Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 5, Episode 39 - Cherry Red - full transcript

The widow of a stagecoach robber is courted by the man who, unbeknownst to the widow, is the one who shot her husband.

♪♪ [theme]

starring James
Arness as Matt Dillon.

[Dillon, narrating] Here on
Boot Hill is the end of violence.

These men, brawling, fighting,

clawing their bloody
way across the frontier...

Lie still now, harmless
as the grass they feed,

empty and done.

The lives of most of
them were one long hate...

Hate of other, better men, hate
of peace and order and right.

But it isn't always hate
that puts a man here.

Sometimes it's love...
love of a woman.



That, too, can lead to violence.

And the end of violence.

I've seen it. Matt
Dillon, U.S. Marshal.

♪♪ [whistling]

♪♪ ["Camptown Races"]

♪♪ [continues]

[giggles] Morning, Tiger.

- Enjoying your breakfast?
- [meow]

Good morning, Towne. [laughs]

[humming]

Oh!

Girl, I'm gonna marry you.

Are you crazy?

No, ma'am, but somehow,



sooner or later, I'm
gonna marry you.

- [clicks tongue] You're drunk!
- No, ma'am...

You're like every saddle
bum around these parts.

You have no respect for
yourself or anybody else.

- Well, now look. All I...
- Oh, shut up.

For your kind of trash, a married
woman's not safe around here.

Well, now, look. All I said
was that, sooner or later,

- I'm gonna marry y...
- What right do you think you have

to say anything
about marrying me?

Well, it... it sorta
slipped out, ma'am.

I saw you standing
there, and I...

You saw me standing
there by myself.

- I didn't mean no offense, ma'am.
- No offense?

If my husband was here,
he'd beat your brains out.

Cherry?

I just like to know what
kind of a town you're running.

- What seems to be the trouble?
- I guess it's my fault, Marshal,

that the young
lady's all riled up.

I, uh, sort of spoke
up out of turn.

- [chuckles] You sure did.
- What'd he say?

Well, I...

Um, I told her I was
gonna marry her.

Right out here, in the broad
daylight. Everybody lookin' on.

I never even seen him
before in my whole life.

- How about that, mister?
- Well, my intentions were honorable, I...

I'm sick and tired of
honorable intentions.

It's simply insulting.

When Slim comes back, there's gonna
be a few tunes changed around here.

Now, Cherry, I wouldn't count
too much on Slim's coming back.

You know, he's been
gone a long time.

I know he's been gone a long time.
I know how long he's been gone.

One year, eight
months and six days.

I know a lot of other things, too. I
know they say he's not coming back.

Well, I...

I know that every man in
town knows I'm all alone,

and they think they can
just get away with anything!

- Well, I didn't mean any harm.
- It's not funny!

- Oh, what's the difference?
- Oh, Miss O'Dell, wait!

What's your name, mister?

Name's Red Larned.

Well, you've called Mrs. O'Dell by name.
I thought you said you didn't know her.

Well, I only know who she is.

I got a photograph of her.

Took it off her dead
husband, Slim O'Dell.

- How'd he die?
- Uh...

Well, it was Indians. Renegades.

Up in the Platte River country.

About a month or so back.

- You were there, were you?
- Oh, yeah, yeah.

I saw it happen.
Pert near got me, too.

- We was partners on a trap line.
- I see.

You know, I had it on
my mind to tell her, but I...

just couldn't bring
myself to say it.

Well, Larned, the jail's
right down the street there.

Suppose you start walkin', huh?

- What do you mean?
- I got a bulletin on Slim O'Dell

just the other day.

He was killed trying to rob the
North Platte Broken Arrow stage line.

His partner got away.
No name, no description.

I stopped by the post office,
I didn't see no bulletin up.

Well, I didn't tell anybody
about it, not even Cherry.

I thought maybe his partner
might show up here someday.

I'll take your gun, mister.

Let's go.

- All right, inside.
- Now, wait, Marshal.

I think we better
back up a little here.

I think we're both
making a big mistake.

- Is that so?
- I came here to Dodge City

for the same reason that
you kept that bulletin quiet.

I figured Slim O'Dell's partner
would come here to hide out.

I thought you told me
you were his partner.

Yeah. I made that up.

- I'm the man who killed him.
- You're what?

Special agent. The North
Platte Stagecoach Line.

My credentials.

Oh, that photograph
of O'Dell's wife...

has the name of a Dodge
City photographer on it.

It's all I had to go on.

Well, these things
seem to be in order.

Why didn't you tell me
this in the first place?

I, uh...

I figured this was Slim
O'Dell's home town, Marshal.

I wasn't quite sure exactly
which side you'd be on.

Well, I sure wouldn't
be on his side.

He was just one step ahead
of arrest when he left here.

How come you were there
when the robbery took place?

Well, we were carrying
a load of bullion.

Just the week before, two men
had jumped one of our stagecoaches,

so the company put
on a shotgun guard

and took off the regular
driver, and I was riding inside.

How come the guard was killed?

They outsmarted us. Came
riding out of the brush on either side.

Shot the guard in the back.

I, uh... I fired from the
window and dropped O'Dell.

His partner got
away in the brush.

- Did you get a look at him?
- Just barely.

Medium height, average build.

Not enough to make a
good description out of.

My only hope was
that he'd come up here

and give himself away somehow.

He could have gone a thousand
miles in the other direction.

Yeah, I know that.

But this is all I had to go on.

Besides, I... I figured I
might come here anyway,

after I saw that girl's picture.

Mrs. O'Dell.

Now that I've seen her...

I've... Tell me, Marshal,

she did think quite a bit
of Slim O'Dell, didn't she?

Well, I don't know. Maybe
she did, maybe she didn't.

- How long did they live together?
- A couple of months, I guess.

Slim tried homesteading for a while,
till he found out there was work to it.

Then he left town
with Yancey Clyber.

- Yancey Clyber?
- Yeah.

He's probably that
partner you're looking for.

I got a description of
him here someplace.

I've kept it, ever since I
heard about that holdup.

There it is.

Yeah, it could be
him. Hard to tell.

About Che... uh,
Miss O'Dell, though.

What about her?

Well, Marshal, um...

I'm a plain man. I, uh,

I don't know a lot about women.

But I meant what
I told that girl.

I'm gonna marry her.

And you're the man
that killed her husband.

She's gonna find that out
sooner or later, you know?

Yeah.

Well, uh, what do
you figure she'll do?

She'll probably
try and kill you.

[men laughing]

♪♪ [honky-tonk piano]

- [man] Uh-oh.
- Uh-oh.

- [coins rattling]
- Aces and pair.

[cheering]

[laughing]

- What's on your mind, Cherry?
- I'm looking for Red Larned.

- Has he been in here?
- I wouldn't know. I never heard of him.

He's about medium height,
dark red hair, and weighs 170.

Look, let me give you
a good piece of advice.

Just go on home
and forget about it.

I'm not in the business of keeping
tabs on maverick husbands or lovers.

He's not a maverick husband or
lover, he's a cold-blooded killer.

A lot of men who come in here
are all three. Now go on and beat it,

before you start getting
yourself in trouble.

[raucous laughter]

Bill, see if you can
find the marshal.

- Kitty? You want to see me?
- Yeah.

You know anybody by
the name of Red Larned?

Well, yeah, why?

Cherry O'Dell was in
here a few minutes ago.

Looking for him.

- She was in here?
- [chuckles] She caused quite a stir.

Yeah, I can imagine.

- Well, what'd she want?
- She was just lookin' for him.

- Acting kind of wild.
- Yeah, well, you see,

she had a little run-in with
this Larned this morning.

- She's got a pretty hot temper, you know.
- Yeah. She called him a killer.

- She did?
- Mm-hmm.

- Well, I wonder where she heard that.
- Heard what?

Well, you see, Slim
O'Dell is dead, Kitty.

And this Red Larned is
the man that killed him.

Oh.

- Howdy, Doc.
- How are you?

Well, I'll tell you. Awful
nice to come in here

and find everything so
peaceable... I'm tired!

Well, I run a very
law-abiding place.

Well, yes, I notice this is where
the law abides most of the time.

Hey. You're looking awful pretty,
just like a filly in a field of buttercups.

Oh, you are tired.

And watch out for this old goat,
Kitty. The only thing he thinks is pretty

is a family down with the croup
or the measles or something.

- [laughs]
- Well, now. Just for that,

I'll allow you to buy
me a glass of beer.

Seems that you've been allowing
me to buy you quite a few beers lately.

Well, with the
medical fees I collect,

a glass of beer is a
considerable investment.

- [Kitty chuckles]
- Clem? Three beers.

[Clem] Right.

I want you to know
I've had myself a day.

Really? Where you been?

Well, it all started early this morning.
I hadn't even gotten to bed yet,

and I heard a fellow ride up
on a horse, and it was this...

Oh, Mr. Dillon, you
better come quick.

- What's the matter?
- Well, this... this, uh, Red Larned,

do you... They found him in the
alley. He's been shot in the back.

You better come, too, Doc.

Hold that lantern up here. Chester,
that stretcher up in my office.

- Will you get that?
- Yeah.

Any of you men see this happen?

Marshal, I seen it.

My room is right upstairs,
there, and I couldn't go to sleep.

So I was sittin'
up by the window.

And I seen him come
walking down the alley.

- Did you see anybody else around here?
- No, just him.

And when he got right here,
a shot come from over there,

by the corner of that building.

But I didn't see nobody but him.

Huh. How about the rest of you
men, did you see anybody going by?

They all come
from the other way.

Not from where the shot was.

What do you think, Doc?

Well, it's not too bad.

It'd been another inch or two lower,
though, it'd been a different story.

He's going to be all right,
barring infection, I think.

Well, do you think
I can talk to him?

No. No, I don't think
so. Not right away.

All right. I'm gonna
have a look around.

[door closing]

All right. Come out of there.

I said, come out of there!

Marshal?

[laughs] You sure
gave me a fright!

- I did, huh?
- Oh, yeah!

Cherry, would you mind telling
me what you're doing back here?

Well, I heard a lot of noise and commotion.
Came back to see what was goin' on.

- Is that so?
- Yes.

Would you mind if I took
a look in your handbag?

What for?

- So you finally found him, huh?
- Found who?

- Red Larned.
- I don't know what you're talking about.

You don't know what I'm talking about.
Red's lying around that corner there,

in the alley, with
a bullet in his back.

- You're a pretty good shot, Cherry.
- I didn't shoot him!

One barrel's been fired.

Well, yes, but I was
trying it out in my backyard.

I wanted to see
if the gun worked.

Yeah, so you
could use it on Red.

Well, what if I was? He
shot my husband in the back.

Then turned around and said
Slim was trying to rob a stagecoach!

Cherry, you got any
idea why Slim was shot?

Sure I do. Slim and
Yancey had $20,000

they'd got out of their
gold claim at Grady Fork.

And by the way, that's where
they've been for the past year...

Working like dogs.

They have, huh?

Now let me tell you
something, Cherry,

that may come as a
little bit of a shock to you.

Slim has not been
working any gold claim.

He's been out rustling cattle

and robbing banks
with Yancey Clyber.

And not only that, but he was
killed robbing a stagecoach

between North Platte
and Broken Arrow.

- And he wasn't shot in the back.
- He was!

No, he wasn't. But
the stage driver was.

By Slim. Red Larned is a
special agent for the stage line.

- I don't believe you.
- I've seen his credentials.

And not only that, but I've had a bulletin
on this robbery for the past three weeks.

The man you shot
is a law officer.

Well, look, I don't
know who he is,

but I didn't shoot anybody!

All right. Let's go have
a talk with him, huh?

I don't want to see him!

Let's go, Cherry.

Give me that hat.

All right, now roll him
over on there, very easy.

There. How's that,
son? You all right?

Good.

Pretty lucky. You know, I
think if I were you, next time,

I'd, uh... Well...

Yeah. I'll do just that, Doc.

- How is he, Doc? Can I talk to him?
- Oh, go ahead.

- How are you feelin', Larned?
- I've felt better.

You got any idea who shot you?

- What'd you say?
- I said, did you see who shot you?

It was hard to tell.
Too dark to see.

It was a man, though.

I saw that much.

So that's your story, huh?

That's my story, Marshal.

- Can I go home now?
- Yeah. You can go.

Well, it's... Go on, pick him up.
Let's get him over to the hotel.

Ohh!

- Why, Yancey!
- Hello, Cherry.

I thought you left town.

I had some unfinished business.

I, uh, finished part
of it in the alley there.

You know what the other part is?

No.

It's you.

Take a little walk.

Now, come on, honey.

You told me this afternoon
you were just riding through,

going to Flagstaff.

Well, that was before I heard that
stage line agent was here in town.

Then he is a law officer.

You and Slim were
gonna rob a stagecoach.

Now, don't you
bother about that.

You come over here and sit down.

I said come here!

Well...

there's nothing down south
waiting for me as pretty as you are.

Maybe I better stick around
here for a couple days.

- In my house?
- Well, sure.

I, uh, owe it to Slim to
get to know you better,

him being my
best friend and all.

Stop it, Yancey.

You are a timid
little one, aren't you?

Get out of my house
and leave me alone!

Fiery. I like that in a gal.

Now, when I tell you to
do something, you do it.

You follow me?

[Yancey] Just, uh, one
other little thing, Cherry.

Some money. A man
on the run needs money.

[laughs]

Well, I guess that's just something
you'll have to figure out for yourself.

No, I thought we'd
figure it out together.

Slim told me what a
great little saver you were.

You always had a
stake hid out someplace.

Why, that's ridiculous. I
can barely make ends meet.

That's too bad.

'Cause if I did have
a stake right now,

maybe I'd just head south.

But as it is, it looks like I
may have to stay a while.

Now where's that money?

- If I give it to you, will you leave?
- Why not?

I know some friendly
girls down south.

It's in the flower
bin, in a fruit jar.

You don't mind if
I just make sure?

Just take it and get out.

[Matt] Hold it!

Cherry, I knew he was
around town somewhere

when you told me that story about
the gold diggings at Grady's Fork.

I believed him. Just
like I believed Slim.

Marshal, I was so wrong.

I'm sorry.

Why don't you tell
Red Larned that?

Think he'd listen?

Well, he's flat on his back over there.
Can't even lift his head off the pillow.

I got an idea he'd
have to listen to you.

Come on, I'll take
you over there.