Gunsmoke (1955) s01e29 Episode Script

Gunsmoke starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Some of these Boot Hill men lie here with nothing but a saddle blanket for a coffin, and some of them, who are real poor, without even that.
But they all died the same way: hard and fast, and hating something.
It's the hate a man carries that destroys him.
It's not the bullets.
Hate can twist and sicken him till he's no good to anybody, including himself.
And that's a bad thing to watch, especially when it's an old friend.
Nope, I sure didn't hire on for that.
Matt Dillon, U.
S.
marshal.
Oh.
Howdy, Doc.
Hello, Chester.
You goin' out, huh? On a sick call? I don't usually carry my bag when I'm going down to the saloon for a beer.
No, sure.
You got something on your mind? No, no, I just thought I'd stop by.
Just wanted to say hello.
Yeah, that's all.
Why don't you walk over to the livery stable with me? I got to go out to Jake Morrison's place.
His boy's got the ague.
Oh, ain't that a shame.
Seems like everybody's getting the ague these days.
Yeah.
I had a touch myself, last month.
You did? Yeah.
Of course, Dr.
Leasterly's Fever and Ague Killer fixed me up fine.
It did, huh? Y- Or some folks swear by Skood's Calagog.
Hm? Others like just plain old sulfur and molasses and a little hot ginger tea.
Heh.
Yeah.
You generally subscribe quinine, don't you, Doc? Yes.
Yes, I do.
Uh, how's your lumbago, Chester? Oh, it's fine.
Lumbago's fine.
That, uh, August Flowers Bitters fixed you up, did it? Well, no, Doc.
I got some new stuff.
Some, uh, "Curtis's Original Mamluk Liniment.
" You see hear? It's a "garden tea "to cure cramps, pains in the joints, "sore throat, frostbite, "reptile bite, mange, salt rheum, dysentery diarrhea, and choll-era.
" That's "cholera.
" Oh.
A whole medical arsenal wrapped up in that one little bottle, huh? Heh.
Yeah.
And it's doin' you good? Oh, it is, Doc.
Do you feel fine? Oh, yeah.
Well, you look terrible.
Uh, then- Oh, well, Doc, to tell you the truth, I- I did kind of wake up with a kind of a grabbing down here this morning.
Oh, pain? Yeah.
It kind of feels like somebody stuck a butcher knife in there and just turned the handle on me.
Well, so you thought you'd come to my office and get a little free advice, huh? Well, I Well, I'll give you some advice, Chester.
Oh.
I'll give you some free advice.
Stop puttin' all that salt pork in your stomach and those dried beans, and get some fresh greens in there.
That's what you need.
And stay out of saloons.
It don't hurt that bad.
And what's more important, throw all that stuff away.
Throw it away.
Or better still, use it to put on your boots.
It's fine for toughenin' up leather.
What's the matter? What is it, Doc? You know them fellas? Doc.
You look like you're looking at a ghost.
What is it? Where you goin'? Doc, where you goin'? I'm gonna kill a man.
Doc, what are you gonna do with that? Doc, that- That old.
36 Colt ain't nothin' to play around with.
That can blow a hole clean through a man.
Doc.
Doc, are you gonna tell me what you're fixin' to do with that? Doc, you don't wanna do nothin' foolish, now.
Doc.
Doc, you're gonna get yourself in trouble.
Mr.
Dillon! Mr.
Dillon.
What is it, Chester? You better hurry.
Maybe you can stop him.
Stop who? Doc.
He looks he's gonna kill somebody.
Doc? Yes, sir.
He's got his.
36 Colt, and he's marchin' up Front Street lookin' for somebody.
I-I tried my best to stop him, Mr.
Dillon, but he wouldn't listen to me.
You should have seen the look on his face, Mr.
Dillon.
He- He means business.
I never seen Doc like this before.
Well, who's he after? Well, I don't know.
Do you know what it's all about? No, sir.
But it ain't no joke to face that.
36 Colt, even if it is an old ball of percussion.
Marshal! Marshal! Doc's in there.
And if you don't come outside, I'm gonna kill you right where you stand.
No.
I told you.
I won't fight you.
That's up to you, Clem, but I'm gonna kill ya whether you defend yourself or not.
Doc.
Matt, stay out of this.
It happens to be my business when one man threatens another man in this town, Doc.
Especially when the other man won't even defend himself.
That'd be murder, Doc.
I've thought of that, and I'm gonna kill him.
Why? I got reasons.
You won't tell me? No, sir.
What about you? I could say I don't know.
I could say I don't even know 'em, that I'm just a stranger riding through town.
But I know.
You mean, he's got good reasons? I guess he thinks so.
Do you? Not many men would answer yes to that, would they, marshal? But you won't defend yourself.
I won't draw on him, no.
If he's gonna shoot me, he'll have to answer for it.
I'm not a fightin' man, marshal, I'm a miner.
Me and my partners here were just riding through.
We don't want any trouble.
He's telling the truth, marshal.
We made our strike in Arizona territory.
We're headed back to St.
Louis.
We was mindin' our own business, having a quiet drink, when this madman roars in here and jumps Clem.
Clem.
Clem Maddow.
This my brother, George, and our partner, Ben Bartlett.
We don't want no trouble, marshal.
But we can sure handle it if it comes.
You men get back to your drinks.
Doc.
I'm gonna kill him, Matt.
You can't stop me.
Oh, I can't, huh? No.
You're taking an awful lot for granted, Doc.
Maybe you think I won't throw you in jail for threatening murder.
Maybe you think because you're the town's only doctor, you can get away with anything.
Matthew- Listen to me.
You're forgetting a few things.
Your position in this town means that you ought to be setting an example instead of running around acting like some crazy gun hand.
And what's more important, you have a responsibility.
Some other man's life may be his own to go out and throw away, but yours belongs to this whole town, Doc.
Too many lives depend on you.
Now, you calm down.
You go back and put that gun away.
You sure told him off.
You shut up.
Huh? I don't know anything about you, Maddow.
Maybe you're what you say you are, just an innocent miner passing through town.
But if Doc doesn't like you, that's good enough for me.
Now, you get out of Dodge and stay out.
Why should we? We got a right to be here? And you take this partner of yours with you.
I don't like him.
All right, marshal.
I understand.
We're gonna ride on tomorrow anyway.
But we'll move on tonight as soon as we stock up on some grub.
All right.
You get your things and move on.
Marshal.
Thanks.
Where did he go, Chester? Well, probably back to his office like you told him.
Oh, Mr.
Dillon, the look on his face- Yeah, I know.
I know.
Well, you had to do it.
Yeah.
You better get back to the office.
Yes, sir.
I won't be long.
Well Doc? Doc.
Did you find him? No, he didn't show up at Delmonico's for his supper.
It's way past his usual time.
Well, I've been watching his office, and his light didn't come on yet.
Of course, he could be up there in the dark.
No.
You don't think that maybe he might have left town? Run away? 'Cause of what I told him? Not Doc.
He's too bull-headed.
Most likely, he's out there somewhere with that old Colt.
36, looking for Maddow.
Well, I'm afraid you're right, Mr.
Dillon.
It Doggone it, I don't know what this town would do without Doc.
He- He can be awful irritating and all, but he Yeah.
Now, that Clem Maddow.
He didn't seem like such a bad fella.
No, he didn't.
Him or his brother.
I'd sooner believe bad about that partner of theirs, that Bartlett.
He looked like he could be a hard case without half-trying.
Yeah, maybe, Chester.
Why wouldn't Maddow defend hisself? Well, it wasn't 'cause he was afraid to, Chester.
No.
Seemed like he just didn't wanna fight Doc.
Didn't seem mad at all.
Just kind of sad.
Maybe he's a man with a guilty conscience, Chester.
Well, that could be.
Marshal.
Marshal! All right, everybody.
Get back out of the way, here.
It's Clem.
I think he's dying.
Shot in the back.
Yeah.
Oh, it's awful.
He said he'd kill him.
Now he's gone and done it.
Did you see who did it? No, I was in the store.
But George was here and got hit in the head.
You know who it was? I ain't sure.
I was loading a packhorse.
Had my back turned.
I heard a shot.
Then, when I turned around, he hit me.
I ain't sure, marshal.
It must have been him.
Anybody else around here see it? There ain't much doubt, is there? Who else would have a reason? Besides, everybody in town heard him threaten to kill Clem.
Just because a man's a doctor don't give him the right to go around murdering people.
He's not dead yet, Bartlett.
So the important thing now is to try and save his life, isn't it? So maybe you better just shut up and give us a hand with him.
Where will we take him, Mr.
Dillon? There's only one place, Chester.
Hey, marshal, it's him.
Where you been, Doc? Well, I was down at the stable.
I heard a shot.
It's Maddow.
He's been shot in the back.
As if he didn't know.
Now, look, Doc.
I can understand you shootin' a man if you had a reason.
But not in the back.
Marshal, ain't you gonna do anything about him? Now look, this partner of yours may be bleeding to death, and he's gonna die if he doesn't get attention.
And this is the only doctor in town.
Well, Doc? Gonna let him die? Bring him up to the office.
All right.
You boys get his hands, will ya? Now, lift him easy.
Careful.
Careful.
All right.
How's your head? My head's all right.
It's Clem I'm worried about.
That doctor tried to kill him once, there ain't no reason he wouldn't finish him off now.
Marshal says he's the only one around here.
That right? Yeah.
He's the only one for 30 miles.
I still say we ought to get him out of here.
We could carry him that far.
Ben, you know he never would make it.
Where you going? Check the horses.
What for? There's a lot of money sitting down there in them saddlebags.
Yeah, well, maybe I better go with you.
What's the matter? Don't you trust me? I'm gettin' so I don't trust nobody around here anymore.
Is he gonna pull through? I don't know.
I've done all I can.
Well, good.
Then you won't have anything on your conscience, anyway.
Well, you didn't have to stand here and watch me.
I know I didn't.
That's not why I came, Doc.
I wanted this.
Why? 'Cause I know you didn't shoot him, Doc, but I had to be able to prove it.
How'd you know? 'Cause he was shot in the back.
I tried to tell you that out there, but you didn't seem to understand.
Well, thanks, Matt, but that's not very much proof for a court.
No, but this is.
This.
45 caliber bullet couldn't very well have come from your old Colt.
36, now, could it? No, it couldn't, but Well, who did shoot him? I'm the only one in town that had any reason to.
I'm the only one in town that even knew him.
Except his partners.
A man could fatten his take in a mining strike by shootin' one of his partners in the back, Doc.
Let's try something.
How is he, marshal? I think he's gonna be all right.
He ain't gonna die? That's mighty fine.
Yeah, we were plenty worried.
What with him operating and all.
You didn't have to worry.
He's a doctor above everything else.
He's a good one too.
Besides this bullet, it didn't come from Doc's gun.
Well, who did shoot him? Don't you know? Don't either of you know? What do you mean? You're talking crazy.
Am I? Just keep your hand away from that gun, Bartlett.
You think I shot him, don't you? Well, I didn't.
I was in that store when that shot was fired.
You can ask the storekeep.
I did ask him.
What did he say? He said he thought you were there.
He couldn't be sure, but he thought so.
He didn't say where you were.
Why, you must be out of your mind.
You think I'd shoot my own brother, hit myself over the head? Maybe.
Oh, could I? Ben, I'm asking you.
My own brother.
Maybe.
No, you don't think I could.
You know I didn't.
Because you did it, Ben.
Just stay right there.
You can't prove a thing, marshal.
Now, I'm leaving here, and nobody better follow me.
Drop it.
Did you ever see what one of these things will do to a man? Drop it! Hey, you took a chance, Doc.
No.
Anybody who'd shoot his own brother in the back is too much of a coward to fight anybody face to face.
Just try me.
Why, you Ain't no law says a man got to love his brother.
All right, you get.
Chester.
Yes, sir.
Pulse is better.
Color's better too.
Funny thing.
What, Doc? I don't hate him anymore.
I'm glad to hear that.
Well, it was what you said in the bar that made me come to my senses.
Yeah.
You know, I looked all over for you afterwards.
You gave me kind of a scare when I couldn't find you.
Well, I remembered I had to go out to Jake Morrison's house.
His boy had the ague.
Doc? Uh, yes, Clem? You take it easy, now.
You're gonna be all right.
Doc? I wanted to tell you.
I loved her.
I would've come back if I could.
I didn't turn out to be much.
Ellen deserved better.
I guess I never even thought of that.
You get some sleep now, Clem.
Things are gonna look better tomorrow.
For both of us.
Who was Ellen, Doc? Doesn't matter now, Matt.
It's not important.
Well, it must have been important.
Who was she? Well, I never did talk about it before.
Never did.
But I don't mind telling you.
Happened a long time ago.
I was in love with Ellen.
She loved him.
He went away and never did come back.
Their baby died at birth.
It shamed her.
Broke her heart.
She died soon after that.
I carried a hate in my heart for him all these years.
Well, that's just not good for a man.
No.
No, it isn't.
I'm sorry, Doc.
It's passed, Matt.
It's forgotten.
Sure.
Well good night, Doc.
Good night, Matt.