New film based on legend of Butch Cassidy and stolen gold

PAYSON — Film director Ryan Little fondly remembers the action movies he attended as a child with his dad.

It was a chance to bond and to get to know each other.

"I cherish that," he said. "We need movies for parents and kids to go to and do that."

So with that background, Little, who also directed "Saints and Soldiers," took on his latest project under the working title, "The Outlaw Trail."

It's a family action film for general release (possibly next year) based on the legend of famed outlaw Butch Cassidy and the search for Ortega gold he may have brought back from Bolivia, if, indeed, he ever returned.

"This is a kids' movie, for sure," Little said. "I wanted to make it because I have a 9-year-old son (Bryton). This is something he would enjoy."

The movie stars Ryan Kelley ("Mean Creek") as Roy Parker, the lead, and grand-nephew of LeRoy Parker, also known as Butch Cassidy. He wants to clear his great-uncle's name — and find the gold. Bruce McGill ("Cinderella Man") plays Garrison Place, the antagonist and the only son of Etta Place, the female in the "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" outlaw trio. Others are James Gammon ("Cold Mountain") as Grandpa Sam and James Karen as LeRoy Parker himself. Also Dan Byrd ("A Cinderella Story"), Arielle Kebbell ("The Gilmore Girls") and Brent Weber ("Point Pleasant") are featured in the film.

Kelley describes "The Outlaw Trail" as an action adventure that places his character in harm's way riding horses and jumping on trains.

In one scene he falls off a roof.

"I actually get to do that," he said.

"It's a great script. It has a lot of humor in it, and the characters are well-written," Kelley said.

In the story line set in 1950, Roy Parker, a Boy Scout, inherits a belt buckle from his famous outlaw great-uncle, and on the reverse side he finds a treasure map, ingeniously stashed in the buckle. So he, Kebbell's character Ellie and two other Boy Scouts set out to find the outlaw gold. Meanwhile, Garrison Place believes the gold is his birthright, so he wants to find it, as well.

Written by David Pliler, the film is set in the fictional town of Jefferson City, just outside Circleville. It was shot completely in Utah using such locations as the century-old Peteetneet Academy in Payson as the Jefferson City Museum where Garrison Place is curator, Provo Canyon, Alpine, Park City, Heber City and the Heber Valley Historic Railroad. Many of the artifacts used in the museum scenes are actual items from the Old West kept in the Peteetneet's Western Room, created with a donation from Lee Staheli. Many of the artifacts came from the Henry and Albert Huber family.