''Bonnie's Kids'' is a 1972 American

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written and directed by

Arthur Marks Arthur Ronald Marks (August 2, 1927 – November 13, 2019) was an American film and television director, writer, producer and distributor best known for his work in the blaxploitation genre, directing films such as ''Bonnie's Kids'', ''Detroit 90 ...

Plot

Sisters Myra and Ellie Thomas live in Glendora,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with their abusive stepfather, Charley, who was married to their now-deceased mother, Bonnie. When the stepfather tries to rape the younger Myra, Ellie shoots him with a shotgun. Rather than reporting the death to the authorities, the two sisters flee to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to live with their only known relative, a wealthy uncle named Ben Siemen. Unbeknown to Ellie, the uncle soon has her involved in a money-laundering operation, but when she uncovers the nefarious scheme, she double-crosses her uncle and absconds with the money. Ellie then directs Myra to meet her in

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, with plans for them to flee the country. A string of unfortunate deaths ensues as the uncle and his hitmen attempt to retrieve the money.

Cast

Tiffany Bolling Tiffany Bolling (born Tiffany Royce Kral) is a retired American actress, model and singer, best known for her appearances in cult movies. Early years Bolling was born in Santa Monica, California. Her father was singer/pianist Roy Kral and h ...

as Eleanor "Ellie" Thomas *

Robin Mattson Robin Mattson is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the daytime soap operas ''General Hospital'', '' Santa Barbara'', and ''All My Children''. Career Daytime television Mattson made her daytime debut as troubled teen Hope B ...

as Myra Thomas *

Steve Sandor Steve Sandor (October 27, 1937 – April 5, 2017) was an actor who made his first television appearance on ''Star Trek'', playing Lars in the second season episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion". Formative years Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ...

as Larry *

Scott Brady Scott Brady (born Gerard Kenneth Tierney; September 13, 1924 – April 16, 1985) was an American film and television actor best known for his roles in Western films and as a ubiquitous television presence. He played the title role in the televi ...

as Ben Siemen * Lenore Stevens as Diana Siemen *

Alex Rocco Alex Rocco (born Alessandro Federico Petricone Jr.; February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, he was often cast as villains, including Moe Greene in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and his Pr ...

as Eddy *

Leo Gordon Leo Vincent Gordon (December 2, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American character actor and screenwriter. During more than 40 years in film and television he was most frequently cast as a supporting actor playing brutish bad guys but oc ...

as Charley *

Max Showalter Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...

as Frank * Timothy Brown as Digger * Luanne Roberts as Paula Clark *

Sharon Gless Sharon Marguerite Gless (born May 31, 1943) is an American actress and author, who is known for her television roles as Maggie Philbin on ''Switch'' (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series ''Cagney & Lacey'' (198 ...

as Sharon *

Hedgemon Lewis Hedgemon Lewis (February 25, 1946 – March 31, 2020) was an American professional boxer and trainer. He held the NYSAC welterweight world title in 1972 and challenged for welterweight world championships on three occasions; the unified WBA, an ...

as himself

Music

Sam Neely Sam Neely (August 22, 1948 – July 19, 2006) was an American country music, country and folk music musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and performer. Born in Cuero, Texas, Cuero, Texas, Neely began playing guitar at age ten. After m ...

- "Blue Time" * Estelle Silberkleit - "Escape" *

Carson Whitsett James Carson Whitsett (May 1, 1945 – May 8, 2007) was an American keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Biography Carson Whitsett was born in Jackson, Mississippi. He joined his older brother Tim's band, Tim Whitsett & The Imperials ( ...

- "Got To Be A Way" *

- "Someday I'll Understand"

References

External links

* 1973 films 1970s action drama films 1972 crime drama films 1972 films American neo-noir films American crime drama films American exploitation films 1970s exploitation films Films directed by Arthur Marks 1973 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{exploitation-film-stub