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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969
American Western film that tells the story of bank robbers Butch
Cassidy (played by Paul Newman) and his partner The Sundance Kid
(played by Robert Redford). The film is only loosely based on
historical fact, but it popularized the legends of these Western
icons.
The film was directed by George Roy Hill and produced at 20th Century
Fox by John Foreman from a screenplay by William Goldman. The music
score was by Burt Bacharach with song lyrics by Hal David. Along with
Newman and Redford, the film stars Katharine Ross, and features
Strother Martin, Henry Jones, Jeff Corey, Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman,
Ted Cassidy, Kenneth Mars and Donnelly Rhodes.
Plot
Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, the leaders of the famous Hole in the
Wall Gang, are planning another bank robbery. As they return to their
hideout in Hole-in-the-Wall, they find out that the gang has selected
a new leader, Harvey Logan. He challenges Butch to a knife fight,
which Butch wins, using a ruse. Logan had the idea to rob the Union
Pacific Flyer instead of banks. He wanted to rob it twice, the idea
being that the return would be considered safe and therefore more
money might be involved. Butch takes this idea as his own.
The first robbery goes very well and the Marshal of the next town
can't manage to raise a posse. Butch and Sundance listen to his
attempts, enjoying themselves. Sundance's lover, Etta Place, is
introduced. But obviously both men vie for her attention as she also
goes bike-riding with Butch, a dialogue-free part of the film,
accompanied by "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."
The second robbery goes wrong. Not only does Butch use too much
dynamite to blow the safe, but also a second train arrives, which is
carrying a posse that has been specially outfitted to hunt Butch and
Sundance. The gang flees, but the entire posse follows Butch and
Sundance. They try hiding in a brothel but are betrayed. When they
find out the posse is following their trail, they try riding double on
a single horse in the hope that the posse will split up, but that
fails. They then try to arrange an amnesty with the help of a friendly
sheriff (Jeff Corey). But he tells them they have no chance of getting
one, and that they will be hunted down until they are killed by the
posse.
Still on the run the next day, they muse about the identities of their
pursuers. They fixate on Lord Baltimore, a famous Indian tracker, and
Joe Lefors, a tough, renowned lawman, identifiable by his white
skimmer. Sundance made a comment that Baltimore could track anyone
over any terrain snow, rock, grass, sand, or through water. After
climbing some mountains, they suddenly find themselves trapped on the
edge of a canyon. They decide to jump into the river far below, even
though Sundance can't swim and would prefer to fight.
Later that day, they arrive at Etta's house and learn that the posse
has been paid to stay together until they kill Butch and the Kid. They
decide it's time to leave the country. Destination: Bolivia.
After a montage of showing Butch, Sundance, and Etta on their travels
to New York, they arrive in a small Bolivian village at the end of the
world. Sundance already resents the choice. Their first attempted bank
robbery stops before it gets off the ground, as they are unable to
speak Spanish. Etta teaches them the words they need. Their next
robbery is clumsily executed, as Butch still needs his cribsheet.
After each robbery, they seem to get better, until they are sought by
the authorities all over Bolivia.
However, their confidence drops as one evening they see a man wearing
a white straw hat on the other side of the street, and fear that
Lefors is once again after them. Butch suggests going straight, so as
to not attract Lefors' attention.
They get their first honest job as payroll guards in a mine, directed
by an American, named Garris (Strother Martin). However, on their
first working day, they are attacked. Garris is killed, and Butch and
Sundance are forced to kill the Bolivian robbers. Ironically, Butch
had never killed a man in his entire criminal career, but while they
are attempting to go straight, he is forced to kill the bandidos.
Since they seem unable to escape violence regardless of their
occupation, they decide to return to robbery. That evening, Etta
decides to leave them as she senses that their days are numbered and
she doesn't want to watch them die.
A few days later, Butch and Sundance attack a payroll mule train in
the jungle, taking the money and the mule. When they arrive in the
nearest town, San Vicente, a stable boy recognizes the brand on the
mule's backside and alerts the local police. While Butch and Sundance
are eating at a local eatery, the police arrive and a climatic gun
battle begins.
The two of them manage to find shelter in an empty house, but they're
soon low on ammunition. Butch makes a run to the mule to fetch the
rest of the ammunition while Sundance covers him, shooting several
Bolivian policemen. But even the "fastest gun in the West" cannot
match the twenty or more Bolivian policemen at once. Butch manages to
retrieve the ammunition and runs back to the house, but they are both
wounded. While tending to their wounds in the house, about 100
soldiers of the Bolivian cavalry arrive and surround the place, eager
to get at the notorious Bandidos Yanquis.
The pair discuss where they will be going next, realizing that their
time is up (Butch suggests Australia, where at least they speak
English). They dash out of the house in a futile attempt to get to
their horses. The image freezes and slowly turns to a sepia tone
tintype while a voice is heard ordering: "Fuego!" (Fire), followed by
the sound of hundreds of rifles being fired in three consecutive
volleys.
Production
Goldman's script, originally called "The Sundance Kid and Butch
Cassidy," was purchased by 20th Century Fox for $400,000. The two
starring roles were originally given to Newman and Steve McQueen, but
McQueen left after failing to come to an agreement about which actor
would receive top billing. Jack Lemmon's production company JML had
produced Cool Hand Luke in 1967. Paul Newman was grateful to Lemmon
for his support, and offered him the Sundance Kid role, but Lemmon
turned it down. He did not like riding horses, and he also felt he'd
already played too many aspects of the Sundance Kid's character
before.[1] Warren Beatty was considered for one of the lead roles, and
Marlon Brando, who at the time had minimal box-office draw, was
considered at one point due to his role in an earlier Western,
One-Eyed Jacks. At one point, Steve McQueen and Paul Newman were
expected to star, and they discussed using the new "staggered but
equal billing" later introduced for The Towering Inferno. Eventually,
Newman and Robert Redford were chosen, but initially Newman was to
play Sundance and Redford Cassidy. 20th Century Fox did not want
Redford to play the part, but director George Roy Hill insisted.
Redford later noted that this film catapulted him to stardom and
changed his career forever.
The movie was partially filmed near Durango, Colorado. (The area where
they jump into the river is just north of Baker's Bridge in SW
Colorado.) In the scene where a railroad car is blown up, the railroad
car was built for the scene out of balsa wood and toothpicks. The
budget only allowed for one take, and therefore an unusually high
amount of explosives was used. The explosion was huge, and the line
"Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch?" is reported to be an ad
lib, according to locals who observed. (Screenwriter William Goldman
included the line when he reprinted the script in his book Adventures
in the Screen Trade.)
Butch Cassidy's outlaw gang was actually called The Wild Bunch, this
was changed in the film to The Hole In The Wall Gang to avoid
confusion with Sam Peckinpah's recently released film The Wild Bunch.
Reception
Awards and nominations
The film won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Music,
Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical), Best Music, Song
(Burt Bacharach and Hal David for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My
Head"), and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Material Not
Previously Published or Produced. It was nominated for Best Director,
Best Picture, and Best Sound.
The film also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film.
In 2003, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was selected for
preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the
Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or
aesthetically significant".
American Film Institute recognition
* AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies #50
* AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills #54
* AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains:
o Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, Heroes #20
* AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs #23
o Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
* AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) #73
* AFI's 10 Top 10 #7 Western
Box office
Adjusted for inflation, the film ranks among the top 100 grossing
movies of all time and the top 10 for its decade, partly due to
subsequent re-releases. The film grossed about $102.3 million
domestically through 1974 and although no data on its worldwide gross
is readily available, it is listed[citation needed] above Goldfinger
(1964) – $124.9 million and below Thunderball (1965) – $141.2 million. |
