Bonnie and Clyde
I had seen parts of this movie once before with my Mom. I only remember a scene from early on when Bonnie, Clyde and three other people were counting money in a house before the police showed up and of course the final sequence of the movie when Bonnie and Clyde are shot to death. It's been years since I've seen the movie, and having never seen it in its entirety I'm really excited about watching it again.
After having watched the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)
I watched this movie a couple of nights ago with my grandparents after dinner. Both of them had seen the movie before, but it had been years ago so it felt as though we were watching the movie together for the first time again. There are so many great things that I have to talk about this movie that I have to be careful not to write an overwhelming write up for the movie... not an easy task.
For those of you who don't know, I'm a big Coca-Cola fan. I love their advertising and I've been collecting for about eight years or so? A few years ago my Dad and Stepmom bought and gifted a Coca-Cola thermometer to me for Christmas. I loved it but was afraid to transport it back to Florida until this past September. Now some people when they start collecting can become obsessive, and can spot items from miles away. I'm the none hoarding portion of that, but it took my Grandpa to point it out to that the same Coca-Cola thermometer that I have is the same one that was used as set dressing or just happened to actually exist on the outside of a building in the movie. It's the scene where they pick up C.W. at the garage early in the movie. That just about made the whole movie for me.
Just about? Yeah just about because in a later scene Estelle Parsons, who plays Blanch, is seen wearing a hobble skirt. (Without getting too far ahead of myself, it's 60s take on a hobble skirt.) I have a theory that I've been working on for a while now and it works for both wardrobe and design in general. It's a working theory that you don't necessarily have to fall 'victim' to the era that you're working in. For instance, there weren't any true period pieces of wardrobe for the movie that I really saw. A lot of the designs were very modern for the time (1967) but were strongly influenced by the 1930s, the decade in which the movie takes place. The real Bonnie Parker never wore the same low cut dresses that Faye Dunawaye wore in the movie, but by changing the neckline just a bit it made the dress much more modern. The hobble inspired dress that Blanch wears isn't a true hobble skirt because a skirt like that would have been incredibly difficult and hazardous for the actress. One last tid big of information, the name hobble skirt came from the restricted stride the skirt put the woman wearing the item under.
Final thoughts: Wardrobe and Coca Cola advertisements aside, I love this movie. Although like A Cry in the Dark it sparked a bit of my curiosity. After I watched the movie I had to find out more about the real Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Included in DVD bonus features was a History Channel special that answered every question I had about the duo. The movie did a fair job at writing the story of Bonnie and Clyde and included several events that took place in the movie the same way it has been recorded in history. Clyde Barrow was an excellent marksman, which partially explains why so many rounds were fired into the car. The pair also kidnapped a couple, Dillard Darby and Sophia Stone in 1933. In an odd turn of events, Dillard Darby was an undertaker and would also be one of the undertakers who would prepare Bonnie's body after her death in 1934. Although the movie argues Bonnie was able to foresee their death together, the poem Faye Dunaway reads on screen was written by Bonnie Parker The Trails End. Although not all the things Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow did were bad and inhumane. Keep in mind both Bonnie and Clyde came from poor families and were doing what they felt were right. The scene in the movie when the pair are holding up a back and Clyde tells a farmer he can keep his own money, that was inspired by true events.
Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker
Left: Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker
Right: Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty
One final note: Hilary Duff is set to star in a remake of Bonnie and Clyde, The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. According to the IMDB the movie is currently in pre-production phases. Kevin Zegers is set to play Clyde Barrow and Thora Birch is set to play Blanch Barrow. I don't know, I think it could work.
Left: Faye Dunaway
Right: Hilary Duff
OFFICIAL COUNT: 119 DOWN 246 TO GO
Next up: Steal A Pencil for Me
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