List of Key Actors

Faye Dunaway – Bonnie Parker. Faye Dunaway’s career began in the 1960s, in which she was a famous Broadway star. She made her on screen debut in 1967 in ‘The Happening’, the same year she made ‘Hurry Sundown’, alongside Michael Caine and Jane Fonda. Her role as Bonnie Parker made her an instant star and she received her first Academy Award nomination for it too. Her casting for the role proved to be difficult, as not only were many actresses that were being considered for the role, such as Jane Fonda, Tuesday Weld and Natalie Wood, but also producer Warren Beatty was not sold on her casting in the role, and had to be convinced by director Arthur Penn to allow the casting. He quickly came round to her after seeing some photographs of Dunaway taken on a beach by Curtis Hanson, claiming, “She could hit the ball across the net, and she had an intelligence and a strength that made her both powerful and romantic.”

Warren Beatty – Clyde Barrow. Warren Beatty started his career in television shows such as ‘Studio One’ (1957), ‘Kraft Television Theatre’ (1957), and ‘Playhouse 90’ (1959) and he was also a semi-regular on the show ‘The Many Loves of Dobie Gills’ during its first season (1959-1960). His performance in William Inge’s ‘A Loss Of Roses’ on Broadway, his only Broadway performance, garnered him a 1960 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a 1960 Theatre World Award. After this, he then enlisted in the California Air National Guard in February 1960 but was discharged the following year due to a physical inability. Beatty made his film debut in Eliza Kazan’s ‘Splendor in the Grass’ (1961). The film was a major critical and box office success and Beatty was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and received the award for New Star of the Year. The film was also nominated for two Oscars, winning one. He didn’t really have another major success until ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ in 1967, in which he starred in and produced. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and seven Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. Beatty was originally entitled to 40% of the film’s profits but gave 10% to Penn, and his 30% share earned him more than US$6 million.

Michael J. Pollard – C.W. Moss. Pollard’s on screen career began in television in 1959, in which he had appearances in programs such as, ‘The Human Comedy’ and ‘DuPont Show of the Month’. He then made his Broadway debut in a non-singing role he created in ‘Bye Bye Birdie’, as Hugo Peabody. It was in Broadway that he starred alongside Warren Beatty, who he already knew from his days in television. The two developed a close friendship, with Warren Beatty saying the reason he was cast in Bonnie and Clyde was because “Michael J. Pollard was one of my oldest friends”, Beatty said. “I’d known him forever; I met him the day I got my first television show. We did a play together on Broadway.” Pollard received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, as well as winning a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles.

Gene Hackman – Buck Barrow. In 1956, Hackman began pursuing an acting career and joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he befriended another aspiring actor, Dustin Hoffman. Hackman got various bit roles, such as a role in the film ‘Mad Dog Coll’ and on the TV series ‘Brenner’ and in 1963 he made his transition into Broadway in ‘Children From Their Games’, which only had a short run. However, his next Broadway performance, ‘Any Wednesday’ with actress Sandy Dennis in 1964, was a huge success and is what opened the door for his acting career to begin. He made film debut in ‘Lilith’, with Jean Seberg and Warren Beatty in the leading roles. His performance in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ as Clyde’s brother Buck Barrow was described by Warren Beatty as ‘the most human performance he’d ever seen’ and it earned his first Academy Award nomination but it wouldn’t be until his role as Detective Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle in ‘The French Connection’ that he would win his first Academy Award for Best Actor, and thus, shoot into stardom. He then appeared in critically acclaimed films such as ‘Poseidon Adventure’, ‘Scarecrow’, alongside Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Conversation’ and , a personal favourite of mine, ‘Mississippi Burning’.

Estelle Parsons – Blanche. Parsons career began when she moved to New York and worked as a writer, producer and commentator for ‘The Today Show’. She made her Broadway debut in 1956 in the ensemble of the Ethel Merman musical ‘Happy Hunting’. Her Off-Broadway debut was in 1961, and she received a Theatre World Award in 1963 for her performance in ‘Whisper into My Good Ear/Mrs. Dally Has a Lover’. In 1964, Parsons won an Obie Award for Best Actress for her performance in two Off-Broadway plays, ‘Next Time I’ll Sing to You and In the Summer House’. In 1967, she starred with Stacy Keach in the premiere of Joseph Heller’s play ‘We Bombed in New Haven’ at the Yale Repertory Theatre. Obviously, she also starred in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ in 1967 as Buck Barrow’s lenient wife Blanche. For this role, she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She also went on to be nominated in the same category for her role in ‘Rachel, Rachel’ and win a BAFTA Award Nomination for her role in ‘Watermelon Man’ in 1970.

Denver Pyle – Frank Hamer. Denver Pyle’s on-screen career began in 1951, in which he guest-starred in the syndicated television series ‘The Range Rider’ with Jock Mahoney and Dick Jones. Up until his most well-known role of Uncle Jesse Duke in the CBS series ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ (1979 – 1985), in which he did 146 episodes, he mainly had limited roles in his television and film career, most of which came in Western Tv series, such as his guest appearances in ‘My Friend Flicka’, ‘ The Restless Gun’ with John Payne, the syndicated Western series ’26 Men’, in which he appeared alongside Grant Withers in a episode titled ‘Tumbleweed Ranger’ and his several appearances in Richard Boone’s CBS show ‘Have Gun – Will Travel’, in which he was a variety of characters, including the character ‘The Puppeteer’ in the his final appearance on the show. Also, a lot of his apperances in film and tv were uncredited, such as his appearance in ‘Cheyenne Autumn’ in 1964 as Senator Henry and his appearance in ‘Home from the Hill’ as Mr Bradley in 1960, so clearly he wasn’t viewed as a major star. His most memorable role in film is probably his portrayal of Frank Hamer, the sheriff who tails Bonnie and Clyde for so long and is the final one to kill them in an ambush.

Dub Taylor – Ivan Moss. A vaudeville performer, Taylor made his film debut in 1938 as the cheerful ex-football captain Ed Carmichael in Frank Capra’s ‘You Can’t Take It with You’. He secured the part because the role required an actor who could play tuned percussion. In 1939 he appeared in the western film ‘Taming of the West’ in which he played a character named Cannonball, who was a comedic sidekick to other famous western character Wild Bill Elliot. He would play this character in 13 different films, such as the ‘Red Ryder’ series of films. He then had bit parts in the classic films ‘Mr Smith Goes to Washington’ (1939), ‘A Star Is Born’ (1954) and ‘Them!’ (1954). He later joined Sam Peckinpah’s stock company in 1965’s ‘Major Dundee’, playing a professional horse thief. After this he would then go on to play Ivan Moss in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, a character who is deceivingly nice to the two main title characters, but behind their backs is signing their lives away to Frank Hamer, the sheriff who’s been tailing them for so long.

Gene Wilder – Eugene Grizzard. Gene Wilder’s professional acting career began in 1951 when he was cast as the Second Officer in Herbert Berghof’s production of ‘Twelfth Night’. He also served as the production’s fencing choreographer. After he joined the Actors Studio in 1958, he started to be noticed in the off-Broadway scene, thanks to performances in Sir Arnold Wesker’s ‘Roots’ and Graham Greene’s ‘The Complaisant Lover’, for which Wilder received the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Nonfeatured Role. One of Wilder’s early stage credits was playing the socially awkward mental patient Billy Bibbit in the original 1963–64 Broadway adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ opposite star Kirk Douglas. His first role in film was in 1967 in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ as the minor role of Eugene Grizzard, a somewhat sleezy banker who, along with his wife, is kidnapped by Bonnie and Clyde.

Mise-en-scene in Bonnie and Clyde

Locations

In terms of mise-en-scene in Bonnie and Clyde, the locations that the film was done in definitely add to this aesthetic of realism and verisimilitude for the audience, as all the locations featured in the film are actually real and are in North Texas near DFW. An example of a real world location in the film is the cafe/convenience store scene in which Bonnie and Clyde have some lunch in this cafe/convenience store and then steal a car that is sitting outside. This cafe/convenience store is a real world cafe and is still standing on 100 Main Street, Lavon, Texas.

Another good example in terms of mise-en-scene in locations is the farm that Bonnie and Clyde are practicing their shooting, which they find out, once the former owner returns, has been repossessed by the bank. This location and that scene embody this feeling that Bonnie and Clyde aren’t actually that selfish and are robbing these banks to give back to the people. This aligns with the zeitgeist feel of the film that it embodies this New Hollywood glamorization of criminals and their heinous activities.

Costumes

The costumes used in this film definitely add to the film’s 1930s period piece aesthetic and certainly look like clothes that worn during that time, adding to the film’s realism and the versimilitude for the audience. The cast wears a vast array of clothing pieces that embrace the 30s, such as Clyde and Buck Barrow’s fedoras and brown tweed suits and Eugene Grizzard’s sleezy banker suit.

The one exception to this is Faye Dunaway’s outfit as Bonnie, as she wears very 60s clothes throughout the film and, once the film came out, her fashion choices in the film actually inspired a fashion movement, in which women started to wear berets and more smart suit jackets. And for me, the fact that Bonnie always has new and fashionable clothes aligns with this idea that she is quite a materialistic person and that she is quite selfish, unlike Clyde who is portrayed at moments throughout the film to be selfless.

Props

The props used in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ once again add to the film’s realism and the versimilitude for the audience. Some particularly striking and realistic props in the film are the guns as they match the type of guns used in that time period and the cars used in the film as they are actual cars from that time period that were lent to the studio by this old car collector, with his only condition being ‘that they didn’t get damaged’.

Sound in Bonnie and Clyde

Dialogue

The dialogue in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ I feel is very accurate to the time period in which the film is set, which adds to the film’s versimilitude and immersion for the audience. The use of words such as ‘momma’ and the character’s improper grammar in their speech certainly places the film in 1930s southern Texas. Also, the characters Texan accents certainly help the idea of the film being in Texas and that these people are from Texas.

Sound Motif/Score

The score within ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ can be at certain times very jovial and cartoonish, with the film’s recurring use of the song ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown’ by Flatt and Scruggs certainly adding a quite comic tone to these rather morbid car chase scenes, especially the one in which a bank employee gets shot in the eye by Clyde Barrow, which creates a very clear contrast in tone. At other points in the film, the soundtrack adds to the mood of what is being shown, whether that be the somewhat romantic soundtrack that underscores the scene in which Bonnie and Clyde first have sex, or the scenes, which have a darker soundtrack to match the morbid content being shown.

Aesthetics in Bonnie and Clyde

Realism

‘Bonnie and Clyde’s realism is crafted impeccably in the film, whether it be through the real world locations being used in the film, or real 1930s cars being used in the film, to the actors Texan accents, the film certainly crafts it’s versimilitude and realism really well for the audience. However, it’s French New Wave style cinematography and editing, which is very jagged and erratic, unlike the conventional ‘invisible’ Hollywood editing, could certainly lessen the effect of the film’s brilliant realism for the audience

Tone

In terms of tone in Bonnie and Clyde, it certainly shifts a lot and the tone created by certain elements within a scene is certainly juxtaposing with one another.

A good example of this would be the scene in which Bonnie and Clyde’s gang rob a bank and one of the bank workers leaps onto the sideboards of the car and then gets shot in the eye, which then leads to a thrilling car chase/shootout with the police. The visuals being shown of this man being shot in the eye and this jovial bluegrass that underscores the scene certainly creates this clash in tone. The film makers have done this perhaps due to their French New Wave influences or maybe even perhaps to show the unpredictability of a criminal lifestyle.

Visual Style (French New Wave)

Bonnie and Clyde’s French New Wave influence is clear from the very beginning of the film, which uses this French New Wave style of erratic editing, to show to the audience that Bonnie feels trapped within her boring and mundane life.

The film uses many French New Wave tropes throughout, such as on location filming and not using built sets like Classical Hollywood does, and having very explicit and violent content throughout the film, such as Bonnie being nude in the film’s opening and the many shoot-outs and people being killed throughout the film. This French New Wave approach to Hollywood film-making certainly changed the landscape of Hollywood film and the world of film in general, as it allowed to film-makers to show more explicit content within their films, and it paved the way for more Hollywood films to be shot in real world locations, if it fit the film-makers direction and view of what they want their film to be.

Representations in Bonnie and Clyde

Women

In ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, there are two clear representations of women that being the two main female characters of Bonnie and Blanche.

The character of Bonnie I think can be looked at in two different ways. In one way, Bonnie represents the ‘Femme Fatale’, if you’re looking at this film as a piece of neo-noir, as throughout the film she attempts to manipulate Clyde with her attractive looks, such as the scene when they get back from the cinema and Bonnie pretends to be one of the dancers in the film and she tries to coerce Clyde. She also threatens to run away if she can’t see her mother. Another way you could look at her character is with a feminist viewpoint and you could view her as a character of female empowerment, as she robs the banks with the men and her sticking up to Bonnie could be seen as her standing for herself and want she wants, and could be viewed as not being manipulative. She is also the one to approach Clyde and seek a relationship with him and a change from her mundane life. A key scene which presents her as a visually powerful woman is when they are taking photos outside of Buck Barrow’s house, as in that scene, her clothing and the way she presents herself makes her look very domineering and powerful.

Bonnie also has this very clear cut powerful sexual energy from the beginning of the film, in which she is shown fully nude, though the audience don’t see it, which is a very forward thinking thing to include in a gangster film, as typically women within that genre of films only had background roles.

And the other female character in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ is Blanche, who is represented as this very sceptical character, as she doesn’t want to get involved with Bonnie and Clyde and just wants to live a normal life with her husband, Buck Barrow. She could also be seen as representation of working class people as throughout the film she is seems to be quite scared of Bonnie and Clyde, which most likely was representative of the views real life everyday people had about Bonnie and Clyde at that time. She is definitely someone who is not suited to the criminal life, shown by her constant screaming at any bit of action throughout the film.

Throughout the film the two women express their distaste for one another, which isn’t very surprising as they are two very different types of women. This is expressed visually in the scene above where Bonnie is a smoking a cigarette and Blanche is not, and she is looking away from Bonnie, which shows the audience a clear visual divide.

Men

Within ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, a lot of the prominent characters are male, showing the society’s patriarchal status. There is quite of broad range of male characters shown in the film, with the more macho and brazen Buck Barrow and, at times, Clyde Barrow, as well as the sheriff who hunts them down who is quite macho and masculine, and you then have the much more timid, C.W Moss and his, in my opinion, rather timid and realistic minded father, Ivan Moss, who understandably doesn’t want Bonnie and Clyde in his house.

The portrayal of the title character Clyde Barrow by Warren Beatty is certainly an interesting one, as at certain points throughout the film, he is shown, in a counter typical way, to be caring towards Bonnie and at points is quite a timid and sensual man, refusing Bonnie’s sexual advances, saying ‘I ain’t no lover boy’. He is also portrayed in the film as someone who cares for the lower classes, as shown through the scene of him and Bonnie practicing their shooting on a repossessed farm, which is then interrupted by the previous owner, who, through Clyde giving him a gun, is able to kind of ‘stick it to the man’ and shoot in some windows on a property which was once his. This care for the lower classes is also shown when they’re robbing a bank and Clyde tells one of the old men to ‘keep your money pops…’, instead of give it into the bank. This portrayal of criminals in a good light is a zeitgeist for this turning point in cinema in which criminals were glamourized instead of shunned in the films that were being made.

Authority Figures

Authority figures are portrayed to be people who wish to thwart Bonnie and Clyde and their heinous acts, such as Frank Hamer, the vindictive sheriff who wishes to get revenge on Bonnie and Clyde after they humiliated him, and Ivan Moss, who doesn’t wish for Bonnie and Clyde to live in his home, and so crafts a plan with Frank Hamer. There is also this representation of the higher powers, such as the government, being against the working class people, which is shown through the scene of the farmer’s ranch being repossessed by the bank.

People of Colour

In terms of people of colour being represented in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, there is barely any representation of that ethnicity, with the only major representation being the black man who is said to of ‘built this farm from the ground up’, with his white male friend, the first of which has been repossessed by the bank. Clyde allows him to shoot a couple of windows out in this kind of ‘stick it to the man’ moment.

This lack of representation of black people throughout the film is most likely a deliberate exclusion by Arthur Penn, as it helps place the audience’s mind into this era of segregated 1930s America, and adds to the film’s realism and versimilitude.

Working Class Americans

Working Class Americans in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ are represented in two different ways. You have the migrant workers and families, who have been evicted from their homes, and the farmer, whose farm has been repossessed by the bank and you have the higher class banker Eugene Grizzard and his wife, who gets kidnapped by Bonnie and Clyde and their gang, and, after strangely getting to enjoy their company, get abandoned by on the side of a random road. The inclusion of these scenes and characters show to the audience what the wider public think of Bonnie and Clyde and, in Eugene’s case, what Bonnie and Clyde think of them.

The scene which features the migrant workers shows C.W. Moss bringing an injured Bonnie and Clyde to this group of migrant workers and asking them for water. They then, very selflessly, give C.W. Moss as much water as he wants, even though they themselves have very little. They then are astounded by the fact that they are helping Bonnie and Clyde. This plays into to this idea that Bonnie and Clyde do what they do to help out the working classes, which is also shown through the farm repossession scene. It also plays into the context of the time in which films were glamourizing criminal activity more often.

The scene which features Eugene Grizzard and his wife being captured by the Bonnie and Clyde gang, strangely getting along with them, and then suddenly being released also plays into this idea that Bonnie and Clyde are doing what they’re doing because they hate the ‘upper’ classes and they wish to help out those below them, which is why I think Bonnie suddenly turns on them, as I think she realises that they are quite well of people and that those aren’t the type of people they should be helping.

Political and Social Contexts in Bonnie and Clyde

In terms of contexts which the film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ embody, it definitely has the spirit or the zeitgeist of this idea that younger people wish to see more exciting and relatable things in film, which is due to their exposure to the graphic content , specifically the Vietnam War ,through the news. This is seen in Bonnie and Clyde through the film’s overtly graphic and sexual content, for the time the film was made.

It also embodies this ‘New Hollywood’ film movement in which the ‘Old Hollywood’ factory system was pretty much gone and in its place came this idea that the directors should be allowed more freedom and should be given as much of the success of the film as the actors, which is why name such as George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola are so well known to people who aren’t massively versed in the world of film.

And finally, in terms of the films aesthetics, the film marks a change in which film editing and camera framing is done, as it goes from this very conventional ‘invisible’ style of editing and framing to this more erratic and much more obvious to the eye editing that is influenced by French New Wave directors, such as Goddard and Truffaut.

Casting

Warren Beatty (Clyde Barrow)

Beatty was originally on board as a producer for the film

Faye Dunaway (Bonnie Parker)

Michal J Pollard (C.W Moss)

Gene Hackman (Buck Barrow)

Estelle Parsons (Blanche Barrow)

Denver Pyle (Frank Hamer)

Dub Taylor (Ivan Moss)

Gene Wilder (Eugine Grizzard)

Wilder played a minor role in Bonnie and Clyde as his debut role before earning lobal recognition for his role as ‘Willy Wonka’ in Charlie and the chocolate factory (1971)

Star Vehicle

Star vehicle: a film that utilises an actor’s fame to promote the film, a film specifically made with an actor’s skill set in mind to show off their known skills and versatility. 

Casablanca is a star vehicle for Humphry Boggart, he had previously not played the leading man and was often playing in gangster films. Casablanca highlighted his versatility and proved he had the skills to be a leading man. Casablanca was also Ingrid Bergman’s breakout film as she was previously quite unknown, it can be said it was also a star vehicle for her to breakthrough into the industry 

Bonnie and Clyde was a star vehicle for Warren Beatty, he was the producer of the film while starring in it, he was responsible for hiring the director (Arthur Penn). He also had bought the script. Faye Dunnaway’s breakout role was as Bonnie as like Bergman she was also much more unknown than their male co-stars. 

Mise en Scene in Bonnie and Clyde

Locations: Bonnie and Clyde was filmed on location and not on a warner brothers backlot. The film was shot in Texas to add historical accuracy as the real Bonnie and Clyde were from Texas in addition to lower funds. The location filming adds more realism as they are not constructed, idealised setting. During the 1940s, America was living though the great depression. Bonnie and Clyde gives an accurate depiction of what peoples lives were like and had become after the wall street crash. The cars used in the film had also been loaned.

Costumes often showed 1940s fashion, specifically the gangster outfits. Bonnies look was quite 60s and became a fashion icon for women when the film came out, as many lost weight and cut their hair into bobs.

Editing: Bonnie and Clyde begins with a sequence of shots starting with an extreme close up of Bonnie’s lips, which is unlike classical Hollywood as there is also no establishing shot. The opening shot connotes to her knowingness of her attractiveness and her care into her looks. The camera then pans out into a close up of her face in the mirror. Close ups and mid shots are then used to follow her walking around the room, these shots are used to show her nudity without directly showing it. We then see her hitting the bedstead to mimic how she feels trapped in her current life as the bars on the bedstead reflects being behind bars in a jail. The only long shot in this sequence is when Bonnie is at the window, watching Clyde and speaking too him, which uses shot reverse shot ( a bit more conventional from Classical Hollywood) This opening sequence allows the audience to see the two main characters in depth, and breaks all the conventions of editing in the Classical Hollywood style. Editing in Bonnie and Clyde cam be very unconventional and inspired by the French new wave, however there are times the editing is very conventional and in the classical Hollywood style as it helps to portray the story. It breaks some of the conventions but doesn’t depart altogether from this style.

Sound: Music plays over credits and car chases (e.g 54-58 min) The music evokes the period of the Great Depression and highlights the setting of deep south America. The music is bluegrass style of music played with a banjo. It has roots in Mississippi, with afro American influence. The music is upbeat and light in tone with no vocals. The music is used to change the mood of the scene as we have the upbeat bluegrass music over the char chase and the original shot of the ice cream parlour, but when we see the ranger who is hunting down Bonnie and Clyde the music suddenly stops creating instant tension and apprehensive as the audience can predict how the film may end

Sound Bridge (J-cut) Music that covers a scene change

Dede Allen (editor) was one of the first people to use a sound bridge, she was an innovator.

Foley sound diegetic sound, sound effects. When Clyde is teaching Bonnie how to shoot there are sound effects from the gun (14min). The extreme loudness changes the mood. As the violence increases, the soundtrack increases in volume. Shootouts are very loud and violent and the loudness of the Foley sound is deliberately heightened.

J-cut, sound comes first L-cut, image comes first

Warren Beatty- Clyde Barrow

He was already a star before this. Bonnie and Clyde was a Star Vehicle for him. He was most known for his role in Splendour in the grass, his debut film. Before this he had won some awards for his only work on stage. Along with tis he had previously made appearances on Television in shows like The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which he stayed on for its first season. After Bonnie and Clyde’s success, Beatty was able to gain a role in films like ‘Bugsy’ (1991) and ‘Shampoo’ (1975) which he also co-wrote.

Faye Dunaway- Bonnie Parker

She was originally a Broadway actress before starring in Bonnie and Clyde. She performed in shows like ‘A Man for All Seasons’ and ‘After the Fall’. While Bonnie and Clyde was her raise to fame, it was not her screen debut, that was ‘The Happening’ where she was recognised by critics for her talents. That role was what got her hired for Bonnie, as Penn thought that her performance in it proved that she had the face for screen. After Bonnie and Clyde her roles included roles in The Handmaid’s tale (1990) and Arizona Dream (1994)

Michael J. Pollard- C.W. Moss

Pollard was chosen for the role by Beatty, as they knew each other due to them performing together on Broadway, likely in ‘A Loss of Roses’ in 1960. Before Bonnie and Clyde, Pollard had a few television appearances, notably in an adaptation of The Human Comedy. Due to him being known for his short stature, he was able to get younger roles into his thirties, such as small roles in ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Lost In Space’ While C.W. Moss was his best known role he has also had roles in Little Fauss and ‘Big Halsy’ and ‘Dirty Little Billy’.

Gene Hackman- Buck Barrow

Beatty saw him in his first credited screen role ‘Lilith’ (1964) and thought he was ‘a great actor’. He was on Broadway briefly in Children From Their Games, but had multiple stage appearances off Broadway in shows like ‘The Saintliness of Margery Kempe’ and ‘Come to the Palace of Sin’. After Bonnie and Clyde, he got a breakthrough role in ‘The French Connection’.

Estelle Parsons- Blanche Barrow

Parsons made her Broadway debut in 1956 in the musical ‘Happy Hunting’. After Bonnie and Clyde, she was nominated for her work in ‘Rachel, Rachel’ the following year. She has also portrayed Lady Macbeth on the stage in 1978.

Denver Pyle- Frank Hamer

Pyle’s screen debut came in 1947 in the movie Devil ship. Pyle had many roles in television as well, such as on ‘The Range Rider’, ’The Duke of Hazzard’ and ‘The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams’.

Dub Taylor- Ivan Moss

He had his screen debut in 1938 in ‘You Can’t Take It with You’. In 1939, Taylor get the part of Cannonball in ‘Taming of the West’, a character he would continue to play for 10 years. He was mainly known as a western actor.

Gene Wilder- Eugene Grizzard

Bonnie and Clyde was Wilder’s screen debut. before then, he had mainly been a stage actor, acting in shows like ‘The Complacent Lover’ and ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next’. His most well known role is his portrait of Willy Wonka in the 1971 adaptation of ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’

Mise-en-Scene:

Locations and Sets – Bonnie and Clyde was largely filmed in Texas rather than in Holly wood. This was done firstly to try and stop studio interference and secondly because the real Bonnie and Clyde where from Texas. The locations that where filmed in where largely real places rather than studio backlot stages. The interiors where all made to represent the films time period (the 1930s)

Clothing – While most of the costume design is time period accurate, Bonnie is the exception. Her outfits are much more 60s inspired and went on to influence the fashion of the time period.

Props – All of the cars where leant to the studio by a collector, and are all from the 1930s.

Editing:

the editing in Bonnie and Clyde is very inspired by the French New wave, this is evident in the opening scene of this film. Instead of having an establishing long shot like Casablanca, Bonnie and Clyde starts with a close up on Bonnie’s mouth, it shifting to her in the mirror. This opening scene tries to show more metaphorically than literally, by showing her clutching the bars on her bedframe it tells the audience that she feels unhappy, or trapped in her current life, which is when Clyde appears outside, the man who will change her life and make her feel that freedom that she is longing for in that moment. As well as this, the editing takes heavy inspiration from the French New Wave in other ways, such as its snappy cuts, which goes against the typical old Hollywood style film. this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take anything from the Old Hollywood style, it uses techniques like a ‘shot, reverse, shot’ when characters are talking to each other

Sound:

Underscoring– The underscore of Bonnie and Clyde is most prevalent during the car chase scenes, where blue grass style music is played in the background. This gives the, what would usually be intense, scene a sense of joy and whimsy. But this music will cut out when it is needed, which gives the audience the audible que that the scene has lost that sense of fun and is now much more serious. this is best seen towards the end of the Film where CW Moss’ father is meeting with someone and the music that had carried on from the previous scene of Bonnie and Clyde in the field is suddenly cut off when it is revealed that the person he was meeting with was Frank Hamer, the cop who is after Bonnie and Clyde. This sudden shift in tone with the audio tells the audience that this is a bad thing without the need for any dialogue. It is also used to establish scenes, like when Bonnie meets with her Mother. A small piece of music is played to establish the scene

Sound Motifs– Sound motifs are somewhat present in the film. The main one being the upbeat blue grass music in the car chases. The blue grass style music is meant to evoke the feeling of the great depression which further ground the film in its time period.

Sound Mixing- Music will suddenly cut out to evoke emotions in the audience. The sound director Dede Allan was one of the first people to utilise the technique of sound bridging (L/J-cuts). this can be seen in the scenes that play following most of the car chases. This helps to suddenly change to tone of a scene.

Aesthetics:

Realism– The movie takes heavy inspiration from the realism used in French new wave. this is accomplished by the sets being real places, which grounds the film in reality.

Tone– The tone in Bonnie and Clyde is constantly shifting. As said previously, the tone can shift from fun and whimsical with the car chases to very serious once a force that could endanger Bonnie and Clyde seriously comes into play, such as Frank Hamer at the end of the film.

Visual Style– the movie is very realistic with its lighting. the visual style takes inspiration from the French new wave with the cinematography (i.e. extreme close ups).

Representations:

Men-

Clyde and Buck are fearless and don’t show much emotion when committing their crimes, Moss is not like that (panic in cinema 29:11) and stays emotional throughout the film (1:22:32) but does drive them to get help when they get shot (1:28:29). Clyde is less intimate than Bonnie and shows some reluctance about it until the end of the film (32:54) (1:40:14) which was not conventional of men at tis time, making him less stereotypical.

Women-

They are shown as emotional (blanche) (bonnie getting emotional over her mother). Bonnie is shown to be just as bad as Clyde and so is seen as dangerous rather than timid. Bonnie is a revolutionary character for the time, being a lot more sexual and forward about that with Clyde. This is important because of the climate about sexuality from around the time, having the Counterculture movement be quite popular around the time. This sensuality about her is made clear from the very beginning when she is in her room nude, and the shot of her lips are the very beginning already telling the audience abut her focus on her looks.

Authority Figures-

Frank Hamer is made fun of at the beginning of the film when they humiliate him in the forest. (52:10) but then he comes back and is eventually the man who gets Bonnie and Clyde killed. Bonnie and Clyde are constantly running from Authorities in the movie, so the audience automatically buts them in a sort of villain role for the movie. The scenes are played off as comical with the music in the background putting that to the forefront. This makes the audience feel as if, while threatening to the protagonists, the Authorities are a joke in the context f the movie.

People of Colour-

There are only a few people on colour featured in the movie, and none of them have lines. There was racism in the south at the time. One of them is working with the farm family at the beginning

Working Class Americans-

Bonnie feels trapped in her old job at the beginning of the movie, this is shown visually at the beginning of the film with her reaching at her bedframe, giving the illusion tat they are some sort of prison bars. Which could also be taken a foreshadowing to her life in crime. She sees crime as her only way out of her current life. One of the banks that they rob is actually closing down, which shows that they’re not making enough money to keep themselves open. Towards the beginning of the film, Bonnie and Clyde take shelter in an unoccupied farm house, they are found in it as they are practicing shooting, and they find out the family who used o own the place had it taken from them by the bank. They give the farmer a gun to shoot at the house, which shows the attitudes towards the bank at the time, especially by Farmers.

Political and Social contexts:

When the film was being made, there was a large push by the American Counter Culture movement for a more Liberal society. This is impactful because the character of Bonnie is very aligned with the ideas of this time. She was much more sensual which was one of the things they advocated for, the idea of sexual liberation as well as the avocation for women’s rights. Along with this, due to the ongoing Vietnam war, Penn decided that more graphic violence would be needed for the film to reflect the society of the time.

While the context for the time period the movie is set in is the great depression. This was caused by the wall street crash in 1929, this caused a serious loss in money for almost everyone in American society. This can be seen in the film by the banks closing down and the farmers who had their property repossessed by the banks that are losing their money.

Warren Beatty:

Previous films Beatty has been in include Dick Tracy and Heaven Can Wait. He was a star before being in Bonnie and Clyde as he starred in Splendor In the Grass which was made in 1961. I think he was casted as Clyde as he has been the leading male in other previous films. it is also because of his strong presence to be a rising star as well as his connection with producers.

Faye Dunaway:

Dunaway started her carrier in the 1960s on Broadway and then it swiftly moved over to movies. Bonnie and Clyde was her first movie meaning she was not a film star before. previous films she was in before include The Handmaid’s Tale (film) and Mommie Dearest. I think Dunaway was casted for Bonnie and she is youthful and pretty but also from past experience of being in theatre.

Michael j pollard:

Before Bonnie and Clyde was released Pollard featured in The Wild Angels and Summer Magic, he wasn’t a lead in these films, named part. He was a star before Bonnie and Clyde as he was on television series and also on Broadway. he got casted for his distinct looks and strong acting ability.

Gene Hackman:

Hackman started off his carrier by performing on off-Broadway plays such as The Saintliness of Margery Kempe in 1959 however, he made his Broadway debut in Children From Their Games. He soon moved on to a television series called the invaders, before Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie and Clyde was he very first film. I think he was casted in this role because of his background (having experience).

Estelle Parsons:

worked as a writer, producer and commentator for The Today Show. She made her Broadway debut in 1956 in the ensemble of the Ethel Merman musical Happy Hunting. Her Off-Broadway debut was in 1961, and she received a Theatre World Award in 1963 for her performance in Whisper into My Good Ear/Mrs. Dally Has a Lover (1962). She featured in one film before Bonnie and Clyde called Ladybug Ladybug.

Denver Pyle:

Pyle was not a major star before Bonnie and Clyde, but he is notable in are in a tv show called “Briscoe Darling, Sr”. I think Pyle was casted for this because in previous shows his in he has played rugged, grizzled characters so he has experience.

Dub Taylor:

Taylor was not a major role before Bonnie and Clyde however was featured in lots of tv shows and films especially westerns and B-movie roles. His early carrier include roles in “The Wild West”, he usually seen to be the humorous side kick. He was casted because of his extensive experience of being in western films which made him perfectly fit the role of Ivan Moss.

Gene Wilder:

Wilder was not a star before Bonnie and Clyde. His breakthrough role happed afterwards however, the movie was released in the same year (1967), the film was ‘The Producers’. Previous films Wilder was in before Bonnie and Clyde is “The Little Prince” (1966) but he did have a small role. Wilder was cast for the role of Eugene because of him excellent versatility skills, he could easily perform the comedic parts and also the dramatic.

Mise-en-scene:

Sets/Locations:

Bonnie and Clyde are from Texas, on location filming was always used (real locations). Verisimilitude heavily used, very realistic at all times: streets, houses, fields. Great Depression happening at these times of the movie of which it is set in (1930s), and Bonnie and Clyde helps show what life was like then, era is vividly shown throughout the entirety of the movie.

 Costume/Props:

Bonnie’s fashion was very 1960s  Gangsters costuming was very authentic, realistic with costume, sets and props. Props used are guns and cars however, with having real locations when filming various different props can be seen in the backgrounds.

Editing:

Bonnie and Clyde use discontinuity editing, meaning the audience/viewers are always aware that cuts are happening. this ruins the flow of the film and it can also help support the story line/plot.

first sequence of Bonnie and Clyde description:

Extreme close up (her lips filling the whole camera), Close up (camera focuses on her face /shoulders upwards, suggests to the audience she is naked), close-up (between her bed bars is her head is amplifies she is trapped).medium (she starts getting changed behind a stand you see from her hips upwards), establishing (when the camera jumps the Clyde outside then changes to her it establishes where she is/seeing her from her window). This does not follow the Classical Hollywood style as it does not start with an establishing shoot, instead of pronouncing where, who is being shoot it went straight to an extreme close of her face then panning to a closeup of her in the mirror. The editing is continuous in my opinion until it jumps to Clyde outside. The extreme close-up suggests she cares about her looks. It uses both French new wave and classical Hollywood, at the beginning its French new wave/ unconventional however when Clyde is established it uses classical editing, such as shot reverse shot, and it is important of the telling of the story.  

Bonnie and Clyde both reinforces and changes the sequence of Classical Hollywood. However it uses some attributes to help storyline.

Sound:

Music has a period feel to it, Blue Grass “foggy mountain breakdown” (sound motif) evokes the period of the great depression. Deep souths feel to it (Louisiana, Mississippi) it is played on a banjo. In tone that it is upbeat and lively, enhances the period and location.  

Dialogue takes up majority of the film, (most scenes have speaking) 

Music is used for car chases however; music stops when a bad person is on shot as is dramatically changes the mood completely indicating to the audience the upbeat fun music does not represent them as a character.  

Gun shots that are used effect on the viewer. Foley sound is deliberate (the volume level).  

Aesthetics:

The tone in Bonnie and Clyde varied throughout the film. You could go from watching a comedic car driving with upbeat music over the top to suddenly seeing a shooting scene with bombastic gun shots.

Overall Bonnie and Clyde is realistic, from the costumes, music, setting all attributes make it believable to the audience that it is set in the 1930s and there is no scenes that use anything cartoon based.

The visual French New Wave style is reinforced within Bonnie and Clyde as it is set on real locations which is a feature in the FNW style and also has 360 degree shots.

Representation:

Women: By only having two female protagonist, the characteristics of them are very different. Bonnie is a powerful, independent, dominating character who creates a countertype for women and is a clear representation of New Hollywood. However Blanche is a weak, vulnerable character who stereotypically relies on a man, she represents Classic Hollywood. These two characters have totally different ways of being viewed.

Men: In Bonnie and Clyde are the ‘dominant characters. however they are not always the countertype gangsters people might see them to be. Clyde, who is the main gangster is easily dominated by Bonnie making him seem more vulnerable. Judging the men on their actions they are stereotyped to be the people who rob banks, kill and hurt people.

People of colour: Very few people of colour, two. shows that white men/people are dominant. No lines are given to any people of colour. Unfairness is shown and discrimination, no equality.

Working Class Americans: Clyde giving to poor, house taken from bank. The working class people in Bonnie and Clyde truly represent how their lives really were in the Great Depression. They are seen struggling with poverty and struggling with economic challenges. Characters are seen working in farms. A lot of the working class admire Bonnie and Clyde, they are seen to align themselves with Bonnie and Clyde as they are rebellious and are also seen as outlaws. In the film Clyde is giving to the poor, people are effected financially as one scene consists of one family re-visiting their house that got taken by the bank.

Political and Social Context:

The Great Depression (1930s), displayed a mass of poverty throughout America. It lead to people jobless and having to find work in farms. The 1960s were marked by civil rights movement, anti- Vietnam War protests, and a general distrust of authority.

1.) What is meant by the term New Hollywood?

New Hollywood is an American film movement that took place in the mid 1960s to the early 1980s, where a new generation of filmmakers came to prominence. It had been influenced by Italian Neo-Realism and often featured taboo characteristics such as morally ambiguous characters, violence and antiauthoritarian sentiments.

2.) Name four of the films, directors and stars from this period

Films:

Directors:

Stars:

3.) What events were taking place in America and elsewhere in the world around the period identified as the New Hollywood era of cinema?

• The Cold War
• Arms race
• Vietnam War
• Civil rights movement

French New Wave

1.) What is meant by the cinematic term French New Wave?

A cinematic movement that took place from the late 1950s (1958) to the late 1960s. The theory associated with French New Wave believed that rather than have films accredited towards the producers and actors, that the author or ‘auteur’ should be the director, and therefore the driving force towards the creativity by creating a visual style specific to them. This would be applicable to their body of work, and audiences should be able to recognise director’s work immediately. It broke away from traditional filmmaking, after French director Francois Truffaut wrote an article criticising its lack of creativity. This prompted the beginning of the movement, which featured new techniques such as handheld cameras which gave a documentary aesthetic and jump cuts, as well as different storytelling styles.

2.) What specific stylistic and structural elements are present in French New Wave films?

French New Wave films typically featured natural light, non-actors, improvisation and natural sets stemming from the low budget environment that was the result of the poor post Second World War economies. In terms of techniques, handheld cameras gave the iconic, more naturalistic style of typical French New Wave films. Jump cuts, inspired by Jean-Luc Godard, were popular within the movement and influenced other directors to break away from the traditional way of filmmaking, even breaking through into mainstream films.

3.) Which directors and films from the French New Wave influenced Arthur Penn as he was making Bonnie and Clyde?

• Penn was heavily influenced by the French New Wave directors Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard and their innovative and unconventional techniques.
• The jarring nature of the straight cuts used frequently in Bonnie and Clyde were not at all typical of Hollywood film at the time, and is considered to be inspired by Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959).
• Bonnie and Clyde was influenced by Truffaut and his de-emphasised plots, with the film being almost more of a character study rather than being plot driven.
• French New Wave films were often shot on location to enhance the films’ realism and depth, which inspired Penn to also shoot most of Bonnie and Clyde on location.
• A theme of French New Wave films was to include music, which is used often throughout Bonnie and Clyde, specifically when they are being chased by the police or driving from a crime scene.

4.) Identify 3 scenes from Bonnie and Clyde where stylistic links are created with French New Wave cinema and why was this the case?

The opening scene of Bonnie and Clyde demonstrate the iconic jump cuts that are archetypal of the French New Wave style, coined by Godard.

A significant amount of Bonnie and Clyde was shot on location, which was common among the low budget French New Wave style. A lot of the film was noticeably set outside, apart from when the Barrel Gang were hiding out or robbing banks, which makes the shooting on location easier for Penn.

The use of a handheld camera in this opening scene is reminiscent of the French New Wave style, as it allows for the fluid and spontaneous movement of the camera.

New Hollywood Style

1.) How did New Hollywood directors like Penn approach his film narratives?
Penn was directly influenced by French New Wave directors such as Truffaut, which helped to shape the style he used for Bonnie and Clyde. Notably, the narrative in Bonnie and Clyde is very much de-emphasised, with the film not following much of a plot and feeling more like a character study rather than a plot heavy film, which strayed far away from the Classic Hollywood storytelling style. This is influenced by the French New Wave style of non-linear storytelling.

2.) What is discontinuity editing?
Discontinuity editing is a style of editing which ruins the continuous flow, with an emphasis on showing the difference between shots. This style of editing has the goal of drawing attention to a particular shot, scene or sound.

3.) Why is this time in film production sometimes referred to as “The Rise of the Auteurs” in Hollywood?
This time in film production can sometimes be referred to that way due to the rise in directors having their own distinct style. The word ‘auteur’ meaning ‘author’ was first used to describe filmmakers by Francis Truffaut, who had been criticising films at the time for not being creative. He suggested that audiences should be able to recognise a directors’ work immediately, which soon prompted a wave of filmmakers to join this movement. This style quickly found its way to America and into the ‘New Hollywood’ style.

4.) What is the lasting impact of the New Hollywood style on modern films?
Since the New Hollywood movement, directors have become far more involved in influencing the looks and overall style of their films. Furthermore, the ‘Auteur Theory’ can be seen in directors of the modern day, such as Wes Anderson.

As well as this, the rebellious plots and rise in graphic content led to the fall of the Hays Code, a strict set of rules designed to censor ‘immoral’ content and restrict what can be shown on screen.