The Legend of Alfred Packer
| The Legend of Alfred Packer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jim Roberson |
| Produced by | Mark J. Webb |
| Written by |
Burton Raffel Chuck Meyers |
| Starring |
Patrick Dray Ronald Haines Jim Dratfield Bob Damon Dave Ellingson Ron Holiday Lawrence Bleir Cynthia Nessin |
| Music by | Jaime Mendoza-Nava |
| Cinematography | James Warren |
| Edited by | Shirak Kojayan |
| Distributed by | American National Enterprises |
Release dates | 1980 |
Running time | 93 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Legend of Alfred Packer is a 1980 film by Jim Roberson from a script by Burton Raffel. It is a biopic of Alferd Packer starring Patrick Dray in the title role. The film features a score by Bolivian-Argentinian composer Jaime Mendoza-Nava, though the main theme is derivative of Mason Williams's "Classical Gas".
The "Alferd" spelling and pronunciation of his first name is not used in the film.
The film was released on VHS by Monterey Home Video.
Plot
McMurphy (Bleir) comes to Denver, Colorado to see Polly Pry (Nessin) about the Packer case. As Pry leaves for her scheduled meeting with McMurphy, she is stalked and shot at by a gunman. The bullets hit her skirts and lessen the blows inflicted on her publishers behind her.
McMurphy and Pry meet in a tavern to discuss the Packer story over whiskey. She begins with the five prospectors who will become victims meeting up for the first time at a boardinghouse, where the landlady (Ruth Seder) tells them that Alfred Packer is the best guide in the area.
The men find Packer in a small prison, and pay his bail so that he can be their guide. They join together with the larger group, but are soon split up, and they get suckered into the hospitality of a trapper (Morgan) and his sidekick, Weasel (Farrar), who intend to rape George Noon (Dratfield).
Packer and the men escape, but get hopelessly lost in Ute territory. When Packer is scouting ahead, he returns to find that Shannon Wilson Bell (Haines), a Mormon missionary, has killed and begun to eat the other prospectors. Packer and Bell fight; Bell falls, landing on a knife, and is killed.
After several months, Packer comes out of the mountains into the nearest town and makes his report to General Adams (Don Donovan). Later, while at Dolan's Bar, his story having been investigated, he is captured and brought to trial. The remainder of the film depicts his trial. Judge Gerry (Sam Kirbens) reads his sentence as per the court records, though omitting the two consecutive repeats of "dead." As Packer walks through the courthouse door, a blue glow emanates from behind it, the image freezes, and, in voiceover and overlain title cards, Pry briefly summarizes what happened to Packer after the trial.