Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

One of the landmark films of the 1960s, Bonnie and Clyde changed the course of American cinema. Setting a milestone for screen violence that paved the way for Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, this exercise in mythologized biography should not be labeled as a bloodbath; as critic Pauline Kael wrote in her rave review, "it's the absence of sadism that throws the audience off balance." The film is more of a poetic ode to the Great Depression, starring the dream team of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the titular antiheroes, who barrel across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck's frantic wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss (the inimitable Michael J. Pollard). Bonnie and Clyde is an unforgettable classic that has lost none of its power since the 1967 release. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com essential video

 Upgraded "Bonnie and Clyde" looks terrific in both Blu-ray and DVD editions
"This here's Miss Bonnie Parker. I'm Clyde Barrow. We rob banks"-Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) "I ain't no lover boy"- Beatty as Clyde Barrow to Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway).

"Bonnie and Clyde" looks better than a depression era robber baron in his finest clothes. The colors pop and while the images are a bit soft at times (due to the aging of the source materials), Warner has done a stellar job of cleaning up the film making a marked improvement over the previous DVD bare bones release from over a decade ago. Packed with some extra cool extras including a multi-part documentary on the making of the film, a documentary licensed from The History Channel on the real "Bonnie and Clyde", deleted scenes (sadly without dialogue because the soundtrack is missing)and wardrobe tests, this is one of the best jobs I've seen of a 60's classic reissued on DVD and Blu-ray.

He might not have been a "lover boy" but Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow sure is pretty to look at on screen. Playing with his image as a pin-up, Beatty and the beautiful Faye Dunaway pull off their roles as Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" despite their Hollywood looks. Penn has always been an adventurous filmmaker and his work with Beatty in "Mickey One" paid off with a solid, nuanced performance from Betty where others might have let the actor get away with a less thoughtful interpretation of the role. With "Bonnie and Clyde" Penn and Beatty (producer on the project) demonstrate a keen awareness of the French New Wave (originally director Francios Truffaut was approached to direct and its rumored that Jean Luc-Goddard the infant terrible of the New Wave movement was asked as well but his changes were so radical that he was rejected as a director for the film. Truffaut's most telling influence the elimination of Clyde Barrow's bisexuality in favor of making him impotent a choice that Penn also argued for when Beatty thought about going back to the original script by David Newman and Robert Benton) which influenced some of Penn's unusual visual choices for the film. The first time we meet Bonnie Parker we see only isolated close ups of her face as she puts on her make up and Penn gradually reveals the room as something less than the elegance that we might have expected from a Hollywood thriller like "Bonnie and Clyde". "Bonnie and Clyde" is notable for a shift with much more gruesome, violent sequences that Hollywood had seen before; in fact Penn claims that the sequence where Clyde shoots the manager of a bank in the face as he tries to stop their car was the very first time that a Hollywood film showed the shooter and the victim all in the same single shot. If that is so, it's a startling change that influenced the rest of Hollywood for good and bad over the course of the next forty some years.

Penn, Beatty, screenwriters Benton & Newman (and an uncredited Robert Towne who receives a "creative consultant" credit since he couldn't claim a writing credit for his work) do take some liberties with the story of bank robbers Barrow and Parker but in the interest of the drama those liberties work creating a film that examines the characters and the world of foreclosed mortgages, depression era poor people and the wealthy who just kept getting wealthier in fine detail. Featuring stellar support from actors Gene Hackman as Clyde's brother, Gene Wilder (in his film debut), Michael J. Pollard and Estelle Parsons, "Bonnie and Clyde" has aged gracefully. Penn's brilliant visual motifs stand up surprisingly well. They draw attention to the characters and saying as much with as little dialogue as possible. Even where the facts are skirted (such as the fact that Bonnie Parker was badly burned and had to be carried most places by Clyde Barrow after a car accident), there's a logical dramatic reason for doing so.

The Blu-ray looks stunning as well but fans should be aware of the age of the film as this doesn't look quite as stunning as a more contemporary film might. Nevertheless, my jaw dropped as I haven't seen a print look THIS good even when I worked at the UCLA archives or sat through the film for the first time in one of Howard Suber's classes on film genres.

Audio sounds quite good but, again, keep in mind the original soundtrack was recorded, mixed and mastered in mono as that was the standard when this film played in theaters. Interestingly enough, fans will probably hear a better sounding version here on the DVD than when it played in theaters. Warner had so little faith in the film that it was released to drive-in's and second tier theaters initially (they also offered Beatty nearly half of the domestic gross as his fee figuring the film wouldn't make a huge amount of money. Someone at Warner probably paid with their job for such a miscalculation).

This deluxe two disc edition treats this classic with the respect it deserves; special features producer Laurent Bouzereau was called in to create the featurettes for the two disc edition demonstrating how much love Warner was willing to give the film. Bouzereau does his usual top notch job here.

"Revolution: The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'" is a three part documentary that covers everything from the fights that director Penn had with his cinematographer for his unusual stylistic choices to the checkered history of the film's production.

"Love and Death: The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" has been licensed from the History Channel and gives fans of the film the REAL story of the couple which is a nice contrast to the reel one were given by Penn and Beatty.

Also included are two deleted scenes which I'm surprised have survived all this time. The clips are silent as the original audio recordings from the location have been lost but there are subtitles to give fans an idea of what is going on. ***

We also get to see Warren Beatty model clothes for us in the wardrobe tests.

One of Penn's finest films (along with "Night Moves", "The Miracle Worker" and his underrated oddity "The Missouri Breaks"), "Bonnie and Clyde" looks terrific in a remastered deluxe DVD edition. Fans will positively love the clean up job done on the video and while the audio doesn't sound much improved, it sounds as good as it's ever going to get. Highly recommended.
April 21, 2008

 Love the photogenic quality
the photo quality of this movies blows me away - it's superb!!! Of course it helps when you have two fine actors - great movie!!!!!!!! April 19, 2008

 Not a bad movie, but can we get a more authentic remake?
Some of the previous reviewers have already hit upon the historical errors, how Bonnie and Clyde met, Clyde killed outside the car, the real Bonnie being a rehead, the CW Moss composite character, the fact that they never met Hammer. One point I would like to bring up and that is that the movie failed to show Clyde's weapon of choice, the BAR or Browning Automatic Rifle. Clyde used it most of the time, as a Thompson machine gun fire couldn't penetrate a car like a BAR could. A BAR was also very loud and intimidating. Clyde even cut off part of the barrel and end stock so he could wield it with ease. Why the movie failed to show this was most likely a plain lack of research by the script writers.

The real story of Bonnie and Clyde should be the next blockbuster remake. April 10, 2008

 Landmark of American Cinema
1967 was a watershed year for American film. The Best Picture nominees were "Bonnie and Clyde", "In the Heat of the Night", "The Graduate", "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" and..."Dr. Doolittle". "In Cold Blood" wasn't nominated. "Bonnie and Clyde" was unlike any film that came before and that may account for it's spotty reception upon initial release. Is the film a treatise on the nature of violence? Is it a commentary on misguided hero worship? Whatever, it's a damn good movie. "Bonnie and Clyde" may not have influenced Peckinpah but it sure anticipated him. Director Arthur Penn does a terrific job of evoking the Great Depression, a time when it would be perfectly understandable for the mass public to embrace anti-social misfits like the Barrow Gang. Warren Beatty projects aw-shucks geniality as Clyde, a man who knows how to handle a six-shooter but shoots blanks in the bedroom. Faye Dunaway is sensuous as Bonnie, a waitress who joins Clyde not so much for altruistic reasons but more for thrill seeking. Terrific supporting cast includes Gene Hackman as Clyde's along for the ride brother, Buck, Estelle Parsons as Buck's highstrung wife, Blanche, and Michael J. Pollard as the lazy gaited mechanic who relishes the opportunity to rub elbows with notoriety. "Bonnie and Clyde" hasn't dated one iota from 1967 and is definitely deserving of it's status in the American Film Pantheon. April 10, 2008

 They're Young...They're In Love...They Kill People....
Bonnie and Clyde: The Ultimate Collector's Edition (Warner Home Video) gives us a chance to reexamine a classic film forty-one years after its initial release. If you're asking whether it's worth shelling out the money for this, the answer is a qualified "yes." Is it a "perfect package?" No, not by a long shot...no pun intended. My review will address the component parts of this product.

THE FILM

The film "Bonnie and Clyde" was released rather tepidly by Warner Brothers (which had been purchased by Seven Arts during post-production) in 1967. The film stands on its own (literally) in this box set, and unless improved picture quality is important to you, you would probably be satisfied with the earlier DVD issuance of the film.

Still, the film is astonishing enough. Unlike many 1960's films, it is ageless. "Bonnie and Clyde" is regarded by some reviewers as being one of two classic "anti-hero" films released that year ("The Graduate" being the other film). In case you haven't seen the film....

"Bonnie and Clyde" succeeded in reviving interest in the lives of two Depression-era outlaws, Clyde Barrow (1909-1934) and his girlfriend, Bonnie Parker (1910-1934). Skillfully combining some fact with quite a bit of fiction -- a device that's become commonplace in film -- "Bonnie and Clyde" boasts an outstanding cast. Warren Beatty, who also served as producer of the film, is Clyde -- a charming albeit criminal personality who is also impotent. Bonnie is portrayed by then newcomer Faye Dunaway as a tough young woman yearning for excitement even as she is frustrated by Clyde's lack of sexual interest or prowess ("You're advertising is just dandy," she tells Clyde in an early scene, "Folks would never guess you don't have a thing to sell."

The cast is rounded out by the always excellent Gene Hackman as Clyde's brother Buck alongside Oscar-winner Estelle Parsons as Blanche, his tightly-wound, unhappy and (portrayed rather shrewishly) wife. Michael J. Pollard portrays C.W. Moss -- the only fictional composite amongst the film version of the Barrow gang (he represents three of Clyde's real-life accomplices: Raymond Hamilton, W.D. Jones and Henry Methvin). Smaller roles feature Gene Wilder (his first film) and Evans Evans as a couple who are, in essence, kidnapped by the Barrow gang for a while and forced to accompany them until being released -- a slightly fictionalized incident that in real life involved Dillard Darby and Sophia Stone of Louisiana. Denver Pyle portrays Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and Dub Taylor portrays C.W.'s father. The film is directed by Arthur Penn.

One of the things that has always struck me about the film is the change in tempo and mood. The movie begins with Bonnie and Clyde flirting after Bonnie spies Clyde trying to steal her mother's car. There is the early comedic touch (Clyde trying to rob a bank that has failed). But then Clyde kills a bank teller during a bothched robbery, because C.W. has parked their getaway car and gets boxed in (a scene that goes from laughter to horror as effectively as the oft-mentioned scene in "Jaws" when Roy Scheider sees the shark for the first time aboard the Orca).

From that point on, the violence escalates and the comedic touches are gone. Instead, we are treated to various portents of what is to come. The Barrow gang escape their early shoot outs but then become increasingly bloody in subsequent engagements; dark clouds appear over a cornfield as Bonnie runs away from Clyde, missing her mother; Bonnie ejects the two captives (Wilder and Evans) after learning he is an undertaker -- death is now next to them. This culminates, of course, in the death ballet as Bonnie and Clyde are riddled with bullets.

I am sure others have commented on the historical inaccuracies in the film, but I'll mention a few:

* Bonnie and Clyde actually met at the home of a mutual friend in 1930, and Bonnie did not accompany Clyde on his criminal escapades until 1932.

* Contrary to the film depiction, Bonnie and Clyde seldom robbed banks. Most of their robberies involved small businesses.

* The motivation behind the formation of the Barrow gang was to perpetuate a raid on the Eastham Prison farm, where Barrow had been abused, and to free Raymond Hamilton.

* The most outrageous fictional event in the film, in my opinion, is the film incident where Clyde captures and humiliates Texas Ranger Frank Hamer -- who spits on Bonnie. In reality, Frank Hamer never met Bonnie and Clyde until May 23, 1934 when he was part of the posse that ambushed and killed them near Arcadia, Louisiana. Hamer had been hired as a special agent by the Texas Prison System, following Barrow's Eastham Prison raid, and he was assisted by five other men (B.F. "Manny" Gault, a former Texas Ranger colleague; Henderson Jordan and Prentiss Oakley from the Bienville Parish Sheriff's Office; and Robert Alcorn and Ted Hinton from the Dallas Sheriff's office).

THE EXTRAS

The second disc in this edition is certainly worth the price of admission. There is a three part "Making of.../Marketing of" featurette with interviews of Beatty, Dunaway, Hackman, Parsons, Pollard, Evans, screenwriter Robert Benton (his co-writer, David Newman, is deceased), editor Dede Allen, director Arthur Penn...

While it has been noted by others that Benton and Newman's screenplay owed much to the French New Wave cinema and that they sought Francois Truffault's involvement (he passed, but mentioned the screenplay to Beatty), I was not aware that the original treatment included a menage-a-trois involving Clyde-Bonnie-C.W. This was dropped from the final screenplay at the suggestion of Arthur Penn.

I also was unaware (or had forgotten) that the film bombed on its first release, and that Beatty had taken over the publicity campaign and the film was re-released, garnering a rave review from Pauline Kael. It's a nice bit of film history....and Faye Dunaway still looks stunning!

The second disc also features the A&E documentary, "Love and Death: The story of Bonnie and Clyde." It is well done, and features comments from historians and Clyde's sister Marie -- who died just a few years ago.

There are two deleted scenes offered as an extra, both of them without an audio track. They're interesting but not essential and it is easy to see why each ended up on the cutting room floor. There is also a Warren Beatty wardrobe test.

EXTRAS

There is a perfect bound "photo book" of stills from the movie, which is very nicely done. There is also a smaller "press book" which is a nice keepsake -- although some of the print is a tad small.

On the whole, I am happy I made the purchase. April 10, 2008

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