Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 1, Episode 35 - The Guitar - full transcript

Gunsmoke...

starring James Arness
as Matt Dillon.

Hey, come out here.
Come on here.

Come on, boy.
Buddy boy.

You come back here.

Come on, now sing us
a song, boy.

You know,
that was real great, boy.

I like the way
you strum that guitar.

This time, I'm gonna buy
Weed Pindle a drink.

And-
And you too, Augie.

We'll both buy!



Yahoo!

Be with you in a minute.

You fellas have sure been
mighty good to me.

Aww...
Hey, there's Marshal Dillon.

Hold it.

Now, what's going on
around here, anyway?

Marshal, I'd like to have you
meet Weed Pindle from Texas.

And if you figure
he's funny-looking,

you ought
to see his burro.

Howdy, marshal.
Howdy.

We're celebrating 'cause
Weed Pindle's come to town.

We've been showing him
every saloon in Dodge.

The minute they found out
I was from Texas, marshal,

they just couldn't
do enough for me.



Uh-huh.

You men can always find

some reason for getting drunk,
can't you?

All right,
you do your celebrating,

but you stay out of trouble.

And keep those guns
in their holsters.

Oh, we will, marshal.
Hey.

Can I buy you a drink?

No, thanks.

I ain't been treated so nice
since I was wounded.

Was you in the Army,
Weed?

Third Illinois Cavalry,
yes, sir.

Hey,
that was a Yankee outfit.

Yep.

Always wanted to run into
someone from the 3rd Illinois.

And we got a special reason
for celebrating now.

Wow-wee.

Hey, come on,
let's get that drink.

Come on.

Are you gonna
drink that or not?

I'm ready for another.

Yeah,
I see you are.

All right,
I'm ready.

Say, Chester.

Uh, Major Holcomb wants
to see me out the fort.

I won't be gone long.

You got time for a drink,
Matt?

No, I-
I'm on my way, Doc.

Just wanted to tell Chester here
to keep an eye on things.

Oh, I'll do it,
Mr. Dillon.

Come here a second.

Better keep an eye on
two drunks there.

Oh, all right.

Take you up
on that drink later, Doc.

Fine.

Should be back by dark.

Come on, Chester.

Come on.
Two more, Sam.

Oh, no. Uh, no, no.
Not- Not for me, Doc.

What's the matter with you?
You couldn't wait,

now you've had enough.

Well, I figure
if anything comes up,

I'd better
be able to handle it.

Yeah.

Well, just how you
having another glass of beer

is going to seriously jeopardize
the safety of Dodge,

is something
I fail to see.

Well, there's a lot
you fail to see.

That ain't gonna
change my mind none.

Well, all right.
Here's to your good intentions,

and a dry Saturday.

Not so dry
for some folk.

? From this valley they say
You are leaving ?

Watch out for Rainbow.

? Do not hasten
To bid me adieu ?

Now I wonder
where they got him.

He sure is a funny-looking
cuss, ain't he?

Oh, come on, Rainbow.
Now move!

Come on, Rainbow.

Keep moving, Rainbow.
They don't mean no harm.

Come on, now move.

They're just funnin'
a little.

Move on there, Rainbow.

You're carryin'
a Texas soldier.

Next stop,
the Long Branch.

Not yet, Jim.
We ain't hit the Lady Gay.

That's right.
Lady Gay it is.

Come on!
Come on, Rainbow.

Hey Chester.

They're taking that little fella
into every saloon in Dodge.

They're coming in here next.

This'll be
their last stop.

Well, what do you mean?

After they hit all the saloons
they're gonna hang him.

Hang him?
Yeah.

Yes. And I don't see
the law along to stop 'em.

Come on, Tom. Let's see
what they're up to.

Oh, Mr. Dillon
won't be back till dark.

Oh, they're not gonna
hang him, Chester.

Now don't-
Now don't fret yourself.

I ain't frettin' myself none.

You don't know what them
two crazy fools will do,

once they get to drinkin'.
Ahh.

That's right, Chester.

They won't hang nobody.

This town
won't stand for it.

This town?

This town
wouldn't lift a finger

for that skinny Texas scrub,
and you know it.

Come on, Pindle!

Get over here.

Come on, get on.

Come on, Pindle!
Get on there.

This time we're gonna find
his burro a drink too.

Ride to the Long Branch!

Long Branch!
Long Branch!

Here they come.

They're coming right in here,
burro and all.

Burro?
Yes, sir.

No burro comes into
Long Branch long as I own it.

Sam, give me the gun.

You keep that mule
out of here!

Put that down!

And start serving.

Come on,
get off of there!

We're buying,
but we ain't servin'.

Hey,
the drinks are on us.

Hey, give Weed Pindle
here a beer.

He's too scrawny. We got to
fatten him up in a hurry.

And a bucketful
for his burro.

I-I sure wish I could buy you
fellas something to drink but,

well, I ain't got
no money at all.

Oh. Why don't you
sell this guitar?

Oh, no, Mr. Short, I-

I couldn't very well do that.

Well, you must have
a nickel at least.

No, sir.

The last money
I had got stole.

Oh, now, who'd steal money
off a tiger like you, Pindle?

I- I don't know.

I was asleep.

and when
I started to wake up,

they kicked me
in the head.

You call that a head?

Looks to me more like

your neck growed out
and haired over.

I-
I ain't very handsome.

You sure ain't.

They'll hang him
soon as they drunk enough.

Um, mister, I don't-

I don't think you ought
to give Rainbow no beer.

Hey, what'd your old lady think
when she saw you?

Well, I don't know.
She died.

What'd she do,
laugh herself to death?

Is that the way you're
gonna die, Pindle? Laughing?

I don't know.

But you're gonna find out,
and real quick too, Pindle.

What's he gonna find out, Short?

Pindle here says
he ain't never seen a hanging,

so we decided
to show him one.

The minute I came into town,

Mr. Tyler and Mr. Short
been buyin' me beers.

Then when I told 'em
I was a soldier

in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry,

man, they've really been
puttin' on a celebration.

Our Texas friend here
fought with the Yankees.

He's a real hero.

Oh, I-
I didn't do much.

No.

Fact, I didn't see
no real Confederates at all.

Just a bunch of rag tail bobcats

in south Missouri.

They was led by-

By an old chicken thief
named Kline.

Shucks, I wasn't no hero.

I got shot myself.

How much you kill off,
Pindle?

Well, after I was shot,

they caught
most of the rest of 'em,

and they hung 'em.

You missed
all that part of it?

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. I never saw
a hanging my whole life.

Well, you're gonna
see one today.

You about ready, T?
About ready.

Much obliged, but,

well, if you don't mind,
I don't rightly care.

I don't think
I'd like to see a hanging.

Oh, you won't see
all of it, Weed.

Just the beginning.

Now,
now just a minute-

You keep your mouth
out of this, Chester.

We're liable to
take you along with him.

You see here-
Shut up, Doc!

You're not gonna
hang that man!

This has gone far enough!

You can't do that
to the doc!

Anybody that don't like
the idea of a hanging,

just step up and say so.

Ain't nobody
gonna spoil our fun.

Them that don't like it, I'll
cut a smile right in their face.

You keepin' us waiting?

Back up.

Come on.

Over there, Doc.

Might as well hang him
on his own burro, Gene.

Yeah. Hey,
we'll hang him right here.

Well, what are you
gonna hang me for?

I-I ain't done nothin'.

Yeah, well we fought under
that ol' chicken thief Kline.

So let's say
it's a real pleasure

for us to return
the hanging.

Climb up for it, Pindle.
Come on, Pindle.

Come on,
get over there!

But I only done
what the Army told me.

Come on, Pindle,
get on.

I didn't wanna hurt nobody.

Come on, Pindle.
Come on.

Please, me, mister,
I ain't done nothin'.

Don't, mister!
Mister, please don't, mister.

All right, Short. You-
You've gone far enough.

You take that rope
off of his neck.

Kill him, Augie.

Come on, Chester.
Come on, shoot.

Do the job for us, Chester.
Come on.

Anyone shoots,
you get this in the back.

Hold up, Augie. I'm in trouble.

All right, put your guns away.
Celebration's over.

Told you fellas
you shouldn't hang me.

Texan that fought against
the South.

You don't deserve
nothin' but hanging.

What you good for
except for hanging?

What else
can you do with him?

You keep your hands off him.
I'll throw you in jail.

You can be certain you ain't
throwin' us in no jail.

You can be certain
you ain't hanging nobody.

Now get out of here.
Go on, get!

Someone get that burro
out of here.

We'll get him out for you.

Nah. We'll get
back at him, Augie.

Don't think we won't.

I wanna thank you.

For-
For what you done.

Oh, that was nothing.

What part of Texas you from,
Weed?

Oh, I'm from San Benito.

Oh?

On the Rio Grande.
Yeah.

My folks was killed in a
border raid when I was a kid.

They tortured me
pretty bad.

I never did go back.
Hm.

Hey, Weed, you really
play this guitar?

Some.

How about playing some?
We'll take up a collection.

Yeah.

Well, I-
I couldn't very well do that.

Why not? Can't you
play it good enough?

Now, we should would
like to hear you play it.

Why don't you sit down there
and play us a song? Why, sure.

Come on, now.
Sit down.

Here, I'll just
get out of your way.

Now,
just sit right down there.

Now, you go right
on ahead and play.

Weed-

Weed, you got yourself
a steady job.

That was the best guitar music
I ever heard.

Thank you very much, but,

well, I-I can't take
a steady job.

Why not?

Well, I'll be going
out of town soon.

Tomorrow maybe.

Well, now,
where you headed for?

Nowhere.

Nowhere?

No, sir.

I just
get on Rainbow and ride.

I always do.

Well, my goodness,
don't you ever get lonesome?

Oh, I never stay
any place long enough

to get to know people
very well.

Well, don't it bother you,
being alone like that?

Well my burro's company.

Well now, you're not going
any place tonight anyway.

Why don't you
play us another one?

Yeah!
Come on.

Oh, that was beautiful, Weed.

Let's-
Let's hear that one again.

Oh, I-

I've been playing
for quite a spell.

I better go out
and water my burro.

Well, here's-

Here's a little something
to help buy up some grain.

There you are, Weed.
We-

We sure enjoyed
your playin'.

Nobody ever done nothing
like this for me before.

Oh, well...

Thank you.

Pindle?

We got something
to show you.

Come here, Pindle.

We're sorry we kinda
mistreated you a little, Weed.

We're gonna
make it up to you.

Do you?

Yeah,
we already got started

on that homely
old burro of yours.

Got it all prettied up.
Look.

Oh!

Do you like him?

Even a burro's got feelings.

Well, so have we.
Your music done it to us.

We heard some of it out here.

We've been waiting
to tell you how much we like it.

Let me see that guitar,
Weed.

No, sir.

Give it to me.

Stand still, Pindle.

Mister, don't-
I'll give it back to you.

Just wanna tune it
for you first a little bit.

Don't, mister!

Don't move, Weed.

Hey, you know,

there's still
something wrong with that.

What do you suppose it'd be?

It's too big.

Hey, yeah.
I'll make it small for him.

Everything all right now,
Pindle?

Anything else we can
do for you, Weed?

Oh.

Hello, Chester.

Oh.

What's going on here?

Oh, I never knew
people could be so mean.

What do you mean?

Tyler and Short,
they busted his guitar,

and earlier
they tried to hang him.

What?

Yes, sir.

Where are they?

Inside.

That one's a dirty Yankee.

A Texas Yankee.

Should've hung him.

Now, you can't do nothin'
to us, marshal.

We didn't
hurt him none.

You men
are through in Dodge.

Oh, you can't run us
out of town.

Can't I?

Well, you got a place
to stay, Weed?

He can stay with me.
I got an extra cot.

Thank you.

Marshal, why did those men
try to hang me?

Why did they have to
do that to my burro?

Well,
I'll tell you, Weed.

See, there's still an awful lot
of Southern feeling around here.

You best not talk about
having been in that Union Army.

I only done what
they told me to do, marshal.

Yeah, you're a Texan. How come
you did fight for the North?

I don't know.

One army's about
like another, I guess.

Good night, Weed.

Oh, and, uh, don't you
worry about those men.

They won't bother you
anymore.

Ridin' off scot-free,
Mr. Dillon.

Yeah, it's too bad
they ever rode in, Chester.

Well, I'll be back
at the office.

It- It sure was good of you
to give me the money.

It was good of you
to play for us.

Weed, you can go to bed
anytime you want.

Oh, I-

I think I better
be moving along.

I like to get my burro
out of sight

till I can clean her.

I think that about
got it all there.

Come here, Rainbow.

There's another
little bit right here.

Now, you all right?

Yeah. I'll just
dry you off a bit

and then the sun
will do the rest,

and you'll be good as new.

I didn't know nothing like that
was gonna happen.

There you are.
Now, come on.

We can get on out of here
and go where we belong.

There.

? We'll ride
Little Rainbow ?

? Little Rainbow and me ?

? We'll ride ?

? Just ride
Little Rainbow ?

? Little Rainbow ?

Look-

We've been waiting
for you, Weed.

Take a deep breath, Pindle.
You won't get another one.

I want you
to see this, Doc.

How long would you say?

Cut 'em down.

Yeah, I'd say at least
eight, ten hours, Matt.

You seen Pindle?

Anybody around here see Pindle?

What do you want Pindle for,
Mr. Dillon?

It's pretty hard to figure
a little stray like him

could've hung these two men,
Matt.

Anyway, Pindle left
about 6 this morning.

He was right there
in my room.

I'd have heard him
if he sneaked out.

That's right, Matt.
I seen him leave.

About ten after 6.
I remember it exactly.

Well, these men been dead
at least eight hours, Matt.

At least.

And where were you last night,
Tom?

Me?

Uh...

We was playing stud.
Played all night.

Yeah, that's right.

After they rode out last night,

I went right to bed,
Mr. Dillon.

Now, look here, boys.

You gotta
realize something.

The law is the same
for everybody,

including me.

Well, I can't arrest
the whole town for this.

All right.
But let me tell you something.

If I find out
who's responsible for this,

we're gonna have an arrest

and we're gonna have a trial
and you can count on it.

All right.

Take 'em back to town.

Well, I wonder
if they had time to enjoy it.

Enjoy what?

The hanging they wanted
so all-fired bad.