Butch and Sundance~!!
Having just written about a movie set in the west 150 years ago that was not overly happy and funny I thought I’d write about a western that came out in 1969 that was mostly fun to watch and set the tone for buddy films for several years to come. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid came out well before I was born, but it’s as fun to watch today as it was the first time I saw it. I was young and in school and I saw it for the first time on cable. The writing was very good and had memorable lines; such as, Redford asking Newman, “think you used enough dynamite there Butch?” after Newman literally exploded the train car that they were trying to rob. As well as Newman singing some song I’d never heard before or since that included the line, “Don't ever hit your mother with a shovel. It will leave a dull impression on her mind”
The movie had an interesting plot. Newman and Redford are robbing from the same train over and over, until the owner wants them caught. The owner of the rail-road them hires two of the most well known and tireless lawmen that are alive and in the United States. They are tracked across the state and apparently across the country as well, until the finally end up living in Bolivia.
Bolivia? Who ever heard of Bolivia? And the language and cultural differences between two Gringo Banditos and the natives are not an easy thing for them to necessarily adjust too.
The movie ends with you presuming they have died-at the hands and guns of the Bolivian National Army. It’s a sad ending to their story, but thankfully they made more films together!
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064115/
Tuesday October 16th, 2007
