Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Arthur Penn

Writers:

David Newman (written by) &
Robert Benton (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

13 August 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

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

Plot:

A somewhat romantized account of the career of the notoriously violent bank robbing couple and their gang.

Plot Keywords:

Robbery | Crime Spree | Bonnie And Clyde | Violence | Newspaper

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 22 nominations

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Martha Adcock	...	Bank customer (uncredited)
Harry Appling	...	Bonnie's uncle (uncredited)
Owen Bush	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Mabel Cavitt	...	Bonnie's mother (uncredited)
Patrick Cranshaw	...	Bank teller (uncredited)
Frances Fisher	...	Bonnie's aunt (uncredited)
Sadie French	...	Bank customer (uncredited)
Garry Goodgion	...	Billy (uncredited)
Clyde Howdy	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Russ Marker	...	Bank guard (uncredited)
Ken Mayer	...	Sheriff Smoot (uncredited)
Ken Miller	...	Police officer (uncredited)
Ann Palmer	...	Bonnie's sister (uncredited)
Stuart Spates	...	Boy at bank (uncredited)
James Stiver	...	Grocery store owner (uncredited)
Ada Waugh	...	Bonnie's aunt (uncredited)

Directed by
Arthur Penn

Writing credits
David Newman		(written by) &
Robert Benton		(written by)
Robert Towne		uncredited

Produced by
Warren Beatty	....	producer

Original Music by
Charles Strouse

Cinematography by
Burnett Guffey		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Dede Allen

Art Direction by
Dean Tavoularis

Set Decoration by
Raymond Paul

Costume Design by
Theadora Van Runkle		(as Theadora van Runkle)

Makeup Department
Robert Jiras	....	makeup designer
Gladys Witten	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Russell Saunders	....	production manager (as Russ Saunders)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack N. Reddish	....	assistant director

Art Department
Stuart Spates	....	intern (uncredited)

Sound Department
Francis E. Stahl	....	sound
Dan Wallin	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Danny Lee	....	special effects

Stunts
Steven Burnett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roydon Clark	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Harris	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Hice	....	stunts (uncredited)
Clyde Howdy	....	stunts (uncredited)
Lucky Mosley	....	stunts (uncredited)
Harvey Parry	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Sawaya	....	stunts (uncredited)
Mary Statler	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Doran	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norma Brown	....	wardrobe: women
Andy Matyasi	....	wardrobe: men

Music Department
Alan Hawkshaw	....	musician: "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" (uncredited)
Dan Wallin	....	scoring mixer (uncredited)

Other crew
John Dutton	....	script supervisor
Elaine Michea	....	assistant to producer
Robert Towne	....	special consultant
Morgan Fairchild	....	double: Faye Dunaway (uncredited)
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer (uncredited)
Crayton Smith	....	script supervisor: second unit (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Tatira-Hiller Productions
• Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

Distributors

• Warner Brothers/Seven Arts (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner-Tonefilm (1967) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1968) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros./Seven Arts (1968) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (1989) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• Varus Video
• Warner Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Warner Bros. Cosmetics  miss dunaway's makeup

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Norway:16 (1968) (cut) | Norway:(Banned) (1967 - 1968) | West Germany:16 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #21395) (original rating) | USA:M (re-rating) (1969) | USA:R (re-rating) (2007) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) (re-rating) (2008) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) (original rating) | UK:15 (re-rating: 2008) | New Zealand:M | Canada:14A (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2008) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Company:

Tatira-Hiller Productions

Trivia:

In a 1968 interview, Warren Beatty mentioned that his last conversation with ex-girlfriend Natalie Wood took place in the summer of 1966 when he tried unsuccessfully to get her to play Bonnie Parker in his film. Later that evening, she attempted to take her own life and was discovered by her live-in housekeeper.

Goofs:

Continuity: Inside the car, when Blanche and C.W. go to buy some food, she lights a new cigarette with the butt of the other. In the following shot the butt has disappeared.

Quotes:

Clyde Barrow: [Bonnie can't stop laughing after Clyde held up a failed bank and left empty-handed] We got a dollar ninety-eight, and you're laughing!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters (2006)

Soundtrack:

Why Don't You Tell Me So

One of the First, and Still Best, Movies About America's Obsession with Violence

Every time I watch "Bonnie and Clyde" I'm convinced that this time it won't shock me. And every time I'm proved wrong.

"Bonnie and Clyde" was one of the first American movies to acknowledge that Americans are turned on by violence. People blame this movie for ushering in the increasingly graphic content of movies that in the present day makes it seem as if nothing is off limits. But this is wishful thinking on the part of people who don't want to admit that America has been a violent culture from day one. "Bonnie and Clyde" was a huge hit, but it's because it gave people what they wanted, not because it introduced them to something they'd never thought of before. At least in this film, you see what happens when a bullet tears through human flesh -- I can't say the same for the countless morale-boosting WWII films from the 1940s or the John Wayne westerns that are so beloved by conservative America.

In the world of "Bonnie and Clyde," sex and violence are extensions of the same impulse. Clyde can't get one "gun" to work, so he uses another. Bonnie is as restless as a cat in heat -- but Clyde won't scratch her itch, so she finds other ways of releasing tension. It's a movie that makes us identify with the killers. They're gorgeous and glamorous, but they're also vulnerable. They're Robin Hoods, justifying their crime by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor; but they're also naive in thinking that when they steal money from banks they're not also stealing from the poor rural people who use those banks. Authority figures aren't seen much in the film, but when they are, they're sadistic. Sheriff Hamer is a stony, craggy mass in comparison to the movie-star killers, and C.W. Moss's dad, who's finally the one to turn Bonnie and Clyde in, does what is right morally, but that's overshadowed by the fact that all we see him do is beat C.W. and call him white trash. It's no wonder this half-wit kid ran away with the Barrow gang in the first place. We know there's only one possible ending to the movie, yet by the time it comes, we find ourselves half hoping that Bonnie and Clyde can start over and make the American dream a reality. We've forgotten that they've killed, many times, in cold blood.

The most haunting scene in the film is the one in which Bonnie visits her mother for one last time, and her mom tells her what the audience has known all along but hasn't consciously acknowledged until that point: "You try to live within three miles of me, and you won't live long honey. You best keep runnin'." It's one of the most chilling and effective moments I've ever seen in a movie.

Grade: A+