Lots of great 34 Ford footage! Netflix Highwaymen

[Digger]

Woody Harrelson and Kevin Costner chase down Bonnie and Clyde, tons of great 33-34 Fords zooming around and Model A’s. Worth watching just for that...

[rotorwrench]

The 85 was a muscle car engine when it came out. I think they tried to stick with history pretty well with this movie. The law enforcement side of the picture is relived. Too many folks idolized a pair of killers. They brought togther a lot of early iron for this production. They're not all Fords so it seemed pretty balanced as far as that is concerned. The weapons were accurate as well. The Texas Rangers always got their man, one way or the other even if they had been disbanded at that time.

[TagMan]

Watched it last night - excellent flick with the exception of some minor descrepencies in authenticity.

[CHuDWah]

Haven't seen the movie - so how many nice cars did they shoot up and/or wreck?

Course Clyde preferred to steal Ford V-8, one of which was a rare 32 convertible sedan with twin side-mounts and Cadillac-style aftermarket hood ornament. There are several photos of him and Bonnie with it - pretty fancy getaway car.

[tubman]

Originally Posted by CHuDWah

Haven't seen the movie - so how many nice cars did they shoot up and/or wreck?

Course Clyde preferred to steal Ford V-8, one of which was a rare 32 convertible sedan with twin side-mounts and Cadillac-style aftermarket hood ornament. There are several photos of him and Bonnie with it - pretty fancy getaway car.

If you want to see one of these destroyed, watch the film "If I Had a Million". The segment with W.C. Fields and Allison Skipworth ends with one of these being completely destroyed. It is completely cringeworthy (and absolutely hilarious).

[TonyM]

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Originally Posted by CHuDWah

Course Clyde preferred to steal Ford V-8, one of which was a rare 32 convertible sedan with twin side-mounts and Cadillac-style aftermarket hood ornament. There are several photos of him and Bonnie with it - pretty fancy getaway car.

That was a 1932 Model B-400.

[petehoovie]

Apparently "Due Process" was selective back in '34 and it was determined beforehand not apply to Bonnie & Clyde. The cops were free to be judge, jury and executioner....

[expavr]

Originally Posted by petehoovie

Apparently "Due Process" was selective back in '34 and it was determined beforehand not apply to Bonnie & Clyde. The cops were free to be judge, jury and executioner....

You have to see the movie. The two Texas Rangers who ran Bonnie and Clyde down were given the authority to do so by the Governor of the State of TX and there was no requirement to bring them back alive. As far as that goes both Bonnie and Clyde were given the chance to surrender and decided to opt for suicide by law enforcement rather than surrender. An eye opener for me was the purchase of the weapons by the Texas Rangers. Imagine walking into a gun shop and buying over the counter a BAR, Thompson machine gun and an assortment of rifles, machine pistols and shotguns. Different times for sure. Regarding the two Fords shown in the movie my wife made the observation that the owners who rented them to the studio must have gotten a sweet deal to allow them to get thrashed like they did in the chase scene in the corn field.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by expavr

.................................... both Bonnie and Clyde were given the chance to surrender and decided to opt for suicide by law enforcement rather than surrender......

Not sure about that - No one asked them to surrender before they ambushed then with half an arsenal . They were effectively executed but then they would have been anyway later had they been taken alive -and they knew it.

As far as I can work out, despite the movies, Bonnie and Clyde weren't big time gangsters nor some form of depression Robin Hoods . They were in fact small time robbers and murderers . One of the contributors on this forum had a police officer uncle who was murdered by Bonnie and /or Clyde .

Clyde did have good taste in cars . The most interesting thing for me is after they and the car has been shot to pieces by over 100 rounds their bodies were removed from the car and a Police officer hopped into the car and drove it to the local Sheriffs office . That's one tough car -Karl

[Bob/Pa]

Watched last night, was good and worth watching. Was wondering where they got all the vintage autos that were parked and driving around?

[expavr]

Originally Posted by Bob/Pa

Watched last night, was good and worth watching. Was wondering where they got all the vintage autos that were parked and driving around?

You can sign up with a car registry agency that offers vehicles for movie productions. This is one example: http://www.movievehicles.com/. Also what appears to be many cars in a movie may in fact be just a few that get driven and/or parked throughout the film in such a way that the audience never picks up on the fact they’ve seen the same car in another scene.

[bobH]

Originally Posted by Karl

Clyde did have good taste in cars . The most interesting thing for me is after they and the car has been shot to pieces by over 100 rounds their bodies were removed from the car and a Police officer hopped into the car and drove it to the local Sheriffs office . That's one tough car -Karl

I'm not so sure about that... The version that I read, had the car being TOWED to town, and I think with bodies in it???
And, the "over 100 rounds", not sure of that, either. I've seen the car many times. I don't think there's 100 rounds. I'll take another look, next time I see it. Which will be very soon. Looking at my own personal pictures, I think I can count, perhaps, half-to-three-fourths of a hundred. Of course, I admit, I can't verify rounds that went through the windows. The shooters were not very good marksmen. I suppose one doesn't have to be a marksman with automatic weapons.
It's sad for me to see the car deteriorating. Especially, when only a few years ago, it was roadworthy for the Great Race.
JMO

[Karl]

Originally Posted by bobH

I'm not so sure about that... The version that I read, had the car being TOWED to town, and I think with bodies in it???
And, the "over 100 rounds", not sure of that, either. I've seen the car many times. I don't think there's 100 rounds. I'll take another look, next time I see it. Which will be very soon. Looking at my own personal pictures, I think I can count, perhaps, half-to-three-fourths of a hundred. Of course, I admit, I can't verify rounds that went through the windows. The shooters were not very good marksmen. I suppose one doesn't have to be a marksman with automatic weapons.
It's sad for me to see the car deteriorating. Especially, when only a few years ago, it was roadworthy for the Great Race.
JMO

Like anything on Bonnie and Clyde there are lots of stories -I have certainly read multiple times that there were over 100 rounds fired . One of the posse estimated 150 rounds . However as you say they weren't great marksman so many might have missed the car

I did also read it was driven from the scene but I can't find that reference now . I did find a reference to Ruth Warren driving the car to Shreveport (to put the car on a transporter to take it home ) after she had legally regained ownership .

[rotorwrench]

The local and state police were tired of their fellow officers being executed. These two outlaws had proven that they weren't going to be taken alive. Law enforcement officials have rights too including the right to survive. I think I would have done the same thing in their position.

Only the tan colored 34 fordor bought the farm that I saw.

[Tinker]

Great movie! Watched it this weekend. Most of the bonnie and clyde movies are from their perspective. This is a different view. Great cars in the movie. Well done.

[Tinker]

I cringed a little when Costner walked on the hood of the car in the end of that scene. My first thought was, "was that necessary for the scene"? Haha


Think fullauto was legal till around 83ish in the states.

[mhaim]

Back in the early 30’s a new Thompson cost $225.00. that’s just over 11 $20 gold coins. 11 ounces of gold today is $1300 which is about $14500.00. That’s a lot of money for the cops to pay for one gun.

[Tinker]

I'd rather have an old ford for that money.

[rotorwrench]

Bonnie & Clyde carried an arsenal around with them. The depiction of the weapons purchase by Frank Hamer may have been more for dramatic affect but a person could purchase a lot of stuff over the counter prior to the National Firearms Act of 1934 that came later that year. They did use the Colt Monitors in the ambush though and that is a known fact. Clyde carried no less that three BARs with one being his favorite since it was specially cut down. He had robbed a National Guard armory at one point in their crime spree. They all likely had armor piercing 30.06 ammo out the ying yang.
https://www.range365.com/guns-bonnie-clyde#page-6

When the heart is going a mile a minute with all that adrenaline, they got a bit carried away but most folks that have ever been in a firefight know that that's just part of the drill. There is no point in letting a known killer get the drop on you. It's best to have the first shot advantage.

There were no Texas Rangers in 1934 thanks to Governor Ma Ferguson. They were reorganized in 1935 as a division of the new Texas Department of Public Safety. As a former Captain of the Texas Rangers, Frank was only temporarily authorized as a special agent of the Texas State Police with Texas as the only place where they had any authority. They didn't give him a badge. They "Assisted" the Bienville Parish, Louisiana Sheriffs office in the ambush.

[jimTN]

I saw it last night and believe it was well done. The perspective was excellent IMHO. I looked for out of sorts things and I think the car those feds were is was it with a radio. I saw no antenna and in 34, receiver radios were beginning to be in cars as extras. I'm not so sure there were two way radios in the field then other than fixed stations.