The Big Valley (1965) s01e06 Episode Script

Good mornin', Jack.
Mr.
Murdoch, if you're goin' through town, I'd better send a couple men with you.
If anyone wants to take a shot at me a couple of men more or less won't stop 'em.
Open the gate.
Bombings and murder.
I don't understand it.
We've never had trouble like this at the mine before.
- How deeply involved are we? - Enough to get hurt.
- 10,000 shares.
- Then why don't we sell out? Because since the strike, we wouldn't be able to get anywhere near their market value.
If the governor had any guts, he'd move the troops in up there.
- Now, wait a minute.
- They're destroying private property.
- Troops aren't the answer.
- Well, what is the answer? Nick, why don't you ride up there as soon as possible and find out what it's all about.
- Tomorrow morning.
- Better let me.
- Sounds like my kind of job.
- What makes you say that? I've seen the elephant and heard the owl, brother.
You haven't.
Worked in the mines, remember? I'll leave in the morning, Jarrod.
- Oh, now, wait a minute.
- Heath is right.
Nick, what do you say? Well, I got other things to do.
All right, then that settles it.
Heath.
When you get up there, talk to Collin Murdoch.
He's been superintendent of the mine since it opened.
He'll be able to give you a good picture of what's going on.
- Right.
- And, Heath? Remember, you'll be representing management and management seems to be a walking target right now.
- You watch yourself.
- Yeah.
I want a drink, whatever you got to eat, and a room for the night.
I'm closed.
You don't look closed.
Now, I've ridden a long stretch and I'm tired and I'm hungry and I'm thirsty.
Now, when a man feels like that, he, uh he gets irritable.
Gets annoyed at little things.
- Make it two, Newton.
- Shut up.
The gentleman won't mind buying a lady a drink.
- Beat it! - Aw, let a girl make her rent, will ya, Newton? Well, I can't feed ya.
There's nothin' prepared in the house.
Mmm.
He lies in his teeth.
There's a whole leg of cold mutton lyin' in his cooler.
I told you to shut your mouth! Now I'll shut it for you! - You stand back, ya dirty man, or I'll brain ya! - Put it down, dear girl! - Brain ya! - It's the only decent drop in the house.
Let's have the mutton.
It's a fine thing a man can't call his house his own.
Who asked ya to butt in? I can fight me own battles.
Sure you can.
Another second, I'd a-have that big slob laid out with the whiskey and glass oozin' out of his ears.
Well, now, you heard what the man said.
You wouldn't wanna waste the last decent drop of whiskey in the house, now, would you? Aye, you talk good sense.
- To your health.
- And yours.
Are you plannin' to spend the night? Plannin' on it.
Ask Newton for the key to number eight.
It's the best room in the house.
I know for a fact the sheets was changed only a week ago.
It hardly been slept in since.
And don't let him tell you there isn't any room.
- Now, you're not gonna spend the night.
- Why can't he spend the night? I don't want any trouble in my place.
You wait till himself hears about this.
Ah, the back of me front to himself and you too.
Look, you don't want to spend the night in a place like this.
I own it, and I wouldn't stay here if I had any choice in the matter.
Look, the beds are hard, and the bugs, you know- Oh, terrible bugs.
Big enough to throw a man out in the street and leave him there to be eaten at their leisure.
- Let's have a key.
- It's only nine miles down the road to Sonora.
Ah, it's a grand town.
A grand town with a decent hotel.
And girls- Oh, they got the finest bits of fluff in the mother lode country down there in Sonora.
Number eight key.
I'll eat in my room.
All right.
You heard what I said to him.
I tried to make him move on, didn't I? Well, didn't I? Surprise, surprise.
What are you doin' here? Well, I thought you might like a nightcap.
- So I brought up the bottle.
- That's all? What's your name? Bridey.
- Bridey what? - Bridey Hanrihan.
Go ahead.
Help yourself.
How old are you, Bridey? Oh, now, I didn't come up to give me pedigree.
No, I suppose not.
Eighteen? Nineteen? Well, aren't you gonna drink with me? How much do you make off a bottle, Bridey? Oh, you're a wise one.
I make a dollar.
- That's 10.
What's it for? - Information.
That's a dirty word around here.
What are ya, a company spy? - Nope.
- That's what they think downstairs.
- Why? - Well, you're a stranger.
If I was to tell them you was askin' for information they'd have you dead as a mackerel before the night was out.
- Will you tell 'em? - Why should I? They ain't payin' me nothin'.
Who's "himself"? You can put your money away.
I'm the sole supporter of me old father, and I can't afford to be killed.
What does, uh, $20 mean to you, Bridey? The rent paid, food in the house and no need to be doin' this for at least a month.
- Who's "himself"? - O'Doul.
O'Doul.
Can you pass the word to him that I'd like to see him? What for? Just get word to him.
What, is that all you want? That's all, Bridey.
Well, you're a strange one.
I suppose a gentleman like yourself can't be bothered with the likes of me.
Well, ya ain't so much.
I hope O'Doul cuts your heart out.
Give us a penny, mister.
Come on, mister.
Be a sport.
Give us a penny.
- That's mine! - Your good deed for the day, son.
Come in.
Mr.
Murdoch, I'm Heath Barkley from Stockton.
Well, Mr.
Barkley.
Always a pleasure to see one of the family up here.
Sit down, sir.
Thank you.
- What can I do for you? - It's about the troubles you had up here.
The work of a few vicious malcontents.
- You've been shut down for weeks.
- I know, Mr.
Barkley.
But I've been in constant communication with Mr.
Hummel since he took over management of the company.
We've been working on the problem.
- Have you tried talking to the men? - There's no talking to them.
They're demanding the sky.
New housing, elimination of the company store.
Things that have nothing to do with reasonable requests.
Is that why they went on strike? Well, I told Mr.
Hummel it wasn't the right time to cut wages.
Is that why they went on strike? Because you cut wages? Why? This is a producing mine.
There's ore inside for another 10 years.
And then what? A dead hole in the ground with nothing in it? Mr.
Barkley, every penny I have in the world is tied up in 5,000 shares of Barkley Sierra.
Every penny.
I deserve to get whatever profit I can.
And what about the people who work for you in that mine? Don't expect me to show any feelings for the murderers who gave me this.
Then what about your own interests? Your shares are losing value while that mine is shut down.
I have complete confidence in the company management.
In fact, I've given Mr.
Hummel my proxy to vote my shares.
He assures me the mine'll be open in a week.
How? The only way you'll open that mine is by using strikebreakers.
Is that what you're up to? Mr.
Hummel feels it's the only way.
He assures me the Chinese are a docile and industrious people - who'll work cheaply.
- You're bringing in Chinese? You do that, and you'll pull the cork on more trouble than you or Mr.
Hummel can handle.
Good day, Mr.
Murdoch.
Come in, and move easy.
- Hello, Dion.
- Heath.
Heath! I didn't know it was you that was lookin' for me.
You need that thing? When a man's on the run, you know how it is.
It's been a long time, Heath.
Since we worked in the mines.
What are you doin' up here? - Organizin'.
- The strike? Mm-hmm.
Do you have a drink about the place? Sure.
What's it all about, Dion? The strike? Well, take a look around.
The curse of the Irish.
Them that don't die of the drink perish of religious melancholia or starvation or get shot to death or a hundred other ways to squeeze the life out of a man.
A sad people, the Irish.
What are you doin' in Lonesome? Lookin' for answers to the strike.
What's your interest? I represent the Barkley family.
Tom Barkley turned out to be my father.
Did he, now? Didn't you stop to think there might be some risk in comin' here? The bosses aren't popular in Lonesome, you know.
- I'm no boss.
- No.
Of course you're not.
Just a drop, please.
No man that worked in the mines could become a boss.
It takes a fine gentleman who's never raised a callous to work men until they drop and cheat them in the company stores and starve their women and children.
Get off the soapbox, O'Doul.
That isn't true.
Have ya gone blind? Can't ya see what's around ya? Ah, you've changed.
The Heath I used to know would've been right out on the lines with us.
And I would be out on the lines with you if you were going about it the right way.
Man, we are goin' about it right.
We're askin' for decent wages, an end to company stores, safe workin' conditions.
And how are you asking? With bombings and murder from ambush? Man, darlin', it's a war we're in! You can't win that kind of war.
Dion, listen to me.
Get your people together.
Form a committee to meet with the company management to discuss your differences in an orderly manner.
- No! - Why? It's not the answer.
Well, let me talk to your people.
Let them decide if it's the right way.
I'll do the decidin' for 'em.
Well that was grand-tastin' whiskey.
I'll be leavin' you now.
Are we still friends? Now, that's a fine question to ask a man.
Of course we are.
But I wouldn't be speakin' for others in the camp.
The Barkleys aren't popular, you know.
If I were you, I'd leave town in a quiet kind of a way within an hour or two.
No later than that.
Well? He's for the company, all right.
- Didn't I tell ya? - He's a Barkley.
One of old Tom's get.
You don't mean it? O'Doul, me darlin' when it comes to the killin' of him, let me be the one to do it.
And I'll burn a thousand candles for the sake of your soul when they finally catch ya and swing ya off! Shut up with your talk about swingin'! There'll be a meetin' of the organization tonight.
Tell the boys we may have some business to do.
Go on! 500 Barkley Sierra.
27 and a quarter.
Buy for Hummel and Bailey.
1,000 cow Western Mining.
Eighteen and a half.
Makin' any money, Uncle Samuel? Oh, a little, Brother Barkley.
A little.
Good.
I'd like to talk to you for a minute if I may.
Make it brief, brother.
- Time and the tides of opportunity wait for no man.
- Ah, yes.
- What'd you wanna talk about? - Barkley Sierra.
I'm a very busy man, Brother Barkley.
Maybe you'd better come around to the office later in the week.
Now, Uncle Samuel.
Right now.
Well, what about? I understand you're bringing in Chinese strikebreakers.
- You heard that, did you? - Yep.
My brother's in Lonesome.
He wired me about your plans.
Now, you know you can't get away with a thing like that, Uncle Samuel.
You bring in 500 Chinese laborers on Wednesday, and by Thursday they're scattered all the way from Camp Lonesome to the Barbary Coast.
It's not my doing.
It's the decision of the board of directors.
Oh, come now, Uncle Samuel.
You control that board, and we both know it.
All right.
The shareholders entrusted me with management of the property.
To my mind, that means makin' profits.
Makin' profits means getting the ore out of the mine at the least cost and Chinese labor isn't one third as dear as what we've been payin'.
Why, you slippery old thief.
I almost believe you started that strike just so you could bring in cheap labor.
If you see any loose Barkley Sierra stock, Brother Barkley, snap it up.
It's a good investment for the future.
Gently, Brother Barkley.
Gently.
Uncle Samuel, you just started yourself a little war.
And before it's over, I'm gonna collect that greasy old hide of yours and have it stuffed.
200 grand copper.
Eight and a half.
Don't make a sound, or we're both dead.
- What-What's wrong? - Get up and get dressed.
They're coming for you.
- Who's coming for me? - The Molly Maguires.
Now, will you get a move on! - The Molly Maguires are here? - Never mind the questions.
Do you want to kill us both? - Well- - Aye! You and your modesty.
- How did you know about this? - I heard them talkin'.
They think it's a grand thing to hang a Barkley.
- Why are you warning me? - The $20, it'll keep me out of the saloon for a month.
If we get out of this, you'll never be in that saloon again, I'll tell you that.
I mean it.
For the sake of the comfort it would bring me, Mr.
Barkley would you kiss me once? No.
On the lips.
Would you believe me if I said that was the first time I was ever kissed? Really kissed? - They're comin'.
There's a back way out of this rat trap.
- Come on.
- Open your door, Newton.
! Now, boys, don't make no trouble in my place.
Do as you're told, Newton, and there'll be no trouble.
All right, boys.
! Come on.
! It's me home.
You'll be safe here.
Nobody'll bother Tim Hanrihan.
- Tim Hanrihan? - Me father.
Whoever you are, tell my daughter not to bring her loathsome little friends under the roof of my house.
Mr.
Barkley, tell my father what happened.
The Mollys were after me.
Your daughter helped me.
Barkley, is it? Oh, if I had me legs - I'd be out with the boys huntin' you down.
- Father, please- Tell my daughter if she has anything to say to me, to speak through you.
- What is this? - Me father won't speak to me.
He doesn't care for the way I put food in his belly and a roof over his head.
I never asked for her charity.
He'd rather I let him starve than me work in a saloon, and him helpless as he is.
Thank God her mother died before she brought this shame on us.
I wish you'd die! Leave her be! You stay here where I can keep me eyes on you.
Get back there! You try that, and I'll howl so loud every Molly in camp will be in here before you can sayJack Robinson.
Now, you sit down over there.
I suppose you think I'm a hard man.
I think you're a fool.
Oh, if I had me legs, you'd sing a different tune, me boyo.
Do you wonder where my legs went? Down in the mine, that's where when the rotten timberin'collapsed.
I should've died down there, and I would've if it hadn't been for the hate that kept me alive.
Hate for the lyin' mouth of him that made the lyin' promises that brought us here and put my daughter in a saloon to earn the bit of bread to keep me alive.
Ah, it keeps me alive to curse the dirty name ofTom Barkley and all that come after him.
I don't know anything about Tom Barkley's promises.
Oh? Well, we've got a long night ahead of us.
I'll tell you the promises he made.
And then you go back to your Barkleys and tell them why we spit on their name here in Lonesome Camp! Come in.
- Evening, Brother Barkley.
- Good evening, Uncle Samuel.
What brings you out so late? Dickering.
Time doesn't mean much when a man's in the mood to dicker.
Dickering, huh? What do you got? Oh, I've got something.
What have you got? - I never touch it.
- Oh? Well, then, how about a petition signed on behalf of the minority shareholders enjoining present management from conducting any further company business? Sit down, Uncle Samuel.
Pending a full stockholders' meeting.
It'll be filed, uh- Let's see.
Oh.
- Tomorrow.
- Hmm.
- Well, it isn't much.
- Oh? Well, then why are you dickerin'? Because you can be a nuisance, Brother Barkley.
A tarnation nuisance.
So I'm making you an offer.
$333,000 for your holdings in Barkley Sierra.
That's the market price before the stock went down.
Now, there's a handsome offer if I say so myself.
What if I say no? Well, then you'd be a tarnation fool.
Besides, you've got no right to say no.
That's a Barkley family holding.
You'd better talk it over between you before you say anything.
All things considered Hummel has made us a pretty fair offer.
We could get out of Barkley Sierra without losing any skin.
You mean we'll get all our money back? - Yep.
- And if we don't accept? Well, then we're in for a rather expensive fight for control of the company.
All right, Jarrod, what are our chances? Hummel now controls 60% of the outstanding shares.
- Then we lost before we start.
- Not necessarily.
We might be able to win over some of the proxies he now holds.
Let's sell and get out.
Mother? I wonder what he would say.
- I'll tell you what he'd say.
- What are you doin' back so soon? I didn't expect to be back so soon.
I was chased out by men carryin' ropes.
They call themselves the Molly Maguires.
Did you ever hear of the Molly Maguires? Any of ya? Those miners have reached the limit of their endurance.
The Molly Maguires, one of their secret societies- a violent one- they have the strange notion that it's better to die fighting than wait like sheep.
A very strange and unrealistic people.
I don't think you'd like them.
Funny thing is they don't hate the company management nearly as much as they hate the Barkleys.
- Get to the point, Heath.
- Well, now, I was gonna tell you what he'd do.
Go on.
He'd say, "Sell out.
" He'd say, "Wipe your hands of the whole dirty mess.
" - He'd say, "Take your money and run.
" - What happened up there? You think those men up at Lonesome Camp are striking against Hummel's management? His wage cut? Working conditions in the mine? Oh, you are so wrong.
They're striking against him! Heath, I think you'd better explain that.
And you explain to me his promises that were never kept.
Good housing, safe working conditions decent wages, schools for the children and a company store selling at cost.
Security for the old and the injured.
What did they get? Leaking roofs, rotten timbering in the mines dirty children playing in the streets and begging pennies and a company store that charges four prices for everything.
Do you know what they eat up there? Potatoes.
Potatoes three times a day, seven days a week.
And praise the Lord when a miracle puts a bite of meat on their plates once in a blue moon.
And as for the old and the crippled oh, they've got it fine and easy if they have a daughter who works in a saloon to keep the company roof over their heads and enough food from the company store to keep them alive.
What he promised them was hope and what they got was a kick in the teeth.
That is why they hate him.
I don't believe it.
I don't believe it.
You're very young, and the young are very intolerant.
You couldn't understand a man like your father.
You couldn't understand how a man might make promises in good faith, and then be unable to keep them.
You only heard one side of the story.
Don't pass judgment on a man you never knew until you hear both sides.
I've always had faith in my husband and I still do.
But if he was at fault in this instance then we all are at fault.
Your father left us a heritage of wealth and power and land and he also left us his obligations.
- Jarrod? - Yes, Mother? Fight Sam Hummel with everything we've got.
Rice, you hold a thousand shares.
- I want your proxy to vote.
- Jarrod, is the situation that bad? Believe me, it's that bad.
We've got to get that mine back in operation.
Who else will go along with you? I've got Mayhew and Chase to throw in with me.
Now, what do you say? But even with my thousand, you're still way short of control.
George, I only know one way to begin- that's to start.
It's the Chinese! The Chinese! Over! Open up on 'em! Murderer, Murdoch! Stop firing! Stop! It's murder! Those men are unarmed.
Is this what you wanted, Murdoch? I didn't want murder.
You've got to believe me.
I- I didn't want murder.
He said the strike would end in three days- that the men couldn't hold out any longer.
And every day it went on, he said it was sure to end the next day and then the next, and then the day after.
When the violence broke out, I said "Look, Mr.
Hummel, let's call a halt to this.
Let's sit down with the men and negotiate a settlement.
" He said nobody had a given right to work in Barkley Sierra- that if they didn't want to work, he'd find men that would.
He said that in a way, the strike was a good thing because it meant he could call in cheap labor increase the profits.
He said there might be a little trouble but he didn't say people would be killed.
What can I do? What's this? Your proxy signed over toJarrod Barkley to vote your 5,000 shares as he pleases.
You wanted to know what to do.
Sign.
- I thought you were up at Lonesome Camp.
- I was.
Got a little present for ya.
Murdoch's proxy.
This does it, boy.
This does it.
Mother's milk.
Have a drop, would you, boy? You're not lookin' well, Paddy.
- I never felt better.
- That rap you got on the head- What are you talkin' about? My head's the hardest thing I've got.
It was a terrible rap.
I knew a man got one like it once.
Oh, he was, uh, up and about, cheerful as a lark for three days.
But then, on the fourth, he was dead as a mackerel.
- What are you sayin', man? - That you're going to die, me boy.
- You don't mean it.
- Yes.
But only for a little while.
Who ever heard of a man dyin' for a little while? You got a plan, O'Doul.
- What kind of a plan? - Well, the cemetery is inside the company fence.
You need a burial permit to get past the guards.
Need I tell you that a dead man is required for gettin' such a permit? But they say there's going to be a new management and a settlement to the strike.
- Do you believe it? - It's a trick? We're in a war, Paddy a war between the likes of us and the landlords.
A dirty landlord's trick! We're not just fightin' the Barkleys.
We're fightin' all the bosses and all the mine owners.
Why start anything now when the trouble's almost over? I'm tellin' you, we need the violence.
We need the men in the other camps to know there's such a thing as the Molly Maguires ready to fight for them against the bosses! - What are you goin' to do? - Blow up the works.
Oh! Oh, that's a grand plan.
Then are you with me? Oh, Paddy, you'll be a famous man.
How long do I have to stay dead? Only a day or two.
- Will I have a wake? - A grand wake.
It's the height of my career.
I'll be attendin' me own wake.
Oh! Oh, why did he die? He never ate meat on Friday nor on any other day, the poor soul.
He was pure in his thoughts about women.
He never missed the sacrament.
He never gave way to sins oflust.
Why did he die? Oh! Oh, why? Why did he die? Good evening, Mr.
Tolliver.
I suppose you've come for the buryin'permit.
- Who you buryin'? - Padraic O'Houlihan.
Himself that was called Paddy the Ghoul.
Ah, the poor soul.
Sure, he never missed a wake if it was within 100 miles.
- I gotta check the body- - Oh! The shame of it all.
A poor man dead and not let to lie in peace in his own box.
I guess it'll be all right.
Only the pallbearers pass the gate.
Yes.
Yes, Mr.
Tolliver.
Aw! A toast! A toast to Paddy the Ghoul! Dyin' is a terribly thirsty business.
There ya go.
That's right.
- Come on.
Over here.
- Help yourself.
You know, this'll be one funeral they'll never forget.
Poor Paddy.
He went out with a bang.
- Get back in there! - Newton, give me a drink.
I'll burn down your house if you don't give me a drink.
I've got to talk to Heath! Quick! I just saw Paddy at Newton's.
He's alive.
Alive? Then who's in the casket? It must be O'Doul.
He's up to something.
I think they're gonna blow up the mine.
Get all the men you can up to the mine.
O'Doul! O'Doul.
! O'Doul! O'Doul, I wanna talk to you.
- Dion, the strike's over.
- I should've killed you the first time I saw you! Good-bye, Murdoch, and many thanks for your help.
Thanks for yours.
From now on we'll run this mine the way Tom Barkley planned it.
You do that.
- Bridey.
- I guess you're leavin'.
What'll you do now? I'm goin' to San Francisco.
Away from here, I can make somethin' of myself.
- Can I help? - You already have.
- And I thank you for it.
- Bridey? Good luck.