Montana (1990) - full transcript

Hold still, Sugar.
I ain't going to shoot you.

It's shot. It's ruined.

Well, I'll say one thing for you
fellas, you get to work early.

Bet some of you
ain't even had breakfast yet.

- Not big talkers, are you?
- We're just tryin' to do our work.

You can go home right now then...

because you done finished
workin' here.

This land's been ranched by my family
over hundred years.

I don't intend to turn it
into no coal pit.

Ma'am, ain't you Hoyt Guthrie's wife?

- That's right.
- Well, hell, Ms. Guthrie...



you oughtn't be shootin' at us.

Hoyce told us himself to come ahead
and run a test.

We ain't no trespassers.

We got his signature right here
on the papers.

Hoyce ain't the governor, Mister.
And this land ain't his to give away.

Well, here's his signature, Ma'am,
right here.

Ma'am, now don't do that.
You might hit that nitro.

Let's all try to keep
our damn heads.

We'll go back to the office and see
if we can straighten this out.

It's straight now.

No drillin', no leases, no runnin'
your trucks over my grass.

And if Hoyce don't see it that way
he can just change his glasses.

Shut them gates behind you, boys,
will you?

This here's my bull pasture.



Wouldn't want my bulls
out roamin' around.

You had better eat you one of them
short stacks then...

cover up them skinny ribs.

- Hey, where's Hoyce?
- Right over there.

Hey, Hoyce!

- I thought we had an agreement.
- Yeah. So?

So what in the hell's the matter
with your wife?

Well, nothin' so far as I know.

Why is she out there shootin'
at my drilling crew?

- Bess?
- And didn't I tell you...

if we don't get those tests back
by Saturday...

were going to have to move
onto Wyoming.

We can't afford two mining sites.

Yeah, well, I expect that was
just her way of pointin' out...

that you had that agreement with me,
not with her.

Hey, now, damnit all,
this is Wednesday.

I need those test by Saturday.

I thought you all cowboys
were supposed to be honest.

Yeah, well,
I reckon I'm probably more honest...

than one of your damn
coal mining companies.

Yeah, well, I knew you
was gettin' old, Guthrie...

but I didn't know you were so over
the hill...

that you can't control your own wife.

If you can't make her mind you...

you ought to get that crazy woman
of yours locked up!

You'd do well to watch your language
when you're talking about my wife...

Mr. Donley.

I ain't so over the hill
I'm going to let a man cuss her.

Clyde. Clyde?

My God, it's the lady vet.

Well, I was, just down showing
Laveta the big city of Billings.

Laveta Cox, my sister, Peg.

Hello.

We was over to the Mall.

I figured we'd pick you up
save you a bus ride, fly you home.

So, Clyde says you go to college?

Yeah, I do, but two days a week
is about all I can manage now.

Laveta ain't goin' to school
right now...

having already gotten her diploma
from that well known...

Academy The School of Hard Knocks.

I think it's safe to say Laveta's
knocked against many a hard one.

Clyde, could you just surpress
your asinine tendencies...

until we get home?

Speakin' of home, Mom and Daddy
had themselves a big fight.

Yeah, it ain't the first time.

First time daddy ever moved out.
Moved out in the old bunkhouse.

Come home soon as he gets hungry.

- Daddy's talkin' divorce.
- So, you want to be a vet?

Yeah. Why now? They've been married
and fightin' for thirty-four years.

For thirty-four years
there was no one wantin'...

to buy the coal under our land.

Lord, I wouldn't want to be a vest
for nothin'. I'd be scared.

I knew one that got bit
by rabies dog.

- You and daddy want to sell.
- And you and Momma don't.

In case you're wonderin'
my esteemed wife is off...

in San Francisco right now
buyin' fur coats, you know.

- Chinese doo-dads.
- I wasn't wonderin'.

I did go to college over
in Rapid City one semester?

But I mostly just took them
business courses.

Then I run off and got married...

and I forgot that damn shorthand
faster than you could say scat.

Look, a mine.

Is that Sarpy Creek Mine or,
which one is it?

Shucks, Laveta, you don't want
to talk about coal...

with my sister in the plane.
She's liable to push us both out.

I see, you're one of them
that's fightin' it.

That is the understatement
of the year.

Peg'd love to set the clock back
a hundred years.

Why don't you just stick it, Clyde?

Listen, now,
you two don't have to argue.

Shit, it don't make no difference
to me...

whether you're for coal
or against it.

Laveta,
I know it's none of my business...

but I want to tell you one thing
about Clyde.

He's for himself peroid, finished,
that's it.

Yeah, us selfish bastards
always get the prettiest girls.

Hey, we're not goin' down in it,
are we?

That's right, I can't resist it!
Right down with that demon coal!

Don't forget to wave, girls.

Jimbo.
Did you see that crazy lunatic?

That's Clyde...

- my brother in law.
- He's crazy, right?

You really do have to show off,
don't you?

Well, I thought you'd like a chance
to wave at your husband.

He's down there workin' his tail off
to put you through school, you know?

God, that was Pierce.

My God!

You think he see me? Clyde?

Unless the man's blind he'd see you.

I don't know why I done this.

How'd I know we'd fly through
a coal mine.

One where Pierce works. Damn!

Yeah,
that dragline's about et Montana.

Barely room up here to graze a goat.

What do you care? You got a rich wife
and half interest in a Uranium mine.

Don't this family harmony
just warm you heart, Laveta?

- Get back in. To town.
- Are we goin' somewhere?

Try to keep Daddy outta jail.

Roy over
at old faithful called twice.

Daddy's already been in one fight
and been kicked outta three bars.

Come, hit it.

- Do you want to come a long?
- Why would I?

He's still your husband.

Yeah, well, not to hear him talk.

He's already told
half the neighbors that...

that I kicked him out.

- Ma, who cares?
- I care.

I don't go runnin' over
to the neighbors...

blabbing all about my private life
just because I'm little upset.

Besides, I didn't kick him out,
he just left.

Yeah,
but you told him not to come back.

I told him not to come back...

unless he intended treatin' me
better.

He don't aim to, either.
That's why he ain't been back.

You could still come to town,
it might help.

No,
he'd just chew off twice as bad.

Would you watch Little Jim
while we're gone?

- Sure.
- Let's go.

I'll heel him this time for sure.

Damn!

Come on, do it again.

- All right.
- Are you convinced?

Hell no, I ain't convinced.
Go on, try it again.

I'm burnin' up a lot of gas goin' up
and down this damn road.

Fifty bucks this time.

Fifty?
You mean fifty dollars on what?

That you can't catch me.

You got yourself a bet.

By God.

He just made himself a fatal mistake.

He said, I had to catch him.

He didn't say nothin' about me
havin' to heel him!

Come on,
get that thing turned around.

I'll wait for you.

All right. Come on.

Come on.

- Daddy! Daddy.
- Yeah, where the hell you been?

- You missed the rodeo.
- I don't think so.

I think.. it's just startin'
to get active.

Hoyce, Hoyce,
what do you want to do that for?

- Do you know this guy here?
- No, he never introduced himself.

Hey, man, that's Sarge.

A couple of drunk boomers hit
on his wife last year...

in the Jimtown bar and he gutted them
just like they were pigs.

Come on, Daddy, let's go.

- This one really is too big for you.
- I don't care about that.

I ain't leavin' until I collect
my fifty dollars, all right?

Hoyce, he don't mean to pay anybody,
man.

He better not try to welch on me.
I hate a cheater.

I hate a cheater.
He'll just have to box me.

That's what I'll have to do.
I'll just have to fight that man.

- Come on.
- Hey...

watch where you're pointin'
that pig-stiker, Mister...

unless you want me to take it away
from you and ear mark you!

Come on, give me my fifty dollars.

Hey, watch it, Mr., watch it.

Watch where you're pointin'
that knife now.

Hey, Sarge, he's drunk, man.
Let it go, okay?

He can sober up in hell!

Give me the fifty dollars.

Grandpa?

No, come on now.

- I want to get my...
- Hey, let's go get a beer.

No, I ain't going to get no beer.
I ain't going to get nothin'.

- Get up in that truck, go on!
- I want my fifty dollars.

That's what I want. I ain't goin'!
I'm goin' to get my fifty!

- I want my fifty dollars!
- I'll get it.

- Hey! It ain't over!
- Daddy is over! Come on!

I want my fifty! Gimme that.
Gimme that damn thing.

Damn, Hoyce,
I'm so busy savin' your life...

I'm about late for may date here.

Probably have nothin' to do
with me again.

Well then,
go get yourself another woman then.

Now that I've been divorced...

I'm going to have to start lookin'
for one for myself.

- You ain't been divorced.
- I've been kicked out.

- It's the same thing.
- It ain't the same thing.

I kick Jimbo out three,
four times a week...

but I have to let him back
because he's so damn useful.

Well, yeah, that's you,
that's not me.

In my book bein' kicked out's
the same thing as bein' divorced...

and my book's the book I go by!

Well, you oughta try my book,
you might be a whole lot happier.

You all cost me
fifty dolars out there...

so you can just pay
for my damn drink.

Have you seen Fran?

Well, she was here.

I don't know where she went.

Ain't we done kicked you
out of here already, Mr. Guthrie?

I sobered up. I'm startin' over.

Hey, Willie.

Let loose of me, pig face.
You tear them jeans...

you're out fifteen ninety-five
you didn't mean to spend.

Well, your dirtier than a hog,
ain't you?

She's a sweet one, all right.

Well, I didn't have time to get
to the showers.

These here are my friends. Peg.
And this is Jimbo.

And this is ol' ornery
guy here is Hoyce.

- This is Fran.
- How are you?

Hey,
don't forget we're cowboyin' tonight.

Don't Willie know nothin'?
That girl's just a whore.

Watch your mouth...
and don't get drunk either.

You'll be good for nothin' tomorrow.

Look, you tell him what to do,
don't you tell me.

You tell him. You're married to him.

I don't know why
you got to get so soused.

Well, this may be my last chance.
Bess may shoot me in the mornin'.

- Hoyce.
- Well, she might.

She shot them core drillers after I
signed those papers...

sayin' they could drill.

She's tryin' to keep a ranch a ranch,
ain't nothin' wrong with that.

Ain't nothin' wrong with sellin'
the damn place, neither.

I'd like to be out of debt just once
before I die, just once.

One time.

Hey, Hoyce.

Why'd you tell that big Indian
I was crazy?

If I hadn't, he would've killed you.

I'm too old to walk home.

You and your people'd sell that coal,
hell, you'd be rich in no time.

You could buy yourself
a great big old purple Cadillac.

You won't have to ride around
in the back...

of this smelly pick up truck no more.

And that way,
I'd have someone to ride me home...

when I finally go broke.

You're as bad as my wife.

Neither one of you got any sense.

Why not sell it?
Why in the hell not sell it?

They'd make a mess out there.
The leaves'd fall too soon.

I don't know
what the grass would say.

Ah. Yeah, well,
that's what the whole damn mess.

Bess married the wrong man.

You and her you could'a'
lived happily ever after...

just talkin' to the grass.

All the damn grass ever
said to me was...

"Hell to you broken down
old cowpuncher...

you ain't going to make
any easy livin' off me."

Think I'm a fool for goin'
to veterinarian school, Jimbo?

What are you talkin' about?

Clyde been on your case again?

I guess what I really mean is do you
think there's future in cattle?

Prices is up eight cents a pound
this month.

It was up eleven last month.

What do you think the future
in coal is?

From what I hear there's enough coal
between here and Kentucky to keep...

this country in energy
for the next six hundred years.

Hi, Pierce.
I thought you was comin' in to eat.

Hi.

Say hello to Mommy, you're so cute.

Are you hungry? Are you hun...

Honey,
you in a bad mood or somethin'?

I didn't know
you was takin' no flyin' lessons.

Flyin' lessons?

I wouldn't want no flyin' lesson,
I just...

I got a chance to go shoppin' down,
down in Billings.

They say them little planes
is the safest kind.

Well, those little planes is the kind
that is going to get you killed.

Looks like there's that crew comin'.
Dad's in the lead.

Yeah. In the lead of bein'
hung over most likely.

Hey, sorry I was so pesky last night.

Good lookin' women are always pesky.

Hell, sometimes I can't tell
whether this is a cattle outfit...

or a cat outfit.

- Git!
- Hey, don't chouse my cats.

I don't know
why you two asked that Willie.

Just going to be in the way.

All he talks about is bein' a cowboy.

Thought we might give him a chance
to see what it's really like.

Why don't you just stick a tent
on your head?

If that monstrosity blows off,
we're going to have us...

one hell of a stampede
I can tell you that.

Hoyce,
come on, this is my new hat.

- Who am I riding?
- Right here.

We call him Peanut.

Well, our lazy neighbor
finally showed up.

I guess we can get started.

Hoyce, if you'd just asked
I'd have brought a forklift and...

we wouldn't had to wait around
for half a mornin'.

Jiminy crickets, Willie,
you tried to kill my Cadillac.

Damn, that's a relief.

I hate a hat
that ain't been broke in.

Clyde, you and Jimbo
you work the Eastside of the Crick.

Me and Chester and Little Jim here
we'll ride this country.

And the ladies and Willie...

I want you to check
that pothole over the ridge...

see what we got back there.

We'll see you back here.

Willie?

We get paid by the pound around here.
We walk them.

We sure as hell don't run them.

You know, if a fella was to ease
over there just below Chester...

a fella could bring those cows
right down that draw.

There's an old hussy needs sellin'.

But she's a good cow though.

I didn't say nothin' against
her character...

I just said she needed sellin'.

Sell her then!

Thank you.

I run into some core driller
ain't too fond of you, Mama.

Of course,
he ain't never ate your cooking.

Her cookin' won't plug
no bullet holes.

Well, I gave those men
the "go ahead" myself.

Of course that's when I thought
I had some rights around here.

You got rights.

You had the right to let them come,
I had the right to run them off.

That's equal right the way I see it.

Yeah, well, I can do without
the "equal" myself.

Me and Chester are told enough
to have seen the day...

when somebody wore pants around
the ranch.

Hear you've been ropin' Indians.

I roped one Indian
for you Information.

I may rope that Indian again
if I catch him.

He welched on me.

Goin' around town
makin' a spectacle of yourself.

I wasn't no spactacle.
Jimbo, pass me the beans.

- I never shot nobody neither.
- I didn't shoot nobody.

Just run off some boomers.

How'd you come to get into
that core driller Donley?

How'd you know about that?

Well, I had my own meetin'
with Donley's bosses yesterday...

after bringin' Peg home.

Seems like you're
a might anxious to take on...

what ain't your business, Clyde.

Now, now, Mama those core drillers
want a decision by Saturday.

I talked them
into givin' you more time.

I did that. Me.

Daddy, they said you kneed Donley
in the guts.

I thought you just loved them fellas.

I never kneed him in the guts.

Well,
if you had to beat up on someone...

I'm glad it was Donley, because
if you trounced someone higher up...

it's going to cost us millions.

Don't be pickin' out a future for us.
It ain't your right, Clyde.

A blind man could see we ain't
gettin' a livin' off...

this land unless we sell.

There's other choices.

Ol' Farley Slater...

he turned his place
into a Dude Ranch.

Nephew, come here.

- What?
- What do you think?

How about a Dude Ranch?

The whole family givin'
hayride parties...

and changin' sheets for a living.

So Molly Boudreaux and her Frank
did sell off a little place...

of their property to Developers.

Yeah, crazy old fool, too.

The used that money
they got to lose it on more cows.

There is another choice...
if I could just mention it.

Joe Olsen's ranch is for sale.

You mean that one the movie
fella bought?

- The very same, Mama.
- Good.

I'll be glad to be shed of him
and his kind.

Well, we better sort those cows.

Chester and Little Jim'll have
the job done.

I think we oughta take a look
at that ranch. Maybe we could buy it.

You got to be
out of your mind, Clyde.

I heard the house alone's worth
a million.

We'll buy it with our coal money.

We'd have a ranch big enough
for all of us.

Jimbo,
you could stop weldin' dragline.

It's a big place.
Mama could live on one end.

Daddy on the other. When they needed
to have a fight...

take a bus to Miles City
and have it there.

Yeah, well,
I won't be out much bus fare...

I can count on that.

I'd hate to be a slave to a piece
of country myself.

That's what you two have done.
Slave to a grass patch.

What they thought was big enough
for them ain't near big enough...

for all of us.

You're right about that.

I've in this valley
for forty years...

and I still don't know
what it feels like to be out of debt.

At least I know what it feels like
to have a good life.

Debt or no debt.

Yeah, well, it's not too good enough
it couldn't be improved.

You just don't give a damn
about this place, do you?

Land's land, sweetie pie.

Next cow. That's it.

It's Clyde, isn't it?
He's got you all upset again.

One thing about Clyde...

he always gets me thinkin' about
things I don't want to think about.

Come on, Mom, you don't want
this valley filled up...

with smoke stacks, do you?

No, of course not.

He's right about one thing, though.

About what?

About it not making a living...

- this land, he's right about that.
- You and Daddy did just fine.

Yeah, but that was when taxes
was different.

Money was cheap.

Damn pickup didn't cost
as much as a Cadillac.

I don't know what you
and Jimbo are going to do.

It's not up to you to worry about us.

We'll take care
of our own money problem.

I don't know what I'm thinkin'.

Your Daddy's just got me half crazy
movin' out on me like that.

All right, get some hot ones ready.
We're ready to brand.

Pull it out.

"The changing nature of accounting
in the workplace is leading...

to an array of conflict
of interest problem...

from the accounting standpoint."

- Hey, I was watchin' that.
- I thought you was readin'.

I can't read
with somebody watchin' me.

You are in for it.

I was just readin' up on how to make
twice as much off of grazin' land.

How?

Striking oil underneath it.

You're a very clever boy.

Thank God you got through, Willie.

What I remember most is...

how you always wanted to do nothin'
but cowboyin'.

Me, too.

I always want to be right there
with you.

You were. You still are.

Seems like every year
you're gettin' futher...

and further away from ranchin'.

Half the ranches in this State have
gone out of business...

in the last ten years.

Maybe I just got the wrong dream.

Well, if I have to support us
by welding and coal minin'...

by God, that's what I'll do.

Times change.

I'm not much at changin'
with them, Jimbo.

Peg, if the ranch gets sold,
we'll just get a place of our own.

I don't want to live anywhere
but this land.

It's your Mama's land.
I married into it same as Hoyce.

You're my husband.

This ranch is as much yours
as it is mine.

I've always felt that way and
you damn well know it.

Jimbo, I'm askin' you to take a stand
with me or against me.

Don't be swingin' in the wind.
Don't do it!

Damn, I ain't swingin' in the wind
on this, Peg.

I'm just tellin' you the truth
of what I know.

Now we both love this place...

and hell, yes, we dream of havin'
a place of our own...

but you got to have money to do that.

You got to, be able
to afford havin', ownin' that dream.

You need money to pay
the damn grain prices and...

pay the damn utility bills and borrow
from and pay back the damn bankers.

That ain't swingin' in the wind, Peg,
that's just the real truth of it.

Here I am buck naked makin'
a damn speech.

First speech I ever heard you make.

Damn I love you.

Well, just what in the hell
happended here?

Some fool knocked down our fence.

It must have been boomers.

If it'd have been a rancher
he'd at least have been neighbour...

enough to give us a call.

Any cattle get out?

Well if they did they must have flew,
I don't see any tracks.

You're right about that.

All I see is a mess of barbed wire
and a woman'd argue...

with a fence post.

You know, Hoyce, there's one thing
to be said for fence posts.

- Yeah, which is?
- They're predictable.

They don't get the sulks
and move out on you.

Here.

Got any wire cutters on your saddle?

I lent them to you.
They're in the pickup.

Which is where they'd be
if I hadn't lent them to Jimbo.

Well, it don't surpise me none.

Never knowed you to have a tool
when you needed it.

A man lives with you
don't make good sense...

to carry around
too many blunt instruments.

Either I'd lose my temper
and whop you...

or you'd lose your temper
and whop me.

Whoever thought we'd turn out to be
such a wild pair.

Yeah, I'm surprise here.
I used to have a sweet disposition.

You were never a hell of a lot tamer
than you are right now.

- Where you goin'?
- See if I can stir up...

a post hole digger
and a couple of pair of pliers.

That's good.

Maybe we ought to build a fence
everyday, Bess.

I know.

We're nearly peaceful
when we're both worked out.

Yeah, I like peaceful,
but not as much as I hate fences.

Give me that.

Just load him on the truck
and I'll drive you back.

Thank you, much obliged.

Hell, you don't have to thank me.
We're still married, ain't we?

Well, yeah,
we was the last time I heard.

Hey, wait, you two know each other,
don't you?

Two of the best dancers
in Rosebud County, I hear.

Leastways, Mama was.

- Well, you still dance, don't you?
- Well, I'll give it a go.

Why don't you try it?

Here, you keep the beer, Bud.

I'll just borrow the lady.

- Now ain't this cozy?
- Cozy?

Are you crazy?

He'll kill me this time.
He's got a gun on him, you now?

Well, we better scrunch down so
he don't find us.

Where'd you get the black eye?

I remember somebody else rode
his horse over a dance floor.

That night in Ennis was the night
you asked me to marry you, remember?

You know, I wouldn't be likely
to forget that...

because my Ma and Pa'd been having
a tooter of a fight over you.

Yeah, leastways your Ma never wanted
your Pa to hire me.

As a matter of fact,
she gave him hell about that...

for the rest of his life.

Ma was hard, but she wasn't dumb.
She knew it was comin'.

- So did you, didn't you?
- Of course not.

Well, I don't believe, 'course not?
You married me, didn't you?

Yeah, I done it, but not until
I got used to the way you looked.

Yeah, I thought you
was kind of replusive at the time.

Well, Jesus, if you didn't like
anything about me...

then how come it happened?

Never said
I never liked nothin' about you.

So what was it you did like?

I liked the way you handled horses.
You got a nice gentle touch.

You got to be gentle with horses.

You got to be, you got to be patient
with young horses.

- What about ol' women?
- Well, what about them?

Maybe they ain't so different
from young horses?

Well, I ain't talkin' about you.

You're a whole hell a lot difference
than any horse I ever broke.

I don't need breaking, Hoyce,
I just need a whole lot of patience.

Person's just got so much,
maybe I run out.

Laveta?

Laveta, you better come out here.

My God, you're right.

That ol' boy's got a streak
of violence in him.

Greyhound bus, right on time.

- You payin' with fence posts?
- They're not for you.

- Well, who are they for then?
- A man buildin' a fence.

- How much a piece?
- Three dollars.

By God,
that's a slow way to get rich.

I don't have time to get rich.

I just want to sell
these fence posts.

That poor fella'll be at it
awhile if two posts a week...

is the best you can do.

"There is just thirteen months
from Minnesota"

Maybe we could go on that show
if we was married.

You offerin' to take me to L.A?

Last time you was proposin'
you was only offerin' Denver.

Fran, I'd take you to damn China
if you'd marry me.

Only reason you come around now is
because I'm a fresh piece of tail.

Hell,
I think we oughta wait three years...

see if it's true love or what?

Three years? Fran?

I can't wait that long. Do you know
what'll happen in three years?

Yeah, we'll be three years older
is all.

No more than that.

I mean, it's not like I have
a permanent job right now.

I could get laid off any time.

And the Guthrie's might not need
a cowboy right now.

If I can't find work here,
I'd have to move to another town...

or back to Ohio
and I don't want to do that.

If we was married,
then we'd be a couple.

Hell, I know how to work.
I mean, I ain't no bum.

And help you.
I mean, my salary'd be better.

You wouldn't have to bar hop no more.

"From California please welcome
Jill and..."

Yeah, maybe I could open myself up
a little beauty salon somewhere.

I always kind of wanted
a little beauty salon.

You'll get one, I promise.

Hello.

Pete Brawley used to work here.

Remember Pete?
He's the one who roped the wolf.

Yeah. We ain't lost our memories,
we just lost our senses.

This is the dumbest thing
we done in ten years.

- All right, I heard that.
- Well, it's your stupid idea.

Artifical insemination.
That's the big business.

We use our Hanoverian stallions.

We got clients in forty-two States,
sixteen foreign countries.

How many foals you get
from one stud horse?

A dozen. I don't know for sure.

Tell him
how you make the really big bucks.

Yeah, over here.

This is where we breeds
our thoroughbreds. We...

As I told you we re-did
the plumbing in the entire ranch...

so with the new plumbing, I...
I got myself a new toy.

Now this is a lot of fun.

You and Peg'll die
and go to heaven in there, Jimbo.

Be a real comfort in the winter.

Security, of course,
we have a...

twenty-four hour
Instant Alarm System...

hookes up directly
to the Sheriff's office.

All the outbuildings and the
machinery are burglar alarmed, too.

I remember
when this place was a ranch.

You know, I rode
in the Olsen wagons one spring...

before I come down to the Rosebud.

What are you grinnin' at?

Your suspenders.

I remember
Pa nearly didn't hire you...

because of the suspenders
you used to wear.

He said nobody'd wear any suspenders
could be a good cowpuncher.

Well, if I'd have known that, I'd
have worn the damn things every day.

- I might have got fired.
- What did you say?

You heard me. Might have been better.

All this comes of stayin' someplace
where you ain't wanted.

You was wanted.

I wanted you.

Hoyce, if you was goin',
you should have left years ago.

Isn't this ranch somethin' else?

I mean, this is real livin'.

This is fine, expensive livin'.

The only thing I liked about it
was that Jacuzzi.

I didn't see one thing I liked,
I didn't see one damn thing.

Just calm down, Daddy.

You stay out of this.
You're half the damn trouble.

If it hadn't been for you,
I could have talked your mother...

into sellin' coal five years ago.

You'd have played hell.

Peg is trying to help you keep
the best thing you've got.

Yeah, and just what might that be?

- Your way of life.
- I don't need no help keepin' it.

I've been keepin' it for over
sixty years without no help from you.

What I need is
a little help gettin' rid of it.

Nobody's keepin' you on the Rosebud.
Nobody's keepin' you on McCrary land.

All you ever wanted was to be shed
of it from the first day...

- we moved in on it.
- I don't know about the Rosebud...

but I'd like to shed
of you right now.

Yeah, what if you did leave?

I'd like to see you get hired
at your age. You're too slow.

I'm scared every day
somethin' going to run over you.

What the hell would you care?
You'd be better off if I was dead.

That's enough, Daddy!

You marry some rich dude.

Give him everything
I busted my butt for.

Can you belive them?
That place is ours for the askin'.

You liked it, did you Clyde?

Well, I ain't takin' no bath
in no gold hot tub.

And if I was you
I wouldn't count on it, neither.

Daddy, if this thing don't go through
I could be in a little trouble.

- What are you talkin' about?
- Money.

Hell. You got Ellie to buy you
out of trouble.

Well, that's part of it, she's gone.

- What?
- She left me three weeks ago.

I just ain't had the stomach
to tell no one.

Gettin' a little low on funds
if you know what I mean.

Well then,
what in the cotton pickin' hell...

did you buy this place of crap for?

Don't you get on me now.

You ought to be damn glad
you got one child with sense.

Sense? Your wife left you,
you're up to your eyeballs in debt.

Clyde, you got nothin'
but steer manure for brains!

Aw, come on, Daddy, I'm livin'
in your footsteps takin' chances.

You and me never worked
in no coal pit!

Hell, no! Maybe I'm wrong
about everything is that it?

I shouldn't have
pointed us at a chance to get ahead.

- Tell me, where did I go wrong?
- By God, I don't believe it.

Worked my tail off my whole life
so I could ride down the rode...

in a damn red Cadillac sitting next
to a grown son hitting me up!

This coal thing is going
to make us worth somethin' now.

- We was worth somethin' before!
- I mean money!

You always mean money, Clyde!

You know, you're startin' to sound
like some women I know.

Well, damn you,
stop this car right now!

I want you to stop this car
right here and now!

Let me out of this damn pile of junk!

Stop and let me out!
Damn you, Clyde. Damn you!

Get the hell out of here!
Go on, go on!

What's the matter, girl?
What's the matter?

Ain't feelin' too good?
Yeah. What's the matter?

We'll just give you a shot here.

Now, calm down, Mama.
Calm down now.

Come on, you take after me.
I'm going to whip your...

Go on! Get back there!

Easy, girl, easy. Easy Now.

Get back there!

Stop it!

Get the hell off! Get off!

- Is them the same two posts?
- No.

They look like the same posts to me.

You needn't get your dander up.

- Whofd you sell them other posts to?
- A man buildin' a fence.

- When'd your wife die?
- Twenty one years.

- You probabaly forgot her then?
- I'm not forgetful.

- She gave you much trouble?
- No. She did not like to talk.

You better drive.

I don't know how to drive.

I hope you didn't bring me
nothin' crumbly.

This bed's already got more crumbs
than a dog's got ticks.

You could turn anything
into a crumb sloppy as you eat.

Can't you prop up
no better than that?

There.

- Try not to dribble on the quilt.
- I don't dribble.

I may spill once in awhile
but I don't dribble.

I ain't no basketball player and
I ain't no ninety years old, neither.

- Seem funny, don't it?
- What?

Me endin' up back in this bunkhouse.

First night I ever spent
on this ranch I spent here.

Remember that?

I think we ought of be ashamed
of ourselves is what I think.

- Ashamed of what?
- Livin' like this.

It worries the children.

What do they know?

They'd be in worse shape than we are
if they ain't lucky.

- Ain't you listenin' to me?
- I think they already smoke dope.

I want you to come back down
to the house where you belong.

I'm askin' you
if that's what you want.

I just hate this business of you
bein up here at the bunkhouse...

me bein' down there. It ain't seemly.

Sit down, Hon.
Come on, just sit down.

You really, want me to move back in?

Yeah, I do.
It's, it's where you belong.

Are you sure you
don't want no divorce?

Divorce?

When did I ever say anything
about a divorce?

Well, I,
I don't think you ever said it...

but I sure couldn't blame you
for thinkin' it.

Well, pretty as you are
it wouldn't take you very long...

to find yourself another man.

What the hell
would I want with another man?

I don't know, I just...
you might want one a shade, well...

a shade younger.

- Why?
- I don't know, maybe just...

Whatever a woman would want
one for, I guess.

Look, I don't get you.

You know, I ain't got a whole lot
of mustard these last years and...

sometimes I think it was
that hernia operation threw me off.

That's what's goin' on around here.
That't it!

You don't cut a whole lot
of mustard no more...

so you got it in your head that I'm
in the market for some young stud...

that's it, isn't it?

You moved out on me
because you was afraid...

I was going to hit you up
for somethin' you ain't got to give.

I ain't said
I had none of it to give.

No, just you don't have
as much as I might want!

I mighth have knowed it. That's been
this whole mess all along!

Let's no take on like that!

It's mainly you not wantin'
to leave this place...

and the coal miners started
this fightin'.

We've been fightin' about leavin'
this ranch ever since the day...

we was married!
This is just your damn vanity...

that's all you ol' rooster!

I swear, Hoyce, I...
This is gettin' me crazy!

I mean, we stuck together
all these years and we've done...

all these things and you,
you don't think I'm in it...

for anything
more than the pleasurin'?

I mean, don't you know
you're my whole life is all?

You take it on yourself
to decide that...

that I don't care about you no more
and so I want to trade you in...

for some young smart Aleck, just
because you're slowin' down...

a little bit?

Hold on now. Now, Bess,
I mean this nice.

Nice? That's the worst insult you
ever give me.

Don't you really think
I care about you no more?

Well, you got a damn funny way
of showin' it if you do.

Well, you know I do.

Well, you know,
the way I look at it...

we've been married
for so damn long...

we're past havin'
any choice in the matter.

Does this mean the deal's off?

- What deal?
- You know, me movin' back in?

I don't know.

We've been sayin'
a lot of thing here...

if you'd have liked that movie
fella's ranch, we'd have moved...

wouldn't we,
if you'd' have had your way.

Hell, I told you
how I felt about that place...

- I told you how I felt!
- No, I'm talkin' about us.

Just on account you didn't like
that place that don't mean...

that you've changed!

Now, is movin' back down to the house
with me, is that going to change...

how you feel?

Thought you had me, didn't you?

You was just, just going
to fly me up there and...

and we was going to lap up
that fancy ranch...

and you was going to
twist my arm into sellin'...

only you didn't like it
no more than me.

You're a sow's ear, Hoyce,
just like me.

And all the coal money in Montana
ain't going to make you into...

any silk purse.

Hey, Pierce, wait!

If you ain't doin' nothin'
Saturday night...

why don't you come
to our trailer?

Fran and I are havin' us
a little weddin' party.

Whose weddin' is that going to be?

Ours. You might as well come by...

because you might as well
get drunk...

because you're going to hear
the noise anyway.

You mean, you're really going
to marry that ugly little whore?

Willie, you must be gettin'
really hard up.

Fran ain't ugly.

Get your face out here
and I'll kick it, man!

Now hold on there now, son. You don't
want to mess around with me.

You won't even get time to sneeze.

She ain't a whore.

Why don't you get out here and fight
like a man, you bastard coward.

Get out here, come on!

Man, Willie, the only reason
that broad ever let you move in...

with her in the first place was to
save money on rent.

Hell, I live right across the street
from you, dummy!

By the time I leave for work
every morning there's already...

six or seven pickup trucks lined up
out in front.

Them old boys ain't waitin'
to trade green stamps.

Do you know what I'm sayin' Willie?

I'll be seein' you.

- Holy Jesus!
- Damn!

- Stop it!
- Willie, what are you doing?

Bastard, Willie, stop it!

Willie, what the hell are you doin'?

The wedding's off Fran! I just wanted
to stop by and let you know that

Willie!

Anybody up?

I'm up, but that doesn't
necessarily mean I'm awake.

Why you out so early?
Some stock get loose?

No, just got the heebie-jeebies.

Can't sleep past sun-up no matter
what I do.

Well, have a seat,
I'll fix you some breakfast.

No, don't bother.
You do too much as it is, Jimbo.

- What's wrong? Daddy?
- No, it ain't Hoyce.

What is it then?

Yeah, in a way it is.

I guess what it comes down to
is the movin'.

- Moving?
- That's right. Gettin' a new place.

You mean sell the coal?

Mama, that's the one thing you said
you'd never do.

Yes, well, folks oughta be careful
usin' the word never.

You say never to somethin',
it's the very thing you end up doin'.

You ain't said why.
Is Clyde behind it?

I think you just worry
about it so much...

you got yourself all confused.

No, I ain't confused about coal.

I begrudge the damn coal companies
every acre they get...

whether it's mine or somebody else's.

I hate strip-minim'.
I hate it with a passion.

I hate even the thought of leavin'
this ranch.

But hate it or not...

I finally come to think it's the best
thing for the family to sell.

Best thing for your Daddy.

I don't know how you can think that,
Mama.

And as best for the family
me and Jimbo...

want to raise Little Jim right here.

I know that. It's...

Hell, you two are
the hardest part of it.

I know you love it
the way I do, but...

Clyde don't love it.

Hoyce downright hates it.

Mama, I remember when you
and daddy were happy.

You had some fights, but,
but you were happy.

Yeah, we was, wasn't we?
But, he always wanted to leave...

he just dogged me
about it the whole time.

Well, he was just a hired hand,
you know?

My folks never did approve of him.

My Ma was just, she was just
downright mean to him.

It was partly just because he got me.

And leavin' was
always what Hoyce wanted.

It was never what I wanted and I won.

And after my folks died the land that
we was, we was workin' was mine...

you know, and he worked it, though.
I mean, he worked it good.

He just could never get it
in his mind that...

even an acre of it was his.

He was always jealous of it,
you want to know the truth.

He used to say I was a damn bigamist,
you know, for marryin' him...

when I was already married
to the ranch.

That's one thing ol' Hoyce
can carry is a grudge.

Yeah, that's the truth.

He's an old man, Bess...

don't you think it's a little late
for him to move?

You know,
that's the very excuse that...

I've been using this whole
last ten years.

I mean,
we've been arguin' about coal...

I've been sayin' it's too late,
but...

it ain't an honest argument.

Hoyce and me
could have some real good years...

if we could just the two of us
stop this fightin' all the time.

This is it.
Sorry to disturb you so early.

I owe him, Honey.

I really do.

What do you think?

It seems funny
the first resentments...

always end up
being the last resentments.

Do you really think you could get
your price for the coal?

I know I could get my price. Why?

Well, if you can get your price,
I think you oughta sell it.

- What did you say?
- You heard me.

- I said, go ahead and sell.
- Do you mean it?

Yeah, I mean it.

What brought you to your senses?

Well,
I wouldn't exactly call it sense.

Why are you lookin' at me cross eyed
like that?

I'm exasperated, that's why!

I thought this was going to be
the happiest day of your life.

At least the happiest day since
you won the bareback in Cheyenne.

Well, I guess you just think
your whole life...

wouldn't been better without me.

I guess you think it would have
been better if none of you...

and me'd happened. If we never had
the children nor nothin'!

Now, wait a minute, I never said
nothin' against the kids.

That's one thing we done.
We had us a nice family.

Then that means it's me
that ain't been worth it.

- I ain't said it.
- That's what you meant though.

I don't know to get along
with you no more!

I mean, I offered you everything
you said you wanted.

Just what the hell do you want?

Hell, the only reason you give in is
because you think it's too late!

I'll never live long enough to see
the end of this place.

I'll die in this damn valley
and you'll take that coal money...

go marry some fella your age.

You'll be the happiest widow woman
in Montana.

- Don't you dare say that to me!
- I'll teach you to throw at me.

No you ain't going
to teach me nothin'...

because you ain't smart enough
to teach me!

Yeah, of course, yeah, I forgot.

- You're a McCrary.
- That's right.

Nobody was smart as
no damn McCrary.

I should have dragged you off
this place the day we was married.

And if you wouldn't drag,
I should have just left you.

I'll tell you one other thing.

Your Daddy was never cowpuncher
enough to criticize me.

You know, he couldn't rope a stud
if he had ten throws.

He couldn't ride a buckin' horse
three jumps!

Don't you talk to me about my dad.

He had fifty years behind him
before you ever met him!

What would you know?

He could sit in a rockin' chair
and be a better man than you!

At least he never held no grudge
all his life!

Grudge? What grudge?

Your grudge, this one we're fightin'
about right here.

Your grudge against me
for not wantin' to leavin the ranch!

You thought it meant
I never loved you, well...

I never loved nobody else!
I never even looked at another man!

- Where you goin'?
- Off this ranch.

And I ain't comin' back!

I ain't never going to spend
another night on no McCrary land!

- You own it, you damn jackass!
- No, I don't own it!

No, I just worked it.
That's all I ever done my whole life!

I just worked this land for you
and your goddamn daddy?

You weak little rodeo bum!

You come here from nothin' and you
walk on one of the finest ranches...

in this country and all you can do
is drink and, and whine...

and try to get everybody
to feel sorry for you!

Well, I wish I did have another man,
any man!

Because you won't even let yourself
find out what being a man's about!

Well, I know, I'm not going
to stand here all day...

and let some old woman insult me.

You go to hell!

I'd go and pay the rent
if I knew they wouldn't let you in.

We gave that boy of yours a reprieve.
Your time is runnin' out, Guthrie.

Did you hear me?
You're going to lose the whole deal.

We'll be movin' on to Wyoming.

The deal's off. You can go to hell.

You're a stubborn, ignorant, old man.
You're just as dumb as your wife!

Hey, Sue...

slip me a turkey, will you?

Hi, Hoyce.
It's good to see you up and around.

- I heard about that hoof.
- Yeah.

That run-in
with that mother cow there.

Well, I'm up,
but I ain't exactly around.

Thought you was in jail.

Heard you,
stole a trailer park or somethin'.

No, actually, I stole a hauler
and I paid a visit on someone I know.

Well... Thank you.
Where's your woman?

You know, live and learn,
you know?

I guess I just run into a woman that
was smarter than I was that's all.

Hell, they're all smarter
than we are, all woman.

God never made a dumb one that
I've run into.

If there is a dumb one
I can guarantee you...

there's a hundred ol' boys
that's twice as dumb as she is.

Damn, Hoyce, man, this is depressing.

You know, I mean,
if we can't outsmart them then...

what are we going to do?

Well, you got to whip them
or you got to leave them.

They ain't so easy to whip, neither.

Let me give you some advice, son,
don't ever marry the boss' daughter.

Because somewhere down the line it
just ain't going to work out.

Hoyce, I don't even have a boss.

And if I did have a new boss
and he had a daughter...

I probably wouldn't even be able
to get my hand between her legs.

We sure are a gloomy pair.

Somebody oughta take the both
of us out and just, shoot us.

Well, I guess that means you got
in a little fight with Bess?

It wasn't exactly little.
It was more like a Custer battle.

Hell, Hoyce, I mean,
what's a fight?

- It probably ain't nothin'.
- Yeah.

We was your age,
we'd probably be fightin'...

about gettin' in one another's pants.

But we're not your age.

When you're old,
fights get serious...

because you got something
to fight about.

- What?
- Goddam lifetime, that's what.

I don't believe it.

- I damn well don't believe it!
- Show me, I'll believe anything.

Pierce just walking in
with my little whore.

Well, that's not so hard to believe.
She's a whore and he's a male.

Yeah, he makes fun of her, man.

He was sayin' that she was
the ugliest girl this side...

of Rock Springs and
now he's with her.

Go get me a pack of smokes.

Cigarettes.

Hi, Willie, how's it goin'?

Fran, you ain't nothin'
but puke with lipstick.

You hear what I said, Fran? You ain't
nothin' but puke with lipstick!

- Hi you, Laveta.
- Pierce, it's over!

It's going to be over
when I get through with you.

Get up!

What do you doin' there?

Leave it be, Hoyce.

Somebody's got to stop this.
Hey, look out!

All right, stop it,
that's enough now! Stop it!

I said that's enough.

Don't you get up!

You're a crippled old man.
You're messin' with death.

I've messin' with it many a time,
boy.

I reckon I ain't so busted up
and so old...

I can't whip some manners into you.

Like hell you will. You are too old.

Well, lookie who's here.
Just in time.

Takes a real chicken sort of a man
to hide behind a gun, Pierce.

- Is that a fact?
- Put that away, Pierce.

Put that away!

Pierce for Christ sake!

You bastards, you killed my ol' man.

- Could you wait a minute, Sir?
- Who are you, Ma'am?

I'm just his wife.

You old cheat.

You never even give me time
to make it up.

Okay, folks, let's break it up here.

Go on home now. Give us some room.

Frank?

This here the man that shot
my old cowpuncher?

This is him, Miss Guthrie.

You better hope they keep you awhile,
Mr...

because I aim to live
a lot longer yet.

They let you out, you come around
anyplace I can get a beat on you...

ain't nobody going to stop me.

Come on, Mama. Come on.