History Film / BonnieAndClyde

* DownerEnding: The titular OutlawCouple ends up on the recieving end of an [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill absolutely disproportionate amount of]] [[MoreDakka dakka]]. TruthInTelevision.

* {{Catchphrase}}: "We rob banks."

* DumbBlonde: Averted. Bonnie is as mature and as active a participant as Clyde and Buck

* AssholeVictim: They rob banks, which after seeing what the banks have done to the poor folks of the country by foreclosing on their property, makes them look not as bad after all. However, this better describes John Dillinger than it would the real Bonnie and Clyde. ''Film/Dillinger1973'' takes numerous shots at the pair.

* AnachronisticSoundtrack: Bluegrass music began in the 1940s, about 10 years after the events of the film. Old-time music sounds very similar, however, and was around during the 1930s.

''Bonnie and Clyde'' was an unexpected smash hit that made huge stars out of Beatty and Dunaway. It was nominated for ten UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s and won two, for Best Supporting Actress (Parsons) and Best Cinematography (Burnett Guffey). It is regarded as part of the first wave of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood movement that helped to break down the studio system and usher in a creative rebirth for Hollywood, with its increased [[HotterAndSexier sex]] and [[BloodierAndGorier violence]], glorification of {{anti hero}}es, and [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority skepticism of authority]].

See also ''Film/TheHighwaymen'', which tells the story from the perspectives of Frank Hamer and his partner, Maney Gault.

Bored Texas waitress Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) meets small-time crook Clyde Barrow (Beatty) and decides to run off with him on a lark. The pair soon graduate to bank-robbery and murder and are subsequently joined by Clyde's brother Buck (Creator/GeneHackman), Buck's wife Blanche (Creator/EstelleParsons), and gas-station attendant C. W. Moss (Creator/MichaelJPollard). The Barrow Gang's exploits quickly earn them widespread press coverage and national infamy, and when they capture, humiliate, and release a Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer (Creator/DenverPyle), he swears vengeance.

Bored Texas waitress Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) meets small-time crook Clyde Barrow (Beatty) and decides to run off with him on a lark. The pair soon graduate to bank-robbery and murder and are subsequently joined by Clyde's brother Buck (Creator/GeneHackman), Buck's wife Blanche (Creator/EstelleParsons), and gas-station attendant C. W. Moss (Creator/MichaelJPollard). The Barrow Gang's exploits earn them national infamy. When they capture, humiliate, and release a Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer (Creator/DenverPyle), he swears vengeance.

Bored Texas waitress Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) meets small-time crook Clyde Barrow (Beatty) and decides to run off with him on a lark. The pair soon graduate to bank-robbery and murder and are subsequently joined by Clyde's brother Buck (Creator/GeneHackman), Buck's wife Blanche (Creator/EstelleParsons), and gas-station attendant C. W. Moss (Creator/MichaelJPollard). The Barrow Gang becomes nationally infamous. When they capture, humiliate, and release a Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer (Creator/DenverPyle), he swears vengeance.

A seriocomic 1967 American {{biopic}} directed by Arthur Penn and starring Creator/FayeDunaway and Creator/WarrenBeatty as the eponymous [[TheGreatDepression 1930s]] bank-robbing duo.

* PlatonicLifePartners: Bonnie and Clyde behave as a couple even though Clyde cannot have sex. On the day before their deaths, however, Clyde finally manages to perform.

* TheLancer: Buck.

Bored Texas waitress Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) meets small-time crook Clyde Barrow (Beatty) and decides to run off with him on a lark. The pair soon graduate to bank-robbery and murder and are joined by Clyde's brother Buck (Creator/GeneHackman), Buck's wife Blanche (Creator/EstelleParsons), and gas-station attendant C. W. Moss (Creator/MichaelJPollard). The Barrow Gang becomes infamous. They capture, humiliate, and release a Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer (Creator/DenverPyle), who swears vengeance.

''Bonnie and Clyde'' was a smash hit that made huge stars out of Beatty and Dunaway. It was nominated for ten UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s and won two, for Best Supporting Actress (Parsons) and Best Cinematography (Burnett Guffey). It is regarded as part of the first wave of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood movement that helped to break down the studio system and usher in a creative rebirth for Hollywood, with its increased [[HotterAndSexier sex]] and [[BloodierAndGorier violence]], glorification of {{anti hero}}es, and [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority skepticism of authority]].

A seriocomic 1967 {{biopic}} directed by Arthur Penn and starring Creator/FayeDunaway and Creator/WarrenBeatty as the eponymous [[TheGreatDepression 1930s]] bank-robbing duo.

** While Bonnie and Clyde weren't ugly, they didn't hold a candle to Dunaway and Beatty, two of Hollywood's most glamorous heartthrobs of the era.
** {{Inverted|Trope}} with Blanche and Buck Barrow. The actors in the film are considerably dumpier-looking than their real life counterparts. In 1933, Blanche was in her early 20s, pretty and petite (here played by a 40 year old) and Buck was a good-looking guy age around 30. The producers wanted ordinary looking people for the non-headline parts.

** The real Clyde was a ControlFreak with a HairTriggerTemper that bordered on AxCrazy at worst. He often robbed and assaulted bystanders during bank robberies, killed both police and civilians at the slightest provocation, and left hostages tied to trees in the woods. His gang members noted this ruthlessness; In an interview with ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}'', W. D. Jones described Clyde as willing to kill anyone "in a hot instant" and claimed Clyde had once threatened to kill him [[DisproportionateRetribution over not changing a tire quickly enough]]. One gang member not portrayed in the film, Raymond Hamilton, left the gang out of disputes over money and viewed Clyde as too violent to stay with.
** Buck also gets this treatment. He was described as the most hot-tempered of the Barrows, often advocating [[LeaveNoWitnesses killing hostages]] and once tied two police officers they had captured to a tree with ''barbed wire'', something that [[EvenEvilHasStandards even Clyde found distasteful]]. Buck often got into heated arguments with Clyde, as he was uncomfortable taking orders from his younger brother.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: A big offender. The film's Bonnie and Clyde has more in common with bank robbers John Dillinger and "Pretty Boy" Floyd, who were also active at the time and held considerably more public sympathy, whereas the public eventually grew tired of Bonnie and Clyde's constant violence and called for their deaths.

** The real Clyde was a ControlFreak with a HairTriggerTemper that bordered on AxCrazy at worst. He often robbed and assaulted bystanders during bank robberies, killed both police and civilians at the slightest provocation, and left hostages tied to trees in the woods. His gang members noted this ruthlessness; In an interview with Magazine/{{Playboy}}, W. D. Jones described Clyde as willing to kill anyone "in a hot instant" and claimed Clyde had once threatened to kill him [[DisproportionateRetribution over not changing a tire quickly enough]]. One gang member not portrayed in the film, Raymond Hamilton, left the gang out of disputes over money and viewed Clyde as too violent to stay with.

** Clyde's [[TheLoinsSleepTonight impotence]] as portrayed in the film has no known basis in reality, though it is likely the filmmakers based this on risque rumors of both Bonnie and Clyde having sexual relationships with other members of their gang.[[note]]the film originally had both Bonnie and Clyde in a relationship with C. W. Moss. this was dumped in the final product for various reasons[[/note]] Such rumors were [[DocumentaryOfLies printed as fact]] by the 1963 book ''The Dillinger Days'', and in fact may have been the source for the idea.

** Clyde's [[TheLoinsSleepTonight impotence]] as portrayed in the film has no known basis in reality, though it is likely the filmmakers based this on risque rumors of both Bonnie and Clyde having sexual relationships with other members of their gang[[note]]the film originally had both Bonnie and Clyde in a relationship with C. W. Moss. this was dumped in the final product for various reasons[[/note]]. Such rumors were [[DocumentaryOfLies printed as fact]] by the 1963 book ''The Dillinger Days'', and in fact may have been the source for the idea.

Bored Texas waitress Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) meets small-time crook Clyde Barrow (Beatty) and decides to run off with him on a lark. The pair soon graduate to bank-robbery and murder and are joined by Clyde's brother Buck (Creator/GeneHackman), Buck's wife Blanche (Creator/EstelleParsons), and gas-station attendant C.W. Moss (Creator/MichaelJPollard). The Barrow Gang becomes infamous. They capture, humiliate, and release a Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer (Creator/DenverPyle), who swears vengeance.

* BetrayalByInaction: C.W. betrays Bonnie and Clyde by not telling them about the planned ambush by the law and hiding in town so that they'll leave without him.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: C.W.'s dad, who seems like a hospitable guy at first but is an absolute {{Jerkass}} to his son and proves to be the undoing of Bonnie and Clyde.

* CompositeCharacter: C.W. Moss is a composite of two members of the Barrow Gang, W.D. Jones and Henry Methvin. The real W.D. Jones was not amused by this, and attempted to sue Creator/WarnerBros for defamation. There is no known record that his case was ever heard.

** The real Clyde was a ControlFreak with a HairTriggerTemper that bordered on AxCrazy at worst. He often robbed and assaulted bystanders during bank robberies, killed both police and civilians at the slightest provocation, and left hostages tied to trees in the woods. His gang members noted this ruthlessness; In an interview with Magazine/{{Playboy}}, W.D. Jones described Clyde as willing to kill anyone "in a hot instant" and claimed Clyde had once threatened to kill him [[DisproportionateRetribution over not changing a tire quickly enough]]. One gang member not portrayed in the film, Raymond Hamilton, left the gang out of disputes over money and viewed Clyde as too violent to stay with.

** For starters, C.W. Moss [[CompositeCharacter is a composite]] of W.D. Jones and the man who is believed to have betrayed Bonnie and Clyde, Henry Methvin. Other gang members are omitted.

** Clyde's [[TheLoinsSleepTonight impotence]] as portrayed in the film has no known basis in reality, though it is likely the filmmakers based this on risque rumors of both Bonnie and Clyde having sexual relationships with other members of their gang[[note]]the film originally had both Bonnie and Clyde in a relationship with C.W. Moss. this was dumped in the final product for various reasons[[/note]]. Such rumors were [[DocumentaryOfLies printed as fact]] by the 1963 book ''The Dillinger Days'', and in fact may have been the source for the idea.

* LuredIntoATrap: C.W.'s father flags down Bonnie and Clyde under the pretense of asking for help with his car, where lawmen are waiting to ambush them.

* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Blanche Barrow is portrayed as TheLoad in contrast to Bonnie Parker and, in the real Blanche's own words, [[HystericalWoman "a screaming horse's ass."]] Significant in that the two male leads, Clyde Barrow and Buck Barrow, aren't foiled against each other to the same extreme.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Beyond the significant HistoricalHeroUpgrade it gives the titular Outlaw Couple and the equally significant HistoricalVillainUpgrade it gives to Frank Hamer, many things in the film were flatly made up. The film's C.W. Moss is a CompositeCharacter of two actual gang members, W.D. Jones and Henry Methvin, and omits many other gang members. Clyde is portrayed in the film as impotent, though there's no basis for this in reality. A nasty car accident that left Bonnie with a permanently lame leg is not in the film, nor is the frequent visits they made to their families. Clyde's motivation for the gang's crime spree is portrayed as anger at the banks for their role in TheGreatDepression, but in reality it was over his abuses at the hands of both guards and inmates during his two-year imprisonment at [[HellholePrison Eastham Prison Farm]], and the gang often targeted small stores and gas stations over banks.

A 1967 {{biopic}} about the famous 1930s bank-robbing duo of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Creator/FayeDunaway and Creator/WarrenBeatty in the title roles.

Bonnie is a bored waitress who goes off with small-time crook Clyde on a lark. Bonnie and Clyde graduate to bank-robbing and murder after being joined by Clyde's brother Buck (Creator/GeneHackman), Buck's wife Blanche (Creator/EstelleParsons), and gas-station attendant C.W. Moss (Creator/MichaelJPollard). The Barrow Gang becomes infamous. They capture, humiliate, and release a Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer (Creator/DenverPyle), who swears vengeance.

''Bonnie and Clyde'' was a smash hit that made huge stars out of Beatty and Dunaway. It was nominated for ten Oscars and won two, for Best Supporting Actress (Parsons) and Best Cinematography (Burnett Guffey). It is regarded as part of the first wave of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood movement that helped to break down the studio system and usher in a creative rebirth for Hollywood, with its increased [[HotterAndSexier sex]] and [[BloodierAndGorier violence]], glorification of {{anti hero}}es, and [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority skepticism of authority]].

Creator/GeneWilder has a small part as a kidnap victim of the Barrow Gang.

* FilkSong: "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" by Georgie Fame (which is just as historically inaccurate as the film) and Music/MerleHaggard's "The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde" were both inspired by the film and became hits in the wake of its massive success.