UPDATE (5/29/20, 3:15 p.m.) Due to overwhelming demand, we have distributed all of the free passes to view The Grey Fox. The new restoration from Kino Lorber is still available to view at home for a $10 rental fee. 50% of the rental proceeds go to support future Cinematheque programming. You can access the rental page here.

Once again this week, the UW Cinematheque brings you another slice of great cinema that you can watch at home for free. Our selection is The Grey Fox, a Western adventure and love story originally released to American cinemas and widespread critical and audience acclaim in 1983.

THE GREY FOX (Canada, 1982, 91 min.). One of the best remembered of all contemporary Canadian features, The Grey Fox tells the lyrical and legendary saga of real-life outlaw Bill Miner (Richard Farnsworth) in the early years of the 20th century. Miner finds it difficult to fit into polite American society after spending more than 30 years in prison for stagecoach robbing. Inspired by a classic silent movie, "The Gentleman Bandit" relocates to British Columbia where he finds romance with an outspoken and independent artist (played by Jackie Burroughs) and a new career as the leader of a train robbing gang.

The Grey Fox marked the feature debut of Oscar-nominated director Phillip Borsos, whose films have been noted for their gentle rhythms and pictorial beauty. Only 27-years-old during the production of the The Grey Fox, Borsos and his movie brought widespread recognition to former stuntman and Western bit-player Richard Farnsworth, who was 60 during production. The successful original release of The Grey Fox launched two busy decades of character actor work for Farnsworth, culminating in his Oscar-nominated leading role in David Lynch’s The Straight Story in 1999.

The Cinematheque is offering a limited number of opportunities to watch a brand new restoration of The Grey Fox at home. To receive your free online access, send an email to info@cinema.wisc.edu, and don't forget to put the words GREY FOX in the subject line or in the first line of the email. 

Plus, another new episode of our Cinematalk podcast is available. The show focuses on The Grey Fox through an interview with the film's producer Peter O'Brian, who remembers Phillip Borsos and the "Tax Shelter" era of Canadian Film Production. Later on in the podcast, a chat with Mary Sweeney, co-writer, producer and editor of The Straight Story, who shares her memories of Richard Farnsworth. Listen here on Soundcloud or just scroll and click below to begin listening!