Gunsmoke (1955) s03e07 Episode Script

starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
You driving this stage to Dodge? Yup.
What time you figuring on leaving? Oh, most any time now.
Good.
They didn't seem too sure inside there.
They're never sure of nothin'.
Bunch of cracker eaters.
You can sit down over there.
I'll holler when I'm leaving.
Thanks.
Here, now, Missy.
You ain't planning on taking the stage out today, are you? Oh, you can't leave Hays.
You and I are gonna get acquainted.
Leave me alone.
Ah! You got spirit! Please let go of me.
I like women with spirit.
Take your hands They get so friendly-like later on.
That your woman? No.
Ah, looking for trouble then, huh? Yeah.
Yes, I am.
Yeah? Where's your gun? I knew I'd be sorry for not wearing it.
Well, this is my pasture.
Well, you got to whip me to make it yours.
Uh, she ain't worth the bother.
I didn't mean to cause trouble.
No trouble, ma'am.
I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't stopped him.
You was holding your own real fine.
I'm Mavis McCloud.
My name's Wales.
Barney Wales.
Are you, uh, fixing to take the stage to Dodge? Yes.
Well, you'll be all right.
I'm riding most of the way.
I've got a ranch just this side of Dodge.
Oh, you do? But I'll ride all the way in if you'd like me to.
Well, that's very kind of you, but there's no need.
You see, there's someone meeting me there.
Oh.
Well, maybe we better get aboard.
Gives you kind of a start, don't it? Oh, shut your mouth.
Well, what's the matter with you two? Well It's, uh uh Well, I've been gone for a couple of days.
Anybody notice? Oh, well, yeah, Mr.
Dillon.
I mean, we noticed.
That's Oh, well, Matt, it's that doggone telegram there.
It's got Chester just about half crazy and nervous, and I caught it from him, I guess.
It's something about telegrams.
Mr.
Dillon, I'm not too proud to admit this, but-but I kind of glanced at that.
Glanced at it? Well, now, just a minute.
If it's all right, I'll just take a glance at it myself here.
Well, it's uh, um "U.
S.
Marshal, Dodge City, Kansas.
" "Coming to get married, for I have noon stage Saturday.
Meet me.
Mavis McCloud.
" That's just exactly what it said when I read it, word for word.
Married? Well, you never mentioned anything about What is her name there? Mavis McCloud? I never heard of her, either.
Well, you old son of a gun.
Now if you ain't about the foxiest thing Now just-just hold on a minute here now.
Before you start a stampede, maybe I should explain something to you.
Yeah.
Be quiet now.
Well, I'm listening.
This is a very important moment here.
Well, now, this may come as a shock to you, but, uh, being as you're friends of mine, I think you ought to be the first to know.
Yeah? Yeah.
I got no intentions of getting married, and furthermore, I never heard of this Mavis McCloud here.
Never heard? Oh.
Well Well, what on earth do you suppose she's so sweet on you for? She might be pretty, you know, too.
Uh-huh.
I don't care if she looks like Lillie Langtry.
Well Uh, she's coming in on the noon stage, Mr.
Dillon.
You-You mean, you're not even gonna meet her, huh? No, I'm not gonna meet her, no.
Not if I got any sense, I'm not.
In fact, let's-let's go out and get some breakfast and talk about something else, huh? Well, all right You know, a woman like this can lead to nothing but trouble.
Oh, yeah.
Well, I don't see how she can be any trouble.
Oh, they can, Doc.
Well, it's, uh, pretty near on time.
Yeah.
Don't seem to bother you none.
No, no, I-I think stages should be on time.
Well, no, I meant about meeting Mavis Come on, let's get it over with.
How are we gonna tell Mavis from anybody else? I don't know.
Oh, Mr.
Dillon, look.
There's-There's Miss Kitty.
Chester, did you tell her about this? No, no, I swear to goodness, I didn't say Now, I said Oh! Look, she's going into the hat shop.
See? She didn't even notice us.
Oh there's a girl.
You-You suppose that's her? How would I know? Oh, Mr.
Dillon, she's just awful pretty.
Besides that, she's the only female on there.
Well, let's go find out.
Excuse me, miss.
Yes? Well, uh, I'm Matt Dillon.
Oh.
Well, maybe you could help me then.
I'm looking for the U.
S.
marshal here.
Well, uh, excuse me, miss, but you found him.
Mr.
Dillon's the marshal.
Oh.
Then you did get my telegram.
Say, that's right.
You didn't have any name on it, did you? Well, of course not.
How would I know what your name was? Oh, my goodness.
You didn't think I was coming here to marry you! Oh! Oh, how awful! I mean, how awful for you.
Yeah.
Uh, well, no.
I Uh, this is Chester Goode here.
Oh.
How do you do, Chester? How do you do, ma'am? Miss.
Mavis.
Mavis.
I'm sorry, Marshal.
I guess I should have explained more in the telegram.
Well, in that telegram, you said you were coming here to get married.
I am.
Well, uh, would you mind telling me who to? Well, I-I don't know.
You don't know? Not yet.
I just got here.
You and Chester are the first men that I've met.
Oh, yeah.
Chester.
Chester? Yes, Mr.
Dillon.
Would you go over and get Miss Kitty, please? Oh, well, uh Well, uh, all right.
Excuse me, ma'am.
Here, I'll help you with that.
Oh, thank you.
Mavis, how old are you? I'll be 19 in December.
Mm.
Where you from? I won't tell you.
Mm-hmm.
I'll bet you're from somewhere down South, aren't you? I met a nice man on the stage.
He got out just north of town at his ranch.
Do you know Barney Wales? Barney Wales? Sure.
Sure.
Barney's a good man.
Mavis, why did you run away from home? I'm over 18, Marshal.
All right, then why'd you send that telegram? Well, I thought I'd be safe with you helping me.
Safe? They need women out here, don't they, Marshal? Well, uh, yeah, sure, they need women, uh Here she is, Mr.
Dillon.
She was over at the hat shop just like Hello, Kitty.
Hello, Matt.
Uh, Kitty, this is Mavis McCloud.
This is Miss Russell, Mavis.
Hello, Mavis.
Welcome to Dodge.
Thank you, Kitty.
Kitty, I, uh I know.
Chester told me all about it.
You'll have to forgive the marshal, Mavis.
Sometimes he's a little slow to understand women.
Oh.
Is that what's the matter with him? With-With all the questions he was asking me, I thought he suspected me of something.
Kitty, would you take care of her for me, please? She'll be all right, Matt.
Hey, look, don't, uh Don't worry.
I'm not gonna let her get anywhere near the Long Branch.
Send her luggage over to the Dodge House, will you? All right.
Oh, you know, Mr.
Dillon, she-she ain't gonna have a speck of trouble finding a husband, pretty little thing like that.
Well, I hate to tell you this, Chester, but she's already met Barney Wales.
Yeah.
Oh.
Well, no, no, I shouldn't say that at all.
I mean, Barney is a nice fella, he really is.
He's-He's You know, he's got that-that little spread out at the edge of town, and she, uh Mm-hmm.
She Mr.
Dillon? Mr.
Dillon? Uh She didn't, uh, take too good to neither one of us, did she? No, she sure didn't, Chester.
You don't really suspicion her of anything like she said, do you? Well, all I know is that she ran away from home, and any time a nice young girl does something like that, she must have a pretty good reason for it.
Mm.
Or a pretty bad one.
Here they come.
Well, by golly, I'll tell you something.
Now that's a nice-looking young couple.
Oh, now, Miss Kitty, you mustn't cry.
I mean, chances are, they'll be just as happy as can be.
That's no reason to cry.
Is it? I'll see you all later.
Well Well, I declare, I just don't understand women at all.
I mean, the very idea of-of crying at-at a wedding it just, um I don't get the sense of it at all.
Yeah, that, uh that is kind of hard to understand sometimes, isn't it, Chester? Well, you-you take a nice young couple like Barney and Mavis.
She's so young and pretty and all.
Didn't take 'em no time at all to find out they was in love, did it? No.
About three weeks.
Well, that's no time.
Yeah, except you're forgetting something.
What? The reason Mavis came out here was to get married.
And we still don't know why.
That do the trick pretty good? Oh, no, no, it sure don't.
Keeps my mind off of it, though.
You know, Mr.
Dillon, it-it looks to me like that they'd find a way of covering up the sun.
Who's "they," Chester? You know, the people that go to school and all.
Oh, well Anybody's been to school very long ought to know better than to try to cover up the sun.
Well, I didn't mean all of it.
I just meant part of it.
Well, now, I know somebody that's done a pretty good job of that.
Really, Mr.
Dillon? Sure.
Fellow by the name of John B.
Stetson.
John B.
Stetson.
Forever more.
I'm serious.
So am I, Chester.
I'm looking for Marshal Dillon.
Oh.
Come on in.
Close the door.
My name is Lou Staley, Marshal.
What can I do for you? I've come a long way- all the way from Atlanta, Georgia.
Georgia.
Oh, I'll bet the heat's fierce down there.
I'm looking for somebody, Marshal.
I'm looking for Mavis McCloud.
Mavis? Oh, what do you want with her? That's my business, Marshal.
Now where is she? What makes you think I'd know? She sent you a telegram from St.
Louis.
I knew she was headed out here somewhere.
So I checked.
Mavis isn't the kind to arrive in a place alone.
Now, you gonna tell me where she is? No, I don't think so.
She's around here somewhere.
I'll find her.
Staley Mavis is married.
She's what? I said she's married.
Who'd she marry? I'm not gonna tell you.
You responsible for this? I'll find her first, Marshal.
After I kill the husband, I'll come looking for you.
Mr.
Dillon, he's the bloodthirstiest man I ever seen.
He's just gonna kill everybody.
Yeah.
I better ride out and see Barney before he does.
Hot day for a ride, Marshal.
Yeah, yeah, it sure is.
How are you, Barney? Well, besides sweltering, I'm fine.
Marshal! Now, I was counting on your first visit to come at a meal time.
Well, maybe next time, Mavis.
Oh, you better make a point of it, Marshal.
Mavis here's the best doggone cook you ever saw.
Oh.
Well, it'd be kind of strange of a gal from Atlanta couldn't cook.
Why'd you say that? Well, Mavis ain't from Atlanta.
Leastwise, she never told me she was.
It doesn't matter where I'm from.
Does it, Barney? Of course not.
But how did the marshal know? Lou Staley's in town, isn't he? Lou Staley? Who's he? Well, I don't know who he is, Barney, but he's after you.
Claims he's gonna kill you.
Kill me?! For marrying Mavis.
He He loves you, too.
Is that it? No.
Not exactly.
Barney, I made up the name McCloud.
My real name's Staley.
Barney? One thing.
Do you love me? Yes.
Oh, yes.
Let him come.
I'll fight him.
No, Barney, I rode all the way out here to tell you to stay clear.
I'll handle Staley.
If he's looking for me, he can find me easy.
Just don't you go looking for him, huh? I sure don't know him, Matt.
Well, his name's Lou Staley.
You never heard of him? No.
Mavis never mentioned him to you? Well, I haven't seen much of Mavis since she got married.
What's he got to do with her, anyway? Well, he was a little disappointed over her getting married.
In fact, he said he was gonna kill Barney and then he was gonna kill me and I don't know who all.
He is? Come all the way out here from Atlanta.
I don't know, but I guess he's her husband.
Her husband?! Yeah.
Oh, Matt, no.
Well, now, Mavis just isn't the kind of gal that would Mavis, you shouldn't have come in here.
I had to.
Where's Barney? He's over at the Dodge House, talking to some cattle buyers.
He doesn't know I'm here.
Somebody else does, Mavis.
I came to talk to him, Marshal.
Probably won't do any good but I've got to try.
I knew I'd find you sooner or later.
I want to talk to you, Lou.
I told you what I'd do if you left.
Kitty, is there anyplace I can talk to him alone? I don't think you ought to talk to him alone at all.
I know what I'm doing, Marshal.
Is there, Kitty? Well, that door leads out back.
Nobody'll bother you there.
Now wait a minute- Use your head.
I'll be all right, Marshal.
I don't like this, Kitty.
Well, they're just gonna talk.
Talk? Talk doesn't mean anything to him.
It's like this man can't see anything or can't hear anything but himself.
He's in a world all alone.
Well, some men in love act that way.
Yeah, well, if I didn't think this man would turn right around and come back, I'd throw him on an eastbound train.
Good idea.
Is she dead, Matt? I don't know, Kitty, I think- no, she's still alive.
You go after Staley, I'll take care of her.
No, I'll get Staley later.
We better get her up to Doc's right away.
Give me a hand here.
Easy.
Which room is Barney Wales'? Why, top of the stairs, Marshal- room 14.
You gonna tell Barney, then find Lou Staley? I'm gonna do more than that, Chester.
Barney.
Marshal.
I'd like to talk to you for a minute.
Barney.
Hey, boys.
Is there something wrong? Yeah.
Mavis.
Something's happened to Mavis.
Barney, do you trust me? Sure, I do, but All right, then just remember that when you wake up.
Hey, what's going on here? Nothing.
Nothing? Now look here, Marshal Look, don't interfere with something you don't know a thing about, boys.
Chester, get something to tie him up with, but leave his feet loose.
When he comes to, take him over to jail.
Now, look, you boys don't know Barney Wales, and if anybody asks you, you haven't seen him.
Well, where you goin', Mr.
Dillon? I gotta find Lou Staley.
Fast.
Now what, Marshal? I want you to do something for me.
This'll be real easy.
Now, Marshal, you know I can't get mixed up in anything.
You're not gonna get mixed up in anything, if you just do what I tell you.
Now, if anybody comes in here and asks for Barney Wales- anybody at all- you just tell him he's in his room.
Yeah, but, Marshal Do what I tell you.
You do it or I'll pull the kinks out of you.
Somebody's coming.
You better get behind the door, Chester.
Well, you better get yourself hidden, Mr.
Dillon.
He'll open up on you right off there.
I'm hoping he'd be too surprised when he sees me here.
Well, I wouldn't count on that.
Staley! I want to talk to you.
Being surprised didn't stop him.
No.
Well, I guess I was wrong.
She wants to see you, Marshal.
Hello, Mavis.
Marshal there's something I want to tell you.
Yeah? Barney already knows.
I told him after you were out to the ranch.
Lou was crazy, Marshal.
There was something wrong with him.
I guess I was ashamed of it, or I'd have told everybody sooner.
Especially Barney.
Well, Mavis, you know, sometimes a woman can drive a man crazy.
Lou always said he'd kill any man I married.
That's why I ran away.
I guess that's why I sent you that telegram in the first place.
You were asking an awful lot of a husband, weren't you? Marshal Lou wasn't my husband.
He was my brother.
Mavis, you been nothing but trouble to me ever since you came here.
I want you to get out of Dodge just as soon as you can.
The next time I see you, I want it to be out to your house for Sunday dinner.
Just as soon as you're feeling better.