Factual error: Near the end of the film Butch is complaining about the living conditions they have to endure - jungles, swamps, snakes, night work - and Sundance sarcastically retorts "Bitch, bitch, bitch!" In 1908 the term meant just what it literally means: "Female dog." It did not adopt its current meaning of "complain" until much later. At the time the film is set - outside the context of "female dog" - it was considered to be a serious obscenity, and it would not have been used to describe something as ordinary as someone moaning about his living conditions.
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: George Roy Hill
Starring: Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Etta Place heads home after Butch and Sundance attempt to go straight. When the two arrive in town with some stolen houses, the Bolivian authorities are notified. Butch and Sundance are then caught in the middle of a shootout, with the Bolivian Police. After being wounded badly, Butch tells Sundance that if they survive the ordeal, they should travel to Australia. The Bolivian Army joins the fight. The film ends with Butch and Sundance running out into the open, and then the famous freeze frame shot just as they come out. Although multiple rifle and pistols bursts are heard, the fate of the two outlaws is left to the viewer.
Craig
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Trivia: The turn-of-the-century-style film (which plays alongside the opening credits) was originally intended to appear in the bulk of the story. On Butch, Sundance and Etta's trip through New York, they view this film, which depicts Butch and Sundance's deaths. It upsets Etta so much, it contributes to her later decision to return home by herself. The segment had an annoyed Butch and Sundance watching the film from the back of the theater, whispering comments like, "We never did that". The change was made when it was decided to make the trip through New York into a musical interlude over still-photos. The main reason for the change: the studio had just finished work on a "period" set of a New York street (ca.1900) for the film Hello Dolly and did not want this expensive set appearing in a different film first.
Question: The beginning of the film states that most of it is true. Are there any specific happenings which can be pointed out as not true?
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Answer: It's doubtful Butch and Etta rode around on a bicycle together, and Butch and Sundance did not jump off a cliff into a river.
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