Day 139 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Day 139          Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [1969]

                          

Screenplay                    William Goldman

Director                         George Roy Hill

Cinematography            Conrad Hall

Music                            Burt Bacharach

Leads                            Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Jeff Corey, Henry Jones

Production                     Campanile Productions, Newman-Foreman Company

IMDb                                  8.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes                 89%

You all know this one. I’d never seen it from start to finish until now and I can see why it’s such a popular film. It’s a Western with two handsome leading men and a beautiful leading lady, lots of gun fights and plenty of jokes. In fact, they had to cut a lot of jokes out because the studio was afraid it would come across as a comedy film rather than a Western. Newman and Redford complement each other well – it was supposed to be McQueen and Newman, but McQueen couldn’t agree on having to share the limelight with Newman (see Day 107 for more on this) and so they ended up with the less well-known Redford, and I think the film is probably better for that reason. My old boss used to tell me this was his favourite film and I can understand why. I’m sure nostalgia comes into it partly. Personally, though I felt it was missing something. It seems to be three films in one: the robbery and ‘hole in the wall’ gang, then Butch and Sundance on the run and finally the escape to Bolivia. And not forgetting the whole photograph sequence in New York. I kept feeling hard done by. One part would be over and then forgotten about, leaving little character development and no real flow to the film. The best example of this was the introduction of the tracker ‘Lord Baltimore’ and the mean lawman Joe Lefors, we never met these characters, and yet they provided excitement and a good storyline. Yet Butch and Sundance lose them simply by jumping into a river? The guy tracks them for miles and miles with ease, forever gaining on them, and then they literally see them jump into the river and the chase is over? The best bit about this film is the back-and-forth between Redford and Newman. That’s why we love it. Two cowboys fighting the law, seemingly invincible. For all my problems with it I couldn’t help but enjoy the bloody thing. Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch?

Acting                               3 / 4

Writing                           2.5 / 4

Cinematography             3.5 / 4

Music                                3 / 4

HWF rating                   3 / 4