ShareThisTonya S. Holly -- Elvis relative and filmmaker -- is upset that reporters have been treating her planned production of "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" as if the movie itself were a crime, like bank robbery.
Instead of focusing on the potential promise of the project, Holly says the media have been fixated on what she called "the catfight between my lead actress and Faye Dunaway."
Holly's lead actress -- the woman who will be the 2009 version of Depression-era bank robber Bonnie Parker -- is Hilary Duff, a pop singer and teen idol as well as a movie and TV star.
When Dunaway -- who starred in the landmark 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde" -- learned that Duff would be her big-screen successor, she told the press: "Couldn't they at least cast a real actress?" This led to a feud in the press, with Duff commenting (probably accurately) about Dunaway: "I think that my fans that are going to go see the movie don't even know who she is."
Then Duff said of the 68-year-old, plastic-surgery-altered actress: "I might be mad if I looked like that, too."
Serious cinephiles, however, are more worried about the project in general than the casting of Duff or Kevin Zegers ("Trasamerica"), who is set to play Clyde.
Dunaway aside, Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" -- with Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow -- generally is regarded as one of the most significant American films of the past half-century, a Best Picture Oscar nominee that brought political astuteness and a European-art-house sensibility to the Hollywood gangster tradition.
Holly, 46, defended her interest in the outlaw duo.
"I'm very passionate about this story," said Holly, the movie's writer, director and producer, and a longtime Bonnie-and-Clyde aficionado who plans to begin shooting the $15 million production in late April in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
"The reaction has really blown my mind," she said, referring to critics of her project. "It's like the one from '67 is the only way anybody wants to see this story told. How many Jesse James movies have we seen? People don't get angry about that. What about Billy the Kid? I just want to tell the story the best I can."
Holly points out that the Beatty-produced Penn film wasn't the first screen telling of the story. Dorothy Provine was the ill-fated outlaw in "The Bonnie Parker Story" (1958); and Tracey Needham starred in the 1992 Fox TV movie "Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story."
In defense of Holly and Duff, we also might point out that Penn and Dunaway were consolation choices for the '67 film; originally, producers had hoped to hire Jean-Luc Godard or Francois Truffaut to direct, and Beatty had wanted Natalie Wood or Tuesday Weld for Bonnie.
Also true: Duff may be a "teen" star, but she's now 21 -- only two years younger than Bonnie, when Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down in Bienville Parish, La., on May 23, 1934. (Dunaway was 26 when "Bonnie and Clyde" opened in the United States in August 1967.)
Said Holly: "I think people should give Hilary a chance to do a breakout role, because if I remember correctly, it was a breakout role for Faye as well."
"The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" will be a project of Holly's Cypress Moon Productions company in Sheffield, Ala.; the company has one previous feature under its belt, the little-seen "When I Find the Ocean" with Diane Ladd, Lee Majors and Bernie Casey.
Holly -- whose great-grandfather was Elvis' great-uncle -- is better known for her position in the music than the movie industry. She owns Cypress Moon Studios in Sheffield. Her husband, Kelvin Holly, has been lead guitarist for the past 14 years in Little Richard's band.
Holly, who grew up in North Alabama, said her interest in Bonnie and Clyde dates to her teen years, when she found some old newspaper clippings about the pair. "When I was a kid and saw those newspapers, which I still have, I just became fascinated. It stayed in my head, and I started researching them.
"I think it's very sad, the response to my film," Holly said. "The critics have forgotten that these were real people -- Bonnie and Clyde were real. There are many, many ways to tell this story."
(John Beifuss is a reporter with The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn. Contact him at beifuss(at)commercialappeal.com. His movie blog is www.thebloodshoteye.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Please do not attempt
Please do not attempt another version of Arthur Penn's classic "Bonnie and Clyde". Especially with your choice of unknown actors and an idea of aiming it toward a teen-age audience. Sounds like a mediocre attempt and the original film deserves a much better more serious approach. Thank you.
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yeah, i thepersonally, dont
yeah, i thepersonally, dont think hilary duff is a good enough actress for this role, i dont think shell be able to bring the raw passion that is bonnie and clyde. also, i dont think any body( not just duff or holly could match up with what warren beatty and faye dunaway did. i just think this is one of the cases where the original is defenatly going to still be better.
Go for it!
It makes me smile that there's someone out there in the cinema world with the guts to tell Bonnie and Clyde in a way that's original. :)
Each of the cast/crew will give wonderful performances as long as they stay focused on what they're doing, and ignore the critics! :)
And, I'd like to wish an especially Happy 27th Birthday on Oct 21st to Matt Dallas! He's my friend, and he ROCKS!! :D \m/
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An original forever
Duff and dunaway need to stop feuding with one another, after all, it took one great actress like dunaway to pull an exceptional original movie, she fit in so perfect for that role, that not even duff or any other great actress can carry it on. It is an original movie that cannot be touched, no matter how many times they try...
Bonnie and Clyde remake.
I too liked the 1967 version of the Bonnie and Clyde movie. But, unlike a lot of you, I thought it was a very corny production of Texas's number 1 outlaw couple. If this movie gives a more accurate portrail of them, then I say go for it. Besides, Hillary Duff is a lot closer to Bonnie's age.
give it a chance; give her a chance
I really am looking forward to this movie. I am a big Hilary Duff fan and I really believe she will be able to do justice to the role of Bonnie Parker and it will be a great breakout opportunity for her. I do not think it is very nice of Faye Dunaway to have said what she said about Hilary. Faye had her chance and she did a very good job with the character, but this is another movie altogether and Faye should let Hilary try to do this her way. It is not a retelling of the 1967 movie, which had many factual errors, anyway. I hope this one will follow fact better than the other one
I too liked the 1967 version
I too liked the 1967 version of the Bonnie and Clyde movie. But, unlike a lot of you, I thought it was a very corny production of Texas's number 1 outlaw couple. If this movie gives a more accurate portrail of them, then I say go for it. Besides, Hillary Duff is a lot closer to Bonnie's age.
thanks
Besides, Hillary Duff is a lot closer to Bonnie's age.
What?
Hey, I think we need to wait til we all watch the movie, and then we can all give an opinion. NO one knows how the movie will turn out.
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Super duruyor
thanks a lot.. it's very good article.
Okey Oyna
In "THE STORY OF BONNIE AND
In "THE STORY OF BONNIE AND CLYDE" Hillary Duff will have a great chance to become an actress that people will remember 30 years from now.
Cypress Moon and Tonya Holly are second to none when it comes to creativity and professionalism. I visited with Tonya Holly at the annual Bonnie & Clyde Festival in Gibbsland, LA. this May 2010. She was an extreme joy to visit with.
I spoke with her about her preferences for the "Theme Song" for the Movie, as I am a song writer.
A movie of such historical significance must be created by a director and cast that have a passion for the material.
The Story would be inaccurate and once again facts would be twisted and details lost if those at the heart of this project were not True Historians with a great passion for telling this captivating story of two very young people that in many ways weren't extremely different from a lot of us. This Movie is destined to become a true Classic in every catagory.
You Go..Mrs. Holly !! This will be the movie of the Decade and one of the most importnt films in mvie history..
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