In real life Blanche Barrow did not run from the Joplin apartment screaming with a spatula. In fact she helped Clyde push one of the police cars out of the driveway which was down hill. The car started rolling faster and rolled across the street into a large tree. They both were dragged by the momentum and that is what witnesses saw. Clyde was shot at that time and Blanche let out one yelp and kept moving to get out of the line of fire. That was about the last shot since the officer shooting ran out of ammo so Buck called her back and she returned to get into the escape car in front of the apartment rather than being picked up down the street as the movie portrayed.
In real life, by the time Clyde Barrow died at the age of 24, he had been responsible - both directly and indirectly - for the deaths of at least 14 people.
In real life, Clyde Barrow was a highly dangerous marksman who had mastered most firearms including the Browning Automatic Rifle and the Thompson Sub Machine Gun. The lawmen chasing him were well aware of his ability with a gun which partly explains the ruthlessness behind the way he was gunned down.
In reality, Buck Barrow's death was much more brutal. After being shot repeatedly, a police officer stepped on his face and was about to deliver the killer shot before Blanche's screaming alerted him to what he was actually doing.
In reality, the bank robbers picked up about three people in their travels. This was merged into one character in the form of C.W. Moss.
In the Special Edition DVD Documentary, Estelle Parsons says she was the only member of the cast who actually researched the history of the Barrow Gang. She also says that early in the filming, she wanted to meet the real Blanche Barrow but Warren Beatty, in his capacity as the producer, was against the idea. Finally, after a week, Warren relented and set up a meeting with Blanche, but at that point Parsons lost interest and never met Blanche. In fact, Warren Beatty brought the script to Blanche for her to read for her approval before she would give permission to use her name. She agreed the script was factual and approved it. While there he played her piano and sang for her. She was very fond of Warren even though the director completely changed the script to make her look as in her own words, "A screaming Horse's Ass." She took her third husband Eddie to see the movie with her for the first time and nearly died of embarrassment.
Leading Newsweek film critic Joseph Morgenstern hated the film when he first saw it, but then later took the unprecedented step of admitting that his original review was completely wrong. His revised version raved about the film.
Many consider one of the reasons why the film was so successful was because of its anti-establishment stance. At the time, disillusionment with America's involvement in Vietnam was gaining ground.
Near the end of the film, Bonnie and Clyde are lying in bed discussing marriage. It is interesting to note that in real life, Bonnie was already married. She had married her high school sweetheart, Roy Thorton before meeting Clyde. Thorton was a petty criminal who was sent to prison for life for murder. Despite his conviction, Bonnie never divorced him and to the day she died, Bonnie Parker was officially "Mrs. Roy Thorton". Bonnie was still wearing Thornton's ring when she was killed.
Once Warren Beatty came on board, one of the first things deleted from Robert Benton and David Newman's script was a homosexual affair between Clyde and Moss.
One of Arthur Penn's intentions was to make the character of Blanche as hysterical as possible so that it would make Bonnie look even cooler.
One of the contentious issues between director Arthur Penn and cinematographer Burnett Guffey was that the latter insisted on lighting the principals with old-style lighting whilst Penn preferred a looser, less formal approach. Guffey was mindful that a vast majority of studio profits then came from drive-in theaters. Underlit scenes simply didn't show up well on those screens. Matters rose to the extent that Guffey quit the film for a week but ultimately came back (and won the Academy Award).
One of the first films to feature an extensive use of squibs.
Originally writers Robert Benton and David Newman wrote Clyde Barrow as a bisexual, a point which they felt was non-negotiable. Warren Beatty had no objections but Arthur Penn did. He felt that to have Clyde be part gay on top of all the other social dysfunctions featured in the film would just make the audience think they were watching a bunch of freaks. Benton and Newman couldn't help but agree.
Other actresses considered for the role of Bonnie Parker included Tuesday Weld, Ann-Margret, Carol Lynley and Sue Lyon.
Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 25 Most Dangerous Movies".
Producer Warren Beatty requested that the sound of gunshots in the movie should be much louder than the rest of the soundtrack. He was greatly influenced by Shane in this regard. However, at a screening in London he noticed that the gunfire sounds were much softer than intended. He went to the projection booth, where the projectionist told he that he had "helped" the film by adjusting the gunfire sounds. The projectionist said that he had not come across a film as poorly mixed since "Shane".
Ranked #5 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Gangster" in June 2008.
Roger Ebert had only been a film critic for six months when he saw this film and hailed it as the first masterpiece he had seen on the job.
Screen writer Robert Towne did uncredited work as a story consultant on the movie. He is featured in interviews for the Special Edition DVD Documentary.