Bonanza (1959–1973): Season 6, Episode 7 - A Dime's Worth of Glory - full transcript
Ben and Adam capture a known outlaw that tried to hold up the stage they were passengers on. A reporter who was also a passenger wants to make them both famous, even if he has to amplify the story. But when they take him to jail at the next town, they are met by an aloof sheriff who doesn't mind regaining his past glory with the help of a little creative writing.
ANNOUNCER: The following
program is brought to you
in living color on NBC.
Here.
Now, you take, uh,
that book, for example.
That one title, the
first year it came out,
sold more copies
in Philadelphia alone
than the Bible did in the
whole state of Pennsylvania.
- Is that so?
- Yeah.
I wrote 37 of
those, all big sellers.
- Very interesting.
- Sea captains. Pirates. Uh...
Soldiers of fortune, that's
what the public wants.
This one was published
two years ago, huh?
Well, the public
is also a little fickle.
But I still know what they want.
I think I'll find it up
in San Francisco too.
The whalers, the clipper ships.
Of course, it's the
same brave Captain Billy,
but just with a new background.
- Well, I wish you luck.
- Thank you.
I think anything
will look exciting
after this dreary,
monotonous countryside.
Oh, I don't know.
Sometimes we get up a pretty
exciting game of horseshoes.
Yes, Pa, you remember last month
we saw that white-breasted
nuthatch in the piñon pine.
Watched it for almost a half
an hour before it flew away.
Yeah, I can hardly wait to
get started on my new one.
That'll put Tobias Wentworth
Finch back on top again.
[GUNSHOT]
[MAN YELLS]
Come on!
[GUNSHOTS]
[GRUNTS]
[GROANS]
Adam.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
[SIGHS]
- Hi, sheriff.
- Hi.
- Hey, Raymond, cut that out.
- Just shut up.
[MAN GIGGLES]
Hey, Pop,
who told you to
hang those things up?
Nobody, but I thought
it was a good idea.
The only thing, every time I put one
up, somebody comes and pulls it down.
That's right, Pop, I do.
Why?
Because I don't want every
farmer's kid 50 miles around to think
all he's got to do is pick up a
gun and go against the Pickards.
I expect you're right, sheriff,
but these men are dangerous.
Don't worry, Pop.
If these Pickards get
around this neighborhood,
I'll take care of them myself.
[RAYMOND CHUCKLES]
Hey, Pops, don't you
touch those Pickards.
Those are Sheriff
Larrimore's Pickards.
Hey, Raymond,
come on, knock it off.
But it's true, Mike.
Just as soon as he shoots
the rats in the stable loft
and arrests all the
chickens in the churchyard.
He's gonna go right out and catch
him a whole passel of Pickards.
Why don't you boys run along?
There was a day that I
wouldn't even stopped
to water my horse
in a town like this.
I better go back
to the jail, Pop.
Why don't you put
this town on the map?
Like you did the
whole state of Texas.
Give me a drink.
Someday I'm gonna learn me to
drink rotgut whiskey to stiffen my spine.
Practice telling lies about
how brave I used to be.
So someday I might get to
be sheriff of this here town.
Raymond, why not you
shut up and leave him alone?
Shut up? Who me?
Give me a beer, Cal.
What you're serving
a beer for, Cal?
You know they're too
young to be in here.
You gonna try
putting us out, sheriff?
Why you fresh squirt.
Go on, hit me. Earn
your $5 a month.
[SIGHS]
Where's my beer, Cal?
[CHUCKLES]
MAN 1: Yeah. MAN
2: We got the Pickards.
We got the Pickards!
Sheriff, the Virginia
City stage is in town.
- What's it doing here?
- They got the Pickards.
- The Pickards?
- Come on, Raymond.
Ain't you coming?
What for?
Excuse me. Get
a doctor, will you?
BEN: Got a couple of
badly wounded men in here.
[MEN CHATTERING]
Got a prisoner for you,
sheriff. His name is Pickard.
[THUDS]
I believe you dropped your keys.
You caught him, you lock him up.
That's not my job.
Why not?
You did the first part, why
not go the whole-hogger?
Everybody's got
the price of a gun
thinks he can go around
shooting up the countryside.
You caught Pickard.
So he's all yours.
You feed him and you bathe him.
And you get him nice
and shiny for his trial.
My father and I have
had a very a long trip.
We'd like to get back to
Virginia City before dark.
If you don't mind, would you
take charge of the prisoner?
Oh, sure.
You'd like that, wouldn't you?
You do the easy part and
leave the drudgery for...
All right, fine.
Leave the keys on my desk
and you just run on along.
Hey, gunman.
Circuit judge rides through
here two weeks from today.
You and your daddy be here to
testify at this trial, you hear me?
Adam.
Adam, would you please try and
talk some sense into your father?
He has no idea what
he's giving up here.
I'm afraid that's pretty hopeless.
Once my father's made up his mind...
Uh, Ben Cartwright. Look,
Ben, please come down,
You've gotta listen to me.
Look, I can make you famous.
Why, before I get through,
every kid in the country
will know the names
Ben and Adam Cartwright.
You will be bigger
than Lewis and Clark.
Yeah, uh, bigger even than
than Lincoln and Douglass.
Mr. Finch
why don't you go on to San
Francisco as you'd planned
and write about those
whalers and clipper ships?
No, this is better.
It's more exciting,
it's different.
We sometimes have
to defend our property
and our neighbors' property.
And we don't enjoy doing it.
We don't want to publicize it
and we certainly don't
want to capitalize on it.
So why don't you
get inside that coach
and I'll ride up
there with Adam?
No. Heh.
I, uh...
I think I'm gonna stay here in
Griffin or whatever you call this town.
Fine, suit yourself.
Oh, uh, Mr. Cartwright,
let me ask you once more.
- Don't you think that the people...
- No, I don't.
Once again, thank
you for your kind offer.
But no. No and no. Thank you.
Uh, wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Received advance
book royalty payment.
Town tense as hour of
Pickard trial approaches.
Lynch law imminent.
Uh, what's this imminent mean?
What difference does it
make? Just send what I say.
Well, now, I don't send nothing,
I don't know what it means.
Imminent means,
uh, about to happen.
A lynching in this town?
Well, I'm not quite sure,
but just send it anyway.
Well, now, look here, mister,
if you ain't quite sure, uh,
I just don't send
nothing, uh, but the truth.
Oh.
I-M-M-I-N-E-N-T.
That's a tie.
- I beat you.
- What?
That's $9 you owe me.
What are you talking about?
It's only eight. It was a tie.
Boy, you're some liar.
You take corn
from a blind chicken.
Raymond, you think you can
take an extra buck out of me,
- you better just start trying.
- Shut up.
It's those Cartwrights.
Sheriff ain't here.
- Where is he?
- He's over at his other office.
What he means is the
sheriff's over to the saloon.
That's where he
spends most of his time
Now that them stories
about you come out.
What stories?
- What's he talking about?
- This.
This man Finch had them brought
all the way in from Chicago, he did.
"Daring decimation and capture
of the infamous Pickard gang
by the Intrepid
Cartwrights, father and son,
as witnessed by
Tobias Wentworth Finch.
Ben and Adam Cartwright,
cloaked in the deceptive
garb of ordinary businessmen,
rode the ill-fated
Virginia City Stage."
That man Finch, he
really doesn't understand
the meaning of the
word no, does he?
Guess I'll just have
to tell him again.
I'll see you at the hotel later.
[SHOUTING IN SPANISH]
"Death to the Texans."
That's what they were yelling.
It's still ringing in my ears.
They're all around us.
Then, all of a sudden,
I'm face-to-face with him.
El engañoso, Santa Anna himself.
There I am a 20-year-old kid
with the fate of the whole
Republic of Texas in my hands.
Now it's me and him.
He's too grand to shoot
and he's too important to lose.
So what do I do?
I throw myself on him
and I hang on like...
Where are you going, Mr. Finch?
I was just going
back to the hotel.
Oh, yeah.
Sorry, I hope I didn't scare you off
making those speeches about Texas.
It's all right.
To tell you the truth I just came
here to pick up a little local color
and make a few sketches.
But all I've heard for the
last two hours has been you.
Yeah, I know.
I guess I sometimes do
get a little carried away
recalling about old Sam Houston
and Davy Crockett and the rest.
But tell you what,
if you come on back to
the table and sit down,
you won't hear
another peep out of me.
Okay, sheriff.
Are you writing another
story about the Cartwrights?
I'm just making a few notes.
Say, I could tell
you some stories
that would make
the capture of Pickard
sound like a dance
around the maypole.
I'll bet you could.
Would you like me to tell you
about the vigilantes in California,
the time we had to get back
over $30,000 worth of jewelry?
- You already have.
- Oh, I did.
What about the time in
San Francisco when I...
Maybe some other
time, sheriff, huh?
I'm a little busy right now.
Okay?
Oh, sure.
I understand.
Adam Cartwright.
You are just the man
I've been waiting to see.
I've come about this.
Sit down.
I'm, uh, glad you read it.
I was right.
It was your lucky day when
fate brought you and me together.
I'm waiting to hear
about ten good reasons
why I shouldn't press you between
the pages of your nasty, little books
and drop you in a horse trough.
What's the matter, Adam?
Did I spell your name wrong?
No.
I think the story is great.
Wait till you hear what my
publisher had to say about it.
He loved the article.
He gave me an
advance on the book.
See here?
This is your share
and your father's.
It's $25 each.
It's only the beginning.
You know, you're not
talking to an amateur.
My books sell.
I've got a built-in audience.
I think you should invest your
money in a good stomach doctor.
Because the next time
you use my father or myself
in another one of your
distorted publicity pieces,
you may end up eating
the entire newspaper,
including the classified.
Adam.
Don't talk like that.
I told you, I've already
taken an advance.
I like a man with
a sense of humor.
But, uh, I've got time invested
in you, two whole weeks.
Besides I've made promises.
No, look just a minute here.
This man bothering
you, Mr. Finch?
Yeah, I guess he's
bothering me, all right.
You don't go pushing
people around in this town.
I warned you already.
Mr. Finch is a guest here.
He's covering the trial
for the Eastern Press.
As long as I'm the sheriff,
nobody's gonna push him around.
[SCOFFS]
Larrimore, I'm just about sick of
you, your town and your guests.
As far as I'm concerned, the
only thing he's qualified to cover
is the territory between
here and Philadelphia.
And the sooner he
gets started, the better.
And that's what I
came here to say.
If you gentlemen
will excuse me...
[GUN COCKS]
- Put away the gun, sheriff.
- Oh, no.
You come riding in
here like something fine,
something kind of special.
Let me tell you something,
you're not the only one ever
had his name in a newspaper.
But that doesn't give you
special shoving privileges.
You wanna put charges
on him, Mr. Finch?
Yeah.
It's a good idea. Press charges.
What kind of a charge
are you talking about?
All right, let's go.
Return of Reed Larrimore.
Return of Dangerous
Reed Larrimore.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
Larrimore, answer me!
No, Reed, the Texas
war is ancient history.
Get Cartwright out
of here, Larrimore.
You leave him
here I'll kill him.
I can't write about something
that happened 20 years ago.
I need something
new, something fresh.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
- What did you do yesterday?
What did you do the day before?
PICKARD: Larrimore!
You know, Reed, what you
need is a kind of manager.
- A manager?
- Yeah.
Somebody to direct
you, to mold you,
to create a whole
new personality for you.
What you mean is, uh, you
wanna write things about me
that aren't really
true, that don't happen.
That's about it, isn't it?
Well, just, uh,
partly. That's all.
You see, we're gonna think of things
for you to do that can be, uh, amplified.
You know, uh,
just, uh, some things
that can be stretched a little bit
for the excitement of the public.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
No, I'm afraid I
couldn't do that.
Don't be silly, Reed.
That's what this book-writing
business is all about.
What do you think Billy Whipple
was before I picked him up?
He was just a cheap drifter crawling
around the gutters of New Bedford.
Mr. Finch, I may not
be the man I once was,
but I never jumped
through hoops for anybody.
Not even a Sam Houston
told me how to wear my hat.
Fine. What did it get you?
You, the man who
captured Santa Anna.
Didn't ever put a one
nickel in your pocket
and never got you a one
nod of approval in this town.
Well, that's this town.
You know, bunch of dumb farmers,
they don't know what they're doing.
As a matter of fact, I was
thinking about moving on anyhow.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
I heard about some new
trouble down on the border.
Those Apaches are
crossing over from Mexico.
Reed.
Who you trying to convince?
Without me, Reed,
you're a joke in this town.
You know it. Every town
hooligan laughs at you.
I can smack some
respect into them.
And I don't need you
to tell me how to do that.
Sure, sure, fine.
You can smack and you can crawl
and you can tell your
soggy little stories
about what a big hero you were.
If the booze holds out.
Oh, you can stay in this town just
as long as they've got use for you.
But in the meantime, you think.
Think about where you'll
be ten years from now.
Five years maybe.
When you haven't got teeth
left to pull the cork out of a bottle
or the money to buy it with.
Because if you think you've
hit bottom, sheriff, look down.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
Larrimore!
Hey, Mr. Finch,
wait up a minute.
I'm, uh, sorry, Reed,
my publisher can't wait.
He's looking for me to find him a
man. A man who's looking for a future.
You know, just, uh, that part
about making things
up that I'm really against.
Larrimore!
A man doesn't have
to fall into a hole
just because he had a couple
of years bad luck, does he?
That's right.
You've had terrible
luck, sheriff. Terrible.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
In a town like this, uh, well, people just
don't appreciate what you do for them.
- Yeah. Sheriff,
PICKARD: Larrimore!
That prisoner has been
making an awful lot of noise.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
It's time that he found
out this jail isn't being run
by a broken-down,
has-been sheriff.
Don't you think so?
PICKARD: Larrimore!
- Yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
Larrimore!
Well, it's about time, Larrimore.
I don't like the company in here.
LARRIMORE: You got
any other complaints?
Yeah, I don't like
this food neither.
How do you expect a
man to eat slop like that?
- Look at the maggots in it.
- Well, that's good for you, Pickard.
That fresh meat will make you
nice and strong for the hangman.
Look at Cartwright here,
he's not complaining.
You can't catch a man outright,
you figure to starve him to death.
- Is that it?
- Uh-huh.
What I heard about you, I thought
you'd eat your way through the bars
and be out of here by now.
All right, open the
door. Come on, sheriff.
[GUN CLICKS]
[GROANING]
Stop it! What are you trying
to do. You're trying to kill him.
Come on, stop it, Larrimore.
[PICKARD GROANING]
[THUDS]
[CLATTERING]
Sheriff.
Look at this.
Okay.
Not bad.
Now, sheriff, when I tell
you to, do that draw again.
Go.
Perfect, hold
it. Just like that.
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
I understand you
have my son in here.
Well, I have...
FINCH: Just a minute.
Hold it. I'm not through.
Yeah, there a couple
of desperados in there.
- What's the boy look like?
- What's the charge?
Well, there's assault with
intention to do bodily harm
and then there's
battery on a civilian
and threatening, uh,
an officer of the law.
- And what's the bail?
- Oh, sheriff, that's all for now.
- Thanks a lot.
- Oh, that's all right.
What's the bail?
Oh, about 35, 40
cents ought to do it.
Let's make it an even dollar.
Here you go, pistolero. Your
daddy's come to fetch you.
So you can go catch
yourself some more bandits.
I'll stay here if
you don't mind.
Adam, I've had about all the
bad jokes I can use for one day.
It's no bad joke, Pa.
I think it'd be better if I stay
here now. I'll explain later.
LARRIMORE: It's
all the same to me.
If he changes his
mind, Pop, let him out.
I'm gonna step
across the street.
All right, sheriff.
[GROANING]
Who did this?
Larrimore.
You need a doctor.
I don't need nothing from you.
Go on, get out, both of you.
I'd rather take a beating
like this 12 times a day
then look at you for
another 5 minutes.
Go on, get out, both of you.
Did Larrimore do that?
Yeah, he baited him.
Deliberately, let
him go for his gun
so he'd have an
excuse for beating him.
[SIGHS]
And, Adam, you said you
wanted to stay in here, why?
Finch was in that office working
on Larrimore for over an hour.
Well, he's not telling what
he's got him keyed up to.
They could kill Pickard before
the judge ever got to town
unless there's somebody
here to tell about it.
Maybe he's got
hanging coming to him,
but nobody's got a
right to beat him to death.
What you do that
for, Mr. Larrimore?
I told you not to serve
these young squirts in here.
But, Reed, you let
them drink it before.
It's only beer, Mr. Larrimore.
I'll decide who drinks and who
doesn't drink in this town, is that right?
- Now, get out of here.
- Yeah, but I wasn't doing anything...
Weren't you a little
hard on him, Reed?
I mean, there really was no
call for you to shove him like that.
Seems to me a little shoving's
what's needed around here.
I've been too easy.
That's why the whole
town's gone to seed.
I might even have to close
this place till after the trial.
- But, Reed, you've got no right.
- Trouble with you, Cal...
Trouble with all of you is you need
to learn a little respect for the law.
I've been thinking a
couple of days in my jail
and let your old lady come
and pull you out of there.
That might clue you in on
who's the sheriff of this town.
But, Reed, we all know that.
Well, what's everybody
so glum about?
We're not drunk, are we?
As long as we stay
in line, it'll be okay.
Bring me a beer.
Mr. Finch.
Uh, Mr. Finch has left.
I don't expect him back.
[SCOFFS]
Are you, uh...
Are you happy
with your creation?
Who?
Oh, Larrimore?
Well, he's only doing his job.
And I might say,
it's about time.
Did you see what he
did to that man in the cell?
Is that his job too?
Well, don't ask me. I
didn't tell him to do it.
No.
But you know why he did it.
I'm a very bad
listener, Mr. Cartwright.
You better write me a letter.
You've been pumping
Larrimore full of cheap illusions.
The man's starving
for a little recognition.
You've been dangling that
in front of him like a carrot.
Cartwright, I told you
I'm a writer and a reporter.
I write about things
that happen, that's all.
If Larrimore wants to beat
up on his own grandmother,
it's no concern of mine.
You don't care what
happens to Larrimore
just as long as you can
squeeze a book or two out of him.
And if you happen to
push him a little too far
he gets into little trouble,
you can always dump
him by the side of the road
where the buzzards
can pick at him.
I suppose you care what
happens to him, huh?
You'd like to see him rot in
this little town, in this hole, huh?
Let me tell you something.
For a man like Reed Larrimore,
there's a lot more to life and living
than being a fat, old Sheriff
in a dried-up, old town.
Action, Cartwright.
Adventure. Danger.
That's what's important in life.
In whose life?
Whose danger?
His, mine, everybody's.
And you're not even
doing this for the money.
Finch, I'm beginning to think that
until you see the blood running,
you're not happy.
You're crazy.
Yeah.
Look over there.
Tell Larrimore you're
not gonna write about him.
I'm too busy to play games.
I've got copy to turn out.
If you think I'm leading
Larrimore down the primrose path,
you tell him.
Larrimore, you realize
what you're throwing away?
One more trick like the
one you pulled in that jail cell,
and whatever you were,
whatever you stood
for, is wiped right out.
How do you know what I was?
Well, I know that the man who
had the respect of Sam Houston
doesn't have to turn himself into a
performing dog to impress anybody.
Look, Texas was a
hundred years ago.
I never got a nickel out of it
then and nobody remembers now.
What is it you want? What?
You want people to
remember what you did forever,
and be eternally grateful?
Or do you wanna
stay young forever?
Heh. Well, you can't
and you know that.
People forget.
The man slows down
and nobody can go back.
And that's the way of life.
But you've got something here.
The people in this town
hired you for their sheriff.
They put their confidence
and their trust in you.
And I think that should enough
honor and glory for any man.
It's not enough for me.
[PICKARD SIGHS]
- Cartwright.
- Yeah.
Your tried to pull
Larrimore off of me.
So?
You know what I'd do to you
if these bars wasn't
between us, don't you?
You killed my two brothers.
And you would've
killed me, right?
That's right.
You could've walked
out of here two hours ago.
Why didn't you?
Oh, I thought I'd
save a hotel bill.
[METAL CLANGS]
Don't do it, Pickard.
They're setting you
up for a turkey shoot.
Larrimore has to kill
the last of the Pickards
to prove that he's
not dead himself.
Look, Cartwright, I'm hanged
if I stay and I'm shot if I don't.
That's a big choice, ain't it?
Except you got no choice.
See what I mean.
Except right now it ain't
worth the noise it would take.
But one sound out
of you and you get it.
And not only you, but
that old deputy out there.
[SHOUTS]
[GRUNTING]
Sheriff.
Pickard has just
busted out of your jail.
Let's get up a posse
and go after him.
Yeah, all right.
This is my job.
Now, break it up.
Some of you men look after Pop.
Hey, Larrimore,
let me out of here.
You better hurry up. You
don't want him to get too far.
I don't care how far he gets.
He's gonna pay for killing Pop.
Sheriff.
Let my son out of there.
We'll go along with you.
I told you, I'm
handling this alone.
What about Finch?
I don't think that's
any of your business.
Well, then if you don't mind,
we'll come along with you.
FINCH: What?
Didn't want him to steal
your thunder again, did you?
Let's go.
Is there anybody there?
Pa!
Hey, Larrimore!
Is there anybody out there?
Larrimore, let me out of here.
What's been going on out there?
[BEN GROANING]
Larrimore and Finch, they...
- Yeah.
- They've gone after Pickard.
What's the matter with you?
I got hit on the head.
- Oh, who did it? Yes, sit down.
- I don't know.
We better get after Pickard.
- Are you all right?
- Yeah, I'll be all right.
You just stay here.
- No, no I'm going with you.
- No, just sit there and take it easy.
[HORSE WHINNIES]
FINCH: You got him.
Well, it doesn't look like
I got him good enough.
I'm gonna try and
work up behind him.
ADAM: Larrimore!
You better get
rid of him, sheriff.
ADAM: Larrimore!
Let him come down.
Get out of here, Cartwright.
You've hit him. He can't
run. Let him come down.
You stay out of this. You had
your Pickard. These one's mine.
Pickard, it's Adam Cartwright.
[MUTTERING INDISTINCTLY]
Hit him!
[BOTH GRUNTING]
[PANTING]
Now that we both know how
tough you are, I'm going up this hill.
Let's see if the hero of San Jacinto
will shoot a man on the back, huh?
Reed.
Here, it's your last chance.
Nobody else knows
that he whipped you.
Kill them both.
Nobody else will ever find out.
Do it, Reed.
Come on.
Do it.
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
Well, they done me up good,
didn't they? The lame horse
and that gun loaded with blanks.
I tried to tell you, Finch
was setting you up.
So they got me.
Not yet. Not unless
they get us both.
I don't understand
you, Cartwright.
I can live without
your understanding.
All I want is your answer.
Are you coming or you gonna
stay here and bleed to death alone?
Now, Reed. Shoot.
Come on. What you waiting for?
Shoot.
Come on, Reed.
What you waiting for?
It's your last chance.
You wanna wind up on
a garbage heap again?
I got a prisoner
for you, sheriff.
Thanks, Cartwright.
He gave the key to Pickard.
Gave him a gun
loaded with blanks.
You're a fool.
A fool.
You know, you've thrown
the whole thing away.
You're just going
back to being nothing.
So you let Pickard escape.
You killed Pop.
What difference does it make?
An old man.
An old useless
man just like you.
You are nothing
without me, Larrimore.
Nothing!
I'm gonna make you the
laughing stock of the west.
The biggest joke in the west.
[FINCH GROANS]
program is brought to you
in living color on NBC.
Here.
Now, you take, uh,
that book, for example.
That one title, the
first year it came out,
sold more copies
in Philadelphia alone
than the Bible did in the
whole state of Pennsylvania.
- Is that so?
- Yeah.
I wrote 37 of
those, all big sellers.
- Very interesting.
- Sea captains. Pirates. Uh...
Soldiers of fortune, that's
what the public wants.
This one was published
two years ago, huh?
Well, the public
is also a little fickle.
But I still know what they want.
I think I'll find it up
in San Francisco too.
The whalers, the clipper ships.
Of course, it's the
same brave Captain Billy,
but just with a new background.
- Well, I wish you luck.
- Thank you.
I think anything
will look exciting
after this dreary,
monotonous countryside.
Oh, I don't know.
Sometimes we get up a pretty
exciting game of horseshoes.
Yes, Pa, you remember last month
we saw that white-breasted
nuthatch in the piñon pine.
Watched it for almost a half
an hour before it flew away.
Yeah, I can hardly wait to
get started on my new one.
That'll put Tobias Wentworth
Finch back on top again.
[GUNSHOT]
[MAN YELLS]
Come on!
[GUNSHOTS]
[GRUNTS]
[GROANS]
Adam.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
[SIGHS]
- Hi, sheriff.
- Hi.
- Hey, Raymond, cut that out.
- Just shut up.
[MAN GIGGLES]
Hey, Pop,
who told you to
hang those things up?
Nobody, but I thought
it was a good idea.
The only thing, every time I put one
up, somebody comes and pulls it down.
That's right, Pop, I do.
Why?
Because I don't want every
farmer's kid 50 miles around to think
all he's got to do is pick up a
gun and go against the Pickards.
I expect you're right, sheriff,
but these men are dangerous.
Don't worry, Pop.
If these Pickards get
around this neighborhood,
I'll take care of them myself.
[RAYMOND CHUCKLES]
Hey, Pops, don't you
touch those Pickards.
Those are Sheriff
Larrimore's Pickards.
Hey, Raymond,
come on, knock it off.
But it's true, Mike.
Just as soon as he shoots
the rats in the stable loft
and arrests all the
chickens in the churchyard.
He's gonna go right out and catch
him a whole passel of Pickards.
Why don't you boys run along?
There was a day that I
wouldn't even stopped
to water my horse
in a town like this.
I better go back
to the jail, Pop.
Why don't you put
this town on the map?
Like you did the
whole state of Texas.
Give me a drink.
Someday I'm gonna learn me to
drink rotgut whiskey to stiffen my spine.
Practice telling lies about
how brave I used to be.
So someday I might get to
be sheriff of this here town.
Raymond, why not you
shut up and leave him alone?
Shut up? Who me?
Give me a beer, Cal.
What you're serving
a beer for, Cal?
You know they're too
young to be in here.
You gonna try
putting us out, sheriff?
Why you fresh squirt.
Go on, hit me. Earn
your $5 a month.
[SIGHS]
Where's my beer, Cal?
[CHUCKLES]
MAN 1: Yeah. MAN
2: We got the Pickards.
We got the Pickards!
Sheriff, the Virginia
City stage is in town.
- What's it doing here?
- They got the Pickards.
- The Pickards?
- Come on, Raymond.
Ain't you coming?
What for?
Excuse me. Get
a doctor, will you?
BEN: Got a couple of
badly wounded men in here.
[MEN CHATTERING]
Got a prisoner for you,
sheriff. His name is Pickard.
[THUDS]
I believe you dropped your keys.
You caught him, you lock him up.
That's not my job.
Why not?
You did the first part, why
not go the whole-hogger?
Everybody's got
the price of a gun
thinks he can go around
shooting up the countryside.
You caught Pickard.
So he's all yours.
You feed him and you bathe him.
And you get him nice
and shiny for his trial.
My father and I have
had a very a long trip.
We'd like to get back to
Virginia City before dark.
If you don't mind, would you
take charge of the prisoner?
Oh, sure.
You'd like that, wouldn't you?
You do the easy part and
leave the drudgery for...
All right, fine.
Leave the keys on my desk
and you just run on along.
Hey, gunman.
Circuit judge rides through
here two weeks from today.
You and your daddy be here to
testify at this trial, you hear me?
Adam.
Adam, would you please try and
talk some sense into your father?
He has no idea what
he's giving up here.
I'm afraid that's pretty hopeless.
Once my father's made up his mind...
Uh, Ben Cartwright. Look,
Ben, please come down,
You've gotta listen to me.
Look, I can make you famous.
Why, before I get through,
every kid in the country
will know the names
Ben and Adam Cartwright.
You will be bigger
than Lewis and Clark.
Yeah, uh, bigger even than
than Lincoln and Douglass.
Mr. Finch
why don't you go on to San
Francisco as you'd planned
and write about those
whalers and clipper ships?
No, this is better.
It's more exciting,
it's different.
We sometimes have
to defend our property
and our neighbors' property.
And we don't enjoy doing it.
We don't want to publicize it
and we certainly don't
want to capitalize on it.
So why don't you
get inside that coach
and I'll ride up
there with Adam?
No. Heh.
I, uh...
I think I'm gonna stay here in
Griffin or whatever you call this town.
Fine, suit yourself.
Oh, uh, Mr. Cartwright,
let me ask you once more.
- Don't you think that the people...
- No, I don't.
Once again, thank
you for your kind offer.
But no. No and no. Thank you.
Uh, wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Received advance
book royalty payment.
Town tense as hour of
Pickard trial approaches.
Lynch law imminent.
Uh, what's this imminent mean?
What difference does it
make? Just send what I say.
Well, now, I don't send nothing,
I don't know what it means.
Imminent means,
uh, about to happen.
A lynching in this town?
Well, I'm not quite sure,
but just send it anyway.
Well, now, look here, mister,
if you ain't quite sure, uh,
I just don't send
nothing, uh, but the truth.
Oh.
I-M-M-I-N-E-N-T.
That's a tie.
- I beat you.
- What?
That's $9 you owe me.
What are you talking about?
It's only eight. It was a tie.
Boy, you're some liar.
You take corn
from a blind chicken.
Raymond, you think you can
take an extra buck out of me,
- you better just start trying.
- Shut up.
It's those Cartwrights.
Sheriff ain't here.
- Where is he?
- He's over at his other office.
What he means is the
sheriff's over to the saloon.
That's where he
spends most of his time
Now that them stories
about you come out.
What stories?
- What's he talking about?
- This.
This man Finch had them brought
all the way in from Chicago, he did.
"Daring decimation and capture
of the infamous Pickard gang
by the Intrepid
Cartwrights, father and son,
as witnessed by
Tobias Wentworth Finch.
Ben and Adam Cartwright,
cloaked in the deceptive
garb of ordinary businessmen,
rode the ill-fated
Virginia City Stage."
That man Finch, he
really doesn't understand
the meaning of the
word no, does he?
Guess I'll just have
to tell him again.
I'll see you at the hotel later.
[SHOUTING IN SPANISH]
"Death to the Texans."
That's what they were yelling.
It's still ringing in my ears.
They're all around us.
Then, all of a sudden,
I'm face-to-face with him.
El engañoso, Santa Anna himself.
There I am a 20-year-old kid
with the fate of the whole
Republic of Texas in my hands.
Now it's me and him.
He's too grand to shoot
and he's too important to lose.
So what do I do?
I throw myself on him
and I hang on like...
Where are you going, Mr. Finch?
I was just going
back to the hotel.
Oh, yeah.
Sorry, I hope I didn't scare you off
making those speeches about Texas.
It's all right.
To tell you the truth I just came
here to pick up a little local color
and make a few sketches.
But all I've heard for the
last two hours has been you.
Yeah, I know.
I guess I sometimes do
get a little carried away
recalling about old Sam Houston
and Davy Crockett and the rest.
But tell you what,
if you come on back to
the table and sit down,
you won't hear
another peep out of me.
Okay, sheriff.
Are you writing another
story about the Cartwrights?
I'm just making a few notes.
Say, I could tell
you some stories
that would make
the capture of Pickard
sound like a dance
around the maypole.
I'll bet you could.
Would you like me to tell you
about the vigilantes in California,
the time we had to get back
over $30,000 worth of jewelry?
- You already have.
- Oh, I did.
What about the time in
San Francisco when I...
Maybe some other
time, sheriff, huh?
I'm a little busy right now.
Okay?
Oh, sure.
I understand.
Adam Cartwright.
You are just the man
I've been waiting to see.
I've come about this.
Sit down.
I'm, uh, glad you read it.
I was right.
It was your lucky day when
fate brought you and me together.
I'm waiting to hear
about ten good reasons
why I shouldn't press you between
the pages of your nasty, little books
and drop you in a horse trough.
What's the matter, Adam?
Did I spell your name wrong?
No.
I think the story is great.
Wait till you hear what my
publisher had to say about it.
He loved the article.
He gave me an
advance on the book.
See here?
This is your share
and your father's.
It's $25 each.
It's only the beginning.
You know, you're not
talking to an amateur.
My books sell.
I've got a built-in audience.
I think you should invest your
money in a good stomach doctor.
Because the next time
you use my father or myself
in another one of your
distorted publicity pieces,
you may end up eating
the entire newspaper,
including the classified.
Adam.
Don't talk like that.
I told you, I've already
taken an advance.
I like a man with
a sense of humor.
But, uh, I've got time invested
in you, two whole weeks.
Besides I've made promises.
No, look just a minute here.
This man bothering
you, Mr. Finch?
Yeah, I guess he's
bothering me, all right.
You don't go pushing
people around in this town.
I warned you already.
Mr. Finch is a guest here.
He's covering the trial
for the Eastern Press.
As long as I'm the sheriff,
nobody's gonna push him around.
[SCOFFS]
Larrimore, I'm just about sick of
you, your town and your guests.
As far as I'm concerned, the
only thing he's qualified to cover
is the territory between
here and Philadelphia.
And the sooner he
gets started, the better.
And that's what I
came here to say.
If you gentlemen
will excuse me...
[GUN COCKS]
- Put away the gun, sheriff.
- Oh, no.
You come riding in
here like something fine,
something kind of special.
Let me tell you something,
you're not the only one ever
had his name in a newspaper.
But that doesn't give you
special shoving privileges.
You wanna put charges
on him, Mr. Finch?
Yeah.
It's a good idea. Press charges.
What kind of a charge
are you talking about?
All right, let's go.
Return of Reed Larrimore.
Return of Dangerous
Reed Larrimore.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
Larrimore, answer me!
No, Reed, the Texas
war is ancient history.
Get Cartwright out
of here, Larrimore.
You leave him
here I'll kill him.
I can't write about something
that happened 20 years ago.
I need something
new, something fresh.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
- What did you do yesterday?
What did you do the day before?
PICKARD: Larrimore!
You know, Reed, what you
need is a kind of manager.
- A manager?
- Yeah.
Somebody to direct
you, to mold you,
to create a whole
new personality for you.
What you mean is, uh, you
wanna write things about me
that aren't really
true, that don't happen.
That's about it, isn't it?
Well, just, uh,
partly. That's all.
You see, we're gonna think of things
for you to do that can be, uh, amplified.
You know, uh,
just, uh, some things
that can be stretched a little bit
for the excitement of the public.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
No, I'm afraid I
couldn't do that.
Don't be silly, Reed.
That's what this book-writing
business is all about.
What do you think Billy Whipple
was before I picked him up?
He was just a cheap drifter crawling
around the gutters of New Bedford.
Mr. Finch, I may not
be the man I once was,
but I never jumped
through hoops for anybody.
Not even a Sam Houston
told me how to wear my hat.
Fine. What did it get you?
You, the man who
captured Santa Anna.
Didn't ever put a one
nickel in your pocket
and never got you a one
nod of approval in this town.
Well, that's this town.
You know, bunch of dumb farmers,
they don't know what they're doing.
As a matter of fact, I was
thinking about moving on anyhow.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
I heard about some new
trouble down on the border.
Those Apaches are
crossing over from Mexico.
Reed.
Who you trying to convince?
Without me, Reed,
you're a joke in this town.
You know it. Every town
hooligan laughs at you.
I can smack some
respect into them.
And I don't need you
to tell me how to do that.
Sure, sure, fine.
You can smack and you can crawl
and you can tell your
soggy little stories
about what a big hero you were.
If the booze holds out.
Oh, you can stay in this town just
as long as they've got use for you.
But in the meantime, you think.
Think about where you'll
be ten years from now.
Five years maybe.
When you haven't got teeth
left to pull the cork out of a bottle
or the money to buy it with.
Because if you think you've
hit bottom, sheriff, look down.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
Larrimore!
Hey, Mr. Finch,
wait up a minute.
I'm, uh, sorry, Reed,
my publisher can't wait.
He's looking for me to find him a
man. A man who's looking for a future.
You know, just, uh, that part
about making things
up that I'm really against.
Larrimore!
A man doesn't have
to fall into a hole
just because he had a couple
of years bad luck, does he?
That's right.
You've had terrible
luck, sheriff. Terrible.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
In a town like this, uh, well, people just
don't appreciate what you do for them.
- Yeah. Sheriff,
PICKARD: Larrimore!
That prisoner has been
making an awful lot of noise.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
It's time that he found
out this jail isn't being run
by a broken-down,
has-been sheriff.
Don't you think so?
PICKARD: Larrimore!
- Yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
PICKARD: Larrimore!
Larrimore!
Well, it's about time, Larrimore.
I don't like the company in here.
LARRIMORE: You got
any other complaints?
Yeah, I don't like
this food neither.
How do you expect a
man to eat slop like that?
- Look at the maggots in it.
- Well, that's good for you, Pickard.
That fresh meat will make you
nice and strong for the hangman.
Look at Cartwright here,
he's not complaining.
You can't catch a man outright,
you figure to starve him to death.
- Is that it?
- Uh-huh.
What I heard about you, I thought
you'd eat your way through the bars
and be out of here by now.
All right, open the
door. Come on, sheriff.
[GUN CLICKS]
[GROANING]
Stop it! What are you trying
to do. You're trying to kill him.
Come on, stop it, Larrimore.
[PICKARD GROANING]
[THUDS]
[CLATTERING]
Sheriff.
Look at this.
Okay.
Not bad.
Now, sheriff, when I tell
you to, do that draw again.
Go.
Perfect, hold
it. Just like that.
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
I understand you
have my son in here.
Well, I have...
FINCH: Just a minute.
Hold it. I'm not through.
Yeah, there a couple
of desperados in there.
- What's the boy look like?
- What's the charge?
Well, there's assault with
intention to do bodily harm
and then there's
battery on a civilian
and threatening, uh,
an officer of the law.
- And what's the bail?
- Oh, sheriff, that's all for now.
- Thanks a lot.
- Oh, that's all right.
What's the bail?
Oh, about 35, 40
cents ought to do it.
Let's make it an even dollar.
Here you go, pistolero. Your
daddy's come to fetch you.
So you can go catch
yourself some more bandits.
I'll stay here if
you don't mind.
Adam, I've had about all the
bad jokes I can use for one day.
It's no bad joke, Pa.
I think it'd be better if I stay
here now. I'll explain later.
LARRIMORE: It's
all the same to me.
If he changes his
mind, Pop, let him out.
I'm gonna step
across the street.
All right, sheriff.
[GROANING]
Who did this?
Larrimore.
You need a doctor.
I don't need nothing from you.
Go on, get out, both of you.
I'd rather take a beating
like this 12 times a day
then look at you for
another 5 minutes.
Go on, get out, both of you.
Did Larrimore do that?
Yeah, he baited him.
Deliberately, let
him go for his gun
so he'd have an
excuse for beating him.
[SIGHS]
And, Adam, you said you
wanted to stay in here, why?
Finch was in that office working
on Larrimore for over an hour.
Well, he's not telling what
he's got him keyed up to.
They could kill Pickard before
the judge ever got to town
unless there's somebody
here to tell about it.
Maybe he's got
hanging coming to him,
but nobody's got a
right to beat him to death.
What you do that
for, Mr. Larrimore?
I told you not to serve
these young squirts in here.
But, Reed, you let
them drink it before.
It's only beer, Mr. Larrimore.
I'll decide who drinks and who
doesn't drink in this town, is that right?
- Now, get out of here.
- Yeah, but I wasn't doing anything...
Weren't you a little
hard on him, Reed?
I mean, there really was no
call for you to shove him like that.
Seems to me a little shoving's
what's needed around here.
I've been too easy.
That's why the whole
town's gone to seed.
I might even have to close
this place till after the trial.
- But, Reed, you've got no right.
- Trouble with you, Cal...
Trouble with all of you is you need
to learn a little respect for the law.
I've been thinking a
couple of days in my jail
and let your old lady come
and pull you out of there.
That might clue you in on
who's the sheriff of this town.
But, Reed, we all know that.
Well, what's everybody
so glum about?
We're not drunk, are we?
As long as we stay
in line, it'll be okay.
Bring me a beer.
Mr. Finch.
Uh, Mr. Finch has left.
I don't expect him back.
[SCOFFS]
Are you, uh...
Are you happy
with your creation?
Who?
Oh, Larrimore?
Well, he's only doing his job.
And I might say,
it's about time.
Did you see what he
did to that man in the cell?
Is that his job too?
Well, don't ask me. I
didn't tell him to do it.
No.
But you know why he did it.
I'm a very bad
listener, Mr. Cartwright.
You better write me a letter.
You've been pumping
Larrimore full of cheap illusions.
The man's starving
for a little recognition.
You've been dangling that
in front of him like a carrot.
Cartwright, I told you
I'm a writer and a reporter.
I write about things
that happen, that's all.
If Larrimore wants to beat
up on his own grandmother,
it's no concern of mine.
You don't care what
happens to Larrimore
just as long as you can
squeeze a book or two out of him.
And if you happen to
push him a little too far
he gets into little trouble,
you can always dump
him by the side of the road
where the buzzards
can pick at him.
I suppose you care what
happens to him, huh?
You'd like to see him rot in
this little town, in this hole, huh?
Let me tell you something.
For a man like Reed Larrimore,
there's a lot more to life and living
than being a fat, old Sheriff
in a dried-up, old town.
Action, Cartwright.
Adventure. Danger.
That's what's important in life.
In whose life?
Whose danger?
His, mine, everybody's.
And you're not even
doing this for the money.
Finch, I'm beginning to think that
until you see the blood running,
you're not happy.
You're crazy.
Yeah.
Look over there.
Tell Larrimore you're
not gonna write about him.
I'm too busy to play games.
I've got copy to turn out.
If you think I'm leading
Larrimore down the primrose path,
you tell him.
Larrimore, you realize
what you're throwing away?
One more trick like the
one you pulled in that jail cell,
and whatever you were,
whatever you stood
for, is wiped right out.
How do you know what I was?
Well, I know that the man who
had the respect of Sam Houston
doesn't have to turn himself into a
performing dog to impress anybody.
Look, Texas was a
hundred years ago.
I never got a nickel out of it
then and nobody remembers now.
What is it you want? What?
You want people to
remember what you did forever,
and be eternally grateful?
Or do you wanna
stay young forever?
Heh. Well, you can't
and you know that.
People forget.
The man slows down
and nobody can go back.
And that's the way of life.
But you've got something here.
The people in this town
hired you for their sheriff.
They put their confidence
and their trust in you.
And I think that should enough
honor and glory for any man.
It's not enough for me.
[PICKARD SIGHS]
- Cartwright.
- Yeah.
Your tried to pull
Larrimore off of me.
So?
You know what I'd do to you
if these bars wasn't
between us, don't you?
You killed my two brothers.
And you would've
killed me, right?
That's right.
You could've walked
out of here two hours ago.
Why didn't you?
Oh, I thought I'd
save a hotel bill.
[METAL CLANGS]
Don't do it, Pickard.
They're setting you
up for a turkey shoot.
Larrimore has to kill
the last of the Pickards
to prove that he's
not dead himself.
Look, Cartwright, I'm hanged
if I stay and I'm shot if I don't.
That's a big choice, ain't it?
Except you got no choice.
See what I mean.
Except right now it ain't
worth the noise it would take.
But one sound out
of you and you get it.
And not only you, but
that old deputy out there.
[SHOUTS]
[GRUNTING]
Sheriff.
Pickard has just
busted out of your jail.
Let's get up a posse
and go after him.
Yeah, all right.
This is my job.
Now, break it up.
Some of you men look after Pop.
Hey, Larrimore,
let me out of here.
You better hurry up. You
don't want him to get too far.
I don't care how far he gets.
He's gonna pay for killing Pop.
Sheriff.
Let my son out of there.
We'll go along with you.
I told you, I'm
handling this alone.
What about Finch?
I don't think that's
any of your business.
Well, then if you don't mind,
we'll come along with you.
FINCH: What?
Didn't want him to steal
your thunder again, did you?
Let's go.
Is there anybody there?
Pa!
Hey, Larrimore!
Is there anybody out there?
Larrimore, let me out of here.
What's been going on out there?
[BEN GROANING]
Larrimore and Finch, they...
- Yeah.
- They've gone after Pickard.
What's the matter with you?
I got hit on the head.
- Oh, who did it? Yes, sit down.
- I don't know.
We better get after Pickard.
- Are you all right?
- Yeah, I'll be all right.
You just stay here.
- No, no I'm going with you.
- No, just sit there and take it easy.
[HORSE WHINNIES]
FINCH: You got him.
Well, it doesn't look like
I got him good enough.
I'm gonna try and
work up behind him.
ADAM: Larrimore!
You better get
rid of him, sheriff.
ADAM: Larrimore!
Let him come down.
Get out of here, Cartwright.
You've hit him. He can't
run. Let him come down.
You stay out of this. You had
your Pickard. These one's mine.
Pickard, it's Adam Cartwright.
[MUTTERING INDISTINCTLY]
Hit him!
[BOTH GRUNTING]
[PANTING]
Now that we both know how
tough you are, I'm going up this hill.
Let's see if the hero of San Jacinto
will shoot a man on the back, huh?
Reed.
Here, it's your last chance.
Nobody else knows
that he whipped you.
Kill them both.
Nobody else will ever find out.
Do it, Reed.
Come on.
Do it.
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
Well, they done me up good,
didn't they? The lame horse
and that gun loaded with blanks.
I tried to tell you, Finch
was setting you up.
So they got me.
Not yet. Not unless
they get us both.
I don't understand
you, Cartwright.
I can live without
your understanding.
All I want is your answer.
Are you coming or you gonna
stay here and bleed to death alone?
Now, Reed. Shoot.
Come on. What you waiting for?
Shoot.
Come on, Reed.
What you waiting for?
It's your last chance.
You wanna wind up on
a garbage heap again?
I got a prisoner
for you, sheriff.
Thanks, Cartwright.
He gave the key to Pickard.
Gave him a gun
loaded with blanks.
You're a fool.
A fool.
You know, you've thrown
the whole thing away.
You're just going
back to being nothing.
So you let Pickard escape.
You killed Pop.
What difference does it make?
An old man.
An old useless
man just like you.
You are nothing
without me, Larrimore.
Nothing!
I'm gonna make you the
laughing stock of the west.
The biggest joke in the west.
[FINCH GROANS]