Gunsmoke (1955) s03e36 Episode Script

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 soapweed blowing in the wind.
But over there in Dodge City, they don't think much about how ugly it is or the useless killing that puts men here.
The just fill up on tanglefoot whisky, ease their gun belts and go on the prowl, looking for high living.
Yet more often than not, they end up here, having found only a shallow grave.
Matt Dillon U.
S.
Marshal.
Ow! Hold it there! Hold it! What happened here? I was just having a drink.
These two guys jumped me.
Him? Yeah.
I wasn't doing nothing.
All right, pick him up.
All right, over this way.
Things sure get to be a mess.
Yeah, one thing right after another.
One two three.
There ain't nobody gonna believe me! One two three.
Oh.
Hello, Mr.
Dillon.
I just, uh, finishing up here is what I was doing.
Uh-huh.
Well, uh, how are you this morning? Oh, good, good.
What, uh, what'd you get there in the mail? Uh, just "Wanted" circulars, mostly.
Oh.
You mind if I take a glance at them? Uh, well, I tell you, let's get the prisoners out of here first, shall we? Oh, that pair.
Oh, I tell you, they was surly as they could be when I took them coffee this morning.
Oh, well, I can't say as I blame them for that.
All right, you men, if you repent, then the law's ready to forgive you.
Don't be smart.
Still got some fight left in you, huh? You'll find out.
Yeah, well, ain't gonna need to fight with me about it.
Go out into the office and fight with Mr.
Dillon.
He's the one that throwed you in jail.
Come on.
Let's go.
You're a rough bloody lawman, Marshal.
Am I? There's no cause for you to bust our skulls open with that gun of yours.
What's your name? You were too drunk to tell me last night.
What do you want to know my name for? You want to get out of here? It's Jim Cando.
What's yours? Lee Binders.
How long you been in Dodge? We come in on the stage yesterday.
You planning to stay? I ain't so sure we are after the welcome you gave us.
I probably saved your life last night, mister.
You were fighting with everybody you ran into.
You didn't have no cause to buffalo me.
I wasn't doing nothing.
How come you threw me in jail, anyway? Well, let's just say for good luck.
That don't make sense.
No? Well, maybe this does: If I hear any more trouble out of either one of you, I'm gonna throw you out of Dodge for good.
You sure keep a tight town, Marshal.
Good.
You've learned that much, anyway.
You're pretty sure of yourself, Marshal.
Mister, you talk too much for a gunman.
Now get out of here.
Come on, Binders.
I'm hungry.
You're gonna get yourself killed someday, Marshal.
I'm gonna be real glad about it.
Well, he sure is a mean one, he is.
Yeah.
Mean and shifty.
That, that's it, Mr.
Dillon.
That's exactly right.
Shifty.
You know, he don't even look a man in the eye.
All the time that he was a-talkin' to you, he was looking down at the table at them circulars all the time.
Well, he'll probably wind up on one of them.
Yeah.
Well, one thing, he's sure the boss of that pair.
That Binders, he-he didn't seem none too bright to me.
Chester, if it took brains to start trouble, Dodge'd be as peaceful as Boston.
Well, I've never been to Boston.
I wouldn't know about that.
Well, why don't you go there sometime? Well, it's kind of a long trip for me.
There you are.
Lazy man never gets to see the world.
Well, it ain't that Lazy ain't the thing.
You're forgetting, Mr.
Dillon, that I'm kind of poor.
Oh, don't worry about that, Chester.
I'll see that you get a proper burial when the time comes.
Here, you want to take a look at those? Oh, yeah.
Proper burial.
That's something to look forward to - proper burying.
Mr.
Dillon.
Hmm? Looky, here at this.
Looky here.
What? Look at that.
No wonder he was staring at them circulars.
He must have knowed he'd be on one of them.
And I had him right in jail.
They're probably headed clean out of town by now.
Well, I doubt it.
There's no train or stage out.
Let's try the stable.
Cando.
What do you want, Marshal? You're not going very far on that horse.
He's spavin.
Don't matter much.
I'm renting him cheap.
Yeah, it doesn't matter.
You're not going anywhere anyway.
Maybe you'd better start talking straight, Marshal.
You're wanted for murder.
I'm talking you in.
I wouldn't mind shooting you, Marshal.
I wouldn't mind it at all.
Killing people don't mean nothing to me, especially lawmen.
I told you once before, Cando, you talk too much for a gunman.
Mr.
Cando has changed his mind, Chester.
Take care of those horses, will you? Yes, sir.
Wh-Where's Lee Binders, Mr.
Dillon? Well, he's probably out getting supplies or something.
That doesn't matter.
This is the man we want right here.
All right, sir.
I'll meet you back at the office.
You're real tricky, Marshal.
But you won't hold me in jail.
Let's go find out.
Mr.
Dillon, I run into Binders on the street.
I told him what happened.
I got to talk to him, Marshal.
You got to let me talk to him.
How'd you find out I was here? Chester told me.
I come out of the store, I seen Chester.
He told me.
He tell you why? They got a circular on you.
That circular's lying.
I ain't never been near Cheyenne.
Now, who said anything about Cheyenne? I just said up north.
Well, wherever it was supposed to be.
What happened? Did he hold the driver while you cut his throat, or was it the other way around? It don't say nothing about me.
Said he had a partner.
It wasn't me, and they can't prove it.
Binders I want out of here.
Oh, sure, Cando.
But what can I do? I don't know.
But you'd better start thinking.
I ain't gonna stay here.
Sure.
Sure, I understand.
If you understand so well, you'd better start doing something about it right soon.
You hear? Give me time, Cando.
Give me some time.
Binders your time's up.
Let's go.
Sure, Marshal.
I'll be back, Cando.
You'd better be.
Sure.
So long.
Thanks, Marshal.
You know, Mr.
Dillon, it-it sounded to me like, uh, Cando was mad at him.
Well, it ain't Binder'' fault that Cando's in jail.
He was doing that on purpose, Chester.
He was threatening him.
Well, what for, though? Well, he was telling Binders to get him out of jail, or he's going to start talking.
I think Binders was his partner in that murder.
His partner? Well well, if he was his partner, don't you think that you ought to have throwed him in jail? Well, it may be clear to us, Chester, but it wouldn't hold up in court.
Well do you think that Binders is going to try and bust him out, then? I mean, he's got to- otherwise, Cando will start talking and they'll both hang.
Well, I don't know.
Binders didn't seem like too much of a threat to me.
He seemed more stupid than anything else.
Well, he may be stupid but he's also desperate.
Where are you going? I'm sending this telegram to Cheyenne to get somebody down here to pick up Cando.
I want you to get Sims and, uh and Carpel over here right away.
Well, what for? 'Cause we're going to need help.
Tell them I'll meet them here.
Uh, Mr.
Dillon? Here I got them for you here.
Hello, boys.
Marshal.
Chester says you're gonna have a jailbreak, Marshal.
Well, he could be wrong.
Hmm? Depends on you boys, whether you want the job.
Oh? Sure.
When do we start, Marshal? Right now.
It'll be deputy's pay, and you'll have to feed yourselves.
That's fair enough.
All right.
I want somebody out in back and one of you in front 24 hours a day.
Well, I can spell one of you regular.
Uh, you know, we can work out kind of a schedule.
All right, fine, I'll help you out when I can.
Must be expecting a whole lot of company, Marshal.
Well, I don't know what to expect.
This Binders is desperate, and he's got money, so he's gonna buy something with it.
Now, it might be one man, and it might be half a dozen.
Come on inside, I'll get your shotguns for you.
Who's there? It's Pete, Mr.
Haney.
Anybody with you? Nobody- just me.
Come in.
I hate to bother you, Mr.
Haney, but, uh What do you want, kid? Well, I was down at the telegraph office, and this come.
I run right over with it.
It's from Dodge City.
Did you read this? Oh, no, sir.
I just seen it's from Dodge- that's all.
I didn't read nothing.
That'll teach you to snoop.
I'm sorry, Mr.
Haney.
I didn't mean nothing.
Get out! Yes, sir.
I'm sorry.
Bed him down and feed him, will you? You looking for somebody? Don't I know you from somewhere? You the marshal here? What's your name? Jack Haney.
Oh, yeah.
Tascosa, wasn't it? And you were trying to be lawman there, too.
What are you doing here? Anything wrong, Marshal? Could be.
Now, look, Marshal, I ain't never caused any trouble here.
You never been here.
Man needs a change of scenery now and then.
Anyway, I'll be going back south in a couple days.
Lee Binders send for you? Who's Lee Binders? I think you know him.
I know a lot of people, Marshal.
Did he hire you? Why would anybody want to hire me? I'm a gambler.
You're a professional gunman, Haney.
And I ought to run you out of town right now.
But you won't.
Marshal, I know you better than you think.
You don't like being high-handed.
Man's got to do something before you jump him.
And I ain't done a thing.
Pretty smart, Haney.
But there's something else you ought to know.
What's that? Jim Cando is staying in jail.
And if you try to break him loose, you're going to get torn apart with buckshot.
That's a bad way to die.
Kitty? Oh, hello, Doc.
Hi, you seen Matt? Mm-mnh.
Why don't you sit down? All right.
You want part of the paper? No, no, thanks.
There's probably nothing in it but bad news anyway.
What's the matter with you? Don't you feel good? I feel terrible.
Oh.
Well, you gonna have a drink? A drink, in the daytime? I should say not.
Certainly not.
Aren't you a little old to be changing your habits? Well, now, by golly, that's what I like about this town.
People just can't wait to lay it onto you for any little bad habit you might have, but if you do something nice for people, you don't hear anything about that at all.
Are you gonna have a drink? Why, certainly.
I thought so.
Red, give Doc a drink on the house.
Oh, right away, Miss Kitty.
You know, you don't fool me a bit.
What? You're not half has hard to get along with as you'd like people to think.
Well, now everybody ain't as pretty as you are.
Doc, Kitty.
Hi.
Well, where you been hiding out? Oh, haven't you heard about him? He's a jailer now.
He spends all his time over at the jail.
Hasn't Cando busted out of there yet? No, not yet, Doc.
Oh, well, just give Binders time.
He's only had a little while to work on it- they'll do it.
Do you really think they're gonna try it? They're fighting for their lives, Kitty.
Why don't you just take that key and throw it away.
It would take somebody forever to saw him out of there.
By golly, I hope I don't land in the jail you're running.
Red, here.
Let's have a drink before we go eat.
No, I can't do it, Doc.
What, are you two having dinner together? Well, we were, but that's what I came over to tell you.
I got to get back.
Oh, then you really are expecting trouble, huh? Yeah, I'm afraid so.
I'll see you later.
Well, good luck.
Hello, Marshal.
Sims, everything all right? Sure- why? Carpel out back? Well, I reckon he'd better be.
Well, Binders has gone and hired himself a gunman, a professional.
Who is it? You know him? Man by the name of Haney, Jack Haney.
Do you know him? Never heard of him.
Well, he's a big man, heavyset, and he's wearing a brown coat, so keep your eyes open for him.
Chester inside? Yeah.
Chester? Don't move.
Now, you just keep your voice down and turn around.
Get up against that wall.
All right, Binders, I got him.
I'd have yelled, Mr.
Dillon, have I couldn't.
Hurry it up, Binders.
I want out of this place.
Don't get jumpy.
Hurry it up, I tell you.
He ain't got it on him.
Where's the key, Marshal? Did you kill the guard out back? I knocked him in the head- I might have killed him.
I was on the cot, Mr.
Dillon.
They come in the back door.
Marshal, I want the key to that cell.
It ain't on the peg where it's supposed to be, and he claims he don't know where it's hid.
He doesn't.
But you do.
That's right.
Quit fooling around, Marshal.
I want that key.
Haney, you're not any closer to getting him out of here than if you were having a drink at the Long Branch.
I want that key.
Shoot him, Haney.
Well, listen, I got a guard out front, too.
What do you think he's gonna do when he hears the shot? Then cut his throat- the guard can't hear that.
Don't be a fool.
I'm the only one who knows where the key is.
He's right, Haney.
But I got an idea.
What you gonna do, Cando? I'm gonna hang him.
No.
Staring at him ain't gonna save his life, Marshal.
You want to find that key? Don't tell him, Mr.
Dillon.
Don't tell him nothing.
Hang him, Cando.
We're wasting time.
No! Hold it, Cando.
You gonna find that key? Let him go.
No! No! You all right, Chester? Yeah he had me choked out there for a minute.
Carpel's hurt.
Get him up to Doc.
Sure.
I'm the one that needs a doctor! You don't need a doctor, mister.
You haven't got long to live.
What do you mean? You got nothing on me except this.
Tell him, Cando.
Tell him what? Tell him you're not going to hang alone.
No.
No, I sure ain't.
I told you to get me out of here, but you didn't do it.
No no, don't say nothing! He knows.
No! He knows who helped me cut that stage driver's throat.
No, Cando, no! It was you, Binders.
No.
No.
All right, get in there.
Feel sick.
Maybe a little coffee will make you feel better.
Mr.
Dillon, uh you know, there, for a minute in there, I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to have another cup of coffee.
Chester, you know, you keep doing things like that I'm gonna have to give you a raise.
No.