Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (film)
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is a 1969 American western film that portrays the lives of two real-life outlaws, Robert Leroy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy, and Harry Longbaugh, the Sundance Kid. Set in the late 1800s, the film follows the duo as they engage in bank and train robberies while adapting to the transformations of the Wild West. The narrative begins with a silent documentary-style sequence that introduces the characters and their criminal escapades, depicting their struggles against the law and the changing societal landscape.
As the story unfolds, Butch and Sundance, accompanied by Sundance's girlfriend Etta, seek refuge in South America. Their attempts to escape their criminal past lead to a series of humorous and action-packed misadventures. The film is notable for its departure from traditional western tropes, featuring innovative cinematic techniques such as sepia tones, freeze frames, and a contemporary musical score, including the hit song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head."
Critically acclaimed, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" received seven Academy Award nominations and won four, including Best Story and Screenplay. Its unique portrayal of outlaws, blending humor with poignant themes of friendship and the inevitability of change, has contributed to its status as one of the most successful and beloved westerns in cinematic history.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (film)
- Release Date: 1969
- Director(s): George Roy Hill
- Writer(s): William Goldman
- Principal Actors and Roles: Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy); Robert Redford (Sundance Kid); Katharine Ross (Etta Place); Ted Cassidy (Harvey Logan)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is an American western about two real outlaws (Robert Leroy Parker, known as "Butch," and Harry Longbaugh known as "The Sundance Kid") who rob banks and trains in the changing and vanishing Wild West.
The film features a glimpse into the last several months of the lives of Butch and Sundance (a name that Longbaugh takes after being locked up for crimes he committed in Sundance, Wyoming) and is based on their real-life stories and adventures in the late 1800s. In history, Butch and Sundance and their gang were known for holding up trains and robbing banks in Wyoming. They were also known to have escaped from the law by heading to New York and later to Argentina and Bolivia, in 1901.
The film was the most successful of the year at the box office, and it was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four categories: best story and screenplay, cinematography, song ("Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head"), and original score. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was also one of the most successful westerns ever made in terms of revenue from ticket sales.
Plot
The film is first set in the Old West at the end of the nineteenth century. The first sequence is a silent film that is made to look like a documentary. It shows a train robbery being carried out by the Hole in the Wall gang. Then the film focuses on Butch Cassidy in town, checking out the changes that have taken place in the Old West that make his job of robbing banks more difficult. Then the film is in sepia again when the Sundance Kid is showed playing cards in a saloon and about to engage in a shootout. Butch interrupts the showdown and the two ride back to their hideout in Wyoming. They talk about where they should go next and where the best treasures could be found.
Meanwhile, Butch learns about a plan that a rival in his gang, Harvey Logan, has to rob the Union Pacific train. He and Logan vie for command of the gang and Butch wins. Then Butch decides that the gang should go with Harvey’s plan to try to rob the train twice, on its way to the first destination and back. The train robberies are only somewhat successful, with the second robbery being even more botched than the first.
Butch and Sundance head into town to a brothel where a party is taking place. Butch shares his childhood dream with Sundance, saying that he always wanted to be a hero. Butch realizes that his days of trying to become a hero are limited because the times changing.
In an attempt to turn their lives around, Butch and Sundance consider making a deal with the local sheriff. They know a team of detectives is on their trail, trying to track them and put them in jail for their misdemeanors. They hope to wipe their slates clean. Their offer is that they will fight in the war if their crimes are forgotten. The sheriff does not take their deal, and Butch and Sundance realize that they should probably move on. Butch and Sundance leave for New York with Sundance’s girlfriend Etta and head to South America. In their new home, Butch and Sundance resort to the same illegal activities and are eventually surrounded by authorities. The final shot of the film is a freeze frame of Butch and Sundance running out from the building in which they have been hiding, guns blazing.
Significance
The film is based on some of the real-life events that transpired at the end of the lives of Butch and Sundance, and director George Roy Hill tries to make it real by opening the film like a documentary. At first, and then in a few other places in the film, the audience views a mini-silent film or montage in sepia. Hill lets the audience know from the beginning that what they are about to see is mostly based on a true story. Because the details of the outlaws’ lives are sketchy, some of what the audience views is based on the bits of information on them: It may or may not be all true.
As with many of Butch’s plans, something always seems to go awry, which makes for many humorous moments in the film. During the train robbery, the dynamite that he uses to break the safe open damages the train car. He and Sundance find themselves jumping into dangerous rapids from a cliff to escape detectives who are chasing them. In every situation, Sundance seems to look up to Butch as an older sibling and looks to Butch for what to do next. In the same time, he exudes confidence in his skills and cleverness.
When Butch takes hold of a bicycle from a bicycle salesman and performs stunts on it while the song "Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head" plays, he is trying to embrace his youth. For a few minutes, he is not worrying about the future and the change that this new time (the twentieth century) is about to bring to the Old West. Then he swiftly tosses the bicycle to show that he would like to try to relive or redo his past and shun the future of the changing West. Butch never gets the chance to be the hero he always hoped to be.
Even though the film was wildly popular, critics did not agree that the characters in the film were depicting what really happened in the lives of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Yet the film was praised for being different in that it went against the typical classic Western plot of the good guys winning and the bad guys losing. It also did not employ the typical Western musical score. Techniques such as sepia, freeze frame, and montages were also not typical of most westerns.
Awards and nominations
Won
- Academy Award (1969) Best Screenplay (Original): William Goldman
- Academy Award (1969) Best Original Song: Hal David
- Academy Award (1969) Best Cinematography: Conrad L. Hall
- Academy Award (1969) Best Original Score: Burt Bacharach
- Golden Globe (1969) Best Original Score: Burt Bacharach
Nominated
- Academy Award (1969) Best Picture
- Academy Award (1969) Best Director: George Roy Hill
- Academy Award (1969) Best Sound
- Golden Globe (1969) Best Motion Picture (Drama)
- Golden Globe (1969) Best Screenplay: William Goldman
- Golden Globe (1969) Best Original Song
Bibliography
Charles River Editors. The Ultimate Wild West Collection. Boston, 2013. Electronic.
DiMare, ed. Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO, 2011. Print.
Eagen, Daniel. America’s Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry. New York: Continuum International, 2010. Print.
Ernst, Donna B. The Sundance Kid: The Life of Harry Alonzo Longabaugh. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 2009. Print.
Goldman, William. Four Screenplays with Essays. New York: Applause, 2000. Print.
Hatch, Thom. The Last Outlaws. New York: New American , 2014. Print.
Pointer, Larry. In Search of Butch Cassidy. Norman: UP of Oklahoma, 2013. Print.