lOVERS ON THE RUN

In movies and in life, the desire for money and the desire for love can sometimes intertwine in unexpected ways. If every love story is a potential crime scene, then the romances depicted in Calgary Cinematheque’s Lovers on the Run series take this theme to the hilt.

Often confined to B-movie status, many of these films played in drive-ins or grindhouses. Some, like Bonnie & Clyde, rose to Oscar-winning success. Others, like certain titles in this rule-breaking compilation of compelling thrillers, are ripe for rediscovery.

Art by Spencer Smith.

Series Films

 

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Directed by  Arthur Penn
March 6, 2025

The ne plus ultra of the "lovers on the run" genre, Bonnie & Clyde barely needs an introduction. Clyde (Warren Beatty) is a small-time crook until he meets Bonnie (Faye Dunaway). Together with Clyde’s brother (Gene Hackman) and his wife (an Oscar-winning performance by Estelle Parsons), they become the most infamous bank robbers of the Depression era. They also become immediate folk heroes for an increasingly disenfranchised American society eager to rob a system that no longer serves them.

Burnt Money (2000)
Directed by Marcelo Piñeyro
March 13, 2025

Tarantino and Scorsese meet Thelma & Louise and Bonnie & Clyde in this crime thriller based on true events, set in 1965 Buenos Aires. Nene (Leonardo Sbaraglia) and Angel (Eduardo Noriega) are known as "The Twins," ruthless bank robbers and inseparable lovers. When a heist goes awry, the two go into hiding with their getaway driver and his girlfriend. Angel’s sudden coldness toward Nene threatens their relationship, and the bisexual Nene takes up with a local prostitute (Leticia Bredice), who tests his loyalty to Angel as the police close in.

Gun Crazy (1950)
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
March 20, 2025

This explosive potboiler ran as a B-picture when it first debuted, but became an undeniable influence on the development of the subgenre. Even more so than films like Detour and They Live by Night, Gun Crazy lays bare the American obsession with cars, guns, and sex. Peggy Cummins and John Dall portray a couple of fugitive criminals whose intense sexual chemistry is ignited and fueled almost entirely by their fetish for guns.

The Honeymoon Killers (1970)
Directed by Leonard Kastle
April 2, 2025

Martha (an unforgettable Shirley Stoler) finds a pen pal through a lonely hearts correspondence in the form of Ray (Tony Lo Bianco). The fact that Ray is a serial killer conman who robs wealthy widows of their money is no problem for Martha; she joins in on the game. But Martha’s fierce jealousy of Ray’s entanglements with his marks soon leads to desperate and dangerous consequences.

Burnt Money (2000)