Reel American History - Films

0:00:13 Credits: The movie opens with credits and follows with pictures of the actors as Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Along with these pictures, there are biographical paragraphs about the two.
0:02:18 Bonnie in her Room: Bonnie, naked, wanders around her room seemingly bothered by something unknown to the viewer. She looks out her window in her Texas home and spies a man looking into her motherâ€™s car and obviously thinking about stealing it. She throws on a dress and runs outside to stop the thief from stealing her car.
0:03:55 Bonnie meets Clyde: Bonnie confronts the man trying to steal her motherâ€™s car. She finds out that his name is Clyde Barrow. He offers to take her to work and then offers to buy her a Coca Cola. He accurately guesses that she is a waitress and then she asks about what he does. He tells her he is looking for suitable employment and that he has recently been released from state prison.
0:05:36 Entering Town: Bonnie and Clyde walk into town where Clyde sees movie theaters boarded up and asks what is fun to do in the town and makes fun of its lack of excitement. Clyde tells Bonnie that he chopped two toes off his right foot with an ax to get off of work detail in prison and asks Bonnie if she would like to see his foot.
0:06:29 The Refreshing Taste of Coca Cola: Bonnie and Clyde are sitting in town enjoying their sodas when Bonnie asks Clyde what armed robbery is like. She accuses him of never having committed armed robbery when he doesnâ€™t give a reason to her liking. In response, Clyde pulls a pistol out of his jacket and hands it to her, and she gets excited. Again she questions him by saying he wouldnâ€™t have the gumption to use it.
0:07:39 Clyde Robs a Store: To prove Bonnie wrong, Clyde walks into a store and comes out a few moments later with money in hand. He fires into the air above a store clerk who chases them, and as he and Bonnie steal a getaway car, they decide to introduce themselves. He is Clyde Barrow, and she is Bonnie Parker.
0:08:23 The Getaway: Bonnie and Clyde drive off from town with a cloud of dust behind their car and upbeat banjo music playing in the background. They drive recklessly along back roads as they make out in their sheer excitement from their first robbery together. They finally stop in an orchard.
0:08:55 The Orchard: They are vigorously making out in the car until Clyde asks Bonnie to slow down and finally to just cut it out. Clyde hops out of the car and tells Bonnie that he isnâ€™t a lover boy and that itâ€™s nothing personal, but that he just never saw the worth in it. Bonnie accuses him of leading her on and asks to be driven home. Clyde tells Bonnie that she is worth more than just being a beautiful girl who every guy hits on in West Dallas. He tells her that she means something, especially to him because she is different. He states that they together can cut across all of Texas, Kansas, and other states and make a name for themselves that everybody would know. He asks her how would she like to walk into the nicest hotel in Dallas wearing a silk dress and to have everyone wait on her because she has a right to that. She asks how he knows all this, and he says he knew it the minute he saw her because she may be the best damn girl in Texas.
0:11:14 Clyde Analyzes Bonnie: Clyde analyzes Bonnieâ€™s life in a cafÃ©. He discusses her love life and the decisions he believes she has made, regarding herself, her career, and men. Clyde begins to talk about how apparent it is that Bonnie wants to escape the life she has been living. Clyde tells Bonnie how beautiful she is.
0:13:03 Thatâ€™s Not Ours: Bonnie and Clyde leave the cafÃ© or diner and steal a different car, initially to Bonnieâ€™s dismay.
0:13:41 Target Practice: Bonnie begins by waking up on a seat of the car, inside an abandoned house. She calls for Clyde who walks inside and says he slept watching the car. Clyde says that they have practice to do to teach Bonnie how to shoot a gun. Clyde knocks over the targets in front of him and claims to be the best shot as Bonnie mocks his modesty. Clyde has Bonnie try to spin a tire swing by shooting it, and she gets it on her second try. They are both overjoyed and celebrating until a farmer walks up to them.
0:14:46 We Rob Banks: A farmer walks up to Bonnie and Clyde as they are celebrating, and Clyde points the pistol at him, but the farmer just backs away saying that he didnâ€™t want any trouble. He tells the couple that the house they are at used to be his house until the bank foreclosed on him. He introduces a black man that helped him work the land, and Bonnie and Clyde, who sympathize with the plight of the men, let them shoot at the house and the bank sign. All the characters introduce themselves to each other, and as the farmer walks away, Clyde announces that he and Bonnie rob banks, to which the farmer smiles.
0:17:27 So Easy Your Momma Could Do It: Clyde dressed in a nice suit, and Bonnie dressed up as well, drive along a dirt road. Clyde nervously tells Bonnie how easy this bank robbery will be and says that even her mom could do it. Meanwhile Bonnie drives along silently, with an air of confidence that Clyde is clearly lacking.
0:17:52 Failure: Bonnie and Clyde pull up to a bank, and Clyde enters it with gun drawn, declaring it a stick up. However, the only other person in the bank is the teller who laughs at Clyde saying that the bank had failed three weeks ago and that they no longer had money, much to the anger of Clyde. Clyde brings the teller out to tell Bonnie why he didnâ€™t return with money. They hop in the car and speed away as Clyde shoots out the windows of the bank to a laughing Bonnie.
0:19:38 Driving along: Bonnie and Clyde continue their drive after the failed bank robbery, and Bonnie and Clyde both find it funny that all they got was $1.98.
0:19:57 Failure #2: Clyde is robbing a store and getting food when he is attacked by one of the workers who holds a meat cleaver. Clyde and the man tussle and destroy the store until Clyde pistol whips the man twice and runs.
0:20:43 Getaway: Bonnie and Clyde speed off again after a rough robbery. Clyde wonders why the man tried to kill him because Clyde had no ill intentions towards the man and only wanted some food. Clyde repeats multiple times â€œI have nothing against himâ€ as Bonnie speeds and maneuvers the car to safety.
0:21:18 Gas Station: Bonnie and Clyde pull up to a gas station where they have the car checked out. The attendant fixes their car by blowing dirt out of the fuel line. The couple tell the attendant that the car is stolen and invite him to join them because he says he is a good driver. The attendant introduces himself as C.W. Moss, steals some money from the gas station, and hops in with the couple. He tells them he isnâ€™t afraid of their lifestyle and that he has spent a whole year in reformatory. The three then drive off to the familiar sound of a twanging banjo.
0:24:42 The Line-up: The store clerk who Clyde had pistol-whipped is shown pictures of many convicts while lying bandaged up in a hospital bed. He says no to a few of the mug shots but accurately identifies Clyde Barrow as his attacker.
0:25:08 The Motel: Bonnie and Clyde share a bed in a motel room while C.W. lies snoring loudly in a chair in the corner. Bonnie, unable to sleep, looks at Clyde, whom she assumes is asleep. She tiredly lies back down on her pillow, and Clyde opens his eyes to the camera.
0:26:08 The Bank Robbery: C.W. drops off Bonnie and Clyde in a small town to rob a bank for the first time together. The couple walk in casually, and Clyde mumbles itâ€™s a stick up and must yell it a second time because no one has heard him. All the people become scared. Meanwhile C.W. sees a parking spot away from the bank and decides to take the spot. The tellers empty all their money into a briefcase and paper bag while held at pistol point by the bandits.
0:27:20 Whereâ€™s the Car?: Bonnie and Clyde exit the bank but canâ€™t find their car because C.W. has parked it out of sight of the bank. They stumble around as the alarm goes off. They finally see the car, and C.W. attempts to pull it out of the spot, continually hitting the car in front of him and behind him until he finally is able to pull away. As they drive away, the couple is yelling at C.W., and a man jumps onto the car, but Clyde shoots this man in the face as the bandits speed off. This is the first murder for the Barrow gang.
0:28:07 The Theater: The gang goes to hide out in a movie theater for a while. The song â€œWe are in the Moneyâ€ plays in the theater as Clyde berates C.W. and blames him for the murder. He yells at him for being stupid and tells him they are all wanted now. Both men are clearly nervous as Bonnie sits calmly watching the film.
0:29:24 The Hideout: Bonnie sings the song from the movie to herself in a mirror as she dresses. Clyde is cleaning his pistol in the other room. Clyde tells Bonnie that he is the one wanted, not anybody else. He offers her a way out and a way home, but she says she wants to stay with him. They then make out on the bed covered with money and pistols and things slowly get heated. Clyde is nervous and right before they are about to have sex, Clyde freaks out. The couple then sits awkwardly in the room. Clyde again professes that he is not a lover boy, much to Bonnieâ€™s dismay.
0:34:01 Arrival of Buck and Blanche: Clydeâ€™s brother Buck shows up with his wife, Blanche. Clyde and his brother play fight and hug excitedly. Introductions go all around as the Barrow gang is finally rounded out. They all then decide to take pictures with Buckâ€™s Kodak. They get pictures of Bonnie and Clyde with Tommy guns, posing in front of their cars like heroes. Bonnie poses famously with a cigar in her mouth and pistol at her side, leaning on the car.
0:37:06 A Meeting between the Barrow Brothers: Clyde and Buck step into the hideout and discuss their women, as Clyde lies about the relations he has had with Bonnie. They discuss their future as the gang and are clearly excited to be reunited but at the same time extremely confused on what they will do.
0:39:15 Joke and No-Joke: The Gang drives around in their two cars. Clyde and Buck drive together, and Buck tells Clyde a joke about giving an elderly woman some brandy without her knowing what it was until she was hooked. As they drive, they pass people working along the sides of the road, clearly part of some administration from the New Deal.
0:40:43 Another Hideout: The gang rents a house, and Buck and Blanche are greatly excited as it is their first home as a married couple. As they settle in, Buck orders food from the grocery store, and Blanche runs around the house in pure annoying excitement. They then play board games as Bonnie slowly begins to dislike Blanche and her constant yapping. Bonnie draws Clyde into another room to mock Blanche, but Clyde defends her. Bonnie asks if Clyde ever wants to be alone with her, and he says he feels like they always are.
0:43:10 The Delivery: The food from the grocery is delivered to the house. Bonnie meets the clerk outside and refuses help with the bags. The clerk becomes extremely suspicious of the residents of the rented house.
0:44:05 Poetry: Bonnie reads some of her poetry and prose aloud to the rest of the gang. She is constantly interrupted by Buck and C.W. Meanwhile the police show up at the house, and Blanche begins her obnoxious screaming, which draws more attention. Clyde then opens fire on the police, and a massive shootout occurs, Blanche screaming all the while. Buck kills a police officer, and the gang begins to drive away, but then they realize they forgot Blanche. They grab her as they speed off and race away from the police.
0:46:33 Conflict: As they drive away, Blanche continues to yell until Bonnie yells at Blanche and blames her for their trouble. Clyde then defends Blanche because she is his brotherâ€™s wife. Clyde and Bonnie argue, calling each other hillbillies and stupid. Bonnie makes fun of Clydeâ€™s impotency and then apologizes realizing how much she loves Clyde.
0:48:58 The Newspaper: As the gang continues on their drive, they pick up a newspaper. They read about their exploits and how the police are confused and trying to catch them. They all are excited by their new fame. C.W. asks Clyde to pull over so he can use the restroom.
0:50:36 The Bathroom Break: As Clyde uses the "restroom," a police officer sneaks up on the gang. Clyde surprises the officer and disarms him. The gang finds out that the officer is a Texas Ranger who has followed them to Missouri, after a huge reward. Clyde tells him he should be in Texas protecting the poor people. The group discusses what they should do with him. Bonnie decides they should humiliate him by posing with him and sending it to national newspapers. The ranger spits on Bonnie sending Clyde into a rage. Clyde puts the handcuffed ranger into a boat and pushes him out to the middle of a lake
0:55:19 Bank Robbery #2: Bonnie, Buck and Clyde enter a bank and announce that they are robbing it. Bonnie and Buck collect the money as Clyde covers them. Clyde gives a poor farmer his money back, saying he only wants the bankâ€™s money. As they leave the bank, Buck yells that this was done by the Barrow boys. In the usual fashion the gang speeds off in the car to the music of banjos and gunshots by the trailing police. This time the police actually follow the gang in cars, taking place in a high speed chase and shootout through fields and back roads.
0:57:29 Interviews: The scene quickly cuts to people at the scene of the robbery being interviewed by police about what had just happened. All the people proudly pose for the newspaper as they recount their almost heroic encounter with the famous gang.
0:57:40 Back to the Chase: The film cuts back to the high speed chase and gun fight with the Barrow hang hollering and laughing.
0:57:58 Further Interviews: The film again cuts back to the bank and interviews, but this time the farmer who was treated well speaks to the reporters. He says that they did right by him and that he will send tons of flowers to their funeral.
0:58:10 Again Back to the Chase: As the high speed chase continues, the police flip their car, and the other police car pulls off pursuit because the Barrow gang crosses into Oklahoma. The police would rather not risk their lives in another state that Texas hates.
0:58:54 Splitting up the Rewards: The gang sitting out in a field as C.W. fixes the car, counts the money they got from the robbery, and divides it to everyone but Blanche until she complains. The gang argues with her but just gives her her share to calm her. The gang also discusses how they didnâ€™t get very much money from the robbery and how times are tough in the South.
1:00:43 Bad News: Clyde and Bonnie argue over Blanche getting money, and Bonnie wants to give money to her family. However, Clyde tells her that her motherâ€™s house is being watched by the police and thus they canâ€™t visit her yet. They are then interrupted by C.W. who informs them that they need a new car because the oil is leaking.
1:01:14 Acquiring a New Car: A couple is playing around on their porch as Clyde and the gang steals their car. The â€œsquareâ€ couple gives chase to the Barrow gang. The nerdy man makes empty threats about what he would to the thieves to his girlfriend until he decides it is best to get the police. They turn around, and the Barrows follow suit and chase them down. The gang surrounds the car and playfully makes faces at them. They make the new couple join them in the stolen car. Introductions go around, and the group continues on the journey as the new couple explains what they have been reading about the gang in the newspapers.
1:05:24 A Repeated Joke: As the group continues on their drive, Buck tells his same old joke to the new couple. The couple tells all about themselves to the gang. They continue to drive eating hamburgers, french fries, and sandwiches, having a great time. The gang jokingly asks the couple to join their gang, and the couple laughs and agrees. Bonnie asks the man what he does, and when he replies he is an undertaker, the couple is dropped off on the side of the road because Bonnie and the gang realize that the couple is only bad luck.
1:07:55 Bonnie Runs Away: When the gang wakes up, they realize that Bonnie ran away, and they drive looking for her. They find her running in a field, and Clyde rushes out to talk to her. Bonnie tells Clyde that she wants to see her mother, while Clyde tells her he never wants her to leave him. Clyde agrees to take Bonnie to her mother.
1:09:52 The Family Reunion: The gang meets with Bonnieâ€™s family, and Bonnie catches up with her sister and mother. Her family shows the gang all the clippings from the newspapers on the gang to the excitement of the gang. They all have a picnic out in the sand dunes, and the gang plays with Bonnieâ€™s nieces and nephews. Bonnie gives her mother her necklace, and Bonnieâ€™s mom tells Clyde that she is afraid of what will happen to her daughter. Clyde explains that they are only robbing to build up some money, and Mrs. Parker tells them to keep running. Mrs. Parker says a shallow goodbye to her daughter.
1:14:20 I Love You: Buck asks C.W. about his tattoo while they play around with the things they got from robbing the armory. Clyde asks Buck, Blanche, and C.W. to go and leave them alone and get them all some dinner. Bonnie explains that she has the blues, and Clyde attempts to comfort her. Clyde tells Bonnie that he is her family and eventually that he loves her.
1:17:17 Heart to Heart with Blanche and C.W.: C.W. and Blanche drive to get food and discuss how she has been smoking a lot lately. C.W. asks why Blanche doesnâ€™t go home, and she discusses how she canâ€™t because her father is a minister and would not approve of how his daughter has changed.
1:18:26 The Diner: As C.W. and Blanche go to pay for the food, a man notices C.W.â€™s pistol and the faces of the two outlaws. He calls the sheriff as the two leave the store
1:19:00 The Great Shootout: The couples are talking to each other, when suddenly a police officer knocks on their door. More police show up and surround the gang with multiple cars and even a tank. The gang uses their machine guns and grenades in the shootout, with C.W. blowing up the tank. As Blanche and Buck try to meet up with the others, Buck is shot in the face and greatly wounded. As they attempt to drive away, Blanche is blinded and her eyes are covered with blood.
1:22:02 Another Getaway: As Clyde drives away, the whole group is yelling and crying, with Buck gravely wounded and bleeding to death. C.W. begins to cry as he drives another stolen car behind the one with the others. They stop, and realize Buck has had part of his head blown off and that Blanche is blinded. Blanche prays to God for Buck, and yet Buck just continues to call out to Clyde who holds him in his arms.
1:24:40 The Next Morning: The gang is again surrounded where they camped, and they all jump back into the car and try to escape but canâ€™t find the way out. Clyde crashes the car, and they rush out. Blanche and Buck are captured, but Buck dies immediately when caught. As the others attempt to get away, Bonnie is shot in the arm, but Bonnie, Clyde, and C.W. all get away and drive off in yet another stolen car to more banjo music.
1:28:40 Aided by the Poor: The gang arrives at a homeless encampment where they receive fresh water and food from the extremely poor travelers. They are all amazed to see Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in such poor condition.
1:30:48 C.W. Arrives Home: C.W. drives the wounded couple to his fatherâ€™s house to get them help. His dad questions why he has a tattoo on his chest and not why he is with the famous couple.
1:32:00 Hamer Questions Blanche: The Texas Ranger arrives at the jail where Blanche is being held, saying that he will be taking another picture with Bonnie and Clyde soon.
1:32:20 Newspaper Outrage: C.W. reads the newspaper to Clyde and tells him it says that Clyde left his brother to die. Clyde becomes outraged and even more enraged when he hears they are wanted for a robbery that they didnâ€™t commit. He vows that when they are healthy, they will hold up the bank they supposedly have. C.W. questions why he is always known as the unidentified third suspect,but is told by his father and Clyde that itâ€™s for the best that C.W. isnâ€™t known.
1:34:01 C.W.Confronted by his Father: C.W. is confronted by his father because he is all marked up with the tattoos and traveling with the gang his father sees as trash. His dad even tells his soon that he isnâ€™t cared about by Bonnie and Clyde because he has never been named and is the third wheel.
1:34:44 The Jail: The local police learn that Bonnie, Clyde, and C.W. are hiding somewhere nearby waiting to break Blanche out of jail. Hamer interrogates Blanche and makes her sympathetic to his cause by blaming Buckâ€™s death on Clyde and the two others. He gets C.W. Mossâ€™s name from Blanche and leaves her talking to herself alone.
1:37:44 A Poem About Us: Bonnie and Clyde sit in their car in the pouring rain as Bonnie finishes up a poem about Clyde and herself. She reads it to Clyde, and he promises her to get it published in the newspapers. The scene flashes to Hamer reading the poem in the newspaper in the jail and then back to Bonnie and Clyde on a picnic, reading the published poem. Clyde praises Bonnie for telling his whole story and thanks her for making him somebody who will always be remembered. They then make out in a windy field as the banjo plays, finally make love, and the newspaper gets blown through the field.
1:40:18 The Agreement: The scene opens with the camera panning over a typical town and then settles on C.W.â€™s dad having a meeting with Hamer, which ends in a nervous handshake and a confident Hamer.
1:41:32 Impotent No More: Bonnie and Clyde put their clothes back on after finally having consummated their relationship. Both begin to laugh and giggle in excitement.
1:42:38 Marriage?: Clyde and Bonnie are lying in a bed discussing marriage and how they would love to escape and be able to live a different lifestyle. However, Clyde mistakes what Bonnie meant and says that they should rob a different state than the one they live in, which disappoints Bonnie.
1:43:38 The Betrayal: C.W. and his father discuss the next dayâ€™s plans. Mr. Moss tells C.W. to not return to his house in the car with Bonnie and Clyde because he made a deal so that C.W. would only have to serve a few years. C.W. thinks that Bonnie and Clyde wonâ€™t be caught because nobody can catch Bonnie and Clyde.
1:44:57 In Town: Bonnie and Clyde, dressed extremely fashionably,get into their car in town with groceries. Clyde asks where C.W. went, and Bonnie responds that he is buying light bulbs for his dad. Clyde goes to put on his sunglasses but breaks one of the lenses and jokingly puts them on with one eye closed. Bonnie then excitedly describes the figurine that she just purchased. Bonnie gets out to retrieve C.W. Meanwhile a police officer parks next to Bonnie and Clyde and spooks them into leaving without C.W.
1:46:56 The Last Supper: Bonnie and Clyde drive down a road saying they will return to get C.W. in 20 minutes. They joke that he would lose his head if it wasnâ€™t attached to him and then share a pear as they drive along. They see Malcolm Moss, repairing a tire on his tractor, and they stop to help him.
1:48:07 The Trap: Clyde gets out, and Moss become very jumpy and birds rush out of the bushes as a car drives down the road, all the while Bonnie and Clyde are smiling and enjoying the day. Malcolm dives under his tractor, and Bonnie and Clyde look at each other one last time as men in the bushes open fire on the couple. They are riddled with hundreds of bullets in a gory scene with bodies full of holes and jerking around every time they are hit. Hamer and other sheriffs emerge from the bushes along with Malcolm Moss and two drivers to survey the gruesome scene.