Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

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  • BUTCH CASSIDY
    AND THE
    SUNDANCE KID


    DIRECTED BY GEORGE ROY HILL
    PRODUCED BY JOHN FOREMAN/ PAUL MONASH
    PAUL NEWMAN (uncredited)
    20th.CENTURY FOX



    Information From IMDb


    Plot summary
    Butch and Sundance are the two leaders of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Butch is all ideas, Sundance is all action and skill. The west is becoming civilized and when Butch and Sundance rob a train once too often, a special posse begins trailing them no matter where they run. Over rock, through towns, across rivers, the group is always just behind them. When they finally escape through sheer luck, Butch has another idea, "Let's go to Bolivia". Based on the exploits of the historical characters.
    Written by John Vogel.


    Cast
    Paul Newman ... Butch Cassidy
    Robert Redford ... The Sundance Kid
    Katharine Ross ... Etta Place
    Strother Martin ... Percy Garris
    Henry Jones ... Bike Salesman
    Jeff Corey ... Sheriff Bledsoe
    George Furth ... Woodcock
    Cloris Leachman ... Agnes
    Ted Cassidy ... Harvey Logan
    Kenneth Mars ... Marshal
    Donnelly Rhodes ... Macon
    Jody Gilbert ... Large Woman
    Timothy Scott ... News Carver
    Don Keefer ... Fireman
    Charles Dierkop ... Flat Nose Curry
    Pancho Córdova ... Bank Manager (as Francisco Cordova)
    Nelson Olmsted ... Photographer (as Nelson Olmstead)
    Paul Bryar ... Card Player #1
    Sam Elliott ... Card Player #2
    Charles Akins ... Bank Teller
    José Chávez ... Bolivian police commander (uncredited)
    Percy Helton ... Sweetface (uncredited)


    Writing credits
    William Goldman


    Original Music by
    Burt Bacharach


    Trivia
    * Paul Newman and Robert Redford really leaped off the cliff; however, they landed on a ledge with a mattress roughly six feet below.


    * They tried to get Bob Dylan to sing Burt Bacharach's famous song for the movie. He declined.


    * Dustin Hoffman was considered for the role of Butch.


    * Katharine Ross enjoyed shooting the silent, bicycle riding sequence best, because it was handled by the film crew's second unit rather than the director. She said, "Any day away from George Roy Hill was a good one."


    * Paul Newman did his own bicycle stunts, after his stunt man was unable to stay on the bike, except for the scene where Butch crashes backwards into the fence, which was performed by cinematographer Conrad L. Hall.


    * The actual name of Butch and Sundance's gang was The Wild Bunch. However, when the Sam Peckinpah film, The Wild Bunch (1969), was released a few months earlier, the name of the gang was changed to the Hole in the Wall Gang to avoid confusion with Peckinpah's film.


    * Body count: 30


    * According to screenwriter William Goldman, his screenplay originally was entitled "The Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy." Both Steve McQueen and Paul Newman read the script at approximately the same time, and agreed to do it, with McQueen playing the Sundance Kid. When McQueen dropped out, the names reversed in the title, as Newman was a superstar.


    * Joanna Pettet was first offered the role of "Etta Place" but was forced to turn down the role due to her pregnancy.


    * The real "Hole in the Wall Gang" hid near Delta, Colorado near the Green River. One of their bank robberies occurred in Delta.


    * Actually before the real Butch and Sundance ended in Bolivia, they spent some time in Patagonia (Argentina), in a town called Cholila.


    * In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #73 Greatest Movie of All Time.


    * Ranked #7 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Western" in June 2008.


    * Other actors that were under consideration for the role of Sundance were Steve McQueen and Warren Beatty.


    * Sam Elliott's feature film debut.


    * Photographer Lawrence Schiller shot the location publicity stills for the film.


    * Jack Lemmon turned down the role of Sundance because of a scheduling conflict with The Odd Couple (1968).


    * This movie was filmed roughly the same time as Hello, Dolly! (1969), on the sound stage next door. Director George Roy Hill believed that the studio would allow him to film the New York scenes on "Dolly's" sets, since the two films' daily shooting schedules were totally different. After production started, though, the studio informed him that it wanted to keep the sets for "Dolly" a secret and so refused him permission. To work around this, Hill had Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Katharine Ross simply pose on the sets and took photos of them. He then inserted images of the three stars into a series of 300 actual period photos and spliced the two different sets (real and posed) together to form the New York montage.


    * All the Bolivia scenes were filmed in Mexico, where almost the entire cast and crew, and the director, came down with Montezuma's Revenge (severe diarrhea caused by drinking Mexico's notoriously polluted water). Only Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Katharine Ross were spared, because they refused to drink the water catered on the set and stuck to drinking soda and alcohol for the duration of the shoot.


    * The sister of the real Butch Cassidy often visited the set, and her presence was welcome to the cast and crew. During lulls in shooting she would tell stories about her famous brother's escapades, and was amazed at how accurately the script and Paul Newman portrayed him. Before the film was released, the studio found out about her visits and tried to convince her to endorse the movie in a series of ads to be shown in theatres across the country. She said that she would, but only if she saw the film first and truly stood behind it. The studio refused, saying that allowing her to see the film before its release could harm its reputation. Finally, at Robert Redford's suggestion, she agreed to do the endorsements - for a small "fee."


    * Marlon Brando was seriously considered to team with Paul Newman for one of the roles.


    * The river jump was shot at the studio's Century Ranch near Malibu, CA. Paul Newman's and Robert Redford's stuntmen actually jumped off of a construction crane by Century Lake. The crane was obscured by a matte painting of the cliffs. Newman and Reford start the jump in Colorado, but only land on a mattress.


    * On the first day of shooting, involving the train robbery scenes, Katharine Ross came to the set to watch. There were five cameras and only four operators, so the DP put her on the extra camera. He showed her how to operate it, and how to move it to get her shot. Director George Roy Hill was furious but said nothing the whole day. At the end of the day, however, he banned her from the set except when she was working.


    * With nine wins it currently holds the record for the British Academy Awards (BAFTAs). It won for picture, actor (Robert Redford), actress (Katharine Ross, direction (George Roy Hill, screenplay, cinematography, film editing, sound and score.


    * The bull's name in the film is "Bill". He was flown in from Los Angeles for the bicycle scene, which was shot in Utah. In order to make Bill charge, the filmmakers sprayed a substance on his testicles. Oddly, he didn't seem to mind and endured it through several takes (from The Making of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1970)).


    * During the 27-minute super posse chase, Butch and Sundance dismount and separate from their lone horse, start scaling rocky terrain to evade their pursuers. Butch asks, "What if they don't follow the horse?". Sundance: "Don't worry, Butch, you'll think of something." Originally Butch retorts, "That's a load off my mind." That line was kept in the movie right through the mid-'70s until it was broadcast on network TV (1976). For some reason it was omitted and has remained absent through every TV, cable, video, laserdisc and previous DVD release. It was reinstated back into the 2006 "Ultimate Collector's Edition" DVD and viewers are treated to it for the first time in 30 years.


    * Near the end of the movie there is a tribute to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). Butch and Sundance are "caught" by a kid in the village who recognizes the brand on the rump of the gray mule that they have taken. The brand the kid sees is exactly the same as the brand that a kid in "Treasure" sees on seemingly the same gray mule and then runs to seemingly the same police station to report the theft.


    * The climactic gun battle at the end of the movie was historically inaccurate. There were only a few police officers present during the shootout (the town of San Vicente where Cassidy and Sundance were allegedly killed was a very small place back in November 1908, and didn't have many police officers). Plus, there were at most two Bolivian soldiers who actually took part in the fight alongside the local police, not the hundreds shown in the film. In addition, the casualty count among the policemen was nowhere near as enormous as that shown (only one soldier and one police officer were actually killed) and most of the gun battle took place in the evening and at night, not in broad daylight as shown in the movie. These were the main reasons the Bolivian government at first banned the film from being shown in that country.


    Goofs
    * Continuity: The amount of straw that hits Butch while he is riding the bicycle.


    * Continuity: In the opening sequence when Sundance shoots the gun belt off the card player, the film was cut to make the quick draw appear faster. You can see Butch's image jump across the screen in the background.


    * Continuity: The "foot pegs" through the front axle of the bicycle that Etta uses disappear during Butch's stunt performance and reappear afterwards.


    * Errors in geography: In the final shootout in San Vicente, there are trees all around the town and one in the plaza. The real San Vicente, Bolivia is at 4800 meters altitude (over 15,000 ft.), so is well above the tree line.


    * Revealing mistakes: During the climactic gun battle, Sundance fires his two six-guns at least 16 times without reloading. Obviously the guns would have to be reloaded after only 12 shots.


    * Continuity: In the river, Butch says to Sundance, "You're choking me! You're choking me!" although they're apart at this point.


    * Revealing mistakes: When they're eating at Etta's house, before and after Butch shouts, "You probably inherited every penny you got!" you can see Butch's shadow on the set.


    * Revealing mistakes: While the second train robbery is taking place, the Pinkertons arrive on the special train. The shot of the special train engine coming to a stop right in front of the camera was obviously filmed with the engine starting close to the camera and backing up, then the shot was run in reverse. Notice the steam is returning to the engine instead of coming out of it.


    * Errors in geography: Though the second half of the movie is supposedly set in Bolivia, all the Spanish-speaking actors have Mexican accents.


    * Factual errors: In the film, The Sundance Kid claims to have been born in New Jersey. The real Sundance Kid was born in born in Mont Clare, Pennsylvania.


    * Factual errors: At the climactic shootout, the shoulder insignia of the Bolivian army officers are wrong: instead of stripes, the shoulder boards should have six-pointed stars.


    Filming Locations
    20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA
    (studio)
    Chama, New Mexico, USA
    Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
    (Bolivia)
    Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, Durango, Colorado, USA
    Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway, Durango, Colorado, USA
    (Railway Robberies)
    Durango, Colorado, USA
    Grafton, Utah, USA
    Las Animas River Gorge, Durango, Colorado, USA
    New Sheridan Bar - 231 W. Colorado Avenue, Telluride, Colorado, USA
    (Bar)
    San Juan National Forest, Durango, Colorado, USA
    Silverton, Colorado, USA
    Snow Canyon, Utah, USA
    (Landscape)
    Springdale, Utah, USA
    St. George, Utah, USA
    (Landscape)
    Taos, New Mexico, USA
    Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico
    (Bolivia)
    Telluride, Colorado, USA
    Trimble Bridge, Animas River, Colorado, USA
    (Jump into river) (Baker's Bridge)
    Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah, USA

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 6 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill
    and written by William Goldman (who won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film).


    Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker,
    known as Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his partner
    Harry Longabaugh, the "Sundance Kid" (Robert Redford), who are on the run from a crack US posse
    after a string of train robberies.
    The pair and Sundance's lover, Etta Place (Katharine Ross), flee to Bolivia
    in search of a more successful criminal career, where they meet their end.


    In 2003, the film was selected for the United States National Film Registry
    by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
    The American Film Institute ranked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
    as the 49th-greatest American film on its AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) list.


    A classic western and a top notch movie.
    The brilliant pairing of Robert Redford and Paul Newman,
    was a master stoke of casting,
    as the pair bounced off one another, with natural ease.
    Well scripted and directed, this movie is a fun film.
    With the addition of Katherine Ross, and Strother Martin,
    and the wonderful score by Burt Bacharach,
    including the brilliant song,
    Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
    this movie was destined be huge,
    and indeed it was!
    Voted the 7th best western of all time.



    User Review

    A Perfect Script For a Near-Perfect Movie
    25 January 2001 | by director (Los Angeles, California, USA) –


    "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is one of the greatest movies ever made. It is my favorite film of all time, and the biggest reason for that is because of its script by William Goldman. It's very rare in film that a script has perfect lines in it from beginning to end, but this film is an example of what can be achieved by Hollywood screenwriters. It was William Goldman's script of this movie that sparked my passion for the American cinema. Though most Westerns of the cinema past have serious and gritty tones to them, this film has just the right mix of comedy, wit, and adventure. The greatest team in Hollywood history, arguably, is the team of Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The presence by these two Hollywood legends has help cement this film as one of the greatest movies ever made - according to organizations like the American Film Institute. The direction by George Roy Hill is first rate, and much credit also has to be given to cinematographer Conrad Hall, who did a great job giving this film the superior look of the Old West.


    Katherine Ross adds to this film in the role as the beautiful Etta Place, as does the score, which makes us feel good about going to the movies. This was the film that, for the first time, got audiences to root for "the bad guys". This film should be shown in every film school to show film students how to make a theatrical film. I will always love this movie, and indeed, this movie is something special. It is also special to me because the REAL Sundance Kid was born in my hometown of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Its a good movie but, I liked it more when I was much younger, much more than I do now. I think part of the reason why im not much of a fan of this movie has to do with Robert Redford. I don't dislike him but???????

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • Yes I hear you, he's a great actor, but politically, part of the Hollywood liberal establishment. This tends to cloud my jugement.:glare:

    Chester :newyear:



    To add to what yall said, I don't really think much of him as an actor. I remember ANC played some old war movie that was Redfords first appearance-which also starred John Saxon. I don't remember it's title but, I thought Redford was lousy in that movie too. From his role in that movie, one couldn't possibly visualize that he'd actually "make it" in Hollywoodland. John Saxon on the other hand-wasn't too bad in his role-considering the kind of role he was in.

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • Never been a fan of this film. Don't think I can pinpoint one thing in it. I love Paul Newman. Not a fan of Redford. He has had a few good movie IMO, bit not enough to make me think he is a great actor. I liked him best in "The Sting".

    The thing that gets me with this movie is I get that early 70's western feel. Kind of weird and not really in touch with the true western's of different generation's. I have had the cance to buy this movie numerous times but always seem to pass it up for something else.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

  • Hi Todd, I feel the same way as you do about both the film and Robert Redford. Im just not a fan of those more "revisionist" type of Westerns.

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • You are correct Chester. That is one other RR film that I enjoyed as well. Although I wasn't fond of the Barbra Hershey or Kim Basinger characters. With Barbra Hershey i think it was the actual character and with Kim Basinger I think its just because she cannot act, period.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

  • The Mrs reminded me of a pretty good RR movie, The Natural. We watched it back during Little League season, and enjoyed it, as it devoid of politics. At least governmental.

    Chester :newyear:



    I've never watched The Natural so can't comment on it. However, I take a previous comment back and will admit that I liked him in Brubaker-as the Prison Warden, and as Major Julian in: A Bridge Too Far. Other than that, I can't stand him as an actor.

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • I agree that Redford dragged this movie down at every turn. Too bad, too, because it was a good story with interesting characters. Think how great it would have been if Steve McQueen had played Sundance, as was originally intended.


    Quote

    "I am not intoxicated - yet." McLintock!

  • I agree that Redford dragged this movie down at every turn. Too bad, too, because it was a good story with interesting characters. Think how great it would have been if Steve McQueen had played Sundance, as was originally intended.



    I agree with you. I think Steve McQueen would have made that movie much better than it was.

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • favorite western of the time though it does seem to run slow in some parts but you can't deny the Chemestry between Newman & Redford

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  • This is one of my all time favorite movies. It was both funny and exciting. Paul Newman and Robert Redford were both brilliant. I love the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head".

  • just seen it again saturday night and nearly cried durring the bike scene because seeing all the fun Butch and Etta had made me miss Paul even more than I already did

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  • I always felt that this movie was far over rated. I felt it was very slow. Their is another version out now called Butch And Sundance. Dont know how long its been out but not long. I liked it much better than this one. Not a big Robert Redford fan either like chester said liberalism clouds my judgement.
    Steve

    Edited once, last by FarmerSteve ().