I’m absolutely convinced I saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the theater with my family. But I was only six years old (going on seven) when the movie was released. I know my parents would never take me to an adult feature at such a tender age. So I did some research and found that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was rereleased in 1974. No doubt the studio did this to take advantage of the success of Paul Newman and Robert Redford starring in The Sting the previous year. Slap a PG rating on it and make it fun for the whole family. But had no doubts that I saw it with the whole family. My sister Brenda assures me that she didn’t see it in the theater. My mother doesn’t know what the movie is about. My father is confident that he and I saw it, and probably the rest of the boys. My brother Stan says, “If you were there, I was there.” My brother Randy is fairly confident that it was a Boys' Night Out. I didn’t bother calling my other two brothers, Cliff and Scott. That’s the problem with having so many siblings: it can take you a couple of hours just to make all the phone calls. How am I so convinced that I saw the movie in the theater? Because I can still hear my dad sucking in his breath with an empathetic wince during the knife fight scene. I remember the troop of us walking across the spotlighted parking lot with a light, cool evening breeze. I remember how we were laughing and commenting to each other about the excellent final scene as the frame faded to sepia while the soundtrack continued.
