One major departure from the historical record has to do with Bonnie Parker’s physical state by the end of the film. In real life, she had been burned and disabled after surviving a rather gnarly car crash. This was likely elided due to makeup challenges (one account says her skin was burned off to the bone in places) and the bummer quality of the vivacious Bonnie being so badly injured. Oddly, the film’s depiction of her getting shot during the escape that leads to the death of Buck Barrow (Gene Hackman) and the arrest of his wife Blanche Barrow (Estelle Parsons) was a total invention; in actuality, she escaped that scrape unharmed, and Clyde, obviously, did not kill a lawman in response to her getting shot.
Clyde did kill, however, as did Bonnie. Though they were often cordial enough to their captives (giving them money to help them get back home), they valued self-preservation first. That comes through in the film. But did they really send photographs and poetry to the press while on the run? No. Those items were all discovered posthumously, including the famous picture of Bonnie holding a shotgun on Clyde.
As for the depiction of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Denver Pyle) as oafish and inept, that was so off-base that his family sued the producers for defamation and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Also disputed is the film’s final scene. Do you love that moment of silence interrupted by a rustle, the flutter of birds and a hail of gunfire? Alas, that’s not how it went down in real life. According to people who were on the scene, Bonnie and Clyde were still driving the car when the Rangers began blasting away.
One other person who was upset with her portrayal was the real Blanche Barrow. Even though Parsons won an Academy Award for her performance, Blanche was none too pleased with being depicted as, in her words, “a screaming horse’s ass.”
Do these revelations make you think less of “Bonnie and Clyde?” They shouldn’t.