''Tom Horn'' is a 1980 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

William Wiard William Wiard (3 December 1927 - 3 July 1987) was an American film and television director. He directed over 150 episodes of television, several TV films, and the theatrical film ''Tom Horn''. Life and work William Orphie Wiard was born in Los An ...

and starring

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

as the legendary lawman, outlaw, and gunfighter

Tom Horn Thomas Horn Jr., (November 21, 1860 – November 20, 1903) was an American scout, cowboy, soldier, range detective, and Pinkerton agent in the 19th-century and early 20th-century American Old West. Believed to have committed 17 killings as a ...

. It was based on Horn's own writings.

Plot

, a legendary frontier scout and tracker who helped capture

Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache ba ...

, drifts around the quickly disappearing western frontier. The story begins as he rides into a small town and provokes prizefighter

Jim Corbett Edward James Corbett (25 July 1875 – 19 April 1955) was a British hunter, tracker, naturalist, and author who hunted a number of man-eating tigers and leopards in the Indian subcontinent. He held the rank of colonel in the British Indian ...

, ending up in a livery stable, unconscious and badly bruised. Cattle company owner John Coble finds Horn in the livery, and offers him the use of his ranch to recuperate. He also offers him work investigating and deterring cattle rustlers who steal from the grazing association to which Coble belongs. He implies that the association will support Horn in implementing vigilante justice. Horn accepts the offer, and receives the approval of U.S. marshal Joe Belle at an association picnic, where he also catches the eye of Glendolene, the local schoolteacher. Calling himself a "stock detective", Horn confronts cowboys at an auction whose cattle bear Coble's brand. After giving them fair warning, he goes on a one-man crusade to kill or otherwise drive off anyone who rustles the cattle of his benefactors. Horn's methods are brutal but effective. After a public gunfight, the local townspeople become alarmed at his violent nature, and public opinion turns against him. The owners of the large cattle companies realize that while he is doing exactly what they hired him to do, his tactics will ultimately tarnish their image, so they begin to plot his demise. Joe Belle, who has political ambitions, wants Horn out of the way for the same reasons. Their conspiracy is set in motion when a young boy tending sheep is shot by a .45–60, the same caliber rifle Tom Horn is known to use. Horn is slow to realize that he is being set up. Proud and convinced of his own innocence, he refuses to leave the county or avoid the town. Glendolene and Coble try to warn him to be careful, but Horn ignores the warning. Joe Belle coaxes Horn from a saloon and back to his office, where a man transcribing their conversation is hidden in the next room. Horn does not admit to the murders but states that "If I did shoot that boy, it was the best shot I ever made." Based on this conversation, Horn is taken prisoner. Unaccustomed to being unable to come and go as he pleases into his beloved hills, Horn seems lost. He breaks out of jail and attempts to flee. He is recaptured and convicted based on the testimony of the newspaperman who skewed the conversation between Belle and Horn. As his execution nears, Horn accepts his fate and remains resolved in the moments before he is hanged.

Cast

as Tom Horn *

Linda Evans Linda Evans (born Linda Evenstad; November 18, 1942) is an American actress known primarily for her roles on television. In the 1960s she played Audra Barkley, the daughter of Victoria Barkley (played by Barbara Stanwyck) in the Western tel ...

as Glendolene Kimmel *

Richard Farnsworth Richard William Farnsworth (September 1, 1920 – October 6, 2000) was an American actor and stuntman. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award: in 1978 for Best Supporting Actor for ''Comes a Horseman,'' and in 2000 for Best Actor in ''T ...

as John C. Coble *

Billy Green Bush William Warren Bush (born November 7, 1935) is an American actor, usually credited as Billy Green Bush and sometimes as Billy Greenbush. Typecast Bush is a character actor, typically projecting in his screen appearances the good-ol'-boy image. ...

as U.S. Marshal Joe Belle *

Slim Pickens Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens transitioned to acting and appeared in dozens of movies and ...

as Sheriff Sam Creedmore * Peter Canon as Assistant Prosecutor *

Elisha Cook Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. (December 26, 1903 – May 18, 1995) was an American character actor famed for his work in films noir. According to Bill Georgaris of TSPDT: They Shoot Pictures, Don't They, Cook appeared in a total of 21 film n ...

as Stablehand *

Roy Jenson Roy Cameron Jenson, also known and credited as Roy Jensen, (February 9, 1927 – April 24, 2007) was a Canadian American football player, stuntman, and actor. Early years Born in Calgary, Alberta, Jenson moved to Los Angeles with his family as ...

as Lee Mendenhour * James Kline as Arlo Chance *

Geoffrey Lewis Geoffrey Lewis may refer to: * Geoffrey Lewis (actor) (1935–2015), American character actor * Geoffrey Lewis (scholar) (1920–2008), British professor of Turkish * Geoffrey Lewis (philatelist), Australian philatelist * Geoffrey W. Lewis (died ...

as Walter Stoll *

Harry Northup Harry E. Northup (born September 2, 1940) is an American actor and poet. As an actor, he made frequent appearances in the films of Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme. Personal life and career Northup was born in Amarillo, Texas. He lived in 17 ...

as Thomas Burke *

Steve Oliver Steve Oliver (born January 11, 1962) is an American musician, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer. Although best known for his work in the field of contemporary or “smooth” jazz, he performs in a wide variety of styles including ...

as Jim 'Gentleman Jim' Corbett *

Bill Thurman Bill Thurman (November 4, 1920 – April 13, 1995) was an American film and television actor. From the early 1960s until his death in 1995, he frequently appeared in B movies and independent films, often playing "redneck types" or sheriffs. He wo ...

as Ora Haley * Bert Williams as Judge *

Bobby Bass Bobby Bass (occasionally Bob Bass) (August 6, 1936 in California – November 7, 2001) was an American actor, stunt performer, and stunt coordinator/second unit director. Early life Bass, a graduate of Morningside High School in Inglewood, Californ ...

as Corbett's Bodyguard *

Mickey Jones Mickey Jones (June 10, 1941 – February 7, 2018) was an American musician and actor. He played drums with acts such as Trini Lopez and Bob Dylan, with whom he played on his 1966 world tour. He became a founding member of The First Edition ...

as Brown's Hole Rustler *

Mel Novak Mel Novak (born June 16, 1942) is an American actor who is best known for villainous roles in ''Black Belt Jones'', ''Game of Death'', and ''An Eye for an Eye''. He is also known for doing all of his own stunts and fighting scenes. Career 1970s ...

as Corbett's Bodyguard * Clark Coleman as Jimmy Nolt * Drummond Barclay as Charlie Ohnhouse *

Chuck Hayward Charles Bert Hayward (January 20, 1920 – February 23, 1998) was an American motion picture stuntman and actor. He was associated particularly with the films of John Wayne. He doubled for most of the great Western and action stars of the 195 ...

as Deputy Earl Proctor

Production

Since the troubled production and disastrous release of ''

An Enemy of the People ''An Enemy of the People'' (original Norwegian title: ''En folkefiende''), an 1882 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, followed his previous play, ''Ghosts'', which criticized the hypocrisy of his society's moral code. That response inclu ...

'', McQueen had once again struggled to find work. He priced himself out of roles in a '' Towering Inferno'' sequel and ''

Raise the Titanic ''Raise the Titanic!'' is a 1976 adventure novel by Clive Cussler, published in the United States by the Viking Press. It tells the story of efforts to bring the remains of the ill-fated ocean liner RMS ''Titanic'' to the surface of the Atlanti ...

'', was rejected for the Salkinds' ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

'' film due to his growing weight, turned down a role in ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'', and walked out on

Richard Fleischer Richard O. Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave. Though he ...

's planned adaptation of ''

Tai-Pan A tai-pan (,Andrew J. Moody, "Transmission Languages and Source Languages of Chinese Borrowings in English", ''American Speech'', Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 414-415. literally "top class"汉英词典 — ''A Chinese-English Dictionary' ...

'' when the second $1 million installment of his announced $10 million fee failed to arrive (the actor had earned $1 million for no work already). After his divorce from

Ali MacGraw Elizabeth Alice MacGraw (born April 1, 1939) is an American actress and activist. She gained attention with her role in the film ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She gained an ...

, though, McQueen decided to get back into films. He initially wanted to adapt

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

's play ''

Old Times ''Old Times'' is a play by the List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 1 June 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin ...

'', but

First Artists First Artists was a production company which operated from 1969 to 1980. It made films for stars such as Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen, who agreed to take lesser fees in exchange for greater creat ...

insisted that he instead film ''Tom Horn'', a script they had owned for some time, as the final film in the star's three-picture deal he had signed with them under Warner Bros. The film was meant to go into production in 1978, but faced stiff competition, with

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

planning a film about Horn as a vehicle for

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...

. The latter dropped out, and the film about Horn's younger years was made by CBS as a four-hour TV movie titled ''

Mr. Horn ''Mr. Horn'' is a 1979 American Western miniseries based on Tom Horn's writings, starring David Carradine. It was directed by Jack Starrett from a screenplay by William Goldman. This version came out just prior to the 1980 feature film ''Tom Hor ...

'' with

David Carradine David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', playi ...

. This aired just as the Warner Bros./First Artists film went into production, receiving poor ratings. McQueen ordered several rewrites to the script, while original director

Don Siegel Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer. Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...

left to be replaced by first

Elliot Silverstein Elliot Silverstein (born August 3, 1927) is an American film and television director. He directed the Academy Award-winning western comedy '' Cat Ballou'' (1965), and other films including '' The Happening'' (1967), '' A Man Called Horse'' (1970) ...

and then

James William Guercio James William Guercio (born July 18, 1945) is an American music producer, musician, songwriter, and director. He is well known for his work as the producer of Chicago's early albums as well as early recordings of The Buckinghams and Blood, Sweat ...

, who was fired after three days by McQueen. McQueen then wanted to direct himself but the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

’s rules forbidding actors from taking over direction once filming had begun scotched these plans, and TV movie director

was brought in to finish the film. This was Wiard's only credit for directing a feature film. Postproduction was similarly fraught; the producers attempting both a linear version of the film and then another telling the story in flashback, before settling on the former approach. The film was still being re-edited ahead of its March 1980 release date. It received poor reviews and was another box-office failure. ''Tom Horn'' was the first and only McQueen vehicle to receive an R rating. During production, McQueen had trouble breathing and later was found to have a rare form of lung cancer,

malignant mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The most common area affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lining ...

References

External links

* * {{rottentomatoes, tom_horn 1980 films 1980 Western (genre) films 1980s biographical films American biographical films American Western (genre) films Biographical films about people of the American Old West Films scored by Ernest Gold Films about capital punishment Films set in the 1900s First Artists films Films directed by William Wiard 1980s English-language films 1980s American films