10 Movies That Ruined Real Life People's Reputations

Bonnie and Clyde is a fantastically entertaining dramatisation of the titular outlaws (Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty), albeit one which generally portrays the police officer characters as cartoonishly ineffectual "villains."

This is especially problematic in the case of real-life Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (played here by veteran character actor Denver Pyle), who is envisioned in the film as a buffoon who doggedly pursues Bonnie and Clyde primarily out of revenge for being humiliated by them.

While there likely wasn't much of a way to depict Hamer as anything less than an antagonist, in reality Hamer was actually an incredibly distinguished lawman and far from the mustachioed caricature he resembles in the 1967 classic.

Once the film hit screens, Hamer's family sued Warner Bros. for defamation, and in 1971 received an out-of-court settlement.

The story didn't quite end there, though, as last year's Netflix drama The Highwaymen attempted to further rehabilitate Hamer's image by depicting him far more faithfully, as played with compelling gruffness by Kevin Costner.