Top 25 Outdoor Movie: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Robert Redford and Paul Newman star in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the next stop on our list of Top 25 Outdoor Movies of All Time. Here is the original trailer for the theatrical release (boy, have movie trailers changed!):

The film is set in late-1800s Wyoming, where Butch Cassidy (Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Redford) lead the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, a group of bank robbers. The plot follows the gang as they rob several banks and trains, until the head of the railroad company, E. H. Harriman, assembles a posse to hunt them down.

The duo split up the gang, hoping to lose the posse, but to no avail — the chase continues. In a story packed with adventure and suspense, and carried by brilliant filmmaking and acting, we follow Cassidy and Sundance through their travels as they try to evade their enemies.

The film is loosely based on real characters and events, a point that makes it even more enjoyable. It’s not for young children, but teenagers and young adults will really enjoy it, and with a PG rating it’s appropriate to screen as a community outdoor movie.

It would make a great pick for an outdoor movie date night, or for high school or college audiences. There are several ways to engage your audience: you could hold a western-themed night, with attendees in their cowboy and cowgirl attire, and even build a set where groups could take their pictures.

Depending on where your town is located, you could even screen the film in a pastoral setting, creating an ambiance that goes hand in hand with the film. The opportunities are endless, and the movie will definitely draw a big crowd!

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid can be licensed through Criterion Pictures.

If anyone has screened Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as an outdoor movie, we’d love to hear your story! Send us your images and a description of your event to sales@openaircinema.us, and we’ll pass them along to the rest of the open-air community.