Every Little Thing I Adore About 'Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid'

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid has always been special to me because of my dad- and how it helped open up classic cinema for me. He introduced me to it in my early teens when I was still a fussy little prick when it came to only watching ‘modern’ movies- and never told me it had come out in 1969. This film became an instant favourite- and when I found out how ‘old’ it was I instantly saw how ridiculous my prejudice against older movies was.

I’ve known a hell of a lot of people who have this arbitrary hatred towards “old” films because they assume they won’t like them- and my experience with Butch & Sundance taught me just how tragic this perspective is. If you think like this- then you could be cheating yourself out of some of your absolute favourite new films for no reason at all. Get over yourself, ignore the numbers- and enjoy some classic cinema. All your modern favourites will be old someday too- and that doesn’t make them any less special...

There’s something so magical about the way this movie opens. The analogue clicking of the old-timey projector- and the way Bacharach’s beautifully bare score slips in after a minute of silence. It might be my favourite opening credits in movie history simply because of the mood it sets: A bittersweet cocktail of nostalgia and melancholy, chased down with the simple fact that we are looking back on the stories of dead men- who we too will join soon enough. And so the projector goes, round and round, in the warm embrace of the gentle darkness that will eventually hold us all.

The fact that director George Roy Hill basically kicks ‘Butch & Sundance’ off as a completely different movie to what it becomes. Lensed in icy sepia by all-time great cinematographer Conrad Hall, the chilling quiet of this cold open really reinforces the grim reality of the old west. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid is a charming adventure between two old buddies- but the film-makers never let us forget the bleak foundation of their friendship. This is a cold, cruel place- and the duo’s quippy camaraderie is just a way of trying to make the best of it.

The simple, brilliant framing of this shot: With Cassidy imprisoned in the outside world by what he seeks within.

The lock-step beat of the editing as the deliciously dark bank is closed for the day, capped off perfectly by this little exchange.

“What happened to the old bank, it was beautiful!”

“People kept robbing it.”

The world is changing- and while they might be our lovable antiheroes- it’s the criminals’ fault.

The bank door slamming us straight into the second part of this cold open. I fucking love editing like this: Bold, tight and vital.

The way we stay almost exclusively on this angle throughout the scene, holding for much longer than conventional editing would advise. As time has gone on, editors have consistently chopped their scenes up with such frequent cuts that little atmosphere, tension or any tactile sense of real time has room to settle. But look at this scene- a tense exchange primarily crushed down into just this one frame, Hall even uses a specific lens to flatten the image and cram Sundance in even tighter. The tension is palpable and, crucially, the editing doesn’t give us any way to run from it. We have to sit in this one shot while it all bubbles up- focusing our heightened attention on the dialogue and performance. Limiting your coverage to intensify how inescapable a tense situation is should be used more often- as it works wonders here.

The eerie emptiness of this wide shot, with a cavernous void hanging behind Sundance’s back- barely pierced by the light from the window. It’s an image that underlines the gunfighter’s mythic status- but also serves as a perfect mousetrap moment for this scene: Pulling us out of intense close-ups to this HUGE shot that feels so big because of how boxed-in we’ve been for the last few minutes. When you plan a shot, realise that your editing makes it or breaks it. It could be just another nice shot- or you could structure your scene to make it really soar. In this sequence, the close up long take and this haunting wide angle elevate eachother to perfection.

Hill using this transitional fluff shot to suddenly shift the movie into full colour. No explanation- and none needed. Do whatever feels right- and ALWAYS do it with confidence.

I’m just going to get it out of the way right now: Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid has some of the best dialogue in movie history. Seriously, zoom in on almost any scene and you won’t just find a few gems- but back-to-back exchanges of pure gold. Budding screenwriters in want of inspiration: Seek this script out- and believe you can do even better.

This great ensemble staging. It’s a quiet art- but there’s so much subtle magic in simply arranging people on a screen.

This little exchange. This movie finds wit everywhere so naturally, without ever drowning out the danger.

This lil’ old train driver getting starstruck at whose robbing him.

This deliciously long, languid crane shot up to Butch & Sundance tipsily watching the sheriff try and fail to whip up a posse to hunt them down.

This disarmingly tender, drunken moment where the pair finally learn eachother’s real names. They’re both taken aback not just by the information- but I think in part the fact they didn’t already know. All these years together and just like that, it slips out. Is there a more lovable duo of movie leads?

The way we seamlessly pivot between the scene on the balcony and the gathering below, keeping the pace up while using one to explore the characters and the other to richen their world. A brilliant marriage of writing and direction.

Another vital lesson from this film is pacing. It almost always answers the ending of its last scene with another hook- and tries to keep the story moving somewhere new wherever possible. Always introducing new faces, good and bad- always hitting us with a different perspective to throw us off for a moment and keep your interest piqued. It’s an honest marvel of screenwriting.

Newman pacing out his words as he rides between the windows.

“Soft…. White…. Ueuheuhehh!!”

The focus rack on these apples before one is plucked to pull the camera down after the couple. It would have been so easy not to think of this- but the crew did. Tiny moments like this always add up to something special.

This clever, timely zoetrope effect between the slats of this fence. It would have been so easy to shoot this scene with cheap fluff coverage- but the crew wanted to push for something more.

The use of this almost B-roll esque clip of Ross fixing her hair during the montage, smile gone. It stands out because it’s so normal, just someone zoning out for a moment in the midst of the fun- instead of most scenes like this were every character’s expected to be grinning from ear to ear the whole way home.

This delightfully cartoony moment where Butch pulls a face at the bull and we get a Looney Tunes-esque crash zoom straight into the beast’s eye. Let your movie have fun!

How much Newman lets his face light up when he recognises Woodcock’s voice inside the train. This man was a national treasure.

The instant comic timing of this explosion. It’s all very well for a script to be witty, or actors having comic charisma- but the movie itself also has to have a sharp sense of humour.

This surreal shot of the train pulling to a stop, which seems to have been reversed to give it an otherworldly effect.

All the great little shots of this train sweating and spitting steam but specifically this insert of the driver’s cabin- empty. Even though someone must have been running the engine- this angle just makes the whole sequence feel more eerie and unpredictable.

The big crash-zoom on the steam whistle and the INSTANT response of the lawmen inside. Door slams open and they are OUT of there. Such an immediate escalation of the danger that plays against the train’s slow rumble up towards our heroes so well.

LOVE these hazy, washed-out shots of the hunters closing in on their prey. The whole idea of Butch & Sundance being legends of the West has been flipped on its head by the march of an abstract future they won’t change in time to survive.

Butch noting “nice touch” when Sweet-Face cups his ear to the hunters.

This great framing. Hall was a master.

The way we get to spot the hunters’ torches in the distance before the characters do. Really engages you that extra bit more in their escape.

Our heroes stunned into silence by this random old man. Butch looks utterly lost.

Sundance suddenly pulling Ross close to “make a big thing” out of their safe return. After a life on top, these two were genuinely scared shitless.

Ross’ great little speech about the mark these criminals have had on her life- and her refusal to watch them grind their own down to their last breath. In the end they’re still two-bit outlaws: Two little boys playing with guns, and other people’s lives. It was fun while it lasted- but there’s no future in trying to forget what’s coming.

This stunningly gorgeous insert shot of the slowly spinning bike wheel, peppered with twinkling droplets of water and slowly fading through to rich, high-contrast sepia, remains one of my favourite scene transitions in cinema. Just sublime.

The whole holiday montage: Such a unique idea executed flawlessly. Presenting us with still sepia photographs of the trio’s travels, often ingeniously using authentic period photos that have been doctored to add the actors in. It’s a stirring, simple and in the end melancholic blow-out of all their best times together: Forever trapped in the faraway freeze of still life.

Even in these quick bridging shots, Conrad Hall’s cinematography is exquisite.

Bacharach’s score playing in place of dialogue over this scene. This movie has so many unique, memorable sequences in large part because it takes stylistic risks like this.

The music shifting to a more tense mode as Butch & Sundance’s crime spree spirals into infamy.

Butch’s carefree grin instantly melting into horror in the moment where all their fun comes crashing down.

There’s something deeply tragic about this rickety old prospector telling us he’s lived ten years alone in Bolivia right before he’s cut down by a single bullet. One of this movie’s many reminders that as fun as it is to follow stories about criminals- the cost of their bloodshed is more horrifying than our fantasies often care to admit.

The way Butch & Sundance have clearly been standing watching these bandits for some time before they noticed. They could have easily caught them in a surprise- but they genuinely didn’t want anyone else to die today.

The deep breath this movie takes after Butch’s first murder. Even if it was unavoidable, it cuts him deep- and we take a few vital seconds to let that brutal reality really sink in. As hard as it is to swallow, they’re ready for this to be over.

The desperate loneliness of this shot. Given what’s waiting outside for these men, they’re already dead- and Hall’s distant camera, surrounding them with dead space, punctuates that grim point perfectly.

The desperate, panting, sweat-slaked banter these two continue to fire back and forth as they bleed out onto the stone. Particularly today, blockbuster movies have a vile habit of undercutting any and all genuine emotion with self-ironic quips. In the final minutes of Butch & Sundance, their sparkling conversation is both endearing and tragic- drawing sad smiles as we are reminded of the movie’s first moments. Their whole life has been a fight to get just one penny ahead of a grim world forever trying to match them to a bullet with their name on it- and their banter is their relief. They survive, they smile- in spite of it all- because what else is there to do? Their humour has a tragic depth because it’s what’s keeping them human- rather than characters today who wouldn’t be caught dead appearing anything less than untouchable.

And that was Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, as beautifully bittersweet as films come. The lasting power of its sparkling wit and irresistible charm has survived beyond other delightful movies of the time because they are underscored by the bleak reality of life on the old frontier. While we like to look back with rose-tinted spectacles on the myths and legends of the time, the sepia-tinged tombs for these now ancient faces do a good job of blurring away the blood that drowned their dreams. This film is vibrant with hope and vengeful with the horror that crime inevitably brings- no matter how affably you go about it. Time gets us all in the end- and the haunting clarity with which this film gracefully faces that fact, as its long-dead heroes are dwarfed by the slow crawl of history, will never be forgotten.