The 25 Must-See Titles at the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde. Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

The story of legendary outlaws Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) and Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty).

Most people know Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as the old people who screwed up this year’s Best Picture winner, and that would belittle two careers that have spanned decades, with Oscars on both sides. Bonnie and Clyde isn’t just the movie that, 15 years ago, propelled Dunaway and Beatty into the upper echelons of Hollywood; it also revolutionized the filmmaking industry itself.

In 1967, the studio system was on its last legs and a gang of scrappy producers started putting out pictures that tapped into the anger and frustration felt by America’s youth, mired in Vietnam and the hippie movement. Think of it as the 1967 equivalent to The Social Network. Bonnie and Clyde is loud, violent, and makes two bank robbers look completely sexy and cool! Vacillating between action movie and black comedy, Dunaway and Beatty anchor a cast that includes Gene Hackman and a young Gene Wilder as a mortician – wouldn’t expect anything less from him, would you? The story’s ending is well known, but watching the two outlaws kick back and enjoy what they understand can only end with their demise is half the fun.

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