O Último Xerife

Tilghman was the corrupt one in this story, not Wiley Lynn. Tilghman was extorting protection money from the casinos and bawdy houses in Cromwell. Lynn was the federal agent in charge of enforcing the prohibition of alcohol in the area. Tilghman had made public threats to kill him, but when he tried to as Lynn was raiding one of his client's businesses, Lynn was able to fire his weapon first and kill the corrupt marshal. He was tried for the killing and found not guilty, but the myth of the old "lawman" was stronger than the truth, and Lynn's reputation was destroyed and he resigned from his federal job. He became an alcoholic and eventually died in another shootout.

I'm disappointed that Sam Elliott would agree to make a movie like this, which is so obviously based on lies.

This film essentially documents the real-life story of a famous American lawman by the name of "Bill Tilghman" (Sam Elliott) who rode with legends such as Wyatt Earp and faced down notorious outlaws in the process. Having retired from law enforcement his fame subsequently attracted the attention of Hollywood where he has starred in numerous silent films which further increased his popularity. And it's at this time that a prominent citizen from Cromwell, Oklahoma approaches him and offers him a position as sheriff in order to bring some law-and-order to the town. At first he declines but after further consideration he accepts even though his wife "Zoe" (Carolyn McCormick) tries to advise him against it. It's only later that he realizes that due to the Volstead Act--and the implementation of prohibition--that crime has become much more organized that it was in the 19th century and all of his skills and experience will be put to the test from that point on. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an interesting "transitional" film in that it managed to capture the impact of the changes brought on by the dawning of the Industrial Age quite well. To that extent, Sam Elliott put in a solid performance as a cowboy who finds himself becoming more and more obsolescent as time passes by. Be that as it may, while certainly not one of Sam Elliott's best films ever made, I found it to be enjoyable enough and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

If a SMILE could be the star of a movie, Sam Elliott's inimitable smile would be the star of "You Know My Name." Elliott may well be the greatest leading man in westerns in the post-1970 period, and he is at the top of his game in this based-on-a-true-story oater set in Oklahoma in the early twentieth century. There have been better westerns, sure, but there have not been many better western star turns than this. Elliott makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time, ALL the time, and at the end you just do both.

Maybe it was the fact that it was a western set at the start of the modern time period, but something about this movie was lacking. Sam Elliot as Tiglman is excellent and Carolyn McCormick as his wife was a nice bit of casting. However, Arliss Howard as the corrupt federal agent was so over the top you would think you were supposed to be watching a present day drug film. Elliot should be acknowledged as a master of the western movie genre, if he hasn't been already. However, this movie didn't have enough of the "western" qualities for me. I'll sit back and watch Conagher again to see Elliot in top form with a great "western" storyline.

In 1924, legendary lawman turned silent film star Bill Tilghman (Sam Elliott) reluctantly agrees to clean up a grimy Oklahoma town controlled bootlegging gangsters and full of rowdy oil-rig workers. He ends up squaring off against coked-out, renegade G-Man Arliss Howard.

This production looks fantastic, with lots of attention to detail and great atmosphere. Unfortunately, there's too much talk and not enough action to go along with the vivid sets, costumes, and locations. This ends up being more of a character study than a western or gangster story.

Sam Elliott does a great job as Tilghman, who rode with the Earps and went up against the real-life Wild Bunch. If anything, the film does do an excellent job at portraying a man who has little left to offer but his pride and stories of past triumphs.