Butch and Sundance Go to the Movies

In February, 1901, Butch Cassidy, Harry “Sundance” Longabaugh and Ethel Place headed for South America after a brief stay in New York City where they had one last wild fling. Ethel and Sundance even stopped at Young’s photo gallery and had their picture taken. They took in the sights and had a good time.

The popular 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which had a lot of historical accuracy, had them going to see one of those newfangled motion pictures and they were horrified to see themselves as cold-blooded killers. Supposedly, they saw themselves gunned down on the silver screen, something that must have been unsettling. The film they were supposed to have seen was Edwin S. Porter’s “Great Train Robbery,” the first motion picture with a story. In reality, the film didn’t come out until 1903, long after Butch, Sundance and Ethel had headed for Argentina.