DICK LEDERER: Warren even brought in [screenwriters] Benton and Newman to write ad copy because they'd done ads at Esquire. I wrote the original copy: "They're young, they're in love and they kill people." But they wrote a great ad. It described each member of the gang: "Bonnie wrote poetry. C.W. was a Myrna Loy fan, Buck told corny jokes and carried a Kodak." And then it said: "All in all, they killed 18 people."
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Bonnie & Clyde & Joe & Pauline
This year is the 30th anniversary of the release of "Bonnie and Clyde." Sunday's Calendar detailed the film's approval, financing and casting struggles. Today's second part, told mostly through the words of key participants, tells how the film earned its status as a classic after initial reviews nearly buried it.
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GUY McELWAINE: Warren had the studio send a memo to all the theater managers telling them to raise the sound level of the picture. Then he wrote personal notes to all the projectionists and stuck them in the film cans, with the projectionists' names on each one. If a normal film was played at 15 decibels, he wanted "Bonnie and Clyde" played at 22 decibels.
BEATTY: I wanted to shock the audience with the first gunshots. The problem was that when the projectionists would first hear our music, they'd turn the sound down. So when you mixed the sound, you had to deceive them. You'd raise the sound levels slowly so by the time the gunshots came along, the projectionist would be asleep or off watching TV.
PENN: I remember going out with my wife to dinner when we ran into Robert Anderson, the playwright. He said, "What a great review in Newsweek." I thought he was having fun--it was an awful review. But he said, "No, it's wonderful." So my wife and I went to the newsstand and there it was--Morgenstern had completely changed his mind. Now he liked it!
JOE MORGENSTERN: I think I subconsciously sensed that I'd missed something. When we went out on Saturday and my wife asked what movie I wanted to see, I said "Bonnie and Clyde." The audience just went wild, and the cold sweat started forming on my neck. I knew I'd blown it.
On Monday morning, I went into Newsweek and wrote a six-column review. It began with a description of the previous review, and then I said, "I am sorry to say I consider that review grossly unfair and regrettably inaccurate. I am sorrier to say I wrote it."
That night I met Pauline Kael at a Chinese restaurant and she said, "I read your review and you really blew it." And all I could say was, "Wait until you see the one next week."
HYAMS: The film got a great reaction in London and in Paris. I started getting calls from these hip fashion people, saying everyone was copying Faye's look and wearing Warren's clothes. In fact, it helped start the no-bra trend, because Faye didn't wear a brassiere in the film. That's a contribution Warren made that nobody gives him credit for.
