The Ultimate Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Trivia Quiz

ENTERTAINMENT

By: Juile Medina

7 Min Quiz

Image: 20th Century Fox

About This Quiz

This 1969 American Western film, based loosely on fact, tells the story of Wild West outlaws who are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. Recall the sharp-shooting adventure with this ultimate Trivia Quiz.

What actor portrayed Butch Cassidy?

Paul Newman portrayed Butch Cassidy, the affable, talkative leader of the outlaw Hole in the Wall Gang. Paul Newman was an actor, film director, entrepreneur, professional race car driver and team owner, environmentalist, activist, and philanthropist. He was a co-founder of Newman's Own, a food company from which he donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity. Newman won an Academy Award for his performance in The Color of Money, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an Emmy Award, and many others. Newman's other films include The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, The Sting, and The Verdict.

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What actor portrayed the Sundance Kid?

Robert Redford played Butch Cassidy’s closest companion and the terse, sharp-shooter, Sundance Kid, Robert Redford is an actor, director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, and philanthropist. Redford founded the Sundance Film Festival, using proceeds from his acting success, starting with his salaries from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Downhill Racer. A top box office draw, Redford has won BAFTA, Directors Guild of America, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. In April 2014, Time Magazine included Redford in their annual TIME 100 as one of the "Most Influential People in the World," declaring him the "Godfather of Indie Film." In 2016, President Barack Obama honored Redford with a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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Who was Etta Place?

Etta Place was a companion of both the American outlaws Butch Cassidy (real name Robert LeRoy Parker) and the Sundance Kid (Harry Alonzo Longabaugh), members of the outlaw gang known as the Wild Bunch. She seemed to be the love interest of Longabaugh. Little is known about Etta Place. Both her origin and her fate remain shrouded in mystery. Etta Place is portrayed by Katharine Ross, who won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress for her role.

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What does Percy Garris do in the film?

Percy Garris, the "colorful" Bolivian mine boss, hires Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for a real job as guards for a mining company. Strother Martin, who portrays Percy Garris, is known for his character acting, especially as a prisoner “captain” in Cool Hand Luke. In that film, he utters his famous line, “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”

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Who does Butch Cassidy fight to take back the leadership of the Hole in the Wall Gang?

When Butch Cassidy returns, he finds the gang members are mad about his long absences and they have chosen Harvey Logan as their new leader. In real life, Harvey Logan began riding with the Wild Bunch (called Hole in the Wall Gang in the film) in 1899. In the movie, Harvey Logan is portrayed by Ted Cassidy, best known for his role of Lurch in the Addams Family.

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What happens in the fight over gang leadership?

Harvey challenges Butch to a knife fight over the gang's leadership. Butch defeats him by pretending to go over the rules, kicking him in the groin and knocking him unconscious. After the fight, Butch embraces Harvey's idea to rob the Union Pacific Overland Flyer train on both its eastward and westward runs. Ted Cassidy's character, Harvey Logan, portrayed as a simple-minded thug, was in fact a suave ladies' man and calculating, cold-blooded murderer.

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How do Butch and Sundance celebrate the first train robbery?

Butch and Sundance visit a favorite brothel to celebrate a successful train robbery. Then they visit Etta Place, Sundance’s lover. Did you know the more commonly used name for Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid's gang was The Wild Bunch? However, when the Sam Peckinpah film, The Wild Bunch (1969), was released a few months earlier, the name of the gang was changed to the Hole in the Wall Gang to avoid confusion with Peckinpah's film.

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What happens on the second train robbery?

On the second train robbery, Butch tricks Woodcock into opening the rail car door, but then uses too much dynamite to blow open the safe. The explosion ends up blowing up the baggage car, too. As the gang scrambles to gather up the money, a second train arrives, carrying a six-man team of lawmen who are pursuing Butch and Sundance. Did you know that George Furth portrayed Woodcock, the very responsible employee of E. H. Harriman? George Furth is a well-known character actor, frequently cast as a bespectacled, ineffectual milquetoast. Furth appeared in such films as The Boston Strangler, Myra Breckinridge, Blazing Saddles, Shampoo, The Cannonball Run, The Man with Two Brains, and Bulworth. His television credits are too numerous to name.

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Why is this super posse so hard to get away from?

The posse remains in pursuit, despite all attempts to elude them. Butch and Sundance determine that the group includes renowned Indian tracker "Lord Baltimore" and relentless lawman Joe Lefors, recognizable by his white skimmer. They learn from Etta that the posse has been paid by Union Pacific head, E. H. Harriman, to remain on their trail until Butch and Sundance are both dead.

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How do Butch and Sundance finally escape their pursuers?

Butch and Sundance escape the posse by jumping from a cliff into a river far below. It isn’t until they are cornered that Butch finds out that Sundance can’t swim. Butch’s response is very practical: “Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.” The river jump was shot at the studio's Century Ranch near Malibu, CA. Paul Newman's and Robert Redford's stuntmen actually jumped off of a construction crane by Century Lake. The crane was obscured by a matte painting of the cliffs. Newman and Redford started the jump, but only landed on a mattress.

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How do Butch and Sundance identify relentless lawman Joe Lefors?

Relentless lawman Joe Lefors is recognizable by his white skimmer, a hat that he always wears. Knowing Joe is on their trail makes them first seek amnesty from the friendly Sheriff Bledsoe. They ask him for help in enlisting in the army. Then Butch convinces Sundance and Etta that the three should escape to Bolivia. The real Butch Cassidy, whose name was Robert Leroy Parker, got his nickname because he once worked in a butcher's shop. The Sundance Kid--real name Harry Alonzo Longabaugh--got his nickname because he once was arrested in the Wyoming town of Sundance.

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How does Sundance feel about Bolivia once they arrive?

On their arrival in Bolivia, Sundance is dismayed by the living conditions and regards the country with contempt, but Butch remains positive. They discover that they know too little Spanish to pull off a bank robbery, so Etta attempts to teach them the language. All the Bolivia scenes were filmed in Mexico, where almost the entire cast and crew, and the director, came down with Montezuma's Revenge (severe diarrhea caused by drinking Mexico's notoriously polluted water). Only Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Katharine Ross were spared, because they refused to drink the water catered on the set and stuck to drinking soda and alcohol for the duration of the shoot.

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With Etta’s help, they become what in Bolivia?

With Etta’s help, they become successful bank robbers, known as Los Bandidos Yanquis. Before the real Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid ended up in Bolivia, they spent some time in the Patagonia area of Argentina, in a town called Cholila. After robbing a bank and fleeing that country, they spent a brief time in Chile, where they befriended miner Percy Seibert, the inspiration for the character Percy Garris.

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Once in Bolivia, why do they change their minds about robbing banks?

Butch suggests “going straight” after they see a man wearing a white hat (the signature of determined lawman Lefors) and fear that Harriman's posse is still after them. Though the real Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were reported killed in San Vicente, Bolivia, on November 7, 1908, the location of their grave has been lost. This has resulted in a long-lived conspiracy theory that their deaths were faked, or that two other men were killed and misidentified as them.

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What kind of job do they get when they “go straight”?

When they land their first honest job as payroll guards for a mining company, they are ambushed by local bandits on their first run and their boss, Percy Garris, is killed. Percy Garris is portrayed by Strother Martin. Martin's distinctive, reedy voice and menacing demeanor made him ideal for villainous roles in many of the best-known westerns of the 1950s and 1960s, including The Horse Soldiers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. His lunatic turn in the latter film as an insanely sadistic henchman for Lee Marvin's character, gleefully giggling in anticipation of each horrendous atrocity, remains a particularly memorable performance.

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How do Butch and Sundance escape the ambush?

Although Butch and Sundance leave the money and run, they circle back and ambush the local bandits as they are distributing the loot. Butch admits that he has never killed a man. Sundance’s reply to that is, “One hell of a time to tell me!”

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How does the duo get identified when they stroll into a small town with the payroll and the mules carrying it?

A boy recognizes the mules' brand and alerts the local police, leading to a gunfight with the outlaws. The duo take cover in a building but are both seriously wounded, after Butch makes a futile attempt to run to the mules in order to bring more ammunition. Did you know by this time in the film, the body count is 30 people?

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Where is Etta when all the gunfighting starts in the small town?

After the payroll fiasco, Etta recommends farming or ranching as other lines of work, but Butch and Sundance conclude the straight life isn't for them. Sensing they will be killed if they return to robbery, Etta decides to go back to the United States. Katharine Ross portrayed Etta and Sam Elliott made his debut in this film as a card player. He and Ross married in 1984.

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How does the movie end?

As dozens of Bolivian soldiers surround the area, the film ends with a freeze frame shot on the pair charging out of the building, guns blazing, before the Bolivian forces open fire. Contrary to Percy Garris’s on-screen death, Percy Garris remained alive. Percy Garris is based on the real Percy Seibert, a Maryland mining engineer the pair worked with in Antofagasta, Chile. Percy Seibert was still alive when the two died, and he served as the coroner's witness. In a 1930 interview, Seibert reaffirmed having identified the two dead in 1908, and insisted that any conspiracy theory was "rubbish."

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Who said this? “Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals.”

The clever, talkative leader of the outlaw Hole in the Wall Gang says this to his less talkative partner, Sundance. According to screenwriter William Goldman, his screenplay originally was entitled "The Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy." Both Steve McQueen and Paul Newman read the script at approximately the same time and agreed to do it, with McQueen playing the Sundance Kid. When McQueen dropped out, the names were reversed in the title, as Newman was a superstar.

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Who is Butch Cassidy talking to? Butch Cassidy: [in a low voice] “Maybe there's a way to make a profit in this. Bet on Logan.” “I would, but who'd bet on you?”

This line is said prior to Harvey Logan and Butch Cassidy fighting over who will be the leader of the Hole in the Wall Gang. Ted Cassidy's character, Harvey Logan, is portrayed as a simple-minded thug. The real outlaw was a cold-blooded murderer. He is best known for his clever escape from a jail in Knoxville, TN, in 1902.

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Who is Butch Cassidy talking to? [low voice] Listen, I don't mean to be a sore loser, but when it's done, if I'm dead, kill him. [low voice to Butch] Love to.

This line really shows the relationship between Butch and the Sundance Kid - they have each other's backs. In this scene where Harvey Logan has challenged Butch to fight for control of the gang, Butch Cassidy also shows his humor in a precarious situation. Not unlike the questioned authenticity of Butch Cassidy's and the Sundance Kid's death, Harry Logan’s officially reported death (in a 1904 Colorado train robbery) was contested by mutually exclusive eyewitness claims. They claimed he was living on several different continents over the decades.

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What scene shows the love and admiration Butch has for Etta?

The relationship triangle between Etta, Butch, and Sundance is complicated. She loves them both but has a physical relationship with Sundance, as she met him first. Did you know Paul Newman did his own bicycle stunts, after his stunt man was unable to stay on the bike? The only stunt he didn't do was the scene where Butch crashes backwards into the fence, which was performed by cinematographer Conrad L. Hall.

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Who says this to the Sundance Kid? “I didn't know you were the Sundance Kid when I said you were cheating. If I draw on you, you'll kill me.” Sundance Kid: “There's that possibility.”

In a card game, Sundance keeps insisting that he is not cheating. When the Card Player learns Sundance’s name, he changes his tune. Sundance treats him to a demonstration of his shooting prowess as he and Butch Cassidy leave the saloon. Robert Redford wanted to do all his own stunts. Paul Newman was especially upset about Redford's desire to jump onto the train roof and run along the tops of the cars as it moved. Redford said Newman told him, "I don't want any heroics around here . . . I don't want to lose a co-star."

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Who is Butch talking to? Butch Cassidy: “We're going to run out unless we can get to that mule and get some more.” “I'll go.” Butch Cassidy: “This is no time for bravery. I'll let ya!”

He is talking to Sundance. During the Bolivian gunfight, they realize they don’t have enough ammunition to get themselves out of the situation. The mule they brought is where the ammunition is stored. Paul Newman, who was reluctant to do a comic role, thought he was scaling his performance "a little too high, a little too broad," but director George Roy Hill got him to do less and find his own level of wry humor that fit the character.

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Who is Etta talking to? “Well, I swear, Etta, I don't know. I've been working like a dog all my life and I can't get a penny ahead.” Etta Place: “Sundance says it's because you're a soft touch, and always taking expensive vacations, and buying drinks for everyone, and you're a rotten gambler.” “Well that might have something to do with it.”

Butch Cassidy and Etta are conversing. Butch has no problem joking about himself as well during the precarious situations he and the Sundance Kid find themselves in. Did you know Flat Nose Curry was a real outlaw? Curry was a mentor to Harvey Logan, who would adopt the surname Curry, and the two robbed banks together before both became members of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. Curry would be killed by a Sheriff while rustling in Grand County, Utah.

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What topic are they referring to? Sundance Kid: “Did you say they were hired permanent?” Etta Place: “No, just until they kill you.”

They are referring to the posse that Union Pacific head, E. H. Harriman, hired to kill the duo. The posse includes an Indian tracker, "Lord Baltimore," and relentless lawman, Joe Lefors, recognizable by his white skimmer. Joe Lefors was a real lawman in the closing years of the Old West. He is best known for the arrest of gunman Tom Horn in 1903 for the alleged murder of 14‑year-old sheepherder Willie Nickell. This arrest has since come into question. It has long been believed that Lefors falsified evidence, helping to convict the wrong man for the murder.

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Who is Butch Cassidy talking to? Butch Cassidy: “How come you're so talkative?” “Naturally blabby, I guess...”

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fit well together. While Butch is affable and talkative, Sundance is extremely brief in his use of words. Paul Newman said that this was the most fun he'd ever had making a film. He and Robert Redford drank a lot of beer in Mexico.

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Who says this? "Butch, you know that if it were my money, there is nobody that I would rather have steal it than you. But, you see, I am still in the employment of E. H. Harriman of the Union Pacific Railroad!”

Woodcock will not open the railroad car door to access the safe. As he is explaining why to the Hole in the Wall Gang, the door gets blown away by the ignited dynamite. George Furth (Woodcock) was also a playwright, as well as an actor. Furth won both the Tony and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical for Company, and he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play for Precious Sons.

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Who says this? “… I'll go with you, and I won't whine, and I'll sew your socks, and I'll stitch you when you're wounded, and I'll do anything you ask of me except one thing. I won't watch you die. I'll miss that scene if you don't mind.”

Etta Place says this when deciding she would go to Bolivia with the pair of outlaws. The screenwriter, William Goldman, decided to make Etta a teacher because he had seen a photo of the real-life woman and decided she was too young and pretty to be a prostitute. In fact, most women of that profession in the old West looked haggard, unhealthy, and coarse in the photos he had seen of them.

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What did the critics think of the film?

The film received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of critics gave the film favorable reviews. And the Writers Guild of America ranked the screenplay number 11 on its list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written.

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What did the fans think of the film?

The audience loved it. On a budget of $6 million, it earned $102.3 million at the box office. It was the top grossing film of the year. Adjusted for inflation, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ranks as the 34th top-grossing film of all time and the top 10 for its decade, due in part to subsequent rereleases.

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How many Academy Awards did this film receive?

The film won four Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score for a Motion Picture, Best Music, Song ("Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"); and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Material Not Previously Published or Produced. But the accolades didn’t end here - the film was also nominated for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Sound.

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Which of these awards or accolades did the film receive?

In 2003, the film was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The Academy Film Archive preserved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1998. No Golden Globe Awards were won.

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Which categories did the film win in the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA)?

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid also won numerous BAFTA awards for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor (won by Redford, although Newman was also nominated), and Best Actress for Katharine Ross, among other awards.

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