As we all know, Brad Pitt won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards. The honor marks his first acting Oscar, one he obtained playing the most likable, alleged wife-murderer ever seen on screen. Pitt stars as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a war veteran and stunt double who, thanks to a nasty rumor, spends most of the movie as Rick Dalton’s driver and handyman. That rumor is perhaps the most intriguing mystery in Quentin Tarantino’s film: what exactly happened to Booth’s wife?
The exact circumstances of Billie Booth’s (Rebecca Gayheart) death are never heard or seen (minus an interpretative flashback). All we know is that although he was never convicted, people think Cliff Booth is responsible. The idea that Cliff Booth may have committed such an atrocity influences the way viewers perceive his character, adding multiple layers to the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood experience. The deceptively simple tidbit influences the movie’s various themes and messages, making the “Did Cliff Booth kill his wife?” question extraordinarily provocative. It’s really hard to come away with a clear answer to that question, in fact, there may not even be one. In the wake of Pitt’s win, let’s finally take a look at all of the contradictory things in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood that may or may not be an indication of hubby Booth’s culpability.
Cover Photo: Columbia Pictures
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Cliff Booth wife
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Cliff Booth is humble and kind.
Cliff takes care of his buddy Rick, checks in on old blind men he hasn’t seen in a while, and loves his dog. One of the reasons Brad Pitt was the perfect actor to play Cliff is because Pitt is a likable guy and Cliff needs to be likable on screen. He is; his bravado makes almost anything forgivable. Therein lies the dilemma: if the death of Billie Booth wasn’t an accident, if Cliff killed her and planned it and got away with it, why do we like him so much? If he had done something like that, surely we would hate his character.
Verdict: He didn't do it.
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Cliff Booth is a violent man.
Cliff isn’t the type of dude to shy away from a fight; he’s a war veteran possessing combat skills the equivalent of Bruce Lee’s. In addition to that massacre of a climax and Cliff’s pounding of the hippie, we also hear that Cliff spent some time on a chain gang in Texas for hitting a cop. Cliff’s character appears to embrace violence without hesitation and seems almost calm when he does it, making his backstory all the more intriguing and questionable.
Verdict: He did it.
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Cliff Booth knows the law.
When declining the proposition of an underage girl, Cliff says, “Prison’s trying to get me all my life, they ain’t got me yet. The day it does, it won’t be because of you. No offense.” So Cliff has had various run-ins with the law and that statement is too vague to determine guilt. As previously stated, we are never told the exact circumstances of Billie Booth’s death or about the aftermath. Was Cliff charged and tried? It’s safe to assume Cliff spent a fair amount of time dealing with that situation and if there were any real accusations, they weren't proved in court. Now, either he planned the death of his wife and got away with it or it was truly an accident. His elaboration of the definition of manslaughter when talking to Bruce Lee might also be another hint at either premeditated murder or an honest accident. Given Cliff’s calm demeanor, it seems unlikely he lost it in the moment as the boat flashback suggests.
Verdict: Inconclusive evidence.
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A nagging Billie Booth.
A pivotal moment in the film concerning Cliff’s wife happens courtesy of a flashback within a flashback (making it all the more unreliable). About halfway through the film, when Cliff is working on Rick’s roof, his mind wanders back to a time when he was working on The Green Hornet. We see Rick trying to convince Randy (Kurt Russell) to let Cliff work on the movie; Randy’s wife believes Cliff killed his wife, therefore, he doesn’t “dig him.” It is in this moment that we get the flashback within this flashback: Cliff and his wife are seen drinking on a boat. Cliff’s wife Billie is leading a one-sided argument; she calls Cliff a loser. The camera then pans to Cliff, wielding a harpoon gun which is pointed at his wife (sort of) and the scene ends. The whole “nagging wife” bit could be seen as an incentive, however, we never see him do it. Not only is this scene a sort of litmus test for the audience but it’s not even really Cliff’s memory, just a foggy retelling of a portion of what might have happened.
Verdict: He didn't do it.
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That 'Pulp Fiction' callback.
In Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction, Vincent Vega (John Travolta) accidentally kills Marvin while driving with Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson). The accident can be blamed on Vincent’s careless holding of his gun; for whatever reason, his finger slips and pulls the trigger, accidentally killing Marvin. Whether this happens because of the car hitting a speed bump or Vincent's finger just clumsily slipping is beside the point. The scene is similar to the one on the boat with Cliff and Billie in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood; Cliff’s harpoon gun is aimed at his wife and you hear a wave when the scene cuts. That boat could just as easily hit a wave, causing Cliff’s finger to slip, and wifey goes bye-bye (he was drinking).
Verdict: He did it (but not on purpose).
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'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' is a Tarantino movie.
Tarantino has never been one to shy away from showing violence in his movies, so the very fact that he deliberately doesn’t show Billie’s death is what gives people pause. There must be something more going on here…but you could just throw all that convoluted nonsense out the window and assume Cliff killed his wife because, well, this is a Tarantino movie. It wouldn’t be the first time a protagonist did something fucked up in one of his films.
Verdict: He did it.
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The true story that Inspired that of Cliff Booth’s wife.
In that flashback within a flashback, Billie Booth mentions that she has a sister named Natalie. This is a reference to Natalie Wood, an actress (popular during the '50s and '60s) who may have died at the hands of her husband, Robert Wagner, in 1981. Her mysterious death occurred on a boat with her husband and actor Christopher Walken; due to various conflicting statements and reports, her official cause of death was cited as “drowning and other undetermined factors.” That whole situation is the inspiration behind the Cliff and Billie Booth plot thread; similarly to people believing Cliff killed his wife, a popular theory is that Wagner killed her (he was a person of interest in the case). So...is Tarantino trying to say something about Robert Wagner or just examining Hollywood’s rumor mill?
Verdict: Inconclusive evidence.
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Depiction of the rumor.
The entire depiction of Cliff’s reputation in Hollywood brings into conversation the nature of Hollywood myth-making. The unreliable nature of the posed flashbacks not only appears to support Cliff’s innocence but the idea that he is a victim of word of mouth. It would be incendiary for Tarantino or Pitt to answer the question of whether or not Cliff did it. Given the fact that the film aims to pay homage to the relationship between Burt Reynolds and his stunt double, Hal Needham, it seems unlikely he’d paint Cliff badly. However, leaving that bit of information open to interpretation might aim to say something about Hollywood, cancel culture or the placating nature of bravado (if he did it).
Verdict: He didn't do it.
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The ending.
When Cliff and his dog wreck those hippies who break into Rick’s home, most people cheered; those people believed Cliff to be innocent of his wife’s murder. If you view Cliff as a victim of circumstance, his acid-trip triumph at the end of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is viewed as a sort of heroic redemption. If you think Cliff did it, then the ending is just a revenge fantasy. The fact that one’s view of Cliff’s character has such a momentous impact on the climax of the film makes the mystery of Billie Booth one of the most brilliant pieces Tarantino has ever put into a film (and potentially his most revealing). From the viewpoint of Tarantino, he probably doesn’t care whether or not Cliff did it; both interpretations work. However, the most rewarding interpretation is that Cliff is innocent.
Verdict: He didn't do it.
