Unit 10 The Roaring 20's and the Great Depression (1919-1939)

Movie Settings:

The Movie I watched for this unit was Bonnie and Clyde. This movie is one of the most popular gangster movies of all times, and it was a huge hit in 1967. The movie was released world wide in August of 1967.The film stars Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Micheal Pllard, and Gene Wilder. The film is also directed by Arthur Penn. The movie went on to get two Academy Awards and was nominated eight other times.

Plot:

The movie revolves around Bonnie and Clyde and the Barrow Gang. It starts off with Bonnie meeting Clyde for the first time, right outside her house while he was trying to hijack her mom's car. Right away they have great chemistry and go on to rob banks. They end up meeting with Clyde's brother and his wife, who is the daughter of a preacher, and a young man named C.W. Together they all are an excellent team, stealing, robbing banks, killing and kidnapping people is all what they are known for. Eventually, they all get taken down, one by one, until it is down to Bonnie, Clyde and C.W. As they have no where to go, they turn to C.W dad's house and hide out there. In the end, C.W's father hates the fact that Bonnie and Clyde ruined C.W's clean cut image and makes a deal with the police to kill Bonnie and Clyde and shorten C.W's prison sentence.

Actors:

The main actors in the movie are Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons. In the beginning of the movie, the acting by Faye and Warren seemed very fake and not well prepared. If you watch the when they first meet, Faye and Warren's accent seem fake and seem like they were trying to hard to mimic that sound. As the movie progressed, the acting seemed way more professional. Estelle Parsons went on to win an Oscar for her supporting role in the movie. Her character was extremely whinny and annoying, and she portrayed her character very well, especially when her husband was about to die, she poured out her heart and soul.

Presentation:

For this movie, it really captured the 1930's era really well. The cars, fashion, Coke bottles and the way they talked made it seem real, even though the movie was made over forty years ago. In one scene, you can see the shadow of the camera man on one of the actors back, So that was not that great. The music was a bit random, they played music from that era, but the music would be playing while they were simply walking down the street, with a radio nowhere in sight. In the movie, they used old pictures to make that era come alive, which was awesome.

What Happened during this era ?

During this era, people were depressed, because of the crash of the stock market. Because of the crash, many people committed suicide, robbed banks, and even lived on the streets. Many people were jobless, so like in Bonnie and Clyde, they robbed banks to make a living. Farmers were hit pretty hard because weather conditions had changed and made it harder for them to grow crops and food.

Comparison:

The two connected very well, the movie fell right into place with the Great Depression and captured what people were going through during that era. It made sense as in why they were robbing and stealing food and cars and of course money. The movie kind of applies to today, with people losing their jobs, people are looking everywhere to support their families and bring food on the table.

What I have learned:

I have learned that Bonnie and Clyde were so happy and peaceful and were trying to be a good Samaritan when they were gun down by the police. I learned something important from watching this movie and studying this unit, Never steal from someone you do not trust. I'm just kidding, never do anything that you will regret in the future. Because it will come back to haunt you and you will be in a lot of pain.