Bandolero! (1968) - full transcript
Posing as a hangman, Mace Bishop arrives in town with the intention of freeing a gang of outlaws, including his brother, from the gallows. Mace urges his younger brother to give up crime. The sheriff chases the brothers to Mexico. They join forces, however, against a group of Mexican bandits.
A couple of saddle tramps just rode in.
Looks like they're stopping
at the Lost Love.
But they're not going in.
Yes, sir, I know, I know.
You people are thieves.
Did you know that?
I've been paying interest so long,
I plumb forgot what the capital is.
Nobody forced you to come in...
Force?
Did you hear that? "Force"?
Me with a wife, a mule, two Leghorn
roosters looking for a hen...
...and six young ones to feed,
and all this fool can say is "force"?
- It'll be a cold day in...
Never mind the hard stuff.
We'll just take the paper.
Come on, come on, give me your gun.
This is force, mister.
Get out!
Cort!
Drop it!
Pick it up. Don't let me stop you.
Come out! Drop them!
Don't look too good, does it, Bishop?
Roscoe, go open up the cells. Cort...
...you and Hawkins
help me cover them.
If one of them even spits,
blow his head off.
I need a doctor.
- You ain't hurt. Move!
They shot Nathan Stoner
and killed one of my clerks.
Get your hands up.
John, get Doc Curtis over here
right away.
Bishop, you and one other
in that first cell on the right.
- In there, old man.
Pa.
I figured you'd hit me a turn
one of these days, Bishop.
When they write about you...
...they'll call Val Verde
your end of the line.
Well, I've never seen anything so bad
that a little money or talk can't settle.
You can talk till you're blue
in the face if you've a mind to.
I'm a different kind of sheriff
than you've been used to.
- What's that supposed to mean?
- Means you can't beg, borrow, steal...
...buy, break or pray
your way out of my jail.
July!
Nathan Stoner just died.
Roscoe, you men search them
and take their gun belts.
All right, let me have them.
Give me a Rosebud, will you?
Coming up.
Say, have you heard about any jobs
to be had around San Anton?
No, and a hundred others have asked
me the same thing since sundown.
Uh-huh. Who do I see about
getting a cot tonight?
- Me, if you got 50 cents.
- Fifty?
The sign over there says
25 cents for a cot.
That's when things are slow.
50 cents, take what you can find.
- It's kind of steep.
- No laughing, no talking...
...no singing, no drinking
and no snoring and no spitting.
Right through that door,
and don't step on anyone.
I wanna bed down the horse.
Is there a livery handy?
Across the street.
He charges 60 cents.
Well, that seems fair enough.
Seems to me like you could stand
a good scrubbing yourself.
Water washes away
a man's protection...
...lets miseries into his body,
and I'm too old to take chances.
If what you're saying's true,
you're the best-protected man in town.
Well, I ain't sick, never been sick
and don't intend to be sick. Next!
Now, if you're gonna shave,
I'll fill a pan...
...but if you ain't, I won't.
- Fill the pan.
They tell me you're a hangman.
They told you right, friend.
Left Oklahoma City three weeks ago
and headed for Val Verde, Texas.
This'll be one of the biggest jobs
I've had in years:
The Bishop gang.
Judge found them guilty as sin.
Sentenced them to hang
high as a Georgia pine.
Good for the state of Texas too
when they're out of the way.
- How many did they catch?
They killed one, caught five.
Ex-Quantrill men, mostly.
Leastways, Bishop is.
Be the first Texans I ever hung.
I plan to enjoy it.
Hey, bring my clothes over here,
will you?
- Ain't you gonna shave?
- No.
What in the worid...?
Can't make up their mind.
I can't stand it...
...I've gotta keep this place
spick-and-span.
A fella can't even make up his mind...
Afternoon.
- Howdy.
Get down and set a spell, friend.
Got more fish here if you're hungry.
Mighty generous of you.
I'm a generous man. Believe in it.
Make yourself at home.
Coffee there. Sweet biscuits there.
Hey, you got all the comforts.
- Yes, sir, friend. I enjoy life.
My soul's on fire with the spirit of it,
if you know what I mean.
That's fine.
Well, it looks to me like
you must be a rope drummer.
Oh.
No, just the tools of my professión.
I'm a hangman.
A hangman? Well, I declare.
On my way to hang the Bishop gang
down in Val Verde.
Oh, yeah. I heard about that.
Well, they finally got that bunch, huh?
Caught, jailed, tried and gonna hang.
Well, I sure am happy
to come across you, Mr...
Grimes. Ossie Grimes,
of the Oklahoma Grimes.
Mr. Grimes, yes, sir.
Yeah, I sure am happy I've run across...
You know, I've always been
sort of curious about your job.
Well, there's a lot more to it
than most folks think.
There's nothing worse
than a sloppy hanging.
Back in Oklahoma, I once watched them
hang a fella five times before it took.
Five times? Five?
Just exactly what do you
have to know, Mr. Grimes...
...in order to make a good,
clean, professional job of it?
Well, just about everything.
You have to know how tall
your subject is, how much he weighs...
...his neck size
and how he feels about it all.
- Then you have to be certain...
- Excuse me.
You mean to say you have to know...
...how the fellow you're gonna hang
feels about it?
Oh, yes, sir.
A scared man who's crying
and praying and shaking...
...and moving around is
harder to send to his maker...
...than one who's decided
to just stand there and take it.
Uh-huh.
Why, I had a subject last year...
...took me an hour
just to get him up off his knees.
- Is that a fact?
- That's a fact.
You can't hang a subject
when he's on his knees.
It just don't look right.
And I'll tell you one more thing.
When you select a rope...
- What are you looking at?
- You tell me.
- Hey, Robbie.
What?
I got a young boy here
who's worried about his future.
Yeah. I reckon he is at that too.
I hope to God that they don't dump
himself and myself in the same hole.
I have enough explaining to do up there
without having him along.
Fine pair of lookouts,
you and your pop.
Let me tell you something, Bishop...
...I've been on the wrong side
of the law for over 40 years...
...and I ain't been in jail long enough
to soften up a chaw of tobacco.
I ride out with you, and here I am
watching them build my own gallows.
Well, everybody else has had their say.
What about you?
It don't look too good, does it?
Ossie Grimes is the name, sheriff.
Down from Oklahoma to prove again
that the sins of the fathers...
...are visited on the sons.
That's true in Texas just like any place.
The Southwest will be
a better place when I'm finished.
Well, I'm July Johnson, Mr. Grimes.
I'm the one that sent for you.
This here is my deputy,
Roscoe Bookbinder.
- Glad to know you.
- Howdy.
Known him all his life.
Born in a hogan north of El Paso.
- A fine boy.
- Fine, fine.
Well, first off, sheriff, I'd like to see
the subjects, if you don't mind.
- The what?
- What? The... The subjects.
- The prisoners?
- In my professión, they're subjects.
In my jail, they're nothing.
Follow me.
Here they are, Mr. Grimes,
all ready for you.
Well, I'd have to say now...
I wonder if you fellas
would move forward a little...
...to the bars.
Would you come forward?
All right, do what the man says.
Ah...
Well, sheriff, seems like to me
you got four good necks here...
...that ought to snap pretty good.
I'm just not quite sure about this one.
How much do you weigh, son?
Uh...
- I don't know.
- You don't know?
Well, maybe it'll be all right.
I always like to do a nice clean job.
Usually when I have a lightweight...
...I strap on a 50-pound bag of sand,
get some weight on him...
...and then that neck:
Just like that.
How do you feel about it all, son?
- You're crazy.
- Now, you're not gonna be...
...praying and crying and all that stuff?
You'll just hold up the procedure.
Won't make it any easier
for me or you.
- This one Bishop, sheriff?
Yeah, that's him.
- You rode with Quantrill, did you?
- All the way.
And at Lawrence, Kansas?
- You were in on that?
- I was there.
You must have made your mother
mighty proud.
Hangman.
I never harmed a woman or a child.
We're planning on high noon tomorrow,
if that suits you.
That'll be fine.
You know, sheriff,
when a man in my professión...
...gets a chance to work with equipment
like that, it just makes him proud.
- Uh-huh.
- You're expecting a big crowd, I imagine?
It's a free country.
Folks got a right to watch a hanging.
Well, then I'd like to advise you
about two things, sheriff.
I've found out from bitter experience
that when folks come for a hanging...
...all guns should be confiscated
until after...
...and all saloons should be closed.
- Well, I'll see what I can do.
- Good.
These men deserve to hang...
...but they don't deserve to hang sober
while drunks stand around watching.
That man sure...
...loves his work.
- I'll bed your horses, Mr. Grimes.
- Fine.
These ropes stay with me.
Her name's Maria Stoner, hangman.
One of the men you're gonna send away
tomorrow killed her husband.
Have that sorrel ready for me
in the morning, huh?
And this is the last one, Mrs. Stoner.
Well, the unfortunate
demise of your husband...
...has left you quite a sizable estate.
You mean the death of my husband
has made me...
...the wealthiest woman
in this county.
Well, that's quite a jump for a little...
...girl from south of the border.
I have to be going.
Mrs. Stoner, it might be wise
if we discussed...
...the disposition of your ranch.
- Disposition?
Yes. Several weeks ago
I had a discussión...
...with Nathan about a possible sale.
I made him an offer.
- He seemed quite agreeable.
- The ranch is not for sale.
- You don't expect to live out there...
- I intend to keep it.
But you don't intend to run it.
No woman in her right mind
would attempt to operate...
...a 150,000-acre spread.
Whether or not I succeed
in operating it, Mr. Carter...
...is not your concern.
I can take care of myself.
I think you overestimate your ability,
Mrs. Stoner.
Perhaps I do.
Good day, Mr. Carter.
Mr. Carter, I was a whore at 13...
...and my family of 12
never went hungry.
When you figure
we'll make our play, Dee?
- Not tonight.
- We don't do something tonight...
...we're gonna hang tomorrow.
- You got any ideas?
- No, but you should.
- Well, I do, old man, so shut up.
Hey, laddie, tell me:
What miracle are you going to perform
when the sun comes up, huh?
All right. Step up and get it.
Same damn chili and beans.
Did you ever hear of beefsteak?
Beefsteak, my ass.
Hell, pork chops up
15 cents a pound...
...and the man's talking about
he wants beefsteak.
Nice night, isn't it, Mrs. Stoner?
Oh, I'm sorry.
How do you know my name?
I get the idea just about everybody
around here knows your name.
I'm very pleased to meet you.
I'm... I apologize for the intrusión.
I'm being a little forward, and I...
Oh, please. Don't go.
- You are the hangman, aren't you?
- Well, I'm...
Hear them in there?
Getting all liquored up
for the big day tomorrow.
Celebration over the death
of fellow human beings.
That is a strange thought
for a hangman.
- Do you have a family?
- A brother. He's all that's left.
It was the war, Mrs. Stoner.
The war took our family. Almost took
me, but I'm a pretty fast runner.
Good night.
Good night.
- I didn't know him...
...but I'm sorry about your husband,
Mrs. Stoner.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
Gonna be a big day tomorrow, Roscoe.
Better get some sleep.
Mrs. Stoner.
- Maria.
- Yes.
Do you mind
if I come in for a minute?
Well, I would prefer you didn't...
- I won't take but a minute, ma'am.
What is it, sheriff?
My friends call me July, ma'am.
I wish you were one.
I'll tell you what, ma'am.
I'll be your friend, and you just
don't bother about being mine.
The reason I come up here tonight
was to see if there was anything...
...I could do for you. Anything at all.
- No. No, there's nothing.
I'm going home tomorrow.
Oh.
I see.
Well, it still goes.
Anytime.
July.
Thank you.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
Well, let's see you trip her.
They got it working fine, hangman.
Now it's up to you.
A man that's been hung by
Ossie Grimes stays hung.
Bishop, it appears to me
I have misjudged you.
The town's filling up,
and you ain't even made a move.
Well, it appears to me I misjudged
you too, Pop. You're scared.
It's my boy I'm thinking of.
He ain't even full-growed yet.
I'm scared, Dee,
and I ain't ashamed of it.
Babe, when the time comes...
...whatever we have to do,
we'd better be quick about it.
You too, Robbie.
When we have to move, move.
Right, laddie.
I'm sorry.
Come back after. Yeah? Well...
Hey, check your guns in over there.
Sorry, closed till after the hanging.
Hey, it's that way.
Put the rifles over there,
gentlemen. Put your rifles in that pack.
I'll tell you what, don't lose my gun.
We asked you not to wear them
to town in the first place.
The holster too.
You'll get it back in a little while.
Hyah!
Hyah!
Giddap!
It's about that time, ain't it?
Yeah, just about. Run them out.
All right. Clear a path down there.
So hold it right there.
All right. Come up the steps
one at a time. You first, Bishop.
Move down the line
and then turn around.
- Aren't you gonna tie their hands?
- First things first, sheriff.
Be a long time before the likes of them
ride into Val Verde again.
Hold it!
I'm a fair man, sheriff.
Now, you be good, and I won't kill you.
Tell your deputy to drop it. Tell him!
All right, do it, Roscoe.
- Move it.
- I knew you'd do it, laddie.
Who you gonna hang now?
Hold it right there.
- All right, break the crowd up.
- Get back there.
Come on.
Come on, get back there.
- Get back!
All right. Move it.
Bring that wagon up here.
Come on. Get out of it. Goddang!
Keep them covered. Take what you need
and get rid of the rest of their guns.
- Do you think you'll get far, Bishop?
- Not as far as you were gonna send me.
Let's go!
Let's get the hell out of here!
Giddap! Hyah!
Let's go, men!
They're headed southwest.
All right, hurry up with the wagon!
Get your guns! Don't worry about
getting your own gun. Just get a gun!
Get back there!
You know what they did,
so if you're going with me, be ready.
When we come on them, shoot to kill.
Hyah!
Hasn't been one of your
good days, has it?
Well, I wouldn't exactly say that.
- Can I help you?
- Yes.
Yes, I'd appreciate it very much
if you'd fill these up with money.
But you're the hangman...
No. Now, you see,
you're wrong about that too.
And I don't really feel I have time
to explain it all to you...
...so just do as I say,
and you'll stay healthy...
...and everything will be all right.
Just fill them up.
Get in there.
That's it.
It's a tough worid, isn't it?
We ain't got no time.
You ain't planning to waste
none of it around here, are you?
Well, if you wanna cross that border
with no grub, go ahead.
And take the kid with you.
Hurry up. Take as much as you can.
You didn't have to do this.
I didn't do it, he did it. And if he
hadn't done it, I'd have done it.
Dee.
Robbie, take her to cover.
Leave me alone.
Now.
They got that Stoner woman!
I almost shot her.
Yeah, I know.
Pass the word, Roscoe.
God help the man that hurts her.
Right.
How does a man become
an animal like you?
Don't shoot the Stoner woman.
Don't shoot the Stoner woman.
You gonna let her stop you?
You can't ask...
I haven't asked anything, Carter!
Who in the hell's that?
- Johnson, they're getting away!
- Don't you think I know that?!
Don't you, by damn,
think I know that?!
Roscoe!
Go track them as far the border.
Wait for me there. I'll be along.
Yes, sir.
Come on.
I want 10 volunteers.
Ten good horses, 10 good guns.
No clerks, no storekeepers.
We'll outfit at the Stoner ranch. The rest
of you, take care of the wounded...
...and go on back to town.
- You going across the border?
- That's right!
After them or after her?
Hey, sheriff! He robbed the bank!
Who did?
- The hangman.
Mrs. Stoner, you're gonna be with us
until we don't need you no longer.
Then you can go on home.
Hmm?
Have you no plan, laddie?
- My plan is to stay away from a rope.
That's a dandy one, that is.
Indeed it is.
She sure is pretty.
She's not pretty, she's beautiful.
Beautiful as something real fine.
Something you can't never have,
no matter how bad you want it.
Looks to me like we got her.
- You ain't got nothing, kid. Forget it.
- I don't mean nothing.
That's right. You don't mean nothing.
Shh. Listen.
Dee, you gone plumb loco?
Get down, Mace. Help yourself.
It ain't much.
It's just like a woman I once had...
...back in Kentucky: Warm and free.
Why, it's the hangman.
- Hey, what's he doing here?
- That ain't no hangman, Pop.
- That's nobody but my brother.
Your brother?
Mace, this is Pop Chaney.
That's his young fine son back there
who's studying for the ministry.
Babe Jenkins.
- Robbie O'Hare.
Hi.
Mrs. Stoner.
You all right, Mrs. Stoner?
- Hey, you!
- Pop.
Apologize for what happened to you,
Mrs. Stoner.
You can go home in the morning.
Mrs. Stoner goes home
when I say she goes home...
...and she ain't going home
in the morning, Mace.
When I ain't got no blood-in-the-eye
posse running up my backside...
...then she can do what she wants.
Until then, she stays.
So you never harmed
a woman or a child, huh?
She's harmed? She ain't harmed.
You sure put her in a good position.
I'd like to have my gun back, Dee.
Robbie.
Still picking up after your brother.
Mama would be proud of that.
Seen Mama lately?
Not since the funeral.
Mama's dead?
I buried her six weeks to the day
after Appomattox.
It was raining.
- She didn't suffer?
- Only in her mind.
- Because of me, you mean.
- You're the one who said that.
I killed her. That's what you mean.
You never did her any good, Dee.
That's what I mean.
The day she found
you joined Quantrill...
...she started going downhill
for the last time.
And when you fellows burnt
Lawrence, Kansas...
...after that, she never spoke
another word. She just...
...sat by the fire...
...and didn't say anything.
Hey, Robbie. Here's a mama for you.
One boy goes with Quantrill,
the other goes with Sherman.
One helps burn down a town,
the other helps burn down a state.
The one that burned the town
is the one that done in his mama.
Sherman was war, Dee.
Quantrill was meanness.
Well, what about this big sheriff
and his bunch?
Think he's gonna cross the border?
A South Texas sheriff who once
rode with Nathan Bedford Forrest.
A man who was made a fool of
in his own town.
He'll cross it.
If there's something
you know that we don't...
...I think you'd better tell us
what it is. You're with us.
Whatever happens to us happens to you.
Maybe even more so.
The country we have been through
between here and the Rio Grande...
...is patrolled by the federales.
From here to south
is the territorio bandolero.
Well, what's that,
"territorio bandolero"?
Bandit country.
They kill every gringo they can find.
- You don't look too worried.
- I am not a gringo.
Well, there's a town called
Sabinas just south of here.
- It is a three-day ride.
- We'll be safe there.
The sheriff won't follow us
that deep in.
He will follow.
What makes you so certain?
Because you have something
he has wanted for a long time.
- What's that?
- Me.
Four, maybe five hours.
This is the first time I have been
in my country since I left.
I always knew
I would come back again...
...but not quite this way.
How'd you come to marry
your husband, Mrs. Stoner?
He bought me, Mr. Bishop.
He found me in the backroom
of a cantina.
He liked me, and he bought me.
He gave my father five cows
and a gun.
It made my father the richest man
in our village.
Did you ever come to love him?
No.
But he was kind to me.
He was considerate.
And he took me from something
I never felt a part of.
He gave me a home.
Now here I am.
Well, from the looks of you, Mrs. Stoner,
you have a long way yet to go.
- Want some coffee?
- No.
Excuse me.
Mace, if you're ever alone
with Pop and his little boy...
...don't you turn your back on them.
- I know.
I can't decide which of us
they hate the most.
- Oh, it's you.
- I think you're right.
Mace, I ain't had a chance to tell you,
but it sure is real good to see you again.
And sometimes I think back
to how it used to be with you and me.
- You remember when...?
- Dee, that was yesterday.
Now, let's talk about today.
All right. What about today?
Now, why do you ride
with men like these?
Oh, I don't know. I just got used to it,
I guess, through the years.
You know, you begin to go one way
and keep on going that way...
...pretty soon, there's no other way.
You really believe that?
No, I guess not.
You sure are pretty.
- Pretty.
A pretty woman ain't good
for nothing but smelling sweet...
...and laying around the house.
Just so pretty.
Is it after a little kiss you are, Babe?
Oh, he's a great kisser, ma'am.
He's the best damn lady-kisser
in the whole of Texas.
Leave the woman alone.
Oh...
Hell, he wouldn't harm a hair
on her head, laddie.
She's a lady. Treat her like one.
It's time you got some sleep.
How far are we going, July?
I mean, are we just gonna...
...keep following them
till we come up on them...
...or what?
No matter how far they go?
That's right.
Suppose they just keep
going on forever?
Then we'll just keep going on forever.
What if we lose them?
There's only a couple of places
they could be headed.
There's only a couple of places
with water.
I won't lose them.
I'll find them, or I'll find their bones,
but I won't lose them.
Hold up, July!
This don't make sense no more, July.
- What don't make sense, Hawkins?
- We've come too far already.
Ain't no telling where we'll end up,
dead most likely, if we keep going.
You wanna turn back?
Wanting ain't part of it.
I'm turning back.
Anybody going with me?
Ain't nobody coming with me?
Maybe he's right, Johnson.
It don't make no sense no more.
I mean, it just don't make sense.
Goodbye, Ross, Hawkins.
You coming with us?
It's not the Bishop gang he's after now,
it's the Stoner woman.
Just like Carter said.
Hey! Wait up there! Wait for me!
What are you hurrying so for? That sheriff
can't go any faster than we can.
Are you giving out, Pop?
Oh, it's just that I don't see no sense
in hurrying, that's all.
So the old bastardo is not as tough
as he smells.
How can two brothers be so different?
Who, Mace? Oh, he believes
in the goodness of his fellow man.
He's never seen it,
but he believes in it.
I don't believe in it.
- What do you believe in?
- I believe in myself.
You fool nobody but yourself.
And I don't believe you even do that.
You really think you had a hard life,
don't you, Dee?
- You don't understand.
- No?
What would you know about
having to scrape for a living?
I could tell you a lot
about the hard life...
...but you'd have to live it
to understand it.
Yes, I believe that.
Johnson!
We ain't going no further. This is it.
We're turning back.
- All of you?
- All of us.
- You just ain't gonna find them.
- I'll find them.
Do you know how big this country is?
Why, it just swallowed them up.
- For all we know, they...
- Now, who's missing?
We came into that pass with 10 men.
I count eight of us now.
Clyde Anderson ain't with us, July.
Wade Phillips is missing too.
July.
All right, Cort, you and the men can
ride back home if you want to.
Course, that's the only way.
Unless you wanna ride
50 miles around.
All right, then.
You stay here till we get back.
Stay where you are.
You wouldn't recognize him anyway.
I reckon the other one's
around here somewhere.
- The Indians, July?
- No, bandits.
If you wanna ride for home,
you leave right now from here.
I'll understand. I'll tell the others
I sent you home to report.
I'll stay with you, July.
Now, you don't have to.
I just want you to know that.
No, I'll stick.
Then if anybody ever says to me:
"Did you ride all over Mexico
with July Johnson?"
I can say to him, "Yep...
...I rode all over Mexico
with July Johnson."
You're a good boy. I always said it.
You stop picking your nose, boy.
It ain't mannerly.
- You had no call to do that.
- Now, none of your lip.
You're raising up your boy
to be a good Christian, I see.
I'm learning him
what my pa learned me.
The Almighty rest his damn bones.
There's three things
a man ought never do:
Spit in church, scratch himself
in front of his ma...
...and pick his nose. Yes, sir.
That's what my pa learned me,
and it stood me in good stead.
I don't imagine your pa
ever mentioned...
...shooting people and burning houses
and things like that.
I'm talking about mannerly things,
Mr. Bishop.
I ain't talking about making a living.
Oh.
What the hell, Bishop?
You were leaning on my saddle,
Mr. Chaney.
You lean on your own saddle.
Babe, get out there
and see if anything's moving.
Dee.
- Something wrong?
- Things have been wrong a long time.
Don't you think it's about time
we have a talk?
- Well, I'll tell you the truth...
- Yeah, liars always start that way.
No, Mace, I'll tell you the truth.
I can't remember a single instance
where talking's ever...
...gotten me anyplace.
But go ahead. Tell me what you wanna
talk about, maybe I'll join you.
All right. I wanna talk about us
having a place of our own.
Our own ranch.
How's that sound to you?
Not worth a rooster without a hen.
How come? Seems to me
I can remember back to a time...
...you wanted a place
of your own awful bad.
That was before the war.
We were younger then.
Well, not that much younger.
Young enough to think
about a good woman.
You know how long it's been since
I been with a woman I could respect?
I may not be good, but I sure do know
what good's supposed to be.
We were young enough back in
those days to think about children.
You're not saying
you're too old to be a father?
I'm just saying you reach a time
when all them things are lost to you.
They're not lost to you, Dee.
They're not lost.
You may have thrown some of them
away. They're not lost to you.
Get up, Babe.
Get up!
Honest, Dee, I wasn't gonna do
nothing but kiss her.
Well, what's wrong
with a little old kiss?
Ain't nothing wrong
with a little old kiss, Dee.
A little old kiss never hurt nobody.
From now on, you and me are gonna be
close together whether you like it or not.
I can't stand the thought
of something like him...
...with his hands
on something like you.
I thought he was your friend.
He is, but that don't make him
any less disgusting.
Matter of fact,
all my friends are disgusting.
You take Pop, for instance.
He was due to be shot
the day he was born.
And that heart of his is nothing
but a festering sore.
His kid, he's something, ain't he?
If you feel that way about them,
why are you with them?
I know where they stand.
I've never known
where respectable people stood.
Maybe they don't know themselves.
You say the sheriff's
always wanted you?
He is a good man.
I...
I reckon he's got you
all to himself now.
He's a good man,
but I feel nothing for him.
Why do you laugh?
I was just thinking. We'd make
a perfect pair, you and me.
I'm broke, without a woman...
...and you're rich and without a man.
- This ain't Sabinas, is it, laddie?
- Is this what you brung us to?
This is the town.
Why, it's a ghost.
Looks that way, Mace.
Sure does look that way.
A lot of horses
through here lately, Dee.
Maybe not more than a day or so.
Mostly barefoot.
This is your country. What do you
think happened to these people?
Bandoleros.
They demand too much of the people.
When they grow tired
of being raided, they leave.
As they have done here.
You mean to say a whole town
just packs up and leaves...
...and never comes back?
Well, sometimes
they go to a larger town...
...where they can be protected
by the soldiers of Benito Juárez.
Mace, we'll put up over in that cantina.
That's the best place around.
What do you plan on doing now, Dee?
Well, I'll just rest up here
a few days...
...ride on to Hidalgo for supplies
and push on to Matamoros.
I got friends in Matamoros.
Well, what about Mrs. Stoner?
Mace, you think we could
make a go of it in Montana?
Dee, there's a town up there
called Missoula.
- Prettiest place you ever saw.
- What about the Indians?
And the Rockies, they're snowcapped,
and the slopes are forested...
...and there are lots of lakes and...
- What about the Indians?
And there's deer in Montana, Dee.
And antelope and elk...
- Mace, what about the Indians?
...and black bear and...
What Indians?
Ain't there no Indians in Montana?
Well, a few.
Ain't there Northern Cheyenne
in Montana?
The Northern...
Well, the Northern Cheyenne...
- I wouldn't lie to you.
- The Crow and the Sioux?
- Well, they're around.
- What else, Mace?
- Listen, Dee...
- What else?
Well, the Blackfeet...
...and Chippewa.
- Some Cree?
Yes. Yes, there are Cree in Montana.
And the Shoshone and the Kootenai
and the Stoney.
Just what are you trying to say?
I'm trying to say there's a lot of
goddamn Indians in Montana, Mace.
- You're impossible to talk to.
- Wait a minute.
Will you sit down, Mace?
I'm tired, Mace. Bone-tired.
I can't even remember what it feels like
to get up in the morning...
...feeling rested and clean,
having a good breakfast.
I can't remember
what it feels like...
...to slip down in between
some cool, clean sheets.
Mace, we'll need money.
Have you thought about that?
I think I know where I can get
my hands on some.
Your brother won't never make it.
There's only one way for him...
...for me, for any of us.
Well, what way is that, Mr. Chaney?
This way. The way we know.
The way we growed.
Well, now, that may be so for you,
but for my brother, it's different.
I don't care if he is your brother.
The son of a bitch...
Now...
...before you apologize, I'm gonna
tell you something, Mr. Chaney.
My brother and I are the sons
of an honest dirt farmer.
A man who slaved all his life
from sunup to sundown...
...and never took time
except to deliver his children...
...and go to meeting on Sunday.
A man who died of old age at 45...
...and who never saw more than
$ 10 at one time in his whole life.
We're the sons of a woman
that married him for his goodness...
...because she was good!
And now you can apologize
for slandering my family, Mr. Chaney.
I'll blow your head off.
You ain't no killer.
You ain't got the stomach for it.
Apologize!
I'm sorry, Mr. Bishop.
I didn't mean no harm.
I'm going outside, Dee.
I'd appreciate it if you see
I don't get shot in the back.
- July?
- Mmm?
What if she won't have you?
Why shouldn't she have me?
Well, I don't know.
It's just, she might not want you.
You trying to tell me something, Roscoe?
No, July, it's just...
Well, because you want her
doesn't mean that...
...she's gotta want you right back.
Does it?
I don't wanna talk about it.
- Why?
- What?
- Why don't you wanna talk about it?
- Roscoe, I just don't.
Now, Roscoe, you been
a good boy all of these years.
Now, don't spoil it.
Who's standing guard?
Jeeters.
Well, I reckon I'll go spell him.
Well, there's another one'll
never make it to Matamoros.
How many does that make?
- Three.
Looks to me like we'll be
mostly walking when we leave.
You two have gotten pretty close,
haven't you?
- Nothing's been said.
- Well, nothing has to be said.
It's just a feeling, Mace.
You know, it's just a feeling, but...
But what?
I don't know if she has
the same feeling.
Have you thought about asking her?
- Asking?
- Dee...
...I know you don't believe in talking...
...and you've said that talking
never got you anywhere...
...but how are you ever gonna
find out anything...
...from anybody if you don't talk?
There will be coffee soon.
- I wanna ask you something.
- Yes?
I know I've done you real wrong...
...and even if I wanted...
...it's kind of late for apologizing.
I know there's no reason
in this whole worid...
...why you wouldn't like to
step on something like me...
...but do you think you could ever
take to a man who...
...dragged you from your home
and done you the way I done you?
Well, I'll be damned.
- What'd she say?
- Nothing.
Oh, well, you two are gonna be
very happy.
Mace, what'd she mean by that?
She just looked at me, hugged me.
Didn't say nothing.
Oh, boy.
Oh, you're a sorry...
Dee, you're so dumb.
- I am?
- Yes, you are.
- How'd you like a knock in your teeth?
- No, listen to me, Dee.
Do you wanna go up to Montana
with me or don't you?
Do you wanna help me build
our spread up there?
- I reckon, yeah.
- And the children, what about them?
- What children?
- Children of your own.
The ones you used to want.
What about them?
And her? Do you want her
to go with you to Montana?
- It'd be right nice, yeah.
- Well, then go and tell her.
You're right. That's right, Mace.
Now, why didn't I think of that?
Bishop, close the door.
Come on in.
All right, tell them it's over, Roscoe.
Now, just so we understand
one another...
...you make one move
I don't like, and I'll kill you.
Now, what's your real name?
- Mace Bishop.
- Bishop. You're brothers.
You hear that, Roscoe?
They're brothers.
All right, brothers.
Where'd you hide the bank money?
- What bank money?
- Oh, it's gonna be that way, is it?
The $ 10,000 your brother there
took out of the Val Verde Bank.
$ 10,000 that he helped himself to
when the rest of you lit out.
That's what bank money.
You robbed a bank? You, Mace?
Well, Dee, the bank was there...
...and I was there, and there wasn't
very much of anybody else there...
...and it just seemed like
the thing to do.
You know, it's not like
something you never heard of.
Lot of people rob banks
for all sorts of different reasons.
You just walked into a bank
and helped yourself to $ 10,000...
...because it seemed like
the thing to do?
That's about the way it was, yeah.
That's as well as I can remember, yeah.
I don't know what to say to you.
Well, just don't say anything, Dee.
Don't say a word.
Why, you old bastard.
Now I know what you meant by,
"I might be able to get some money."
You planned on us...
We were gonna start our new spread
on stolen money?
Just a thought, Dee. Just a thought.
Well, I'm sure glad Mama
ain't around to hear all this.
Well, I sure wish Papa
was around to hear all this.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to see
$ 10,000 in Papa's hands?
$ 10,000 in the hands of a man...
...that didn't know there was that
much money in the whole worid.
I think I'm gonna be
sick to my stomach.
Tie them up. Tie them all up!
We're going home in the morning,
ain't we, July?
I sure hope so.
I've found a place
for you to sleep tonight, ma'am.
I don't mind sleeping here.
Oh, yes, ma'am,
but I don't think you should.
It just don't seem right, somehow.
Right over there.
Now, there's no need to worry. There'll
be somebody on guard all night long.
Now, this isn't much,
but it's the best I could find.
You'll be safe here.
I was not worried about my safety.
You don't have to be with
them Bishops now.
You know, I like them.
Beg your pardon, ma'am?
I said, I like them. Both of them.
I'd like to talk to you
about something, Maria.
You have ridden a long way
for nothing if it was for me.
- Look, I'm stable.
- I know.
- And I'm reliable.
- I know, July, but don't you...?
Roscoe said just because I like you...
...you don't have to like me back,
and that's the truth, but...
Oh, what are you looking for, ma'am?
Nothing.
I have found it.
You men!
Pack all the water we can tote.
Throw away everything we don't need.
All right, I'm gonna ask you again.
And I don't wanna hear
about your mama.
I don't wanna hear nothing about
how disappointed you are in each other.
I don't wanna hear nothing about
how the Lord will forgive you...
...for sinking so low.
Where'd you hide the money?
You know, it'd go a lot easier on you
if you told me where it was hid.
What about my brother?
Money or no money,
your brother's gonna hang.
Your kind don't live long
in prison, Mace.
Why don't you tell him where it is.
Go on, give it to him.
Well, sheriff...
...I figure if I ever want money
bad enough again...
...I can always rob another bank.
I never knew it was so easy.
Come on, help me up.
Don't do it, Bishop.
We'll get you out of this.
You ain't getting out of nothing,
so shut up.
It's a long way to the border, sheriff...
...and I'm gonna take special pleasure
in cutting your...
Tough worid, isn't it, Mr. Chaney?
There it is...
...resting like a baby.
Is that really the best
you could hide it?
Go tell July we're ready.
July...
- Untie us!
- Get back on the floor!
Come on, sheriff,
untie us and give us guns!
You'll never hold off that many!
- All right, Cort, turn them loose!
- Come on!
All right, Dee.
Pa.
Leave me be, boy!
Pa! Get back in here!
I hope they kill you, you hear me?
I hope you die!
No!
My God.
When you hugged me,
did that mean yes or no?
It meant yes.
You really would've been my woman?
My wife, I mean?
Yes.
- You'd have gone to Montana with us?
- Yes.
Did you hear that, Mace?
You here, Mace?
I'm here, Dee.
Babe was right.
A little old kiss never hurt nobody.
Dee?
Dee.
Did you mean what you said
to my brother?
For the first time in my life.
I'm glad.
I'm awful glad.
Because, you see,
Dee always wanted to believe.
He always...
He always wanted the right things.
But there was just something in him.
It just...
It was always hard for Dee to see
the light at the end of the trail.
It almost worked.
No one will even know who lies here.
Does it matter?
Perhaps not.
Looks like they're stopping
at the Lost Love.
But they're not going in.
Yes, sir, I know, I know.
You people are thieves.
Did you know that?
I've been paying interest so long,
I plumb forgot what the capital is.
Nobody forced you to come in...
Force?
Did you hear that? "Force"?
Me with a wife, a mule, two Leghorn
roosters looking for a hen...
...and six young ones to feed,
and all this fool can say is "force"?
- It'll be a cold day in...
Never mind the hard stuff.
We'll just take the paper.
Come on, come on, give me your gun.
This is force, mister.
Get out!
Cort!
Drop it!
Pick it up. Don't let me stop you.
Come out! Drop them!
Don't look too good, does it, Bishop?
Roscoe, go open up the cells. Cort...
...you and Hawkins
help me cover them.
If one of them even spits,
blow his head off.
I need a doctor.
- You ain't hurt. Move!
They shot Nathan Stoner
and killed one of my clerks.
Get your hands up.
John, get Doc Curtis over here
right away.
Bishop, you and one other
in that first cell on the right.
- In there, old man.
Pa.
I figured you'd hit me a turn
one of these days, Bishop.
When they write about you...
...they'll call Val Verde
your end of the line.
Well, I've never seen anything so bad
that a little money or talk can't settle.
You can talk till you're blue
in the face if you've a mind to.
I'm a different kind of sheriff
than you've been used to.
- What's that supposed to mean?
- Means you can't beg, borrow, steal...
...buy, break or pray
your way out of my jail.
July!
Nathan Stoner just died.
Roscoe, you men search them
and take their gun belts.
All right, let me have them.
Give me a Rosebud, will you?
Coming up.
Say, have you heard about any jobs
to be had around San Anton?
No, and a hundred others have asked
me the same thing since sundown.
Uh-huh. Who do I see about
getting a cot tonight?
- Me, if you got 50 cents.
- Fifty?
The sign over there says
25 cents for a cot.
That's when things are slow.
50 cents, take what you can find.
- It's kind of steep.
- No laughing, no talking...
...no singing, no drinking
and no snoring and no spitting.
Right through that door,
and don't step on anyone.
I wanna bed down the horse.
Is there a livery handy?
Across the street.
He charges 60 cents.
Well, that seems fair enough.
Seems to me like you could stand
a good scrubbing yourself.
Water washes away
a man's protection...
...lets miseries into his body,
and I'm too old to take chances.
If what you're saying's true,
you're the best-protected man in town.
Well, I ain't sick, never been sick
and don't intend to be sick. Next!
Now, if you're gonna shave,
I'll fill a pan...
...but if you ain't, I won't.
- Fill the pan.
They tell me you're a hangman.
They told you right, friend.
Left Oklahoma City three weeks ago
and headed for Val Verde, Texas.
This'll be one of the biggest jobs
I've had in years:
The Bishop gang.
Judge found them guilty as sin.
Sentenced them to hang
high as a Georgia pine.
Good for the state of Texas too
when they're out of the way.
- How many did they catch?
They killed one, caught five.
Ex-Quantrill men, mostly.
Leastways, Bishop is.
Be the first Texans I ever hung.
I plan to enjoy it.
Hey, bring my clothes over here,
will you?
- Ain't you gonna shave?
- No.
What in the worid...?
Can't make up their mind.
I can't stand it...
...I've gotta keep this place
spick-and-span.
A fella can't even make up his mind...
Afternoon.
- Howdy.
Get down and set a spell, friend.
Got more fish here if you're hungry.
Mighty generous of you.
I'm a generous man. Believe in it.
Make yourself at home.
Coffee there. Sweet biscuits there.
Hey, you got all the comforts.
- Yes, sir, friend. I enjoy life.
My soul's on fire with the spirit of it,
if you know what I mean.
That's fine.
Well, it looks to me like
you must be a rope drummer.
Oh.
No, just the tools of my professión.
I'm a hangman.
A hangman? Well, I declare.
On my way to hang the Bishop gang
down in Val Verde.
Oh, yeah. I heard about that.
Well, they finally got that bunch, huh?
Caught, jailed, tried and gonna hang.
Well, I sure am happy
to come across you, Mr...
Grimes. Ossie Grimes,
of the Oklahoma Grimes.
Mr. Grimes, yes, sir.
Yeah, I sure am happy I've run across...
You know, I've always been
sort of curious about your job.
Well, there's a lot more to it
than most folks think.
There's nothing worse
than a sloppy hanging.
Back in Oklahoma, I once watched them
hang a fella five times before it took.
Five times? Five?
Just exactly what do you
have to know, Mr. Grimes...
...in order to make a good,
clean, professional job of it?
Well, just about everything.
You have to know how tall
your subject is, how much he weighs...
...his neck size
and how he feels about it all.
- Then you have to be certain...
- Excuse me.
You mean to say you have to know...
...how the fellow you're gonna hang
feels about it?
Oh, yes, sir.
A scared man who's crying
and praying and shaking...
...and moving around is
harder to send to his maker...
...than one who's decided
to just stand there and take it.
Uh-huh.
Why, I had a subject last year...
...took me an hour
just to get him up off his knees.
- Is that a fact?
- That's a fact.
You can't hang a subject
when he's on his knees.
It just don't look right.
And I'll tell you one more thing.
When you select a rope...
- What are you looking at?
- You tell me.
- Hey, Robbie.
What?
I got a young boy here
who's worried about his future.
Yeah. I reckon he is at that too.
I hope to God that they don't dump
himself and myself in the same hole.
I have enough explaining to do up there
without having him along.
Fine pair of lookouts,
you and your pop.
Let me tell you something, Bishop...
...I've been on the wrong side
of the law for over 40 years...
...and I ain't been in jail long enough
to soften up a chaw of tobacco.
I ride out with you, and here I am
watching them build my own gallows.
Well, everybody else has had their say.
What about you?
It don't look too good, does it?
Ossie Grimes is the name, sheriff.
Down from Oklahoma to prove again
that the sins of the fathers...
...are visited on the sons.
That's true in Texas just like any place.
The Southwest will be
a better place when I'm finished.
Well, I'm July Johnson, Mr. Grimes.
I'm the one that sent for you.
This here is my deputy,
Roscoe Bookbinder.
- Glad to know you.
- Howdy.
Known him all his life.
Born in a hogan north of El Paso.
- A fine boy.
- Fine, fine.
Well, first off, sheriff, I'd like to see
the subjects, if you don't mind.
- The what?
- What? The... The subjects.
- The prisoners?
- In my professión, they're subjects.
In my jail, they're nothing.
Follow me.
Here they are, Mr. Grimes,
all ready for you.
Well, I'd have to say now...
I wonder if you fellas
would move forward a little...
...to the bars.
Would you come forward?
All right, do what the man says.
Ah...
Well, sheriff, seems like to me
you got four good necks here...
...that ought to snap pretty good.
I'm just not quite sure about this one.
How much do you weigh, son?
Uh...
- I don't know.
- You don't know?
Well, maybe it'll be all right.
I always like to do a nice clean job.
Usually when I have a lightweight...
...I strap on a 50-pound bag of sand,
get some weight on him...
...and then that neck:
Just like that.
How do you feel about it all, son?
- You're crazy.
- Now, you're not gonna be...
...praying and crying and all that stuff?
You'll just hold up the procedure.
Won't make it any easier
for me or you.
- This one Bishop, sheriff?
Yeah, that's him.
- You rode with Quantrill, did you?
- All the way.
And at Lawrence, Kansas?
- You were in on that?
- I was there.
You must have made your mother
mighty proud.
Hangman.
I never harmed a woman or a child.
We're planning on high noon tomorrow,
if that suits you.
That'll be fine.
You know, sheriff,
when a man in my professión...
...gets a chance to work with equipment
like that, it just makes him proud.
- Uh-huh.
- You're expecting a big crowd, I imagine?
It's a free country.
Folks got a right to watch a hanging.
Well, then I'd like to advise you
about two things, sheriff.
I've found out from bitter experience
that when folks come for a hanging...
...all guns should be confiscated
until after...
...and all saloons should be closed.
- Well, I'll see what I can do.
- Good.
These men deserve to hang...
...but they don't deserve to hang sober
while drunks stand around watching.
That man sure...
...loves his work.
- I'll bed your horses, Mr. Grimes.
- Fine.
These ropes stay with me.
Her name's Maria Stoner, hangman.
One of the men you're gonna send away
tomorrow killed her husband.
Have that sorrel ready for me
in the morning, huh?
And this is the last one, Mrs. Stoner.
Well, the unfortunate
demise of your husband...
...has left you quite a sizable estate.
You mean the death of my husband
has made me...
...the wealthiest woman
in this county.
Well, that's quite a jump for a little...
...girl from south of the border.
I have to be going.
Mrs. Stoner, it might be wise
if we discussed...
...the disposition of your ranch.
- Disposition?
Yes. Several weeks ago
I had a discussión...
...with Nathan about a possible sale.
I made him an offer.
- He seemed quite agreeable.
- The ranch is not for sale.
- You don't expect to live out there...
- I intend to keep it.
But you don't intend to run it.
No woman in her right mind
would attempt to operate...
...a 150,000-acre spread.
Whether or not I succeed
in operating it, Mr. Carter...
...is not your concern.
I can take care of myself.
I think you overestimate your ability,
Mrs. Stoner.
Perhaps I do.
Good day, Mr. Carter.
Mr. Carter, I was a whore at 13...
...and my family of 12
never went hungry.
When you figure
we'll make our play, Dee?
- Not tonight.
- We don't do something tonight...
...we're gonna hang tomorrow.
- You got any ideas?
- No, but you should.
- Well, I do, old man, so shut up.
Hey, laddie, tell me:
What miracle are you going to perform
when the sun comes up, huh?
All right. Step up and get it.
Same damn chili and beans.
Did you ever hear of beefsteak?
Beefsteak, my ass.
Hell, pork chops up
15 cents a pound...
...and the man's talking about
he wants beefsteak.
Nice night, isn't it, Mrs. Stoner?
Oh, I'm sorry.
How do you know my name?
I get the idea just about everybody
around here knows your name.
I'm very pleased to meet you.
I'm... I apologize for the intrusión.
I'm being a little forward, and I...
Oh, please. Don't go.
- You are the hangman, aren't you?
- Well, I'm...
Hear them in there?
Getting all liquored up
for the big day tomorrow.
Celebration over the death
of fellow human beings.
That is a strange thought
for a hangman.
- Do you have a family?
- A brother. He's all that's left.
It was the war, Mrs. Stoner.
The war took our family. Almost took
me, but I'm a pretty fast runner.
Good night.
Good night.
- I didn't know him...
...but I'm sorry about your husband,
Mrs. Stoner.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
Gonna be a big day tomorrow, Roscoe.
Better get some sleep.
Mrs. Stoner.
- Maria.
- Yes.
Do you mind
if I come in for a minute?
Well, I would prefer you didn't...
- I won't take but a minute, ma'am.
What is it, sheriff?
My friends call me July, ma'am.
I wish you were one.
I'll tell you what, ma'am.
I'll be your friend, and you just
don't bother about being mine.
The reason I come up here tonight
was to see if there was anything...
...I could do for you. Anything at all.
- No. No, there's nothing.
I'm going home tomorrow.
Oh.
I see.
Well, it still goes.
Anytime.
July.
Thank you.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
Well, let's see you trip her.
They got it working fine, hangman.
Now it's up to you.
A man that's been hung by
Ossie Grimes stays hung.
Bishop, it appears to me
I have misjudged you.
The town's filling up,
and you ain't even made a move.
Well, it appears to me I misjudged
you too, Pop. You're scared.
It's my boy I'm thinking of.
He ain't even full-growed yet.
I'm scared, Dee,
and I ain't ashamed of it.
Babe, when the time comes...
...whatever we have to do,
we'd better be quick about it.
You too, Robbie.
When we have to move, move.
Right, laddie.
I'm sorry.
Come back after. Yeah? Well...
Hey, check your guns in over there.
Sorry, closed till after the hanging.
Hey, it's that way.
Put the rifles over there,
gentlemen. Put your rifles in that pack.
I'll tell you what, don't lose my gun.
We asked you not to wear them
to town in the first place.
The holster too.
You'll get it back in a little while.
Hyah!
Hyah!
Giddap!
It's about that time, ain't it?
Yeah, just about. Run them out.
All right. Clear a path down there.
So hold it right there.
All right. Come up the steps
one at a time. You first, Bishop.
Move down the line
and then turn around.
- Aren't you gonna tie their hands?
- First things first, sheriff.
Be a long time before the likes of them
ride into Val Verde again.
Hold it!
I'm a fair man, sheriff.
Now, you be good, and I won't kill you.
Tell your deputy to drop it. Tell him!
All right, do it, Roscoe.
- Move it.
- I knew you'd do it, laddie.
Who you gonna hang now?
Hold it right there.
- All right, break the crowd up.
- Get back there.
Come on.
Come on, get back there.
- Get back!
All right. Move it.
Bring that wagon up here.
Come on. Get out of it. Goddang!
Keep them covered. Take what you need
and get rid of the rest of their guns.
- Do you think you'll get far, Bishop?
- Not as far as you were gonna send me.
Let's go!
Let's get the hell out of here!
Giddap! Hyah!
Let's go, men!
They're headed southwest.
All right, hurry up with the wagon!
Get your guns! Don't worry about
getting your own gun. Just get a gun!
Get back there!
You know what they did,
so if you're going with me, be ready.
When we come on them, shoot to kill.
Hyah!
Hasn't been one of your
good days, has it?
Well, I wouldn't exactly say that.
- Can I help you?
- Yes.
Yes, I'd appreciate it very much
if you'd fill these up with money.
But you're the hangman...
No. Now, you see,
you're wrong about that too.
And I don't really feel I have time
to explain it all to you...
...so just do as I say,
and you'll stay healthy...
...and everything will be all right.
Just fill them up.
Get in there.
That's it.
It's a tough worid, isn't it?
We ain't got no time.
You ain't planning to waste
none of it around here, are you?
Well, if you wanna cross that border
with no grub, go ahead.
And take the kid with you.
Hurry up. Take as much as you can.
You didn't have to do this.
I didn't do it, he did it. And if he
hadn't done it, I'd have done it.
Dee.
Robbie, take her to cover.
Leave me alone.
Now.
They got that Stoner woman!
I almost shot her.
Yeah, I know.
Pass the word, Roscoe.
God help the man that hurts her.
Right.
How does a man become
an animal like you?
Don't shoot the Stoner woman.
Don't shoot the Stoner woman.
You gonna let her stop you?
You can't ask...
I haven't asked anything, Carter!
Who in the hell's that?
- Johnson, they're getting away!
- Don't you think I know that?!
Don't you, by damn,
think I know that?!
Roscoe!
Go track them as far the border.
Wait for me there. I'll be along.
Yes, sir.
Come on.
I want 10 volunteers.
Ten good horses, 10 good guns.
No clerks, no storekeepers.
We'll outfit at the Stoner ranch. The rest
of you, take care of the wounded...
...and go on back to town.
- You going across the border?
- That's right!
After them or after her?
Hey, sheriff! He robbed the bank!
Who did?
- The hangman.
Mrs. Stoner, you're gonna be with us
until we don't need you no longer.
Then you can go on home.
Hmm?
Have you no plan, laddie?
- My plan is to stay away from a rope.
That's a dandy one, that is.
Indeed it is.
She sure is pretty.
She's not pretty, she's beautiful.
Beautiful as something real fine.
Something you can't never have,
no matter how bad you want it.
Looks to me like we got her.
- You ain't got nothing, kid. Forget it.
- I don't mean nothing.
That's right. You don't mean nothing.
Shh. Listen.
Dee, you gone plumb loco?
Get down, Mace. Help yourself.
It ain't much.
It's just like a woman I once had...
...back in Kentucky: Warm and free.
Why, it's the hangman.
- Hey, what's he doing here?
- That ain't no hangman, Pop.
- That's nobody but my brother.
Your brother?
Mace, this is Pop Chaney.
That's his young fine son back there
who's studying for the ministry.
Babe Jenkins.
- Robbie O'Hare.
Hi.
Mrs. Stoner.
You all right, Mrs. Stoner?
- Hey, you!
- Pop.
Apologize for what happened to you,
Mrs. Stoner.
You can go home in the morning.
Mrs. Stoner goes home
when I say she goes home...
...and she ain't going home
in the morning, Mace.
When I ain't got no blood-in-the-eye
posse running up my backside...
...then she can do what she wants.
Until then, she stays.
So you never harmed
a woman or a child, huh?
She's harmed? She ain't harmed.
You sure put her in a good position.
I'd like to have my gun back, Dee.
Robbie.
Still picking up after your brother.
Mama would be proud of that.
Seen Mama lately?
Not since the funeral.
Mama's dead?
I buried her six weeks to the day
after Appomattox.
It was raining.
- She didn't suffer?
- Only in her mind.
- Because of me, you mean.
- You're the one who said that.
I killed her. That's what you mean.
You never did her any good, Dee.
That's what I mean.
The day she found
you joined Quantrill...
...she started going downhill
for the last time.
And when you fellows burnt
Lawrence, Kansas...
...after that, she never spoke
another word. She just...
...sat by the fire...
...and didn't say anything.
Hey, Robbie. Here's a mama for you.
One boy goes with Quantrill,
the other goes with Sherman.
One helps burn down a town,
the other helps burn down a state.
The one that burned the town
is the one that done in his mama.
Sherman was war, Dee.
Quantrill was meanness.
Well, what about this big sheriff
and his bunch?
Think he's gonna cross the border?
A South Texas sheriff who once
rode with Nathan Bedford Forrest.
A man who was made a fool of
in his own town.
He'll cross it.
If there's something
you know that we don't...
...I think you'd better tell us
what it is. You're with us.
Whatever happens to us happens to you.
Maybe even more so.
The country we have been through
between here and the Rio Grande...
...is patrolled by the federales.
From here to south
is the territorio bandolero.
Well, what's that,
"territorio bandolero"?
Bandit country.
They kill every gringo they can find.
- You don't look too worried.
- I am not a gringo.
Well, there's a town called
Sabinas just south of here.
- It is a three-day ride.
- We'll be safe there.
The sheriff won't follow us
that deep in.
He will follow.
What makes you so certain?
Because you have something
he has wanted for a long time.
- What's that?
- Me.
Four, maybe five hours.
This is the first time I have been
in my country since I left.
I always knew
I would come back again...
...but not quite this way.
How'd you come to marry
your husband, Mrs. Stoner?
He bought me, Mr. Bishop.
He found me in the backroom
of a cantina.
He liked me, and he bought me.
He gave my father five cows
and a gun.
It made my father the richest man
in our village.
Did you ever come to love him?
No.
But he was kind to me.
He was considerate.
And he took me from something
I never felt a part of.
He gave me a home.
Now here I am.
Well, from the looks of you, Mrs. Stoner,
you have a long way yet to go.
- Want some coffee?
- No.
Excuse me.
Mace, if you're ever alone
with Pop and his little boy...
...don't you turn your back on them.
- I know.
I can't decide which of us
they hate the most.
- Oh, it's you.
- I think you're right.
Mace, I ain't had a chance to tell you,
but it sure is real good to see you again.
And sometimes I think back
to how it used to be with you and me.
- You remember when...?
- Dee, that was yesterday.
Now, let's talk about today.
All right. What about today?
Now, why do you ride
with men like these?
Oh, I don't know. I just got used to it,
I guess, through the years.
You know, you begin to go one way
and keep on going that way...
...pretty soon, there's no other way.
You really believe that?
No, I guess not.
You sure are pretty.
- Pretty.
A pretty woman ain't good
for nothing but smelling sweet...
...and laying around the house.
Just so pretty.
Is it after a little kiss you are, Babe?
Oh, he's a great kisser, ma'am.
He's the best damn lady-kisser
in the whole of Texas.
Leave the woman alone.
Oh...
Hell, he wouldn't harm a hair
on her head, laddie.
She's a lady. Treat her like one.
It's time you got some sleep.
How far are we going, July?
I mean, are we just gonna...
...keep following them
till we come up on them...
...or what?
No matter how far they go?
That's right.
Suppose they just keep
going on forever?
Then we'll just keep going on forever.
What if we lose them?
There's only a couple of places
they could be headed.
There's only a couple of places
with water.
I won't lose them.
I'll find them, or I'll find their bones,
but I won't lose them.
Hold up, July!
This don't make sense no more, July.
- What don't make sense, Hawkins?
- We've come too far already.
Ain't no telling where we'll end up,
dead most likely, if we keep going.
You wanna turn back?
Wanting ain't part of it.
I'm turning back.
Anybody going with me?
Ain't nobody coming with me?
Maybe he's right, Johnson.
It don't make no sense no more.
I mean, it just don't make sense.
Goodbye, Ross, Hawkins.
You coming with us?
It's not the Bishop gang he's after now,
it's the Stoner woman.
Just like Carter said.
Hey! Wait up there! Wait for me!
What are you hurrying so for? That sheriff
can't go any faster than we can.
Are you giving out, Pop?
Oh, it's just that I don't see no sense
in hurrying, that's all.
So the old bastardo is not as tough
as he smells.
How can two brothers be so different?
Who, Mace? Oh, he believes
in the goodness of his fellow man.
He's never seen it,
but he believes in it.
I don't believe in it.
- What do you believe in?
- I believe in myself.
You fool nobody but yourself.
And I don't believe you even do that.
You really think you had a hard life,
don't you, Dee?
- You don't understand.
- No?
What would you know about
having to scrape for a living?
I could tell you a lot
about the hard life...
...but you'd have to live it
to understand it.
Yes, I believe that.
Johnson!
We ain't going no further. This is it.
We're turning back.
- All of you?
- All of us.
- You just ain't gonna find them.
- I'll find them.
Do you know how big this country is?
Why, it just swallowed them up.
- For all we know, they...
- Now, who's missing?
We came into that pass with 10 men.
I count eight of us now.
Clyde Anderson ain't with us, July.
Wade Phillips is missing too.
July.
All right, Cort, you and the men can
ride back home if you want to.
Course, that's the only way.
Unless you wanna ride
50 miles around.
All right, then.
You stay here till we get back.
Stay where you are.
You wouldn't recognize him anyway.
I reckon the other one's
around here somewhere.
- The Indians, July?
- No, bandits.
If you wanna ride for home,
you leave right now from here.
I'll understand. I'll tell the others
I sent you home to report.
I'll stay with you, July.
Now, you don't have to.
I just want you to know that.
No, I'll stick.
Then if anybody ever says to me:
"Did you ride all over Mexico
with July Johnson?"
I can say to him, "Yep...
...I rode all over Mexico
with July Johnson."
You're a good boy. I always said it.
You stop picking your nose, boy.
It ain't mannerly.
- You had no call to do that.
- Now, none of your lip.
You're raising up your boy
to be a good Christian, I see.
I'm learning him
what my pa learned me.
The Almighty rest his damn bones.
There's three things
a man ought never do:
Spit in church, scratch himself
in front of his ma...
...and pick his nose. Yes, sir.
That's what my pa learned me,
and it stood me in good stead.
I don't imagine your pa
ever mentioned...
...shooting people and burning houses
and things like that.
I'm talking about mannerly things,
Mr. Bishop.
I ain't talking about making a living.
Oh.
What the hell, Bishop?
You were leaning on my saddle,
Mr. Chaney.
You lean on your own saddle.
Babe, get out there
and see if anything's moving.
Dee.
- Something wrong?
- Things have been wrong a long time.
Don't you think it's about time
we have a talk?
- Well, I'll tell you the truth...
- Yeah, liars always start that way.
No, Mace, I'll tell you the truth.
I can't remember a single instance
where talking's ever...
...gotten me anyplace.
But go ahead. Tell me what you wanna
talk about, maybe I'll join you.
All right. I wanna talk about us
having a place of our own.
Our own ranch.
How's that sound to you?
Not worth a rooster without a hen.
How come? Seems to me
I can remember back to a time...
...you wanted a place
of your own awful bad.
That was before the war.
We were younger then.
Well, not that much younger.
Young enough to think
about a good woman.
You know how long it's been since
I been with a woman I could respect?
I may not be good, but I sure do know
what good's supposed to be.
We were young enough back in
those days to think about children.
You're not saying
you're too old to be a father?
I'm just saying you reach a time
when all them things are lost to you.
They're not lost to you, Dee.
They're not lost.
You may have thrown some of them
away. They're not lost to you.
Get up, Babe.
Get up!
Honest, Dee, I wasn't gonna do
nothing but kiss her.
Well, what's wrong
with a little old kiss?
Ain't nothing wrong
with a little old kiss, Dee.
A little old kiss never hurt nobody.
From now on, you and me are gonna be
close together whether you like it or not.
I can't stand the thought
of something like him...
...with his hands
on something like you.
I thought he was your friend.
He is, but that don't make him
any less disgusting.
Matter of fact,
all my friends are disgusting.
You take Pop, for instance.
He was due to be shot
the day he was born.
And that heart of his is nothing
but a festering sore.
His kid, he's something, ain't he?
If you feel that way about them,
why are you with them?
I know where they stand.
I've never known
where respectable people stood.
Maybe they don't know themselves.
You say the sheriff's
always wanted you?
He is a good man.
I...
I reckon he's got you
all to himself now.
He's a good man,
but I feel nothing for him.
Why do you laugh?
I was just thinking. We'd make
a perfect pair, you and me.
I'm broke, without a woman...
...and you're rich and without a man.
- This ain't Sabinas, is it, laddie?
- Is this what you brung us to?
This is the town.
Why, it's a ghost.
Looks that way, Mace.
Sure does look that way.
A lot of horses
through here lately, Dee.
Maybe not more than a day or so.
Mostly barefoot.
This is your country. What do you
think happened to these people?
Bandoleros.
They demand too much of the people.
When they grow tired
of being raided, they leave.
As they have done here.
You mean to say a whole town
just packs up and leaves...
...and never comes back?
Well, sometimes
they go to a larger town...
...where they can be protected
by the soldiers of Benito Juárez.
Mace, we'll put up over in that cantina.
That's the best place around.
What do you plan on doing now, Dee?
Well, I'll just rest up here
a few days...
...ride on to Hidalgo for supplies
and push on to Matamoros.
I got friends in Matamoros.
Well, what about Mrs. Stoner?
Mace, you think we could
make a go of it in Montana?
Dee, there's a town up there
called Missoula.
- Prettiest place you ever saw.
- What about the Indians?
And the Rockies, they're snowcapped,
and the slopes are forested...
...and there are lots of lakes and...
- What about the Indians?
And there's deer in Montana, Dee.
And antelope and elk...
- Mace, what about the Indians?
...and black bear and...
What Indians?
Ain't there no Indians in Montana?
Well, a few.
Ain't there Northern Cheyenne
in Montana?
The Northern...
Well, the Northern Cheyenne...
- I wouldn't lie to you.
- The Crow and the Sioux?
- Well, they're around.
- What else, Mace?
- Listen, Dee...
- What else?
Well, the Blackfeet...
...and Chippewa.
- Some Cree?
Yes. Yes, there are Cree in Montana.
And the Shoshone and the Kootenai
and the Stoney.
Just what are you trying to say?
I'm trying to say there's a lot of
goddamn Indians in Montana, Mace.
- You're impossible to talk to.
- Wait a minute.
Will you sit down, Mace?
I'm tired, Mace. Bone-tired.
I can't even remember what it feels like
to get up in the morning...
...feeling rested and clean,
having a good breakfast.
I can't remember
what it feels like...
...to slip down in between
some cool, clean sheets.
Mace, we'll need money.
Have you thought about that?
I think I know where I can get
my hands on some.
Your brother won't never make it.
There's only one way for him...
...for me, for any of us.
Well, what way is that, Mr. Chaney?
This way. The way we know.
The way we growed.
Well, now, that may be so for you,
but for my brother, it's different.
I don't care if he is your brother.
The son of a bitch...
Now...
...before you apologize, I'm gonna
tell you something, Mr. Chaney.
My brother and I are the sons
of an honest dirt farmer.
A man who slaved all his life
from sunup to sundown...
...and never took time
except to deliver his children...
...and go to meeting on Sunday.
A man who died of old age at 45...
...and who never saw more than
$ 10 at one time in his whole life.
We're the sons of a woman
that married him for his goodness...
...because she was good!
And now you can apologize
for slandering my family, Mr. Chaney.
I'll blow your head off.
You ain't no killer.
You ain't got the stomach for it.
Apologize!
I'm sorry, Mr. Bishop.
I didn't mean no harm.
I'm going outside, Dee.
I'd appreciate it if you see
I don't get shot in the back.
- July?
- Mmm?
What if she won't have you?
Why shouldn't she have me?
Well, I don't know.
It's just, she might not want you.
You trying to tell me something, Roscoe?
No, July, it's just...
Well, because you want her
doesn't mean that...
...she's gotta want you right back.
Does it?
I don't wanna talk about it.
- Why?
- What?
- Why don't you wanna talk about it?
- Roscoe, I just don't.
Now, Roscoe, you been
a good boy all of these years.
Now, don't spoil it.
Who's standing guard?
Jeeters.
Well, I reckon I'll go spell him.
Well, there's another one'll
never make it to Matamoros.
How many does that make?
- Three.
Looks to me like we'll be
mostly walking when we leave.
You two have gotten pretty close,
haven't you?
- Nothing's been said.
- Well, nothing has to be said.
It's just a feeling, Mace.
You know, it's just a feeling, but...
But what?
I don't know if she has
the same feeling.
Have you thought about asking her?
- Asking?
- Dee...
...I know you don't believe in talking...
...and you've said that talking
never got you anywhere...
...but how are you ever gonna
find out anything...
...from anybody if you don't talk?
There will be coffee soon.
- I wanna ask you something.
- Yes?
I know I've done you real wrong...
...and even if I wanted...
...it's kind of late for apologizing.
I know there's no reason
in this whole worid...
...why you wouldn't like to
step on something like me...
...but do you think you could ever
take to a man who...
...dragged you from your home
and done you the way I done you?
Well, I'll be damned.
- What'd she say?
- Nothing.
Oh, well, you two are gonna be
very happy.
Mace, what'd she mean by that?
She just looked at me, hugged me.
Didn't say nothing.
Oh, boy.
Oh, you're a sorry...
Dee, you're so dumb.
- I am?
- Yes, you are.
- How'd you like a knock in your teeth?
- No, listen to me, Dee.
Do you wanna go up to Montana
with me or don't you?
Do you wanna help me build
our spread up there?
- I reckon, yeah.
- And the children, what about them?
- What children?
- Children of your own.
The ones you used to want.
What about them?
And her? Do you want her
to go with you to Montana?
- It'd be right nice, yeah.
- Well, then go and tell her.
You're right. That's right, Mace.
Now, why didn't I think of that?
Bishop, close the door.
Come on in.
All right, tell them it's over, Roscoe.
Now, just so we understand
one another...
...you make one move
I don't like, and I'll kill you.
Now, what's your real name?
- Mace Bishop.
- Bishop. You're brothers.
You hear that, Roscoe?
They're brothers.
All right, brothers.
Where'd you hide the bank money?
- What bank money?
- Oh, it's gonna be that way, is it?
The $ 10,000 your brother there
took out of the Val Verde Bank.
$ 10,000 that he helped himself to
when the rest of you lit out.
That's what bank money.
You robbed a bank? You, Mace?
Well, Dee, the bank was there...
...and I was there, and there wasn't
very much of anybody else there...
...and it just seemed like
the thing to do.
You know, it's not like
something you never heard of.
Lot of people rob banks
for all sorts of different reasons.
You just walked into a bank
and helped yourself to $ 10,000...
...because it seemed like
the thing to do?
That's about the way it was, yeah.
That's as well as I can remember, yeah.
I don't know what to say to you.
Well, just don't say anything, Dee.
Don't say a word.
Why, you old bastard.
Now I know what you meant by,
"I might be able to get some money."
You planned on us...
We were gonna start our new spread
on stolen money?
Just a thought, Dee. Just a thought.
Well, I'm sure glad Mama
ain't around to hear all this.
Well, I sure wish Papa
was around to hear all this.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to see
$ 10,000 in Papa's hands?
$ 10,000 in the hands of a man...
...that didn't know there was that
much money in the whole worid.
I think I'm gonna be
sick to my stomach.
Tie them up. Tie them all up!
We're going home in the morning,
ain't we, July?
I sure hope so.
I've found a place
for you to sleep tonight, ma'am.
I don't mind sleeping here.
Oh, yes, ma'am,
but I don't think you should.
It just don't seem right, somehow.
Right over there.
Now, there's no need to worry. There'll
be somebody on guard all night long.
Now, this isn't much,
but it's the best I could find.
You'll be safe here.
I was not worried about my safety.
You don't have to be with
them Bishops now.
You know, I like them.
Beg your pardon, ma'am?
I said, I like them. Both of them.
I'd like to talk to you
about something, Maria.
You have ridden a long way
for nothing if it was for me.
- Look, I'm stable.
- I know.
- And I'm reliable.
- I know, July, but don't you...?
Roscoe said just because I like you...
...you don't have to like me back,
and that's the truth, but...
Oh, what are you looking for, ma'am?
Nothing.
I have found it.
You men!
Pack all the water we can tote.
Throw away everything we don't need.
All right, I'm gonna ask you again.
And I don't wanna hear
about your mama.
I don't wanna hear nothing about
how disappointed you are in each other.
I don't wanna hear nothing about
how the Lord will forgive you...
...for sinking so low.
Where'd you hide the money?
You know, it'd go a lot easier on you
if you told me where it was hid.
What about my brother?
Money or no money,
your brother's gonna hang.
Your kind don't live long
in prison, Mace.
Why don't you tell him where it is.
Go on, give it to him.
Well, sheriff...
...I figure if I ever want money
bad enough again...
...I can always rob another bank.
I never knew it was so easy.
Come on, help me up.
Don't do it, Bishop.
We'll get you out of this.
You ain't getting out of nothing,
so shut up.
It's a long way to the border, sheriff...
...and I'm gonna take special pleasure
in cutting your...
Tough worid, isn't it, Mr. Chaney?
There it is...
...resting like a baby.
Is that really the best
you could hide it?
Go tell July we're ready.
July...
- Untie us!
- Get back on the floor!
Come on, sheriff,
untie us and give us guns!
You'll never hold off that many!
- All right, Cort, turn them loose!
- Come on!
All right, Dee.
Pa.
Leave me be, boy!
Pa! Get back in here!
I hope they kill you, you hear me?
I hope you die!
No!
My God.
When you hugged me,
did that mean yes or no?
It meant yes.
You really would've been my woman?
My wife, I mean?
Yes.
- You'd have gone to Montana with us?
- Yes.
Did you hear that, Mace?
You here, Mace?
I'm here, Dee.
Babe was right.
A little old kiss never hurt nobody.
Dee?
Dee.
Did you mean what you said
to my brother?
For the first time in my life.
I'm glad.
I'm awful glad.
Because, you see,
Dee always wanted to believe.
He always...
He always wanted the right things.
But there was just something in him.
It just...
It was always hard for Dee to see
the light at the end of the trail.
It almost worked.
No one will even know who lies here.
Does it matter?
Perhaps not.