby (2006)

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Soundtracks

The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Performed by Ginger Rogers and chorus
From Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), the picture being shown at the movie theater

User Reviews

Good afternoon, we are the Barrow gang.

Bonnie & Clyde stands today as one of the most important films of the 60s, it's impact on culture alone marks it out as a piece of work to note, but as gangster films go this one is something of a landmark. Quite how writers Newman & Benton managed to craft a story of two deadbeat outlaws into cinematic heroes is up for any individual viewers scrutiny, but they bloody well do it because we all want to be in the Barrow gang, because we get lost in this romanticised outlawish tale unfolding in front of our eyes.

The film is a fusion of incredible violence and jaunty slapstick, and smartly pauses for delicate moments to let us into the psyche of the main protagonists. We know they have hangups, and with that we know they are fallible human beings, and this sets us up a treat for the incredible jaw dropping finale, the impact of this finale hits as hard now as it did back with the audience's of 1967.

The cast are incredible, Warren Beatty gives a truly brilliant performance as Clyde, he looks good and suave tooting those guns, but it's in the tender troubled scenes where he excels supreme. Faye Dunaway as Bonnie is the perfect foil for Beatty's layers, she nails every beat of this gangsters troubled moll. Gene Hackman, Michael J Pollard and Estelle Parsons put the cherry on the icing to give depth and range to the rest of the Barrow gang, and these fine actors are clothed in gorgeous cinematography courtesy of Burnett Guffrey. To round out the plaudits I finish with love for director Arthur Penn, because it's his vision that gives us something of a nostalgic movie that plays up and down with its subjects with cheeky aplomb, in fact it's just like the banjo music that features so prominently throughout this wonderful film.

Nominated for 9 Oscars it won just the two, the entire actors who played the Barrow gang were nominated, and truth be told they all would have been worthy winners, as it is they gave out just the one to the least strongest performance from Estelle Parsons, go figure. Its legacy both in culture and box office lives on and for me Bonnie & Clyde is not only one of the best films of the 60s, it's also one of the best in history. 10/10

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bonnie and Clyde

Filming Locations:

Crandall, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros./Seven Arts, Tatira-Hiller Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1