A Mid-Week Movie Moment #1:Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Etta Place: Do you know what you're doing?

Butch Cassidy: Theoretically



Paul Newman, Katherine Ross, Robert Redford

I thought it might be fun to do something different. I like sharing about myself on Ellipsis, but I think after 4 + years of blogging, and many a meme, you have probably learned almost everything there is to know about me. So, with the colder weather coming up, and my almost certain in ability to get outdoors with the camera, I thought I would add a new feature to my blog, the "Mid-Week Movie Moment." There are so many films I have enjoyed over the years, but sometimes, it's single vignettes in a film which strike a cord with me, and YouTube has made it a lot easier to share with you those moments from the cinema, which have touched me in some way. It's a way of getting to know me even better, while enjoying some really good movie clips. I hope you will give me some feedback on both the new feature, and the film I highlight. Like the film? Hate the film? Sing out and tell me what you think. It could be fun to get a dialog about movies going. Is there anything more fun then watching a great old movie, on a rainy Saturday or Sunday, and then sharing about it with a friend? If you have a movie you want to recommend, tell me about it in the comment thread.



Harry Longabaugh aka Sundance Kid and Etta Place

The first movie clip I have, is from the 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. While I am not usually a fan of old westerns, I have always enjoyed this one. I think it had amazing casting with both Robert Redford and Paul Newman, not to mention the lovely Katherine Ross. I wish there had been more to learn and know about her character, Etta Place, but the truth is, Etta Place was a bit of a mystery. Some accounts have her as a school teacher, while others claim she was a prostitute. If she were alive today, in the age of the Internet, this surely wouldn't have been the case. What is known however, is she apparently had a relationship with both Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid, and for whatever reason, both men had some sort of agreement to share her. Either as a friend or a lover.There isn't a single account of a conflict of jealously haven occurred between the three, which I find amazing. I have to wonder, was the male/female dynamic just that much more simple back then?



The Wild Bunch

The clip I chose is dialog free, but it is certainly one of the sexiest vignettes in film. It is of the bike ride Butch and Etta share, the morning after she reunites with her lover, Sundance. It's the early morning autumn lighting, the innocent picking of an apple from a tree, and the lighthearted fun of a bike ride, which blends with the obvious chemistry between the two, and then culminates into pure romance. No words needed. But really, true romance rarely needs words, you just know. Sigh. :) Watch it and see, and then leave me a comment. Tell me, do you think this is one of the best romantic moments in film?

-OndineMonet