Tom Horn

Tom Horn (1980)

Steve McQueen as Tom Horn

This film deals with the final chapters of Horn’s life, after he moved to Wyoming.

It skips all the earlier excitement when he helped to capture Geronimo.

Horn is hired by an association of ranchers to deal with a severe cattle-rustling problem.

This film is a fairly romantic and sanitized treatment of the historical subject.

Horn is portrayed as a hero (and victim), betrayed by corrupt individuals who cast him aside after he has solved their problems for them.

In every case where Horn kills someone in the film, it is portrayed as self-defense.

The film is ambiguous about whether or not Horn killed the boy, a crime for which he was hanged. It never shows who fired the shot. Horn never denies or admits to killing the boy.

The film encourages the viewer to think that Horn was framed for the murder, but again, no definitive evidence is presented.

This film is the second to the last film McQueen made. McQueen looks like he has lived a long hard life, and therefore, looks the part of Tom Horn.