SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 53:00 Min.
Directed by John Maggio and narrated by actor Michael Murphy, this American Experience documentary first aired on PBS-TV on February 11, 2014. Following a reenactment of a nocturnal train heist, the backstories of Robert LeRoy Parker (aka ‘Butch Cassidy’) and Harry Longabaugh (aka ‘The Sundance Kid’) are revisited.
Upon joining forces, Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s infamous turn-of-the-century banditry would also include their Wild Bunch/Hole-in-the-Wall Gang and the enigmatic Etta Place. Upon the duo’s eventual escape to South America, the documentary spells out their subsequently bleak historical destinies.
Perspectives are included from historian Paul A. Hutton; authors Gerald Kolpan, Michael Rutter, Thom Hatch, Anne Meadows, and Daniel Buck; journalist Ken Verdoia; and artist Thom Ross. Among the reenactment participants are Robert Jensen, Lee Jensen, and Joshua Marrufo.
REVIEW:
Unlike the glamorized 1969 film co-starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, this solidly-paced documentary explores the unvarnished (and not kid-friendly) truth of this desperado duo’s criminal notoriety. More so, time is not wasted pondering unprovable claims re: Cassidy and/or the Sundance Kid somehow eluding Bolivian military forces and supposedly living to old age.
Overall, as anchored by Michael Murphy’s top-notch articulation, American Experience provides likely the most well-researched and convincing documentary on these Old West icons yet produced.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 9 Stars
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