TEHRAN – The cinematheque of the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran will screen the 1969 American Western buddy film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” directed by George Roy Hill on Monday.

It is the 637th program of the IAF cinematheque and will be followed by a review session with the veteran film critic Javad Toosi in attendance.

The 110-minute movie will be shown with Persian subtitles. The screening is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Nasseri Hall of the IAF, Mehr reported.

Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford), who are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. The pair and Sundance's lover, Etta Place (Katharine Ross), flee to Bolivia to escape the posse.

The movie won 22 awards, including Oscars for Best Writing, Cinematography, and a Golden Globe for Best Original Score.

The film was released on September 24, 1969, and initially received lukewarm reviews from critics, but has gained widespread acclaim in subsequent decades. In 2003, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

The American Film Institute ranked it as the 73rd-greatest American film on its “AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)” list, and number 50 on the original list. 

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were ranked the 20th-greatest heroes on “AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains”. The movie was selected by the American Film Institute as the 7th-greatest Western of all time in the AFI's 10 Top 10 list in 2008.

The movie is based on a pair of outlaws who robbed banks and trains in the early 1900s. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had outsized reputations. Rather than committing every robbery in the American Northwest as some suggested, one expert says they likely conducted nine major thefts.
The real Cassidy and Sundance did escape to South America as depicted in the movie. However, members of their family believed they didn’t die there.

The film is selected for this week’s program of the IAF cinematheque as one of the lead actors Robert Redford passed away recently.

Redford was an American actor, director, and producer, celebrated for his magnetic presence as a leading man during the American New Wave. Across a career spanning more than six decades, Redford earned widespread recognition and numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. 

He has also received various honors, including the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1996, the Academy Honorary Award in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2005, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 201,6 and the Honorary César in 2019.

On September 16, Redford passed away in his sleep at his home in Sundance, Utah, the U.S. at the age of 89.

SS/SAB