The Grey Fox | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Phillip Borsos |
Written by | John Hunter |
Produced by | Peter O'Brian |
Starring | Richard Farnsworth Jackie Burroughs Wayne Robson Ken Pogue |
Cinematography | Frank Tidy |
Edited by | Frank Irvine |
Music by | Michael Conway Baker Paddy Moloney (main theme) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | United Artists Classics |
Release dates |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Budget | $4.5 million |
Box office | $6 million |
The Grey Fox is a 1982 Canadian biographical Western film directed by Phillip Borsos and written by John Hunter. It is based on the true story of Bill Miner, an American stagecoach robber who staged his first Canadian train robbery on 10 September 1904. The film stars Richard Farnsworth as Miner. The cast also features Jackie Burroughs, Ken Pogue, Wayne Robson, Gary Reineke and Timothy Webber.
Stagecoach robber Bill Miner is caught and sent to prison for 33 years. He is finally released in 1901. He wanders around, a man out of place in the new century, until he sees one of the first films, The Great Train Robbery , and is inspired to copy it in real life. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, he successfully robs a train and hides from the law in a mining town in British Columbia, becoming a respectable resident. There, he meets and falls in love with early feminist and photographer Katherine Flynn. He considers settling down with her, but one last robbery proves to be his downfall. True to his nickname, the Grey Fox escapes from prison as the ending credits start.
According to Farnsworth, the "picture company" was the only one ever allowed to film at Fort Steele, British Columbia, a heritage site. [1] The Grey Fox was also filmed on the British Columbia Railway / Pacific Great Eastern Railway, now run by Canadian National Railway, between Pemberton and Lillooet, British Columbia, and the Lake Whatcom Railway between Wickersham and Park, Washington.[ citation needed ] The capture sequence was shot a quarter of a mile from where Miner was actually caught. Miner's gun, "a .41 Bisley Colt", was obtained from a collector and used by Farnsworth in close-ups. [1]
The film was funded by selling 696 units for $5,000 each to investors, and it was edited in 1981 before a distributor was found. Phillip Borsos was paid $45,000 to direct the film. [2] The film was shot from 7 October to 28 November 1980, and had a budget of $3,480,000 (equivalent to $12,425,182in 2023), but cost $4,500,000 (equivalent to $16,067,045in 2023) to make. [3]
The film was shown at the Taormina Film Fest in June 1982, and was released in Toronto on 16 December 1982. [4] It grossed over $6 million at the box office in its first year. [2]
The Grey Fox has been designated and preserved as a "masterwork" by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada, a charitable non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the preservation of Canada’s audio-visual heritage. [5]
At the 4th Genie Awards in 1983, The Grey Fox was nominated for thirteen awards and won seven:
Further recognition for Farnsworth included a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.
It has also been listed in the Toronto International Film Festival's TIFF List of Canada's Top Ten Films of All Time in 1984 and 1993.
Roger Ebert praised the film as "a lovely adventure" and gave it 31⁄2 stars. [6] Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rare 100% fresh rating, based on twenty-nine reviews. The Critics Consensus reads: "The Grey Fox takes liberties with the real-life history that inspired it, but director Philip Borsos' aim is true -- as is Richard Farnsworth's work in the title role." [7]
The film underwent a 4K restoration and was re-released to theatres In April 2020. [8] It also saw its first official release to DVD and Blu-Ray, which included a commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox, interview with producer Peter O'Brian, and a featurette about the restoration. [9]
Richard William Farnsworth was an American actor and stuntman. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award: in 1978 for Best Supporting Actor for Comes a Horseman, and in 2000 for Best Actor in The Straight Story, making him the oldest nominee for the award at the time. Farnsworth was also known for his performances in The Grey Fox (1982), for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, as well as Anne of Green Gables (1985); Sylvester (1985), and Misery (1990).
Since the invention of locomotives in the early 19th century, trains have often been the target of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables. Train robbery was especially common during the 19th century and is commonly associated with gangs of outlaws in the American Old West. It has continued into the 21st century, with criminals usually targeting freight trains carrying commercial cargo, or targeting passengers of public transportation for their valuables.
Events from the year 1927 in Canada.
Cinema in Canada dates back to the earliest known display of film in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, in 1896. The film industry in Canada has been dominated by the United States, which has utilized Canada as a shooting location and to bypass British film quota laws, throughout its history. Canadian filmmakers, English and French, have been active in the development of cinema in the United States.
Jacqueline Burroughs was a British-born Canadian actress. Burroughs starred in over 100 films and television shows over her career including Heavy Metal, The Care Bears Movie, The Grey Fox, Anne of Green Gables and was best known for her role as Hetty King in the TV series Road to Avonlea.
The Hard Rock Miners are a Canadian rockabilly/hillbilly/country/folk band based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The 4th annual Genie Awards were held March 23, 1983, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Dave Thomas.
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Wayne Robson was a Canadian television, stage, voice and film actor known for playing the part of Mike Hamar, an ex-convict and sometime thief, on the Canadian sitcom The Red Green Show from 1993 to 2006, as well as in the 2002 film Duct Tape Forever.
One Magic Christmas is a 1985 Christmas fantasy film directed by Phillip Borsos. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures and stars Mary Steenburgen and Harry Dean Stanton. It was shot in Meaford, Ontario with some scenes in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada.
Ezra Allen Miner, more popularly known as Bill Miner, was an American bandit, originally from Kentucky, who served several prison terms for stagecoach robbery. Known for his unusual politeness while committing robberies, he was widely nicknamed the Grey Fox, Gentleman Robber or the Gentleman Bandit. He is reputed to have been the originator of the phrase "Hands up!" Legend has it that Bill Miner admonished his cohorts to fire their guns when in danger of capture but "do not kill a man".
The Terry Fox Story is a 1983 Canadian-American biographical film of Canadian amputee and runner Terry Fox. It was written by Howard Hume, John Kastner and Rose Kastner, and directed by Ralph L. Thomas. The film stars Eric Fryer as Fox, Chris Makepeace as his brother Darrell, and Robert Duvall as Fox's publicist, Bill Vigars. The cast also includes Rosalind Chao, R. H. Thomson, Elva Mai Hoover, Michael Zelniker, Saul Rubinek and Patrick Watson.
Phillip Borsos was an Australian-born Canadian film director, producer, and screenwriter. A four-time Canadian Film Award and Genie Award winner and an Academy Award nominee, he was one of the major figures of Canadian and British Columbian filmmaking during the 1980s, earning critical acclaim and accolades at a time when Canadian filmmakers were still struggling to gain attention outside of North America.
Kenneth Pogue was a Canadian actor.
The Rowdyman is a 1972 comedy film with moralistic overtones, set in Newfoundland. It was written by and starred native Newfoundlander Gordon Pinsent.
The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is an annual film festival held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 2001, the festival is held the first weekend of December and includes juried competitive sections, the Borsos Awards, and the Pandora Audience Award. A conference for the Canadian film industry, known as the Whistler Summit, is organised in connection with the film festival.
Great Stagecoach Robbery is a 1945 American Western film directed by Howard Bretherton starring Wild Bill Elliott in the role of Red Ryder and costarring as Little Beaver, actor (Bobby) Robert Blake. It was the sixth of twenty-three Red Ryder feature films that would be produced by Republic Pictures. The picture was shot on the studio's back lot along with outdoor locations at Iverson Ranch, 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Sean Sullivan was a Canadian actor. He is most noted for his stage and television performances in productions of David French's play Of the Fields, Lately, for which he won an ACTRA Award in 1977 as Best Television Actor for the CBC Television film; and his film performances in Springhill, for which he won a Canadian Film Award as Best Actor in a Non-Feature Film in 1972, and The Boy in Blue, for which he received a posthumous Genie Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 7th Genie Awards in 1986.
Gary Reineke is a Canadian actor.
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