Last week’s 3 Days of the Condor got me to thinking about the greatness of Robert Redford’s early career. And that got me thinking about BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID.

This scene finds Butch and Sundance on the run from a group determined on capturing the pair. They stop in a town and see Sheriff Ray Bledsoe.

Sheriff Ray Bledsoe: You should have let yourself get killed a long time ago when you had the chance. See, you may be the biggest thing that ever hit this area, but you’re still two-bit outlaws. I never met a soul more affable than you, Butch, or faster than the Kid, but you’re still nothing but two-bit outlaws on the dodge. It’s over, don’t you get that? Your times is over and you’re gonna die bloody, and all you can do is choose where.

I could simply put up the entire flippin’ screenplay and it would be acceptable. B&S has a magical screenplay by William Goldman that, quite simply, rocks from start to finish.

This was also the start of a number of relationships. Paul Newman (Butch) and Robert Redford (Sundance) became life-long friends. The director, George Roy Hill, went on to direct another film with the two of them, the legendary THE STING as well as doing SLAP SHOT with Newman and THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER with Redford.

If anyone has a suggestion for MMQ, drop me a line at jeremyATcrimespreemag.com