Gunsmoke (1955) s01e11 Episode Script

Gunsmoke Starring james arness as matt dillon.
Boot hill's just a rise on the kansas flatlands.
A few tufts of buffalo grass, Some weathered markers And the silkweed blowing in the wind.
Well, over there in dodge, They don't think about how ugly it is, Or the useless killing that puts men here.
I know, I'm matt dillon, United states marshal.
No, they just fill up on tanglefoot whiskey, Ease their gun belts and go on the prod.
Yet more often than not, They end up here on boot hill, Having found only a shallow grave.
Hold it.
Your name nash? That's right.
What are you doin' in dodge? Oh, I got business.
As a gunfighter? You seen any wanted posters on me, marshal? Not lately.
Then you got no call to bother me.
Well, when I see a man like you going into a bank, I wanna know why.
Marshal dillon Mr.
Nash works here.
He works for me.
You the new banker? That's right.
I'm drew holt.
I'm glad to know you, marshal.
I've been lookin' forward to your return.
I hope you drop in and have a chat, soon.
You, uh- You know what kind of a man you've hired here? Why, marshal, I can assure you his business with me is legitimate.
I'm sure he won't cause you any trouble.
Well, he better not.
I give you my word, marshal.
All right.
I just hope you can keep it.
Oh, mr.
Dillon.
Mornin', chester.
Well, you're back kinda early, ain't ya? Yeah.
Just rode in.
Well, how was your trip? Well, it was nothin' unusual.
I noticed a sign down the street, New bank.
Yeah- oh, yeah.
It, uh- It opened just after you left.
I'll take it you don't have any money in there.
Me? Now, what would I be doing with money? Besides, if I had any, I'd put it in mr.
Botkin's bank.
Marshal dillon? Yes? Parsley smith, sir, at your service.
Glad to know ya, mr.
Smith.
This is chester goode.
Mr.
Smith.
Not "mr.
Smith", sir, General smith, Well, I thought the 3rd illinois was demobilized, A long time ago.
Well, it was, sir, in the fall of '65.
We served with general grant before richmond.
It was our last action.
Now, what can I do for you, general? Well, for me, nothin', But for the good citizens of your town, a great deal.
Oh? Yes, I rode in last week With a remount party to fort dodge.
General miles' personal guest.
Oh, are ya stayin' at the fort then? No, I came into town on business.
And it's a good thing I did too.
That so? Yes, I just been awaitin' your return.
Now that you're back, you can take over.
Well, take over what? Drew holt is a thief, marshal.
The new banker? Now, I haven't told anybody yet, But I knew holt in the war, marshal.
Ya did? He was a spy.
Holt? On my word as an officer, sir, and a gentleman.
Oh, I know he looks mild enough, harmless in fact, But he was a spy.
Well? Spied for both sides.
We caught him, but he escaped.
Man's no good, he's gotta be stopped.
Well, that may be true That he spied for both sides, general, but, uh- Well, that doesn't necessarily make him a thief.
But he's no banker.
He's just waitin' For enough deposits to make it worthwhile.
He's had ten days already while you were away.
He'll skip any day now.
Well, he wouldn't get far.
A man who spied for both sides, He'll live through it.
You're underestimatin' the enemy, marshal.
Well, I warned ya.
Anything that'll happen will be on your head.
Well, I'll look into it.
Thanks, general.
Good day, sir.
Ah.
It's a pleasure, marshal.
Have a seat.
Thank you.
Come to have our chat already.
Dodge has grown in the couple of weeks you've been away, Hasn't it? Two banks.
Well, you seem to be doin' pretty well.
Doing fine, just fine.
Except for one thing.
Oh? That old man, that general smith? I don't know, marshal, he must be crazy.
I don't know what he's got against me.
I never saw him before in my life.
But already I've lost three depositors Because of his crazy lies.
So they are lies then? But of course they're lies.
Unless he stops such talk, I'm going to ask you to lock him up.
There must be laws to protect businessmen From such scoundrels, Or madmen, as the case may be.
Where you from, holt? Why, uh, back east.
Pennsylvania.
Why? Well, you look familiar, eh? I thought maybe we'd met somewhere a long time ago.
Couldn't have been in the army, could it? I'm afraid not, marshal.
I was never in the army.
I have a bad heart.
Well, doesn't matter.
There is one thing I'd like you to explain to me though.
Oh? Why'd you hire a gunman like nash? Ya know he's a gunman.
Well, that's why I hired him.
I have a lot of folks money here.
I mean to protect it.
How do ya know you can trust him? He's a gunfighter.
For hire.
And I hired him.
As long as I pay him, he'll be loyal.
I hope you're right.
Well Marshal If you're at all worried About anything that man general smith says, You can talk to mr.
Botkin.
He'll tell you my credentials are in order.
I'm sure he'll- And if you put it in there, you're money's As good as gone.
Believe it! What is that? Take your hands off me, sir! I have every right to speak-! Now, you heard me, Get goin'! Nash.
Do you want somebody your own weight, nash? If you was any kind of a marshal, You'd have this old buzzard behind bars.
Ya see, marshal, what kind of men they are? I-I warned you.
Did you order this? Yes, I did.
I mean to protect my business.
He's no right to stand in front of my place And slander me.
Well, aren't you going to do anything about him? Well, just don't you do anything.
All right, marshal.
I'm sorry if I overstepped myself.
Come along, nash.
And I'll leave it to you From now on, marshal.
Is that all you're gonna do, marshal? Aren't you gonna lock those scoundrels up? Look, general, I've told you That you talk too much.
Now, I'm warning you: You let me handle this.
Sir, when I see the appropriate action taken- General Hmph.
Very well, sir.
If you don't want my support He sure is a humdinger, ain't he? What a talker.
You should've heard him jawin' at the passengers Comin' in on the stage.
Stage? He told me rode in with a remount party, Special guest of general miles.
remount party, nothin'.
He came with me all the way from hays city, Tellin' whoppers all the way.
But if he's gonna tangle with a gunman like nash, He might get shut up For good.
Yeah.
Mind the competition? Of course I don't mind.
Dodge has needed another bank for a long time.
What do you know about this holt? He came to see me first day he was here.
Showed me hisCredentials, charter.
Looked bona fide to me.
A man could fake credentials, couldn't he? Oh, come now, marshal.
You've been listening to that crazy old general smith.
You think he's lying? He lies about everything.
Why, he told me he fought under zach taylor In the black hawk war.
And that the last time he saw taylor Was in harper's ferry.
What do you think of that? Well, that would have been About ten years after taylor died.
He's telling folks he's a guest of the commandant Out at fort dodge.
Everybody knows he's got a room at the dodge house.
Why would he lie about a thing like that? Who cares? I don't know.
Maybe we'll find out more about it When doc gets back this afternoon.
Why? Well, the general says He was with the 3rd illinois cavalry.
That's doc's old outfit.
Oh, that'll be interesting.
Show him up for the liar he is, I'll bet.
Well, he's a liar maybe, But I'm not as sold On this holt as I might be.
Oh Holt's all right, marshal, I'm sure of it.
Well, hope you're right.
And the new bank's gonna mean a lot To the whole country around here.
You wait and see.
All right, mr.
Botkin.
I'll wait.
Which room is general smith's? It's, uh, number six.
Right up there, marshal.
Thank you.
Who is it? Marshal dillon.
You'll have to pardon My temporary quarters, marshal.
Sure, general.
I, uh, just thought I'd take a look at your uniform, Your medals and all.
Oh, no.
You see, I left everything at fort dodge.
Travelin' light, you know.
Sure.
I see that the bank's still open.
When are ya gonna close it? I'm not goin' to.
Shirkin' your duties, sir? Holt's credentials are good, according to mr.
Botkin.
Nothin' easier than that For a man as clever as holt is.
General, Ed nash is a gunman.
Take more than that to scare a man Who stood before the batteries at vicksburg.
You ever face grapeshot, marshal? Now, look, general, Your talk is hurting the town.
We need that bank here.
And I was decorated by general grant himself In person, sir.
Now, look, general, Either you prove that holt's a thief, Or you quit talkin' about him.
I mean it.
I'm under fire, eh? Well, I never retreated under fire in my life, marshal.
You'll get your proof soon enough, But it'll be too late then.
I'm not gonna argue with you, general.
I warned you, And the next time I'm gonna run you out of dodge.
If they had listened to me at bull run, There'd have been no disaster.
General- I'll do my duty as I see fit, sir.
Always have and always will.
And no man is gonna stop me! You got business in here too, nash? I live here, marshal.
I've decided you better check out, nash.
Out of here and out of dodge.
Why? Just because I don't like your kind around.
You can't do that.
I'll give you till 5:00.
If I see ya around town after that, I'll lock you up.
Now, look here- Five o'clock.
I've been tryin' to get somethin' out of you About this parsley smith, But you haven't told me anything about him yet.
No, and I wanna see him first.
I wanna talk to him.
Besides, heSaid he was gonna lay off.
You told him too, and he probably will.
Maybe.
Say, matt, this, uh- this drew holt.
Didn't he buy himself a house out at the edge of town? Yeah.
Well, now, that doesn't sound much Like a man who's plannin' to run away, does it? No.
Well- Mr.
Dillon? General smith's at it again.
Out in front of the bank? No, he moved down to the corner.
He's scared of nash, I guess.
So he would probably lay off, huh? Let's go see him.
All right.
You can say hello to him, Just before I run him out of town.
I tell you again, I tell you all, This drew holt, the man's an out-and-out crook.
He'll make off with every penny you give him! I assure you, gentlemen- Doc.
Doc adams.
Hello, parsley.
What are you doin' in dodge? I live here.
What are you doing here? Well, I was on my way to arizona, And I stopped here because- Well, I guess you heard of drew holt and his bank.
Thought I told you to lay off, general.
I'm only doin' my duty since you won't do yours.
I already saved two men from losing their money This afternoon.
Well, that's all you're gonna save.
You're through, general.
Ya can't run me out.
I tell ya, holt's gonna rob everybody.
He'll ruin these people! You've got to believe me.
Did you ever hear of a drew holt In the army, doc? No.
No, I never heard of him.
Till dark, general.
If I see ya around town after that, I'll have to lock you up.
Ya mean that, don't you? I mean it.
All right.
Bye, doc.
Thank you.
Bye, parsley.
What was the "thanks" for, doc? Keepin' my mouth shut, I guess.
Parsley smith wasn't a general.
He was the regimental butcher.
The regimental butcher? He started out as a staff sergeant, But they found out he'd lied so much About his past experience.
He said he'd been in mexico with general scott.
Turned out he'd never been In anybody's army before.
Well, he's through now.
Well, he isn't a bad man, matt.
No, maybe not.
Well, thanks, marshal.
And thanks for running that old fool off.
I ran off him and nash too, mr.
Holt.
Ya did? From now on, if your bank needs protection, I'll handle it.
Well, of course, if you say so, marshal.
Hello, chester.
Have you seen him, mr.
Dillon? Not yet.
Have you? No.
Neither one of 'em.
I reckon they must have left town.
I don't know.
Maybe.
Well It's gettin' kinda late.
Yeah, why don't you go on to bed, chester? What about you? Well, I'll just stick around here a while- That's drew holt's house.
The general's gone plum crazy.
General.
General smith, it's marshal dillon.
Hold your fire.
Stay where you are, marshal.
He'll see you! Keep everybody here, chester.
Drew holt is still alive, marshal.
But I got his gunman.
That's nash lyin' dead on the front porch.
Yeah, I see him.
He was gonna run off tonight.
You must have scared him.
But I was standin' guard.
I stopped him.
Give me your rifle, general.
What for? I said give it to me.
You're gonna take over? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm takin' over.
All right.
Here.
Your hands are shakin'.
Have you been hit? No, holt couldn't hit anything.
I-I heard him yell once though.
I might have a bullet in him.
Well, you better hope that you haven't.
You're in trouble enough already.
Stay here.
Ya still don't believe me, do ya? It doesn't matter now what I believe.
Holt? It's dillon.
Come on out of there.
Chester, bring the general.
Holt.
Holt, can you hear me? You did it, marshal.
He winged me, but you did it.
That old fool.
I should've killed him a long time ago.
Is he dead? Yeah.
Well, you were right, general.
You did have a bullet in him.
The bag's on the table.
That's the money they was runnin' off with.
I don't suppose there's any use in my askin' you How you really knew about holt, is there? I'm awful tired.
I- I gotta sit down.
It's, uh Been a long night.
I made that up, marshal, about Him bein' a spy.
I thought you'd more likely believe that Than what really happened.
All my life the things I made up seemed better Than the way things actually happened.
It was over in abilene, marshal.
A few weeks back.
You- you know the grant hotel there? I know it.
Well, I-I had a room Next to this drew holt fella, And I used to sit in the dark, The windows open, They was plottin' Right outside on the balcony.
They didn't even know I was around.
Say, that was lucky.
I fooled 'em good, I sure did.
You know, marshal- Well, I'll be sworn to goodness, Looks like he fainted.
Mr.
Dillon, he's been shot.
He's dead, chester.
He even lied about bein' hit.
He didn't lie about drew holt though.
No.
No, he knew about holt.
But we'll never know how.
Well, he just told us, How he overheard 'em and all, At the grant hotel in abilene just a few weeks back.
There's somethin' wrong with that too, chester.
What? Because the grant hotel in abilene Burned down two years ago.