James Parks as Alibi Joe in You Know My Name (1999)
Real-life story of Bill Tilghman, a lawman who rode with the Earps, helped hunt down countless bad men, then decided to make accurate silent film versions showing outlaws as the scoundrels they really were.
As the film opens, Tilghman’s asked to help clean up a new batch of scoundrels in a 1920s oil boom town called Colton. The boot-legging, whoring and corruption has gotten so bad, town leaders decide they need the most well-known Old West lawman still around to clean up the mess.
Tilghman takes the job against the misgivings of his wife, Zoe (Carolyn McCormick) and soon finds his major nemesis is a federal agent named Wiley Lynn (Arliss Howard), whose mind is addled by an old-fashioned form of cocaine. He’s profiting from the boot-legging and doesn’t hesitate to gun down his enemies and drop them into a vat of oil.
So while ridding the town of its ladies of the night and its two-bit criminals proves pretty easy for the new law in town, cracking down on the bootleggers is going to prove more difficult. And if Wiley can’t keep Tilghman in line, there’s a businessman named Killian who can import assistance from back East to help on that front.
Sam Elliott as Bill Tilghman in You Know My Name (1999)
Arliss Howard as Wiley Lynn in You Know My Name (1999)
Review:
Decent variation on the clean-up-the-town theme, with Elliott solid as always and Howard turning in a twisted performance as the villain of the piece.
One of the film’s most memorable scenes comes when Wiley “loses it” and threatens to suck out his partner Killian’s brains through his nose, Indian style. Of course, Elliott’s Tilghman is tough as nails, too. He gets one baddie to tell the truth by threatening to hang him with barbed wire.
Thanks to the 1920s setting, Elliott finds himself being chased by gangsters riding in vehicles (not on horses), firing at him with machine guns and dropping their bootleg goods via airplane. And as a neat touch, he uses his position in Colton to force people to watch his movie, which has been rejected by Hollywood because it doesn’t star someone like Tom Mix.
In real life, this represented the last job for Tilghman as a lawman. And, as of 2015, it also marked the last of more than a dozen Westerns in which Elliott appeared. Among other faces Western fans might recognize is James Gammon as Arkansas Tom, a reformed outlaw who helps with Tilghman’s film and speaks out against the lawless life.
Natalia Rey plays Rose, Wiley’s favorite whore. She runs a high-class social palace she’s afraid Tilghman will try to shut down. Sheila McCarthy plays the soft-soften wife who endures Wiley’s abuse.
Walter Olkewicz as Killian in You Know My Name (1999)
Jonathan Young as Hugh Sanders in You Know My Name (1999)
Directed by:
John Kent Harrison
Cast:
Sam Elliott … Bill Tilghman
Arliss Howard … Wiley Lynn
Carolyn McCormick … Zoe Tilghman
James Gammon … Arkansas Tom
R. Lee Ermey … Marshal Evan Nix
James Parks … Alibi Joe
Sheila McCarthy … Mrs. Lynn
Natalia Rey … Rose
Jonathan Young … Hugh Sanders
Walter Olkewicz … Killian
Runtime: 94 min.
Carolyn McCormick as Zoe Tilghman in You Know My Name (1999)
Natalia Rey as Rose in You Know My Name (1999)
Memorable lines:
Zoe Tilghman, when Bill offers her a new horse because he’s about to take the Colton job against her wishes: “I don’t need another horse’s ass if I’m already living with one.”
Bill Tilghman, to a young man being careless with a gun: “I never killed a man I didn’t have to. Just hate seeing a man’s face when he dies. Way it changes from being a person to a thing. Ever seen that?”
Bill Tilghman: “I do appreciate your fine opinions, Mr. Lynn. Popping up there like mushrooms on a manure pile.”
Evan Nix: “You gotta get out of this, Bill. I’ve smelled stinkers in my time. And this is higher than a mad dog’s privates. Bill, you hearing me?”
Bill Tilghman: “Man’s gotta stick up for who he is, Evan. Things he believes in. Otherwise, what’d God put him here for.”
R. Lee Emory as Marshal Evan Nix in You Know My Name (1999)
James Parks as Alibi Joe in You Know My Name (1999)
James Gammon as Arkansas Tom in You Know My Name (1999)
Sam Elliott as Bill Tilghman in You Know My Name (1999)
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I just watched this movie as part of a ‘Weekend of Sam Elliott’. I haven’t seen a bad Sam Elliott movie yet & this one is no exception! The story is superbly done & it tells a compelling story of an real American hero. This time in our history has mostly been presented with the gangster era of Prohibition & the Twenties but not from the perspective of the transition from our Western heritage. Most westerns end with the post Civil War time before the turn of the century.
Having had grandparents who were born in the late 1800’s, I have often thought of the many changes that they experienced in their lives, from horse & buggy to automobiles, agricultural economy to industrial revolution, gaslights & trains to electricity & air flight. This seems to me an era ripe for exploration in film.
Cebie Dorsey,
What an exceptionally fine review you’ve done of as you said, yet another fine performance by our all American hero, Sam Elliot. * This is a complete aside: My parents divorced when I was 15 and my father was a terrible role model long before the divorce.
My mother decided to start life anew in California. She had a very rich brother there who gave her money, and a job. As the parents were divorcing, I decided my mother would be the one who would need help, so long before the California move was a part of things I was going to help mother. Bad idea! Aside from all of that, when I moved to the Golden State or whatever its called, I escaped from the torture of my life in monies, much like many others. Luckily for me there was an inexpensive theater just a few blocks from where I worked and I bought a motorcycle first thing when I got to California. I got a job right away too, which was a great job.
I had essentially banker’s hours and could snag a burger and fries, then zip to the movies. I made friends with the manager there right away. He was a movie freak too, so we had a lot in common. We’d sit and Tsali trivia and he’d give me movie posters free, so we got along. Plus, it’s pay for one ticket and could go to any theater and watch any movie, so I could spend my days off just watching movie after movie after movie, etc.
One day the movie Lifeguard was playing and I decided that Sam Elliot would make a good role model. So, I watched that movie about 100 times. No kidding. Then, I found out everything I could about Mr. Elliot’s real life. Military service, college, etc. This guy had his stuff together, unlike my father. Then, it turned out he had a small part in my favorite movie of all time, at that time, Butch Cassidy and The Subdance Kid. That did it. Sam Elliot was the man. And as years have gone by he had been an excellent role model. I wanted to be an actor before I made Mr Elliot my role model, but being an actor or a stuntman didn’t work out for me. Even though I had an introduction to Burt Reynolds, the hottest actor in the world then and one to the best stint man and stunt coordinator in the business then Buddy Joe Hooker..
So, I left LA and when I returned to the apartment I shared with mother, I got sick of her lying and getting drunk all the time, then making me lie for her so, I dumped all of her booze down the drain, on a Friday night, when she was out on a date. She brought the date home and to her horror found no booze, and it was too late to buy more. So, she threw me out. I had a motorcycle, a backpack with a couple pairs of jeans, t shirts and sweatshirts and a down coat and down vest. Oh, and $26. That was it. The short version is I joined the military. The shooting I learned from my Cherokee grandfather got to assigned as a sniper. I ended up working for orne government places and I spent a bit longer than the next decade doing that.
Not bad, right? All because, I made Sam Elliot my role model
Enjoy the movies, Cebie!