''Harry Tracy, Desperado'' is a 1982 Canadian

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 ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by William A. Graham, and starring

Bruce Dern Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an American actor. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Silver Bear for Best Actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Suppo ...

Helen Shaver Helen Shaver (born February 24, 1951) is a Canadian actress and film and television director. After appearing in a number of Canadian movies, she received a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress for her performance in the romantic drama '' In P ...

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

, and Michael C. Gwynne.

Plot

By the end of the 19th century,

Butch Cassidy Robert LeRoy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train robbery, train and bank robbery, bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, ...

the Sundance Kid Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (1867 – November 7, 1908), better known as the Sundance Kid, was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch in the American Old West. He likely met Butch Cassidy (real name Robert LeRoy Parker) during a hunting ...

John Wesley Hardin John Wesley Hardin (May 26, 1853 – August 19, 1895) was an American Old West outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk icon. Hardin often got into trouble with the law from an early age. He killed his first man at the age of 15, claiming he ...

, and virtually all of the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

's legendary

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

s are either dead or in jail pending execution-all of them, that is, except train robber and escape artist extraordinaire, Harry Tracy. As the last survivor of the

Wild Bunch The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang, or the Oklahombres, were a gang of American outlaws based in the Indian Territory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were active in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Terr ...

, Harry pulls off a series of profitable robberies before making his way west to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, in search of Catherine Tuttle, a judge's daughter with whom he is in love. Instead, Harry is betrayed, arrested, and imprisoned. Tracy escapes and becomes the target of the largest

manhunt Manhunt may refer to: Search processes * Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive * Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies Social organisations * Manhun ...

in the history of North America. He seeks out Catherine, who joins him in his flight, and their love deepens under the constant threat of capture. With hundreds of

posse Posse is a shortened form of posse comitatus, a group of people summoned to assist law enforcement. The term is also used colloquially to mean a group of friends or associates. Posse may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Posse'' (1975 ...

s and national guardsmen on their heels, Tracy knows that he has only two options: surrender or die. When a posse traps Tracy in a barn, he kills himself rather than return to jail.

Cast

as Harry Tracy *

as Catherine Tuttle *

as U.S. Marshal Morrie Nathan * Michael C. Gwynne as David Merrill * Lynne Kolber as Judy Tuttle * Daphne Goldrick as Mrs. Tuttle *

Frank C. Turner Francis Charles Turner (born June 2, 1951) is a Canadian actor and iconographer born in Wainwright, Alberta and now living in British Columbia. He has appeared in numerous films, made-for-television films, television shows, and plays. Biography ...

as Eddie Hoyt * Fred Diehl as Governor Raymond Millhouse * Jack Ackroyd as Ely Porter * Suzie Payne as Helen Porter * Richard MacBride as Matt Porter * Kerry Salisbury as Glendoline Porter * Tom Braidwood as Aspen Storekeeper

Production

Filming took place throughout

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Nathan's farm was previously featured in the 1978 film '' Superman: The Movie''. The Portland street scenes including a period street-car were filmed in Victoria, B.C. where the pavement of a long block of Johnson Street was covered with dirt and rails were installed to replicate Portland of the era. Interior shots were done inside a local period house and horseback chase scenes were filmed along shoreline trails at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park. From 1946 to 1952, the old farm house and barn were owned by the Spiritual Community of Christ, a commune of former Sons of Freedom, and later bought by the Corry de Condelo family who rented it in 1980 for the movie.

Accolades

* 1983 ** Genie Award for Best Achievement in Film Editing - Ron Wisman - Nominated ** Genie Award for Best Achievement in Overall Sound - Rod Haykin, David Appleby, Don White - Nominated **

Genie Award for Best Achievement in Sound Editing The Canadian Screen Award for Best Achievement in Sound Editing is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best sound editor on a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1970 as part of the Canadian Film Awards, bef ...

- Bruce Carwardine, Brian French, Glen Gauthier, Tim Roberts, Brian Rosen - Nominated **

Genie Award for Best Motion Picture The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publis ...

- Ronald I. Cohen - Nominee ** Genie Award for Best Original Song - Leslie Pouliot - Nominee ** Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor -

- Nominated ** Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay - David Lee Henry - Nominated

References

External links

* *
Harry Tracy
at

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