The classic of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had plenty of haters

During a Q&A for Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid at the 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival, ace songwriter Burt Bacharach recalled the film’s unforgettable use of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” which caused quite a stir among Redford and a significant portion of 20th Century Fox executives. According to Bachrach, “I heard (…) that after the film was finished, Robert Redford said, ‘What the hell is that song doing in this movie?'”

The song — written by Bachrach and lyricist Hal David, and sung by BJ Thomas — accompanies a scene in which Newman’s Cassidy rides away from Sundance’s girlfriend Etta Place (Katharine Ross) on a bicycle and tries to seduce her by performing a series of tricks on the ride. It’s a wacky moment that resonates with the hippie “free love” movement, and gives Newman a chance to perform his own bicycle stunts for the amusement of his fans. It’s also a sequence that probably inspired a whole host of cheesy music videos in the 1980s, but it fits the context of Hill’s film (and Ross has never looked more radiant on screen, in part because the scene was shot by her then-boyfriend Conrad Hall).

Despite numerous opposition at the highest levels, Hill stood by the song, as did studio head Richard D. Zanuck.