Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
| Thunderbolt and Lightfoot | |
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Theatrical release poster, version #2
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| Directed by | Michael Cimino |
| Produced by | Robert Daley |
| Written by | Michael Cimino |
| Starring |
Clint Eastwood Jeff Bridges George Kennedy Geoffrey Lewis |
| Music by | Dee Barton |
| Cinematography | Frank Stanley |
| Edited by | Ferris Webster |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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115 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4 million or $2.2 million |
| Box office | $25,000,000 |
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a 1974 American crime film written and directed by Michael Cimino and starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, and Geoffrey Lewis.
As a young ne'er-do-well named Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) steals a car, an assassin attempts to shoot a preacher delivering a sermon at his pulpit. The preacher escapes on foot. Lightfoot, who happens to be driving by, inadvertently rescues him by running over his pursuer and giving the preacher a lift.
Lightfoot eventually learns that the "minister" is really a notorious bank robber known as "The Thunderbolt" (Clint Eastwood) for his use of a 20 millimeter cannon to break into a safe. Hiding out in the guise of a clergyman following the robbery of a Montana bank, Thunderbolt is the only member of his old gang who knows where the loot is hidden.
After escaping another attempt on his life by two other men, Thunderbolt tells Lightfoot that the ones trying to kill him are members of his gang who mistakenly thought Thunderbolt had double-crossed them. He and Lightfoot journey to Warsaw, Montana to retrieve the money hidden in an old one-room schoolhouse. They discover the schoolhouse has been replaced by a brand-new school standing in its place.
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot are abducted by the men who were shooting at them—the vicious Red Leary (George Kennedy) and the gentle Eddie Goody (Geoffrey Lewis)—and driven to a remote location where Thunderbolt and Red fight each other, after which Thunderbolt explains how he never betrayed the gang.
Lightfoot proposes another heist—robbing the same company as before—with a variation on the original plan, since Lightfoot inadvertently killed their electronics expert, Dunlap, in his rescue of the fleeing preacher. In the city where the bank is located, the men find jobs to raise money for needed equipment while they plan the heist.
The robbery begins as Thunderbolt and Red gain access to the building. Lightfoot, dressed as a woman, distracts the Western Union office's security guard, deactivates the ensuing alarm, and is picked up by Goody. Using an anti-tank cannon to breach the vault's wall, as they did in the first heist, the gang escapes with the loot. They flee in the car, with Red and Goody in the trunk, to a nearby drive-in movie in progress. Upon seeing a shirt tail protruding from the car's trunk lid (which is a strong indication one or more people are hiding in the trunk to avoid paying), the suspicious theater manager calls the police and a chase ensues. Goody is shot and Red throws him out of the trunk onto a dirt road, where he dies.
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