Gunsmoke (1955) s03e09 Episode Script

starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.
Here on Boot Hill is the end of violence.
These men, brawling, fighting, clawing their bloody way across the frontier lie still now, harmless as the grass they feed, empty and done.
The lives of most of 'em are one long hate, hate of other, better men, hate of peace and order and right.
Though it isn't always hate that puts a man here.
Sometimes it's love love of a woman.
That, too, can lead to violence, and the end of violence.
I've seen it.
Matt Dillon, U.
S.
Marshal.
Well, I'm here.
Say your piece.
I can say it short, Bowers.
You keep that son of yours away from my daughter, or I'll kill him.
You won't kill him.
But I've told him to stay away from your girl.
I needn't tell you why.
Then we've got nothing to talk about.
No.
But there's one thing, Jake Pierce.
If you was to harm him, I'd kill you and burn your house.
You always was a night rider at heart.
We've talked enough.
I made it.
I told you I'd be here.
Hello, Judy.
It's sure good to see you.
Been three whole days.
Sure nobody followed you? I didn't see anybody.
Stop worrying.
I got to worry.
You know what could happen.
It's already happened, or we wouldn't have to meet like this.
Judy.
Hello, Miss Judy.
Who's he? Pete Knight- he rides for my pa.
Why don't you get out of here and leave us alone.
I'm sorry, but them ain't my orders.
What are your orders? Find her and bring her in.
And bring you in, too, if I found you.
You've got no right to do anything with him.
I'll let your pa worry about that, Miss Judy.
What if I won't go? You'll go.
Now, get on your horse.
And don't figure on running.
You wouldn't get 20 yards.
I guess we got no choice.
No.
I'll get your pa.
No, you won't- I'll get him.
Well, we're here.
Yeah.
Where'd you find them? By that little wash there a couple of miles east, Mr.
Pierce.
You can go now.
Yes, sir.
I ought to have you horsewhipped.
That ought to be easy.
Now, Pa, you stop it.
Too bad you ain't got a mother- you wouldn't be like this.
My mother's gone, too, Mr.
Pierce.
I don't see that makes no difference.
Nothing'd make no difference to a son of Hank Bowers.
Why don't you and my father fight out your troubles alone, leave us be? I'll let you be as long as you stay away from my daughter.
But if I catch you again, I'll shoot you myself.
Pa! Now, get out of here while you can still walk.
Good night, Judy.
Good night, Andy.
You're not gonna stop us.
I'll stop you if I have to hire an army.
All you ever think of is fighting! No, I don't, Judy.
I'm a peaceful man, left alone.
And I'll prove it.
I'll ride into Dodge tomorrow and prove it.
How? You'll see.
Now, go to bed.
Oh, doggone it.
What's the matter? Well, looks like I'm just gonna have to up and get married one of these days.
Chester, it can't be that bad.
Well, it's coming to it, I'll Marshal.
Hello, Jake.
Hello, Mr.
Pierce.
Chester.
What brings you into Dodge? You interested in stopping a killing? Killing? One.
Maybe more.
What's on your mind, Jake? Andy Bowers.
Hank Bowers' kid? He ain't a kid if he's old enough to go sneaking around after my daughter.
Now, look, you and Hank Bowers are the two biggest cattlemen out here.
What do you have to be enemies for? There's room enough for both of you.
There ain't room enough in the whole United States for me and Hank Bowers.
You know what'll happen if you shoot that kid? That's why I want you to put him in jail.
Put him in jail? What for? Let him cool off for a while- he'll forget about Judy.
Jake, you don't actually think I'd put him in jail just 'cause you don't like him, do you? I'm a pretty important citizen in Kansas, Marshal, and I run things my way.
Yeah, but you don't run the United States Government, Jake, and you don't run me.
Well, I tried.
Now there's gonna be trouble.
Maybe there's gonna be a lot of trouble.
Mr.
Dillon, you-you really don't think that he means to shoot that boy, do you? I don't know.
Well, I sure don't like the sound of it at all.
Neither do I, Chester.
You know, those two men could start a regular war around here if they wanted to.
Oh.
Mr.
Dillon, guess who I just seen.
Who's that? Andy Bowers.
He's down there at Jonas's store.
Well, at least Jake Pierce hasn't shot him yet, then, anyway.
Oh, that'd be a doggone shame if he did.
I mean, Andy's such a nice fella and all.
Listen, Chester, go down and tell Andy I want to talk to him for a minute, will you? Oh, oh, all right.
Oh.
Morning, Doc.
Uh, uh Well, hi, Matt.
Oh, hello, Doc.
Hey, you better get saddled up, boy- your whittling days are over.
What are you yammering about now? Sitting there taking it easy like that when the whole blame countryside's going to war.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
What do you mean? I just came back from Hank Bowers'.
That whole place looks like an armed camp out there today.
They got men carrying rifles and sentries posted and everything.
Does Hank Bowers think that Judy Pierce is gonna come over and steal Andy or something? Well, no- what happened was, a couple of Pierce's boys took a shot at two of Bowers' riders.
They said they were off their home territory or some such a fool thing like that.
Anyway, they're fixin' to do battle.
Well, I don't know what I can do, Doc.
Knowing those two, it'd be a waste of time trying to talk to 'em.
Yeah, I know.
They're two of the most bullheaded men I ever met in my life.
Here he is, Mr.
Dillon.
Hi, Doc, Marshal.
You want to see me, Marshal? Well, yeah, Andy.
I hear there's a regular war about to break out over you and Judy Pierce here.
Sure ain't good, Marshal.
Looks pretty hopeless.
Well, what do you mean it's hopeless? Well, looks like I better stop trying to see her, that's all.
Well, what kind of talk is that? Well, I-I don't want to stop, Doc.
Well, then don't stop.
For heaven's sakes, where's your spunk? Your get-up-and-go? My gosh, you love her, don't you? 'Course I love her.
Well, then if you're gonna let a couple of cantankerous, selfish old men beat you out of her, why, you don't deserve her.
What she wants is a man, that girl, not some whimpering little boy that'll run and hide every time there's any trouble.
Now, just wait a minute, Doc Now, you know that's the truth, and it is.
Doc they're never gonna let us get married.
Well, what have they got to do with it, son? Who's getting married, you or them? I know.
I I mean, I thought about running off.
Never said nothing to Judy about it, though.
Well, don't talk about it at all, just do it.
By golly, if she won't run away and marry you, then she don't love you as much as you think she does.
Now, hold on, Doc.
Maybe you're right, Doc.
What do you think, Marshal? Well, Andy, I don't know.
This is something I can't decide for you.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
That's my business.
Mine and Judy's.
Well, I'll I'll see you later.
Sure fixed that up good.
Well, I think he's gonna do it, don't you? I don't know if he's gonna do it, but I'll tell you one thing.
If he does, I know a broken-down, romantic, old country croaker we can blame it on.
Oh, pshaw.
You want him to get married just as much as I do.
Besides, it's about time you started earning your money around here.
Well, he'll do that, that's for sure, if you got anything to do with it.
Let me know how it comes out.
Yeah, yeah, I'll let you know, all right.
Well it's been a pretty quiet night, ain't it, Mr.
Dillon? Yeah.
At least nobody has lost their temper so far.
No.
What in the world was that? Hello, Marshal, Chester.
Judy.
Hope we didn't scare you.
Come on in.
What are you two doing here? Well, I got word to Judy, and she sneaked off and met me.
Doc was right, Marshal, she wanted to go.
Oh, of course I did.
Well, that's fine, but, uh, what what are you doing here? We're being followed.
We got to hide out somewhere.
You'll help us, won't you? You've got to help us.
All right, but, Judy, this is a family matter.
I can't mix in this.
They catch us now, we're never gonna get away again.
Well, I know, but you still can't stay here, Andy.
Well, Mr.
Dillon, maybe I better just lock that outside door.
Just in case.
You say you're being followed? Yeah, Judy's pa and a couple of his boys.
We lost them a few miles back, but they're bound to ride on into Dodge.
What did you do with your horses? Out back.
I got to get rid of them, too.
Look, kids, I think your best bet is to get back on those horses and go home.
Marshal, do you know what my pa will do if he catches us now? I know what I'm saying.
He'll kill Andy.
He'll kill him, Marshal.
Yeah yeah, I guess you're right.
There's no stopping it now.
I know my pa better than you do.
Oh That Doc opens up his big mouth and I wind up right in the middle of this thing.
You know, you kids got me in a mess.
He's right, Judy.
We can't get him mixed up in this.
But he's the only man around here we can trust.
I know, but we can't put all this on him.
Come on, I'll think of something.
We better get going before they get here.
Oh, excuse me.
It's locked, Mr.
Dillon.
Andy wait a minute.
Chester, look, you and Andy get those two horses and get them over to Moss Grimmick's stable and tell Moss to hide them somewhere.
Andy's horses? Yeah, and then you better get up in the loft.
Well, that's fine, but what about Judy, Marshal? Well, I'll try to find someplace to hide Judy.
Then you're going to help us, Marshal? Yeah, I'm going to help you.
But I don't know who's going to help me.
Come on, you better get going.
Don't worry, it'll be all right.
Don't worry about me.
Come on, we haven't got much time.
Who does this room belong to, Marshal? Well, it belongs to a friend of mine.
A girl.
Yeah.
Hello, Matt.
Hello, Kitty.
We've been waiting for you.
Judy, this is Kitty Russell.
Judy? Not Judy Pierce? That's right, Kitty.
I'm glad to know you.
Well, I'm glad to know you.
Not that I expected that we'd ever meet.
Oh, why not? Kitty, you got to help us out.
Do you know Andy Bowers? Yeah.
Well, he and Judy are going to run away together.
Oh? But she's got to have some place to stay until Andy gets into town.
Can she use your room? Well, sure she can.
But you mean eloping, don't you? That's right, Kitty.
And we're going to make it, too.
Sure you are.
You're welcome to stay here just as long as you need to.
Nobody will look for you here.
That's real kind of you, Kitty.
Well, I like the idea of people wanting to get married as much as you and Andy do.
Well, I think I'll be going.
You don't need me anymore here.
I'll go with you, Matt.
I got to get back to work.
Work? Where do you work? At the Long Branch.
Really? Gee, I wish I could go with you.
It's not much fun.
You stay here and get some sleep, and I'll be back in a couple of hours.
I'll bring you something to eat.
How's that? I'll be waiting for you, Kitty.
You're a nice girl, Judy.
Thank you, Marshal.
Thanks for everything.
Sure, Judy.
Come on in and have a drink, Matt.
All right, maybe I will.
It'll do you good.
We weren't doing much business when I left.
Well, you are now.
Who's that third man? I never saw him before.
Ab Drain.
Who is he? Jake's gone and hired himself a gunman.
A pretty good one, too.
I might have known.
You better stay here and stay out of the way, huh? Don't worry.
Evening, Jake.
We've been looking for you, Marshal.
Hello, Ab.
Where's my daughter? Judy? Now, don't lie to me, Marshal.
You know where she is.
You gonna tell me? Is that why you brought him along, Jake? So you can push people around more than ever? Never mind him.
I never have.
You'll get it someday, Marshal.
Maybe I'm the one who'll give it to you.
Shut up, Ab.
I don't want no fighting right now.
Pete here saw Judy and that rotten Bowers kid right around back of your office, Marshal.
All right, Jake, they were in my office.
Where is she? Jake, why don't you and Hank Bowers call this whole thing off before there's a lot of useless bloodshed? I ain't even listening to you.
All right, then I think you better take your gunman and get out of here.
That's about enough.
You can't bluff me, Ab.
I'm not bluffing, Marshal.
Cut it.
Told you I don't want no fighting- not yet.
But I'm telling you this, Marshal.
I'm going back to the ranch, and Judy's there in two hours or I'm coming in here with every man I've got.
And you know what I'll do.
Don't be a fool, Jake.
Two hours, Marshal.
Let's go.
Let's go, Ab! Well, you got rid of him.
Yeah.
Yeah, but they're coming back in two hours with a whole army.
Oh, no.
Mm-hmm.
Look, you go over and get Judy, and have her down at Moss Grimmick's stable in half an hour, will you? All right, we'll be there.
Fine.
What's the stage doing, Kitty? Looks to me like it's getting ready to leave.
At this time of night? Marshal Dillon gets some strange ideas sometimes, but good ones.
Hello, Miss Kitty.
Andy.
Judy, they got the stage ready.
They're fixing to move us west.
You mean they're doing it just for us? Well, they were leaving in the morning anyway, so the marshal got Chester to get them up.
We're going now.
That's wonderful.
Come on, we can hide back here if anybody comes along.
Where's Matt? Oh, here he comes.
Hello, Kitty.
Matt.
Madam, Chester.
Hello, Preacher.
Hello.
Are you about ready, Jim? Be just a couple minutes, Marshal.
Where's the horse? Well, Moss was saddling him up in there.
I'll I'll go see if I can find him.
Well, tell those two to get ready, will you? Oh, yes, sir.
She is in there, isn't she? She's here.
I hope you understand what this is all about, Marshal.
Well, Preacher, there's nothing wrong with young people getting married, is there? No, no, of course not.
Oh, well, hello, Judy, Andy.
So you two want to get married, huh? Yes, sir.
It's all right, isn't it, Preacher? Well, so far as I know, but, uh can't we do it right here? No time for that- come on, get aboard.
Oh, all right.
Marshal, I I don't know how I can thank you.
No time, Andy, get on, boy.
Good-bye, Kitty.
Good luck, Judy.
All right, Jim, the preacher's horse is tied on back there.
I won't stop till I'm sure we're clear.
See you later, Marshal.
Okay.
Giddyap! Go! Giddyap! Huh! Well, what do you do now? Well, if I can just stall Jake off till morning, he'll never catch up with those two.
How are you gonna do that? Let's ride out to Jake's.
Maybe we can think of something on the way.
You've been here four hours, Marshal.
Yeah, I know, Jake.
It's full daylight.
I'm getting tired of this, Marshal.
I think he's lying to us.
I never did get it straight why Chester's bringing her back.
Because I wanted to get out here, Jake, before those two hours were up.
You said that before.
That don't explain nothing.
Come in.
Pete, you stay outside.
Close the door.
Where's Judy? Where is she? I wouldn't know where she is, Mr.
Pierce.
What? What are you saying? Well, I'm saying the truth.
Is this a trick? Yeah, Jake.
Yeah, it's a trick.
Judy's a long way from here.
Where? Tell me where she is or, by heaven, I'll kill you.
Wait a minute.
This is my job.
Stay out of this, Drain.
No.
You couldn't take him.
Now, don't make me kill you, too, Jake.
Mr.
Pierce! Get out of here.
I'll call you when I want you.
Get out! Where's he going, Mr.
Dillon? I don't know, you you better stay here.
She's not coming back, Jake.
She'll be back.
Why don't you face it? You drove them away.
No no, th-that's not true.
You and Bowers both.
You know, I don't blame them for running away.
They wouldn't have been any good if they hadn't.
You helped them.
Sure, I helped them.
You and Bowers have been so busy hating each other you haven't been any good to anybody at all, especially your own kids.
Marshal Let me tell you something.
They're married.
Married? Yeah.
You think about that one.
Marshal.
Marshal, was it the preacher married them? Yep.
They're really married then.
I'm going over and tell Hank Bowers right now.
You are? Don't you think he's got a right to know? Sure.
Sure, he has.
Wait a minute, Marshal.
You men stay here.
Let's go, Marshal.
Seems like maybe Bowers and I have got a lot in common after all.