You Know My Name
starring Sam Elliott

     This recent TNT original TV movie stars one of the two stars in the world today who really knows how to make a good Western - Sam Elliott (the other is Tom Selleck). Sam plays an historical character here, Bill Tilghman, who was a colleague of Wyatt Earp, during his career as a lawman.

     The film finds Bill in the motion picture business (the film is set in the 1920s). He is creating an historically accurate version of some of his famous exploits, complete with testimonies from reformed outlaws after screenings. Bill is married, with two young sons. He seems to be content with his new life.

     Along comes an opportunity to help clean up a boom town in Oklahoma and Bill is unable to resist. He is an old-school lawman at heart, and the challenge of this untamed, frontier town is something he cannot pass up. The superb and under-appreciated Arliss Howard plays the bad guy. His performance is appropriately florid and grand, given that the character he plays is a junkie.

     I'm biased towards Westerns and I like these two stars so I was inclined to like the film right from the start. I was not disappointed. The surprise ending really had me involved and left me feeling satisfied from a good 'Western fix'. You Know My Name was shot in Calgary, which makes sense to me as I was shooting a film last December (A Season on the Brink with Brian Dennehy) and at meal time I noticed the catering car had an 8x10 photo of Sam Elliott as Bill Tilghman hanging on the wall.

     I greatly appreciate period films that do not 'sell out' for contemporary audiences. What I mean is the camera style was not obtrusive, and the storyline was believable. I don't know how much of it was documented fact, but most of it appeared to be genuine.

     You Know My Name is straight-forward and involving. For Sam Elliott fans it is a must, though anyone who likes Westerns will likely go for this. Let's face it, most Westerns today pale compared to the great ones of the past. At least with Sam Elliott on hand, you know you're going to have a believable hero who has a real sense of the West. Now if only he and Tom Selleck would team up again!

     You Know My Name is readily available on home video.

Jon Ted Wynne