Discussing "We Rob Banks"

 Title: Discussing "We Rob Banks"
Year: 2013
Writer: Michael Carlisle

Throughout cinematic history there have been lines of dialogue so thrilling and unique that they stay fresh in our minds forever. Who could forget when the calculating anti-hero of Casablanca, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), said "We'll always have Paris" to his ex-lover Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman)? How about when Dorothy (Judy Garland) arrives in the magical land of Oz and says to her beloved dog "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"? Some lines of dialogue are timeless because the can fit in any time period, this brings me to "we rob banks".

For those of you who don't know, "we rob banks" is a line from Arthur Penn's classic New American Wave film known as Bonnie and Clyde. It is a loose biography about the criminal careers of the legendary couple Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) and Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty). The film starts with Bonnie's desire for freedom from her small Southern depression hit town and ends with the Barrow gang's death at the side of a road.

Clyde Barrow says the famous line "we rob banks" near the middle of the film. It happens while introducing himself to the farmers who used to own the house that he and his lover are now temporarily squatting in. The farmers had stopped to take one last look at their home, which that unfortunately lost due to bank foreclosure. Seeing Clyde makes the former home owners hesitate, but as soon as the charismatic says "we rob banks" a mutual respect for one occurs. The bank, it seems, is the common enemy of the common man during the depression era. To rob a bank is to do a great service to a great number of people.

Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker could only be considered heroes because of their situation. If they did their notorious acts in our modern era they would be considered terrorists and sent to Guantanamo Bay for intense interrogation. The situation which made robbing banks socially acceptable, at least among the incredibly poor, was the Great Depression.

The great depression began around September 4, 1929, after the fall in stock prices. However most historians would agree that complete devastation began Octover 29,1929 the the complete collapse of the stock market, this day is infamously known as "Black Tuesday".  By mid-1930, interest rates had dropped to low levels, but expected deflation  and the continuing reluctance of people to borrow meant that consumer spending and investment were depressed. In 1931 a vicious deflationary spiral started and unemployment was up by an astounding 600%.  The decline of the US economy assisted in the decline of many other countries economies, soon everybody was pulled down and by 1933 the world's economy hit rock bottom. 

Though we cannot possibly comprehend the devastating effects of the great depression, many films and novels have simulated the tragic experience. John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath paints a portrait of how the average family in Oklahoma suffered because of the economic collapse and tremendous unemployment rate. Charles Chaplin used his wildly popular Tramp character in Modern Times to make light of  a situation which had left most in ruin. 

Not even famous actors could avoid being affected by the world's disastrous economy, especially since this was also the transition period between silent film and talkies. In 1927 Warner Brothers created the first feature film, The Jazz Singer, that included sound, a new technology at the time. Its popularity exploded and soon audiences were demanding that more talkies be made, out with the old and in with the new. The transition was unavoidable; most Directors/actors/producers who refused to adjust would be thrown on the street and left to fend for themselves. Silent movies weren't making any money, though Chaplin refused to change until 1940 with his anti-nazi The Great Dictator, his 30's films would be money losers. The sound era demanded a different breed of actor and unfortunately history is loaded with too many actors who couldn't make the jump to sound, then lost their money in the depression.

Though the depression died out during World War Two, because a greater number of jobs are available during wartime, we are still affected by the foolish choices of the rich and powerful to this day. The US is in an economic recession because they fought two wars they found they couldn't afford, banks are being bailed out of bankruptcy by the government while the average joe is left to fight for themselves. "We rob banks" was not only a powerful statement for the depression era , it is a powerful statement in our modern era. Though Bonnie and Clyde might be treated as terrorists in 2013, they would still receive the affection of the public who are absolutely sick of reckless bankers. I have a feeling Arthur Penn's film will be relevant for a long time to come.