Rawhide (1959–1965): Season 5, Episode 21 - Incident of the Married Widow - full transcript
While in town the men stop at the "salon" owned by enchanting Abigail Fletcher. A picture hangs on the wall of her late husband Gil Favor. Favor comes in to see for himself. He finds a friend needing help with Gil as her husband.
♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin' ♪
- Hyah!
-♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin' ♪
♪ Keep movin', movin', movin' ♪
♪ Though they're disapprovin' ♪
♪ Keep them dogies movin' ♪
♪ Rawhide! ♪
♪ Don't try to understand them ♪
♪ Just rope and throw
and brand 'em ♪
♪ Soon we'll be livin'
high and wide ♪
♪ My heart's calculatin' ♪
♪ My true love will be waitin' ♪
♪ Be waiting at the end
of my ride ♪
♪ Move 'em on, head 'em up,
head 'em up, move 'em on ♪
♪ Move 'em on,
head 'em up, Rawhide! ♪
-(whip cracks)
-♪ Cut 'em out, ride 'em in ♪
♪ Ride 'em in, let 'em out,
cut 'em out, ride 'em in ♪
-♪ Rawhide...! ♪
-♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin' ♪
♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin' ♪
- Hyah!
-♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin'. ♪
(whip cracks twice)
(piano playing lively tune)
QUINCE: "Not drunk is he
who from the floor
can rise again
and still drink more.”
(sighs)
Not drunk alone
who from the floor...
...can rise alone...
...still drink more.
Hello!
Doggone.
Did I ever tell you,
little partner,
that you're the best
doggone bronc
in the whole strain?
Huh?
Let's go.
Come on.
Let me... Come here.
You want a drink?
Nah, nah, you're too young.
You-you's a eight-year-old pup.
You're just too young to drink.
I'll ramrod this bottle.
You got to pay for your keep.
Come on.
♪ Skip, skip ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou, my darling ♪
♪ I got a gal nine feet tall ♪
♪ I got a gal, that ain't all ♪
♪ Sleeps in the kitchen
with her feet in the hall ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou, my darling. ♪
The dirty rats.
The dirty, low-down rats.
They done went and quit old Jim.
That's what they did.
Well.
Hold still. Hold still.
Hey.
It's the end of the day.
You can buck old Jim off.
♪ Hey, skip ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou ♪
♪ Skip, skip ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou... ♪
Gentlemen,
we have a new game in mind.
- Yeah. -Well, we'll see you
in the morning, Corey.
- Yeah, my horse is over at the
livery stable. -Come on, Pete.
Hey, Johnny, Pete, come here!
Someone's been shot!
It's Major Courtney.
The major? But who would...?
Them drovers.
Who else would have more reason
to kill the major?
Get Devlin fast.
♪ I got a gal nine feet tall ♪
♪ I got a gal ♪
♪ That ain't all ♪
♪ Sleeps in the kitchen
with her feet in the hall ♪
Stampede?
♪ Hey, skip, skip to my Lou ♪
Well, if it ain't
our little lost lamb.
Hello.
Shut up, you fool;
you'll wake up Mr. Favor;
- We'll have to put you...
- Oh, good.
Good old Wishbone.
You know, he's half cook
and he's half grandma.
(chuckles, groaning)
You want a drink, Grandma?
No, I don't want a drink.
(sighs) All right, Jim.
Give me the bottle.
No, you ain't about to get
this little old bottle.
I'll just take you all on.
Old One-punch Quince,
that's who I am.
What do you think?
Might as well.
Either that or we're gonna have
to take a board to him.
Not too hard, Rowdy.
(sighs) Hate to do this.
Sweet dreams, killer.
Come on, let's plant him
under the tree.
Hey, One-punch, how's your jaw?
I don't know, Rowdy.
That ain't where it hurts.
Ah.
Well, you might just as well
kill him outright
as to torture him to death.
Sorry, Mr. Wishbone.
Well, just sorry yourself
to work and pick up that mess.
All right, come on,
let me through.
Groans) Let's see if I can get
some of this down him.
What's that?
It's my own special concoction.
It's never failed yet.
Come on, Jim.
(gagging)
Oh, you poisoned me.
Well, it's no worse
than that stuff
you were drinking last night.
What'd you do?
Lick the varnish
off the bar top, too?
FAVOR:
All right, all right.
What's holding you up?
You should be moving.
The wages of sin.
The sour mash won.
Throw him in his saddle.
It'll wear off.
Let's go.
I swear, I don't think
I can make it, Wish.
Oh, come on.
It isn't gonna kill you.
That's what I'm afraid of.
(mumbles)
You know better.
Even when you get the night off,
supposed to keep somewhat
an eye on the men.
Even when I get the night off?
Oh, well, I-I tried to.
Quince was really going at it
kind of strong,
and he'll disappear.
We couldn't find him anywhere.
MAN:
Mr. Favor.
FAVOR:
All the makings of a posse.
What'd you ever do
in town last night, anyhow?
Nothing, nothing.
I'm Ben Devlin,
the sheriff of Cottonwood.
Who's the trail boss?
Gil Favor, right over there.
(grunts)
You Favor?
That's right.
Where's the rest of your men?
Out with the herd.
What's it all about?
There he is.
Yeah. Get him.
FAVOR:
Hey, you.
Hold everything.
You got the badge, use it.
Mr. Favor, you're interfering
with the law.
Law ain't gonna take
one of my men
without a pretty good reason.
Murder reason enough?
Murder?
That man killed Major Courtney.
Shot him right in the back.
You got proof of that?
He had a fight with the major
in the Pair-A-Dice Saloon.
I saw the whole thing.
Why, he'd have killed
the major right then if...
Well, if he hadn't stopped him.
That fight was nothing.
He couldn't have killed anybody;
he was with us all the time.
(chuckles) Not after the fight.
You took him outside
and came back alone.
He never came back.
Yeah, but hold on now.
I sure didn't kill nobody.
Well, where'd you go?
What'd you do?
Well, I don't know.
Did you see anybody
or talk to anybody?
Uh, that I don't remember.
How could he remember anything?
He was out on his feet.
Well, how does he know
he didn't kill the major?
That all the evidence you got?
Well, it's enough for a trial.
It ain't enough for us.
Well, now, Mr. Favor,
you know as well as I do
that-that I can take him in
if it's only on suspicion.
And well,
if you don't surrender him,
I swear,
I'll call in every marshal
and peace officer
in the territory.
That's right, Mr. Favor.
No use bucking them.
It-It'll just cause
a lot of worse trouble.
All right, Jim, you go along.
I'll get this cleared up.
Yes, sir.
ROWDY:
Don't worry, Jim.
I'll just take this.
All right, let's go.
Favor,
you stay out of Cottonwood.
One killing ain't worth 12 more.
Uh-huh.
Thinking about it already,
are you?
Getting all steamed up to go in
and bust Quince out of jail.
Well, the way
they were setting up,
maybe that's the only way we're
gonna be able to handle it.
It's not the only way.
I'm telling you right now,
anybody goes into town,
anybody tries
to break Quince out of jail,
I'll be right there
alongside the sheriff.
But he had no chance, Mr. Favor.
They say one thing, and he can't
even tell them they're lying.
He doesn't remember.
Well, then I'll find out
for myself what he did.
And I don't need
no army to do it.
Joe, you go tell Clay to take
over in bedding down the herd.
Rest of you, start bunching them
up in other side of the valley.
I'm going with you.
Only under the condition
you keep that idiot thing
put away.
Mr. Wishbone, I thought we was
in a hurry to get rolling.
You just pick that stuff up.
We're gonna lay over.
Lay over? What for?
Because Mr. Favor's
got business in town.
Business? What kind?
Looks like hanging business.
Seems this Courtney fella's
a big man around town.
Was, Rowdy, was.
There's a strange feeling
about this town.
Like being in a thunderstorm
with a herd
about ready to explode.
FAVOR:
Hmm.
Hey.
Real old-timey gallows tree.
Yeah, and by the looks of it,
they're getting ready to use it.
Well, no sense in us both
doing the same job.
Why don't you nose around
and see if you can find anybody
who saw Quince
after you lost him.
All right, but I don't expect
too much cooperation.
Do what you can.
- Rowdy.
- Hm?
One thing we got to face up to.
Yeah, what's that?
Always a chance
that Quince did do it.
And I don't see
waiting for no judge.
We all know that that...
I'd like to talk to you
when you got a minute, Sheriff.
You were told
to stay out of town.
Does he always do
your talking for you, Sheriff?
Now, Mr. Favor,
the law talks for itself.
And as far as Major Courtney
and your drover's concerned,
Roy here had a perfect right
to say his piece.
- He was the major's foreman.
- I was more than that.
A lot more.
I was the major's friend.
Well, Quince is my friend,
so I'll have the same rights to
that trial as you do, then, huh?
Oh, that won't be
until tomorrow,
until the circuit judge
gets here.
Give me a little time
to prepare Quince's case.
(chuckles):
Case? He ain't got no case.
Well, make real sure
you do, then.
I better be getting
to the funeral.
But I'll be
sticking around town,
in case you might need
some extra deputies.
Now, Mr. Favor, as you say, you
have a right to be at the trial,
-but that's all. -Just exactly
what do you have on my drover.
Major Courtney's body
was found in the alley
between the livery stable
and the Pair-A-Dice Saloon.
He was shot in the back.
Your drover was seen
coming out of the alley.
And before that,
he had a fight with the major
and swore he'd kill him.
Well... that's it.
Just like that,
on circumstantial evidence?
And you say "that's it"?
Oh, no.
A jury'll decide that.
Is that the same jury that
strung up that noose outside?
That don't strike me as being
much of a trial, Devlin.
Well, that's about all
he can expect from around here.
The major, well...
he meant a lot to all of us.
Well, Jim means a lot to us.
You better start remembering
what that badge stands for.
Mr. Favor, the major didn't have
an enemy in this world.
Why, he was this town.
Why, he helped practically
everybody here get his start.
And without him...
All anybody wanted to do was
kneel down and wipe his boots.
Nobody had a reason
to do anything else.
Nobody, that is, except your...
your friend in there.
Devlin, your job is to find
the facts of the matter,
not to sit in judgment.
I'll see Jim now.
Call me when
you get ready to leave.
You know, for a while there,
I...I talked myself
into believing
this was just a bad dream,
but now I know it ain't.
How's it going?
All right, I guess.
One thing about it, it's a lot
better than Wishbone's cure.
Except I wouldn't
give it to my worst enemy.
Look, Mr. Favor, this has got
to be just some tomfool mistake.
They can't hold this
on me, can they?
A lot'll depend on you, Jim.
Try and remember now,
everything that
happened last night.
Well, I, uh...
I remembered going
to the saloon with Rowdy and Joe
and having a few drinks.
What about the fight?
Well, you know how it is.
Uh, this fella comes up
to the bar next to me, and...
makes me spill my drink,
and he didn't apologize.
I said something,
he said something.
Next thing I know,
we just went to swinging.
He swung harder
and faster, I guess.
One of the witnesses swears
that you was gonna kill him.
Well, that's-that's
just talk, you know that.
Is that all?
Well...
Rowdy came in
and busted things up.
He pushed me outside and shoved
my head in the water trough.
- And then, uh...
- Yeah? Where'd you go then?
Well, I don't know. I, uh...
Next thing I remember
is waking up in a stall
on a pile of hay.
A livery stable?
Yeah. Must've
passed out, I guess.
Anyway, I went
back to the saloon
looking for Rowdy and Joe.
You go inside?
No, I didn't. I...
looked in the window and, well,
the place was almost empty.
I didn't see any
of our boys there, and...
well, I figured it was late,
so I went on back to camp.
Is that all? Can't you
remember anything else?
(sighs): Well, that's...
that's about it.
That livery stable,
did you see anyone there?
Nope.
I guess it don't add up
to too much, does it?
Nope.
'Fraid not.
But at least that's something
for us to work on.
Yeah, sure, sure.
Mighty funny
how things work out.
It's not because I'm lily-white,
not by a long shot,
you know that.
I've had to be pushed back
a few times, and...
But to haul off and be hung
for something you didn't...
- QUINCE: Is that him?
- Yeah.
They're giving him
a big send-off, ain't they?
Seems like he was
a pretty big man in this town.
No tellin' when...
you're in a pack of trouble.
♪♪
All the king's horses
and all the king's men
couldn't put Courtney
together again.
(smacks lips, exhales) That's
not very appropriate, is it?
Yeah, well, that depends
on how you felt about him.
Oh, he was a fine man.
- Buy you a drink?
-(laughs softly)
Why don't you save
your money, cowboy.
You don't have to pay
for the answers.
Mm, how do you know
I got any questions?
Well, now, you're
a drover, aren't you,
from the herd west of town?
Yeah.
Rowdy Yates is my name.
I'm Della Locke.
Come on, sit down.
Well, thank you, Miss Locke.
Didn't I see you here
last night?
Mm-hmm.
You can see me here every night.
I own the Pair-A-Dice.
Oh.
What's wrong with that?
Not a thing.
Just you don't often see, uh,
saloons being run by a lady.
Well, now, that's the nicest
compliment I've had in years.
I'll buy you a drink.
What do you want?
Oh, a beer.
One beer.
Al right,
start asking.
Well, if you got, uh...
if you got some answers,
then maybe you got the questions
to go with them.
There's only one that
really matters, isn't it?
About what I think
about last night,
about Major Courtney's death?
- Yeah, that'll do.
- Uh-huh.
Well, not a thing.
What'd you expect?
That I'd clear your friend?
That I'd say he didn't do it?
You brought it up.
Well, for what
it's worth, I, um...
I don't believe he did do it.
Well, that's worth plenty?
Not a red cent.
You see, the people
in this town don't care
what anybody thinks.
They loved Major Courtney,
and he's dead.
And somebody's gonna pay for it.
(sighs):
Yeah, even if it...
means hanging
the wrong man, huh?
Well, now, they
wouldn't know the difference.
But you do.
I only said "believe,”
Mr. Yates.
Oh, no. Not without
something to go on.
You know, so far you're
the only one in this town
who's given Quince
half a chance.
Got to be a reason for that.
Well, now, let's
just say that I, um...
I don't like to run
with the crowd.
(quietly):
Mm-hmm.
Any other answers ...
don't have to pay for?
ROY:
Nothing comes free, cowboy...
...not even a funeral.
Little careless with the company
you keep, ain't you?
Well, now, this place
is open for the public,
and it's gonna stay that way.
Talking back, Della--
the major wouldn't like that.
And neither do I.
The scenery changes, Roy,
but people remain the same.
You're still just a nickel-
and-dime errand boy to me.
Better watch
your temper, mister.
It's bad for the digestion.
So's a bullet in the back.
Whatcha waiting for, cowboy?
You want me to turn around?
With some it's hard to tell
the back from the front.
-(punch lands)
- FAVOR: Whoa!
- Uh, are you a friend of his?
- Hello!
Oh, yeah, him?
He's my buddy.
Sure took your time
getting here.
Well, it seems you
kept yourself entertained.
What was it all about?
Did you meet Della Locke here?
Hello, Miss Locke.
Well, we were, uh, talking
a little question and answers
about Jim, and...
well, here he... didn't approve.
Of what, Miss Locke,
the questions or the answers?
Only cowboys...
cowboys who shoot down giants
and then talk back.
You mean like Jim Quince, huh?
Talk isn't gonna help.
Neither are fists.
This town's rope-crazy.
Trial or no trial,
there's gonna be a hanging.
You take my advice and get
your friend out of jail. Now.
Otherwise, I'd go
shopping for a wreath.
That's what I like
about the people in this town--
really helpful.
True.
ROWDY:
Uh-oh.
Things do get worse
before they get better.
-(horse neighs)
- FAVOR: They're gonna learn
when I give an order I mean it.
What are you doing here?
I gave orders for everybody
to stay with the herd.
You did?
Why didn't somebody tell me?
Well, anyway,
I had to come into town to get
a little odds and ends,
you know, salt, like that.
Needle and thread, too,
Mr. Wishbone.
I guess I just clean forgot
what you said.
We thought you
might need some help.
FAVOR:
Thought? You fathead!
You need a brain to think!
The only thing you can do
to help is get out of sight.
One look at you,
and this town is gonna figure
you're here to dismantle
that jail, board by board.
Now, turn those horses around.
Too late.
Uh, look at that.
Yeah, they're headed
for the jail.
Spread the word.
Come with me, George.
Some of you men come with me.
FAVOR:
Climb down, quick.
If I can't keep Jim alive
with talk,
then I'll have to do it
your way, the hard way.
Hi, Bill.
You spread the word?
- Yeah. The rest of the boys
are on the way. -Good.
This is like spilled powder--
one spark and they'll go off.
Yeah, well, touch a match to me,
and I'm liable
to go off with 'em.
Me, too.
I'll tell you one thing,
if Favor doesn't
come out here pretty soon,
- I'm gonna go in after him.
- You've done enough busting in
where you don't belong--
let him settle this.
Oh, Joe, talk
won't settle anything.
It won't get
anybody shot, either.
Yeah. Set that crowd off,
and that herd of ours
is gonna have to find
Denver by itself.
It's gonna take more than water
to straighten you out, Roy.
Well, just like you figured,
them drovers are
all over that jail.
- Not for long, they ain't.
- Roy, it doesn't make sense
to finish a fight
that hasn't even started.
It started...
when that drover put a bullet
in the major's back.
And it won't be finished until
he's stretched out that rope
that I strung up for him.
We have a courthouse,
a judge coming tomorrow--
let Devlin handle it.
Devlin?
(laughs):
Devlin.
Devlin couldn't handle
a hot Sunday afternoon,
you know that, Della.
(exhales, chuckles quietly)
Maybe you do.
Maybe you want
those cowboy Galahads
to walk out of this.
I didn't say that.
It's all settled, boys!
Uh, just a little
misunderstanding.
The drovers ain't gonna
start anything, so...
you can all go home.
- We ain't leavin' till they do!
- They ain't in town for nothin'!
- That's right!
-(angry clamoring)
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
(chuckles weakly)
Please listen to me.
The drover's gonna be tried
tomorrow just according to law.
Whether you like it or not,
these people have
a right to be here.
Now, we just had it all out, and
Mr. Cryder here is the witness.
No matter what the jury
says tomorrow,
the drovers
ain't gonna interfere.
They ain't waitin' for no jury.
No, they want
to bust 'em out right now!
No, no, uh... this trail boss
gave me his word.
And you believe him?
What's the matter, Devlin?
You forget so soon?
Major Courtney was murdered.
Was shot in the back...
by a drover.
Now, you gonna take
a drover's word for anything?
Now, Roy, you've got to listen.
I say he's lying.
He wants to bust his man out,
and he's stalling
till his whole crew gets here.
(indistinct chatter)
We don't need no trial,
we know who did it,
and I say turn him over
right now.
FAVOR:
Hold up.
Kane just said I was lying.
I'm ready to prove
that he's wrong.
Take off your guns.
We won't ask for "em back
until the trial's over.
Got anything more to say, Kane?
He's bluffing.
We're just here
to help a friend.
Same as you'd do for a neighbor.
But it's up to the law
what happens to him, not you,
not us.
Shooting it out ain't gonna
make him any more innocent
or any more guilty,
and it'll cost us all a lot more
than we can afford to pay.
DELLA: Seems to me
the man's got a point.
If they were gonna
tear down that jail,
they wouldn't be
standing there talking.
Uh, I, uh,
I still say it's a trick.
Oh, it's no trick
to take off some guns.
Drover or no drover, I'd say
that the man makes sense.
(nervous chuckle) The drovers
can't do anything without these.
So please... please go on home.
You'll all have your say
in the trial tomorrow.
If there is a trial.
FAVOR:
Della.
Thanks for the good word.
Thanks?
For what?
Postponing the inevitable?
Your friend's like a rabbit
caught in a bear trap,
Mr. Favor.
Be a lot kinder to put him
out of his misery now,
while you still have a chance.
She's right.
This didn't settle anything.
They're gonna come back and...
when they do...
You know, it's really comforting
knowing the law is on your side.
Yeah, it looks like
we got one good friend.
It's gonna take proof to get Jim
out of this, not friends.
You stay here, and you
better not start anything.
What are you gonna do?
See what I can do to...
put Jim out of his misery,
while I still can.
(piano playing lively song)
(piano continues
playing lively song)
ROWDY: What do you expect
to find back here?
(piano music
continues in distance)
(chuckles): Can't do much worse
than we have so far.
According to the sheriff,
this is where
Major Courtney's body was found.
Well, a saloon
near the livery stable.
Now there's a dead end.
- FAVOR: That's funny.
- What's funny?
Everybody's been so worried
about Quince coming out,
nobody's bothered to ask
what Major Courtney's body
was doing back here.
Was the major still in there
when you left last night?
Yeah, him among
some of the others.
It's likely, then,
that he came out this way.
Come on.
(knocking)
Yes?
What do you want?
- Just a few answers.
- I'm in a hurry.
- You leaving?
- Just a short trip.
Oh, looks like kind of
an expensive trip, isn't it?
Well, I always travel
first class, Mr. Yates.
You travelin' or you runnin'?
- From what?
- The trial tomorrow.
I'm not interested
in the trial.
That makes you about the
only person in town who ain't.
(laughs): Well... some people
are interested in trouble,
and I'm not.
Then how come you took
our side this afternoon?
What do you really know
about Major Courtney's death?
Nothing.
The major left here last night.
Did he always
go out the back door,
or was that just last night?
Who told you that?
Nobody.
Just wondering why his body
was found out in the alley.
Now, he could go down there
and get hisself bushwhacked,
or he could go down there
to meet someone--
the person who killed him.
Yeah. In either case,
your drover.
How would Quince know that the
major was going out that way,
or even that
there was a back way.
I can't see the major
going down there
to meet someone
he had just had a fight with.
Figured to be someone he knew.
Well, that's not gonna
get you far, Mr. Favor.
He knew almost everyone,
and they all loved him.
There's another possibility.
I still haven't found anyone
who heard that shot.
Now, just suppose his body
had been dumped out there
after he'd been killed
somewheres else.
In the Pair-A-Dice, I presume?
- Where else?
-(chuckles)
Well, now, that's
very clever, Mr. Favor.
Your drover has no defense,
so you'll simply attack,
without proof
-of anything. -Well, this town
doesn't have any proof,
just a lot of talk,
a lot of smoke.
So it looks like I'm gonna have
to raise a little smoke myself.
By accusing me? Or do you
have somebody else in mind?
Kane was in the saloon
last night.
So were four or five other men.
Let's get this straight--
I don't care
who killed your major, or why.
I just want to show
that Quince didn't do it.
Good luck.
Oh, you're gonna help me.
Oh. Just like that?
You're a drifter.
You come into this town,
you throw a couple of dollars
on the bar,
and then you're off again.
This town keeps me in business.
How many people you think'd
come in here if I helped you?
How many customers add up
to a man's life?
How many add up to mine?
Come here, I want
to show you something.
(piano playing in saloon)
You see that blonde
sitting at the table?
That's Della Locke,
the way she was a few years ago.
With the same kind of customers.
Oh, there were hundreds of them,
with trail dust on their hands,
and in their minds.
But they bought me this,
Mr. Favor-- this office--
with the walls to keep "em out.
Now, do you want me
to give that up now?
Can't hide in here
forever, Della.
And when you do go out,
you're gonna have to go
past that gallows tree.
How you gonna feel then?
I think we've run out
of conversation, Mr. Favor.
I swear you're afraid, Della.
Of what?
Is it that you know somebody
who had a reason
to kill the major?
How many times
do I have to tell you
that no one had a reason
to kill the major?
In this town, he was known
as the 13th Apostle.
My, my, my, sort of
a friendly apostle...
How dare you!
Give me that!
Well, I realize it ain't polite,
but, uh, neither is a hangin'.
Well, well, now,
it seems like you and the major
had more than just
a passing acquaintance, I'd say.
Their respectable town hero
running for governor
and the lady saloon keeper.
I wonder how many people
know of the connection.
There isn't any connection.
That picture was taken
many years ago.
Yeah, but you still have it,
and you're living
here in Cottonwood,
and so did the major.
That doesn't mean
a thing, I tell you!
Don't tell me;
let's go tell the sheriff.
The sheriff?
You don't want to answer to me,
maybe you'll answer to the law.
There isn't anything to answer.
Whatever you say to the sheriff,
I'll deny,
and I'm pretty sure that he'll
take my side against yours.
Well, let's just
go make sure, huh?
Just what are you trying
to prove?
That dirt
you were talking about, Della.
I'd like to find out
how much of it stuck.
Now, do you want
to walk over there
or do you want to be taken
over there?
'Cause either way
you're going to go.
Ah, ah, ah, we'll go out
the back way.
It's quieter.
It's Della-- them cow pushers
are taking her to jail.
You got any answers?
No, just questions.
Maybe the sheriff can help us
with the answers.
Oh, Rowdy, you stay here.
If Kane shows up...
Don't worry, I'll let you know.
Well, that ties it.
Della just played
pick up the posy
for the last time
with them drovers.
Corey, get Cryder.
Now, listen, Pete.
I want you to start talking
around town.
Make it good now.
We'll make sure there won't be
no trial tomorrow this time.
Bill, Josh.
- Sheriff, you ever do
any hunting? -Oh, now,
what has that got
to do with Della?
You know, it's a funny thing
about wild animals--
you close in on 'em,
they seem to forget
everything nature gave them.
Reminded of a doe
I come across once.
This grizzly had her boxed up
in a blind canyon.
All that doe had to do
to get away was backtrack.
Instead, when she saw me,
she tried to make a run for it.
Made it real easy
for that grizzly.
Mr. Favor, in Cottonwood
we have our share of wolves,
but grizzlies we haven't got.
Then, what are you afraid of?
Will somebody please talk
some sense around here?
She was getting ready
to run for it.
- Want to know why.
- told you,
I don't like trials
or lynchings.
Especially if they're
of an innocent man?
QUINCE:
Mr. Favor.
All right, you don't want
to talk to me,
let's go talk to him.
- Oh, now, wait a minute.
- You stay out of this!
I thought that was you, boss.
Look, did you get anything,
anything at all?
I don't know yet, Jim.
This is Miss Della Locke.
Ma'am.
Jim, she was at the saloon
last night.
Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am,
I must have been worse off
than I thought
not to remember you.
Well, say, maybe you can tell
'em-- about the fight, I mean.
It never was like they said.
I never knew
this Major Courtney.
I never was going to kill him.
You can tell 'em that,
can't you?
What's wrong, Mr. Favor?
If she was there,
she should know.
Yeah, she should know.
Take it easy, Jim.
I'll do everything I can.
Yeah, just a drifter.
Dumb cowpoke who eats dust
all day long,
sleeps in his clothes at night.
When he does get
a little time off,
he heads for the bright lights
of the nearest town.
Oh, nobody important
like your major.
Can't begin to compare
except he wants to live, too,
just like the major.
Still want to put him
out of his misery?
- Leave me alone.
- No.
Take a good look.
How does it feel
to have the say-so
for whether a man lives or dies?
- DELLA: I don't, I don't. -What
are you trying to do, Mr. Favor?
Same thing you're trying to do--
stop a lynching.
They're coming, Mr. Favor,
the whole town.
If you've got anything
to say, Della,
now is the time to say it.
(indistinct chatter in distance)
There's nothing to say.
Let's go.
Can't stop them bare-handed.
(indistinct chatter)
It's not up to us,
is it, Sheriff?
Well, how can I stop 'em?
They won't listen.
Well, make 'em listen.
KANE:
No talk this time, Devlin.
Give us the drover
or we'll walk right over you.
(bullet ricochets)
The prisoner is your friend.
Here, you talk to 'em.
I don't want any part of it.
All right, inside, everybody,
come on, let's go.
Roy, I'm with you now.
Come on.
Favor.
Joe, Mushy, you take the back.
Here.
Mushy.
Wishbone, you stay with Jim.
Clay, Rowdy, you take the front.
Come on.
You can't hold 'em back.
We're sure going to try.
Favor, no more stalling,
no more promises.
We want the drover.
Oh, and you'd just come on
and get him, huh?
Better think about it,
though, Kane.
You might get your lynching,
but the price
is going to be pretty high.
If that's the way you want it...
you'd better have your men
throw their rifles out.
I'm going to count three.
(guns cocking)
One,
two...
Wait!
Table stakes, Mr. Favor,
winner take all.
Congratulations.
You've said all you're going
to say, Della.
Now stay out of this.
Why, Roy,
so somebody else can die?
Get out of the way, Della.
Not until it's said, all of it.
I'm telling you.
You're not telling me,
not anymore!
Forget it, Roy, you'll never be
another Major Courtney.
Not even you could sink
that low.
FAVOR:
The lady's got something to say!
You're all going to listen.
You can't talk
about the major that way!
I can talk about him
any way I want.
I was his wife.
(murmuring)
Oh, you didn't know that,
did you?
You fools.
You're waving your torches,
carrying your rifles,
and for what?
Major Almighty Courtney
was a lie,
a paper idol on a pedestal
of dead minds and broken dreams.
That big, beautiful town hall--
his gift to you.
Oh, and you paid for it,
each one of you,
over his crooked tables
at the Pair-a-Dice.
He bought your respect
just like he bought
every one of us,
and the beauty of the rotten
little fairy tale was--
is that he made us like it.
He made us beg
to genuflect at his altar.
Why are you listening
to all this?
Because you can't stop it, Roy,
any more than you can stop being
what he always wanted you to
be-- a rug for him to walk on,
a disciple to hold him up
as he walked across the water!
You've said enough.
Well, now,
what's the matter, Sheriff?
Am I getting too close?
Why do you think that he pinned
this badge on you--
because he thought that you were
going to uphold the law?
Oh, no.
He put it on because he wanted
a coward to bend the law his way
just as he wanted
a thief like Cryder
to run the bank on his terms
and a man with fists
and no brain like Kane
to build his ranch
out of the broken bones
of little people
too weak to fight back!
But most of all, he needed me.
The audience of one that he had
to have in his theater of lies.
Oh, I knew.
I knew from the beginning.
But I ran his saloon,
I cheated his customers,
and I laughed at his jokes!
Because that's what I was.
I was his saloon woman.
Not good enough to,
to wear his name
but good enough to wear
his cheap jewelry.
Because of him, something died
in each one of us,
and what was dead was hope!
Hope.
I understood that last night
for the first time when
he told me that we were through.
That cowboy didn't kill him.
I did.
I only wish
he could have shot back.
Well...
you want a lynching, don't you?!
What are you waiting for?!
Come on.
I pulled your idol down.
Now, why don't
you string me up?!
Go on, Devlin, put on the badge.
Put it on and make the law
really mean something!
Badge is just
a piece of tin, Della.
You'll have to answer
to the man behind it, not me.
Poor Ben.
He's like a puppy
who's lost his leash.
Well, Mr. Favor...
you think some
of the dirt rubbed off?
Whatever there was, Della,
you sure cleaned it up.
♪♪
Come on, Mr. Favor,
I can't close up this box
till I get that cup.
Mmm.
Well, we're all set
to roll, boss.
Oh, Jim, good to have you back.
Mr. Favor, you don't know
how good it is to be back.
Jim, uh, me and some of the boys
are going to ride
into Red Rock tonight, maybe
lift a few beers and things.
Interested?
(chuckles)
Well, I'll tell you, Rowdy, uh,
Wishbone and I found a new way
to pass away the time.
Oh, yeah, you did,
and what's that?
Needlework.
Hey, come on, we're in a hurry.
Get the wagon rolling.
Come on, Mushy, close it up.
Head 'em up!
Move 'em out!
♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin' ♪
♪ Keep movin', movin', movin' ♪
♪ Though they're disapprovin' ♪
♪ Keep them dogies movin' ♪
♪ Rawhide! ♪
♪ Rawhide...! ♪
Hyah!
(whip cracks twice)
- Hyah!
-♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin' ♪
♪ Keep movin', movin', movin' ♪
♪ Though they're disapprovin' ♪
♪ Keep them dogies movin' ♪
♪ Rawhide! ♪
♪ Don't try to understand them ♪
♪ Just rope and throw
and brand 'em ♪
♪ Soon we'll be livin'
high and wide ♪
♪ My heart's calculatin' ♪
♪ My true love will be waitin' ♪
♪ Be waiting at the end
of my ride ♪
♪ Move 'em on, head 'em up,
head 'em up, move 'em on ♪
♪ Move 'em on,
head 'em up, Rawhide! ♪
-(whip cracks)
-♪ Cut 'em out, ride 'em in ♪
♪ Ride 'em in, let 'em out,
cut 'em out, ride 'em in ♪
-♪ Rawhide...! ♪
-♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin' ♪
♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin' ♪
- Hyah!
-♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin'. ♪
(whip cracks twice)
(piano playing lively tune)
QUINCE: "Not drunk is he
who from the floor
can rise again
and still drink more.”
(sighs)
Not drunk alone
who from the floor...
...can rise alone...
...still drink more.
Hello!
Doggone.
Did I ever tell you,
little partner,
that you're the best
doggone bronc
in the whole strain?
Huh?
Let's go.
Come on.
Let me... Come here.
You want a drink?
Nah, nah, you're too young.
You-you's a eight-year-old pup.
You're just too young to drink.
I'll ramrod this bottle.
You got to pay for your keep.
Come on.
♪ Skip, skip ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou, my darling ♪
♪ I got a gal nine feet tall ♪
♪ I got a gal, that ain't all ♪
♪ Sleeps in the kitchen
with her feet in the hall ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou, my darling. ♪
The dirty rats.
The dirty, low-down rats.
They done went and quit old Jim.
That's what they did.
Well.
Hold still. Hold still.
Hey.
It's the end of the day.
You can buck old Jim off.
♪ Hey, skip ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou ♪
♪ Skip, skip ♪
♪ Skip to my Lou... ♪
Gentlemen,
we have a new game in mind.
- Yeah. -Well, we'll see you
in the morning, Corey.
- Yeah, my horse is over at the
livery stable. -Come on, Pete.
Hey, Johnny, Pete, come here!
Someone's been shot!
It's Major Courtney.
The major? But who would...?
Them drovers.
Who else would have more reason
to kill the major?
Get Devlin fast.
♪ I got a gal nine feet tall ♪
♪ I got a gal ♪
♪ That ain't all ♪
♪ Sleeps in the kitchen
with her feet in the hall ♪
Stampede?
♪ Hey, skip, skip to my Lou ♪
Well, if it ain't
our little lost lamb.
Hello.
Shut up, you fool;
you'll wake up Mr. Favor;
- We'll have to put you...
- Oh, good.
Good old Wishbone.
You know, he's half cook
and he's half grandma.
(chuckles, groaning)
You want a drink, Grandma?
No, I don't want a drink.
(sighs) All right, Jim.
Give me the bottle.
No, you ain't about to get
this little old bottle.
I'll just take you all on.
Old One-punch Quince,
that's who I am.
What do you think?
Might as well.
Either that or we're gonna have
to take a board to him.
Not too hard, Rowdy.
(sighs) Hate to do this.
Sweet dreams, killer.
Come on, let's plant him
under the tree.
Hey, One-punch, how's your jaw?
I don't know, Rowdy.
That ain't where it hurts.
Ah.
Well, you might just as well
kill him outright
as to torture him to death.
Sorry, Mr. Wishbone.
Well, just sorry yourself
to work and pick up that mess.
All right, come on,
let me through.
Groans) Let's see if I can get
some of this down him.
What's that?
It's my own special concoction.
It's never failed yet.
Come on, Jim.
(gagging)
Oh, you poisoned me.
Well, it's no worse
than that stuff
you were drinking last night.
What'd you do?
Lick the varnish
off the bar top, too?
FAVOR:
All right, all right.
What's holding you up?
You should be moving.
The wages of sin.
The sour mash won.
Throw him in his saddle.
It'll wear off.
Let's go.
I swear, I don't think
I can make it, Wish.
Oh, come on.
It isn't gonna kill you.
That's what I'm afraid of.
(mumbles)
You know better.
Even when you get the night off,
supposed to keep somewhat
an eye on the men.
Even when I get the night off?
Oh, well, I-I tried to.
Quince was really going at it
kind of strong,
and he'll disappear.
We couldn't find him anywhere.
MAN:
Mr. Favor.
FAVOR:
All the makings of a posse.
What'd you ever do
in town last night, anyhow?
Nothing, nothing.
I'm Ben Devlin,
the sheriff of Cottonwood.
Who's the trail boss?
Gil Favor, right over there.
(grunts)
You Favor?
That's right.
Where's the rest of your men?
Out with the herd.
What's it all about?
There he is.
Yeah. Get him.
FAVOR:
Hey, you.
Hold everything.
You got the badge, use it.
Mr. Favor, you're interfering
with the law.
Law ain't gonna take
one of my men
without a pretty good reason.
Murder reason enough?
Murder?
That man killed Major Courtney.
Shot him right in the back.
You got proof of that?
He had a fight with the major
in the Pair-A-Dice Saloon.
I saw the whole thing.
Why, he'd have killed
the major right then if...
Well, if he hadn't stopped him.
That fight was nothing.
He couldn't have killed anybody;
he was with us all the time.
(chuckles) Not after the fight.
You took him outside
and came back alone.
He never came back.
Yeah, but hold on now.
I sure didn't kill nobody.
Well, where'd you go?
What'd you do?
Well, I don't know.
Did you see anybody
or talk to anybody?
Uh, that I don't remember.
How could he remember anything?
He was out on his feet.
Well, how does he know
he didn't kill the major?
That all the evidence you got?
Well, it's enough for a trial.
It ain't enough for us.
Well, now, Mr. Favor,
you know as well as I do
that-that I can take him in
if it's only on suspicion.
And well,
if you don't surrender him,
I swear,
I'll call in every marshal
and peace officer
in the territory.
That's right, Mr. Favor.
No use bucking them.
It-It'll just cause
a lot of worse trouble.
All right, Jim, you go along.
I'll get this cleared up.
Yes, sir.
ROWDY:
Don't worry, Jim.
I'll just take this.
All right, let's go.
Favor,
you stay out of Cottonwood.
One killing ain't worth 12 more.
Uh-huh.
Thinking about it already,
are you?
Getting all steamed up to go in
and bust Quince out of jail.
Well, the way
they were setting up,
maybe that's the only way we're
gonna be able to handle it.
It's not the only way.
I'm telling you right now,
anybody goes into town,
anybody tries
to break Quince out of jail,
I'll be right there
alongside the sheriff.
But he had no chance, Mr. Favor.
They say one thing, and he can't
even tell them they're lying.
He doesn't remember.
Well, then I'll find out
for myself what he did.
And I don't need
no army to do it.
Joe, you go tell Clay to take
over in bedding down the herd.
Rest of you, start bunching them
up in other side of the valley.
I'm going with you.
Only under the condition
you keep that idiot thing
put away.
Mr. Wishbone, I thought we was
in a hurry to get rolling.
You just pick that stuff up.
We're gonna lay over.
Lay over? What for?
Because Mr. Favor's
got business in town.
Business? What kind?
Looks like hanging business.
Seems this Courtney fella's
a big man around town.
Was, Rowdy, was.
There's a strange feeling
about this town.
Like being in a thunderstorm
with a herd
about ready to explode.
FAVOR:
Hmm.
Hey.
Real old-timey gallows tree.
Yeah, and by the looks of it,
they're getting ready to use it.
Well, no sense in us both
doing the same job.
Why don't you nose around
and see if you can find anybody
who saw Quince
after you lost him.
All right, but I don't expect
too much cooperation.
Do what you can.
- Rowdy.
- Hm?
One thing we got to face up to.
Yeah, what's that?
Always a chance
that Quince did do it.
And I don't see
waiting for no judge.
We all know that that...
I'd like to talk to you
when you got a minute, Sheriff.
You were told
to stay out of town.
Does he always do
your talking for you, Sheriff?
Now, Mr. Favor,
the law talks for itself.
And as far as Major Courtney
and your drover's concerned,
Roy here had a perfect right
to say his piece.
- He was the major's foreman.
- I was more than that.
A lot more.
I was the major's friend.
Well, Quince is my friend,
so I'll have the same rights to
that trial as you do, then, huh?
Oh, that won't be
until tomorrow,
until the circuit judge
gets here.
Give me a little time
to prepare Quince's case.
(chuckles):
Case? He ain't got no case.
Well, make real sure
you do, then.
I better be getting
to the funeral.
But I'll be
sticking around town,
in case you might need
some extra deputies.
Now, Mr. Favor, as you say, you
have a right to be at the trial,
-but that's all. -Just exactly
what do you have on my drover.
Major Courtney's body
was found in the alley
between the livery stable
and the Pair-A-Dice Saloon.
He was shot in the back.
Your drover was seen
coming out of the alley.
And before that,
he had a fight with the major
and swore he'd kill him.
Well... that's it.
Just like that,
on circumstantial evidence?
And you say "that's it"?
Oh, no.
A jury'll decide that.
Is that the same jury that
strung up that noose outside?
That don't strike me as being
much of a trial, Devlin.
Well, that's about all
he can expect from around here.
The major, well...
he meant a lot to all of us.
Well, Jim means a lot to us.
You better start remembering
what that badge stands for.
Mr. Favor, the major didn't have
an enemy in this world.
Why, he was this town.
Why, he helped practically
everybody here get his start.
And without him...
All anybody wanted to do was
kneel down and wipe his boots.
Nobody had a reason
to do anything else.
Nobody, that is, except your...
your friend in there.
Devlin, your job is to find
the facts of the matter,
not to sit in judgment.
I'll see Jim now.
Call me when
you get ready to leave.
You know, for a while there,
I...I talked myself
into believing
this was just a bad dream,
but now I know it ain't.
How's it going?
All right, I guess.
One thing about it, it's a lot
better than Wishbone's cure.
Except I wouldn't
give it to my worst enemy.
Look, Mr. Favor, this has got
to be just some tomfool mistake.
They can't hold this
on me, can they?
A lot'll depend on you, Jim.
Try and remember now,
everything that
happened last night.
Well, I, uh...
I remembered going
to the saloon with Rowdy and Joe
and having a few drinks.
What about the fight?
Well, you know how it is.
Uh, this fella comes up
to the bar next to me, and...
makes me spill my drink,
and he didn't apologize.
I said something,
he said something.
Next thing I know,
we just went to swinging.
He swung harder
and faster, I guess.
One of the witnesses swears
that you was gonna kill him.
Well, that's-that's
just talk, you know that.
Is that all?
Well...
Rowdy came in
and busted things up.
He pushed me outside and shoved
my head in the water trough.
- And then, uh...
- Yeah? Where'd you go then?
Well, I don't know. I, uh...
Next thing I remember
is waking up in a stall
on a pile of hay.
A livery stable?
Yeah. Must've
passed out, I guess.
Anyway, I went
back to the saloon
looking for Rowdy and Joe.
You go inside?
No, I didn't. I...
looked in the window and, well,
the place was almost empty.
I didn't see any
of our boys there, and...
well, I figured it was late,
so I went on back to camp.
Is that all? Can't you
remember anything else?
(sighs): Well, that's...
that's about it.
That livery stable,
did you see anyone there?
Nope.
I guess it don't add up
to too much, does it?
Nope.
'Fraid not.
But at least that's something
for us to work on.
Yeah, sure, sure.
Mighty funny
how things work out.
It's not because I'm lily-white,
not by a long shot,
you know that.
I've had to be pushed back
a few times, and...
But to haul off and be hung
for something you didn't...
- QUINCE: Is that him?
- Yeah.
They're giving him
a big send-off, ain't they?
Seems like he was
a pretty big man in this town.
No tellin' when...
you're in a pack of trouble.
♪♪
All the king's horses
and all the king's men
couldn't put Courtney
together again.
(smacks lips, exhales) That's
not very appropriate, is it?
Yeah, well, that depends
on how you felt about him.
Oh, he was a fine man.
- Buy you a drink?
-(laughs softly)
Why don't you save
your money, cowboy.
You don't have to pay
for the answers.
Mm, how do you know
I got any questions?
Well, now, you're
a drover, aren't you,
from the herd west of town?
Yeah.
Rowdy Yates is my name.
I'm Della Locke.
Come on, sit down.
Well, thank you, Miss Locke.
Didn't I see you here
last night?
Mm-hmm.
You can see me here every night.
I own the Pair-A-Dice.
Oh.
What's wrong with that?
Not a thing.
Just you don't often see, uh,
saloons being run by a lady.
Well, now, that's the nicest
compliment I've had in years.
I'll buy you a drink.
What do you want?
Oh, a beer.
One beer.
Al right,
start asking.
Well, if you got, uh...
if you got some answers,
then maybe you got the questions
to go with them.
There's only one that
really matters, isn't it?
About what I think
about last night,
about Major Courtney's death?
- Yeah, that'll do.
- Uh-huh.
Well, not a thing.
What'd you expect?
That I'd clear your friend?
That I'd say he didn't do it?
You brought it up.
Well, for what
it's worth, I, um...
I don't believe he did do it.
Well, that's worth plenty?
Not a red cent.
You see, the people
in this town don't care
what anybody thinks.
They loved Major Courtney,
and he's dead.
And somebody's gonna pay for it.
(sighs):
Yeah, even if it...
means hanging
the wrong man, huh?
Well, now, they
wouldn't know the difference.
But you do.
I only said "believe,”
Mr. Yates.
Oh, no. Not without
something to go on.
You know, so far you're
the only one in this town
who's given Quince
half a chance.
Got to be a reason for that.
Well, now, let's
just say that I, um...
I don't like to run
with the crowd.
(quietly):
Mm-hmm.
Any other answers ...
don't have to pay for?
ROY:
Nothing comes free, cowboy...
...not even a funeral.
Little careless with the company
you keep, ain't you?
Well, now, this place
is open for the public,
and it's gonna stay that way.
Talking back, Della--
the major wouldn't like that.
And neither do I.
The scenery changes, Roy,
but people remain the same.
You're still just a nickel-
and-dime errand boy to me.
Better watch
your temper, mister.
It's bad for the digestion.
So's a bullet in the back.
Whatcha waiting for, cowboy?
You want me to turn around?
With some it's hard to tell
the back from the front.
-(punch lands)
- FAVOR: Whoa!
- Uh, are you a friend of his?
- Hello!
Oh, yeah, him?
He's my buddy.
Sure took your time
getting here.
Well, it seems you
kept yourself entertained.
What was it all about?
Did you meet Della Locke here?
Hello, Miss Locke.
Well, we were, uh, talking
a little question and answers
about Jim, and...
well, here he... didn't approve.
Of what, Miss Locke,
the questions or the answers?
Only cowboys...
cowboys who shoot down giants
and then talk back.
You mean like Jim Quince, huh?
Talk isn't gonna help.
Neither are fists.
This town's rope-crazy.
Trial or no trial,
there's gonna be a hanging.
You take my advice and get
your friend out of jail. Now.
Otherwise, I'd go
shopping for a wreath.
That's what I like
about the people in this town--
really helpful.
True.
ROWDY:
Uh-oh.
Things do get worse
before they get better.
-(horse neighs)
- FAVOR: They're gonna learn
when I give an order I mean it.
What are you doing here?
I gave orders for everybody
to stay with the herd.
You did?
Why didn't somebody tell me?
Well, anyway,
I had to come into town to get
a little odds and ends,
you know, salt, like that.
Needle and thread, too,
Mr. Wishbone.
I guess I just clean forgot
what you said.
We thought you
might need some help.
FAVOR:
Thought? You fathead!
You need a brain to think!
The only thing you can do
to help is get out of sight.
One look at you,
and this town is gonna figure
you're here to dismantle
that jail, board by board.
Now, turn those horses around.
Too late.
Uh, look at that.
Yeah, they're headed
for the jail.
Spread the word.
Come with me, George.
Some of you men come with me.
FAVOR:
Climb down, quick.
If I can't keep Jim alive
with talk,
then I'll have to do it
your way, the hard way.
Hi, Bill.
You spread the word?
- Yeah. The rest of the boys
are on the way. -Good.
This is like spilled powder--
one spark and they'll go off.
Yeah, well, touch a match to me,
and I'm liable
to go off with 'em.
Me, too.
I'll tell you one thing,
if Favor doesn't
come out here pretty soon,
- I'm gonna go in after him.
- You've done enough busting in
where you don't belong--
let him settle this.
Oh, Joe, talk
won't settle anything.
It won't get
anybody shot, either.
Yeah. Set that crowd off,
and that herd of ours
is gonna have to find
Denver by itself.
It's gonna take more than water
to straighten you out, Roy.
Well, just like you figured,
them drovers are
all over that jail.
- Not for long, they ain't.
- Roy, it doesn't make sense
to finish a fight
that hasn't even started.
It started...
when that drover put a bullet
in the major's back.
And it won't be finished until
he's stretched out that rope
that I strung up for him.
We have a courthouse,
a judge coming tomorrow--
let Devlin handle it.
Devlin?
(laughs):
Devlin.
Devlin couldn't handle
a hot Sunday afternoon,
you know that, Della.
(exhales, chuckles quietly)
Maybe you do.
Maybe you want
those cowboy Galahads
to walk out of this.
I didn't say that.
It's all settled, boys!
Uh, just a little
misunderstanding.
The drovers ain't gonna
start anything, so...
you can all go home.
- We ain't leavin' till they do!
- They ain't in town for nothin'!
- That's right!
-(angry clamoring)
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
(chuckles weakly)
Please listen to me.
The drover's gonna be tried
tomorrow just according to law.
Whether you like it or not,
these people have
a right to be here.
Now, we just had it all out, and
Mr. Cryder here is the witness.
No matter what the jury
says tomorrow,
the drovers
ain't gonna interfere.
They ain't waitin' for no jury.
No, they want
to bust 'em out right now!
No, no, uh... this trail boss
gave me his word.
And you believe him?
What's the matter, Devlin?
You forget so soon?
Major Courtney was murdered.
Was shot in the back...
by a drover.
Now, you gonna take
a drover's word for anything?
Now, Roy, you've got to listen.
I say he's lying.
He wants to bust his man out,
and he's stalling
till his whole crew gets here.
(indistinct chatter)
We don't need no trial,
we know who did it,
and I say turn him over
right now.
FAVOR:
Hold up.
Kane just said I was lying.
I'm ready to prove
that he's wrong.
Take off your guns.
We won't ask for "em back
until the trial's over.
Got anything more to say, Kane?
He's bluffing.
We're just here
to help a friend.
Same as you'd do for a neighbor.
But it's up to the law
what happens to him, not you,
not us.
Shooting it out ain't gonna
make him any more innocent
or any more guilty,
and it'll cost us all a lot more
than we can afford to pay.
DELLA: Seems to me
the man's got a point.
If they were gonna
tear down that jail,
they wouldn't be
standing there talking.
Uh, I, uh,
I still say it's a trick.
Oh, it's no trick
to take off some guns.
Drover or no drover, I'd say
that the man makes sense.
(nervous chuckle) The drovers
can't do anything without these.
So please... please go on home.
You'll all have your say
in the trial tomorrow.
If there is a trial.
FAVOR:
Della.
Thanks for the good word.
Thanks?
For what?
Postponing the inevitable?
Your friend's like a rabbit
caught in a bear trap,
Mr. Favor.
Be a lot kinder to put him
out of his misery now,
while you still have a chance.
She's right.
This didn't settle anything.
They're gonna come back and...
when they do...
You know, it's really comforting
knowing the law is on your side.
Yeah, it looks like
we got one good friend.
It's gonna take proof to get Jim
out of this, not friends.
You stay here, and you
better not start anything.
What are you gonna do?
See what I can do to...
put Jim out of his misery,
while I still can.
(piano playing lively song)
(piano continues
playing lively song)
ROWDY: What do you expect
to find back here?
(piano music
continues in distance)
(chuckles): Can't do much worse
than we have so far.
According to the sheriff,
this is where
Major Courtney's body was found.
Well, a saloon
near the livery stable.
Now there's a dead end.
- FAVOR: That's funny.
- What's funny?
Everybody's been so worried
about Quince coming out,
nobody's bothered to ask
what Major Courtney's body
was doing back here.
Was the major still in there
when you left last night?
Yeah, him among
some of the others.
It's likely, then,
that he came out this way.
Come on.
(knocking)
Yes?
What do you want?
- Just a few answers.
- I'm in a hurry.
- You leaving?
- Just a short trip.
Oh, looks like kind of
an expensive trip, isn't it?
Well, I always travel
first class, Mr. Yates.
You travelin' or you runnin'?
- From what?
- The trial tomorrow.
I'm not interested
in the trial.
That makes you about the
only person in town who ain't.
(laughs): Well... some people
are interested in trouble,
and I'm not.
Then how come you took
our side this afternoon?
What do you really know
about Major Courtney's death?
Nothing.
The major left here last night.
Did he always
go out the back door,
or was that just last night?
Who told you that?
Nobody.
Just wondering why his body
was found out in the alley.
Now, he could go down there
and get hisself bushwhacked,
or he could go down there
to meet someone--
the person who killed him.
Yeah. In either case,
your drover.
How would Quince know that the
major was going out that way,
or even that
there was a back way.
I can't see the major
going down there
to meet someone
he had just had a fight with.
Figured to be someone he knew.
Well, that's not gonna
get you far, Mr. Favor.
He knew almost everyone,
and they all loved him.
There's another possibility.
I still haven't found anyone
who heard that shot.
Now, just suppose his body
had been dumped out there
after he'd been killed
somewheres else.
In the Pair-A-Dice, I presume?
- Where else?
-(chuckles)
Well, now, that's
very clever, Mr. Favor.
Your drover has no defense,
so you'll simply attack,
without proof
-of anything. -Well, this town
doesn't have any proof,
just a lot of talk,
a lot of smoke.
So it looks like I'm gonna have
to raise a little smoke myself.
By accusing me? Or do you
have somebody else in mind?
Kane was in the saloon
last night.
So were four or five other men.
Let's get this straight--
I don't care
who killed your major, or why.
I just want to show
that Quince didn't do it.
Good luck.
Oh, you're gonna help me.
Oh. Just like that?
You're a drifter.
You come into this town,
you throw a couple of dollars
on the bar,
and then you're off again.
This town keeps me in business.
How many people you think'd
come in here if I helped you?
How many customers add up
to a man's life?
How many add up to mine?
Come here, I want
to show you something.
(piano playing in saloon)
You see that blonde
sitting at the table?
That's Della Locke,
the way she was a few years ago.
With the same kind of customers.
Oh, there were hundreds of them,
with trail dust on their hands,
and in their minds.
But they bought me this,
Mr. Favor-- this office--
with the walls to keep "em out.
Now, do you want me
to give that up now?
Can't hide in here
forever, Della.
And when you do go out,
you're gonna have to go
past that gallows tree.
How you gonna feel then?
I think we've run out
of conversation, Mr. Favor.
I swear you're afraid, Della.
Of what?
Is it that you know somebody
who had a reason
to kill the major?
How many times
do I have to tell you
that no one had a reason
to kill the major?
In this town, he was known
as the 13th Apostle.
My, my, my, sort of
a friendly apostle...
How dare you!
Give me that!
Well, I realize it ain't polite,
but, uh, neither is a hangin'.
Well, well, now,
it seems like you and the major
had more than just
a passing acquaintance, I'd say.
Their respectable town hero
running for governor
and the lady saloon keeper.
I wonder how many people
know of the connection.
There isn't any connection.
That picture was taken
many years ago.
Yeah, but you still have it,
and you're living
here in Cottonwood,
and so did the major.
That doesn't mean
a thing, I tell you!
Don't tell me;
let's go tell the sheriff.
The sheriff?
You don't want to answer to me,
maybe you'll answer to the law.
There isn't anything to answer.
Whatever you say to the sheriff,
I'll deny,
and I'm pretty sure that he'll
take my side against yours.
Well, let's just
go make sure, huh?
Just what are you trying
to prove?
That dirt
you were talking about, Della.
I'd like to find out
how much of it stuck.
Now, do you want
to walk over there
or do you want to be taken
over there?
'Cause either way
you're going to go.
Ah, ah, ah, we'll go out
the back way.
It's quieter.
It's Della-- them cow pushers
are taking her to jail.
You got any answers?
No, just questions.
Maybe the sheriff can help us
with the answers.
Oh, Rowdy, you stay here.
If Kane shows up...
Don't worry, I'll let you know.
Well, that ties it.
Della just played
pick up the posy
for the last time
with them drovers.
Corey, get Cryder.
Now, listen, Pete.
I want you to start talking
around town.
Make it good now.
We'll make sure there won't be
no trial tomorrow this time.
Bill, Josh.
- Sheriff, you ever do
any hunting? -Oh, now,
what has that got
to do with Della?
You know, it's a funny thing
about wild animals--
you close in on 'em,
they seem to forget
everything nature gave them.
Reminded of a doe
I come across once.
This grizzly had her boxed up
in a blind canyon.
All that doe had to do
to get away was backtrack.
Instead, when she saw me,
she tried to make a run for it.
Made it real easy
for that grizzly.
Mr. Favor, in Cottonwood
we have our share of wolves,
but grizzlies we haven't got.
Then, what are you afraid of?
Will somebody please talk
some sense around here?
She was getting ready
to run for it.
- Want to know why.
- told you,
I don't like trials
or lynchings.
Especially if they're
of an innocent man?
QUINCE:
Mr. Favor.
All right, you don't want
to talk to me,
let's go talk to him.
- Oh, now, wait a minute.
- You stay out of this!
I thought that was you, boss.
Look, did you get anything,
anything at all?
I don't know yet, Jim.
This is Miss Della Locke.
Ma'am.
Jim, she was at the saloon
last night.
Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am,
I must have been worse off
than I thought
not to remember you.
Well, say, maybe you can tell
'em-- about the fight, I mean.
It never was like they said.
I never knew
this Major Courtney.
I never was going to kill him.
You can tell 'em that,
can't you?
What's wrong, Mr. Favor?
If she was there,
she should know.
Yeah, she should know.
Take it easy, Jim.
I'll do everything I can.
Yeah, just a drifter.
Dumb cowpoke who eats dust
all day long,
sleeps in his clothes at night.
When he does get
a little time off,
he heads for the bright lights
of the nearest town.
Oh, nobody important
like your major.
Can't begin to compare
except he wants to live, too,
just like the major.
Still want to put him
out of his misery?
- Leave me alone.
- No.
Take a good look.
How does it feel
to have the say-so
for whether a man lives or dies?
- DELLA: I don't, I don't. -What
are you trying to do, Mr. Favor?
Same thing you're trying to do--
stop a lynching.
They're coming, Mr. Favor,
the whole town.
If you've got anything
to say, Della,
now is the time to say it.
(indistinct chatter in distance)
There's nothing to say.
Let's go.
Can't stop them bare-handed.
(indistinct chatter)
It's not up to us,
is it, Sheriff?
Well, how can I stop 'em?
They won't listen.
Well, make 'em listen.
KANE:
No talk this time, Devlin.
Give us the drover
or we'll walk right over you.
(bullet ricochets)
The prisoner is your friend.
Here, you talk to 'em.
I don't want any part of it.
All right, inside, everybody,
come on, let's go.
Roy, I'm with you now.
Come on.
Favor.
Joe, Mushy, you take the back.
Here.
Mushy.
Wishbone, you stay with Jim.
Clay, Rowdy, you take the front.
Come on.
You can't hold 'em back.
We're sure going to try.
Favor, no more stalling,
no more promises.
We want the drover.
Oh, and you'd just come on
and get him, huh?
Better think about it,
though, Kane.
You might get your lynching,
but the price
is going to be pretty high.
If that's the way you want it...
you'd better have your men
throw their rifles out.
I'm going to count three.
(guns cocking)
One,
two...
Wait!
Table stakes, Mr. Favor,
winner take all.
Congratulations.
You've said all you're going
to say, Della.
Now stay out of this.
Why, Roy,
so somebody else can die?
Get out of the way, Della.
Not until it's said, all of it.
I'm telling you.
You're not telling me,
not anymore!
Forget it, Roy, you'll never be
another Major Courtney.
Not even you could sink
that low.
FAVOR:
The lady's got something to say!
You're all going to listen.
You can't talk
about the major that way!
I can talk about him
any way I want.
I was his wife.
(murmuring)
Oh, you didn't know that,
did you?
You fools.
You're waving your torches,
carrying your rifles,
and for what?
Major Almighty Courtney
was a lie,
a paper idol on a pedestal
of dead minds and broken dreams.
That big, beautiful town hall--
his gift to you.
Oh, and you paid for it,
each one of you,
over his crooked tables
at the Pair-a-Dice.
He bought your respect
just like he bought
every one of us,
and the beauty of the rotten
little fairy tale was--
is that he made us like it.
He made us beg
to genuflect at his altar.
Why are you listening
to all this?
Because you can't stop it, Roy,
any more than you can stop being
what he always wanted you to
be-- a rug for him to walk on,
a disciple to hold him up
as he walked across the water!
You've said enough.
Well, now,
what's the matter, Sheriff?
Am I getting too close?
Why do you think that he pinned
this badge on you--
because he thought that you were
going to uphold the law?
Oh, no.
He put it on because he wanted
a coward to bend the law his way
just as he wanted
a thief like Cryder
to run the bank on his terms
and a man with fists
and no brain like Kane
to build his ranch
out of the broken bones
of little people
too weak to fight back!
But most of all, he needed me.
The audience of one that he had
to have in his theater of lies.
Oh, I knew.
I knew from the beginning.
But I ran his saloon,
I cheated his customers,
and I laughed at his jokes!
Because that's what I was.
I was his saloon woman.
Not good enough to,
to wear his name
but good enough to wear
his cheap jewelry.
Because of him, something died
in each one of us,
and what was dead was hope!
Hope.
I understood that last night
for the first time when
he told me that we were through.
That cowboy didn't kill him.
I did.
I only wish
he could have shot back.
Well...
you want a lynching, don't you?!
What are you waiting for?!
Come on.
I pulled your idol down.
Now, why don't
you string me up?!
Go on, Devlin, put on the badge.
Put it on and make the law
really mean something!
Badge is just
a piece of tin, Della.
You'll have to answer
to the man behind it, not me.
Poor Ben.
He's like a puppy
who's lost his leash.
Well, Mr. Favor...
you think some
of the dirt rubbed off?
Whatever there was, Della,
you sure cleaned it up.
♪♪
Come on, Mr. Favor,
I can't close up this box
till I get that cup.
Mmm.
Well, we're all set
to roll, boss.
Oh, Jim, good to have you back.
Mr. Favor, you don't know
how good it is to be back.
Jim, uh, me and some of the boys
are going to ride
into Red Rock tonight, maybe
lift a few beers and things.
Interested?
(chuckles)
Well, I'll tell you, Rowdy, uh,
Wishbone and I found a new way
to pass away the time.
Oh, yeah, you did,
and what's that?
Needlework.
Hey, come on, we're in a hurry.
Get the wagon rolling.
Come on, Mushy, close it up.
Head 'em up!
Move 'em out!
♪ Rollin', rollin', rollin' ♪
♪ Keep movin', movin', movin' ♪
♪ Though they're disapprovin' ♪
♪ Keep them dogies movin' ♪
♪ Rawhide! ♪
♪ Rawhide...! ♪
Hyah!
(whip cracks twice)