Harry Tracy, Desperado

The good news is that Bruce Dern just can't turn in a bad performance. Along with Dabney Coleman, he's a guy we just love to hate. He takes a despicable character and forces us to watch him, despite the instinct to turn away. The other good news about this movie is that it cured Gordon Lightfoot of the acting bug and we can safely assume after 20 years that this supremely talented singer and songwriter will never try to act again. His embarrassing performance rivals that of Glen Campbell's in True Grit; wooden, stilted and just painful to watch!

Long after the rest of the Wild Bunch had been rounded up, hanged, or perhaps jumped off a cliff in South America, Harry Tracy, as portrayed by Bruce Dern, was robbing banks, trains, and pursuing Helen Shaver, in between rests in prison, from which he escaped with great ease.

Playing an unlikable western criminal was at the core of Dern's star personna for decades. The problem is that the writer-director of this movie, William Graham, does not seem to have made Dern modulate his performance. It's snarky, self-satisfied, and this time he is smarter than everyone else, which is particularly annoying. At almost 110 minutes, it's also a lot slower than made me happy.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to watch this, but it turned out to be very entertaining. Bruce Dern is a highly underated actor, and he makes the perfect "desperado" in this high-tension action/drama. The fact that it's all based on real events makes it even more gripping. The Macmillan Memorial Library has some great background information on Harry's crimes, his incarceration, subsequent escape, and the manhunt that followed. Supporting cast are good, and the scenery is spectacular at times. You can't sympathise with such a ruthless criminal, but you have to admire the way he evades his pursuers by every means available. You'll find yourself renting this one again in the future.

I taped this movie from HBO around 1983-85, and I'm sure that I watched the VHS tape 20 times before putting it away. I'm finally copying it to a DVD and watching it for the first time in many years.

Bruce Dern never was a handsome guy, but he's a great character actor, and I loved him in this movie. Above all things, it shows that most people are not all good or all bad. In spite of his questionable career choice, Harry Tracy was a fair man.

There's nothing I don't like about the acting, cinematography, and the endearing tale of Harry Tracy and the woman he loved. I highly recommend it if it's still available.

I'll sign off as Harry Tracy would: "Make a wish."

The film begins in Aspen Colorado, 1899, Harry Tracy(Bruce Dern) is detained but the judge's daughter (Helen Shaver) helps the known gunslinger. Then he escapes and unites forces to David Merrill(Michael G. Wynne) , being relentlessly pursued by Marshal Nathan (Gordon Lightfoot). Later on , the legendary Harry Tracy is caught in Aspen escape attempt .

This is glamorous and whimsical story about an outlaw in the closing days of the Old West though a little bit boring. Packs colorful scenarios, slow-moving pace and slick edition. Wonderful cinematography by Allen Daviau filmed in British Columbia, though is necessary an urgent remastering .Atmospheric score with folk music and a song sung by Gordon Lightfoot. The producer Ronald Cohen wishes to acknowledge the following for their co-operation in the making of the film: British Columbia vial, Ministry of Tourism, and Heritage Park, Calgary Alberta. The film is co-financed with the participation of the Canadian Film Development corporation and Famous Players. The motion picture is professionally realized by William A Graham who displays enough off-beat touches to keep things interesting.

Adding more details over the largely described on the movie, deeds happened of the following way : Harry Tracy (Bruce Dern) whose real name was Harry Severns (1875-1902) , he is said to have run with Butch Cassidy and by the time he'd reached adulthood he was actively taking part on act of robbery and theft.His legendary escapes made him both a wanted gunfighter and exalted folk hero. On March 1, 1898 Tracy and 3 accomplices engaged in a gunfight at Brown's Park Colorado in which a posse-man was murdered. Then Harry join forces with another bandit named David Merrill (Michael G. Wynne). Tracy and accomplice were captured but escaped in June 1898 from the Aspen Colorado jail. In late 1901, Tracy was captured, convicted and incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary. On July 3, 1902 he set up an ambush near Bothell, Washington, where he killed a deputy and a detective during a shootout. Tracy fled and took several hostages in a residence and engaged other law enforcement in a shoot'em up. On august 6, 1602 in Creston, Washington Tracy was cornered and shot in the leg during an ambush by a posse from Lincoln County, resulting his leg being badly injured. Sheriff Gardner ( in the film Marshal Nathan played by Gordon Lightfoot) arrived and had the field encircled that Tracy had crawled into. Harry committed suicide to avoid capture.