A Lion Is in the Streets (1953) Movie Script

1
There you go.
Run on, honey.
Run on.
Here's your sweater.
You can sit over there.
I'll get the blankets.
Boys, stop that now.
Here we are.
Come on.
Girls, stop that running.
All right.
Here.
What you doing down there, huh?
What you doing down there?
Gonna shake some of that
off of you now.
Come on.
Get up there.
There's my girl! There!
Well, come on.
Gonna put you right in there.
Come on!
Who all is that down there?
Why, you must be
one of the Graingers' girls.
I bet you're Lukisha.
There's my girl! There!
Well, come on.
Who all is that down there?
Hank! Hank! Hank!
Hey!
Children, children,
into the class.
-Here. Let me get you warm.
-Well, well!
Johnny Briscoe.
How's your pa and ma?
- Fine.
- Yeah.
And Mary Lou and Emma!
Ain't you got pretty, though?
And you -- Oh, you just got to
be Beanpole Simpson's boy.
Children, children,
this is a class.
Ah. Now, look here.
Everybody under four feet tall
who ain't in his seat
or her seat by the time
I count three,
you know what happens.
One!
Two!
Ah! Three.
You made it.
That's better.
Now turn to page 18.
You don't know me, ma'am,
but I saw you up at Lotus City
a couple of weeks ago.
Ah. You're from Pennsylvania.
And you've been to a college.
Elmer, you go on reading.
Yeah, you know, it's about time
we had people like you --
fine, high-type college people
to teach our kids.
I, uh, I know some men
who have been to college,
but never a tall, lean beauty
of a girl.
Uh, I never met such a girl,
leastwise one that's been
to college.
You're a -- You're a peddler?
Ma'am, I'm Hank Martin.
Also, I peddle.
We don't have rain like this
up north.
Well, uh, according to
something I read
from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture,
we have about, oh, on an average
of 55 inches per inum.
Annum.
"Annum"?
Thank you.
Well, I'll be back this way
in a couple of months from now.
The roads will be dry by then,
and I'll be using my truck.
Do you have any toothpaste?
Uh...yeah.
Yeah.
Pearly.
Oh, it's, uh,
it's kind of nice-tasting.
So long.
I-I really need some toothpaste.
I'm almost out.
Well, ma'am,
to tell you the truth,
Pearly is really
second-rate stuff.
And for you...
everything has to be
strictly first-class.
Yeah.
Bye!
Oh, no.
Wait a minute.
Maybe -- Maybe she's got
a fella already.
Well, in that case,
she got to get rid of him.
Hank, it's beautiful.
Oh, now, hold on.
Hold on, Sweetface.
This ain't for us.
This is Jules Bolduc's
manor house.
Yeah.
Oh, Jules!
Jules!
Hank Martin!
Oh, Hank.
Go right in.
Take anything you want.
The servants must still be
at church.
I'm always borrowing his
law books and historical books.
His grandfather was governor
of this state.
Say, Jules!
I want to rent a house from you.
For cash money.
I don't plan on taking up
sharecropping
at this stage of the game.
That house the Wisters
used to live in is vacant --
only one.
What's the matter?
You finally get tired
of living in that truck?
No. I need a place
for me and my bride.
Your what?
Since early this morning.
Verity, meet Jules Bolduc.
-Hello.
-How do you do?
Oh, Hank --
uh, congratulations, Hank.
Uh, come to dinner tonight,
you and Mrs. Martin.
Well, thank you, Jules.
Thank you kindly.
- We sure will.
- Tonight, then.
We'll make it an early evening.
Bye.
Quite a thing to be asked to
supper by Jules Bolduc, Esquire.
I ain't never.
Oh, uh, there's a couple
of those government-built
sharecropper houses hereabouts,
but, uh, as you heard,
Sweetface, uh,
they're --
they're all taken right now.
You know, uh, we could make
our home base some place else,
but that, uh,
that library of Jules' is...
Oh, Sweetface.
I never saved no money.
Never saved no money at all.
It's gonna be all right, Hank.
Hank, I didn't mean...
I love you, Hank!
I love you too!
Sweetface.
Sweetface!
Hank, I'm not presentable.
I want you to meet
some fellow citizens,
and it's important
that they like my wife.
Friends, folksies,
this is Verity.
Well, it's -- it's nice to meet
all of you folks.
I-I only wish that I...
Well, the least I can do
is make us all a pot of tea.
Won't you --
Oh, they didn't come here
to have you do for them.
I caught them
coming out of church
full of that once-a-week
Christian feeling.
All right, folksies,
shake the leg.
Get your brushes, your paint,
your whitewash right here.
You name it, I got it.
-How do you do, Mrs. Martin?
-Oh, hello.
Where you want I should put
the barbecue pit?
-Uh, why, I --
-Over there, Sophie, downwind.
Tim? Tim?
This here -- This here big
horned toad is our blacksmith.
Name of Tim Peck.
And, uh, this,
of course, is Sophie.
Tim, uh, in addition
to being our blacksmith,
does a little politickin'
on the side.
Kind of helps get out the vote.
Uh, what you'd call
a one-man Tammany Hall,
only not quite so honest.
Right proud to know you, ma'am.
Thank you.
Hank's always joking at him
and always get a rise.
This is Jennie Brown.
"Poor Jennie," we call her,
on account of what
she married -- Jeb Brown.
The only man
in the entire county
who never had had a good year.
That's sure right.
Nor my father afore me.
Sort of tradition.
Well, now, come on, everybody.
Everything has to be finished
and perfect by sundown,
or I don't get no honeymoon
at all.
Never thought I'd be
running my legs off
for another man's bridal night.
You didn't for your own,
Jeb Brown.
Hank, what color
Mrs. Martin want her floor?
-How about brown?
-Uh, how about yellow?
- Nice, pretty yellow floor.
- Green!
That's what God's floor is.
Uh, yeah, Hank.
Green.
A-A nice dark green.
-All right. Dark green.
-Green.
Uh, Sweetface,
now, this here squab --
don't let him fool you --
this is Swift.
Probably the oldest bachelor
in the entire state
or maybe the entire world.
And mean -- real mean.
Now, uh, can't see
to button his own shirt
but can shoot the eye out
of a squirrel at over 200 yards
and maybe more.
It's mighty troublesome.
I can't see proper
at speaking distance
or hear proper
at seeing distance.
Well, it was nice
you could come, Mr. Swift.
I-It's an honor, ma'am.
And someday I'll have glasses.
Sweetface.
Sweetface!
You crying?
Oh, Hank, it's --
it's these folks.
They're all so wonderful.
Well, all folks is wonderful
if you just happen to know
the right place to kick 'em in.
-What?
-Sure.
It's like learning to play
a music instrument by ear.
All you got to know is what
place to push to get what note.
Then, pretty soon, everybody's
dancing to your tune.
Why, Hank, I-I don't think
you mean that.
Well, anyway, honeymoon ain't
the time for thinkin' anyway.
Oh, Sweetface,
what happened to that, uh,
that law book of Jules -- you
know, the big fat blue one?
Oh, you're not gonna read now?
Yeah.
It's the groom and his bride.
What are you two doing up?
Just managed to get an invite
for supper
with Jules Bolduc, Esquire.
Marry a college girl,
and up you go in the world.
"Oh, uh, my dear, don't you find
the caviar awfully tough?"
"Well, uh, Jules, old boy,
would you mind having
one of your serving maids
chew it up smaller for me?
Thank you."
Aw, Hank, you know
Jules ain't that way.
Oh, uh, electioning early
this year, huh, Tim?
It ain't never too early
to start
getting a good man
back into office.
Good man?
Hank, you know dang well that
Governor Snowden's a good man.
"Re-elect a man who,
in his four years as governor,
has built more than 500 miles
of paved roads."
Now, ain't that --
ain't that great?
Five hundred miles
and pretty soon the whole state.
The whole state will be
floating down in the rain
before they get the roads built.
Hank, you know Rome
wasn't built in a day.
To coin a phrase.
Now, sharecroppers,
you may carry your betters
over to the door
of Mr. Jules Bolduc's residence!
Oh, Hank.
Come on, Tim!
Up, big man.
Here we go!
Now, mind you!
Mind you, carry her gentle.
I ain't through with her yet.
Excruciatingly, Lord Chumley.
Although it seems to me
that buckwheat is as rough
as a billy goat.
Castleberry.
Castleberry.
What is it? What's the matter?
Sweetface,
this is one eating party
that's gonna get along
without us.
Oh, we can't.
It's -- It's rude.
Rude? W--
Sweetface, look at this here.
You see this skinny,
scrawny little arm,
which should be rich
and round and fat?
Well, you know where that fat
went to?
You know who stole it all
from little Lucy Brown's arm?
Robert L. Castleberry IV,
who has this whole county
in his thievin' pocket!
That's what I call rude.
Oh, little Lucy,
I didn't mean you no harm.
I think you're as pretty
as a picture.
Hank, I got to say I disbelieve
about Castleberry
having the whole county
in his pocket.
What's more, I disbelieve
that he's a thief.
Leastways, it ain't never
been proved yet.
Well, I guess I just
kind of lost my appetite anyway.
I don't understand all this,
but the least we can do
is let Mr. Bolduc know --
send some excuse.
Verity, this ain't
just some little thing.
Castleberry owns
a lot of cotton gins.
He's the only one hereabouts
we can sell our cotton to,
and he cheats us
by short-weighing.
Everybody knows it.
Most everybody.
- Sure has.
- That's a fact, Mrs. Martin.
Well, then, I-I'll say
we can't come.
I'll tell him you're Ill.
Oh, now, hold on.
I'll do my own apologizing.
Sophie, save some of
that corned pork roast.
Me and Verity are having supper
with you and Tim
if you'll have us.
We'll be right proud
to have you, Hank.
I used to hear things like this
from my schoolchildren.
The poor always prefer to think
they're that way
because someone's cheating them.
You know, Hank, there's
a book I'll get you one day
on the true cause of poverty
in these parts.
That'll be plumb fascinating.
Plumb fascinating.
Welcome to Cypress Bend,
Mrs. Martin.
-Jules, I'm sorry.
-Thank you.
-Congratulations, Hank.
-We just came by to, uh --
-Listen. I --
-Robert!
Robert! I want you to meet
the guests of honor.
You married a remarkable man,
Mrs. Martin.
-He's always reproached me.
-Reproached?
Well, because first, although
I'm a lawyer and he isn't,
I think he's read more law
than I have.
And secondly because he suddenly
made me regret
being a bachelor.
Thank you.
Oh, uh, Mrs. Martin,
Mr. Castleberry.
-How do you do, sir?
-Excuse me, ma'am.
But it's sort of a belief
of mine not to shake hands.
And Mr. Martin.
What kind of a belief is that,
Castleberry, not to shake hands?
Hank, Robert has some
rather strange ideas.
It may have escaped your notice,
sir, but one of the ways
disease is communicated
is by shaking hands.
Disease?
Is that what's worrying you?
Mr. Bolduc, I think this is
the most beautiful home
I've ever seen.
Castleberry, there's a disease
called pellagra.
Did you ever hear
how that's communicated?
Hank, we were talking
about the house.
It's communicated
by not getting enough to eat.
And it's very common in counties
where your cotton gins are.
Jules, I'm very sorry.
I don't mean any offense to you.
But my wife and I
can't eat with a man
what's been communicating
pellagra.
- Well, I don't --
- I think I do.
Would you mind explaining
your remark, sir?
Not at all, sir.
- I'm calling you a thief.
- Hank.
And come to think of it,
not just an ordinary thief.
- A bloodsucking thief.
- Hank, that's enough!
You know very well there's
a state inspection board
which takes care
of those things.
What I want to know is
who inspects the inspectors.
Governor Charles Snowden
inspects the inspectors.
He's self-made, just like you,
and he's my friend.
And he's honest.
As is Robert Castleberry, who
also happens to be my godfather.
Well, Jules,
I never had no godfather.
And I was almost too poor
to have a father.
So I must be wrong, and you
must be very, very right.
Well, sorry, Jules,
to be spoiling
your eating party.
Martin.
Or whatever your name is.
Martin! Martin!
You got it just right.
M-A-R-T-I-N!
I give you fair warning.
If you ever make such statements
again to a living soul,
I will swear out a warrant
for your arrest
on a charge of criminal libel.
Criminal libel, sir, can get you
five years on the chain gang.
Can it, sir?
Well, now, ain't that funny?
I've been reading up a lot
about criminal libel
in Jules' law books.
And five years is right,
all right --
lessin' if it happens to be
true, which it is.
I have warned you.
Um, Castleberry,
I suppose Moses here counts
as a living soul, don't he?
Moses...Robert L. Castleberry IV
is a thief,
and the weights he uses
in his cotton gins weigh short.
Now, Castleberry, go ahead.
Swear out your warrant.
I will, sir.
I assure you I will.
I'd like to use your telephone,
Jules.
I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Bolduc.
I'm sure everything will be
all right.
He's quite a fellow.
I-I know you'll be very happy.
Yes.
Never knowed I could love
anybody or anything so much.
That's the way I feel too.
That wasn't no mating call.
That was just to let the folks
know that Hank is here.
What an incredible part
of the country.
How could people live
in this feverish wilderness?
Plumb scarifying, ain't it?
You know, you've seen enough
misery in the last three weeks
to last you a lifetime,
and yet you've never complained.
I love that silly face.
"Like to a palm tree."
What?
"Thy stature is like
to a palm tree."
That means long and straight.
Song of Solomon, from the Bible.
Hank! Yo, Hank!
Yo, Hank!
Hiya, Spurge!
You're plumb two months
ahead of time this year!
I'm making my rounds
early this year.
I had to get out
of my home county.
There's a warrant out for me.
Hank?
Hank, you're back!
Flamingo!
My little sweetheart!
Spurge's daughter.
Knowed her since she was a baby.
Hank?
-You bring that tonic?
-Yes, Miss LeFevre.
I got your tonic.
I got everything.
Like I always say,
you name it...I got it.
Spurge, Spurge!
Miss McManamee!
Ah! Honey! My baby, baby.
-Hank!
-My baby, baby, baby!
-Aw, Hank!
-Leave him be, girl!
Spurge, it's wonderful
to see you!
And, Mrs. McManamee, you're
looking younger every day.
-Here you are.
-Who all is that?
Who is it?
Who is it?
Folksies...this is Verity,
who happens to have
the miserablest misfortune
of being my wife.
You said you'd wait!
You said you'd wait!
You always --
You said you'd wait!
Flamingo!
Apologize to Mrs. Martin.
Spurge, Spurge, no.
This is all my fault.
I've been calling her sweetheart
since she was a little baby.
Spurge, you got to make
allowances!
Apologize!
I...apologize.
Mrs. Martin...
we're mighty proud
to meet Hank's new wife.
-Mighty proud.
-Thank you.
I guess you'uns can both
squeeze into my boat
with Lula May and me.
There's lots of room in my boat.
Why, you little old wildcat.
I wouldn't let no wife of mine
ride in any boat with you.
Leastways not
my number-one wife.
I made a fool, plumb fool,
minutes ago.
There'd be lots less talk
and gossip
if you'd ride with me, ma'am.
We'd be beholden to you, ma'am,
if you would.
Wouldn't we, Flamingo?
Real deep beholden.
Come on, Hank!
You got a lot of good customers
waiting at the settlement
for you.
You're a right generous lady,
Mrs. Martin.
Now, uh, take good care
of her, Flamingo.
-Good care!
-She will, Hank.
She's carrying my pocketbook
for me.
What beautiful birds.
They're flamingos.
I've never seen any before.
When I was born,
they named me Sunny Lou.
Till Hank come along one day
and seen me swimming and diving.
And he said, "With them
long legs and that long neck,
she's like to a wild flamingo."
Hank named me.
I understand.
Really, I do.
Why are you turning?
Flamingo, where are you going?
Give me that!
Give -- Hank!
Hank!
Hank!
Hank!
Hank!
Poke him in the throat!
Poke him in the throat!
Sweetface, you all right?
I'm fine, but I think
I'll need a doctor, Hank.
It's -- It's my ribs.
What are you doing
in this slough, girl?
It's my fault, Mr. McManamee.
I-I wanted to come in here,
and I stood up
and tipped the boat over.
It was Mrs. Martin's fault!
Do you hear that, Spurge?
Is that true, girl?
Yes, Pa.
Sweetface, I'm sending you home.
And no more back talk.
I'm sending you home.
Reckon I'm beholden to you
again.
I reckon you are.
And I hope you choke on it.
Come on, Sweetface.
Hank. Hank?
Flamingo.
I asked the store man
in Gregory.
He thought you'd be along here
somewhere.
-Your folks know you're here?
-No.
Oh, no.
Flamingo.
I love my wife, Verity.
I wouldn't let you
go everywheres alone.
Yeah, neither would she --
if somebody hadn't cracked
her shoulder and three ribs.
She sure heals slow.
I'll make some coffee.
I run away on account of you.
I love you.
I always loved you,
and I always will.
I'm going to Dodge City
and be a beauty-shop girl --
hairdressing and such,
like Mary Emma.
And I'll always be there waiting
in some place like they got
in the cities.
A hotel or a room,
some place of my own.
And I'll always
be there waiting,
belonging to you,
like a mule in a barn.
Girl, girl, girl.
Right now I'm gonna stay here.
I'm gonna stay with you a spell.
Long as I can.
You can't, Flamingo.
You just can't.
You don't know
what you're saying.
Besides, I'm on my way home.
Uh, it's time I settle up
a little bit of criminal-libel
trouble I've been having.
And you,
you're going back to your
family, where you belong.
Hank...
Hank, remember giving me this?
Yeah.
I've been giving away toy mouses
this season.
Ever since I've been old enough
to know anything at all,
since I was 11 or 12
playing with doll babies,
playing mother to them, Hank...
Hank, they always been
your baby.
Oh, there ain't
no prettier girl anywhere.
I've been your wife ever since
I knowed what the word meant.
No.
Flamingo,
you ain't been nowhere,
seen nothing,
don't know right from wrong.
You don't know
what you're saying.
Now, you and me is wrong --
wrong to my wife, Verity,
wrong to your ma and pa, who's
friends of mine and trust me...
wrong to you.
If y-you tell me to go home,
I'll go home.
I'll do anything you say.
Hello, Mrs. Martin.
Hello, Jeb.
Hello, Mr. Swift.
Sweetface, Sweetface, Sweetface.
Hank.
I missed you.
Really missed you.
Oh, I've been waiting
all morning,
ever since Swift came
and told me.
-You all healed? You all right?
-Yes. Yes, I'm fine.
Hank, did they tell you?
Castleberry knows
all about your plan.
She's right, Hank.
Somebody must have talked.
Or maybe they just figured
their first day of ginning --
Castleberry hisself's
down at the gin,
along with 20 deputies --
guns, badges, everything.
-Shouldn't we call it off, Hank?
-We -- We tried to warn you.
We borrowed Jules' phone,
called Amityville.
Uh-huh. Well, look here.
Here are the weights.
Here are the weights.
And I got an affidavit here
that says they've been checked
and is exactly correct.
You mean you're
going through with it?
The reason you couldn't
get me at Amityville --
I was over at Hamilton.
I learned about the deputies
there.
Twenty men?
Well, we got 50 men!
You all good shots?
Hank, what are you saying?
Not shooting.
No, no, my little Quaker.
No.
Pennsylvania Quaker,
she was born.
But if some of those deputies
get in the way,
they're liable to age
awful fast.
-This is insane.
-All right, now. Come on.
Let's not keep Mr. Castleberry
and his deputies waiting.
-You're the doctor, Hank.
-Now, Swift, you and Jeb,
you go on down to Castleberry's
gin by the east road
just like you always do,
normal and usual.
Hank -- Hank, you're not a --
a gangster.
There's one charge
against you now.
Sweetface, if I'm right,
this is a battle of life
and death we're fighting.
And, if I'm right, what
we're doing is no more wrong
than stealing the ache and sweat
off a man
year after year after year!
Yes, Hank,
but you may not be right.
Hank! Hank!
Hank, you must be
plumb out of your mind.
Get out of this county
'fore they jail you.
We've done enough advertising.
Maybe too much.
Now, get your heads down
and keep 'em down!
Now, brighten up, Sweetface.
Brighten up.
'Cause you married a winner!
Not a loser!
Okay, Mr. Brown.
Guess it's time
to get the bad news, eh, Jeb?
Oh, you're not very talky today,
Jeb.
Last year, I remember plain.
You and Jennie,
you come down together,
just the same as you have
for the last 15 years,
she with her best bonnet on.
Just planning to spend
your year's money.
Just laughing and t--
Well, what do you know?
For the first time
in more than 15 years,
you brought in
more than a ton.
Yes, sir. Two thousand,
two hundred pounds.
You must have been staying up
nights with them cotton plants.
Singing to 'em, maybe?
I'll get your money.
Couldn't have thought things
would go this wrong.
What do we do?
He's over there somewhere.
If you're lying to me,
you know where I spend
the next five or ten years
of my life, don't you?
It's the middle
of the floorboard, Mr. Hank,
just like we told you.
We grow cotton, too, Mr. Hank,
and we got to sell it
to that gin.
Yeah.
I see your point.
All right.
Jeb, you being
such an old customer,
Mr. Beach hisself is here
to give you your money.
Mr. Beach is the general manager
of all the Castleberry gins,
everywheres.
Well, it's just that
we want you to know
we value your patronage,
Mr. Brown.
Well, maybe you want to make us
a present
of your cotton, Mr. Brown.
Something the matter
with our money all of a sudden?
You -- You better say it.
There ain't nothing else
you can do.
Well, Mr. Rector, Mr. Beach,
uh...I got me some weights
of my own here.
That right, now, Jeb?
Weights of your own, huh?
What for, Jebby boy?
Hank Martin, he has an affidavit
that they's right.
I want you should let me check
your weights.
Well, now,
that's an interesting thing.
Don't you think, Mr. Beach, sir?
Yeah.
Yes, it is, Mr. Rector.
And a little disturbing, too,
that such a valued customer
should have doubts.
However...
go on and check 'em, Brown!
Check 'em, and send
that troublemaking peddler
to the chain gang,
where he belongs!
Now, go on and check 'em!
I reckon there's been a mistake.
Giddap.
Here! Here!
Back 'em up in here!
We're all right interested
in what Hank Martin's weights
has to say.
That's the spirit, gentlemen.
That's the spirit!
Step right up!
Step right up, gentlemen,
and join the weight-guessing
contest.
Gentleman here got
just a mite greedy.
Wants that heap of cotton
to weigh more than 2,200 pounds.
I'm a pretty busy man, sir.
He means hurry it up, Jebby.
Hurry it up.
One thousand!
Be funny if'n he lost by this,
eh, boys?
Two thousand!
Two thousand, two hundred!
Well, what do you know?
No cigar for the gentleman.
Two thousand, two hundred.
Seems to be right, Mr. Brown.
And we got 20 deputies here
as witnesses.
Looks like your friend
Hank Martin's going
on a long, long trip.
That so, Mr. Beach, sir?
Well, this has all been
very illuminating.
Very nice gathering
you got here too.
Nice to be
in such pleasant company.
Such pleasant company!
Lewis, serve your warrant.
Hank Martin, I got you a warrant
for your arrest.
Charge of criminal libel.
Well, uh, what are you
so nervous about, Lewis?
I warn you, Martin, that
these men are peace officers,
properly deputized
according to law.
Never did get a chance
to read a warrant
writ by a proper
high-price lawyer
such that the
Castleberry Company got.
This, uh,
this here lawyer of yours
is a real honest-to-goodness
blue blood, ain't he?
Well, his blood is so blue
his brain ain't getting
no sustenance.
This here so-called
alleged warrant
ain't no warrant at all.
It was issued in Hamilton,
county seat of another county!
Are you so dumb, Lewis,
you don't know that
our county seat is Randolph?
Me?
I-I suppose it was issued
in Randolph.
Shut up.
Now the peddler's a lawyer.
You know, you fellas
been making the law bend, bow,
lean, and scrape so long
your way
that you can't understand
it working for anybody else.
All you fellas been deputized
to the wrong county!
Throw this man off
Castleberry property!
You heard Mr. Beach.
Throw him off!
You know the penalty for
interfering with peace officers.
Where they going?!
Into the office.
Any objections?
Anyone crossing
that threshold
will be arrested
for illegal entry.
Arrest for illegal entry
by a lot of illegal deputies.
Sure is heap of illegals.
Now, look, men.
I got 50 men to your 20.
And they're my men,
and it's their sweat
and their work that
they're trying to save here.
Now, what are you gonna take
a chance of getting shot for?
The day's pay
you're gonna get anyway?
Or maybe the love Castleberry
and Beach bear for you?
Hal!
Right pretty weights.
Right pretty weights.
Not a scuff mark or a fleck
of dust on any of 'em.
You know, there's one thing
I hate worse than a thief.
And that's a bad thief.
Well, now, that's more like --
more like the weights
we've been cheated by year in
and year out.
Now, how about
a little side bet
it don't go to 2,200 pounds
this time?
No side bet.
All right, Jeb.
Five hundred.
One thousand.
Fifteen hundred.
No, Jeb, not another 500.
Try a 100. Yeah.
I say it goes to 1,600 pounds.
Sixteen hundred pounds!
Sixteen hundred!
Six hundred pounds short!
Now, how about
your criminal libel suit now,
Mr. Castleberry?
It's some kind of a trick.
Some kind of --
Some kind of a trick, he says!
You got no proof these weights
have ever been used.
- Hank, is everyth--
- We won!
We proved it!
And I'm apologizing.
Apologizing for not having
done this years ago!
Hank, just to tell you for all
of us, we're mighty grateful.
Mighty humbled.
Well, my little Quaker...
Oh, Hank -- Oh, Hank!
I know Robert Castleberry
is honest.
And I'd say the same thing
about Hank Martin.
Oh, I'll never doubt you again.
Like Jeb, I'm plumb humble.
Well, I'll -- Jules --
Oh, Swift!
Gather up those false weights
of theirs.
We might as well have evidence
on our side for a change.
Put them weights down.
Drop them weights!
I'm gonna shoot!
Y'all best leave,
Mr. Castleberry.
-There might be more shooting.
-Go ahead, please.
That's right, Castleberry!
Run!
Leave your wounded
lying on the ground and run!
You know that bird we got up in
the swamps, the black skimmer?
Always wears black?
Well, he lives by skimming
over the water and scooping up
all the little bugs and fishes
without even slowing down.
Well, every time -- every time
I see that black skimmer
scooping and swallowing,
scooping and swallowing,
I want to take him by the neck
and squeeze
and squeeze and squeeze
until he spews up
every little thing that he et!
And we've only begun
our squeezing.
Now we've only begun
to squeeze! Only begun!
-That Deputy Lewis, he's dying.
-We've got to get a doctor.
- Well, go and get him.
- Hank, he's really bad.
It's awful hard to Kill
a pool hall shark like that.
Now let's see you avoid
the chain gang.
Inciting to violence, Martin.
Inciting to violence.
Or maybe murder.
Oh, come on, Sweetface.
Leave him be.
Leave him be
till the doctor gets here.
Leave him there to die?
Is that what you want
on your name? Murder?
Is that what you want to pass on
to our baby?
Our baby?
Yes.
Yes, our baby.
Isn't this a fine time
to tell you?
Fine, fine time!
Listen, everybody!
I'm going to have a baby!
A baby!
Hal!
This is purely my lucky day!
Ya-ha!
- Hello?
- I want to see the man.
Mr. Castleberry is not in.
He only sees people
by appointment.
-If you'd write a letter...
-I writ him letters.
I writ him a letter
signed by 300 names.
I told you he's not in.
Black skimmer!
I am not in the custom of lying.
What kind of man is he?
What kind of world is it where
they can hold a man for murder
for shooting down a mad dog?
Where they can deny bail
and habeas corpus?
Look here. You tell the man
Hank Martin was here.
And you tell him
there's no place he can go
where he can hide
from Hank Martin.
Oh, sir, I'm sorry.
We tried to phone you
to cancel your appointment.
Mr. Castleberry
was called up to Randolph.
He had an appointment with me
for 3:00,
which he chose not to keep, huh?
I'm the man you want to see.
Who are you?
I'm the one who can get
Jeb Brown's trial scheduled.
You don't know me.
You're the famous one.
I've even been thinking of
driving upcountry to see you.
Walking my way?
If what happened that day
at the gin regarding the weights
should get into the papers,
it would ruin
Castleberry's business.
Right now, every paper in the
state is afraid to mention it.
But if testimony about
the weights should come out
in a court of law,
any and every paper could
print it without fear of suit.
They think they can legally keep
Jeb Brown's trial
from being scheduled.
They're so cocksure,
they've been turning down
my offers to buy them out.
Good offers.
I might like to try
and teach them a lesson.
Hello there, Guy boy.
Long time no see.
Call me up sometime.
"Guy," he called you.
Is that a name?
If I hadn't swung him a big
piece of the Dodge City vote,
maybe he wouldn't have
got elected.
And he didn't even bother
to call me up and say thank you.
I'm a great one
for the little social things,
like "thank you" and "please.
Well, a minute ago,
you said you'd be able
to get Jeb Brown's trial
scheduled.
I'd like that.
I know a judge
up in your county.
I know him pretty good.
I hear you got
political ambitions.
Is, uh, is that where
the thank-you comes in?
No. It's just that you might
serve my purpose is all.
Like maybe help to get Snowden
and his do-good boys
out of power.
Then, too,
if this case comes to trial,
you'll be a pretty big man
with...
a lot of cotton growers
and farmers.
I like pretty big men to owe me.
Owe you what?
A thank-you.
At this time of year,
I'm at the Dodge City Hotel.
Day and night.
The name is Guy Polli.
Where to?
2108 Magnolia.
I saw you talking to Guy Polli.
You know Guy Polli?
Yeah.
He gave me 50 bucks once.
-What?
-Yeah.
Ethel used to go out
to his place all the time
and touch up his hair
where it gets gray.
Once, when she was sick,
I went in her place,
and he gave me 50 bucks.
-Just like that?
-Yeah.
Never tried nothing?
Never asked for nothing
in the way of a thank-you?
Well, sure.
I swear.
Well.
Last time I talked to a gambler,
he took me for seven bucks
and a brand-new pair
of nail clippers.
Driver...take me
to the Dodge City Hotel.
Might as well have a talk
with Mr. Guy Polli,
long as he wants so little
in the way of a thank-you.
Jeb.
Sleeping just like
a one-year-old, huh?
Hey, did you ever figure
that you might lose this trial
and leave here hanging
at the end of a rope?
They'll all be coming down
for the show.
Everybody in Cypress Bend.
And I'm the big man.
Well, maybe so.
Oh, I cooked you some corn pone,
but it -- it all burned up.
Getting yourself
all prettied up, are you, Jeb?
Yep.
And I want to thank you
for all that good attention
you've been giving me.
Oh, that's all right.
Give 'em a couple of backfires.
-Get 'em used to it.
-Yes, sir.
I'll blow the rear end
off this crate if you say so.
Help!
Somebody please... help!
What is it?
What's the answer?
Well, Hank,
like I told you before,
I've been coroner so many years,
I see 'em dead soon as
I take a look at 'em, but --
Well, somewheres, maybe,
is a doctor
could give that man
a new esophagus,
rebuild all the glands
and what all is in the neck.
But I never seen such a doctor,
and I sure enough ain't one.
-There's internal bleeding --
-Will he live?
No.
I'm gonna fix to give him
this here hypodermic,
kill the pain.
Sometime in the next few hours,
he'll probably pass away
in his sleep.
Quiet and easy as you please,
probably.
I'll get other doctors.
I'll -- I'll sell my wagon.
Oh, if it wasn't for me
fixin' and fussin'
-and pushin' and arrangin' --
-Hank, it wasn't your fault.
Hank, darling,
don't blame yourself.
Quiet!
Quiet down there!
They shot him!
What's that you're saying?
Jeb Brown is in there shot
and fighting for his life!
I swear to you --
I swear to you,
the black skimmer
ain't gonna get away with this!
I swear to you!
Now all you can do is pray.
Down on your knees!
And pray!
Pray for Jeb Brown!
Yeah, Jeb.
He's trying to say something.
The trial.
Jeb, we'll postpone
till you're better.
Die.
No, honey. You ain't gonna die.
-Die.
-No, Jeb. No, no.
You're fine.
You're gonna be as good as...
You're dying, boy.
But nobody's got a right
to steal a man's last hour.
Nobody's got the right.
Maybe God.
We'll get a minister.
It wasn't a murder.
Tell little Lucy
it weren't no murder.
It wasn't no murder.
Jeb.
This here stuff he'll give you
will stop the pain.
And chances are,
you'll never wake up.
You'll be warm and happy
and peaceful,
and you'll never wake up.
You got a right to that, Jeb.
You got a right to it.
It's up to you.
But how about it?
Do you want to hold that trial?
-Do you want to clear your name?
-Hank, are you out of your mind?
There isn't a judge
in the country
would consider such a thing.
This judge is a friend
of a friend.
I agreed to act as counsel
in this case to help Jeb Brown,
not you, Hank.
I have no interest
in helping you
to use this poor man
to get statewide publicity.
Jules, that's not true.
You got a dirty little mind,
Bolduc.
Now, it's up to you, boy.
Hard or easy?
Do you want to sleep your life
away
or do you want to give it away,
use it away?
Do you want to go ahead
with the trial?
Do you want to clear your name?
Hank, you got no right.
Hank's got the right, Verity.
They's men...
and they's friends.
Blood friends.
They understand each other.
And there ain't no
publicity stuff in it.
They's men who knows how to hate
a murderer like Castleberry.
Your Honor, the defendant
is determined to go on.
Your Honor, it's one thing for
the defendant to be determined,
but I believe --
In all humanity, sir,
let us have no further delays.
The trial will proceed.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I ask you to forget for a moment
this poor, sick man
sitting over here
and to think of another man.
An man named Wilbur Lewis,
who is dead.
Because of Jeb Brown!
Jeb! Jeb!
Your Honor, I refuse
to prosecute an unconscious man.
Your Honor,
I think we should postpone.
No!
No! He's all right!
He wants to go on!
Jeb, in the name of heaven.
Jules.
Jules...
We aim to prove that Jeb Brown,
a man who ordinarily
never carried a gun,
did, on this day, early
in the morning, arm himself
for a shooting
that took place near noon.
Now, we aim to prove
premeditation.
- First witness.
- Mr. Frank Rector.
Jeb! Oh, Jeb!
Jeb.
-Jeb, are you all right?
-Yeah, he's all right.
Jules, you got to cross-examine
Rector, and do it now!
Hank, he tried so hard.
He tried so hard to stay alive
long enough.
You got to clear his name.
He's all right!
He's all right!
Leave him be!
Jules -- Jules, come on.
Cross-examine.
Get it on the record.
-Ma'am, I'm sorry,
but I just got to.
We can't yet, Hank.
The prosecution is still...
When Jeb Brown shot Lewis,
was Lewis pointing a gun
at anybody else?
Mr. Martin, sir,
what is the meaning of this?
Your Honor.. this man is dead.
Was Lewis pointing a gun
at anybody else
when Jeb Brown shot him?!
Answer yes or no!
Mr. Martin,
I will hold you in contempt.
All right!
Then I'll say it!
I was there!
And I'm a right better witness
than this bought-and-paid-for
Castleberry man!
Yes!
I say yes!
Lewis was pointing a gun
at somebody else!
If Jeb hadn't fired,
Swift there would be dead
instead of Lewis!
Jeb Brown never did no murder!
Now, say it!
Was Jeb Brown guilty of murder?
Say it for his wife there,
for his little daughter,
for Jeb, who tried so hard.
Everybody in town knows
what happened that day!
Everybody knows! Say it!
Innocent!
Wait! No! Wait!
Nobody go!
We're not through yet!
We're not through yet!
-We're not through!
-Bailiff! Bailiff!
Martin, what are you trying to
do to a court of law?
Stop it!
Stop this farce!
You know, and I know,
and everybody knows
what happened at the gin
that day!
Hank, you can't try a dead man!
Try? We already tried Jeb
and proved him innocent!
That trial's over.
Now we're trying
Robert L. Castleberry IV,
the real murderer!
Bailiff, take Mr. Martin
into custody.
Hank, this is mob rule!
Look, everybody knows
what caused the trouble
at the gin that day!
I proved -- I proved
that Castleberry's weights
was weighing false!
Now, there are you, reporters!
What are you waiting for?
This is no trial!
Now, remember that!
This is no trial!
This court is adjourned.
Only now he's adjourning!
We got it! We got it in!
Jeb done it, Jennie.
Jeb done it.
You should be righteous proud
he done it.
I am proud, Hank.
I'm righteous proud.
Oh, Hank.
He never succeeding
in nothing before.
For his whole life.
But he done this.
He done this.
Jeb done it!
Jeb done it!
He done it for you and for me
and for all of us!
Now everybody -- everybody
everywhere will know the truth!
Make way for the press!
They carry your message,
our message,
the message that Jeb died for,
to get to the people.
Let 'em out!
And I swear to you --
I swear to you we'll find
the man who killed Jeb Brown
and hang him!
Hang him higher than Haman!
Jeb Brown,
who's gone to be a soldier
in the army of the Lord!
Let's not misunderstand
each other, Mr. Polli.
If you buy Castleberry and
Company, you buy our plants,
our employees,
our stock of unginned cotton,
and our ill will.
One thing and one thing only
I retain.
My right to examine
all records and accounts,
to find out by any way I can
what, if any, basis there is
for these charges
of short-weighting.
I have already employed --
and I've mortgaged my home
to do it --
a firm of private detectives
to carry on this investigation.
Should I discover
that any trusted employee
or employees of mine
has systematically been fleecing
the company
as well as thousands
of many small cotton growers,
I retain my right to prosecute
such ex-employees
to the fullest extent
of the law.
You may have your attorneys
prepare a draft
of the sales agreement.
I'm sort of way ahead of you,
Mr. Castleberry.
I suspect you have been
for quite some time, Mr. Polli.
Hank! Hank!
We want Hank!
Hank! Hank!
We want Hank!
We want Hank!
Hank! Hank!
We want Hank!
We want Hank!
Hank!
Vote against...
your going on being poor!
Vote against Castleberry!
And all the other --
all the other black skimmers!
Vote for me!
And a fine man, the honorable
Governor Snowden.
I can't offer shortcuts
or cure-alls.
I have no patent medicine
that will make hair grow,
cure pneumonia,
and be good for crops.
That's right.
And Mr. Martin doesn't have it
either.
I laughter, cheering I
And for the same reason.
It does not exist.
...the end of us upcountry
people to being poor and hungry.
Well, the only question
I got, Mr. Martin,
is how are you gonna end it
just like that?
You got some way of getting
manna from heaven?
Well, let's put it this way,
Mr. Pritchard.
You know my motto,
"You name it, I got it"?
Well, where --
where would you like to have
your manna delivered?
Tomorrow is the day!
Vote for me --
me, tomorrow!
It'll be quite a storm.
Come on, come on, come on!
Say, Central?
Central, I --
Borrowing your phone, Jules.
-Is the line still open?
-I can hear humming.
Take care you don't get
yourself electricked.
Hello?
Hello?
Hello!
I got to say, this don't
feel like no little local storm.
Just exactly what does
a little local storm feel like?
Hello?
Hello, Central?
Oh, Central, about that call
to the weather bureau.
Is it --
Oh. Uh, well, okay.
Is it gonna rain everywhere?
Is it -- What?
Yeah, yeah. A general forecast.
Hank. Hank, darling,
you would have won.
I know it.
"Twas the night before election,
and all through the house...
General rain, beginning
before dawn, statewide.
Rain! The one thing
I couldn't do anything about!
Rain on Election Day!
Pleased as punch, ain't you?
No. No, Hank.
It's a miserable way to lose.
People that live
close to a town,
some of them
will be able to vote.
And my opponent,
the citified Governor Snowden,
thousands of his voters
will ride to the polls
in nice, dry streetcars.
No blackjack mud for them.
Hank?
Hank, everything's all right,
A little storm.
A big storm?
Jennie, Jennie.
Jennie, when you got fear,
fill your chest with air,
like to bust.
I got 12 hours
before the polls open.
Jules, would you lend me
your car?
Even if you're agin me,
would you lend me your car?
What have you got in mind
this time, Hank?
I'm going to go into the city
and get the city vote.
Nice, dry,
streetcar-riding votes.
Jennie, everything's
gonna be all right.
I swear to you, on Jeb's memory,
everything's gonna be all right.
I know they are.
It had to be.
-The car's in the garage, Hank.
-Thanks, Jules.
Verity, wish me luck.
Sit down.
Hank, how?
Jules, I ain't minded you
not being for me,
but I have minded
you always implying
that besides being wrong,
I'm dishonest.
Perhaps it's because you've
never answered my questions.
Such as the old one about the
last time you went to the city
and how you suddenly got
Jeb Brown's trial scheduled --
and before
that particular judge.
Jules, he saw someone in
the attorney general's office.
A friend of a friend of his.
He told us.
Did he, Verity?
Any reason to believe I'm lying?
No, none.
Just common sense.
Well, sometimes a man
ain't got time for common sense.
Jules, one day you'll see.
You'll see what a great man
Hank Martin is.
He'll need this.
All right.
Let him come in.
The gatekeeper calling to say
that a certain Mr. Hank Martin
wants to see me.
Well, I guess
I'd better be going.
I hadn't ought to be seen here.
Oh, we don't hide from friends,
Mr. Beach.
By now, Mr. Hank Martin
is almost on our team.
Oh, it's just that he's got
all them funny ideas
about helping the people.
The "folkses," he calls 'em.
He had, you mean.
The only idea he's got now,
if I know my man,
is getting to be governor.
That must be our little boy now.
Good evening, sir.
-Good evening, Miss Flamingo.
-Good evening.
He sure knows your name
awful good
for somebody who'd been here
only once.
Well, somebody gave me a name
that's easy to remember.
-I'll wait here for you.
-Oh, no. No, no, you don't.
You come on in with me.
Do as you're told.
What can I offer him?
What can I possibly offer a man
that has all this?
Hi, Martin.
...I guess maybe you heard.
Polli bought out
Castleberry and Company.
So now I work for Mr. Polli.
See you around.
Wheels within wheels
within wheels.
I stalled your friend Beach
so as you'd be sure to meet.
I want you and him
to get friendly.
What are you talking about?
Paper says statewide rain,
light country vote.
That's why you're here,
ain't it?
You'll just have to wait
till I'm through feeding
my little beauties.
Well what does Samuel T. Beach
got to do with anything?
Just another chump who bit off
more than he can swallow.
Even my fish are smarter
than that.
They fatten off the little ones
like these.
Well, I ain't got no time
for no fish conversation.
-Why do you want to be governor?
-Because I got to be!
The little fish, they like
to live, but mostly they die.
Well, I ain't gonna die.
Not without a fight.
So you want some of that nice,
dry Dodge City vote, huh?
Yeah.
Please.
I make it a rule never
to ask a man to do nothing
that ain't good for him too.
It's to your interest as much
or more than mine.
We got to back up Beach.
The slob's in bad trouble.
If it comes to trial,
the whole thing will be out,
and all your fancy talk
about the black skimmer
will look pretty silly.
What are you talking about?
You can't have got this far
and be dumb.
You must have figured out
it was Beach doing the stealing,
not Castleberry.
Beach and most of
the other gin managers.
-Hank, what --
-Well, I ain't giving up now!
Almost in,
and I ain't giving up now.
Of course you're not, Hank.
Well, maybe --
maybe I did pull a boner,
but I'll make it up somehow,
some way to Castleberry.
He ain't waiting for you.
He's been busy
as a little beaver.
He's had private detectives
working with the sheriff.
They found all the bank accounts
Beach has got
under different names.
Also, they found some ex-con
who swears he saw Rector driving
the backfiring car
the morning Jeb was murdered.
You hearing me?
I don't want no public trial
for Beach,
"cause I'm gonna start putting
Castleberry and Company
on a good dollars-and-cents
basis for a change.
I ain't interested
in no more people knocking it.
Beach don't want the trial
"cause it'll hang him.
You don't want the trial
because it'll be the end of you
as a politician.
Hearing me, Martin?
My lawyers ain't
a million miles away right now.
They're waiting to draw up
a deposition
that you was with Beach
at the time of the shooting.
There'll be no true bill.
No indictment.
Nothing will ever come out.
No publicity.
And then, I'll try my best
to get you the Dodge City vote.
The precincts that I control.
Maybe it'll put you in,
maybe it won't.
You can't tell about votes
till you count 'em.
But I'll try.
Just one other little deal.
The rest you can fix up
and improve as much as you want.
Those roads you've been
promising everybody.
-What about the roads?
-Build all you want.
Except in certain counties
where I got cotton gins.
I'll give you a list.
I don't want people free
to shop around too much.
Hank Martin's rain, huh?
Hank, what's the matter?
He said he'd do it.
He said he'd help you.
Give Jeb Brown's murderer
an alibi?
What'll I do
if they find me out?
What do you care?
You'll be Governor Hank Martin.
Then we can be together
all the time.
Yeah.
I'll be governor.
I'll be governor.
Poll, your mother
ever warn you --
ever warn you about making
a house pet of a wildcat?
Don't think
she ever mentioned it.
Well, you might get bit.
All right, city boy.
Bring on your lawyers.
Bring 'em on.
You got Castleberry's now,
and you want Beach
to stay out of jail.
Well, city boy, you got a deal.
Come on. Show me the color.
Show me the color
of your affidavit!
Come on! Come on!
Come on!
What's the matter, city boy?
You afraid of a little rain?
Come on!
We ain't got all night!
Come on!
It looks like it's
Governor Snowden all the way.
Not that the sharecroppers'
candidate, Mr. Hank Martin
of Cypress Bend, isn't making
an impressive showing.
He is.
He's shown this state one thing,
Mr. Hank Martin has,
and that is
that an independent...
Of course, there's no way of
telling what's going to happen
four years from now and whether
Mr. Martin would choose to
or even be in a position
to run again.
But certainly some politician
or new political party
is going to take advantage --
Yes, even if he's defeated,
this ex-peddler,
who has spent his life up to now
going from cabin to cabin
and village to village
selling toothpaste and lanterns
and pots and pans --
Folks, it's Hank!
Well...cheer up, folkses.
The say we made what is
called...a good showing.
Hank.
Hank. Oh, Hank.
Hank, you got a baby.
Hank, we ain't all the way lost
yet.
The election's a dead heat.
-What?
-You and Snowden.
You got the same number
of counties,
and you got two
Dodge City precincts.
And she's all right, Hank.
She done just fine, Verity did.
A baby?
A baby?
-A baby!
-Dr. Stevens has been with her.
He'll be back before --
Sweetface.
Sweetface.
Oh, and to think...
to think I wasn't here.
I thought maybe
we'd call her Nancy, Hank.
It was my grandmother's name.
Nancy?
Well, Hank Jr.
just won't fit now.
Nancy. Nancy.
Hey, what was this
Swift was saying about --
about we're not losing?
We have almost as many votes
as Governor Snowden,
and in exactly
the same counties.
It's up to the state assembly
to decide now.
But, Hank,
the radio man said
that with the assembly being
mostly Snowden men...
Yeah.
Hank...you got a lot
of city votes.
Thousands of them.
How'd you do it?
Hancy!
"Hancy," with a capital "H."
"Hancy," with a capital H!
-Hancy!
-Oh. Oh, that's terrible.
Folkses!
Mr. Martin, we're all set
to go on the air,
and we thought if you had
a moment you might be able to --
Folkses!
I got me a daughter!
A brand-new daughter,
and her name is Hancy,
spelled with a capital "H"!
Mr. Martin, sir?
Mr. Martin,
we got a statewide hookup
and we sort of thought
if you were going to concede,
you might make a statement.
We gave you good coverage
during the campaign.
Get ready to switch me
into the program circuit.
-Next time, Hank.
-One, two three...
Everybody says next time
you'll make it sure.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Jeb would be proud
we got this far, Hank.
He'd understand.
Ladies and gentlemen,
you're about to hear a statement
by Mr. Hank Martin himself.
Mr. Martin?
We'd have won
if we had the roads.
We'd have won, hands down,
beat him fair and square,
without any sign of a doubt.
Well, maybe four years
from now, we'll win.
Lessin' something goes wrong
again.
Lessin' it rains again.
But, uh, it has
a funny way of raining
this time of the year.
Four years.
A little louder, Mr. Martin.
Four long years.
And how many of our kids
will have grown past school age
without learning
to read and write,
excepting maybe "cat" and "rat"?
And how many suppers
of potatoes and turnip tops
will you have all et?
And how many acres of mud
that they call roads
will you have trudged through?
Oh, yes, folks,
I've been thinking about you
tonight.
Just as I've been thinking
about you
all through the campaign.
Oh, sure, sure,
I've been thinking of me too.
And my wife, Verity, and now
my new little daughter, Hancy,
spelled with a capital "H."
I got to admit, I've been
thinking of us Martins too.
I've been thinking about that
handsome governor's mansion.
The state-paid-for limousine
with the state-paid-for driver
transporting me
and my little family around.
-Oh, yes.
-Poor Hank.
I've been thinking about...
I'd follow him to kingdom come.
...so much that I can
almost taste it.
Well, folkses...
if I were to tell you that
I didn't want to be governor,
I'd be lying.
Now they tell me
the vote's tied.
And now it's in the hands
of the assembly.
Well, this here assembly
is supposed to represent
all the people.
All the people.
But just the same,
when they meet in January,
they're going to raise
their hands for Snowden.
They'll raise their little hands
for Snowden,
although the will
of the people --
the will of the people
seems clear.
Now, it don't take no
college professor to know
what the will of the people is,
barring a little rain.
All right, now.
We tried to express our will.
We tried to express it
legal-like --
polls, ballot boxes, and
pretty speeches to each other.
We tried it legal,
and it didn't work.
We got to ask ourselves
if there ain't some other way.
Well, I say it's up to them,
not us,
to wait till next election.
They expect us to concede.
They expect us
to act like it was, oh,
just a polite little tennis game
we've been playing.
How about that?
Well, I meant it,
and it still goes!
We ain't conceding!
Miss Verity, what are you doing
out here in your condition?
Jules Bolduc.
Take me to Jules.
...too blamed mad to concede!
Snowden's gonna concede!
Snowden! Not us!
It stopped raining,
and we're gonna show Snowden
the size of us.
Let him count the noses of us
in person.
Now heat up and get rolling!
We're gonna march on,
move on, descend on Dodge City!
And bring your guns along
just in case!
All right, now.
Heat up and get rolling.
This is where we're
gonna assemble.
This is gonna be
our jumping-off place,
and I'm waiting on you
in front of my house
in Cypress Bend...
Hold on a minute, everybody!
Hank must not have figured
this out all out proper-like.
Why, how does he know
that he would have won
if it hadn't rained?
The count might have been worse
against him.
Aw, let's go!
Ladies and gentlemen,
this whole town is on the move.
You just heard
Mr. Hank Martin speaking to you
from his home
right here in Cypress Bend.
We don't know what's going to
happen, but it looks like
it's gonna be a riot,
because he's calling for guns,
and I see some guns
in the crowd.
- Mr. Peck and Mrs. Martin.
- Mr. Bolduc, Moses.
Moses, where's Mr. Bolduc?
Does he know what's going on
out there?
He left in a hurry.
They come after him
in the middle of his supper.
And the sheriff from Randolph
come with his siren on.
Ma'am, what is it?
-A lynching?
-Oh, no, Moses.
Certainly not that kind.
This is -- This is a lynching
of a whole state.
A whole sovereign state.
This is a lynching
led by my husband.
And people are gathering here in
his front yard from everywhere.
They're coming with weapons
in their hands.
From where I stand,
I can see shotguns...
Remember Governor Snowden's
orders.
There's not to be a gun drawn
or a shot fired regardless.
Well, folkses,
it's about that time.
And now...let us ask the aid
of the Almighty.
We, the needy...
the oppressed, the enfeebled...
...we, the meek of the earth
and our kinfolk
ask Thy aid
in this here undertaking.
Amen.
Amen.
And now --
now let's get rolling!
-Stand aside!
We're heading for glory!
Jeb Brown died, all right!
Jeb Brown died for nothing!
Come on!
Get rolling!
Jeb was sold out --
sold down the river!
-And so were you!
-Jules Bolduc, what you saying?
-What you saying?
-Jennie.
Jennie, they found the gun
that killed your Jeb.
And they found a witness to
the shooting -- an accomplice.
And they found the murderer.
They got him cold.
Who was it?
They arrested Samuel T. Beach
this morning
and released him this evening.
Jeb's murderer walks free
because of a signed statement --
a sworn statement.
And here it is!
A sworn statement!
The man who signed this swore
he was with Samuel T. Beach
at the time
the murder took place!
This crooked statement
was signed and sworn to
by Hank Martin!
Cease your lying, Jules Bolduc.
Cease your lying!
I was with Samuel Beach!
Like I swore.
I was in a hotel room
at the Randolph with him
begging him to testify for us
instead of agin us
at Jeb's trial.
You think I don't want to see
Jeb's killer punished?
He was my friend!
My friend!
I'd just as soon hang
Samuel Beach
on general principles.
But not to cover up for a crime
committed by the black skimmer,
Jules Bolduc's precious
godfather, Robert Castleberry.
That's not true!
It was Beach
that was cheating you!
Beach and Rector cheating you
and Castleberry!
We have the evidence.
There is no black skimmer.
There never was!
Hank Martin has used that lie
for his own ends!
Jennie, don't!
He's been lying agin Hank
from the beginning.
No, Jennie, don't.
Hank wasn't with Beach.
He was with me.
The affidavit is false.
Now, Jennie.
Jennie, girl, listen.
All right, now.
All right, folks.
Listen.
Let's be grown up about this.
Hanging Beach is not gonna
bring Jeb Brown back.
And I had to face facts --
hard, hard political facts.
All right.
I did sign the affidavit.
You sold out.
You!
Look, little Jennie bird.
Don't you think it hurt me too?
Do you think I wanted to?
You sold out!
No! Hank! Hank!
Hank!
Hank!
You told on me, Sweetface.
You told on me.
I didn't mean it, Hank.
I didn't mean it.
It's all right.
It's all right.
There's still time.
It's all right.
It's all right.
Hank.
Let me be.
Now...come on.
I told you...
told you I'd lead you to glory.
Well, listen.
There-- There's still time.
There's still time!
Come on!
Come follow me!
I'll lead you!
Lead you to glory.
Come on.
Hank!
Hank!
Hank, lie still.
You'll only make it worse, Hank.
Lie still.
You're the state's First Lady,
Sweetface.
-Yes.
-You and Hancy, right?
We're the whole state's
first family.
Yes, Hank.
You're gonna be all right.
All right, I tell you, Hank.
-You told on me, Sweetface.
-Oh, no.
I was kicking 'em all
in the right places,
and...everybody was dancing
to my tune.
And all of a sudden...
...they found me out.
Never knewed folks who could be
so...awful and small.
Hank!
He's dead!
He's dead!
Hank.