Bonnie and Clyde

film by Penn [1967]

Written by Lee Pfeiffer

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Bonnie and Clyde, crime film, released in 1967, that pioneered a new era of filmmaking, tearing down barriers in the depiction of violence and sexuality.

The movie was based on the Great Depression-era robbery team known as Bonnie and Clyde. Clyde Barrow (played by Warren Beatty) turns a chance encounter with bored, small-town Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) into the opportunity to launch a notorious crime spree. The lovers ultimately team with Clyde’s brother Buck (Gene Hackman), his timid wife, Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and a dim-witted henchman named C.W. Moss (Michael J. Pollard). The gang thwarts all police efforts to capture them, until a fateful encounter on a lonely country road.

Bonnie and Clyde glamourized crime in a way that would have been unthinkable under the censorship guidelines known as the Hays Production Code, which had been superseded by a ratings system in 1966. (See Will H. Hays.) Critics complained that Bonnie and Clyde would unleash a tidal wave of cinematic carnage, while its defenders predicted it would free filmmakers from the type of corporate chains that had stifled artistic creativity. What cannot be argued is that the film resonated with the public and became not only a box-office blockbuster but a major contributor to 1960s pop culture. The cast members and director Arthur Penn received virtually unanimous praise from critics. Gene Wilder made his film debut as a hapless undertaker.