School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Though slightly repetitious in a Dateline way (same photos shown multiple times), this thoughtful hour-long examination of the lives of Robert Leroy Parker and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, better known by their monikers Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, is at once sad and cautionary. With their deaths now more than 100 years in the past and income inequities once again equaling the worst divergence of the Gilded Age, these two careful and methodical outlaws are reminiscent of no one so much as Robin Hood and his crew. Parker, raised in a strict and religious home, was the mastermind of the carefully planned and virtually bloodless robberies of banks and railroads executed in the mid to late 1890s. He and his followers, called the Wild Bunch, succeeded because of the support of the hardscrabble ranchers in the western states. Eventually defeated by technology used by the Pinkerton detectives, Parker and Longabaugh fled the United States, but were eventually tracked to a tiny town in Bolivia, where they died. The use of period photos and selected reenactments, as well as interviews with subject experts, could have made this dry and less than engaging-but it does not. The story is involving from the beginning to the end, and young viewers will find themselves rooting for these last two desperadoes of the American West.-Ann Welton, Helen B. Stafford Elementary, Tacoma, WA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Library Journal Review
How did Robert Leroy Parker (1866-1908), an intelligent young man and devout Mormon raised in poverty, become the gregarious Butch Cassidy? And how did he partner up with Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (1867-1908), an introverted kid from Pennsylvania with a penchant for Wild West dime novels? Paul Newman and Robert Redford did their part in the 1969 film to sensationalize Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but these bandits were legend long before Hollywood. This documentary explores the formation of the Wild Bunch, Cassidy's meticulous planning before heists, and the many successful robberies (most without murder) committed by the gang. After the particularly famous robbery of a Union Pacific train (the one with too much dynamite), the railroad barons hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to hunt down the gang, bringing them to their inevitable end. An effective mix of photos, interviews, and live-action re-creations keeps the movie grounded yet engrossing. -VERDICT From Butch's Mormon roots to the shoot-out in Bolivia, this program recounts the fascinating story of some of the Wild West's last outlaws. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Brooke Bolton, North Manchester P.L., IN (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
