BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
US, 1969, 107 minutes, Colour.
Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross.
Directed by George Roy Hill.
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid seems to have been everybody's favourite film for 1970. Its theatre runs were extraordinary in their popularity and length.
The film has everything going for it: popular stars, western action and comedy, a very witty screenplay, Burt Bacharach music and 'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head'. (The music won an Oscar.) As popular and pleasing entertainment, the film is hard to beat. For discussion, it is interesting in its lighter presentation of the breaking of the myths of the glamour of the West and its passing, (Compare Tell Them Willy Boy 1s Here, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, The Wild Bunch, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys). It is in the fashion of the late 60's of the duo group of heroes or heroic villains, the most famous, of course, being Bonnie and Clyde. The film is stylish in its literate script by William Goldman, in its photographic effects from the opening silent film to the sepia and white Mew York photos and Conrad Hall's photography of the Western landscapes. The musical effects enhance the film considerably the Raindrops/bicycle sequence, the New York holiday music with its plaintive refrain used also for the credits and the chorus work for the Bolivian chases.
George Roy Hill has made such films as The World of Henry Orient, Toys in the Attic and Hawaii,
1. The film was based on a legend of the Hole in the Vail gang. Did it try to break the legend or prolong it?
2. What was so attractive about Butch and Sundance?
3. What kind of man Was Butch - he had vision while the World wore bifocals; he dreamed as a boy that he would grow up to be a hero; he did the thinking and had never shot a man before Bolivia; he was a soft touch, generous and never ahead with money; he -ran the gang, was tough yet humorous, likeable but without a steady girlfriend?
4. What kind of man was Sundance? - action, laconic, friendly, loving Etta, following Butch's orders, tough yet obedient?
5. Why did Etta follow them? 26, single, a schoolteacher, at the bottom of the pit, the only excitement she had was with them. Why did she say she was unwilling to see them die?
6. What was the purpose of showing silent film style during the credits and the lengthy opening of Butch and Sundance as persona and in action in sepia and white?
7. Were Butch and Sundance tough criminals and ruthless - how did they react to their pursuers, in the actual robberies?
8. What was the purpose of the bike ride with Etta? What effect did it have in the film along with the songs? Paul Newman showed Butch as infectiously happy. Did this sequence endear Butch to the audience?
9. Why was the sequence with the sheriff so strong? He said they, were two-bit outlaws in changing times. Their day was past. Was he right? Is that why they were pursued and had to go to Bolivia?
10. Did you like the New York sequence? Why? How effective were the stills? What did they communicate as regards atmosphere? Were the three happy? How did the change of pace of musical theme on the boat alter the mood? Butch ate at the table while the others danced. Was he a loner?
11. Were they a success in Bolivia? Why were the robbery scenes so funny?
12. How did the shooting of the payroll robbers affect them? Why did Etta leave?
13. What was the impact of the final shooting, their courage, quips, dreams of going to Australia, "I thought we were in real trouble, go" and the final still?
14. How heroic did the final still make them? - never giving up, two against a thousand, a legend?
15. Why was the film so entertaining - the stars, the Western ingredients, the music, the witty dialogue?
16. How was the music used to good effect? How did it give the tone to the sequences:
- the bike scenes
- the New York sequences
- the Bolivian pursuits?
17. Was the film a glorification of the West? A criticism of its myths?
