I hadn't seen this since it was first out in theaters, so all I remembered was that it was very good indeed! Well, that, and the beautiful Pacific Northwest and Farnsworth's charm. It was released by Video Treasures in '88; it's interesting that this same VHS edition is still apparently the only video available, and I don't recall seeing it in the TV listings, though it may well have been aired. Anyway, I got a good deal on a slightly used copy on eBay and settled in to view it. For a nearly 30-year- old VHS tape this copy has held up well and is watchable, despite the fact that the nice folks at Video Treasures were a bit too thrifty with tape and put it out at LP speed-- very unusual, and completely baffling to our more advanced VCR. In fact we couldn't get a picture at all until we switched to an older unit that could resolve the tracking. The visual quality isn't too bad, considering (at least on a small screen)-- though let me add my voice to the chorus of DVD voters. Also the original festival runtime of 110 minutes has been whittled down to a stated 92, and without the leader, FBI warning and tracking frame it's even less. So what are we missing?
I wouldn't really call this a Western, since the Far West was never quite like the Old West; the picture is just set in old times away from the big cities. No one wears a cowboy hat. You'll find no cheap thrills, no gratuitous gore or gross-outs, no glamorization of Miner's career. The robberies aren't shown as lighthearted capers, just realistically uncomfortable --and sometimes unsuccessful-- crimes, committed with the aid of a couple of pathetic losers the Gentleman Bandit managed to recruit. The man had a degree of charm and persuasion that made him a folk hero, and Farnsworth is so likable in the role that one can readily understand Miner's popularity. While he was no altruistic Robin Hood (in fact he was a definite sociopath, and his handwriting reveals an extreme degree of narcissism), later in his career he gained much of his popularity through having robbed wealthy companies that were perceived as themselves robbing the public.
In 1992 a book about him came out: "The Grey Fox: the True Story of Bill Miner, Last of the Old Time Bandits" by Boessenecker and Dugan. It's always nice to get the documented facts, and this supplies plenty. One prominent fact is that Miner was bisexual. For a man who spent half his life in prison it was pretty much a necessity to be with men while inside; he seems to have mostly kept to women when out, though he was known to recruit young accomplices by seduction. Probably any film treatment nowadays would include some of this to portray him more accurately, but "The Grey Fox" only focuses on his doings after his final release from San Quentin (almost 20 years for this stretch; he'd been in before).
He did in fact escape from the Canadian prison-- a few days after convincing the deputy warden's daughter that he sincerely regretted his past acts and was content to end his days in prison, as a humble penitent. No romance was ever suggested here, but it definitely demonstrates his colossal nerve and ability to feign sincerity. He did live it up on his booty, and it was in Denver that he had what appears to be his last romance with a lady-- Bill was a charmer at any age! And he never changed his ways, so once the money ran out he got into fresh trouble, this time in the South, where in 1911 he received his final conviction. It somewhat spoils the fun of the movie's ending to learn that Miner, still well-liked, died in a Georgia prison in 1913 after two escapes and recaptures. Perhaps most of us are better off not knowing about that...
I wouldn't really call this a Western, since the Far West was never quite like the Old West; the picture is just set in old times away from the big cities. No one wears a cowboy hat. You'll find no cheap thrills, no gratuitous gore or gross-outs, no glamorization of Miner's career. The robberies aren't shown as lighthearted capers, just realistically uncomfortable --and sometimes unsuccessful-- crimes, committed with the aid of a couple of pathetic losers the Gentleman Bandit managed to recruit. The man had a degree of charm and persuasion that made him a folk hero, and Farnsworth is so likable in the role that one can readily understand Miner's popularity. While he was no altruistic Robin Hood (in fact he was a definite sociopath, and his handwriting reveals an extreme degree of narcissism), later in his career he gained much of his popularity through having robbed wealthy companies that were perceived as themselves robbing the public.
In 1992 a book about him came out: "The Grey Fox: the True Story of Bill Miner, Last of the Old Time Bandits" by Boessenecker and Dugan. It's always nice to get the documented facts, and this supplies plenty. One prominent fact is that Miner was bisexual. For a man who spent half his life in prison it was pretty much a necessity to be with men while inside; he seems to have mostly kept to women when out, though he was known to recruit young accomplices by seduction. Probably any film treatment nowadays would include some of this to portray him more accurately, but "The Grey Fox" only focuses on his doings after his final release from San Quentin (almost 20 years for this stretch; he'd been in before).
He did in fact escape from the Canadian prison-- a few days after convincing the deputy warden's daughter that he sincerely regretted his past acts and was content to end his days in prison, as a humble penitent. No romance was ever suggested here, but it definitely demonstrates his colossal nerve and ability to feign sincerity. He did live it up on his booty, and it was in Denver that he had what appears to be his last romance with a lady-- Bill was a charmer at any age! And he never changed his ways, so once the money ran out he got into fresh trouble, this time in the South, where in 1911 he received his final conviction. It somewhat spoils the fun of the movie's ending to learn that Miner, still well-liked, died in a Georgia prison in 1913 after two escapes and recaptures. Perhaps most of us are better off not knowing about that...