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| Warm and inviting colors outline fine moments from the film and its three popular stars more than anything on this poster for George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid |
American crime legends Butch Cassidy and Harry 'Sundance Kid' Longabaugh robbed banks and trains in the Wild West, until they decided to escape justice to Bolivia with a woman. SPOILER And here they both got shot.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is written by William Goldman (Harper (1966)) and directed by Minnesotan master filmmaker George Roy Hill (Period of Adjustment (1962)), whose 6th feature it was. The film is based loosely on fact.
It is a celebrated and charming, very early instance of the buddy movie. To me, its western, romance and true events elements seem secondary to its being a buddy movie. Taken as such, it is entertaining, funny and exciting, but also banal, (as many buddy movies are), because it isn't really about anything. Not anything more than two grown men goofing around as buddies, that is.
But the film is good fun, in large measures thanks to its title stars, Paul Newman (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)) and Robert Redford (All Is Lost (2013)), the latter of whom build his career on it. There are nevertheless several stronger westerns from the 1960s, both American and foreign.
Seen out of its historic context, today, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid may well seem a strange film. But the '60s were a very different time. The film's status may make you expect something out of this world. It is good, but a far cry from great.
Related posts:
George Roy Hill: Top 10: Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Sting (1973) or, Partners in Hoax
Cost: 6 mil. $
Box office: Uncertain but projected gross of at least 125 mil. $
= Blockbuster (projected return of 20.83 times its cost)
[Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid premiered 23 September (Connecticut) and runs 110 minutes. Golding was paid 400k $ for his screenplay. Newman was paid 750k $ for his performance; Katherine Ross (Donnie Darko (2001)) was paid 175k $. Shooting took place from September 1968 - January 1969 in Mexico, California, including in Los Angeles, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. The film was #1 for its first 2 weeks in general release in North America, earning 15 mil. $ in domestic rentals in 1969 and ended up with 45.9 mil. $ in domestic rentals alone, indicating a gross total north of 100 mil. $ domestically. Foreign numbers are not released, but a few details can be made out: The film sold 2.9, 1.3 and 60k tickets in France, Germany and Denmark, indicating a 6.2 mil. $ gross in those 3 markets alone. A 25 mil. $ foreign total gross would seem likely. The film was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 4; for Best Original Screenplay, Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall (Black Widow (1987))), Best Song (Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head by Hal David (What's New Pussycat (1965)) and Burt Bacharach (A Boy Called Po (2016))) and Score (Bacharach). It lost Best Director to John Schlesinger for Midnight Cowboy, Picture to Midnight Cowboy and Sound to Hello, Dolly!. It also won 9/10 BAFTA nominations, 1/4 Golden Globe nominations and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Hill returned with Slaughterhouse-Five (1972). Newman returned in WUSA (1970); Redford in Downhill Racer (1969); and Ross in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969). Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is certified fresh at 89 % with an 8.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?
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