The Bonnie Parker Story (1958)

Director: William Witney

Starring: Dorothy Provine, Jack Hogan, Richard Bakalyan, Joe Turkel, William Stevens, Ken Lynch, Douglas Kennedy

More info: IMBb

Tagline: She Lived Like A Woman, And Killed Like An Animal!

Plot: In the 1930s, amoral blonde tommy-gun girl Bonnie Parker cut a swath of bodies across the South-West. Starting out on gas stations and bars with side-kick Guy Darrow she graduated to bank hold-ups with Darrow's brother and, after bloodily springing him, her jailed husband. But there was never any doubt who was in charge.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

If there weren't thousands of movies I want to watch I'd easily put this one back in the queue a few years from now. I loves me some Great Depression-era gangster movies, whether they were made then or take place in that time. This one is pure fiction putting Bonnie in the driver's seat. There is no Clyde Barrow but instead we have Guy Darrow. Not much of a stretch but these movies rarely have any truth to them.


With a tough broad performance from Dorothy Provine, some well-handled action scenes and a pretty brisk pace, it's a pretty good ride and with a satisfying conclusion. There was one scene that made me think of RAISING ARIZONA (1987) where two of the guys discuss knocking off a feed store and how there's more money on one particular day than usual. The excitement and description screams too many similarities for the Coen Brothers not to have seen this movie before writing theirs. Regardless, seek this one out. I recorded my copy off of AMC many years ago...you know, back when that channel was worth a shit, when they didn't have commercials. TCM rules!