Comments on: “Bonnie and Clyde” Are My BFFs!

By: katalogi stron

katalogi stron — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:11:35 +0000

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By: Richard Harland Smith

Richard Harland Smith — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 06:10:40 +0000

While reading this I was struck by Dawn of the Dead's seeming debt to Bonnie and Clyde. That juxtaposition of hyper-violence and music that's just plain wrong and Galen Ross' character even has a Bonnie Parker glamor moment in the film, which ends with the last survivors rising up to (you might argue) Heaven in a way that Bonnie and Clyde never could.

By: kingrat

kingrat — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:16:39 +0000

Medusa, thanks for a great post. B&C is the first movie I saw multiple times. I also loved the mixture of moods. It’s also the first movie I’d ever seen that had believable Southern characters with believable Southern accents, especially by Hackman and some of the supporting cast. Bonnie’s mother actually reminded me of my grandmother.

By: Medusa

Medusa — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:10:26 +0000

Al,
Estelle Parsons has always been primarily active in the world of theatre (Actor’s Studio, and many others), and lots of TV work, including a long stint playing Roseanne Barr’s mother in her eponymous series. She also starred with James Earl Jones in one of the most harrowing TV Movies ever, the frightening “The UFO Incident” about the Betty and Barney Hill case. She’s still very much out there performing, and always so terrific.

Michael J. Pollard seems to be more retired than working, but also has a long list of credits that would do anyone proud.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0689488/
I did find some photos of him from a couple of years ago:
http://updates.absolutely.net/20080608/michael_j._pollard.html

That is interesting that so many of us young folks gravitated to the movie so eagerly. I also believe it was the frequent juxtaposition of comedy with violence or extreme drama that we responded to — it felt fresh, modern. It’s not that we thought the difference casual, we just figured that the potential for both existed simultaneously, and either might pop out, and did, in “Bonnie and Clyde”. At least that’s the way I thought about it.

And in the words of Buck Barrow — “Don’t sell that cow!”.

By: Al Lowe

Al Lowe — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:01:03 +0000

Medusa, you did a wonderful job capturing the spirit of the movie and stirring up everyone’s feelings about it.
It is interesting that we (the respondents to your blog) all got it, all understood we were watching something groundbreaking and wonderful, while BONNIE AND CLYDE befuddled some movie critics of that era.
Many of the participants in the film went on to do many wonderful things. But not everybody.
I was saddened 20 years ago when I glimpsed cameos by Michael J. Pollard and Estelle Parson in DICK TRACY. I realized that I hadn’t seen much of them in years and wondered what happened.
Does anybody know? Did they have better careers than I thought they did?

By: Medusa

Medusa — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 23:47:57 +0000

So pleased that many of us shared vivid memories of how “Bonnie and Clyde” affected us. A time, a place, a movie — and an impressionable mind! What a wonderful combination! :-)

By: NCeddie

NCeddie — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 14:50:03 +0000

Much of my experience paralleled yours upon seeing B&C when it was first released. I was sixteen at the time. I saw it with a school friend. My parents were not too “hip” about ’60′s films. But when I started telling them about the plot, THEY got excited and told me all about the times when the real B&C were current news. At the time, I didn’t know I was seeing a film based on real people! My father spoke of seeing the bullet-riddled car in the ’30′s when it was hauled around the South for exhibitions. Mom was interested that I had seen a clip of “Gold Diggers of 1933.” She had seen that film as a teen and toyed with the idea of running off to NY and becoming a chorus dancer! The film B&C, and the resulting conversations with my parents added fuel to my budding interest in cultural history and Golden Era films. Five years earlier I had seen “The Music Man” in upon its release when I was eleven. That film had triggered my interest in cultural history and the musical stage. TMM was the first LP album I ever bought! Of course, I had to have the B&C soundtrack, too, when it came out.
“Bonnie & Clyde” and “The Music Man”– two films that couldn’t be further apart, yet both continue to have profound effects on me 40+ years later. Truly, what you see as a youngster can have great impact.

By: morlockjeff

morlockjeff — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:01:50 +0000

In high school it was the cult movie. Everybody was walking around the halls quoting dialogue like CW Moss’ “Dirt, dirt in the fuel line” or “You’re advertising’s just dandy..folks would never guess you don’t have a thing to sell.” The whole subplot about Clyde’s psychological impotence wasn’t the sort of thing addressed in movies much and the mixture of bluegrass music with the extreme violence was jarring in a good way. It’s been imitated many times but it still seems fresh and original.

By: Marianne

Marianne — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 07:37:37 +0000

I had a slightly different experience the first time. My parents took us to see this movie but I was probably too young for it–I was 10 and not accustomed to seeing violence yet.It gave me nightmares for about three nights, then I started play acting that I was Bonnie-must of been her clothes and the way she carried herself–I wanted to be her.

Today, I am a well adjusted middle aged woman who owns the movie in her collection and still enjoys it.

By: wilbur twinhorse

wilbur twinhorse — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:11:27 +0000

Nice post medmor! I too fell under the spell of BONNIE AND CLYDE in the formative years. I was a junior in high school and away from my aunt and uncle’s place where I lived. There was a convention in Roanoke, Va. for the “Beta Club” (some proto academic thing), and there were a lot of semi-chaperoned teens in this old hotel downtown. This woman from my school was also there and her name is Bonnie! I had a crush on her though she was a year younger. Several of us went to the movie and it was pretty stunning how it took us out of our little lives and shook us good!
I have a vanity plate on my car which reads 4CWMOSS. Often wonder how many distracted drivers get it. Thanks