The Newton Boys (1998)

The story of the Newton gang, the most successful bank robbers in history, owing to their good planning and minimal violence.

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writers:

Claude Stanush (based on the book by), Richard Linklater (screenplay by)

Stars:

Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Skeet Ulrich

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew McConaughey	...	Willis Newton
Skeet Ulrich	...	Joe Newton
Ethan Hawke	...	Jess Newton
Gail Cronauer	...	Ma Newton
Jena Karam	...	Orphan Singer
Casey McAuliffe	...	Orphan Singer
Regina Mae Matthews	...	Orphan Fiddler
Lew Temple	...	Waiter
Dwight Yoakam	...	Brentwood Glasscock
Charles Gunning	...	Slim
Glynn Williams	...	Farmer Williams
Charles 'Chip' Bray	...	Bank Teller
Chloe Webb	...	Avis Glasscock
Gary Moody	...	Crooked Banker
Julianna Margulies	...	Louise Brown

Storyline

Four Newton brothers are a poor farmer family in the 1920s. The oldest of them, Willis, one day realizes that there's no future in the fields and offers his brothers to become a bank robbers. Soon the family agrees. They become very famous robbers, and five years later execute the greatest train robbery in American history.

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Plot Keywords:

bank robber | train | brother brother relationship | explosive | crime spree | 

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Taglines:

Pests of the West

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | History | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence including bloody aftermath of a shooting, and for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie, the Texas Ranger who arrests Jess Newton is Frank Hamer. The real Frank Hamer planned and participated in the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde.

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Goofs

Brentwood and Joe watch Erich von Stroheim's Greed, in Canada, during what appears to be summer. Greed was not released until December of that year, and didn't see any wide release until late January of 1925. It's also doubtful that it would have made it to Canada any time before then.

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Quotes

Dock Newton: Where the hell were you, you yellow bastard? You didn't fire a shot!
Brentwood Glasscock: I'm not supposed to fire a shot! YOU'RE not supposed to fire a shot! We're supposed to be BACKUP Willis!
Jess Newton: You back up any further you'd be in Chicago!

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Crazy Credits

As the end credits roll, portions of two interviews are shown, each with one of the brothers. The interview with Joe Newton is from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: James Coco/Joe Newton/Chet Atkins (1980); the interview with Willis Newton is from The Newton Boys: Portrait of an Outlaw Gang (1976).

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Newton Boys/Meet the Deedles/A Price Above Rubies/No Looking Back (1998)

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Soundtracks

Riverboat Shuffle
Written by Dick Voynow, Mitchell Parish, Irving Mills, Hoagy Carmichael
Performed by Bad Livers

User Reviews

Big time crooks settle in small time Uvalde, TX.

What makes "The Newton Boys" so interesting is that it is based on a predominantly true story. Lead by Willis Newton (Matthew McConaughey, a Texan) who had big dreams of drilling for oil in the boom years after WW I, the 4 brothers used explosives to crack open safes all over the USA and Canada and robbed the banks. Willis' rationale, "We're helping to keep insurance companies in business. If there are no bank robberies then there will be no need for insurance." For reasons I don't understand at all, round safes cannot be opened like rectangular safes, so they eventually had to resort to train robbery. They were eventually caught, tried, and convicted. After serving a little time (max. 5 years) most of them retired to Uvalde, Texas, a small town west of San Antonio and in the "texas Hill Country" so popular with motorcyclists. Most of them lived long lives and died in Uvalde.

Julianna Margolies was excellent as Willis' love interest. They eveidently stayed together into old age, even though they never married.

Pretty good film.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Newton Boys

Filming Locations:

Martindale, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,010,245, 29 March 1998

Gross USA:

$10,452,012

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,452,012

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Detour Filmproduction, Newton Boys Ventures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1