Campbell's Kingdom (1957) Movie Script
[RANK GONG]
[OPENING THEME]
There you are...
..."Campbell's Kingdom".
[THEME CONTINUES]
What about this guy they
call "King" Campbell?
Is he nuts like they say?
Nuts?
No, I guess the only thing old
Stuart Campbell's nuts about is oil.
Devil of it is, there's no oil here.
I know.
I did the survey for him.
That's my truck up there. I had to leave it
when the snows came early.
- And there isn't any oil?
- Nope.
Not even enough to slick your
hair down with.
That's what the consultant's report
says, anyway.
Came in last week.
That the dam you were telling me about?
Yeah. The Fergus mine started about,
uh... oh, three years back.
Old Campbell stopped 'em. Gotta
injunction, or something.
- On account of the oil?
- Yeah.
They can't go drowning potential oil fields.
[DOG BARKING AND WHINING]
Campbell!
[DOG WHINING]
Hey, Campbell!
Looks like there's something wrong.
Campbell?
[DOG YELPING]
[SINISTER MUSIC]
[CROWD NOISES]
Who found him?
- Is it true?
- Sure!
Boy Bladen found him.
It's true, Mr Morgan.
There was this American - went
up there with him.
Campbell's dead, all right.
So he's dead.
I guess we can go ahead now!
Are we gonna finish the dam, Mr Morgan?
- Will you give me my old job back, Mr Morgan?
- Sure I will.
We were in the clear anyway, after that
survey, but now - nothing can stop us!
You guys report to the office
in the morning, okay?
[SHOUTING AND BANGING]
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
[CAR HORN HOOTS]
Come on!
Come on you guys. Back to work!
[UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES]
[NOISE OF DRILLING AND WORK]
Hey! You're here!
Hey!
You had me scared for a minute.
I thought you were dead.
- Is this Come Lucky?
- Come Lucky?
End of the World. Back of Beyond.
Call it what you like.
Well, thanks for the lift.
You'll find a room over there -
of a kind.
- Thanks.
- Good luck.
Wait there, will you?
Sure, okay.
[MEN CHATTING]
Reg.
[BAR NOISES]
[DING!]
Aye?
I'd like a room for the night -
if you have one, please?
A room?
I'm not too sure. You'll have to talk
to Jean about that.
- Since my wife died you see, she...
- Just for a night or two, that's all.
Oh! Oh, well, I think she can
manage that. Jean!
Just... sign the book, will you, please?
Good evening.
"Campbell."
Here... you'll be no relation to Stuart Campbell?
The man we used to call "King" Campbell?
Yes. I'm his grandson.
- Jean, just fix up Mr Campbell.
- Yes, I will.
- Will you come this way, please?
- I'll take that. Thank you.
Hey, what brings you to Come Lucky?
If it ain't a rude question?
Time enough for the questions, Ben.
It's a hard road into Come Lucky.
- You'll be tired, eh, son?
- Yes, a bit.
Interested in some land around here?
I don't know what it's got to do with you.
If you're talking about "Campbell's
Kingdom", yes I am.
Why shouldn't I be?
It's my property.
The "Kingdom"? Your property?
Yes.
Owen Morgan.
How do you do?
We don't want any more Campbells
in this valley! Why...
How about a drink?
There are one or two things I
think you ought to know.
All right.
This is Ben Creasy, my partner.
[LOW GRUMBLING FROM DRINKERS]
Didn't your lawyers in England tell you about
the hydro-electric plant, Mr Campbell?
They, er... they said someone named
Fergus wanted to buy the property.
Yeah, that's right. I work for Henry Fergus.
I'm building a dam up there
for the Fergus mines.
Take a seat.
I guess you've come a long way
for nothing, Mr Campbell.
In a couple of months, the
dam will be finished...
...and there won't be
any "Kingdom" after that.
It'll be a lake.
You... you mean you're flooding it?
Yeah. That's right.
Oh..!
But it's not your property.
I haven't agreed to sell.
Whether you agree or not
makes no difference.
I guess you've been hearing
stories about... some oil, huh?
- Um... my grandfather was convinced there was oil.
- He was wrong.
There is no oil.
So we got the injunction lifted.
That's right.
We had to wait for the survey report...
...but the figures showed once and for all...
...there's no oil anywhere near
Campbell's "Kingdom".
And that was from one of the best
mining consultants in Calgary.
That's right.
So there's nothing to stop us now.
I'm afraid there's nothing you
can do about it.
Erm...
...you... you have Government
permission to flood?
That's right.
Oh, don't take it too hard.
The land's useless.
There's a nice bit of compensation
coming your way.
Ten thousand dollars, they said.
What did you want with the
"Kingdom" anyway, Mr Campbell?
I... I thought I might live up there.
Live up there?
- He did.
- Yeah - because he had to!
He didn't dare stay down here with
the people he'd swindled!
You think he was crooked too?
I know darn well he was!
You ask any of the guys.
Okay, man - take it easy.
But you didn't hate him as much as I did.
He harmed me much more than
he ever harmed you.
Well, you know, when you're... thirteen
or fourteen. It doesn't help.
Growing up with everyone knowing that
your grandfather was in jail for fraud.
But I know better now.
He wasn't crooked.
And... he believed in something.
Yeah! In oil!
[LAUGHTER]
Supposing he was right?
Mr Campbell? Your room is ready now.
Thank you. Will you excuse me?
I think you'll find that we are
right, Mr Campbell.
- Anyway, take a rest. You look tired.
- Thanks, I will.
What did he come all the way
from England for?
You heard him.
He's gonna live up there.
In here.
You, er... felt the atmosphere downstairs?
Yes.
Your grandfather stood in the
way of the dam.
I think they're afraid you
might do the same.
Ah!
I gather I couldn't, even if I wanted to?
That dam means work for them all.
A sawmill in the town. Factories, maybe.
Come Lucky wasn't always like this, you know.
Fifty years ago it was a boom town.
Gold.
Then the mine ran dry.
Just like that.
So, you see...
...your grandfather's promise of oil up in
the "Kingdom" looked like it might save them.
Everyone put money into his company.
Some put all they had.
He didn't swindle them.
Don't they realise that?
He started the company.
And when it crashed, he went to jail.
His partner got away with all the money.
Yeah.
Yes, I know.
But they don't care about that.
They just say they... trusted Campbell
with every dollar they had.
It nearly broke his heart.
Did you know him very well?
Oh, yes.
I've known him all my life.
When I left school in England, I came to
live next door with my aunts.
They were the only friends he had.
Then I moved in here to help Mac
out when his wife died.
You're Jean Lucas, aren't you?
He told me all about you in this.
And about the oil.
And his hopes.
And his despair.
It broke his heart, alright.
The first and only word
I ever heard from him.
Then the cable from the lawyer to
tell me he was dead and...
...the "Kingdom" was mine.
- So that's why you came?
- Hmm?
Yes.
I hadn't been too well.
The doctors thought a
change might do me good.
You need a rest.
Tomorrow we'll go and fetch
your grandfather's things.
My aunts have them.
Well, good night.
Good night.
[DOOR SHUTTING]
This is all there was.
You see, he hadn't many possessions.
Possessions don't make the man, Mr Campbell.
No, no. Of course not.
I brought them down from the
"Kingdom" when he died.
I knew he wanted you to have them.
There wasn't much.
His diaries, signet ring, watch.
Abigail! You didn't open it?
Ruth! As if I would.
You told me!
But I didn't know myself.
Well, somebody told me.
I never approved of this project
about the dam...
...and the riff-raff that Morgan's got
in to work on it.
It's not safe to set foot outside the house.
I think you'd be safe, Abigail.
A letter, Mr Campbell?
Well, if it's not too private we
should be interested to hear it.
- Abigail!
- Oh, don't be such a hypocrite!
Ruth, you know you're just as
curious as I am.
I think perhaps you... you ought to hear it.
It's dated "The Kingdom, 20th October".
"Dear Bruce, when you read this
the Kingdom will be yours."
"I'm old and tired."
"I no longer have the
energy or the desire..."
"...to fight for my beliefs."
"Today I received the report on
Bladen's survey."
"It would seem to prove that all my work,
and all my hopes have been in vain."
Poor Stuart.
Pray continue, Mr Campbell.
"All I am sure of is that..."
"...after the big landslide of 1926,
I saw oil seeping from the rock."
"I do not know what sort of a man you are."
"But, I beg of you before God,
somehow to find the money..."
"...and to test my beliefs
for the last time."
"Using the only certain method: drilling."
"Do this before they finish the dam..."
"...and before the Kingdom
is flooded forever."
"Do this also for our good name..."
"...because whatever others say,
I believed in what I did."
"And because, throughout my long life..."
"...I've never cheated any man..."
"...of what was rightfully his."
"May God bless you in your endeavours."
"Stuart Campbell."
Who, er, who was this man "Bladen"?
Does he know his job?
He's the best surveyor this
town will ever see.
If he did a reliable survey, that means
there's no oil in the "Kingdom".
Look. I've been thinking.
Owen Morgan runs this town.
Supposing he got at Boy Bladen's figures...
...before they went down to
Calgary for analysis?
- And changed them?
- Why not?
This dam means a fortune to him.
Where is Bladen?
- He's due in here tomorrow.
- Have you told him what you think?
Well, no. I wasn't sure enough.
But now, with that letter...
What will you do, Mr Campbell?
I don't think I've got much choice, do you?
[STOIC MUSIC]
Do you know where I'll find Morgan?
In there. You'd better stay out, mister.
He's good and mad!
You looking for work?
No. I want to get to the top of the dam.
You'll have to ask him. He's got Boy
Bladen in there, just now.
Now look, I've a damn good
mind to take you to court!
Yeah?
I work for Henry Fergus.
You're going to take him to court too?
Yeah, well, a truck doesn't catch fire
of its own accord.
Did you set fire to that
truck of mine, Morgan?
- Well, why? In God's name, why?
- Take it easy.
That truck was insured.
You'll get your money.
Or was there something in it you wanted?
I only wanted my equipment.
Just wonder what it was you wanted..?
Mr Bladen?
Oh, some other time.
What do you want?
- A lift to the top in that hoist of yours.
- What you gonna do?
Inspect your "Kingdom"?
Well, it is mine, you know?
Till you flood it.
And it seems that you control the
only way to get there.
That's right.
Would you mind giving me a lift to the top?
Now, look...
...I've had enough of Campbells.
I couldn't flood when the old man
was alive. He was a...
...sort of national figure.
But no one's going to stand by you.
You're nobody.
I talked with Morgan.
It was him set fire to that truck, I guess.
Well, of course it was.
I told you why, too.
Morgan.
You frightened of something?
What'd you say?
Frightened I might find something out?
- Such as?
- Well, I don't know yet.
But I could start with the truck
that caught fire.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Max!
That guy's going to cause some trouble
before he's through.
Here, take this up to the hoist.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Move!
[SLOW SINISTER MUSIC]
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
[DEATH MARCH MOTIF]
Said he'd been ill in England.
So I suppose what with that,
and the altitude up here.
Maybe we'd better let him sleep a while?
Jean, I'm worried.
I don't like you being here in Come Lucky.
- Well, I'm not going.
- Well, why not?
You saw what happened.
That, and my truck.
Morgan's going to get tough if
we start trying to push him.
I'm not leaving.
- Especially not now.
- Come on down to Calgary with me?
You know what I'm trying to say?
The answer's still no, Boy.
Always will be.
I, um...
...I think I must have passed out.
It must be the altitude. You know
we're 6000 feet up here?
- Takes a bit of getting used to.
- Yeah.
You saw what happened?
Yes, we both did.
Oh, this is Boy Bladen.
Yes, I know.
We've met before.
I suppose they were... just trying to...
warn me off.
No. It's all right, thank you.
I can manage on my own.
It's just that I've been, er... stuck
behind a desk a bit too long.
Um... you, er... you think that Morgan
set fire to your truck, don't you?
Mmm-hmm.
Why?
Oh, I don't know. I guess we...
just didn't get on.
I mean, the dam was at a standstill.
I was doing a survey...
Do you think there's any oil up there?
- Consultant's report says...
- Yeah, I know. I'm asking you your opinion.
- Well, the seismological survey is not conclusive.
- How does it work?
Well, it's simple enough. You...
...well, er... take one traverse.
Now, er... I drew a line of shot-holes
in the rock.
Then in each one I set off a charge.
Well, then the echo of the explosion rebounds
on the various rock strata.
Is picked up by the instruments...
...and the times recorded on tape
in thousandths of a second.
- The same principle as finding a submarine?
- Yeah.
Well, then with a small outfit like mine, I send
the recordings down to a mining consultant.
He plots the strata,
and then makes out his report.
So while you're actually recording you
can't be sure if you're right or wrong?
No... you can't be sure but...
But what?
Well, the last traverse I did...
...I could have sworn that I was running
slap up against an anticline...
...and that's, er... that's sort of like
a dome of rock strata.
"A Surveyor's Dream", you could call it.
Just the kind of formation in which
oil could be trapped.
And that's what you thought you'd got?
Well, like I said - you can't be sure.
Now, all these recordings went
down on the hoist?
- Yeah.
- All of them?
Mmm-hmm.
Er... could Morgan have substituted a batch
of recordings that he knew were no good?
Could you check on this?
No, you couldn't very well.
Wait a minute!
The last set.
I did another line of shots -
just to be sure.
Yeah! And I never completed them,
so I never sent them down.
So Morgan set fire to
your truck to be certain.
They weren't in my truck.
- What?
- They're in my grip. In Stuart Campbell's cabin.
Well, all we need then is the set of
recordings you sent down to Calgary...
...to compare with your recordings in the
grip in the "Kingdom".
- Yeah.
- And then we'd be sure?
Yeah - we'd know.
- Can you get them?
Well, you can't get up to the
"Kingdom" just yet, but...
...I'll leave for Calgary straight away.
[NOISE OF MACHINERY]
[NOISE OF ROCK DRILL]
I got your cement, Mr Morgan.
The contract says you deliver to the top.
Okay, but I ain't paying you ninety dollars
to use that hoist.
Then how do you figure
on getting it up there?
This is crazy!
I'm supplying the cement to you.
No, no, no, no.
You're supplying the cement
to the Fergus mines.
That means Henry Fergus.
I'm building a dam for Fergus.
And I charge you fifteen dollars
a truck for my hoist.
Okay?
Think it over.
[DRILLING NOISE CONTINUES]
Can't you read, Campbell?!
Come back in the spring, Campbell.
A few more weeks and then you can walk up.
[LAUGHTER]
[CONSTRUCTION NOISES]
[TWO KNOCKS ON THE DOOR]
Come in.
Bladen back yet?
No, the road to Calgary is flooded.
I doubt he could get through.
He's probably thought better of it
and run out on us.
He wouldn't do that.
Why not?
Sensible thing to do, if you ask me.
You know, it looks to me as if you're
the one who's running out.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Don't think I haven't wished I could.
Bruce.
You're a strange man.
Don't you realise? If you were to strike oil
up in the "Kingdom" you'd be worth a million?
But you don't care.
No.
If I go through with this crazy scheme,
it'll be for one reason only.
Because I can't get the thought
out of my mind of...
...that old fool dying up there, all alone...
...of a broken heart.
And that's the...
...the only reason.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I forgot you had a boyfriend.
I haven't got a boyfriend.
What are you doing in a
dump like this, anyway?
Bruce, what's the matter?
Waiting.
I can't stand waiting.
I wanted you to kiss me.
But not like that.
There's time.
There's not.
I've got six months. That's all.
Six months?
To live?
Do you think I'd normally pass out because some
halfwit tried to run me down with a truck?
There's a beautiful medical
phrase for what I've got.
I know it backwards.
The doctors in London drummed it into me.
I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you.
I'm glad you have.
[GENTLE MUSIC]
I came here to get away from people.
Dying alone seems to be a Campbell habit.
[KNOCK ON THE DOOR]
Come in.
[CROWD NOISE]
Just come in, Mr Campbell.
Thank you.
"Twenty thousand is my final offer."
"Notify acceptance,
or we settle by arbitration..."
"...after flooding."
"'Fergus."
They all know about this, Miss Jean.
If you don't agree, it's going to be trouble.
Who is it? Morgan?
All the men are here.
Afraid they'll lose their jobs.
Fine!
I feel just like seeing them now.
[CROWD NOISE]
Go ahead! Go ahead! ask him now!
Hey! You gonna sell? We wanna know now!
No - I'm not.
Listen, Campbell - you get out of this town.
We don't want any Campbells here!
You come one step nearer, Buster, and I'll knock
your teeth through the back of your head!
All right, Morgan...
...what about it?
Or don't you do your own dirty work?
We got a chance to earn a living. We don't
want you lousing it up like your grandpa did.
[CROWD AGREES]
Old man Campbell was the devil incarnate!
We were tempted.
We forgot the words of the Holy Book!
I tell you - the way of the wicked...
[CROWD SHOUTS HIM DOWN]
Hey! They say you got ideas about oil, too.
Oil! Hell, he ain't got no oil.
We want that dam!
And neither you, nor anybody else
is gonna stop us gettin' it.
Maybe you'll tell us once and
for all, Mr Campbell...
...do you mean to try
for oil in the "Kingdom"?
The "Kingdom" is my property,
until it's flooded...
...anything I choose to do up there
is entirely my affair.
No, it ain't!
We've heard all this before.
He'll try and stop us -
just like the old man did.
Don't you see? If we do find oil up there...
...it'll mean more money.
Far more than any dam could ever bring.
Aye, we've heard that one too.
Don't listen to him.
Hey, Morgan?
You ever seen these before?
Yeah... look like survey figures.
I seen plenty.
Yeah, that's what it is.
Report of a survey I did for "King" Campbell.
So?
So... these aren't my figures.
Mine gave a good chance of there
being oil up there.
These don't give any chance at all.
What's that got to do with me?
Well, my guess is that these
are your figures, Morgan.
Dirty, faked figures - taken off a dud
report and switched with mine.
Maybe you can prove that?
I think we can.
Yeah, maybe we will.
Maybe I'll show up a few other things
that's going on around here.
Like... like that dud cement you're
using up at the dam.
Let the government inspect the dam, Bladen.
Sure, but they can't tell if you're packing
it with rotten cement.
- Ah, he's crazy!
- Cut-price cement!
Salvaged off Queen Charlotte's Island,
after the shipwreck last fall.
If you can show me a crack in
that dam, I want to see it.
It hasn't got millions of tons of
water leaning on it... yet!
You'd better watch what you're
saying, Bladen.
If you did fake those reports...
...it means that you killed Stuart Campbell.
The old man died from heart failure.
Everybody knows that.
It means you killed him, as surely as if
you put a bullet through him!
Come on, let's get out of here.
I'm going to sort this out now, Morgan.
Once and for all.
[DOOR SLAMS SHUT; MEN BEGIN TALKING]
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
Morgan's right, of course.
Those figures from Calgary
don't prove anything.
'Til we compare 'em with my notes.
- And they're at the "Kingdom"?
- Yeah.
Any chance of getting them?
We'll have a darned good try.
Supposing Bladen had another set of
recordings, and they weren't in the truck?
You thought of that, too?
I sent Max up on his horse.
I told him to burn any paper, or any...
recordings he could find.
[ENGINE STARTING]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SCREECH OF BRAKES]
[MEN SINGING "MY DARLING CLEMENTINE"]
Well, it doesn't look like
there's a guard there.
Let's hope nobody sees us.
Could you work the hoist?
Yeah, I think so. It's only a diesel.
Well, come on, then.
[SINGING CONTINUES]
Now, one of us is going to have to stay
down here and work this thing.
Well, you're the one that knows how.
I'll go up. I can get your grip.
You don't know this place.
[MACHINERY CLANKING]
I mean, you can't go up there alone.
I know these mountains.
Bladen, that's my inheritance up there.
I've never even seen it.
[NOISE OF THE HOIST ENGINE]
Well, give us a ring when
you get up there. Okay?
Fine.
The notes and the tape are in my grip -
behind the door to the bedroom.
- It's black and got my name on it.
- Okay.
Here, you'd better take this.
[POUNDING HOOVES]
[CROWD NOISE]
[NOISE OF HOIST ENGINE]
[HOPEFUL MUSIC]
[MUSIC BUILDS]
[EXHILARATING, TRIUMPHANT MUSIC]
[WINDING UP TELEPHONE]
[WIND HOWLING]
Bladen?
I'm at the top.
Give you a call when I want to come down.
Right... and mind how you go.
Boy, stop him!
- What?
- Max is up there. Stop him!
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
Campbell?
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
He's gone.
Get the cage down.
It's too late to do anything about it now.
Well, somebody's got to do something
about it! Max is waiting for him.
Well, he can look after himself.
Look, Boy - he's a very sick man.
Look - get the cage down!
All right.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[NOISE OF HOIST ENGINE]
Look, Boy - I can't even drive a car,
let alone work this hoist.
You must let ME go.
I told you, already - if Max is up there,
I'm going. You're going to stay right here.
[WIND MOANING]
[HOWLING WOLF]
[HOIST ENGINE STARTS UP]
Fine thing if it happened with the both
of you up there.
We'll have to take a chance on that.
I'm still going.
Look, Boy - I couldn't even move that wheel.
Well, could I?!
It took all your strength.
Well, all right. But... be careful.
Okay.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SPLASHING]
I didn't mean nothing by
it, Mr Campbell - honest!
Seeing ghosts, Max?
- What are you doing up here?
- I was about to ask you the same question.
How did you get up here?
By the trail?
Yeah... yeah, the trail.
Who sent you? Morgan?
No... nobody sent me. I was...
You'd better think again, Max.
You... you, you won't tell him
I said so, will you?
I won't tell him.
He sent you up here to destroy
those reports, didn't he?
Has he got the real one?
Yeah... but...
...you promise... you won't tell him
I said so, will you?
I won't tell him. I promise.
Max!
Morgan told you to drive that truck
at me, didn't he?
Do you always do what he tells you?
Yeah.
Even if it means killing someone?
- I didn't kill no one.
- You nearly killed me in that truck.
- And that phoney report killed Stuart Campbell.
- I didn't kill him!
I didn't kill Danny, I didn't kill...
Danny who?
Who, Max?
I didn't kill him, honest.
I... I only meant to hurt him a little bit.
Him and...
...two other boys - they tied me to a bull
for a gag and...
...and I was hurting...
I wanted to hurt him back, but...
...oh, I don't know..!
He was... he was older'n I was.
You... you ask Mr Morgan. You just ask!
You, you... you just ask Mr Morgan.
[CRYING]
All right, Max. You'd better go.
You... you won't tell Mr
Morgan I told you, will you?
No, I won't tell him.
You'd better get going. Go on.
[GALLOPING HOOFBEATS]
What are you doing here?
Max!
I had to warn you.
I heard them talking at the hotel.
I knew he was coming - I thought
you might get hurt.
I'm all right. He didn't hurt me.
He just tried to burn the report, that's all.
Forget the report. Forget the oil!
That didn't sound very like you.
Your life is more important than ALL the oil.
I've got six months.
If I can beat Morgan in that time,
I'll consider my life well spent.
You expect me to stand by and
watch you kill yourself?
It's nothing to do with you.
I've told you that before.
I'm alone, and I'm staying alone.
Do you get it?
[HOIST ENGINE]
[HOIST BANGING OPEN]
Seems you gotta lock up
your property around here.
I could prosecute you for trespass.
I wouldn't do that if I were you.
I've got some rather useful evidence here.
I want this place guarded from now on.
Two armed men, day and night.
You go with Boy.
Please, Bruce - you've done enough.
She's going in the jeep with you. Go on.
- Bruce, be sensible.
- Go on.
[TRUCK ENGINE STARTING]
Come on.
[LOUD DRAMATIC MUSIC]
That was... that was Fergus. Wasn't it?
Yeah. Ten million dollars'
worth of Henry Fergus.
- What do you think he's doing?
- Your guess is as good as mine.
Ah. Mr Campbell.
Yes?
- I'm Henry Fergus. Did you get my telegram?
- Yes.
- You didn't reply.
- Well, there's no point.
I'm doubling the compensation offer
for your bit of land.
Are you now?
I can't waste any more time.
I agree with you, Mr Fergus.
- I'm tired of wasting time, too.
- Good.
I need that dam.
The price of electricity has rocketed.
And... I must have my own source of
power for the... Fergus mines.
Not to mention my new project in this town.
Twenty thousand dollars is a nice sum of
money, Mr Campbell.
It's a nice piece of land.
It's useless and you know it.
I'm not selling.
Somebody has evidently underestimated you.
Fifty thousand dollars.
I need that dam.
It's a lot of money.
Time is money.
I want that dam finished quickly, and without
any more interference from you.
Well, I don't want your money, Mr Fergus.
And I intend to interfere, as you call it,
to the utmost of my ability.
Because I believe there IS oil up there.
I believe you faked those reports, and
those reports killed an innocent man.
You'll end up in a law court.
Yeah, I hope I do.
With you in the dock.
I should remember if I were you, that your
grandfather served a sentence in jail.
And that won't help you any.
That man with Bladen - do you know him?
Yeah.
He's an oil rig operator.
His name is MacDonald...
...and he's here to drill me an oil well...
...in the "Kingdom".
You can't fight me, Campbell.
I can't fight Fergus.
He's going to own this town.
It'll be more than my business is worth,
to let you stay here now.
You mean, uh...
...you want me to move out?
- I'm sorry, son.
- That's all right.
Your grandfather used to
enjoy my beefsteak pie.
Ah, it's a great pleasure having a
Campbell staying in the house again.
Well, I just hope I won't be too much
trouble, that's all.
Of course you won't, dear boy.
I'll go and get the coffee.
[DOOR SHUTTING]
[WHISPERING]
Mr Campbell. While Abigail's away...
...and before the others arrive, I want
to show you something.
Gold!
My father made it out of the Come Lucky mine.
This was my share.
- You mean he left it to you, just like that?
- Oh yes. [SHE CHUCKLES]
He didn't believe in banks.
Of course, there was more, but...
...we've had to live.
Why are you showing me this?
Because if ever you need money,
I want you to ask me.
Miss Ruth, I couldn't possibly ask you.
But there's plenty there!
Please, Mr Campbell.
- Yes, but...
- I had a great friend, once.
I loved him very dearly.
He was married.
Quite happily.
He never had any money.
And he wouldn't take it from me.
He would have wished me to help you.
It was my grandfather, wasn't it?
Yes.
Are these the figures you
brought from Calgary?
Yeah.
And these are your figures?
Yes - made on the spot, last year.
Then you're right.
Somebody did change them.
Sure, but there's not enough to prove
anything there. I mean...
...I, I'd have to do another survey.
That would take weeks.
We haven't got the time.
Do you know anything about drilling?
Who, me? No - nothing at all.
I was stuck behind a desk in a cable company.
It's a pity you're a Campbell.
It's a name I'm not over-fond of.
I've never met a Scotsman who
refused a fortune.
Now see here, Mr Campbell.
I came out here twenty years ago
from South Uist...
...and I've worked all that time
as a roughneck driller...
...to save enough to buy my own rig.
What's in this for me?
- Twenty-five percent if we strike.
- And if we don't?
Nothing.
Make it thirty-three and a third.
Done!
You're being just a bit hasty.
Well, I've nothing else to offer you -
and... I've no capital.
That goes for me too.
I could work about six weeks in the clear.
But if we didn't strike oil then...
...and six weeks only means a few thousand
feet of drilling.
All right, Campbell.
I'll do it.
But, there's just one thing.
My rig needs five trucks, and if
Morgan's not going to let us...
I'll get your stuff up to the "Kingdom",
don't you worry about that.
But I'm not a Campbell.
I'll not go against the Government.
But the Government built
that road up to the dam.
Morgan improved it, but he doesn't own it.
He's breaking the law by
using those road blocks.
- Still his hoist, all the same.
- But he can't complain legally if we use it.
He's got too much to lose.
- But you can't use it, either.
- I've been looking at it.
I think we can.
Once.
Now then... problem.
How to get the trucks with the drilling rig up
to the "Kingdom", without Morgan stopping them.
You tell us.
Well, remember it'll be dawn.
And our first problem
is that roadblock there.
There's only one guard.
We've got to get him out of the way,
long enough to get the trucks through.
He's still going to give the alarm sometime.
And no bloodshed.
We don't want to start another Clan war.
There won't be a Clan war, Mac.
And it doesn't matter if
he does give the alarm.
Do you see that er...
rocky overhang down there?
Uh-huh.
Well, that's going to fall
right across the road...
...just after our trucks have gone through.
Well, you've still got about forty of Morgan's
men up there at the construction camp.
Yeah.
Thirty-eight with the foreman, Butler.
And he'd murder his mother in her sleep.
But supposing there was a landslide
down on the road, by the road block?
Wouldn't it be perfectly normal for Morgan
to send those men down to help clear it?
- You could always ask him.
- Yes, I could.
I think I can sound sufficiently like
Morgan on the field telephone
This man doesn't want to live!
All right, so you pull it off. Maybe.
Butler takes his men down to clear the
fall at the road block and...
...we arrive at the hoist with Mac's trucks.
Well, supposing somebody gives the
alarm then? I mean, uh...
...back comes Morgan with his boys and...
...who digs our graves?
He won't come back.
Do you see that little bridge?
Right down there?
Doesn't look awfully strong to me.
If it collapsed...
Morgan's men would be cut off.
I don't like this at all.
Look, if you don't want to help me
I'll find somebody who will.
It's a hell of a risk.
Doesn't seem much of a risk.
Not for a third share in an oil field.
All right, boys.
I still can't understand why you want
your name covered up, Mr MacDonald.
Mind your business.
How long will it take us to Come Lucky?
Five hours, maybe less.
Better make it five exactly.
We're due at the crossroads at first light.
Four o'clock on the dot.
What is this? A military operation?
- Just so.
- Well, that lets me out - I'm unfit.
Away and drive your truck.
Yes, Mr MacDonald.
- How's it going?
- Fine. That's the last charge.
Well, that ought to rattle a few windows.
Well, if you're going you'd better get going.
Yeah.
Don't get yourself lost on the pony trail.
Don't worry, I won't.
And when the trucks arrive -
see they get moving fast, will you?
You just see they get there.
They'll get there, all right.
Got much more to do?
No. Just got to hide the wire, that's all.
All right. Good luck.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Only averaging twenty.
Better step on it a bit.
Two minutes to go.
That's the road block.
Get into position where you can
see the guard and the hut.
4:30- he'll get my telephone call.
He should start walking along
towards the overhang.
And if he doesn't, I have to
come back here and warn you.
That's right.
But follow him 'til he
gets onto the shortcut.
I MUST know when he's on the shortcut.
Then you can go straight home.
- But, I...
- Just hope MacDonald's not late.
Right it's time,
now - you'd better clear off.
- Good luck.
- Mm?
Uh, go on.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
Road block, okay.
- Morgan here.
- Yes, Mr Morgan.
That last truck that went through.
Just reported a fall,
down by the lower bridge.
Get down and check it.
Be quicker to send a truck down
from the top, Mr Morgan.
You're the nearest - get moving. At once.
- Yes, Mr Morgan.
- And use the shortcut.
[TENSE MUSIC]
You're a minute late.
Ha, ha! What about the
guard at the road block?
He must've gone, I haven't heard from
Jean. Come on, make it snappy.
I'm taking your last truck from here.
About half a mile down the road,
there's a fallen tree - on the left.
Follow the track up to an
old quarry and wait for me.
- All right?
- All right.
Hey! Cliff.
[ENERGETIC MUSIC]
Wait here five minutes for me, will you?
Hey, mister - what's goin' on around here?
- Take too long to tell you.
- Hey, mister?
You're not doin' anything illegal, are you?
- Illegal?
- Okay, okay.
Just don't wanna get mixed up
in anything, that's all.
[ROAR OF BLAST]
- Here.
- You do that?
Act of God.
Hey, I don't like this!
You'd better... you're stuck with it.
Can't get out now.
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
Construction camp.
- Butler?
- Speaking. This Mr Morgan?
- Listen, I...
- The line's not too good.
There's been a fall, down by the road block.
Get every man available to clear it.
- Yes, but...
- Every man, I said.
And take the guard off the hoist.
Nobody can use it, with the road
the state it's in now.
And if I get there before you,
God help you.
Right away, Mr Morgan.
God help him anyway. Poor clod.
Look, does Mr MacDonald know about this?
He will.
Come on.
I don't take orders from you.
I work for Mr MacDonald.
Fine.
Just you stay here and explain to Mr Morgan.
Morgan! I'll come with you.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Oh, no! Not dames!
Dames is unlucky.
- I thought I told you to go home?
- Oh, shut up and move over.
You'd better sit in the middle.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
That landslide of yours
certainly made enough din.
Yeah, it worked better than I thought.
He dynamited it, Mr MacDonald!
- Did he?
- Yeah.
Well, we might make it after all.
You shouldn't have let her come.
You're playing it tougher than I thought.
- You try and stop her, that's all.
- Look!
You've got to be practical about this.
- You're going to need a cook up there.
- Cook?!
How long are we stayin'?
Here they come.
[TRUCK ENGINES]
Getting to the rockfall now.
Do you think that's all the men
Morgan had at the top?
I hope so.
When we blow the bridge they'll be cut off.
There won't be anyone to stop us.
We'd better get down to the bridge,
before they know I used dynamite.
[BRISK, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[ROAR OF RAPIDS]
[TENSE MUSIC BUILDS]
It's all right. You can get up now.
You can get ten years for doin'
this - you know that?
D'you know, I don't think they'd give
me more than six months.
D'you wanna make a bet?
Anything you like.
[BRISK, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I hope you can work this infernal machine.
Well, we'll have a jolly good...
Damn! They haven't all gone down.
Better leave this to me.
They'll recognise you.
Special equipment. Got to be up
top by seven o'clock.
- Says who?
- Morgan! Who'd you think?
News to me.
Got a pass?
Morgan hasn't got time to waste with passes.
The road's blocked good and solid.
Ring down and get an okay, Joe.
I wouldn't waste your time if you
want to keep your job.
This lot's costing Morgan
a thousand bucks a day.
[TYRES SCREECH]
I got down as soon as you phoned, Mr Morgan.
I didn't phone!
No answer, Pete.
What do you expect, with half a
mountain sitting on the line.
All right, you'd better give us a hand
with loading the trucks.
Take them away, boys.
[TRUCK ENGINES START UP]
Better give them a hand, I guess.
Hey, this ain't a landslide!
It's been dynamited.
The hoist!
You told me to bring all the men
down and start clearing.
Shut up and get the road clear!
[SOUND OF DIGGING]
[HOIST ENGINE STARTS UP]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Hello, Mac?
Come on, snap it up, for Pete's sake.
This is gonna take all day.
Yes, Boy - we lost ten minutes starting
the engine of the hoist.
What..? Oh!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Yeah, the fourth one's just
coming into sight now.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Come on, Creasy.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Come on, Creasy!
Stop the hoist!
Stop the hoist.
- But, Mr Morgan, there...
- I said stop the hoist!
There's a truck halfway up.
[HOWLS IN RAGE]
- Stop the motor.
- What, Mr Morgan?
[ANIMATED TALKING AND LAUGHTER]
Now, bring her down.
What the hell!
Tim!
[ENGINE REVVING]
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
- You all right?
- Yes, fine.
Well, Morgan can't complain.
He's got his hoist back. [LAUGHS]
Right, let's get drilling.
[POUNDING, INDUSTRIAL MUSIC]
[SOUND OF DRILLING]
Have they started yet?
Yep. The drill's working.
- Well, how's it going?
- Come and take a look.
What are we making?
About eight foot an hour.
- That's good.
- Good if it lasts.
[CLANKING AND BANGING]
That's two hundred a day.
Five thousand will take what, four weeks?
Well, you say four weeks.
I prefer to say nothing at all.
It's tempting Providence.
Four weeks.
Four weeks! You said a fortnight at the most.
Sluice number five's got to be
re-set, in any case.
That's true enough.
Now, look - I've got a contract!
Now look, I want this dam finished
and working within two weeks.
Or I'll see you don't get another
job this side of Calgary.
[SOUNDS OF CONSTRUCTION]
- Tell them supper's ready will you, Boy?
- Okay, Jean.
Well, it looks all right to me.
There you are.
Well, come on - don't just stand there
letting it get cold.
We'd better go. C'mon.
She's a great girl.
Does she know you think so?
Yeah, she knows all right, but...
...no use.
You've asked her?
Sure I have.
Too many times.
And no go?
That's right.
Eight feet an hour, huh?
Sure is sweet music.
I hope we're right.
Sure we're right. Don't you worry.
[SOUND OF DRILLING]
Interesting?
Don't do that!
Chow's ready.
Steak again?
What's wrong with steak, for Pete's sake?
I happen to be on an egg and milk diet.
It's a nice noise.
Yes.
Jean?
Bladen and MacDonald get
a percentage out of this.
But you don't get anything, do you?
So what?
Well, I was thinking that...
...if we do strike oil...
...I'd like you to have a share.
No.
What do you mean, "no"?
I've had my share already.
What on earth are you talking about?
You remember you asked me once,
what I was doing in Come Lucky?
Yes.
Well, there is a reason.
I was... trying to make
up for what my father did.
Your father?
Yes... he was Stuart Campbell's partner.
Oh.
He got away with the money and
your grandfather went to jail.
Oh, I'm not defending him - I can't.
- But, Jean - it was a long time ago.
- No, please let me say it.
All those years in England, at school.
And afterwards, having a whale of a time.
It was all being paid for
by the people of Come Lucky.
Every cent.
And that's why you're here?
Yes.
I thought maybe I could
repay the debt in some way.
I wanted to do something.
When you came I saw my chance.
I wanted to help you.
You have.
Not unless we bring in an oil well.
Otherwise, I've just been
wasting precious time.
There must be oil.
There's just got to be.
It doesn't make any difference, you know?
What you've just told me.
I still want you to have a share.
No, Bruce.
I... I shan't need the money.
And I've no family to leave it to.
I haven't any right to your money.
You could've had, you know?
If things had been different.
No, don't... don't look round.
You know what I want to say, but...
...I mustn't.
There's no future for us.
[STONE SPLASHES]
Oh, Bruce, I don't care about the future.
You're here now, aren't you?
Aren't you?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Hey! Who's there?
Hey! What're you doing with that truck?
Okay, let's go!
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
[FIRE ROARING AND CRACKLING]
Bladen!
You all right?
After them!
Sorry, I couldn't stop them.
It's all right. They'd have got the rig
if it hadn't been for you.
It's all my fault.
I started the rough stuff.
Don't worry about me, I'm insured.
But we can't drill without fuel.
- The one tank is still all right.
- Surely, but it's nearly empty.
There's enough for four days, and then...
- How much do you want?
- A thousand gallons.
And you'll be shot dead if you try
and use the hoist again.
- There's always the pony trail.
- Yes.
One pony'll carry twenty
gallons, if you're lucky.
You'll need a heck of a lot of ponies.
And two thousand dollars.
- Have you got two thousand dollars?
- I haven't got two hundred.
Morgan will see you can't borrow it
from anyone around here.
Borrow it!
- Bladen?
- Mm-hmm?
Could you get the ponies and the diesel?
Sure, that's easy enough, but...
Well, I'll get the money.
I'm sorry to come so late, but I
didn't want to be seen.
I think I know why you've come.
I didn't want to, but under the circumstances
there was nothing else I could do.
When one is old and useless, you've no idea
the pleasure it gives to be able to help.
How much do you want?
- Two thousand dollars.
- Fine, I'll get it for you.
Get what?
You mind your own business, Abigail dear.
Who said it couldn't be done?
What's the matter with you?
I was just thinking,
this is rather heavy work.
Too heavy for a dying man, do you mean?
Yes... that's what I mean.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
[SOUND OF CONSTRUCTION]
Hey! Mr Creasy.
- I think we got away with that one, Boy.
- I hope nobody saw us.
Morgan?
[DRILLING NOISE]
They're getting fuel up on ponies.
Yeah.
What?! Do nothin'?
Forget it.
Yeah, okay.
We broke five drills.
I tell you, that rock's like granite.
Does that mean you're giving up?
Nobody ever struck oil
through rock like that.
Then you'll be the first.
Now, wait a minute.
My boys are working for
nothing, don't forget.
We WERE working for nothing.
Guess we've had enough.
That's the way it is.
They reckon they can make steady
money somewhere else.
You mean you're backing out NOW?
Now listen, Jean. It's not as if they
were being paid anything.
This was a gamble.
It still is. A gamble's a gamble 'til
you've either won or lost.
- You can't give up half way.
- Hey!
Hey! Look!
We got visitors.
Morgan, isn't it?
Yeah, quite a delegation.
You feel a bit more like
giving up now, Campbell?
No.
That's too bad.
This guy's a solicitor, Campbell.
He's here to witness that I'm serving notice
on you, from the Fergus Mining Corporation.
That under the provisions of the
Provincial Government Act of 1939...
...flooding of this area
can be expected any time...
...after the eighteenth of June.
That's exactly five days from now.
- Okay?
- I'm sorry fellas, but there it is.
What're you doing with this thing?
About, er... six inches a day?
[LAUGHTER]
You pull out now, MacDonald, you may
get another job in these parts.
Carry on working and I'll see to it personally that
you don't get another job this side of the Rockies.
The eighteenth of June, Campbell!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
No, honey - he's better left alone.
Poor devil. He's taking it pretty hard.
Well, can you wonder?
What you don't know, any of you is...
...is he's only got a
few more months to live.
It's not going to help
him if we DO strike oil.
He doesn't stand to gain
anything out of this, anyway.
He'd never forgive me
if he knew I'd told you.
Just thought you ought to know what sort
of a man it is you're walking out on.
Bruce Campbell's got more guts than the
lot of you put together!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[ROAR OF MACHINERY]
You've started drilling again.
Of course we have.
You've been asleep for eight hours.
What made you change your mind?
Oh, we thought that even if you were a
Campbell, we might as well help you out.
Hey, we're through that block.
It's ten feet an hour now.
Ten!
- Where are my boots?
- There!
Wait for me!
Eight feet in half an hour!
Sounds different.
It's bearing through, that's why.
Through? You mean we...
Don't say it!
Don't say a damn thing!
- We've struck!
- Oil!?
Gas, at any rate.
Get moving off the platform, everyone.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[ROAR OF FLAMES]
Creasy! Creasy!
Creasy! Creasy!
They've struck. Close the sluices.
- But you can't flood oil.
- I know what I'm doing. Close the sluices!
Get moving!
I'll ride down tomorrow and
telephone the news to Calgary.
Hadn't someone better tell Morgan?
He won't need telling.
See it twenty miles away.
Besides, he's not due to
flood for another four days.
[BAGPIPES AND LAUGHTER]
Oh, that's no good at all.
No use outside Glasgow, anyhow.
I'll have to teach you reels, yet.
[LAUGHTER]
I want you to take a toast.
I was going to say "to Bruce Campbell".
But I think this is rather a family affair.
So let's make it to "the two Campbells".
Past and present.
Here, here!
[TOASTING]
Good luck
Bruce!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Bladen!
They've flooded.
What?
He can't flood oil!
He can't, but he has.
Better save what you can.
We'll be under water by morning.
You'd better start packing up.
This is going to take all night.
The trucks! Get those trucks!
Morgan'll pay for this.
We can't prove a thing.
The way the drill's all bent.
He'll say we faked it.
Oh, we'd never get 'em to
drain the dam, anyway.
Wait till I lay my hands on him.
Come on! Come on!
Come on you guys, get working.
Come on, come on. Come on boys,
get it on now. Come on.
[SOUND OF CONSTRUCTION]
- Where's Morgan?
- Down below, with the men.
You want something, Campbell?
Do you realise you flooded oil?
If you mean that little bonfire you lit
last night, it didn't fool us.
They flooded four days early.
We've got the law on our side.
Let's leave it that way.
[ALARM BELL]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
It suddenly went! Just like that!
Better get out of here. Quick!
What's happened?
The whole thing could go any minute.
Better get down and warn the men.
Not me!
But you've got to go down there!
They haven't got a chance.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I told you about that dud cement!
They can't hear the alarm bell down there.
Hey!
Take me down!
[MUSIC BUILDS IN INTENSITY]
Don't! You'll never make it!
No. Come on - the horse.
Take us down. Come on.
Get her down quick!
Get out the way! Look out!
Get out of the way!
Get out of the way!
Get out of the way, the dam's breaking!
Get out of the way!
Hey!
Get out the way!
Get out of the way - the dam's breaking!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Get out the way! Hey!
Hey!
Get out of the way! Run for it!
Get out of the way, the dam's
breaking! Morgan!
Morgan!
[SOUND OF DAM BURSTING]
Morgan!
Morgan!
It's breaking up!
[SOUND OF DAM BURSTING]
- What you trying to do?
- The dam's breaking up!
- Get back!
- Make for the high ground!
[THUNDEROUS ROAR]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Right, I think we'll have
the blood sample now, nurse.
Yes, Doctor.
Just a routine check-up.
You can't kid me, Doctor.
I know what the result's going to be,
right from the start.
I had all this out with my doctors in London.
They gave me six months at the outside.
I've been hearing a bit about you.
For a man with a progressively
weakening disease...
...you've been leading a surprisingly
active life lately.
It's the air, up in the mountains.
Maybe, but I wouldn't say that...
...altitude or mountain air would make
all that change to the body chemistry.
You may as well be told...
...that this is only a check
sample we are taking now.
I took one earlier.
And there was no sign of any trouble.
You know I'm all right?
Yes.
I didn't think I had very much time.
All I wanted to do was to strike oil.
Hi!
I brought the mail.
I, er...
...I think this is the one you're gonna
be most interested in.
Oh, I, er, ran into Miss Ruth down
in Come Lucky, and told her what you said.
Now the drill's working again...
...it won't be long before they start collecting a
few dividends on the two thousand they lent you.
Oh, I, er...
...told her about your
other bit of good news, too.
It's from the consultant in Ottawa.
It agrees with the hospital report.
It looks like you got her
under false pretences.
Huh.
If you hadn't have broken your arm...
...they'd never have x-rayed you...
...we might never have known.
No.
Well, I guess you'll be able to...
...stick around and collect some of
those millions now, huh?
Yeah.
[DRAMATIC END THEME]
[OPENING THEME]
There you are...
..."Campbell's Kingdom".
[THEME CONTINUES]
What about this guy they
call "King" Campbell?
Is he nuts like they say?
Nuts?
No, I guess the only thing old
Stuart Campbell's nuts about is oil.
Devil of it is, there's no oil here.
I know.
I did the survey for him.
That's my truck up there. I had to leave it
when the snows came early.
- And there isn't any oil?
- Nope.
Not even enough to slick your
hair down with.
That's what the consultant's report
says, anyway.
Came in last week.
That the dam you were telling me about?
Yeah. The Fergus mine started about,
uh... oh, three years back.
Old Campbell stopped 'em. Gotta
injunction, or something.
- On account of the oil?
- Yeah.
They can't go drowning potential oil fields.
[DOG BARKING AND WHINING]
Campbell!
[DOG WHINING]
Hey, Campbell!
Looks like there's something wrong.
Campbell?
[DOG YELPING]
[SINISTER MUSIC]
[CROWD NOISES]
Who found him?
- Is it true?
- Sure!
Boy Bladen found him.
It's true, Mr Morgan.
There was this American - went
up there with him.
Campbell's dead, all right.
So he's dead.
I guess we can go ahead now!
Are we gonna finish the dam, Mr Morgan?
- Will you give me my old job back, Mr Morgan?
- Sure I will.
We were in the clear anyway, after that
survey, but now - nothing can stop us!
You guys report to the office
in the morning, okay?
[SHOUTING AND BANGING]
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
[CAR HORN HOOTS]
Come on!
Come on you guys. Back to work!
[UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES]
[NOISE OF DRILLING AND WORK]
Hey! You're here!
Hey!
You had me scared for a minute.
I thought you were dead.
- Is this Come Lucky?
- Come Lucky?
End of the World. Back of Beyond.
Call it what you like.
Well, thanks for the lift.
You'll find a room over there -
of a kind.
- Thanks.
- Good luck.
Wait there, will you?
Sure, okay.
[MEN CHATTING]
Reg.
[BAR NOISES]
[DING!]
Aye?
I'd like a room for the night -
if you have one, please?
A room?
I'm not too sure. You'll have to talk
to Jean about that.
- Since my wife died you see, she...
- Just for a night or two, that's all.
Oh! Oh, well, I think she can
manage that. Jean!
Just... sign the book, will you, please?
Good evening.
"Campbell."
Here... you'll be no relation to Stuart Campbell?
The man we used to call "King" Campbell?
Yes. I'm his grandson.
- Jean, just fix up Mr Campbell.
- Yes, I will.
- Will you come this way, please?
- I'll take that. Thank you.
Hey, what brings you to Come Lucky?
If it ain't a rude question?
Time enough for the questions, Ben.
It's a hard road into Come Lucky.
- You'll be tired, eh, son?
- Yes, a bit.
Interested in some land around here?
I don't know what it's got to do with you.
If you're talking about "Campbell's
Kingdom", yes I am.
Why shouldn't I be?
It's my property.
The "Kingdom"? Your property?
Yes.
Owen Morgan.
How do you do?
We don't want any more Campbells
in this valley! Why...
How about a drink?
There are one or two things I
think you ought to know.
All right.
This is Ben Creasy, my partner.
[LOW GRUMBLING FROM DRINKERS]
Didn't your lawyers in England tell you about
the hydro-electric plant, Mr Campbell?
They, er... they said someone named
Fergus wanted to buy the property.
Yeah, that's right. I work for Henry Fergus.
I'm building a dam up there
for the Fergus mines.
Take a seat.
I guess you've come a long way
for nothing, Mr Campbell.
In a couple of months, the
dam will be finished...
...and there won't be
any "Kingdom" after that.
It'll be a lake.
You... you mean you're flooding it?
Yeah. That's right.
Oh..!
But it's not your property.
I haven't agreed to sell.
Whether you agree or not
makes no difference.
I guess you've been hearing
stories about... some oil, huh?
- Um... my grandfather was convinced there was oil.
- He was wrong.
There is no oil.
So we got the injunction lifted.
That's right.
We had to wait for the survey report...
...but the figures showed once and for all...
...there's no oil anywhere near
Campbell's "Kingdom".
And that was from one of the best
mining consultants in Calgary.
That's right.
So there's nothing to stop us now.
I'm afraid there's nothing you
can do about it.
Erm...
...you... you have Government
permission to flood?
That's right.
Oh, don't take it too hard.
The land's useless.
There's a nice bit of compensation
coming your way.
Ten thousand dollars, they said.
What did you want with the
"Kingdom" anyway, Mr Campbell?
I... I thought I might live up there.
Live up there?
- He did.
- Yeah - because he had to!
He didn't dare stay down here with
the people he'd swindled!
You think he was crooked too?
I know darn well he was!
You ask any of the guys.
Okay, man - take it easy.
But you didn't hate him as much as I did.
He harmed me much more than
he ever harmed you.
Well, you know, when you're... thirteen
or fourteen. It doesn't help.
Growing up with everyone knowing that
your grandfather was in jail for fraud.
But I know better now.
He wasn't crooked.
And... he believed in something.
Yeah! In oil!
[LAUGHTER]
Supposing he was right?
Mr Campbell? Your room is ready now.
Thank you. Will you excuse me?
I think you'll find that we are
right, Mr Campbell.
- Anyway, take a rest. You look tired.
- Thanks, I will.
What did he come all the way
from England for?
You heard him.
He's gonna live up there.
In here.
You, er... felt the atmosphere downstairs?
Yes.
Your grandfather stood in the
way of the dam.
I think they're afraid you
might do the same.
Ah!
I gather I couldn't, even if I wanted to?
That dam means work for them all.
A sawmill in the town. Factories, maybe.
Come Lucky wasn't always like this, you know.
Fifty years ago it was a boom town.
Gold.
Then the mine ran dry.
Just like that.
So, you see...
...your grandfather's promise of oil up in
the "Kingdom" looked like it might save them.
Everyone put money into his company.
Some put all they had.
He didn't swindle them.
Don't they realise that?
He started the company.
And when it crashed, he went to jail.
His partner got away with all the money.
Yeah.
Yes, I know.
But they don't care about that.
They just say they... trusted Campbell
with every dollar they had.
It nearly broke his heart.
Did you know him very well?
Oh, yes.
I've known him all my life.
When I left school in England, I came to
live next door with my aunts.
They were the only friends he had.
Then I moved in here to help Mac
out when his wife died.
You're Jean Lucas, aren't you?
He told me all about you in this.
And about the oil.
And his hopes.
And his despair.
It broke his heart, alright.
The first and only word
I ever heard from him.
Then the cable from the lawyer to
tell me he was dead and...
...the "Kingdom" was mine.
- So that's why you came?
- Hmm?
Yes.
I hadn't been too well.
The doctors thought a
change might do me good.
You need a rest.
Tomorrow we'll go and fetch
your grandfather's things.
My aunts have them.
Well, good night.
Good night.
[DOOR SHUTTING]
This is all there was.
You see, he hadn't many possessions.
Possessions don't make the man, Mr Campbell.
No, no. Of course not.
I brought them down from the
"Kingdom" when he died.
I knew he wanted you to have them.
There wasn't much.
His diaries, signet ring, watch.
Abigail! You didn't open it?
Ruth! As if I would.
You told me!
But I didn't know myself.
Well, somebody told me.
I never approved of this project
about the dam...
...and the riff-raff that Morgan's got
in to work on it.
It's not safe to set foot outside the house.
I think you'd be safe, Abigail.
A letter, Mr Campbell?
Well, if it's not too private we
should be interested to hear it.
- Abigail!
- Oh, don't be such a hypocrite!
Ruth, you know you're just as
curious as I am.
I think perhaps you... you ought to hear it.
It's dated "The Kingdom, 20th October".
"Dear Bruce, when you read this
the Kingdom will be yours."
"I'm old and tired."
"I no longer have the
energy or the desire..."
"...to fight for my beliefs."
"Today I received the report on
Bladen's survey."
"It would seem to prove that all my work,
and all my hopes have been in vain."
Poor Stuart.
Pray continue, Mr Campbell.
"All I am sure of is that..."
"...after the big landslide of 1926,
I saw oil seeping from the rock."
"I do not know what sort of a man you are."
"But, I beg of you before God,
somehow to find the money..."
"...and to test my beliefs
for the last time."
"Using the only certain method: drilling."
"Do this before they finish the dam..."
"...and before the Kingdom
is flooded forever."
"Do this also for our good name..."
"...because whatever others say,
I believed in what I did."
"And because, throughout my long life..."
"...I've never cheated any man..."
"...of what was rightfully his."
"May God bless you in your endeavours."
"Stuart Campbell."
Who, er, who was this man "Bladen"?
Does he know his job?
He's the best surveyor this
town will ever see.
If he did a reliable survey, that means
there's no oil in the "Kingdom".
Look. I've been thinking.
Owen Morgan runs this town.
Supposing he got at Boy Bladen's figures...
...before they went down to
Calgary for analysis?
- And changed them?
- Why not?
This dam means a fortune to him.
Where is Bladen?
- He's due in here tomorrow.
- Have you told him what you think?
Well, no. I wasn't sure enough.
But now, with that letter...
What will you do, Mr Campbell?
I don't think I've got much choice, do you?
[STOIC MUSIC]
Do you know where I'll find Morgan?
In there. You'd better stay out, mister.
He's good and mad!
You looking for work?
No. I want to get to the top of the dam.
You'll have to ask him. He's got Boy
Bladen in there, just now.
Now look, I've a damn good
mind to take you to court!
Yeah?
I work for Henry Fergus.
You're going to take him to court too?
Yeah, well, a truck doesn't catch fire
of its own accord.
Did you set fire to that
truck of mine, Morgan?
- Well, why? In God's name, why?
- Take it easy.
That truck was insured.
You'll get your money.
Or was there something in it you wanted?
I only wanted my equipment.
Just wonder what it was you wanted..?
Mr Bladen?
Oh, some other time.
What do you want?
- A lift to the top in that hoist of yours.
- What you gonna do?
Inspect your "Kingdom"?
Well, it is mine, you know?
Till you flood it.
And it seems that you control the
only way to get there.
That's right.
Would you mind giving me a lift to the top?
Now, look...
...I've had enough of Campbells.
I couldn't flood when the old man
was alive. He was a...
...sort of national figure.
But no one's going to stand by you.
You're nobody.
I talked with Morgan.
It was him set fire to that truck, I guess.
Well, of course it was.
I told you why, too.
Morgan.
You frightened of something?
What'd you say?
Frightened I might find something out?
- Such as?
- Well, I don't know yet.
But I could start with the truck
that caught fire.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Max!
That guy's going to cause some trouble
before he's through.
Here, take this up to the hoist.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Move!
[SLOW SINISTER MUSIC]
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
[DEATH MARCH MOTIF]
Said he'd been ill in England.
So I suppose what with that,
and the altitude up here.
Maybe we'd better let him sleep a while?
Jean, I'm worried.
I don't like you being here in Come Lucky.
- Well, I'm not going.
- Well, why not?
You saw what happened.
That, and my truck.
Morgan's going to get tough if
we start trying to push him.
I'm not leaving.
- Especially not now.
- Come on down to Calgary with me?
You know what I'm trying to say?
The answer's still no, Boy.
Always will be.
I, um...
...I think I must have passed out.
It must be the altitude. You know
we're 6000 feet up here?
- Takes a bit of getting used to.
- Yeah.
You saw what happened?
Yes, we both did.
Oh, this is Boy Bladen.
Yes, I know.
We've met before.
I suppose they were... just trying to...
warn me off.
No. It's all right, thank you.
I can manage on my own.
It's just that I've been, er... stuck
behind a desk a bit too long.
Um... you, er... you think that Morgan
set fire to your truck, don't you?
Mmm-hmm.
Why?
Oh, I don't know. I guess we...
just didn't get on.
I mean, the dam was at a standstill.
I was doing a survey...
Do you think there's any oil up there?
- Consultant's report says...
- Yeah, I know. I'm asking you your opinion.
- Well, the seismological survey is not conclusive.
- How does it work?
Well, it's simple enough. You...
...well, er... take one traverse.
Now, er... I drew a line of shot-holes
in the rock.
Then in each one I set off a charge.
Well, then the echo of the explosion rebounds
on the various rock strata.
Is picked up by the instruments...
...and the times recorded on tape
in thousandths of a second.
- The same principle as finding a submarine?
- Yeah.
Well, then with a small outfit like mine, I send
the recordings down to a mining consultant.
He plots the strata,
and then makes out his report.
So while you're actually recording you
can't be sure if you're right or wrong?
No... you can't be sure but...
But what?
Well, the last traverse I did...
...I could have sworn that I was running
slap up against an anticline...
...and that's, er... that's sort of like
a dome of rock strata.
"A Surveyor's Dream", you could call it.
Just the kind of formation in which
oil could be trapped.
And that's what you thought you'd got?
Well, like I said - you can't be sure.
Now, all these recordings went
down on the hoist?
- Yeah.
- All of them?
Mmm-hmm.
Er... could Morgan have substituted a batch
of recordings that he knew were no good?
Could you check on this?
No, you couldn't very well.
Wait a minute!
The last set.
I did another line of shots -
just to be sure.
Yeah! And I never completed them,
so I never sent them down.
So Morgan set fire to
your truck to be certain.
They weren't in my truck.
- What?
- They're in my grip. In Stuart Campbell's cabin.
Well, all we need then is the set of
recordings you sent down to Calgary...
...to compare with your recordings in the
grip in the "Kingdom".
- Yeah.
- And then we'd be sure?
Yeah - we'd know.
- Can you get them?
Well, you can't get up to the
"Kingdom" just yet, but...
...I'll leave for Calgary straight away.
[NOISE OF MACHINERY]
[NOISE OF ROCK DRILL]
I got your cement, Mr Morgan.
The contract says you deliver to the top.
Okay, but I ain't paying you ninety dollars
to use that hoist.
Then how do you figure
on getting it up there?
This is crazy!
I'm supplying the cement to you.
No, no, no, no.
You're supplying the cement
to the Fergus mines.
That means Henry Fergus.
I'm building a dam for Fergus.
And I charge you fifteen dollars
a truck for my hoist.
Okay?
Think it over.
[DRILLING NOISE CONTINUES]
Can't you read, Campbell?!
Come back in the spring, Campbell.
A few more weeks and then you can walk up.
[LAUGHTER]
[CONSTRUCTION NOISES]
[TWO KNOCKS ON THE DOOR]
Come in.
Bladen back yet?
No, the road to Calgary is flooded.
I doubt he could get through.
He's probably thought better of it
and run out on us.
He wouldn't do that.
Why not?
Sensible thing to do, if you ask me.
You know, it looks to me as if you're
the one who's running out.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Don't think I haven't wished I could.
Bruce.
You're a strange man.
Don't you realise? If you were to strike oil
up in the "Kingdom" you'd be worth a million?
But you don't care.
No.
If I go through with this crazy scheme,
it'll be for one reason only.
Because I can't get the thought
out of my mind of...
...that old fool dying up there, all alone...
...of a broken heart.
And that's the...
...the only reason.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I forgot you had a boyfriend.
I haven't got a boyfriend.
What are you doing in a
dump like this, anyway?
Bruce, what's the matter?
Waiting.
I can't stand waiting.
I wanted you to kiss me.
But not like that.
There's time.
There's not.
I've got six months. That's all.
Six months?
To live?
Do you think I'd normally pass out because some
halfwit tried to run me down with a truck?
There's a beautiful medical
phrase for what I've got.
I know it backwards.
The doctors in London drummed it into me.
I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you.
I'm glad you have.
[GENTLE MUSIC]
I came here to get away from people.
Dying alone seems to be a Campbell habit.
[KNOCK ON THE DOOR]
Come in.
[CROWD NOISE]
Just come in, Mr Campbell.
Thank you.
"Twenty thousand is my final offer."
"Notify acceptance,
or we settle by arbitration..."
"...after flooding."
"'Fergus."
They all know about this, Miss Jean.
If you don't agree, it's going to be trouble.
Who is it? Morgan?
All the men are here.
Afraid they'll lose their jobs.
Fine!
I feel just like seeing them now.
[CROWD NOISE]
Go ahead! Go ahead! ask him now!
Hey! You gonna sell? We wanna know now!
No - I'm not.
Listen, Campbell - you get out of this town.
We don't want any Campbells here!
You come one step nearer, Buster, and I'll knock
your teeth through the back of your head!
All right, Morgan...
...what about it?
Or don't you do your own dirty work?
We got a chance to earn a living. We don't
want you lousing it up like your grandpa did.
[CROWD AGREES]
Old man Campbell was the devil incarnate!
We were tempted.
We forgot the words of the Holy Book!
I tell you - the way of the wicked...
[CROWD SHOUTS HIM DOWN]
Hey! They say you got ideas about oil, too.
Oil! Hell, he ain't got no oil.
We want that dam!
And neither you, nor anybody else
is gonna stop us gettin' it.
Maybe you'll tell us once and
for all, Mr Campbell...
...do you mean to try
for oil in the "Kingdom"?
The "Kingdom" is my property,
until it's flooded...
...anything I choose to do up there
is entirely my affair.
No, it ain't!
We've heard all this before.
He'll try and stop us -
just like the old man did.
Don't you see? If we do find oil up there...
...it'll mean more money.
Far more than any dam could ever bring.
Aye, we've heard that one too.
Don't listen to him.
Hey, Morgan?
You ever seen these before?
Yeah... look like survey figures.
I seen plenty.
Yeah, that's what it is.
Report of a survey I did for "King" Campbell.
So?
So... these aren't my figures.
Mine gave a good chance of there
being oil up there.
These don't give any chance at all.
What's that got to do with me?
Well, my guess is that these
are your figures, Morgan.
Dirty, faked figures - taken off a dud
report and switched with mine.
Maybe you can prove that?
I think we can.
Yeah, maybe we will.
Maybe I'll show up a few other things
that's going on around here.
Like... like that dud cement you're
using up at the dam.
Let the government inspect the dam, Bladen.
Sure, but they can't tell if you're packing
it with rotten cement.
- Ah, he's crazy!
- Cut-price cement!
Salvaged off Queen Charlotte's Island,
after the shipwreck last fall.
If you can show me a crack in
that dam, I want to see it.
It hasn't got millions of tons of
water leaning on it... yet!
You'd better watch what you're
saying, Bladen.
If you did fake those reports...
...it means that you killed Stuart Campbell.
The old man died from heart failure.
Everybody knows that.
It means you killed him, as surely as if
you put a bullet through him!
Come on, let's get out of here.
I'm going to sort this out now, Morgan.
Once and for all.
[DOOR SLAMS SHUT; MEN BEGIN TALKING]
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
Morgan's right, of course.
Those figures from Calgary
don't prove anything.
'Til we compare 'em with my notes.
- And they're at the "Kingdom"?
- Yeah.
Any chance of getting them?
We'll have a darned good try.
Supposing Bladen had another set of
recordings, and they weren't in the truck?
You thought of that, too?
I sent Max up on his horse.
I told him to burn any paper, or any...
recordings he could find.
[ENGINE STARTING]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SCREECH OF BRAKES]
[MEN SINGING "MY DARLING CLEMENTINE"]
Well, it doesn't look like
there's a guard there.
Let's hope nobody sees us.
Could you work the hoist?
Yeah, I think so. It's only a diesel.
Well, come on, then.
[SINGING CONTINUES]
Now, one of us is going to have to stay
down here and work this thing.
Well, you're the one that knows how.
I'll go up. I can get your grip.
You don't know this place.
[MACHINERY CLANKING]
I mean, you can't go up there alone.
I know these mountains.
Bladen, that's my inheritance up there.
I've never even seen it.
[NOISE OF THE HOIST ENGINE]
Well, give us a ring when
you get up there. Okay?
Fine.
The notes and the tape are in my grip -
behind the door to the bedroom.
- It's black and got my name on it.
- Okay.
Here, you'd better take this.
[POUNDING HOOVES]
[CROWD NOISE]
[NOISE OF HOIST ENGINE]
[HOPEFUL MUSIC]
[MUSIC BUILDS]
[EXHILARATING, TRIUMPHANT MUSIC]
[WINDING UP TELEPHONE]
[WIND HOWLING]
Bladen?
I'm at the top.
Give you a call when I want to come down.
Right... and mind how you go.
Boy, stop him!
- What?
- Max is up there. Stop him!
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
Campbell?
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
He's gone.
Get the cage down.
It's too late to do anything about it now.
Well, somebody's got to do something
about it! Max is waiting for him.
Well, he can look after himself.
Look, Boy - he's a very sick man.
Look - get the cage down!
All right.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[NOISE OF HOIST ENGINE]
Look, Boy - I can't even drive a car,
let alone work this hoist.
You must let ME go.
I told you, already - if Max is up there,
I'm going. You're going to stay right here.
[WIND MOANING]
[HOWLING WOLF]
[HOIST ENGINE STARTS UP]
Fine thing if it happened with the both
of you up there.
We'll have to take a chance on that.
I'm still going.
Look, Boy - I couldn't even move that wheel.
Well, could I?!
It took all your strength.
Well, all right. But... be careful.
Okay.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SPLASHING]
I didn't mean nothing by
it, Mr Campbell - honest!
Seeing ghosts, Max?
- What are you doing up here?
- I was about to ask you the same question.
How did you get up here?
By the trail?
Yeah... yeah, the trail.
Who sent you? Morgan?
No... nobody sent me. I was...
You'd better think again, Max.
You... you, you won't tell him
I said so, will you?
I won't tell him.
He sent you up here to destroy
those reports, didn't he?
Has he got the real one?
Yeah... but...
...you promise... you won't tell him
I said so, will you?
I won't tell him. I promise.
Max!
Morgan told you to drive that truck
at me, didn't he?
Do you always do what he tells you?
Yeah.
Even if it means killing someone?
- I didn't kill no one.
- You nearly killed me in that truck.
- And that phoney report killed Stuart Campbell.
- I didn't kill him!
I didn't kill Danny, I didn't kill...
Danny who?
Who, Max?
I didn't kill him, honest.
I... I only meant to hurt him a little bit.
Him and...
...two other boys - they tied me to a bull
for a gag and...
...and I was hurting...
I wanted to hurt him back, but...
...oh, I don't know..!
He was... he was older'n I was.
You... you ask Mr Morgan. You just ask!
You, you... you just ask Mr Morgan.
[CRYING]
All right, Max. You'd better go.
You... you won't tell Mr
Morgan I told you, will you?
No, I won't tell him.
You'd better get going. Go on.
[GALLOPING HOOFBEATS]
What are you doing here?
Max!
I had to warn you.
I heard them talking at the hotel.
I knew he was coming - I thought
you might get hurt.
I'm all right. He didn't hurt me.
He just tried to burn the report, that's all.
Forget the report. Forget the oil!
That didn't sound very like you.
Your life is more important than ALL the oil.
I've got six months.
If I can beat Morgan in that time,
I'll consider my life well spent.
You expect me to stand by and
watch you kill yourself?
It's nothing to do with you.
I've told you that before.
I'm alone, and I'm staying alone.
Do you get it?
[HOIST ENGINE]
[HOIST BANGING OPEN]
Seems you gotta lock up
your property around here.
I could prosecute you for trespass.
I wouldn't do that if I were you.
I've got some rather useful evidence here.
I want this place guarded from now on.
Two armed men, day and night.
You go with Boy.
Please, Bruce - you've done enough.
She's going in the jeep with you. Go on.
- Bruce, be sensible.
- Go on.
[TRUCK ENGINE STARTING]
Come on.
[LOUD DRAMATIC MUSIC]
That was... that was Fergus. Wasn't it?
Yeah. Ten million dollars'
worth of Henry Fergus.
- What do you think he's doing?
- Your guess is as good as mine.
Ah. Mr Campbell.
Yes?
- I'm Henry Fergus. Did you get my telegram?
- Yes.
- You didn't reply.
- Well, there's no point.
I'm doubling the compensation offer
for your bit of land.
Are you now?
I can't waste any more time.
I agree with you, Mr Fergus.
- I'm tired of wasting time, too.
- Good.
I need that dam.
The price of electricity has rocketed.
And... I must have my own source of
power for the... Fergus mines.
Not to mention my new project in this town.
Twenty thousand dollars is a nice sum of
money, Mr Campbell.
It's a nice piece of land.
It's useless and you know it.
I'm not selling.
Somebody has evidently underestimated you.
Fifty thousand dollars.
I need that dam.
It's a lot of money.
Time is money.
I want that dam finished quickly, and without
any more interference from you.
Well, I don't want your money, Mr Fergus.
And I intend to interfere, as you call it,
to the utmost of my ability.
Because I believe there IS oil up there.
I believe you faked those reports, and
those reports killed an innocent man.
You'll end up in a law court.
Yeah, I hope I do.
With you in the dock.
I should remember if I were you, that your
grandfather served a sentence in jail.
And that won't help you any.
That man with Bladen - do you know him?
Yeah.
He's an oil rig operator.
His name is MacDonald...
...and he's here to drill me an oil well...
...in the "Kingdom".
You can't fight me, Campbell.
I can't fight Fergus.
He's going to own this town.
It'll be more than my business is worth,
to let you stay here now.
You mean, uh...
...you want me to move out?
- I'm sorry, son.
- That's all right.
Your grandfather used to
enjoy my beefsteak pie.
Ah, it's a great pleasure having a
Campbell staying in the house again.
Well, I just hope I won't be too much
trouble, that's all.
Of course you won't, dear boy.
I'll go and get the coffee.
[DOOR SHUTTING]
[WHISPERING]
Mr Campbell. While Abigail's away...
...and before the others arrive, I want
to show you something.
Gold!
My father made it out of the Come Lucky mine.
This was my share.
- You mean he left it to you, just like that?
- Oh yes. [SHE CHUCKLES]
He didn't believe in banks.
Of course, there was more, but...
...we've had to live.
Why are you showing me this?
Because if ever you need money,
I want you to ask me.
Miss Ruth, I couldn't possibly ask you.
But there's plenty there!
Please, Mr Campbell.
- Yes, but...
- I had a great friend, once.
I loved him very dearly.
He was married.
Quite happily.
He never had any money.
And he wouldn't take it from me.
He would have wished me to help you.
It was my grandfather, wasn't it?
Yes.
Are these the figures you
brought from Calgary?
Yeah.
And these are your figures?
Yes - made on the spot, last year.
Then you're right.
Somebody did change them.
Sure, but there's not enough to prove
anything there. I mean...
...I, I'd have to do another survey.
That would take weeks.
We haven't got the time.
Do you know anything about drilling?
Who, me? No - nothing at all.
I was stuck behind a desk in a cable company.
It's a pity you're a Campbell.
It's a name I'm not over-fond of.
I've never met a Scotsman who
refused a fortune.
Now see here, Mr Campbell.
I came out here twenty years ago
from South Uist...
...and I've worked all that time
as a roughneck driller...
...to save enough to buy my own rig.
What's in this for me?
- Twenty-five percent if we strike.
- And if we don't?
Nothing.
Make it thirty-three and a third.
Done!
You're being just a bit hasty.
Well, I've nothing else to offer you -
and... I've no capital.
That goes for me too.
I could work about six weeks in the clear.
But if we didn't strike oil then...
...and six weeks only means a few thousand
feet of drilling.
All right, Campbell.
I'll do it.
But, there's just one thing.
My rig needs five trucks, and if
Morgan's not going to let us...
I'll get your stuff up to the "Kingdom",
don't you worry about that.
But I'm not a Campbell.
I'll not go against the Government.
But the Government built
that road up to the dam.
Morgan improved it, but he doesn't own it.
He's breaking the law by
using those road blocks.
- Still his hoist, all the same.
- But he can't complain legally if we use it.
He's got too much to lose.
- But you can't use it, either.
- I've been looking at it.
I think we can.
Once.
Now then... problem.
How to get the trucks with the drilling rig up
to the "Kingdom", without Morgan stopping them.
You tell us.
Well, remember it'll be dawn.
And our first problem
is that roadblock there.
There's only one guard.
We've got to get him out of the way,
long enough to get the trucks through.
He's still going to give the alarm sometime.
And no bloodshed.
We don't want to start another Clan war.
There won't be a Clan war, Mac.
And it doesn't matter if
he does give the alarm.
Do you see that er...
rocky overhang down there?
Uh-huh.
Well, that's going to fall
right across the road...
...just after our trucks have gone through.
Well, you've still got about forty of Morgan's
men up there at the construction camp.
Yeah.
Thirty-eight with the foreman, Butler.
And he'd murder his mother in her sleep.
But supposing there was a landslide
down on the road, by the road block?
Wouldn't it be perfectly normal for Morgan
to send those men down to help clear it?
- You could always ask him.
- Yes, I could.
I think I can sound sufficiently like
Morgan on the field telephone
This man doesn't want to live!
All right, so you pull it off. Maybe.
Butler takes his men down to clear the
fall at the road block and...
...we arrive at the hoist with Mac's trucks.
Well, supposing somebody gives the
alarm then? I mean, uh...
...back comes Morgan with his boys and...
...who digs our graves?
He won't come back.
Do you see that little bridge?
Right down there?
Doesn't look awfully strong to me.
If it collapsed...
Morgan's men would be cut off.
I don't like this at all.
Look, if you don't want to help me
I'll find somebody who will.
It's a hell of a risk.
Doesn't seem much of a risk.
Not for a third share in an oil field.
All right, boys.
I still can't understand why you want
your name covered up, Mr MacDonald.
Mind your business.
How long will it take us to Come Lucky?
Five hours, maybe less.
Better make it five exactly.
We're due at the crossroads at first light.
Four o'clock on the dot.
What is this? A military operation?
- Just so.
- Well, that lets me out - I'm unfit.
Away and drive your truck.
Yes, Mr MacDonald.
- How's it going?
- Fine. That's the last charge.
Well, that ought to rattle a few windows.
Well, if you're going you'd better get going.
Yeah.
Don't get yourself lost on the pony trail.
Don't worry, I won't.
And when the trucks arrive -
see they get moving fast, will you?
You just see they get there.
They'll get there, all right.
Got much more to do?
No. Just got to hide the wire, that's all.
All right. Good luck.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Only averaging twenty.
Better step on it a bit.
Two minutes to go.
That's the road block.
Get into position where you can
see the guard and the hut.
4:30- he'll get my telephone call.
He should start walking along
towards the overhang.
And if he doesn't, I have to
come back here and warn you.
That's right.
But follow him 'til he
gets onto the shortcut.
I MUST know when he's on the shortcut.
Then you can go straight home.
- But, I...
- Just hope MacDonald's not late.
Right it's time,
now - you'd better clear off.
- Good luck.
- Mm?
Uh, go on.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
Road block, okay.
- Morgan here.
- Yes, Mr Morgan.
That last truck that went through.
Just reported a fall,
down by the lower bridge.
Get down and check it.
Be quicker to send a truck down
from the top, Mr Morgan.
You're the nearest - get moving. At once.
- Yes, Mr Morgan.
- And use the shortcut.
[TENSE MUSIC]
You're a minute late.
Ha, ha! What about the
guard at the road block?
He must've gone, I haven't heard from
Jean. Come on, make it snappy.
I'm taking your last truck from here.
About half a mile down the road,
there's a fallen tree - on the left.
Follow the track up to an
old quarry and wait for me.
- All right?
- All right.
Hey! Cliff.
[ENERGETIC MUSIC]
Wait here five minutes for me, will you?
Hey, mister - what's goin' on around here?
- Take too long to tell you.
- Hey, mister?
You're not doin' anything illegal, are you?
- Illegal?
- Okay, okay.
Just don't wanna get mixed up
in anything, that's all.
[ROAR OF BLAST]
- Here.
- You do that?
Act of God.
Hey, I don't like this!
You'd better... you're stuck with it.
Can't get out now.
[TELEPHONE RINGING]
Construction camp.
- Butler?
- Speaking. This Mr Morgan?
- Listen, I...
- The line's not too good.
There's been a fall, down by the road block.
Get every man available to clear it.
- Yes, but...
- Every man, I said.
And take the guard off the hoist.
Nobody can use it, with the road
the state it's in now.
And if I get there before you,
God help you.
Right away, Mr Morgan.
God help him anyway. Poor clod.
Look, does Mr MacDonald know about this?
He will.
Come on.
I don't take orders from you.
I work for Mr MacDonald.
Fine.
Just you stay here and explain to Mr Morgan.
Morgan! I'll come with you.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Oh, no! Not dames!
Dames is unlucky.
- I thought I told you to go home?
- Oh, shut up and move over.
You'd better sit in the middle.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
That landslide of yours
certainly made enough din.
Yeah, it worked better than I thought.
He dynamited it, Mr MacDonald!
- Did he?
- Yeah.
Well, we might make it after all.
You shouldn't have let her come.
You're playing it tougher than I thought.
- You try and stop her, that's all.
- Look!
You've got to be practical about this.
- You're going to need a cook up there.
- Cook?!
How long are we stayin'?
Here they come.
[TRUCK ENGINES]
Getting to the rockfall now.
Do you think that's all the men
Morgan had at the top?
I hope so.
When we blow the bridge they'll be cut off.
There won't be anyone to stop us.
We'd better get down to the bridge,
before they know I used dynamite.
[BRISK, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[ROAR OF RAPIDS]
[TENSE MUSIC BUILDS]
It's all right. You can get up now.
You can get ten years for doin'
this - you know that?
D'you know, I don't think they'd give
me more than six months.
D'you wanna make a bet?
Anything you like.
[BRISK, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I hope you can work this infernal machine.
Well, we'll have a jolly good...
Damn! They haven't all gone down.
Better leave this to me.
They'll recognise you.
Special equipment. Got to be up
top by seven o'clock.
- Says who?
- Morgan! Who'd you think?
News to me.
Got a pass?
Morgan hasn't got time to waste with passes.
The road's blocked good and solid.
Ring down and get an okay, Joe.
I wouldn't waste your time if you
want to keep your job.
This lot's costing Morgan
a thousand bucks a day.
[TYRES SCREECH]
I got down as soon as you phoned, Mr Morgan.
I didn't phone!
No answer, Pete.
What do you expect, with half a
mountain sitting on the line.
All right, you'd better give us a hand
with loading the trucks.
Take them away, boys.
[TRUCK ENGINES START UP]
Better give them a hand, I guess.
Hey, this ain't a landslide!
It's been dynamited.
The hoist!
You told me to bring all the men
down and start clearing.
Shut up and get the road clear!
[SOUND OF DIGGING]
[HOIST ENGINE STARTS UP]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Hello, Mac?
Come on, snap it up, for Pete's sake.
This is gonna take all day.
Yes, Boy - we lost ten minutes starting
the engine of the hoist.
What..? Oh!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Yeah, the fourth one's just
coming into sight now.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Come on, Creasy.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Come on, Creasy!
Stop the hoist!
Stop the hoist.
- But, Mr Morgan, there...
- I said stop the hoist!
There's a truck halfway up.
[HOWLS IN RAGE]
- Stop the motor.
- What, Mr Morgan?
[ANIMATED TALKING AND LAUGHTER]
Now, bring her down.
What the hell!
Tim!
[ENGINE REVVING]
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
- You all right?
- Yes, fine.
Well, Morgan can't complain.
He's got his hoist back. [LAUGHS]
Right, let's get drilling.
[POUNDING, INDUSTRIAL MUSIC]
[SOUND OF DRILLING]
Have they started yet?
Yep. The drill's working.
- Well, how's it going?
- Come and take a look.
What are we making?
About eight foot an hour.
- That's good.
- Good if it lasts.
[CLANKING AND BANGING]
That's two hundred a day.
Five thousand will take what, four weeks?
Well, you say four weeks.
I prefer to say nothing at all.
It's tempting Providence.
Four weeks.
Four weeks! You said a fortnight at the most.
Sluice number five's got to be
re-set, in any case.
That's true enough.
Now, look - I've got a contract!
Now look, I want this dam finished
and working within two weeks.
Or I'll see you don't get another
job this side of Calgary.
[SOUNDS OF CONSTRUCTION]
- Tell them supper's ready will you, Boy?
- Okay, Jean.
Well, it looks all right to me.
There you are.
Well, come on - don't just stand there
letting it get cold.
We'd better go. C'mon.
She's a great girl.
Does she know you think so?
Yeah, she knows all right, but...
...no use.
You've asked her?
Sure I have.
Too many times.
And no go?
That's right.
Eight feet an hour, huh?
Sure is sweet music.
I hope we're right.
Sure we're right. Don't you worry.
[SOUND OF DRILLING]
Interesting?
Don't do that!
Chow's ready.
Steak again?
What's wrong with steak, for Pete's sake?
I happen to be on an egg and milk diet.
It's a nice noise.
Yes.
Jean?
Bladen and MacDonald get
a percentage out of this.
But you don't get anything, do you?
So what?
Well, I was thinking that...
...if we do strike oil...
...I'd like you to have a share.
No.
What do you mean, "no"?
I've had my share already.
What on earth are you talking about?
You remember you asked me once,
what I was doing in Come Lucky?
Yes.
Well, there is a reason.
I was... trying to make
up for what my father did.
Your father?
Yes... he was Stuart Campbell's partner.
Oh.
He got away with the money and
your grandfather went to jail.
Oh, I'm not defending him - I can't.
- But, Jean - it was a long time ago.
- No, please let me say it.
All those years in England, at school.
And afterwards, having a whale of a time.
It was all being paid for
by the people of Come Lucky.
Every cent.
And that's why you're here?
Yes.
I thought maybe I could
repay the debt in some way.
I wanted to do something.
When you came I saw my chance.
I wanted to help you.
You have.
Not unless we bring in an oil well.
Otherwise, I've just been
wasting precious time.
There must be oil.
There's just got to be.
It doesn't make any difference, you know?
What you've just told me.
I still want you to have a share.
No, Bruce.
I... I shan't need the money.
And I've no family to leave it to.
I haven't any right to your money.
You could've had, you know?
If things had been different.
No, don't... don't look round.
You know what I want to say, but...
...I mustn't.
There's no future for us.
[STONE SPLASHES]
Oh, Bruce, I don't care about the future.
You're here now, aren't you?
Aren't you?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Hey! Who's there?
Hey! What're you doing with that truck?
Okay, let's go!
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
[FIRE ROARING AND CRACKLING]
Bladen!
You all right?
After them!
Sorry, I couldn't stop them.
It's all right. They'd have got the rig
if it hadn't been for you.
It's all my fault.
I started the rough stuff.
Don't worry about me, I'm insured.
But we can't drill without fuel.
- The one tank is still all right.
- Surely, but it's nearly empty.
There's enough for four days, and then...
- How much do you want?
- A thousand gallons.
And you'll be shot dead if you try
and use the hoist again.
- There's always the pony trail.
- Yes.
One pony'll carry twenty
gallons, if you're lucky.
You'll need a heck of a lot of ponies.
And two thousand dollars.
- Have you got two thousand dollars?
- I haven't got two hundred.
Morgan will see you can't borrow it
from anyone around here.
Borrow it!
- Bladen?
- Mm-hmm?
Could you get the ponies and the diesel?
Sure, that's easy enough, but...
Well, I'll get the money.
I'm sorry to come so late, but I
didn't want to be seen.
I think I know why you've come.
I didn't want to, but under the circumstances
there was nothing else I could do.
When one is old and useless, you've no idea
the pleasure it gives to be able to help.
How much do you want?
- Two thousand dollars.
- Fine, I'll get it for you.
Get what?
You mind your own business, Abigail dear.
Who said it couldn't be done?
What's the matter with you?
I was just thinking,
this is rather heavy work.
Too heavy for a dying man, do you mean?
Yes... that's what I mean.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
[SOUND OF CONSTRUCTION]
Hey! Mr Creasy.
- I think we got away with that one, Boy.
- I hope nobody saw us.
Morgan?
[DRILLING NOISE]
They're getting fuel up on ponies.
Yeah.
What?! Do nothin'?
Forget it.
Yeah, okay.
We broke five drills.
I tell you, that rock's like granite.
Does that mean you're giving up?
Nobody ever struck oil
through rock like that.
Then you'll be the first.
Now, wait a minute.
My boys are working for
nothing, don't forget.
We WERE working for nothing.
Guess we've had enough.
That's the way it is.
They reckon they can make steady
money somewhere else.
You mean you're backing out NOW?
Now listen, Jean. It's not as if they
were being paid anything.
This was a gamble.
It still is. A gamble's a gamble 'til
you've either won or lost.
- You can't give up half way.
- Hey!
Hey! Look!
We got visitors.
Morgan, isn't it?
Yeah, quite a delegation.
You feel a bit more like
giving up now, Campbell?
No.
That's too bad.
This guy's a solicitor, Campbell.
He's here to witness that I'm serving notice
on you, from the Fergus Mining Corporation.
That under the provisions of the
Provincial Government Act of 1939...
...flooding of this area
can be expected any time...
...after the eighteenth of June.
That's exactly five days from now.
- Okay?
- I'm sorry fellas, but there it is.
What're you doing with this thing?
About, er... six inches a day?
[LAUGHTER]
You pull out now, MacDonald, you may
get another job in these parts.
Carry on working and I'll see to it personally that
you don't get another job this side of the Rockies.
The eighteenth of June, Campbell!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
No, honey - he's better left alone.
Poor devil. He's taking it pretty hard.
Well, can you wonder?
What you don't know, any of you is...
...is he's only got a
few more months to live.
It's not going to help
him if we DO strike oil.
He doesn't stand to gain
anything out of this, anyway.
He'd never forgive me
if he knew I'd told you.
Just thought you ought to know what sort
of a man it is you're walking out on.
Bruce Campbell's got more guts than the
lot of you put together!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[ROAR OF MACHINERY]
You've started drilling again.
Of course we have.
You've been asleep for eight hours.
What made you change your mind?
Oh, we thought that even if you were a
Campbell, we might as well help you out.
Hey, we're through that block.
It's ten feet an hour now.
Ten!
- Where are my boots?
- There!
Wait for me!
Eight feet in half an hour!
Sounds different.
It's bearing through, that's why.
Through? You mean we...
Don't say it!
Don't say a damn thing!
- We've struck!
- Oil!?
Gas, at any rate.
Get moving off the platform, everyone.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[ROAR OF FLAMES]
Creasy! Creasy!
Creasy! Creasy!
They've struck. Close the sluices.
- But you can't flood oil.
- I know what I'm doing. Close the sluices!
Get moving!
I'll ride down tomorrow and
telephone the news to Calgary.
Hadn't someone better tell Morgan?
He won't need telling.
See it twenty miles away.
Besides, he's not due to
flood for another four days.
[BAGPIPES AND LAUGHTER]
Oh, that's no good at all.
No use outside Glasgow, anyhow.
I'll have to teach you reels, yet.
[LAUGHTER]
I want you to take a toast.
I was going to say "to Bruce Campbell".
But I think this is rather a family affair.
So let's make it to "the two Campbells".
Past and present.
Here, here!
[TOASTING]
Good luck
Bruce!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Bladen!
They've flooded.
What?
He can't flood oil!
He can't, but he has.
Better save what you can.
We'll be under water by morning.
You'd better start packing up.
This is going to take all night.
The trucks! Get those trucks!
Morgan'll pay for this.
We can't prove a thing.
The way the drill's all bent.
He'll say we faked it.
Oh, we'd never get 'em to
drain the dam, anyway.
Wait till I lay my hands on him.
Come on! Come on!
Come on you guys, get working.
Come on, come on. Come on boys,
get it on now. Come on.
[SOUND OF CONSTRUCTION]
- Where's Morgan?
- Down below, with the men.
You want something, Campbell?
Do you realise you flooded oil?
If you mean that little bonfire you lit
last night, it didn't fool us.
They flooded four days early.
We've got the law on our side.
Let's leave it that way.
[ALARM BELL]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
It suddenly went! Just like that!
Better get out of here. Quick!
What's happened?
The whole thing could go any minute.
Better get down and warn the men.
Not me!
But you've got to go down there!
They haven't got a chance.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I told you about that dud cement!
They can't hear the alarm bell down there.
Hey!
Take me down!
[MUSIC BUILDS IN INTENSITY]
Don't! You'll never make it!
No. Come on - the horse.
Take us down. Come on.
Get her down quick!
Get out the way! Look out!
Get out of the way!
Get out of the way!
Get out of the way, the dam's breaking!
Get out of the way!
Hey!
Get out the way!
Get out of the way - the dam's breaking!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Get out the way! Hey!
Hey!
Get out of the way! Run for it!
Get out of the way, the dam's
breaking! Morgan!
Morgan!
[SOUND OF DAM BURSTING]
Morgan!
Morgan!
It's breaking up!
[SOUND OF DAM BURSTING]
- What you trying to do?
- The dam's breaking up!
- Get back!
- Make for the high ground!
[THUNDEROUS ROAR]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Right, I think we'll have
the blood sample now, nurse.
Yes, Doctor.
Just a routine check-up.
You can't kid me, Doctor.
I know what the result's going to be,
right from the start.
I had all this out with my doctors in London.
They gave me six months at the outside.
I've been hearing a bit about you.
For a man with a progressively
weakening disease...
...you've been leading a surprisingly
active life lately.
It's the air, up in the mountains.
Maybe, but I wouldn't say that...
...altitude or mountain air would make
all that change to the body chemistry.
You may as well be told...
...that this is only a check
sample we are taking now.
I took one earlier.
And there was no sign of any trouble.
You know I'm all right?
Yes.
I didn't think I had very much time.
All I wanted to do was to strike oil.
Hi!
I brought the mail.
I, er...
...I think this is the one you're gonna
be most interested in.
Oh, I, er, ran into Miss Ruth down
in Come Lucky, and told her what you said.
Now the drill's working again...
...it won't be long before they start collecting a
few dividends on the two thousand they lent you.
Oh, I, er...
...told her about your
other bit of good news, too.
It's from the consultant in Ottawa.
It agrees with the hospital report.
It looks like you got her
under false pretences.
Huh.
If you hadn't have broken your arm...
...they'd never have x-rayed you...
...we might never have known.
No.
Well, I guess you'll be able to...
...stick around and collect some of
those millions now, huh?
Yeah.
[DRAMATIC END THEME]