''The Legend of Alfred Packer'' is a 1980 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Jim Roberson from a script by

Burton Raffel Burton Nathan Raffel (April 27, 1928 – September 29, 2015) was an American writer, translator, poet and professor. He is best known for his vigorous translation of ''Beowulf'', still widely used in universities, colleges and high schools. Oth ...

. It is a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

Alferd Packer Alfred Griner Packer (January 21, 1842 – April 23, 1907), also known as "The Colorado Cannibal", was an American prospector and self-proclaimed professional wilderness guide who confessed to cannibalism during the winter of 1874. He and fi ...

starring Patrick Dray in the title role. The film features a score by Bolivian composer

Jaime Mendoza-Nava Jaime Mendoza-Nava (December 1, 1925 – May 31, 2005) was a Bolivian-American composer and conductor. Early life and work Mendoza-Nava was born in La Paz, Bolivia. He studied at The Juilliard School and Madrid Royal Conservatory, the Sorbonn ...

, though the main theme is derivative of

Mason Williams Mason Douglas Williams (born August 24, 1938) is an American classical guitarist, composer, singer, writer, comedian, and poet, best known for his 1968 instrumental "Classical Gas" and for his work as a comedy writer on ''The Smothers Brothers ...

's "

Classical Gas "Classical Gas" is an instrumental musical piece composed and originally performed by American guitarist Mason Williams with instrumental backing by members of the Wrecking Crew. Originally released in 1968 on the album ''The Mason Williams Ph ...

". The "Alferd" spelling and pronunciation of his first name is not used in the film.

Plot

McMurphy comes to

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to see

Polly Pry Mrs. Leonel Campbell Ross O'Bryan (1857–1938), known under the pen name Polly Pry, was a controversial reporter for the ''Denver Post'' and later as a freelancer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She is best remembered fo ...

about the Packer case. As Pry leaves for her scheduled meeting with McMurphy, she is stalked and shot at by a gunman. The bullets hit her skirts and lessen the blows inflicted on her publishers behind her. McMurphy and Pry meet in a tavern to discuss the Packer story over whiskey. She begins with the five prospectors who will become victims meeting up for the first time at a boardinghouse, where the landlady tells them that Alfred Packer is the best guide in the area. The men find Packer in a small prison, and pay his bail so that he can be their guide. They join together with the larger group, but are soon split up, and they get suckered into the hospitality of a

trapper Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

and his sidekick, Weasel, who intend to rape George Noon. Packer and the men escape, but get hopelessly lost in Ute territory. When Packer is scouting ahead, he returns to find that Shannon Wilson Bell, a

Mormon missionary Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and commu ...

, has killed and begun to eat the other prospectors. Packer and Bell fight; Bell falls, landing on a knife, and is killed. After several months, Packer comes out of the mountains into the nearest town and makes his report to General Adams. Later, while at Dolan's Bar, his story having been investigated, he is captured and brought to trial. The remainder of the film depicts his trial. Judge Gerry reads his sentence as per the court records, though omitting the two consecutive repeats of "dead." As Packer walks through the courthouse door, a blue glow emanates from behind it, the image freezes, and, in voiceover and overlain title cards, Pry briefly summarizes what happened to Packer after the trial.

Cast

* Dave Ellington as James Humphrey * Patrick Dray as Alfred G. Packer * Ronald Haines as Shannon Wilson Bell * Jim Dratfield as George "California" Noon * Bob Damon as Israel Swan * Ron Holiday as Frank "Reddy" Miller * Lawrence Bleir as McMurphy * Cynthia Nessin as

* Tom Peru as O.D. Loutsenhizer * Don Donovan as General Adams * Dick Morgan as Trapper * George Farrar as Weasel * Sam Kirbens as Judge Gerry * Ruth Seder as Landlady

Home media

The film was released on VHS by Monterey Home Video. In 2008, it was packaged in an eight-film

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

set, "Legends of the West", with '' Johnny Yuma'', ''

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

'', ''

Gatling Gun The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon. The Gatling gun's operation centered on a cyc ...

'', ''

Big Bad John "Big Bad John" is a country song originally performed by Jimmy Dean, who wrote and composed it. It was released in September 1961 and by the beginning of November it had gone to number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It won Dean the 1962 Gra ...

'', '' Find a Place to Die'', '' Grand Duel'', and ''

China 9, Liberty 37 ''China 9, Liberty 37'' ( it, Amore piombo e furore, "Love, Lead, and Fury") is an Italian-Spanish 1978 Western film directed by Monte Hellman, starring Warren Oates, Jenny Agutter, and Fabio Testi. Noted director Sam Peckinpah has a small, rare ...

''.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Legend Of Alfred Packer, The 1980 films 1980s adventure films 1980s biographical films 1980s thriller drama films 1980 Western (genre) films American adventure drama films American biographical drama films American thriller drama films American Western (genre) films Films about cannibalism Thriller films based on actual events Films set in Colorado Works about Alferd Packer 1980 drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films

Plot

Cast

Home media

See also

External links