Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 14, Episode 16 - Time of the Jackals - full transcript

Matt and Festus shoot it out with an outlaw who was a member of the infamous Jess Trevor gang, particularly notorious for murder and mayhem. Matt finally kicks in the outlaw's door and shoots him. The outlaw lives for a few minutes, and Matt asks him why he deserted the Trevor gang. The dying outlaw reveals that he left at the request of Trevor's girlfriend, who was also shocked by his cruelty and wishes to leave. The woman is then shown lying in a corner, having accidentally been shot by Matt. To his horror, Matt recognizes the woman as Leona, a woman he knew and loved before he came to Dodge City. Guilt-ridden, he brings Leona back to Dodge and learns her story: she had drifted after leaving Matt, turning to prostitution and hooking up with various gang members, closing with Trevor himself. Trevor has learned of Leona's defection and puts out a murder contract on her. While Matt searches for Trevor (and Trevor orders a hit on Matt), Kitty (who is nursing Leona) struggles with her feelings toward her boyfriend's past girlfriend, finally making an uneasy alliance with Leona. When Matt gets to Trevor first and takes him in, Trevor warns "there will be twenty shotguns pointed at your head" when Matt sends Trevor off to court for trial. Matt warns Trevor that "there's going to be one aimed at yours" in return. The extradition trip to the train station begins in an atmosphere of the highest tension, as Leona watches from a sidewalk.

Gunsmoke, starring
James Arness as Matt Dillon.

Now, listen to me in there!

I'll give you one more chance
to come out of there. Now!

Keep him busy.

Matthew, that there's Dan Foley.

Now, why would a fella
like him be messing around

with a piddley little ol'
relay station hold-up?

- Dillon?
- Yeah.

Figures.

Run from a bull...
smack into a bear.

Did you hear about Jess
breaking out of prison?



Was supposed to meet
him, bring his woman to him.

Well, you fixed that.

Supposed to meet him?

Problem is, she
and me hit it off.

We was... we was heading out.

Needed quick money.
That's why the relay station.

Where were you gonna meet him?

Benson's Canyon,
south of Minneola.

Tonight.

Dillon, when you hang him...

let him know it...
was me told you.

Matt?

Hello, Matt.

It's been a long time.



All right, go on. Get
out of the way there.

Go on home. Go on home, now.
Don't stand around here gawking.

Newly, he ain't got
no way in knowing

that it was his bullet that
hit her, but he won't listen.

I know, sir, but he did say to
get the horses watered and fed

and round up a posse.

Well, you go ahead and
round them up, Newly,

- and I'll be with you directly.
- Okay.

- Why, that's Leona.
- Yeah, Doc.

- Who did this?
- I did.

Do everything you
can for her, Doc.

Marshal, there's trouble
in the Long Branch.

All right.

Any of you gentlemen
goes for his gun,

this man's head gets
blown back to Texas.

Hold it, Jackson.

All right, put the
gun down, Jackson.

Anything you say, Marshal.

- Now, what's going on here?
- Man says I cheated.

He did.

Only difference 'tween us, I
was a mite clumsier than him.

All right, do you want to
prefer charges against him?

Be about two weeks before
Judge Brooker gets here.

I don't want nothing but my
money back, and to shed this town.

- That it?
- It sure is.

All right, pick it up.

What is it they say
about bad pennies?

Yeah, I figured you'd turn up.

Got lonesome for you, Marshal.

Funny, you got lonesome
just about the time

that Jess Trevor broke
out of prison, huh?

Paying you a
compliment, Marshal.

I'm staking my life that you'll kill
Jess before he can kill me, and you.

I just want a roof over my
head till Jess is back behind bars.

You owe me that much.

You got what's
owed to you, mister.

He took my wife.

A few thousand in reward
can't pay me back for that.

You're so concerned about her,

you might be interested
to know she's in town.

Lee? Here in Dodge? What for?

She's up at Doc's office right
now getting a bullet dug out of her.

Bound to happen sooner or
later, being Jess Trevor's woman.

He do it?

- No, I did.
- You did?

She and Dan Foley
were making a run for it.

Foley?

She left Jess Trevor
for Dan Foley?

Why, that woman's gone from man
to man like a bottle of cheap whiskey.

Why she's nothing but a...

Just keep out of
my sight, Jackson.

Marshal, I'm about finished.

Oh, good, Louie.

Marshal...

I just wanted to say I'm sorry.

Sorry for what?

It's been a spell since I
went on a three-pint binge.

I'm sorry I caused so
much trouble for you.

That's all right, Louie.
The woodbox filled?

Not yet, but it will
be time I'm finished.

I promise.

Matthew, I rounded up the fellas
and we're just about ready to go.

Oh, good, Festus. I'll
be with you in a minute.

How is she, Doc?

Well, she's conscious.

- She gonna be all right?
- Barring complications, I think so.

Good, I'm glad to hear that.

She's changed, Matt.

Been a lot of years.

All of them downhill,
I guess, huh?

Yeah.

That's the truth, Doc.

She's Jess Trevor's girl now.

- Can I see her?
- Just for a minute.

Hello, Lee.

Well, well.

Look at you.

Not even a gray hair.

Well, looks like the years have
been pretty good to you, too.

You're a lousy liar, Dillon.

You always were.

You know, I'm sorry
about what happened.

If I'd known you'd
been in that shack I'd...

You had no way of knowing.

You were just, um...

doing your duty.

You know, Doc says you're...
he says you're gonna be fine.

Fine.

It's a relative word, isn't it?

Now, you're gonna have to
do exactly like Doc tells you.

- Foley dead?
- Yeah.

Too bad.

He was the best of a bad lot.

- You're going after Jess?
- Yeah.

Be careful, Matt.

He's up to something. He...

He's bringing men
in from all over.

Means to see you dead.

Foley and I were supposed
to meet him tonight.

I know.

Well, you rest easy, Lee.

I'll stop by and see
you when I get back.

Buy you a drink, Miss Kitty?

To the Marshal's success?

No thanks.

All right, I want you to hurry
and finish that soup now

and then you're gonna sleep
for about 12 straight hours.

The years have
been good to Matt.

Well, I guess you'd say so
when you consider all the bullets

I've dug out of him and the
times he's ridden day and night

to bring somebody
in, I guess so.

- You haven't changed.
- Is that so?

Well, a might more ornery
and bossy, if that's possible.

You sleep.

Is he still married
to that badge?

Yes, I think so.

I almost had him hooked.

Did you know that, Doc?

Yes, I did.

And you know, at the time, I
was kind of sorry you missed, too.

Who is she?

Who's who?

The one who made
you change your mind?

You women are amazing,
all of you. Just amazing.

You want to gossip all the time.

I dig a bullet out of you,

and you lose a lot of very valuable
blood, and then all you want...

to do is...

I heard you had a patient, Doc.

I wondered if she
needed anything.

Needs an awful lot of sleep.

- I wasn't gonna bite her, Doc.
- I didn't expect you to.

- It's just that she...
- Who is she?

I've had a dozen patients
up here in the last month,

and I don't recall you asking the
vital statistics of any of them, Kitty.

Now don't you get foxy with me.

Matt almost killed a man
tonight in the Long Branch

and it had something
to do with her.

- You know she's been shot?
- Festus told me.

Well did Festus tell you
that Matt thinks he shot her?

That offer, um...

If she needs anything...

still holds.

The boys'll be
wondering where we are.

Foley should have
been here by now.

Cawkins is right, Jess. Them
boys ain't gonna wait forever.

We should have rode out of here
last night when Foley didn't show.

Could have run off
with your woman.

You figure that out all
by yourself, did you?

Now, Jess...

He said most likely Miss Leona
and Dan up and skedaddled.

He did, huh?

- That the way you figure, Rainey?
- Now ease off, Jess.

You ain't hearing nothing you
haven't already figured out your ownself.

So why don't you face
it? They ain't coming.

Well, I'll tell you one thing...
if that's what did happen,

when I'm finished with
Matt Dillon, they're next.

If I have to track them
from here to hell and back.

Move out.

They're breaking up camp.

We don't have any time to surround
them, we'll just have to move in from here.

All right? Let's go.

All right, down there!

You're covered, all of you!

Matt Dillon.

Throw down your guns!

Now the rifles!

Let's get out of here!

- Newly, go get the horses.
- Yes, sir.

- Burke, you hit bad?
- I'm all right, Marshal.

There ain't nothing we
can do for him, Matthew.

Did you see who it was, Marshal?

No.

The horses have scattered, Marshal.
It's gonna take a while to get 'em.

All right. Festus, you boys
stay here and give Burke a hand.

Newly, let's see if
we can round 'em up.

- Burke, where you hit?
- Right there, Festus.

Hello, Jess.

- Do I know you?
- No, but you'll be thanking me.

I was that bolt of lightning
from the sky back there.

Saved your hides from the noose.

Well, I'm mighty pleased
with what you done back there,

but I don't understand why.

Well, any man on the
wrong side of a lawman's gun

is a friend of Lucas Brant's.

Jess, he's all tore up.

Get a hold of him.

No need.

I can tell a dead
man when I see one.

He's right, we'd
better keep moving.

If that's all right with
you, uh, Mr. Brant?

You'll be needing
a place to hide.

Just keep riding up that hill.

No need to hurry. That
posse won't be behind you.

Let's go.

You're a bounty hunter.

Well, it's better than
picking bones for a living.

A puny 3,500? I'd
call that picking bones.

Well, I can keep
you on ice for a while,

wait till those bankers get
jittery and boost the bounty.

Then I'll take you to Hays City.

That Marshal Dillon in Dodge
might ask too many questions.

How high do you think it can go?

Figure five thousand.

I still call that bone-picking.

That's enough to feed
this vulture for a while.

Brant, I got a lot of
boys waiting for me.

You pull that trigger, you're
gonna make them mighty unhappy.

You won't even get a chance
to spend that bounty money.

Well, there just ain't no way to
keep everybody happy all of the time.

All right, go ahead.

Come on, shoot.

Shoot that.

Kill a chance at more money
than you got time to spend.

You just take that from me.

Had more than my
share, believe me.

- Nothing hurts a man more than regrets.
- You sound like a preacher, mister.

You're a scavenger,
Brant, living off the leavings.

You think turning me
in's gonna make you rich?

All it's going to do is sic my
boys on you and they'll get to you

no matter where you
are, don't you forget that.

Now, on the other hand,
you could ride with us.

And you could be a rich man.

No more scavenging
after the leavings, Brant.

Three hundred thousand dollars.

Where?

I don't do no bargaining
with a gun in my back.

How do I know I can trust you?

Well, you just pulled us out
of a bed of hot coals, mister.

We're ever in your debt.

Jess Trevor don't
forget to pay his debts.

Besides, I got a
couple of men missing.

Way I got it figured...

I think you could just
about fill both their shoes.

Well, you saw what I
could do back there.

Yeah, you did real good, too.

Didn't he, fellas?

Yes, sir. Real good.

Boys...

Meet our new partner.

Okay, I'm in. Now where's
the three hundred thousand?

Well, I still prefer
you put the gun down.

Now, I seen the way you
picked them posse men off,

like jackrabbits hopping by.

Now, Brant, are
we partners or not?

You were saying?

That's better.

Now you tell me,
what would you say

if you had a key to every
bank, every Wells Fargo office,

every ranch payroll in
the southwest of Kansas?

Oh.

What keys?

United States
Marshal Matt Dillon.

You're loco.

Brant, you kill men for the
reward money, don't you?

Now, you just imagine the bounty
of 300,000 on Matt Dillon's head.

'Cause when he's dead,

this whole section of Kansas
gonna be wide open for a week.

Take the Justice Department that
long to get the federal law back in here.

And in that one week,

I got it all worked
out, one, two, three.

You and me and my... friends

gonna be richer
than we ever figured.

Yes, sir.

Three hundred thousand dollars.

You're a lucky fella, Brant.

You know, that man's
got a light in his eyes.

And I'm gonna
find out if that light

means you've got to be
the smartest fella I ever met

or flat-out the
craziest or what.

Well, which is it, Brant,
smart or flat-out crazy?

Take a good look
before the light goes out.

Matt?

Sorry.

Pardon me. I...

You must be Kitty Russell.

That's right.

- Just wondered if you needed anything.
- No.

Thanks, though,
for putting me up.

Well, any friend of Matt's is...

Won't you stay and talk?

Thanks.

How you feeling?

A little weak, yeah, but knowing
Doc, he'll have me up and around.

You and Doc go back a long ways.

Quite a ways.

He, uh...

He didn't tell me
much about you.

Fact is, I couldn't get
anything out of him.

Doc is being rather
tight-lipped lately.

- What do you do in Dodge?
- I own the Long Branch.

Alone? No husband or... anyone?

Alone.

Well, that's something.

Woman coming to Dodge alone.

Running a saloon
like the Long Branch.

That, uh... must
be pretty tough.

It was at the beginning.

But I've been at it
now for 14 years.

Fourteen years.

That's...

That's just about the time Matt
Dillon became Marshal here.

Just about.

Do you ever intend leaving?

Not when everything
I want is right here.

Miss Kitty.

Yes?

Forgive me, but the posse's coming
in and I thought you'd want to know.

Thanks, Sam.

- What happened, Matt?
- Oh, Doc. Well, we got ambushed.

Burke got shot in the
leg. Easy with him, boys.

Help him upstairs there, Festus.

What about Trevor?

Well, he and some of
his boys got away, Doc.

How's Lee?

She's gonna be all right.

Oh, well, that's good.
I'm glad to hear it.

Wait a minute.

- She's not up there, Matt.
- She's not? Where is she?

- Well, she... she's at Kitty's.
- Kitty's?

Well, you know I couldn't
take care of her up there.

I can't be with her all the
time and Kitty said that...

Well, she insisted that
she wanted her over in...

She's right.

- Did you see Trevor?
- He got away.

Got away.

- Hello, Kitty.
- How'd it go, Matt?

Well, we had a little trouble
out there. They got away.

- Oh.
- Doc says she's all right, huh?

Uh-huh. She ate breakfast.
That's a pretty good sign.

- Yeah. All right to go up and see her?
- Sure.

Have Sam bring you a drink.

Thanks.

Barkeep. A bottle.
Couple of them.

Come in.

Lee, can I talk to
you for a minute?

Well, it's your town, so I hear.

How you feeling?

Pretty good. The doc
hasn't lost his touch.

He says you're
gonna be all right.

That depends if you found Jess.

Almost, but he got away.

Are you, uh... gonna
go after him again?

Yeah.

Lee, I thought you might want to
know there's no charges against you

for what happened out there.

You want me to get out of town?

No reason for that.
Anything I can get you?

What in the world would I need?

I have a jelly-spined
ex-husband downstairs

who wouldn't lift his
hand to defend the, uh...

the sanctity of our marriage.

I have another
slow-drawing ex-boyfriend,

who's lying on a board
at the undertaker's.

I also have another
ex-boyfriend that just broke jail

and probably ready
to wring my neck.

Now, what else could a...

a good woman want, Marshal?

Lee, look, I...

Would you get my clothes
and let me get out of here?

There'll be plenty of time for
that when Doc says you're ready.

And I get Jess Trevor in jail.

Matt.

Don't get yourself
killed in the meantime.

I took the liberty of ordering
while I waited for you, cowboy.

Well, you got good taste.

So do you.

Kitty, you know, I met
Lee a long time ago.

Her father ran a trading
post out in Colorado.

It was the kind of place
where men on the run could go,

and I was tracking down a couple

and we met and that's
how things got started.

Those years since then
have been pretty rough on her.

Matt...

You can't account for everything
that happens to people who touch you.

You know, I learned
a long time ago,

there's some things in this life
you just accept the way they are.

Pretty deep for a redhead.

I'm a pretty deep redhead.

Hey, mister.

I got a wagon parked
up the alley here

with a lot better stuff
than you'll get inside there.

Only a dollar a bottle.

Go ahead, have a
jolt, see for yourself.

Is this any way to
treat a friend of mine,

trussing him up like
a Thanksgiving turkey.

What's the matter with you boys?

This is Tim Jackson.

Wouldn't be no
Jess Trevor gang...

without this strong
right arm of mine.

Timmy, the boys tell me

that you've been into Dodge
City talking with Marshal Dillon.

Jess.

Aren't you gonna tell
me you're glad to see me?

Ask me how I've been
all these last years.

Oh, I forgot. Give
me that bottle.

Why, you always did
need a little snake oil

to loosen up your tongue,
didn't you? Go on, take it.

I'll tell you one thing, Tim,

that federal jug ain't no
place for a drinking man.

That jug drinking man there, eh?

Timmy...

Why'd you do it, was
it for the reward money

or on account of Lee, or both?

- Jess, I...
- You know, I understand about the money.

I used to think about
that a lot of times myself.

But on account of Lee, I
mean, all you had to do was ask.

To tell you the truth, I was
getting kind of tired of her anyway.

You know, when you
get right down to it, Tim,

just between you and me,
wasn't worth the trouble, right?

Ah, yeah.

Things been pretty rough, huh?

Well I'm back now and I'm
gonna do something about that

just as soon as
Marshal Dillon's dead.

You're wondering who's
going to kill him, hm?

Can't be me.

Can't be the boys. We
couldn't get close enough.

What I need is
somebody who can...

just stand right alongside of
him in his own sweet time and...

just kill him dead.

Chance of a
shabby lifetime, Tim.

Maybe as much as...

fifty thousand dollars.

Just for one bullet,
one dead lawman.

Of course, I realize between
you and me, money don't count.

Why, you'd be...

glad to do it for
nothing, wouldn't you?

Ah, you'll do it.

You'll... you'll do it.

Just exactly the way I tell you.

- Won't be any risk, Tim.
- No risk?

No, no risk.

See, Tim, I don't
want a gunfight.

I want an execution.

Might worrisome when I lost track of
you and your friends earlier this evening.

Appears like Matthew had
it figured out pretty good.

- Where's Trevor?
- What? Marshal...

Shooting Matthew
your own idea, was it?

No, he said...

What did he say, Jackson?

Well, Marshal Dillon ought to
have a bullet in his head by now.

Yeah, if that Jackson
didn't just take off.

Jackson's too
scared, too greedy.

He'll be along any minute.

You know, it's too bad Daggett
ain't back with the rest of the boys.

Be a lot more relaxing if
they knew Dillon was dead.

Well, maybe they'll be here
before Jackson gets back.

Whether they are or not, we're
gonna go on into Dillon's town,

tear it apart board by board.

Get your hands up.

- There's no one else, Marshal.
- Where's Daggett?

Keep sweating, Jackson.
He's gone to get the boys.

That right, Jackson?

Yeah. They'll be
coming all right.

I told you you were
making a mistake.

My life isn't worth a plugged
nickel, neither is yours.

All right, we're going
to Dodge. Come on.

- Marshal?
- Move on.

- You can't lock me up with him.
- Go on.

- He'll kill me if he gets a chance!
- Get in the cell.

Marshal, you can't
leave me here.

Oh, there's bars in
between you, you ninny.

Marshal? Marshal.

Marshal!

Daggett'll be coming with the
others. They'll spring Jess and kill me.

Let me out!

Marshal?

Marshal!

Marshal!

Festus, keep an eye on
things around here, will you?

I'll catch a couple of winks if
that squalling jackrabbit will let me.

Marshal!

Marshal!

Hush your mouth!

It'll be a few minutes,
but... Oh, morning, Marshal.

Sam.

Come in.

Lee...

- Look, I just came by to tell you...
- You found Jess.

- That's right.
- You're gonna be having visitors.

Some of Jess's
friends are very loyal.

Well, I'm putting him on
the night train back to prison.

Tim Jackson is locked up and he's
gonna stay there till Jess is in prison.

Well, with Dan Foley dead,

that kind of puts me adrift.

Right back where I
started from, with...

about 15 years
of my life missing.

Those years mean
all that much, Lee?

There's only one thing in the
world that ever meant that much.

I, um... I talked
to the redhead.

Finally got her pegged.

She's a smart
woman, in many ways.

Lee, I'll, uh...
I'll see you later.

Matt.

Be careful.

Jess's friends, they,
uh... they'll be here...

You won't even
know who they are.

Thanks, Lee.

Time's came, Matthew.

Get him, Festus.

All right, let's go, Jess.

I'll be back to see you, Timmy.

There'll be 20 guns pointed
at your head, Marshal.

There's gonna be one
pointed at yours. Let's go.

All right, move.

Drop the guns!

Giddyap!

Well, Matt...

I finally did
something worthwhile.

Take care of him, redhead.

Stay tuned for scenes
from next week's Gunsmoke.