Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Directed by	George Roy Hill
Produced by	John Foreman
Written by	William Goldman
Starring	Paul Newman Robert Redford Katharine Ross Strother Martin
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	September 23, 1969 (limited) 24 October 1969 (wide) 4 December 1969
Running time	110 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 Western film that tells the story of bank robber 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 and the cinematography by Conrad L. Hall. Along with Newman and Redford, the film stars Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Henry Jones, Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman, Ted Cassidy, Kenneth Mars and Donnelly Rhodes.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Production 3 Responses 3.1 Awards and nominations 3.2 Box office 4 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' in popular culture 5 Legacy 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Synopsis

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 (played by Ted Cassidy, better known as "Lurch" from the Addams Family). 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. We get to know Sundance's lover: Etta Place. But obviously both men vie for her attention as she also goes bike-riding with Butch, a silent 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, that is carrying a posse that has been specially outfitted to hunt Butch and Sundance down. The outlaws flee, and Butch and Sundance are the only ones followed. They try hiding in a brothel but are betrayed. When they find out the posse is following their trail, they try continuing on one horse in the hope that the posse will split up, but the posse doesn't go for it. Their next idea is trying to get an amnesty with the help of a friendly sheriff. But he tells them they have no chance for such amnesty, 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, an Indian and tracker, and Joe Lefors, the toughest lawman, identifiable by his white skimmer. After climbing some mountains, they suddenly find themselves on the edge of a canyon with the choice of fighting, surrendering or jumping. They decide on the last, even though Sundance can't swim and would prefer to fight.

Later that day they arrive at Etta's house and learn all their conclusions were true. The posse had been paid to stay together until they kill Butch and the Kid. They decide it's time to leave the country. Destination: Bolivia.

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 and understand 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 in all Bolivia.

However, their confidence drops as one evening they see a man wearing a white strawhat 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, Garris. However, on their first working day they get attacked. Garris is killed, and Butch and Sundance are forced to kill the Bolivian bandits. Ironically, Butch never killed a man throughout 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 police. Butch and Sundance manage to find shelter in an empty house, but they're soon out of ammunition. Butch runs to the mule to fetch the rest while Sundance covers him, but even the "fastest gun in the West" cannot match twenty or more men at once so they are both wounded. While tending to their wounds in the house, about a hundred members of the Bolivian cavalry arrive and surround the place.

In a moment of tragicomic irony, Butch and Sundance, though fully aware that they are about to be killed, discuss where they will be going next as if nothing were going on at the moment (Australia, where they speak English at least). They dash out of the house in a doomed attempt to get to their horses. That's when 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 fired in three consecutive rounds.

[edit] Production

The two starring roles were originally offered to Warren Beatty and Steve McQueen. Even Marlon Brando, who at the time had minimal box-office draw, was considered at one point due 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.

[edit] Responses

[edit] 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 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' in popular culture

• In the video game Max Payne, a guard can be overheard saying, "The best movie ending ever? Heh, gotta be 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'. A hero's end, goin' out with guns blazing."
• In the film, A Little Romance, Thelonious Bernard's character, Daniel Michon, raptly watches the film (dubbed in French).

[edit] Legacy

The Sundance Film Festival, begun by Robert Redford, is named for his role in this film, as is his Utah ski resort, Sundance.

The film has inspired a television series, Alias Smith and Jones, starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy as two outlaws trying to earn an amnesty ^[1]. It has also been spoofed in a number of times in films such as Shanghai Noon ^[2] and Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, and TV shows such as The Simpsons (in the episode Duffless), Futurama, The Venture Bros. and Full Metal Panic^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at the Internet Movie Database
• Read trivia about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at AMC's DVD_TV blog

Films Directed by George Roy Hill This box: view • talk • edit

Period of Adjustment | Toys in the Attic | The World of Henry Orient | Hawaii | Thoroughly Modern Millie | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | Slaughterhouse-Five | The Sting | The Great Waldo Pepper | Slap Shot | A Little Romance | The World According to Garp | The Little Drummer Girl | Funny Farm

Awards
Preceded by Midnight Cowboy	BAFTA Award for Best Film 1971	Succeeded by Sunday Bloody Sunday