Bonnie and Clyde, the movie made in 1967 was a pretty good movie about the outlaw life of this infamous couple. The movie had good shoot-outs and the slow motion stuff was outstanding. But, little did I know there was a precursor to this movie made in 1949, a black and white B movie titled, "Gun Crazy" that I just watched from my Netflix subscription. If you get a chance to see this 1949 movie about a couple that robs banks and an Armour meat packing plant in New Mexico, no less, watch it. You will not be disappointed. The protagonists really can shoot revolvers in this one! And...the girl is not too bad looking, either. Has anyone ever watched this movie besides me? A scene from the movie has the male protagonist showing his revolver to the girls at his school. He really does not get into any trouble with the law as his teacher takes the revolver away from him and that is it. In today's America this young boy would be expelled from all regular schools forever and probably be mentally evaluated first then incarcerated for many years. My, oh my how the perception of firearms by Americans have changed since 1949.
"Gun Crazy" the 1949 movie
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OAE - "Bonnie and Clyde, the movie made in 1967 was a pretty good movie about the outlaw life of this infamous couple. The movie had good shoot-outs and the slow motion stuff was outstanding."
I thought Warren Beatty's BONNIE AND CLYDE was a P.O.S. (Saw it on big screen, BTW, when it was released.)
Beatty made those two little despicable, murderous cowards out to be heroes, or kinda like modern day Robin Hoods... which they were NOT!
They stole and robbed and murdered people not only for the helluvit, but mainly those who could not fight back. Even murdered a postman because he was wearing a post office "uniform."
In the flick, the complete nonsense of B&C capturing "Frank Hamer," played by a buffoon- like-Denver-Pyle, was so ludicrous as to be totally laughable.
But given Warren Beatty's extreme left wing political ideology, the main "authority" figure of the cop, had to be denigrated as much as possible. Therefore, the scene where Pyle/Hamer is forced to walk down the street wearing nothing but a wooden barrel.
B&C NEVER captured Frank Hamer.
In fact, it was the famous Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer, who finally tracked them down and killed them.
One shot to the head of each of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, with his semi-auto Remington Model 8 .30 Rem., and the "careers" of those two nauseus cowards was over.
Good for Frank Hamer!
If you want to read the truth of what happened, buy a copy of I AM FRANK HAMER, The Life Of A Texas Peace Officer, by John H. Jenkins & H. Gordon Frost, The Pemberton Press, (c)1980.
As for GUN CRAZY, I saw it too, on big screen. Barely remember it, but do remember the schoolroom scene. Don't remember who was in it.
FWIW.
L.W.
I thought Warren Beatty's BONNIE AND CLYDE was a P.O.S. (Saw it on big screen, BTW, when it was released.)
Beatty made those two little despicable, murderous cowards out to be heroes, or kinda like modern day Robin Hoods... which they were NOT!
They stole and robbed and murdered people not only for the helluvit, but mainly those who could not fight back. Even murdered a postman because he was wearing a post office "uniform."
In the flick, the complete nonsense of B&C capturing "Frank Hamer," played by a buffoon- like-Denver-Pyle, was so ludicrous as to be totally laughable.
But given Warren Beatty's extreme left wing political ideology, the main "authority" figure of the cop, had to be denigrated as much as possible. Therefore, the scene where Pyle/Hamer is forced to walk down the street wearing nothing but a wooden barrel.
B&C NEVER captured Frank Hamer.
In fact, it was the famous Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer, who finally tracked them down and killed them.
One shot to the head of each of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, with his semi-auto Remington Model 8 .30 Rem., and the "careers" of those two nauseus cowards was over.
Good for Frank Hamer!
If you want to read the truth of what happened, buy a copy of I AM FRANK HAMER, The Life Of A Texas Peace Officer, by John H. Jenkins & H. Gordon Frost, The Pemberton Press, (c)1980.
As for GUN CRAZY, I saw it too, on big screen. Barely remember it, but do remember the schoolroom scene. Don't remember who was in it.
FWIW.
L.W.
Zundfolge
Member
Cosmoline
Member
"Gun Crazy" is a noir classic. It has a bit of period anti outlook in it, but that's not the main point of the film. It's about a man who falls further into a life of crime led by an out-of-control FEMALE 
And isn't that the way it always is?
And isn't that the way it always is?cbsbyte
Member
As I remember Bonny & Clyde where ambushed in their car by the Police in a remote area, their car was riddled with 100rds of holes from BARs with AP rounds, shotgun and pistols. Clyde was killed from the first brust of fire but Bonny survived the first onslaught, but was cut down as the police unloaded a second wave of lead into the car. Their bodies where ripped to shreds by the AP round from the BARS. Live by the gun die by the gun.
Cosmoline
Member
They did have some auto 8's as well as the Monitors. There was no way the Barrow Gang was going to come out of it alive. I agree with the disgusiting version of events Sillywood churned out in their movie about B&C. The film "Natural Born Killers" was something of a response to that movie, juxtaposing graphic and sadistic violence with adoration of the crowds.
re: Gun Crazy
Well, the responses from you guys made me think.
1.) Leanwolf, I thought Bonnie and Clyde was a neat movie as a 14 year old
kid seeing it for the first time. Even today, it is an entertaining movie to
me. I realize it's not following historical facts and Warren Beatty may be
of the PC crowd and an anti, but I still like the movie for entertainment.
2.) Zundforge, Yes, the link you have in your post is the movie in question.
The title of the movie was changed and changed back for marketing.
This particular 1949 movie never really was a box office money maker,
but if you get the chance to watch it, you'll probably like it.
3.) Hi Cosmoline. I agree with you about the whiley ways of women. I
carry less than $20.00 at all times. Why? Because I've been married
for over thirty years, that's why. That's the ammo the female uses
against us males, and it's worked ever since the Garden of Eden.
4.) Hey Big G. you are right on target about this 1949 movie. It's a good
one. It's funny to me that the Bonnie and Clyde movie was considered
ground breaking in 1967 concerning human body bullet damage.
To me now, the Bonnie and Clyde movie copied quite a bit from Gun
Crazy.
5.) The historical truth is that Bonnie and Clyde died in a hail of bullets from
automatic weapons that made them and their car into Swiss Cheese,
CbsByte. You are correct. Bonnie and Clyde were ruthless criminals
who at the time of the Great Depression were looked at by many in
the general population of Ameica as modern day Robin Hoods. You
and others might disagree with me on this, but I think there is some
truth to this as many folks back then tried to help Bonnie and Clyde
avoid getting caught.
Anyway guys, I appreciate your posts on this movie. Agiain, if you have not
veiwed Gun Crazy, the 1949 B movie, give it a try, you might like it as I did.
oae, the Old Antarctic Explorer
Well, the responses from you guys made me think.
1.) Leanwolf, I thought Bonnie and Clyde was a neat movie as a 14 year old
kid seeing it for the first time. Even today, it is an entertaining movie to
me. I realize it's not following historical facts and Warren Beatty may be
of the PC crowd and an anti, but I still like the movie for entertainment.
2.) Zundforge, Yes, the link you have in your post is the movie in question.
The title of the movie was changed and changed back for marketing.
This particular 1949 movie never really was a box office money maker,
but if you get the chance to watch it, you'll probably like it.
3.) Hi Cosmoline. I agree with you about the whiley ways of women. I
carry less than $20.00 at all times. Why? Because I've been married
for over thirty years, that's why. That's the ammo the female uses
against us males, and it's worked ever since the Garden of Eden.
4.) Hey Big G. you are right on target about this 1949 movie. It's a good
one. It's funny to me that the Bonnie and Clyde movie was considered
ground breaking in 1967 concerning human body bullet damage.
To me now, the Bonnie and Clyde movie copied quite a bit from Gun
Crazy.
5.) The historical truth is that Bonnie and Clyde died in a hail of bullets from
automatic weapons that made them and their car into Swiss Cheese,
CbsByte. You are correct. Bonnie and Clyde were ruthless criminals
who at the time of the Great Depression were looked at by many in
the general population of Ameica as modern day Robin Hoods. You
and others might disagree with me on this, but I think there is some
truth to this as many folks back then tried to help Bonnie and Clyde
avoid getting caught.
Anyway guys, I appreciate your posts on this movie. Agiain, if you have not
veiwed Gun Crazy, the 1949 B movie, give it a try, you might like it as I did.
oae, the Old Antarctic ExplorerCBSBYTE - "As I remember Bonny & Clyde where ambushed in their car by the Police in a remote area, their car was riddled with 100rds of holes from BARs with AP rounds, shotgun and pistols. Clyde was killed from the first brust of fire but Bonny survived the first onslaught, but was cut down as the police unloaded a second wave of lead into the car. Their bodies where ripped to shreds by the AP round from the BARS. Live by the gun die by the gun."
Over a period of time, that became the legend, but what happened was Frank Hamer had tracked them down. He had a Louisiana posse with him. (Coincidentally, when I was in college years ago, one of the guys in my fraternity from Shreveport, Louisiana, said his father, who was a peace officer at that time, had been in the posse. Didn't say his father shot B&C, just that he was in the posse that day.)
When Barrow stopped his car at the "mail pickup," an old hollow stump out on a country road, Hamer was the first to step out on the road.
The Ford V8 that Clyde was driving was, of course, a manual shift. The transmission was in gear, but Barrow had his foot on the clutch.
Barrow and Parker both started lifting firearms at Hamer. He immediately fired the two shots with his semi-auto rifle, hitting each in the head, killing them.
Clyde's foot came off the clutch. The car jumped forward and at that moment, the posse members opened up on the car with everything they had.
The car was riddled.
Everything happened very, very quickly.
You're correct. The two bodies had multiple gunshot wounds, but they were dead meat while taking those bullets.
Because of all the nationwide publicity, and the autopsy pictures showing Barrow and Parker with many holes in them, plus the car shot to pieces, the "legend" was that the posse killed the two cowards.
If you look closely at the autopsy pictures of Barrow and Parker, you can see the two killing shots in their heads.
Of course, the legend grew over the years. When I was a kid growing up in north Arkansas, it was standard practice for the travelling carnivals and circuses that toured the country at that time, to have "Bonnie & Clyde's Original, Genuine, Authentic V8 Ford In Which They Were Killed, The One And Only! and for 25 cents, just one quarter of a dollar bill, two dimes and one nickel, you just come right in this here tent and see that car!!!"
What the promoters would do was take an old V8 Ford of the B&C model, take it out in the country and shoot it full of holes, then throw some cow's blood all over and in it, and truck it to every county and State fair in the country. That went on for years.
I'll bet there were 25 or 30 of those old "Bonnie & Clyde" V8Fords touring around. Maybe more.
I assure you, I'v seen the "original, genuine, authentic V8 Ford of Clyde's and Bonnie's!!!" ... four or five times. Different one every time.
Anyway, that is how the legend came about.
As for Frank Hamer, he was not only a crack shot, but during his career as a peace officer, killed 35 criminals. He was wounded 19 times, and left for dead three times.
He died in his own bed, an old man.
Quite a character.
FWIW.
L.W.
Over a period of time, that became the legend, but what happened was Frank Hamer had tracked them down. He had a Louisiana posse with him. (Coincidentally, when I was in college years ago, one of the guys in my fraternity from Shreveport, Louisiana, said his father, who was a peace officer at that time, had been in the posse. Didn't say his father shot B&C, just that he was in the posse that day.)
When Barrow stopped his car at the "mail pickup," an old hollow stump out on a country road, Hamer was the first to step out on the road.
The Ford V8 that Clyde was driving was, of course, a manual shift. The transmission was in gear, but Barrow had his foot on the clutch.
Barrow and Parker both started lifting firearms at Hamer. He immediately fired the two shots with his semi-auto rifle, hitting each in the head, killing them.
Clyde's foot came off the clutch. The car jumped forward and at that moment, the posse members opened up on the car with everything they had.
The car was riddled.
Everything happened very, very quickly.
You're correct. The two bodies had multiple gunshot wounds, but they were dead meat while taking those bullets.
Because of all the nationwide publicity, and the autopsy pictures showing Barrow and Parker with many holes in them, plus the car shot to pieces, the "legend" was that the posse killed the two cowards.
If you look closely at the autopsy pictures of Barrow and Parker, you can see the two killing shots in their heads.
Of course, the legend grew over the years. When I was a kid growing up in north Arkansas, it was standard practice for the travelling carnivals and circuses that toured the country at that time, to have "Bonnie & Clyde's Original, Genuine, Authentic V8 Ford In Which They Were Killed, The One And Only! and for 25 cents, just one quarter of a dollar bill, two dimes and one nickel, you just come right in this here tent and see that car!!!"
What the promoters would do was take an old V8 Ford of the B&C model, take it out in the country and shoot it full of holes, then throw some cow's blood all over and in it, and truck it to every county and State fair in the country. That went on for years.
I'll bet there were 25 or 30 of those old "Bonnie & Clyde" V8Fords touring around. Maybe more.
I assure you, I'v seen the "original, genuine, authentic V8 Ford of Clyde's and Bonnie's!!!" ... four or five times. Different one every time.
Anyway, that is how the legend came about.
As for Frank Hamer, he was not only a crack shot, but during his career as a peace officer, killed 35 criminals. He was wounded 19 times, and left for dead three times.
He died in his own bed, an old man.
Quite a character.
FWIW.
L.W.
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Piedmont Plinker
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He killed 35 guys! Do that today an the city is prosecuting you and the "victims" family's are suing you!
Cosmoline
Member
Who killed 35 men?
What the promoters would do was take an old V8 Ford of the B&C model, take it out in the country and shoot it full of holes, then throw some cow's blood all over and in it, and truck it to every country and State fair in the country. That went on for years.
I saw one of those once. Scary and impressive when your 5 to 8 years old.
I saw one of those once. Scary and impressive when your 5 to 8 years old.
Cosmoline
Member
Yeah, I remember a bunch of "death cars" like that down south.
gunsmith
member
then there is that other "Gun Crazy"
With Drew Barrymore, it's the only film of hers I really like.
With Drew Barrymore, it's the only film of hers I really like.
COSMOLINE - "Who killed 35 men?"
The Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer. First one he killed was when he was 17 and tracked down a couple of horse thieves who had stolen some of his father's horses. The thieves did not want to return them... especially to a snot nosed kid.
CZ .22, those days were very different times, in a very, very rough area, the southwest of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. When it came to confrontations between peace officers and outlaws, in most cases, no quarter was asked and none was given.
Those of you who want to read a fascinating book about Frank Hamer, the Rangers, and those times, I'll post this again. Buy the book.
I AM FRANK HAMER, The Life Of A Texas Peace Officer, by John H. Jenkins & H. Gordon Frost, The Pemberton Press, (c)1980.
L.W.
The Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer. First one he killed was when he was 17 and tracked down a couple of horse thieves who had stolen some of his father's horses. The thieves did not want to return them... especially to a snot nosed kid.
CZ .22, those days were very different times, in a very, very rough area, the southwest of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. When it came to confrontations between peace officers and outlaws, in most cases, no quarter was asked and none was given.
Those of you who want to read a fascinating book about Frank Hamer, the Rangers, and those times, I'll post this again. Buy the book.
I AM FRANK HAMER, The Life Of A Texas Peace Officer, by John H. Jenkins & H. Gordon Frost, The Pemberton Press, (c)1980.
L.W.
Who really killed Bonnie and Clyde?
Leanwolf, I stand corrected. Frank Hammer's head shots to Bonnie and Clyde dispatched them and caused their car to move ahead after Clyde's foot came off the clutch in the death jitter. This was the cause of the Swiss Cheesing of their car by multiple bullets of the posse.
You provided true and interesting facts and not as it's shown in the 1967 movie. Stretching of the truth(lying) happens, especially by those in the entertainment business. I still stand by my original posting that even with the true facts not presented in the Bonnie and Clyde movie, I liked it then and still do. It's entertaining and still plays as well today as it did back in 1967.
oae
Leanwolf, I stand corrected. Frank Hammer's head shots to Bonnie and Clyde dispatched them and caused their car to move ahead after Clyde's foot came off the clutch in the death jitter. This was the cause of the Swiss Cheesing of their car by multiple bullets of the posse.
You provided true and interesting facts and not as it's shown in the 1967 movie. Stretching of the truth(lying) happens, especially by those in the entertainment business. I still stand by my original posting that even with the true facts not presented in the Bonnie and Clyde movie, I liked it then and still do. It's entertaining and still plays as well today as it did back in 1967.
oae
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