Bullet Points: Harry Tracy

For a movie with one of its stars being best known for singing about a famous shipwreck, Harry Tracy is anything but. Gordon Lightfoot is said singer and the 1983 film has the opposite outcome of the fateful Edmund Fitzgerald. Lightfoot has very few movies in his filmography and he does a remarkable job, but the heavy lifting in Harry Tracy is done by the lead star Bruce Dern. I know what you are thinking, Bruce Dern and Gordon Lightfoot…Pass! That is exactly what I thought until I watched Harry Tracy and now I am pissed the doctor didn’t have it playing at the hospital when I was born because I regret not knowing about the movie every single day of my life. (Plus that jerk slapped me.) So if you can live with the crushing weight of regret go ahead and pass, but I would recommend first reading the Harry Tracy Bullet Points and then deciding if you want to make the biggest mistake of your life.

• Rainy Day People: Real life outlaw Harry Tracy (Bruce Dern) is one of the last of the great outlaws that captured the imagination of the American public in the late 19th century. When the film begins on Christmas Eve 1901, Tracy (nobody calls him Harry except his mother) finds himself as a guest in the Aspen, CO jail. There is no cage that can hold Tracy, and he escapes on horseback only to be knocked over by a downhill skier, not a very neighborly thing to do. That skier turns out to be Catherine Tuttle (Helen Shaver of The Osterman Weekend fame) and the two have an instant attraction. Tuttle lives in Portland and Tracy vows to track her down even as he is placed back in chains. The man leading charge against Tracy is bird dogging U.S. Marshal Morrie Nathan (famed Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot.) While on a train to prison, Tracy uses the old “I have to use the bathroom” excuse to aid in his escape.

• Carefree Highway: Tracy is on the run when he comes across David Merrill (Michael C. Gwynne) a painter who came out west to do portraits of the famous outlaws only to find most dead or locked up so he is doing landscapes. He is very happy to see Tracy and takes him in and the two form an odd pair. Merrill really wants to be an outlaw himself, but Tracy does not see the outlaw streak in Merrill, but soon enough the duo are out train and bank robbing with varying degrees of success. Tracy is making his way to Portland to try and find Tuttle, and on the way Tracy and Merrill stop at the house of Marshal Nathan to tease the lawman. I know the fine folks of Canada will not like it, but I laughed very hard when Lightfoot’s Nathan fell into his own outhouse hole after being tricked by Tracy.

• The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: When Tracy and Merrill arrive in Portland, Tracy sees a newspaper that attributes bank robberies to him that he didn’t rob which really grinds his gears. He seeks the help of a local attorney, but in order to pay for the services he has to rob a bank. During the escape, Tracy spots Tuttle causing him and Merrill to be captured and sent to prison. Merrill blames Tracy for their capture, thinking he got scared because he doesn’t know Tracy saw Tuttle. Tracy and Merrill spend a couple in years in prison (cue the prison montage!) before they find the right time to escape. Merrill has worked out a deal for a pardon in exchange for Tracy’s life which will help the fame of the warden and governor. Tracy is too smart to be tricked by Merrill and the pair escape and are on the run again.

• Sundown: Tracy finds his way to Tuttle’s house, and after a nearly being captured by Nathan at the house, Tuttle joins Tracy and Merrill on the run. Merrill is not happy with Tracy and tries to betray his partner, only to be outsmarted once again by Tracy during an attempted duel by rigging Merrill’s shotgun to backfire. (True Action Tidbit – the real life Tracy actually shot the real life Merrill in a duel.) Tracy and Tuttle eventually find their way to the farm of Eddie Hoyt (Frank C. Turner of Crackerjack fame) with his unfinished barn. Tracy decides it is a good place to stop the running and offers to pay and help with the completion of the barn in exchange for safety (cue the barn building montage!) Marshal Norrie has not given up and soon enough he has the barn surrounded. Tracy made a vow to go down shooting and to not be caged again and we a treated to a riotous final shootout. Tracy makes good on his promise as he takes out plenty of lawmen and then takes his own life as it is sundown for one of the last great outlaws.

Gordon Lightfoot is probably not the person you think of when you are looking for an enjoyable action film. Harry Tracy is probably not the movie you think of when the action western genre comes to mind. An easy way to change these simple mistakes is in a suggestion to all you lovely pregnant women, I would advise getting plans in place today to have the film playing during the birth of your bundle of joy to avoid the years of regret. The Harry Tracy Bullet Points just gave birth to some Bonus Bullet Points (with Harry Tracy playing in the background, no regret!)

• Who’s your friend when things get rough?: Harry Tracy was co-produced by Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, most famous for their children shows Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and personal favorite H.R. Pufnstuf.

• The greatest earthquake ever known: You better believe that Gordon Lightfoot gets a piece of the minimal soundtrack.  “My Love for You” is classic Lightfoot that plays during the prison montage and the end credits. When you listen to his music, you know why Gordon Lightfoot was an inaugural member of Canada’s Walk of Fame.

• The finest friends that ever could be: Harry Tracy was known as Harry Tracy, Desperado for the initial release and the DVD is tilted Harry Tracy: The Last of the Wild Bunch, but the movie I enjoy when I have a hankering for a western hidden gem is known as just Harry Tracy. The funny part is that Hairy Tracy is the derogatory nickname of a Bulletproofaction.com staff member’s girlfriend. Just don’t tell her, because it is a secret and only used behind her back (her unnaturally hairy back.)

• Ask the Brain: Tom is requesting a Harry Dick Movie Kumite, Harry Tracy vs. Dick Tracy. Feel free to suggest your own movie battle to Movie Kumite impresario Chris the Brain.