Have Gun - Will Travel (1957–1963): Season 1, Episode 18 - The Reasonable Man - full transcript

Ambition in a man without
morality is a dangerous thing.

You had to own
something important,

even if you had
to murder to get it.

( dog barking)

In ancient days, the
barbers were also surgeons.

This is the 19th Century,

and if I want any blood let,

I'll get a doctor to do it.

Thank you.

( gunshots)

( crowd murmuring)



The next time you
draw on me, Grady,

it won't be your
gun arm I go after.

Next time I draw on you,
Mr. Morgan, I'll kill you.

( laughing)

Now go home and wash your face.

( laughing)

( laughter stops)

( laughing)

( dog barking)

Someday that boy may
very well try to kill you.

That boy?

( scoffs)

I can outdraw
him, out shoot him,

or spank him.



It wouldn't even be close.

Cigar?

You may have
made a strategic error

in anatomy that could cost you.

You should have
hit him on the chin,

not the seat of the pants.

What difference does it make?

A good spanking
is what he deserved.

You show the
degree of your respect

for an opponent by
where you hit him.

On the chin, he's a man.

An opponent worthy
of consideration,

Across the bottom,
he's a boy, a nuisance.

You showed that boy,

in front of people
he lives with,

just how much you respect him.

And that's why he may
very well try to kill you.

Just who are you, mister?

My name is Paladin.

I just stopped off
in town for a shave.

You?

I'm Gene Morgan.

Mr. Morgan, may I buy you lunch?

I have a business proposition
that may interest you.

What kind of business?

Well, it loses so much
in the explanation.

If I'd wanted the kid killed,

I could have done it myself.

But you don't want
him killed, do you?

No, I don't.

I think I'll take that
lunch, Mr. Paladin.

Mr. Morgan, I'll get my
things from the barber shop

and join you.

I suppose you're pretty
good with that gun.

I'm considered
fairly proficient.

I'm considered fairly proficient

with a gun myself, Mr. Paladin.

What makes you think I can't
handle Grady without your help?

You said just a few moments ago

you don't want him killed.

That gives him an advantage
you'd never overcome.

Why should I want him killed?

I raised him and his sister.

I've been their only family
since their father died.

That's why.

In a gunfight with Grady,

you'd draw slow,
you'd shoot wide

until someday he wouldn't.

It's only the last few
months he's been like this.

It's only the last few months

he's realized what it
means to be a man.

How'd the trouble
start this morning?

Grady's father left him
some property bordering mine

along the river.

Last year, the river
changed course.

Nobody knew who owned what.

So we agreed to wait
and let the court decide it.

Today Grady told me
he changed his mind.

He doesn't want to wait.

When did he draw on you?

After I told him to be a man

and stick to our agreement,

instead of carrying
on like a sick calf.

Mr. Morgan, you're
not easy on that boy.

Talk like that was
bound to make him mad.

Mad enough to draw on me?

Are you prepared to
pay $500 for Grady's life

and $500 for yours?

That's $1,000 in all

if you both come
out of this alive.

That's quite a chunk of money.

Are your lives worth any less?

Do you think you could find out

why he's become so
almighty contentious lately?

I think that's where
my job begins.

Mr. Paladin, you started
working for me a half hour ago.

( chuckles)

Thank you, sir.

Hello, Frank.

Still giving yourself
away, Grady.

Don't you see you're
turning your shoulder

when you start your draw?

Waste of time,
tips off your move.

Make your right arm
do all the moving.

Right arm.

That's better.

But you're firing too soon.

You'll hit him in the leg.

Frank, I don't know if I'll
ever be able to outdraw him.

Sure you will.

There's no hurry.

We don't want a repeat
of what happened today.

Here, Sheila gave
you this for your arm.

She's fixing some lunch.

She mad?

Nah, I kidded her out of it.

I told her I'd talk you

into calming down,

so you better
make out like I did.

You know how women are.

Yeah, I know.

You know, Frank,

you're the only
one that treats me

like I got any sense.

That's 'cause I
know you got sense.

I'm just so sorry about
the way Morgan made you

the laughingstock
of the town today.

I'll get even with him for that.

That won't be easy to do...

Unless you could get
the last laugh on him.

Maybe...

Maybe what, Frank?

I was just thinking...

You want a shave,

you'll have to wait your turn.

You're not Mr. Morgan.

That's exactly right.

But I saw his horse outside.

Well, he loaned it to me
because I work for him.

And part of my job is to
keep you from annoying him.

Annoying?

That's right. Annoying.

The rest of my job is to
keep him from killing you.

And that's the part of the
job I like least well right now.

Well, if you're Morgan's man,

there's something you
can give him for me.

Want your turn? All right.

Want your turn? Quit it.

Want your turn? All right.

Yes, sir.

( coughs)

Now then, Mr. Stewart,

How would you like
your sideburns, huh?

Long, short? Huh?

How would you like them?

I don't shave much yet.

Well, now, perhaps that's a fact

that you ought to bear in mind.

Now, who's idea was
it for you to come here?

Whose?!

Frank's.

Well, tell him it
was a bad idea.

Bye.

( horse galloping away)

( mooing)

Must be getting
through somewhere.

Fred, go check on
the road section.

Ben, ride west and see

if any of that old wire
by the rocks gave way.

How many head
you figure you lost?

Oh, so far, it looks about 20.

They broke through the
fence during the night,

got out in the bottom land.

Is that the land Grady
Stewart is so excited about?

Yeah.

Mr. Morgan, has it occurred
to you that you might hold onto

a couple of people
you are very fond of

if you didn't make
such a big issue

out of a few handfuls of dirt?

Often.

I suppose I could let
Grady have those few acres,

but there's 25 years
of my life in this land.

I don't want to be
stubborn and difficult,

but I can't change that easy.

I can't give up something

that I've worked for so long

and so hard.

Does Grady know that?

He must know it.

Well, maybe he's not
the only one that knows it.

I found where they've
been breaking through,

but the wire didn't
just give way.

Somebody cut it.

A hole big enough to run
the whole herd through.

Hyah, hyah!

Company's coming.

MAN: Hyah! Hyah!

Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!

Hyah!

Your cattle can
graze the bottom land,

but mine can't?

Is that right, Mr. Morgan?

You say to wait for the law
to decide who it belongs to.

But when Gene Morgan
decides his stock needs feeding,

that's a different story?

Just a minute, Grady.

No, just give me my milk
and send me off to bed

and you'll have
everything your own way.

Grady, I don't know how
my cattle got out there.

I'll send a couple of
men to bring them back.

Will that satisfy you?

You think I should
let him do it, Frank?

Let him take his cattle back?

Sure, you have to.

You think he's
telling the truth?

Why would he run
his cattle out there

and then back down
when I call him on it?

Because he's smart.

I don't understand.

Just wait. Couple days,

the same thing
will happen again.

He'll be polite as pie,

beg your pardon,
take his cattle home.

Pretty funny way
to fatten cattle.

It's an easy way to establish
claim to the bottom land.

The court'll think it's his

'cause his cattle
are all over it.

Precedent, prior
right. Lot of legal talk.

He's in, you're out.

He wouldn't do that.

All right. He wouldn't do that.

Don't get mad, Frank.

I'm not mad. It's your business.

Jump when he pulls the strings.

Come on, Grady. Get a move on.

My men have work to do.

Jump, kid.

Don't take his advice, Grady.

We can work this out ourselves.

And I don't need your advice,

Mr. Morgan.

If I find any of these
cattle on this property

after tomorrow morning,

I'll kill them all myself.

Now you see what I'm up against?

Grady and I met
briefly this morning.

Apparently you didn't
talk much sense into him.

Our discussion was
brief but to the point.

I think I'll follow up on it.

To us.

May we live happily ever after.

We will.

If we can just keep Grady
out of trouble till he grows up.

You would have been
proud of him today.

Morgan was really in the
wrong and Grady kept his head.

I bet you had
something to do with that.

Miss Stewart, my
name is Paladin.

I'd like to talk
to you if I may.

This is a sort of
a private party.

My question was addressed
to you, Miss Stewart.

It concerns your brother.

You might as well sit down.

I think I should
tell you, Sheila,

that he's a hired
gunfighter for Morgan.

Is that true?

Partly.

But I'm still concerned
about your brother.

The way a hunter is
concerned about a deer.

I'm concerned about
you too, Mr. Gault.

What about my
brother, Mr. Paladin?

Well, to put it briefly,

your brother is in much more
danger from Mr. Gault here,

than he is from me.

My job is to keep Grady alive.

Gault's is to get him killed.

That's a lie.

I don't even want to
listen to another word.

It's all right, honey.

Let him speak his peace.

I'm sure you love this man,

but you're marrying
him partly because

you need somebody to help
you take care of the ranch

and take care of Grady.

Now, just consider,
if Gault marries you

and gets Grady killed,
he owns the ranch.

How would I get him killed?

Hire you?

No.

You'd force him into a feud
with a man that could outgun him.

You almost
succeeded this morning.

If Gene Morgan wasn't fond

of Grady and you, this
would have happened before.

Morgan won't stand for much
more, believe me, he won't.

Now, I know this is
hard for you to accept,

but Gault is trying
to force Grady

into a pair of boots that
are much too large for him.

And Grady is so
anxious to become a man,

that he may not
live to see the day.

Why would Frank
do a thing like this?

Ambition.

His ambition

to own something important.

Even if he has to
commit murder for it.

I think you've said
enough, Mr. Paladin.

You better leave.

All right. I'm sorry to
have spoiled your supper.

But I had to say this.

Good-bye.

Mr. Gault.

I'm confused. I don't
know what to say.

Well, I say we
postpone the wedding

for as long as you like;

until all the trouble
with Morgan is over

and until you realize that
I want you, not your ranch.

No.

That would be the same as
saying I believed all those lies.

No, we'll have our
wedding as we planned.

Hyah! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!

I heard in town that Sheila
got married this morning.

Yeah, I was afraid she would.

Common sense is never
any match for Cupid.

Grady said he'd do this.

I guess he meant it.

Now I'm going to show him.

Well, Mr. Morgan, you
better stop and consider.

I told you once
Grady would beat you

in a showdown gun battle.

Now think about it.

Is your hand going
to be fast, accurate,

when you go to kill a boy?

Come on.

What are you doing
here, Mr. Morgan?

You wanted to be the big man.

Now let's see if
you can live up to it.

Stop it. Please,
Mr. Morgan, stop it.

I'm sorry, Sheila,

but I warned Grady.

He's determined
to force this fight

so it might just as well be now.

Frank, you've got
to do something.

You've got to make them stop it.

Nothing I can do,
honey. It's Grady's fight.

He'll have to fight it.

Mr. Morgan, he's just a boy.

You can see that for yourself.

Was it just a boy
who killed my steer?

A boy would have more sense.

I didn't do that.

Don't lie to me, Grady.

I told you, that if I found any
more steers on that property

I was going to kill them all.

Thanks for stopping it, Paladin.

Sheila and I are real grateful.

No favor to you, Mr. Gault.

It was purely a
matter of economics.

Is that a pair of wire
cutters in your back pocket?

( chuckles)

I don't own any wire cutters.

Oh.

Well, that's my
mistake, I'm sorry.

Mr. Gault, Miss Stewart.

Come on.

Come on.

What did he mean
about the wire cutters?

Nothing, it's just his
idea of a joke, I guess.

Then why'd you
reach for them, Frank?

You said you didn't own a
pair, but you do, I seen 'em.

I lost them months ago.

What are you trying to do, kid?

Make me out a liar?

What is this? What's going on?

GRADY: Just wondering
who cut that fence, that's all.

Just wondering.

You really are just
a kid, aren't you?

I heard your horse last night.

I got dressed and followed you,

down to the bottom land.

Just wanted to go along
to keep you out of trouble.

Deny that.

Frank, how can you say that?

That's it, deny it.

You cut the fence and
you killed Morgan's steer.

I wasn't going to tell Sheila,

because it was such
a stupid kid's trick.

But you're not going to put
the blame on me, not on me, kid.

I was in the house
all night last night.

No, that's true, Frank.

He wasn't out of
the house last night.

Frank, he wasn't...

You're a dirty,
filthy liar, Frank.

A dirty, filthy liar.

You going to go
for that gun, kid?

You been anxious to use it.

Now's your chance.

Frank.

( Sheila cries)

This had to be done.

Sooner or later, somebody
would have had to do it.

Come along, Sheila.

( sobbing)

Grady, go get her things.

Come along home with me.

I'll send somebody
to take care of Frank.

Yes, Mr. Morgan.

Well, I thank you very
much, Mr. Morgan.

You should thank
Mr. Stewart, too.

He insisted on
paying part of your fee.

Well, I certainly do thank
you very much indeed, sir.

Since I originally stopped
in this town for a shave,

I think I might find time
for another one before I left.

You have an excellent barber.

Would you care to join me?

I feel a little stubbly myself.

I think I will.

How about you, Mr. Stewart?

Yeah, I think I will.