“The Wild Bunch”, Killing It at Fifty, or Bloody Disaster? Why a Technical Masterpiece Failed at the Box Office.

Critics called it one of America’s 100 best films. Viewers…not so much, proving filmmakers control what we see, but not how we see it.

One of many “The Wild Bunch” posters

1969 was a wonderful year in film. “Drugstore Cowboy” won the Best Picture Oscar, (John Schlesinger won Best Director, Waldo Salt won Best Adapted Screenplay.) and “Z” won the Best Foreign Picture Oscar.

Bill Goldman’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” won Best Original Screenplay, (Conrad Hall won for cinematography.) Maggie Smith won for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brody”, Goldie Hawn (Yes, that Goldie Hawn.) won an Oscar for “Cactus Flower”, Gig Young won for “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” and John Wayne (finally) took home an Oscar for “True Grit”.

“Hello Dolly”, “Sweet Charity”, “Paint Your Wagon”, “Alice’s Restaurant”, “The Battle of Britain”, “The Italian Job”, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” were the year’s also-rans.

“Easy Rider” won at the box office, doing over $100 million on a $400,000 budget. “Butch Cassidy” did $102 million on a $6 million budget. “True Grit” did $31 million, “Drugstore Cowboy” hit $26 million worldwide on a $2.5 million budget. (Though, due to its X rating, only $4.7 million in the US.)

A dozen places down the list came a much-anticipated film that disappointed the Academy and the public; “The Wild Bunch” took in $11 million on a $6.4 million budget. Its R rating deterred some, but the more important reason the film did so poorly at the box office (and still fails to find an audience, fifty years later) is because it breaks a fundamental cinematic rule…

…the film lacks a hero. After 2 1/2 hours (and 50 years) we’re still trying to find someone to like.

Wait…even Hollywood’s Uber drivers know they have to put heroes in their scripts. How could anyone possibly make a big budget film without a hero?

The film took several simple twists of fate.

If you’ve seen “The Wild Bunch” you won’t be surprised it sprang from the imagination of a Hollywood…