Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Directed by	George Roy Hill
Written by	William Goldman
Produced by	John Foreman
Starring	Paul Newman; Robert Redford; Katharine Ross; Strother Martin; Jeff Corey; Henry Jones;
Cinematography	Conrad Hall
Edited by	John C. Howard; Richard C. Meyer;
Music by	Burt Bacharach
Production; companies	Campanile Productions; Newman-Foreman Company;
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	September 23, 1969 (Premiere); September 24, 1969 (New York City);
Running time	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6 million
Box office	$102.3 million (North America)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American movie from 20th Century Fox. George Roy Hill directed it, and John Foreman produced it. It stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford as two robbers in Wyoming who go to Bolivia to escape the law.

The movie was loosely based on the real story of the two title characters (Butch Cassidy and his friend Harry Longabaugh, also called "Sundance"). But it made the legends of the two more popular.

It won four Academy Awards: for Best Cinematography (shooting work on a movie), Best Original Score, Best Song (Burt Bacharach's "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head") and Best Original Screenplay (William Goldman). It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Hill) and Best Sound. Goldman won the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay.

It was one of the largest-grossing movies of the 1960s (with $102.3 million in the United States). It was number fifty on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list.

At first, Warren Beatty and Steve McQueen (even Marlon Brando) were called upon to play the title roles. When Newman and Redford took their place, the roles were switched, with Newman as Sundance, and Redford as Cassidy. The studio, 20th Century Fox, did not like Redford's role. But the movie's director, Hill, wanted it that way.

As a result, Redford has said that the movie made him a more famous actor.

The Sundance Film Festival is named after Redford's role, as well his Utah ski resort.