Petticoat Junction (1963–1970): Season 1, Episode 31 - Charley Abandons the Cannonball - full transcript
Charley feels that no one is paying any attention to him, so he quits working on the Cannonball.
Charlie and Floyd...
they took pride in their train.
And they were a team.
And like the Cannonball itself,
these guys were a
constant in our community.
You could count on them.
This episode, from
April the 21st, 1964,
shakes things up a bit when
"Charlie Abandons
the Cannonball."
(train whistle blows twice)
♪ Come ride the little train ♪
♪ That is rollin' down the
tracks to the Junction ♪
(bell clanging)
♪ Forget about your cares ♪
♪ It is time to relax
at the Junction ♪
(whistle blows twice)
♪ Lots of curves, you bet ♪
♪ And even more when you get ♪
♪ To the Junction ♪
♪ Petticoat Junction ♪
(snare drum plays train rhythm)
♪ There's a little hotel called
the Shady Rest at the Junction ♪
♪ Petticoat Junction ♪
♪ It is run by Kate, come and
be her guest at the Junction ♪
♪ Petticoat Junction ♪
♪ And that's Uncle Joe,
he's a-movin' kinda slow ♪
♪ At the Junction ♪
♪ Petticoat Junction! ♪
(train whistle blows twice)
Goin' pretty good now.
Well, all the Cannonball
asks fer is little wood.
What time is it?
Uh, somewhere
around 1:00 or 1:30.
Not so sure since I had
that 35-cents cleaning job
at the Hooterville Watch Shop.
Well, it don't matter.
Nothing pressing till
the afternoon school run.
Why don't we pull on
down to Morgan Creek
and get in a
little fishin', huh?
I'd like to, Charley,
but I can't. Why?
Well, I've been invited for tea
by the widow Sarah Lawrence.
At 1:00?
Ain't that a little
early for tea?
I guess she just can't
wait till 4:00 to see me.
Well, if you've
gone so high society
that you'd rather drink tea
than go fishin', I
reckon that's up to you.
I can't help it if
I'm in demand.
Lately, you sure been a
hot item with the widows.
I do seem to be entering
a romantic period in my life.
Good thing a body don't
have to depend on you
for permanent company.
I got Joe and
Kate and the girls.
You can just fritter away
your time any way you please.
We're getting pretty close
to Sarah Lawrence's place.
Would you mind dropping me off?
I wouldn't mind a bit.
Don't spill any tea in your lap.
What are you gonna be doing?
Don't worry about me.
I'm going up to the Shady Rest
where a fellow can
find some real company.
I'll pick you up
on the school run.
I invest in a few dollars
in the building of beautiful
Shady Rest Park...
Joe, just the man
I'm wanting to see.
Well, if it's a loan you want,
you're out of
luck. I'm flat broke.
It ain't that at all.
I just came by Morgan Creek,
and them trout is just
a-beggi" to get caught.
How's about you and me
accommodating a few of them?
Not today. I have
to finish my speech
for the Hooterville
Chamber of Commerce.
You're making a
speech? What about?
My speech is called
"Ways to Financial
Success and Security
Through Sound Investments."
Can't you finish it tomorrow?
Tomorrow's the day I
have to give the speech.
Sometimes I think Hooterville
asks too much of me.
Oh, hi, Charley.
Nice to see you.
Well, I'm glad
somebody's glad to see me.
I was beginning to think
I was a one-man measle epidemic.
What?
Oh, nothing. Hmm.
Kate, I heard some real
interesting gossip this morning.
Would you like to
sit down and hear it?
Oh, Charley, I don't have
time for sit-down gossiping.
This is my big cleaning day.
Kate you are the busiest,
hardest-working woman lately.
You used to have time to sit
down now and then and talk.
Well, you see, Charley,
nowadays with the girls growing
up and the hotel running down,
I'm busier and busier.
Yeah, I understand, Kate.
Hi, Billie Jo.
Hi, Charley.
You got a minute?
I got all the time in the world.
Great. Let's have a
game of checkers, huh?
Well, I haven't
got that much time.
Oh?
Charley, I'd love to play
checkers with you, but I, uh...
You got to go get ready for
a date with your boyfriend.
That's not true. I've got
a dancing lesson to go to.
Then you got a date with a boy.
How'd you guess?
Oh, Charley, if you
really want me to,
I'll play checkers with you.
Oh, no, now you just
go and dance up a storm.
I got to go anyway.
Are you sure?
I'm sure.
Time for the school run,
and I got to go
pick up my sidekick,
otherwise known
as your sister Betty.
There's nothing I enjoy more
than talking to you and
running the Cannonball.
Oh, it's nice when people
have something in common.
I feel the same way, Charley.
Why you and the Cannonball
are just about the two
best friends I've got.
I'm sure glad you feel that way.
Say, would you like
to blow the whistle?
Why? We're way past
Dead Man's Curve.
There's no reason
to blow it here.
Go on, blow it anyway.
(chuckles)
Betty Jo, I got great idea.
What is it, Charley?
What do you say
we give the ol' Cannonball
a real going over today?
Well, gee, Charley, I...
She's in a pitiful
state of disrepair.
Isn't she always?
Well, sure, but right now,
she's at her disrepairiest.
I think she's got some
mud in her belly again.
Oh, poor ol' Cannonball.
I'll tell you what.
When we get up
to the Shady Rest,
you get into some jeans and
we'll wash her out together.
I'd love to, but...
We'll clean the grate and
the ash pan at the same time.
We ain't done that
together in quite a spell.
I know, but you see...
Slow her down, Betty Jo.
We're coming into the Shady
Rest for a whole afternoon
of real interesting work.
Slow her down, Betty Jo.
I can't.
Sure you can.
Just adjust the
pickle fork hinge
and pull back on the
brake lever same as always.
No, I mean, I can't...
I'll explain when
we stop, Charley.
(brakes squealing)
Come on, Betty Jo, let's
you and me get to working
on this little ol' Cannonball.
Let's hop to it!
Charley, I've been trying...
Hey, look who's here.
Hooterville's hot-rod Romeo.
Hi, Betty Jo.
Orville, it's you.
Of course it's me.
Who else would it be?
Charley, that's what
I've been trying to tell you.
I'm spending the
afternoon with Orville.
Yeah, we have the
whole week planned.
Haven't we, Betty Jo?
Well, come on. Let's go.
Charley, I'd love to
help you, but I can't.
You understand. See
you tomorrow, Charley.
That done it!
Oh, careful, Charley.
That hat cost 89 cents.
I won't be needing
the darn thing anymore.
I'm through running
the Cannonball!
Oh, come on, Charley.
Stop kiddin' around.
I've finally come to my senses.
There's nobody around
here got any time for me.
And I'm not spending
the rest of my days
sitting up there in that engine
being lonely and miserable.
Charley, you got to be kidding.
You just gotta.
You'll find out if I'm kidding.
I'm quitting the
Cannonball forever!
And you can just get
yourself a new engineer!
Charley, I-I wouldn't try
to talk you out of anything
except what would
make you unhappy.
I just know you wouldn't like it
out there in the
big city by yourself.
Oh, the heck I wouldn't,
with all them big
fancy movie theaters
and all them big-league
baseball games.
Charley, you've been hurt
and you're trying to hit back.
But the only one that's
gonna get hit is yourself.
What do you mean?
Well, this is your life.
You need your old
friends and they need you.
My old friends has been a-needing
me like the walking pneumonia.
They all think I'm
old and useless.
That's what they all think.
Everybody does not think that.
Well, maybe not everybody,
but most everybody.
Now, Charley, you got
to come to your senses.
It's no use, Kate,
my mind is made up.
I've arranged for my replacement
and as soon as I
get him broke in,
I'm off to Broadway.
Broadway?
But that's in New York.
Well, if that's where it is,
that's where I'm a-going.
I'll send you a postcard.
You did just what I
thought you would... blew it.
Takes a man to
talk to another man
about a man's problems.
Well, what do you mean?
I mean it's time I stepped in
with my reasoning and
straightened Charley out.
Oh, Uncle Joe, please.
When it comes to
who should handle
a delicate situation,
experience has taught me
which one of us it ought to be.
Right, and you stay out of it
and leave it to me.
Charley, how long me
and you been friends?
Well, not counting the
times we weren't talking
after you cheated me in
checkers, I'd say 40-odd years.
Exactly.
And you know I'm
honest as the day is long.
Sure, but let's not
make this daylong, okay?
Charley, now a man's
gotta be practical.
Some of us, like me,
has got a lot of talent.
We can do anything.
We got the spirit of youth.
Well, sonny, is that a fact?
Sure. Others, like
you, old buddy,
get to aging up
before your time.
Just call me "Pruneface."
So take a tip
from an old friend.
When you got an easy touch
like running the Cannonball,
hang onto it.
Without it, you're dead.
Are you just about done talking?
Just about.
Well, then you listen to me.
I'm still young,
strong and useful.
And I can get along
anyplace in the world...
France, China,
Cincinnati, anyplace.
Oh, Ma, Orville and I just
had the most wonderful walk
in the moonlight.
Mm. Oh, was the
moon out tonight?
Of course it was, silly.
It was big and round and bright.
I guess that's why
we weren't stumbling.
Orville, how would
you like to go in
and sit on the sofa and talk?
I've got a better idea.
Well, what, Orville, what?
Why don't we stay in here
and have a piece of that pie?
Orville, if all you're
interested in is pie,
you don't need me. Good night.
Wonder what's
the matter with her?
If you don't know, there's
no way of telling you.
Well, I guess I better be going.
I guess so, Orv.
Here, Orville,
take this with you.
Eating pie in the
moonlight is dynamite.
Thanks a lot.
Well, good night,
Mr. Carson, Mrs. Bradley.
Good night, Orville.
Hmm? You know
that boy worries me.
Why?
He's so romantic,
I'm afraid he's gonna
sweep Betty off her feet,
drag her to the altar.
I'd rather have
Orville a little too slow
then a little too fast.
Think of our problem
if he was serious
about marrying Betty Jo.
I hate to think about it.
Me, too.
Supposin' that was our problem.
Maybe that'd be a way
of keeping Charley here.
What are you talking about?
Well, since your talk with him
didn't work out
so well, I was...
Now don't be like that, Kate.
Every man's entitled to
one mistake in judgment
in a lifetime.
Oh, certainly, Uncle Joe.
Charley made his when
he didn't listen to me.
Oh, boy.
But maybe we can
bring Charley around
by tempting him with a new job.
What are you talking bout?
Charley can't do
nothing but run a train.
Oh, yes, he can.
Besides running the Cannonball,
he likes to give advice best.
I am about to have a little
talk with Mr. Charles Pratt,
marriage counselor.
Gosh, Kate, I never
realized that things
was so serious between
Betty Jo and Orville.
Charley, I tell you,
that boy's so all-fired up
you don't know what
he's apt to do next.
That's right. Why, any day now,
he's liable to drag
my poor baby sister off
to the justice of the peace.
Gosh, Kate, I wish
I could help you.
Oh, you can help, Charley.
That's why I'm appealing to you.
You know, you've been
just like a father to Betty Jo.
Well, you want me
to talk to Betty Jo?
Oh, no. She's too far gone.
Our only hope is for
you to convince Orville
that he should think twice
before rushing into
this mad marriage.
Well, Kate, I sure
would love to help you,
but I'm due to leave town soon.
As a matter of fact, I'm picking
up my replacement tomorrow.
Well, Charley, if you could
talk to the boy before you left,
I'd be real indebted to you.
Okay, as a parting
gesture to you, Kate,
I'll do it.
I haven't got much time,
but I'll talk some sense
into that boy's head.
Oh, thank you, Charley.
Oh, my, it's nice to have
someone to depend on
in a time of need.
Thanks, Charley. Thanks so much.
Oh, don't mention it.
Bye, y'all.
Bye, Charley. Bye.
I didn't think he'd swallow it.
Orville's no more thinking
of marrying Betty Jo
than I'm thinking
of marrying Floyd.
You know it, and I know it,
but Charley doesn't know it.
Making up a little human
problem for him to solve,
might be just the way
of keeping him here.
Orville, you ought
to realize that
getting married is a big step.
I realize that.
Yes, sir. The biggest
step you'll ever take.
Oh, it's a big step all right.
It's a step that before
you take that step,
you oughta watch your
step. See what I mean?
I guess.
Now, it's not that
Betty Jo isn't a fine girl...
Aw, she's tops.
She's tops, all right, but,
Orville, she's a little young.
Yeah, but she's
bound to get older.
Yeah, she's gonna get older
and you're gonna get older.
Both of you are
gonna get a little older,
and that's the time to do it.
Do what?
What do you think
we've been talking about?
Time to get married.
But, Mis-Mister Pratt,
I'm not thinking
of getting married.
You're not?
You never was.
Was you?
It never entered my head.
I get it.
You're Kate's brain child.
No, I'm Amanda's boy.
I belong to my mother.
Orville, Kate figured that
if I gave you some advice,
it'd make me feel
important and useful
and I wouldn't want to leave.
She did?
But it won't work!
I'm old and useless
and I know it!
We're coming into Hooterville
and I'll pick up my
replacement here.
Mr. Pratt?
Tuttle?
Yes, sir. Well, when
do you want to start
breaking me in to
replace you, sir?
The sooner the
better. Get aboard, son.
Oh, thank you.
(train whistle blowing)
(bell clanging)
♪ ♪
Doing real good, Mr. Tuttle.
That's right.
You're soloing like
a veteran engineer.
Thanks, but I wish
you could see me
running a top-rate engine.
How old did you
say this wagon is?
Oh... 75 years.
It's amazing.
What is?
It's amazing that it
still holds together.
She's old and rusty,
but she's got tradition.
Better blow the
whistle, Mr. Tuttle.
Why? There's no crossing.
Charley always
blows it along here,
to remind Fred Ziffel
it's time to feed his pigs.
Oh! Oh, now, look. I'm
running the Cannonball now
and it's gonna be run like
a train, not an alarm clock.
Start slowing down.
There's no stop here.
There is today.
Maude Whipple is visiting
her sister in Clint City,
and Charley told her we was
gonna stop and milk her cow.
We're 33 minutes
behind schedule,
and you expect me
to stop to milk a cow?
Well, you better forget it
because we've
gotta pick up time.
What for?
You don't want Maude
Whipple to come home
and find her cow all
swolled up, do you?
Do you, Mr. Tuttle?
Look, I don't know from cows.
Nor people either, I'm thinking.
There he is, Orville.
You can thank him for yourself.
Oh, Mr. Pratt.
Hi, Orville. What's up?
Well, I just want to thank you
for what you've done for me.
You really helped
straighten me out.
Kate, you didn't have
me fooled very long
about Orville and
Betty Jo getting married.
Oh, 'course not, Charley,
but that's not what
he wants to talk to you
about. Tell him, Orville.
Well, sir, just hanging
around you for a while
has got me to thinking.
Eventually, I'd like to become
an engineer, just like you.
Kate, it won't work.
I'm quitting, and that's that.
Are you saying that
I put him up to that?
Oh, Kate, why don't you just
mark it down as a nice try?
Now, listen here,
Charles P. Pratt.
And I think I know
what the "P" stands for...
"Pigheaded."
Does not. It stands
for "Palmquist."
That's an old family name.
I don't care what it stands for,
but I'm not gonna stand for you
belittling a boy
who tried to pay you
a sincere, honest
compliment right from his heart.
Now, just a darn second, Kate.
Just a darn second yourself.
You are walking out on people
who love you and need
you and depend on you.
Well, if that's the case, I
ain't had no evidence of it.
Of course not. Folks around here
don't go around
telling each other
they like each other
or need each other.
They just do, and that's that.
Watch it, Kate.
You'll get him riled up.
He won't even send us a
postcard from where he's going.
I am just trying
to stop Mr. Pratt
from stomping on
people's feelings.
Before he leaves.
Especially this honest, sincere
boy... and you stay out of this.
Yeah, stay out of this.
Go ahead, go ahead.
Do what you like to us,
but don't make us
sorry we ever loved you.
Ma! The whole
valley's up in arms.
It's terrible.
What's the matter?
Everything.
Fred Ziffel's pigs are starving.
Maude Whipple's cow's
been mooing its head off
for a friendly pair of hands.
Burston Treadwell's
chickens have been doing
a lot of cackling and no laying
because the Cannonball
keeps going by his farm so fast.
Everyone in this
valley's so confused
they don't know what to do
because the Cannonball's
been keeping to schedule,
and it's all your
fault, Charley.
I'm warning you, everybody.
Not even a postcard. You watch.
Howdy, everybody.
Howdy, quitter.
Oh. I mean, Charley.
What's going on?
What's all the noise?
Nothing, Billie Jo.
We're just giving Charley
a nice, friendly send-off.
Don't let it get to
you, Charley, old boy.
Just leave quietly and
pretend this never happened.
For goodness
sakes, be quiet, Joe.
I haven't got so much attention
since 40 years ago when I fell
in Emmy Hatton's punchbowl.
The Tuttle fellow'd like to see
you on the front porch, quitter.
Uh... Charley.
Sorry, Charley.
Oh, it's okay, Floyd.
I may not be as smart
as some of these other
furious people around here,
but that ain't saying
that I ain't furious, too.
Well, thanks, Floyd.
Best I go talk to Tuttle.
Sure, Charley, why
don't you do that.
He doesn't know you like we do.
He might fall all over you.
Anything wrong, Mr. Tuttle?
Oh, no, no.
I always walk around
carrying a brake handle.
Ha-ha. It's kind of
a fun thing to do.
Well, you shouldn't
have taken the brake off.
It's real troublesome
to get it back on.
It came off in my hand while
I was trying to stop that train.
A brake handle being kept
in place by a pickle fork?!
Why, that's ridiculous.
It sure is.
They don't make pickle
forks like they used to.
Do you know what I'm
going to do, old-timer?
Quit? Is that what
you're going to do?
You are gonna quit, ain't ya?
Oh, no, not on your life.
I'm going to stay right here,
and I'm going to whip
this railroad into shape!
You are?
I mean, you are?
Bless you. Bless you.
I knew that if I kept
trying out replacements,
I'd find at least one brave
man left in railroading.
Brave? W-what do
you mean, Mr. Pratt?
Outsiders don't understand
men like you and me.
To us, the spirit of railroading
is everything in life. Right?
Well, I-I wouldn't
quite say that.
Some folks thinks it's
a hardship on engineers
to get up at all hours
be a farmhand, a midwife,
a one-man fire department...
Heaven knows what else.
We love it.
Don't we, Tuttle?
You mean they expect
engineers to do all of those things?
Well, that's ridiculous.
Why don't you just
tell them to get lost?
I ain't never said, "Get lost"
to the wrong end of a
shotgun, Tuttle. Have you?
Now you're kidding
me, Mr. Pratt.
People here have forced you
to do work at shotgun point?
Oh... They just
load it with rock salt.
Oh. A blast in the
britches with that
will smart a little, but it sure
does wake you up effective.
Shotguns?
Rock salt?
And you think I'm
gonna want to stay here?
You've got to, Tuttle.
You're railroading's
only hope in these parts.
Oh, no.
Mine, too.
Doctor gave me
the news last week.
I'm aging too fast.
I'm heading for that big
roundhouse in the sky.
Oh...
I had no idea, Mr. Pratt. I'm...
Gee, I... I'm terribly sorry.
Me, too.
Come next month, I would
have celebrated my 34th birthday.
You're only 34 years old?
Not quite.
But don't pay me no never mind.
Keep up the
traditions of railroading.
Carry on! (coughing)
I-I'm sorry, but you better
tell them to get somebody else
because I, I just
couldn't do it.
I just couldn't do it.
I couldn't do it!
Hey! Come back!
Please! Come back!
Forget it!
Okay. I'll do just that.
How do you like that?
That Tuttle fellow
just up and flat quit!
He did?
For no rhyme or reason.
Say, Charley, if
you were to stay on,
it sure would please
the folks in this valley.
You reckon?
If you'll stay, Charley,
I'll give you any name
in my widow book.
Even Sarah Lawrence?
No. Anyone but Sarah Lawrence.
I might even pretend to
let you win at checkers.
(laughing)
What do you say, Charley?
There's only one
thing I can say.
Oh, Charley!
(laughter, chatter)
♪ There's a train that runs
through this wide valley ♪
♪ That is loved by one and all ♪
(imitates train whistle)
♪ It's the train that
starts way up in Pixley ♪
♪ Called the
Hooterville Cannonball ♪
(imitates train whistle)
♪ Though she makes her run
through the dead of winter ♪
♪ Through the
summer, spring and fall ♪
♪ Neither cold nor heat
nor flood can stop her ♪
♪ She's the Hooterville
Cannonball. ♪
(imitates train whistle)
♪ Petticoat Junction. ♪
This has been a
Filmways Presentation.
they took pride in their train.
And they were a team.
And like the Cannonball itself,
these guys were a
constant in our community.
You could count on them.
This episode, from
April the 21st, 1964,
shakes things up a bit when
"Charlie Abandons
the Cannonball."
(train whistle blows twice)
♪ Come ride the little train ♪
♪ That is rollin' down the
tracks to the Junction ♪
(bell clanging)
♪ Forget about your cares ♪
♪ It is time to relax
at the Junction ♪
(whistle blows twice)
♪ Lots of curves, you bet ♪
♪ And even more when you get ♪
♪ To the Junction ♪
♪ Petticoat Junction ♪
(snare drum plays train rhythm)
♪ There's a little hotel called
the Shady Rest at the Junction ♪
♪ Petticoat Junction ♪
♪ It is run by Kate, come and
be her guest at the Junction ♪
♪ Petticoat Junction ♪
♪ And that's Uncle Joe,
he's a-movin' kinda slow ♪
♪ At the Junction ♪
♪ Petticoat Junction! ♪
(train whistle blows twice)
Goin' pretty good now.
Well, all the Cannonball
asks fer is little wood.
What time is it?
Uh, somewhere
around 1:00 or 1:30.
Not so sure since I had
that 35-cents cleaning job
at the Hooterville Watch Shop.
Well, it don't matter.
Nothing pressing till
the afternoon school run.
Why don't we pull on
down to Morgan Creek
and get in a
little fishin', huh?
I'd like to, Charley,
but I can't. Why?
Well, I've been invited for tea
by the widow Sarah Lawrence.
At 1:00?
Ain't that a little
early for tea?
I guess she just can't
wait till 4:00 to see me.
Well, if you've
gone so high society
that you'd rather drink tea
than go fishin', I
reckon that's up to you.
I can't help it if
I'm in demand.
Lately, you sure been a
hot item with the widows.
I do seem to be entering
a romantic period in my life.
Good thing a body don't
have to depend on you
for permanent company.
I got Joe and
Kate and the girls.
You can just fritter away
your time any way you please.
We're getting pretty close
to Sarah Lawrence's place.
Would you mind dropping me off?
I wouldn't mind a bit.
Don't spill any tea in your lap.
What are you gonna be doing?
Don't worry about me.
I'm going up to the Shady Rest
where a fellow can
find some real company.
I'll pick you up
on the school run.
I invest in a few dollars
in the building of beautiful
Shady Rest Park...
Joe, just the man
I'm wanting to see.
Well, if it's a loan you want,
you're out of
luck. I'm flat broke.
It ain't that at all.
I just came by Morgan Creek,
and them trout is just
a-beggi" to get caught.
How's about you and me
accommodating a few of them?
Not today. I have
to finish my speech
for the Hooterville
Chamber of Commerce.
You're making a
speech? What about?
My speech is called
"Ways to Financial
Success and Security
Through Sound Investments."
Can't you finish it tomorrow?
Tomorrow's the day I
have to give the speech.
Sometimes I think Hooterville
asks too much of me.
Oh, hi, Charley.
Nice to see you.
Well, I'm glad
somebody's glad to see me.
I was beginning to think
I was a one-man measle epidemic.
What?
Oh, nothing. Hmm.
Kate, I heard some real
interesting gossip this morning.
Would you like to
sit down and hear it?
Oh, Charley, I don't have
time for sit-down gossiping.
This is my big cleaning day.
Kate you are the busiest,
hardest-working woman lately.
You used to have time to sit
down now and then and talk.
Well, you see, Charley,
nowadays with the girls growing
up and the hotel running down,
I'm busier and busier.
Yeah, I understand, Kate.
Hi, Billie Jo.
Hi, Charley.
You got a minute?
I got all the time in the world.
Great. Let's have a
game of checkers, huh?
Well, I haven't
got that much time.
Oh?
Charley, I'd love to play
checkers with you, but I, uh...
You got to go get ready for
a date with your boyfriend.
That's not true. I've got
a dancing lesson to go to.
Then you got a date with a boy.
How'd you guess?
Oh, Charley, if you
really want me to,
I'll play checkers with you.
Oh, no, now you just
go and dance up a storm.
I got to go anyway.
Are you sure?
I'm sure.
Time for the school run,
and I got to go
pick up my sidekick,
otherwise known
as your sister Betty.
There's nothing I enjoy more
than talking to you and
running the Cannonball.
Oh, it's nice when people
have something in common.
I feel the same way, Charley.
Why you and the Cannonball
are just about the two
best friends I've got.
I'm sure glad you feel that way.
Say, would you like
to blow the whistle?
Why? We're way past
Dead Man's Curve.
There's no reason
to blow it here.
Go on, blow it anyway.
(chuckles)
Betty Jo, I got great idea.
What is it, Charley?
What do you say
we give the ol' Cannonball
a real going over today?
Well, gee, Charley, I...
She's in a pitiful
state of disrepair.
Isn't she always?
Well, sure, but right now,
she's at her disrepairiest.
I think she's got some
mud in her belly again.
Oh, poor ol' Cannonball.
I'll tell you what.
When we get up
to the Shady Rest,
you get into some jeans and
we'll wash her out together.
I'd love to, but...
We'll clean the grate and
the ash pan at the same time.
We ain't done that
together in quite a spell.
I know, but you see...
Slow her down, Betty Jo.
We're coming into the Shady
Rest for a whole afternoon
of real interesting work.
Slow her down, Betty Jo.
I can't.
Sure you can.
Just adjust the
pickle fork hinge
and pull back on the
brake lever same as always.
No, I mean, I can't...
I'll explain when
we stop, Charley.
(brakes squealing)
Come on, Betty Jo, let's
you and me get to working
on this little ol' Cannonball.
Let's hop to it!
Charley, I've been trying...
Hey, look who's here.
Hooterville's hot-rod Romeo.
Hi, Betty Jo.
Orville, it's you.
Of course it's me.
Who else would it be?
Charley, that's what
I've been trying to tell you.
I'm spending the
afternoon with Orville.
Yeah, we have the
whole week planned.
Haven't we, Betty Jo?
Well, come on. Let's go.
Charley, I'd love to
help you, but I can't.
You understand. See
you tomorrow, Charley.
That done it!
Oh, careful, Charley.
That hat cost 89 cents.
I won't be needing
the darn thing anymore.
I'm through running
the Cannonball!
Oh, come on, Charley.
Stop kiddin' around.
I've finally come to my senses.
There's nobody around
here got any time for me.
And I'm not spending
the rest of my days
sitting up there in that engine
being lonely and miserable.
Charley, you got to be kidding.
You just gotta.
You'll find out if I'm kidding.
I'm quitting the
Cannonball forever!
And you can just get
yourself a new engineer!
Charley, I-I wouldn't try
to talk you out of anything
except what would
make you unhappy.
I just know you wouldn't like it
out there in the
big city by yourself.
Oh, the heck I wouldn't,
with all them big
fancy movie theaters
and all them big-league
baseball games.
Charley, you've been hurt
and you're trying to hit back.
But the only one that's
gonna get hit is yourself.
What do you mean?
Well, this is your life.
You need your old
friends and they need you.
My old friends has been a-needing
me like the walking pneumonia.
They all think I'm
old and useless.
That's what they all think.
Everybody does not think that.
Well, maybe not everybody,
but most everybody.
Now, Charley, you got
to come to your senses.
It's no use, Kate,
my mind is made up.
I've arranged for my replacement
and as soon as I
get him broke in,
I'm off to Broadway.
Broadway?
But that's in New York.
Well, if that's where it is,
that's where I'm a-going.
I'll send you a postcard.
You did just what I
thought you would... blew it.
Takes a man to
talk to another man
about a man's problems.
Well, what do you mean?
I mean it's time I stepped in
with my reasoning and
straightened Charley out.
Oh, Uncle Joe, please.
When it comes to
who should handle
a delicate situation,
experience has taught me
which one of us it ought to be.
Right, and you stay out of it
and leave it to me.
Charley, how long me
and you been friends?
Well, not counting the
times we weren't talking
after you cheated me in
checkers, I'd say 40-odd years.
Exactly.
And you know I'm
honest as the day is long.
Sure, but let's not
make this daylong, okay?
Charley, now a man's
gotta be practical.
Some of us, like me,
has got a lot of talent.
We can do anything.
We got the spirit of youth.
Well, sonny, is that a fact?
Sure. Others, like
you, old buddy,
get to aging up
before your time.
Just call me "Pruneface."
So take a tip
from an old friend.
When you got an easy touch
like running the Cannonball,
hang onto it.
Without it, you're dead.
Are you just about done talking?
Just about.
Well, then you listen to me.
I'm still young,
strong and useful.
And I can get along
anyplace in the world...
France, China,
Cincinnati, anyplace.
Oh, Ma, Orville and I just
had the most wonderful walk
in the moonlight.
Mm. Oh, was the
moon out tonight?
Of course it was, silly.
It was big and round and bright.
I guess that's why
we weren't stumbling.
Orville, how would
you like to go in
and sit on the sofa and talk?
I've got a better idea.
Well, what, Orville, what?
Why don't we stay in here
and have a piece of that pie?
Orville, if all you're
interested in is pie,
you don't need me. Good night.
Wonder what's
the matter with her?
If you don't know, there's
no way of telling you.
Well, I guess I better be going.
I guess so, Orv.
Here, Orville,
take this with you.
Eating pie in the
moonlight is dynamite.
Thanks a lot.
Well, good night,
Mr. Carson, Mrs. Bradley.
Good night, Orville.
Hmm? You know
that boy worries me.
Why?
He's so romantic,
I'm afraid he's gonna
sweep Betty off her feet,
drag her to the altar.
I'd rather have
Orville a little too slow
then a little too fast.
Think of our problem
if he was serious
about marrying Betty Jo.
I hate to think about it.
Me, too.
Supposin' that was our problem.
Maybe that'd be a way
of keeping Charley here.
What are you talking about?
Well, since your talk with him
didn't work out
so well, I was...
Now don't be like that, Kate.
Every man's entitled to
one mistake in judgment
in a lifetime.
Oh, certainly, Uncle Joe.
Charley made his when
he didn't listen to me.
Oh, boy.
But maybe we can
bring Charley around
by tempting him with a new job.
What are you talking bout?
Charley can't do
nothing but run a train.
Oh, yes, he can.
Besides running the Cannonball,
he likes to give advice best.
I am about to have a little
talk with Mr. Charles Pratt,
marriage counselor.
Gosh, Kate, I never
realized that things
was so serious between
Betty Jo and Orville.
Charley, I tell you,
that boy's so all-fired up
you don't know what
he's apt to do next.
That's right. Why, any day now,
he's liable to drag
my poor baby sister off
to the justice of the peace.
Gosh, Kate, I wish
I could help you.
Oh, you can help, Charley.
That's why I'm appealing to you.
You know, you've been
just like a father to Betty Jo.
Well, you want me
to talk to Betty Jo?
Oh, no. She's too far gone.
Our only hope is for
you to convince Orville
that he should think twice
before rushing into
this mad marriage.
Well, Kate, I sure
would love to help you,
but I'm due to leave town soon.
As a matter of fact, I'm picking
up my replacement tomorrow.
Well, Charley, if you could
talk to the boy before you left,
I'd be real indebted to you.
Okay, as a parting
gesture to you, Kate,
I'll do it.
I haven't got much time,
but I'll talk some sense
into that boy's head.
Oh, thank you, Charley.
Oh, my, it's nice to have
someone to depend on
in a time of need.
Thanks, Charley. Thanks so much.
Oh, don't mention it.
Bye, y'all.
Bye, Charley. Bye.
I didn't think he'd swallow it.
Orville's no more thinking
of marrying Betty Jo
than I'm thinking
of marrying Floyd.
You know it, and I know it,
but Charley doesn't know it.
Making up a little human
problem for him to solve,
might be just the way
of keeping him here.
Orville, you ought
to realize that
getting married is a big step.
I realize that.
Yes, sir. The biggest
step you'll ever take.
Oh, it's a big step all right.
It's a step that before
you take that step,
you oughta watch your
step. See what I mean?
I guess.
Now, it's not that
Betty Jo isn't a fine girl...
Aw, she's tops.
She's tops, all right, but,
Orville, she's a little young.
Yeah, but she's
bound to get older.
Yeah, she's gonna get older
and you're gonna get older.
Both of you are
gonna get a little older,
and that's the time to do it.
Do what?
What do you think
we've been talking about?
Time to get married.
But, Mis-Mister Pratt,
I'm not thinking
of getting married.
You're not?
You never was.
Was you?
It never entered my head.
I get it.
You're Kate's brain child.
No, I'm Amanda's boy.
I belong to my mother.
Orville, Kate figured that
if I gave you some advice,
it'd make me feel
important and useful
and I wouldn't want to leave.
She did?
But it won't work!
I'm old and useless
and I know it!
We're coming into Hooterville
and I'll pick up my
replacement here.
Mr. Pratt?
Tuttle?
Yes, sir. Well, when
do you want to start
breaking me in to
replace you, sir?
The sooner the
better. Get aboard, son.
Oh, thank you.
(train whistle blowing)
(bell clanging)
♪ ♪
Doing real good, Mr. Tuttle.
That's right.
You're soloing like
a veteran engineer.
Thanks, but I wish
you could see me
running a top-rate engine.
How old did you
say this wagon is?
Oh... 75 years.
It's amazing.
What is?
It's amazing that it
still holds together.
She's old and rusty,
but she's got tradition.
Better blow the
whistle, Mr. Tuttle.
Why? There's no crossing.
Charley always
blows it along here,
to remind Fred Ziffel
it's time to feed his pigs.
Oh! Oh, now, look. I'm
running the Cannonball now
and it's gonna be run like
a train, not an alarm clock.
Start slowing down.
There's no stop here.
There is today.
Maude Whipple is visiting
her sister in Clint City,
and Charley told her we was
gonna stop and milk her cow.
We're 33 minutes
behind schedule,
and you expect me
to stop to milk a cow?
Well, you better forget it
because we've
gotta pick up time.
What for?
You don't want Maude
Whipple to come home
and find her cow all
swolled up, do you?
Do you, Mr. Tuttle?
Look, I don't know from cows.
Nor people either, I'm thinking.
There he is, Orville.
You can thank him for yourself.
Oh, Mr. Pratt.
Hi, Orville. What's up?
Well, I just want to thank you
for what you've done for me.
You really helped
straighten me out.
Kate, you didn't have
me fooled very long
about Orville and
Betty Jo getting married.
Oh, 'course not, Charley,
but that's not what
he wants to talk to you
about. Tell him, Orville.
Well, sir, just hanging
around you for a while
has got me to thinking.
Eventually, I'd like to become
an engineer, just like you.
Kate, it won't work.
I'm quitting, and that's that.
Are you saying that
I put him up to that?
Oh, Kate, why don't you just
mark it down as a nice try?
Now, listen here,
Charles P. Pratt.
And I think I know
what the "P" stands for...
"Pigheaded."
Does not. It stands
for "Palmquist."
That's an old family name.
I don't care what it stands for,
but I'm not gonna stand for you
belittling a boy
who tried to pay you
a sincere, honest
compliment right from his heart.
Now, just a darn second, Kate.
Just a darn second yourself.
You are walking out on people
who love you and need
you and depend on you.
Well, if that's the case, I
ain't had no evidence of it.
Of course not. Folks around here
don't go around
telling each other
they like each other
or need each other.
They just do, and that's that.
Watch it, Kate.
You'll get him riled up.
He won't even send us a
postcard from where he's going.
I am just trying
to stop Mr. Pratt
from stomping on
people's feelings.
Before he leaves.
Especially this honest, sincere
boy... and you stay out of this.
Yeah, stay out of this.
Go ahead, go ahead.
Do what you like to us,
but don't make us
sorry we ever loved you.
Ma! The whole
valley's up in arms.
It's terrible.
What's the matter?
Everything.
Fred Ziffel's pigs are starving.
Maude Whipple's cow's
been mooing its head off
for a friendly pair of hands.
Burston Treadwell's
chickens have been doing
a lot of cackling and no laying
because the Cannonball
keeps going by his farm so fast.
Everyone in this
valley's so confused
they don't know what to do
because the Cannonball's
been keeping to schedule,
and it's all your
fault, Charley.
I'm warning you, everybody.
Not even a postcard. You watch.
Howdy, everybody.
Howdy, quitter.
Oh. I mean, Charley.
What's going on?
What's all the noise?
Nothing, Billie Jo.
We're just giving Charley
a nice, friendly send-off.
Don't let it get to
you, Charley, old boy.
Just leave quietly and
pretend this never happened.
For goodness
sakes, be quiet, Joe.
I haven't got so much attention
since 40 years ago when I fell
in Emmy Hatton's punchbowl.
The Tuttle fellow'd like to see
you on the front porch, quitter.
Uh... Charley.
Sorry, Charley.
Oh, it's okay, Floyd.
I may not be as smart
as some of these other
furious people around here,
but that ain't saying
that I ain't furious, too.
Well, thanks, Floyd.
Best I go talk to Tuttle.
Sure, Charley, why
don't you do that.
He doesn't know you like we do.
He might fall all over you.
Anything wrong, Mr. Tuttle?
Oh, no, no.
I always walk around
carrying a brake handle.
Ha-ha. It's kind of
a fun thing to do.
Well, you shouldn't
have taken the brake off.
It's real troublesome
to get it back on.
It came off in my hand while
I was trying to stop that train.
A brake handle being kept
in place by a pickle fork?!
Why, that's ridiculous.
It sure is.
They don't make pickle
forks like they used to.
Do you know what I'm
going to do, old-timer?
Quit? Is that what
you're going to do?
You are gonna quit, ain't ya?
Oh, no, not on your life.
I'm going to stay right here,
and I'm going to whip
this railroad into shape!
You are?
I mean, you are?
Bless you. Bless you.
I knew that if I kept
trying out replacements,
I'd find at least one brave
man left in railroading.
Brave? W-what do
you mean, Mr. Pratt?
Outsiders don't understand
men like you and me.
To us, the spirit of railroading
is everything in life. Right?
Well, I-I wouldn't
quite say that.
Some folks thinks it's
a hardship on engineers
to get up at all hours
be a farmhand, a midwife,
a one-man fire department...
Heaven knows what else.
We love it.
Don't we, Tuttle?
You mean they expect
engineers to do all of those things?
Well, that's ridiculous.
Why don't you just
tell them to get lost?
I ain't never said, "Get lost"
to the wrong end of a
shotgun, Tuttle. Have you?
Now you're kidding
me, Mr. Pratt.
People here have forced you
to do work at shotgun point?
Oh... They just
load it with rock salt.
Oh. A blast in the
britches with that
will smart a little, but it sure
does wake you up effective.
Shotguns?
Rock salt?
And you think I'm
gonna want to stay here?
You've got to, Tuttle.
You're railroading's
only hope in these parts.
Oh, no.
Mine, too.
Doctor gave me
the news last week.
I'm aging too fast.
I'm heading for that big
roundhouse in the sky.
Oh...
I had no idea, Mr. Pratt. I'm...
Gee, I... I'm terribly sorry.
Me, too.
Come next month, I would
have celebrated my 34th birthday.
You're only 34 years old?
Not quite.
But don't pay me no never mind.
Keep up the
traditions of railroading.
Carry on! (coughing)
I-I'm sorry, but you better
tell them to get somebody else
because I, I just
couldn't do it.
I just couldn't do it.
I couldn't do it!
Hey! Come back!
Please! Come back!
Forget it!
Okay. I'll do just that.
How do you like that?
That Tuttle fellow
just up and flat quit!
He did?
For no rhyme or reason.
Say, Charley, if
you were to stay on,
it sure would please
the folks in this valley.
You reckon?
If you'll stay, Charley,
I'll give you any name
in my widow book.
Even Sarah Lawrence?
No. Anyone but Sarah Lawrence.
I might even pretend to
let you win at checkers.
(laughing)
What do you say, Charley?
There's only one
thing I can say.
Oh, Charley!
(laughter, chatter)
♪ There's a train that runs
through this wide valley ♪
♪ That is loved by one and all ♪
(imitates train whistle)
♪ It's the train that
starts way up in Pixley ♪
♪ Called the
Hooterville Cannonball ♪
(imitates train whistle)
♪ Though she makes her run
through the dead of winter ♪
♪ Through the
summer, spring and fall ♪
♪ Neither cold nor heat
nor flood can stop her ♪
♪ She's the Hooterville
Cannonball. ♪
(imitates train whistle)
♪ Petticoat Junction. ♪
This has been a
Filmways Presentation.