NEW Bonnie & Clyde Info from FBI!

[Rick Mattix]

No one knows for certain if Bonnie was pregnant at the time of her death or not but the rumor has been circulating since 1934 and research is continuing along these lines by several parties. The Barrow and Parker families have always maintained that Bonnie was sterile, owing to some operation, maybe an abortion, she had during her teenage years while married to Roy Thornton. Others, including gang member Henry Methvin and members of his family, said she was pregnant and, judging from the newly released FBI files, this was also the belief at the time of Captain Frank Hamer and of FBI agents, who'd received info that Bonnie was seeing a doctor for her condition. Unfortunately, the coroner's report, by Dr. J.L. Wade of Arcadia, LA, lists only the immediate (and obvious, of course) cause of death for both Clyde and Bonnie and seems to be the closest thing to an autopsy there is. Mentions nothing much other than dozens of bullet wounds, glass cuts, etc.

I don't think there was ever serious consideration of taking Bonnie alive tho. It seems, to the officers' regret, that everyone agreed Bonnie would probably be killed as she was always with Clyde.

[tji]

Hi Rick

Thanks for that info

Don't suppose we will ever know if a proper autopsy was never performed.

tj

[Elizabeth Short]

Ah....Bonnie & Clyde...

[Graham]

If the movie's anything to go by, wasn't Clyde unable to, er, get it up?, pardon my crudeness.

Which leads me to ask: just how close to historical fact was the movie anyway? I recall reading that the CW character in the movie is totally fictional. Is this true?

[Rick Mattix]

The movie Bonnie and Clyde was in some ways more accurate than most gangster movies, not that that's saying much. Details were often wrong (i.e., arming the Barrow Gang with Thompsons instead of B.A.R.'s), some events were condensed and some characters (C.W. Moss) were fictional composites of different people, and of course there were wholly imaginary scenes like the "capture" of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer by the gang which was the vehicle they used to turn this legendary lawman into a vengeful bushwacker. Platte City, Missouri becomes a fictional "Platte City, Iowa" to compress events leading into the Dexfield Park shootout near Dexter, Iowa. On the other hand, the gun battles are recreated with reasonable accuracy for Hollywood and some little things, like Clyde's amateurish attempted holdup of a bank that's just failed, are based on actual events. (That scene incidentally was filmed outside an old bank in Ponder, Texas that actually was robbed in 1932, probably by Machine Gun Kelly though local legend still attributes the crime to Bonnie and Clyde.)

Clyde's supposed impotence, I think, is a bit of literary license taken by Hollywood partly out of dramatic considerations. A neat Freudian hook implying that his gun was an unconscious phallic symbol. But the movie was also based partly on John Toland's 1963 book The Dillinger Days which had a few chapters dealing sketchily and inaccurately with the Barrow Gang and contained the allegation that Barrow had "homosexual tendancies" and that his male accomplices were picked not only to help with the robberies but also to satisfy Bonnie whom Toland pictured as an insatiable nymphomaniac. Both these allegations seem to have no documented basis. I suspect the scriptwriters invented Barrow's impotence as a polite translation of Toland's unproven allegation of homosexuality.

Oh yeah, almost missed this but "C.W. Moss" was a fictional composite of two gang members, W.D. Jones and Henry Methvin.

[Graham]

Thanks, Rick.

I think I mentioned before on this thread that I was once taken for a 'tour' of some of B&C's scenes, when I lived in the USA. What really impressed me was just how rural and backwoods were the places they operated (and robbed), and I'm sure that that was intentional on their part - after all, some half-asleep boondock community probably wouldn't be able to quickly raise the numbers of cops necessary to even try to bring them to book.

Graham

[jason_c]

According to the book Public Enemies Clyde was a 2nd rate criminal whole held-up local stores rather than banks. He was also trigger happy with numerous cold blooded murders.

As far as his "homosexuality tendencies" go there was a statement from one of his cohorts that Clyde was raped in prison.

[Rick Mattix]

According to the book Public Enemies Clyde was a 2nd rate criminal whole held-up local stores rather than banks. He was also trigger happy with numerous cold blooded murders.

As far as his "homosexuality tendencies" go there was a statement from one of his cohorts that Clyde was raped in prison.

Very true on both counts. Barrow was small-time and very incompetent, crime-wise. He robbed far more mom-and-pop grocery stores and filling stations than banks and the bank jobs were small too and mostly poorly executed. And he was trigger-happy. The Barrow Gang killed at least dozen men and several of these murders were personally committed by Clyde.

Probably the first man Barrow killed was Ed Crowder at Eastham Prison Farm who is said to have raped him. That sort of thing is pretty common in prison and there's no evidence of consensual homosexual behavior on Clyde's part after his release.

Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough is a good book, probably the best to date on the Midwest Depression crime wave and the rise of the FBI. I met Burrough while he was researching the book and we toured the Dexfield Park battle site together.

[Steve S]

Pure coincidence...I've just finished 'Go Down Together'......The account of the ambush is chilling reading...I seem to recall a TV Movie which seemed more accurate than the well-known one....?....And thanks,Rick,for saving me from having to look up what the Colt Monitor was!...Never heard of that one before.....I do find it amazing that B&C kept re-stocking with weaponry from the National Guard Armouries.....You'd think somebody had noticed........
Steve

[Rick Mattix]

Fox-TV produced a movie back in the early '90s entitled Bonnie and Clyde: The True Story starring Tracey Needham and Dana Ashbrook. It had its inaccuracies too but was somewhat closer to the truth than the Beatty-Dunaway movie. It still sugar-coated B&C considerably tho.

Another good book from a couple years ago is My Life With Bonnie and Clyde by Blanche Barrow and edited and annotated by John Neal Phillips. This is Blanche's actual memoir of life in the gang, written while she was in the Women's State Prison in Jefferson City, Missouri in the '30s. Like any criminal's memoirs it's self-serving and probably stretches the truth some but does provide an interesting account of their life on the run.

[Roy Corduroy]

Hi Rick and welcome to Casebook,

I liked Go Down Together. The writer is very talented to cover all the twists and turns yet keep the story moving along.

Roy

[Rick Mattix]

Thanks Roy, and glad to be aboard here. I've been researching American gangsters and outlaws of the '20s and '30s for years but of course have a general interest in true crime and have always been fascinated with the Whitechapel Murders. One of the earliest crime books I ever read, as an impressionable teenager back in the '60s, was a paperback edition of Tom Cullen's Ripper book (which scared hell out of me at the time). Been hooked on the case ever since.

[Rick Mattix]

Received this email press release other day from National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, DC regarding the Bonnie & Clyde movie in the works:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



MEDIA CONTACTS

Cypress Moon Studios: Lauren Lewis, (818) 970-0052, llewispr@aol.com

National Museum of Crime and Punishment: Lisa Marie Czop, (703) 533-4837, lisa@bwfcom.com



Cypress Moon Studios and the National Museum of Crime and Punishment Form Alliance to Support Upcoming

Bonnie and Clyde Feature Film



December 8, 2009, Sheffield, AL/Washington, D.C. – Independent filmmaker Tonya S. Holly of Cypress Moon Studios and Janine Vaccarello of the National Museum of Crime and Punishment have created a power-alliance to promote the upcoming feature film The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. These new partners (but not partners-in-crime), have both brought their love of history and extensive knowledge of the infamous Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow into the promotion of the upcoming movie production.



Written and set to be directed by Holly, The Story of Bonnie and Clyde is a new retelling of the classic love story that is extremely character driven and uncovers many aspects of the lives of Bonnie and Clyde that have never before been seen on the big screen. Production is slated to begin early 2010 in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, featuring the following all-star cast:



Hilary Duff Bonnie Parker

Kevin Zegers Clyde Barrow

Thora Birch Blanche Barrow

Taryn Manning Mary O’Dare

Michael Madsen Frank Hamer

Lee Majors Warden Lee Simmons

Cloris Leachman Cumie Barrow

Rance Howard Henry Barrow

Lily Matland Holly Marie Barrow

Peter Coyote Sheriff Schmid

Dee Wallace Emma Parker

Tess Harper Governor Ma Ferguson



“One of the many aspects of our new alliance is the unlimited potential to reach a worldwide audience through branding, social networking, cross-promotion, special events and numerous other creative ways,” said Holly, who has been fascinated with the duo since she was a teenager. “The Story of Bonnie and Clyde is a gripping story about two of the most notorious fugitives in history and we are very excited to team with the museum in promoting the film.”



Holly and Vaccarello have been discussing various ways they could work together on this very important project and will be releasing news and exciting developments in the near future.



“Our Bonnie and Clyde exhibit has continued to be one of the most popular exhibits since we opened our doors in May 2008,” says Vaccarello. “There is such deep-rooted interest in these two characters, and we are thrilled to partner with Cypress Moon Studios and Tonya S. Holly to help the general public find out more about the intricate details of their life together.”



About the National Museum of Crime & Punishment

NMCP’s mission is to provide guests of all ages with a memorable insight into the issues of crime, crime fighting, and the consequences of committing a crime in America through a captivating interactive, entertaining and educational experience. The museum is located on 7th Street NW between E and F Streets in downtown Washington, D.C. at the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro (Arena exit). For more information, visit www.crimemuseum.org.



About Cypress Moon Studios

Cypress Moon Studios is a leading independent production company of feature films, television and music projects. Based in Sheffield, AL with numerous satellite offices throughout the South, Cypress Moon Studios is run by Founder and President, writer/director/producer Tonya S. Holly. The studio, formerly known as the historic Muscle Shoals Sound Recording Studios from 1978 until 2005 when Holly purchased the building, is a fully operating state-of-the-art film and music production facility. For more information, visit www.cypressmoonproduction.com.







~Lisa Marie Czop~

Brotman Winter Fried Communications

Director of Special Events

111 Park Place Falls Church, VA 22046

Office: (703) 533-4837

Fax: (703) 536-2255

Cell: (703) 431-5508

Email: lisa@bwfcom.com

https://www.bwfcom.com