#wiley escoe

[netflix]

DID YOU KNOW the characters in @Netflix's western revenge tale #TheHarderTheyFall were based on actual figures from the old west? 🤠 👆 Check out this original art by Tumblr Creatr Patience Lekien based on the IRL Wylie Escoe! While Wiley Escoe is the mayor of the all-Black settlement Douglastown in The Harder They Fall, in real life, he was one of several Black deputy U.S. marshals serving in the west following the Civil War. The nation's oldest federal law enforcement agency, the U.S. Marshals Service was created in 1789. As the U.S. expanded westward, deputy marshals were appointed to serve the needs of the federal government. Then—and now—they were charged with protecting the federal judiciary, tracking and apprehending fugitives and managing seized assets. In fact, it was a Black marshal, Ike Rogers, who ultimately arrested Cherokee Bill in 1895. (unknown) 🎥 Watch The Harder They Fall, playing in select theaters on October 22 and on Netflix globally on November 3.

[wenellyb]

Unpopular Opinion: What Deon Cole did in this scene in The Harder They Fall is what Leonardo DiCaprio was trying and failed to do in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

[pasta-pardner]

one of my favorite scenes in The Harder They Fall (2021) is Wiley Escoe's introduction.

When we meet him, he’s eating an incredibly rare steak with a gold fork and knife as he issues threats to Rufus Buck. The close-up, accompanied by loud chewing noises, draws our attention to Escoe’s golden teeth.

His monologue is as follows:

Escoe: Rufus Buck. Look at you. Relic of yesteryear with nothin’. And you think you can roll into my town and take what belong to me? Who the fuck you think I am, huh? Ain’t nobody scared of you and ain’t nobody runnin’. I’m a sinister motherfucker too. One click of my finger and you disappear. So I suggest you leave… Before I finish my steak. And if you even think about sticking--

Escoe is cut off by a knock at the door.

The cut to a wider shot reveals that Escoe is not, in fact, threatening Buck. Instead, Escoe is fantasizing about intimidating Buck. Then there’s this dialogue exchange...

Carson: Sheriff, Mr. Buck wants to see you out front.

Escoe: Tell that man I ain’t got nothing to say to him.

Carson: It wasn’t a request.

...where Escoe declines the opportunity to confront Buck. This scene makes apparent the disconnect between fantasy and reality. Escoe is posturing with no real intention of following up on the threats he wants to deliver. He doesn’t plan to actually challenge Buck until Buck forces his hand.

When Buck and Escoe actually face off, Escoe is quickly beaten to the ground.

The threat that Buck issues to Escoe...

Buck: Matter of fact, you ain’t welcome here no more. Now… I want you to vacate immediately or die where you lay.

... provides an interesting parallel to Escoe’s earlier monologue (“One click of my finger and you disappear. So I suggest you leave… Before I finish my steak.”) but with the dynamics reversed.

Escoe (now missing teeth) lies in a pool of his own blood, bearing an ironic resemblance to the rare steak he ate earlier. Buck's golden gun is now playing the role of the golden fork.

It's an interesting scene because it shows us that Wiley Escoe is all flash and no substance. He's a façade of toughness covering up cowardice in the same way that gold plating covers up his teeth.