Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman, who spent eight full years building the story up before he finally sat down and decided to put it down on paper.
“Because as colorful as the material was, it had inherent problems,” Goldman added. “Eventually, I’d done all the research I could bear; I hoped I had a story that would prove coherent, so I sat down and wrote the First draft in 1966. It took four weeks. When someone asks how long it takes to write a screenplay, I’m never sure what to answer. Because I don’t think four weeks is what it took to do Butch. For me, eight years is closer to the truth,” he said.
When the film opened in theaters in 1969, many reviewers called it overly comedic or lighthearted. Yet the film won four Academy Awards, became the year’s highest-grossing film, and remains one of the iconic classics of American cinema.
Director George Roy Hill brought together Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Studio executives initially considered whether they should cast Redford because he wasn’t yet a famous name, but Newman stood up for him, securing Redford the role of the Sundance Kid.
“When the studio didn’t want me for the film, it wanted somebody as well known as Paul; he stood up for me. I don’t know how many people would have done that.” Redford said.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had a silent-film-style opening and a photo-montage sequence of New York City. The film also included Burt Bacharach’s Oscar-winning pop song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” during a famous bicycle scene.
The film blended humor and tragedy, and transformed the traditional Western into a timeless story about friendship, change, and survival.
On September 23, 1969, the film premiered at the Roger Sherman Theater in New Haven, Connecticut. The theatre’s capacity was about 2,000, but more than 5,000 people showed up, hoping to see the film celebrities, including Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Joanne Woodward, and Barbra Streisand.
And just one day after its world premiere in New Haven, it also opened in New York.
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