Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

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Screenplay Genre: Biography / Crime / Drama

Movie Time: 112 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

After catching Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) trying to steal her car, Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) joins him for a soda downtown. Once she discovers he’s been in prison for armed robbery, she asks him what it’s like. He decides to show her, rather than telling her. He robs a Piggly-Wiggly, and the pair runs from the law. (00:08:00)

2. LOCK IN (End of Act One)

The Barrow gang begins to grow with the addition of mild-mannered mechanic C.W. Moss (Michael J. Pollard.) When they try to rob a bank, Moss parks the car too far away and Bonnie and Clyde barely make it in time to escape. On their way out of town, a man hitches a ride on the car and Clyde shoots him. Now they are not only wanted for armed robbery, but for murder. (00:27:55)

3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint)

Bonnie and Clyde are pinned down, with the rest of the Barrow Gang, in a safe house by the law. They barely manage to make their escape, killing three police officers on their way out. They are now not merely wanted for murder, but subjects of a massive man-hunt. (00:45:05)

4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two)

After stealing a car and taking the owner’s hostage, Bonnie finds out that the man is an undertaker. This revelation shakes her into running away in search of her mother and gives her a new appreciation for her own mortality. Suddenly, she want stability and a family more than her life of crime. (01:08:00)

5. THIRD ACT TWIST

As it seems like the Barrow gang may have escaped from the law and finally found a safe place, the law arrives and Clyde’s brother, Buck, is shot in the eye. This sends the gang into a tailspin as they are no longer able to run as readily. (1:21:16)

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