Why did Bonnie and Clyde (1967), change so much of the real story around?

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by ironpony

I understand that movies based on true stories will make up a lot for the sake of drama. But here I feel that the changes they made to the movie, actually made the movie a lot less dramatic than the real story.

SPOILERS


In the movie, Bonnie and Clyde have a dead or alive warrant arrest warrant put out on them and the reason why the police shoot them is because the one lead cop, was humiliated by Bonnie and Clyde when they temporarily took him hostage, and then let him go, pretty much unharmed. So he wanted to get back at them and was probably the one who fired first, even though we don't see it.

In the real life story, Bonnie and Clyde killed two police officers to escape arrest. Either this or one of their team members did, it's never been confirmed who shots the cops.

One of the officers was about to get married before being shot, and his wife wore the wedding dress to his funeral, which sparked a lot of press coverage, and getting all the police departments riled up over wanting Bonnie and Clyde dead, or brought to justice.

I feel that for the movie, the real life story is far more dramatic. The bride to be of the killed officer, showing up at her dead husbands funeral, and causing public outcry, is just much more dramatic, then humiliating a cop in a photoshoot, then letting him go.

So I'm wondering why the writers chose to opt for a less dramatic story, when the real life story was more dramatic and compelling? I realize in movies they make things up for dramatic license, but this is more like anti-dramatic license, since the writers chose a less dramatic story as a result.

What do you think?

For the time, the movie had plenty of drama, and it's violence was extremely graphic, too. So much so that it nearly got an X rating, and some scenes were edited so it could get released as an R rated movie. In fact, Bonnie and Clyde's violence, the first that was so graphic, set the standard for the even bloodier movies that were released later, like the Wild Bunch, the Dirty Harry movies, the Getaway, Pat Garret and Billy The Kid, and The Godfather.

But the violence wasn't what made Bonnie and Clyde such a huge hit. It was the romance. The movie is basically a love story, and only one of several that are going on at the same time.

It's a Doomed Romance movie, a genre that was very popular in the 60s. Dr. Zhivago was another doomed romance and it was a huge hit earlier, as was the version of Romeo and Juliet that used actual young people as the doomed lovers that followed shortly afterward. Love and violence always sells. The Twilight series is a modern example.

Another factor that made the movie popular was its time setting. During the 30s, Bonnie and Clyde were just a couple of many bandits who hit the road, committing violent robberies. They were less famous than John Dillinger or Pretty Boy Floyd, so by the 60s, they were generally forgotten until the movie was released. By the 60s, the Depression Era was a distant time long ago, and the movie was fascinating because it was mostly true, and used actual photos of the real couple in the opening credits. That was a novel and brand-new thing itself.

The sound track also was an odd factor in making the movie a hit. It was one of the first to use folk music and bluegrass as background music instead of an orchestra, at a time when the music genre was very popular and hadn't been used that way before for romantic movies. The banjo-driven chase theme became a big summer radio hit and pulled viewers in who wanted to hear it in action and context.

Beatty was responsible for almost all of it. He wasn't a big star then, but his sister was, and with her connections, he was able to get it produced. He bought the original screenplay, and had a very difficult time finding a director.
But the times were changing fast in Hollywood due to the rising popularity of the French New Wave movies.

By 1966, French directors began directing American hit movies like Faranheit 451 in a new, gritty, style, and Arthur Penn, who had studied the French style, finally became convinced to take on the helm as director. Beatty approached many other directors and better-known actors, but was turned down by all of them. Jane Fonda was offered Bonnie, but chose Barbarella instead. Natalie Wood turned the part down, as did Tuesday Weld, and Carol Lyndley.

He was the only pretty well-known actor, because it was so risky. Faye Dunaway, who had only one bit part earlier, was a perfect match for him. And they weren't the only romantic couple; brother Buck's romance gave the movie a double whammy, and made Gene Hackman a star.

Bonnie and Clyde hit a sweet spot in the youth market just at the right time. The kids saw it first, and older adults came later.

It also spawned a lot of imitations, including Dirty Mama, the notorious Shelley Winters movie, but none were as big a hit, probably because none of the others was a Doomed Romance. Penn's direction was half-comdedic, which intensified the drama and romance once the comedy turned into horror. It was all very fresh at the time, and it changed Hollywood afterward.

Beatty had a good eye for a story that was good for him. "Reds", his magnum opus, was the same as Bonnie and Clyde- another Doomed Romance in a romantic place and time in the distant past.

The humiliation of the Texas Ranger was entirely fictional. In real life, Frank Hamer, the legendary ranger, was coaxed out of retirement, and never saw the couple until he was part of the ambush that killed them. His widow sued Warner Bros. for the humiliation scene and won the lawsuit.