William Goldman is often credited as the first screenwriter to sell a spec script, meaning he wrote a script without getting paid for it then sold it once he was done with it. It’s common in the novel-writing world, but in the late 60s, it was unheard of in the film business. That script was “The Sundance Kid & Butch Cassidy,” which legendary producer Richard D. Zanuck, who was running 20th Century Fox at the time, optioned for twice what they were allowed to, knowing it was going to be big. And he was right. We continue our Couples On the Run series with George Roy Hill’s 1969 western, “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.” Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we discuss the place this film has in the western genre and why it remains a classic to this day. We talk about the wonderful performances by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and how Hill had to fight to get Redford on at the time because he was relatively unknown. We chat about Hill and Conrad Hall, the cinematographer, and what they both brought to the table. And we discuss Burt Bacharach’s Oscar-winning turn for his score and song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” and how well these anachronistic bits worked for us this go around. It’s top-notch filmmaking and we love this movie. Tune in!
