Category: Television

The Hanging of Tom Horn

Tom Horn Prison

On October 22, 1903, Tom Horn was hanged in Wyoming, one day short of his forty-third birthday. Historians generally do not dispute that Horn had killed a number of men.  But most believe Horn was innocent of the killing for which he was hanged. Many are familiar with Horn’s later life through one of Steve McQueen’s final films.

Tom Horn’s Life

Horn was born on November 21, 1860 at a family farm in Scotland County, Missouri. Young Tom had a troubled early life, growing up in a large family with an abusive father. In one of his early fights, he was beat up by two boys who then killed his dog.

At the age of sixteen, Horn moved West.  There, he worked a number of different jobs, including acting as a scout for the Army. Horn acted as an interpreter when Geronimo surrendered to the Army. After the Apache Wars, Horn bought his own ranch.  But cattle thieves overran his ranch, again causing him to wander.

Horn found other work, such as as a prospector, a ranch hand, a deputy sheriff in Arizona, and an agent for the Pinkerton Detective agency. But it was his work for cattle companies that eventually led to his demise.

During the Johnson County War in Wyoming, Horn worked for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Reportedly, Horn killed a number of men in this role. He then worked in Colorado for the Swan Land and Cattle Company, where he again killed more men who were suspected of rustling.

Horn then served in the Army in Cuba during the Spanish American War. Eventually, though, he ended up back West working for cattle owners, this time working for cattle baron John C. Coble in Wyoming.

The Murder and Trial

On July 18, 1901, the body of a 14-year-old son of sheep ranchers was found murdered. Authorities began investigating the killing of the young Willie Nickell, soon focusing on Tom Horn.

The government put Horn on trial in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  The trial featured as a key piece of evidence a statement Horn made.  He had claimed, apparently while still drunk, that if he did the killing, it was the “best shot that I ever made and the dirtiest trick that I ever done.”

On October 24, 1902, the jury found Horn guilty of the murder. A few days later, the court sentenced him to death by hanging.

During the appeal, Horn wrote his autobiography while in jail, focusing on his early life: Life of Tom Horn, Government Scout and Interpreter. Eventually, the Wyoming Supreme Court turned down the appeal.

The governor refused to stop the hanging. And Horn was hanged in Cheyenne by means of a “Julian Gallows” that used water as a means of releasing the trap door.

Many historians believe Horn was innocent of the killing of Willie Nickell, while noting that he did do a number of other killings. Still, his case is a reminder of how innocent people may be convicted of capital crimes. Still today, we discover innocent people on death rows across America.

Tom Horn on TV and Film

Tom Horn’s story has resonated in popular culture. The 1954 television series Stories of the Century, took an unflattering look at Tom Horn and his crimes.

The episode portrays Horn as someone who worked for the law but “then for some reason turned criminal.” In the episode, actor Louis Jean Heydt portays Horn.

Steve McQueen provided the most famous portrayal of Horn in the 1980 movie Tom Horn. The film was based on Horn’s writings, and McQueen gives a largely sympathetic portrayal of Horn, while not shying away from his violence.

Steve McQueen McQueen was notorious for clashing with his directors, and Tom Horn went through several directors before TV director William Wiard came on board to finish the film. McQueen also requested several rewrites of the script, which included work by the great Western writer Thomas McGuane.

Tom Horn — which was released on March 28, 1980 — was the next-to-last film released that starred McQueen. During the filming of the movie, McQueen had trouble breathing, and he was later diagnosed with a form of lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma. On August 1 of that year, his final film, The Hunter, was released. McQueen died on November 1, 1980 at the age of 50.

The movie Tom Horn received mixed reviews and did a disappointing $12 million at the box office. At the time, Variety claimed that McQueen appeared to be walking through the lead role. But actor James Coburn claimed Tom Horn was McQueen’s best film. Currently, it has a 68% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie seems to have aged well over time, as has Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, which was released the same year.  Empire calls Tom Horn an “underrated, gloomy Western.”

In subsequent years, viewers were more tolerant of Westerns that focused on something besides action.  In 2014, True West explained that the movie and McQueen’s acting in the film were ahead of their time: “Audiences were used to action-packed Westerns with gunfights and brawls. McQueen offered them something different—a meditation of the West and a character study of one of America’s best-known figures of the era.”

Below is the trailer for Tom Horn. Check it out.

Photo via public domain. What did you think of the movie “Tom Horn”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Rolling Stones Sing About Rice Krispies

    Rolling Stones Commercial
    In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones recorded a jingle for Rice Krispies.  In the television commercial, Mick Jagger sings about “Rice Krispies for you and you and you.”

    Folks think the ad was made around 1963 or 1964. That places the commercial around the time of the first albums by the Rolling Stones, including 1964’s The Rolling Stones (called England’s Newest Hitmakers in the U.S.) and 1964’s U.S. album 12 X 5.

    Although the Stones themselves do not appear in the commercial, the ad includes what looks like screaming fans at a rock concert. And the voice is unmistakable. Check it out.



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    Warren G. Harding: Worst President, Reassessed Politician, and Sexy Man

    Harding Love Letters On June 12, 1920, Republicans at their National Convention in Chicago nominated Warren Gamaliel Harding for president. Harding’s career continues to divide commentators, with much of the debate on whether he was a horrible president or a president who did some okay things. In addition to those debates about Harding’s career, recent stories about Harding have focused on scandals from his personal life.

    A Compromise Candidate at the Convention

    Before the convention in 1920, Ohio Senator Harding earlier had been a favorite for the nomination. But by the time the convention started, there were a number of other strong candidates.

    Through eight ballots, other candidates received more votes than Harding. Finally, Harding took the lead in the ninth ballot as a compromise between divided voters.  Then, the man who was born in Blooming Grove, Ohio on November 2, 1865 won the nomination on the tenth ballot.

    A Landside Win

    In the fall, Harding and his vice-president candidate Calvin Coolidge won in a landslide, stressing a campaign promise of a return to normalcy. Harding defeated the Democrat ticket of James M. Cox, who like Harding was from Ohio.

    Cox was the only person of the 1920 major presidential and vice-presidential candidates who would never sit in the White House. Cox’s vice-presidential candidate, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would be diagnosed with polio less than a year after the election, became president for more than a decade starting in 1933.

    Harding’s tenure in the White House was much shorter than Roosevelt’s. In a little more than two years after Harding took office on March 4, 1921, he became ill. And he died from a cerebral hemorrhage on August 2, 1923. Coolidge then became president.

    One of the Worst Presidents of All Time?

    Despite his short term in office, Harding is largely regarded as one of the worst presidents of all time. For example, U.S. News & World Report has him as the second-worst president of all time.

    A wide spectrum of experts and writers are critical of Harding, who was born on November 2, 1865. A recent poll of scholars ranked the twenty-ninth president among the worst presidents.

    I remember one of my favorite miniseries from the 1970s, Centennial, about the settling of Colorado, invoked Harding’s name in a non-flattering way.  In the final episode, Paul Garrett (David Janssen) referred to Warren G. Harding as one of the “most useful Americans who ever lived.” Garrett explains that Harding created a benchmark for how bad politicians could be. Thus, whenever a politician takes office, they should think of Harding and say, “I will never allow myself to be that bad.”

    Harding’s bad reputation largely centers on his lack of leadership while appointing friends who used their offices for financial gain. The most famous example is the Teapot Dome scandal that occurred under his presidency.

    Reassessing Harding’s Presidency

    Not everybody hates Harding, though. The Warren Harding Home and Museum in Marion, Ohio shows visitors a video that focuses more on the positive aspects of Harding’s life and career.

    Similarly, some recently have argued that we should reassess Warren G. Harding’s presidency as pretty good. They claim he stabilized the country, and they argue that his legacy should not be destroyed by scandals where he had no direct involvement. Yet, most still assert that Harding was under-qualified and his actions and in-actions created problems and allowed for the corruption.

    Personal Scandals

    Beyond the political scandals, there is another side of Harding involving personal scandals. It is these scandals that have garnered Harding more attention in recent years.

    Historians have long known Harding was a womanizer, but in 2014 the Library of Congress unsealed some of Harding’s letters that showed a little more of Harding’s personality. The letters, written before and during his tenure as a U.S. senator, were to his lover Carrie Fulton Phillips, who was the wife of a Marion, Ohio, store owner.

    In the following segment, John Oliver from Last Week Tonight, gives a brief recap of some of the juicy parts, including Harding’s preference for referring to a certain part of his anatomy as “Jerry.”

    Harding was married for 33 years until his death in 1923, but Phillips was not Harding’s only other lover. In 2015, DNA testing confirmed that Harding had fathered a child with Nan Britton during the same period in which he was writing the love letters to Phillips.

    Why do we care about Harding’s love life? One may make the case that we should not dig around the private lives of politicians. But when it comes to history, perhaps understanding a little more about Harding may help us understand him as a flawed human being instead of just a ranking on worst presidents lists.

    Photo via Library of Congress. Who do you think was the worst president of all time? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Robert Osborne & The Beverly Hillbillies

    Osborne Beverly HillbilliesTurner Classics Movie host Robert Osborne was born May 3, 1932 in Colfax, Washington. While most people know Osborne for his wonderful hosting duties on TCM (and before that on The Movie Channel), Osborne had a diverse career and started out as an actor before later focusing on writing and journalism.

    One of his television roles was an appearance on the pilot for a TV series in 1962. There was a possibility of a regular role, but Osborne did not think that the series, The Beverly Hillbillies, would be much of a success. “The show itself seemed so loony and unimportant,” he later explained, adding, “I was sure the pilot would never sell.” Of course, the series then ran for nine seasons.

    In the clip below, you may see a young Robert Osborne in that pilot episode of The Beverly Hillbillies. Check it out.

    If that segment makes you want to see the entire episode, you may watch the entire pilot below.  Check out “The Clampetts Strike Oil.”

    Osborne explained that Lucille Ball had put him under contract at her studio.  And it was she who eventually encouraged him to pursue a career in writing instead of acting. She was impressed by his vast knowledge about the history of Hollywood.

    In 2015 and 2016, due to health issues, Osborne announced he would not attend the TCM Classic Film Festival. He also had to cut back on his work at TCM, and he passed way on March 6, 2017.

    I do like Ben Mankiewicz, who filled in for Osborne in a number of roles, although I miss Osborne.  Whenever I watch a movie on TCM, I would hope for Osborne or Mankiewicz to appear.  Without them, I feel like I am not getting the whole value of the movie.

    Osborne became a part of the life of anyone who watches classic movies. He became a mainstay of TCM since he introduced the first film the network aired, Gone With the Wind, on April 14, 1994.

    For one, I’m glad that his career with The Beverly Hillbillies did not quite work out. He brought us a lot of joy, and he was a wonderful and intelligent companion for many nights watching great films.

    This post was updated March 2017.  Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Michael Stipe’s Tribute to David Bowie

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    This week, Michael Stipe appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to pay tribute to the late David Bowie. It was a rare recent public performance by the former lead singer of R.E.M. and a moving way to honor Bowie with a performance of “The Man Who Sold the World.”

    Accompanied only by piano, a bearded Stipe sang a haunting version of Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World.” Check it out. [2018 Update: The video of the performance is no longer available, but the video below contains the audio of Stipe’s appearance.]

    Stipe is also taking part in two New York City David Bowie tribute concerts this week. One will be at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, March 31 and the other will be at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, April 1. You may watch a live stream of the April 1 tribute concert at musicofdavidbowie.com with a small donation that goes to the Melodic Caring Project, a non-profit that helps bring streaming music performances to kids in hospitals.

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