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The trailer for Hunting the Red Fox: Perry Barnes from a 1942 courtroom to wartime special operations, the Hollywood and tournament golf of the 1950s, and the theft of the Mecklenburg Diamond.
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[Music]
The last jewel heist of my career was the biggest and best by far, the Mecklenburg Diamond. And of all things, I gave it back for love.
In 1942, Perry Barnes made one mistake. He borrowed some jewelry that wasn't technically his.
I am not going to send you to prison, Mr. Barnes. I am going to send you to war. I would not advise the alternative. Welcome to the United States Army. The U.S. Army trained him in sabotage, espionage, and silent killing. Safecracking. Lock picking. And, because it would prove useful, how to steal anything.
Churchill told us, “Go and set Europe ablaze.” We had questions, but we mostly just went.
[Music]
I needed something peaceful after the war, so I became a professional golfer. And occasionally… other things. He had the skills of a spy, the nerve of a thief, and the charm of a man, which made him a Hollywood star in the 1950s, along with Dean Martin, Howard Hughes, and John Wayne.
[Music]
Almost 200 carats, worth half a million dollars in 1957 money, will soon be held by the most dangerous jewel thief in the world, the man they called the Red Fox.
[Music]
I know who you are and why you’re here. What do you want from me? I’m glad you asked. I want the Mecklenburg Diamond. So do I, but I don’t have it.
Fortunately for you, my marksmanship was a little rusty. Now you can give me the Mecklenburg, or I’ll just shoot you in the head and find it anyway. I stole the world’s most famous diamond from the world’s best thief. He didn’t appreciate it.
[Gunfire and explosions over music]
Secure and protect the area now. Will do, Mr. Gleason. So I sit the kid down and told him, “You square with me, I’ll have more cops and emergency workers here in three minutes than you can imagine. You don’t level with me now, Dean and I will beat him to a pulp. We’d need one ambulance to keep his broken bones inside his skin, and one cop so Dean and I could file a complaint against him for harassment.” You stole a half-million-dollar diamond and gave it back for love?
Every time.