The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961): Season 1, Episode 2 - Mr. Earp Meets a Lady - full transcript

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♪ Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp ♪

♪ Brave, courageous, and bold ♪

♪ Long live his fame and long live his glory ♪

♪ And long may his story be told ♪

Wyatt Earp against his will was Marshal of Ellsworth, Kansas.

The year is 1874, and Ellsworth was one of the wild cow towns of the Western Frontier.

Bill Thompson had killed Earp's close friend, Sheriff Whitney.

And Earp had arrested Bill, who escaped.

This pursuit of Bill Thompson was the key to Wyatt Earp's success in Ellsworth.

Wyatt, I put this ordinance through because you insisted.



But it's a new and radical idea.

Well, I'm a new and radical peace officer, eh?

You've got along fine without trying to make them check their guns.

You've calmed this town down.

Look at it. It's like a village back east.

Don't fool yourself, Ed.

Still Ellsworth, Kansas.

Just two jumps from the Chisholm Trail.

Well, I may be stupid, but I don't see what the
no gun law has to do with catching Bill Thompson.

Well, his brother Ben's bound to come back into town sometime or other.

Oh, you mean to decoy Bill by throwing Ben in jail?

That's right.

But that's not the only reason for the no gun rule.

Packing guns in town is a tradition with the cowhands we've gotta break.



But it's an old tradition, Wyatt.

They feel they have to go armed in self defense.

Sure, but like all our old customs, it just isn't logical.

If they're not wearing any guns, nobody's going to shoot at them.

Shooting at a man that isn't on is like shooting a fellow in the back.

Just isn't done. Right?

Yes, but you can't change a cow hand. You'll see.

- Howdy, gentlemen.
- Howdy.

- Does that mean a man can't pack a gun in this town?
- That's right.

I've set up check racks at the saloons, the hotel and Bibi's store.

We posted signs like this all over town.

We're trying to keep you healthy.

They tell me you're pretty good, but you're
not good enough to enforce that stupid law.

Not in Ellsworth.

Easy now, Mr.

Let them talk.

I've been carrying guns since I was a kid.

Got to be a habit.

And I aim to keep on carryin' 'em.

Well, not in Ellsworth.

Look, Mr. You and your friend start for the nearest check rack.

Now!

Make your move.

Now drop your gun.

Left hand!

You know where the jail is? Start walking!

Pick up your hat.

Get the guns in.

They wouldn't check their guns, Mike.

Lock 'em up for ten days.

- Don't we get a trial?
- Sure, if you insist.

And you get 30 more days for resisting an officer.

Still want a trial?

Uh, Mr. Earp, sir?

Uh, this is Miss Abby Crandall. She wants to...uh...

Uh. Miss Crandall, meet my friend, Marshall Wyatt Earp.

Well, Bat really does know you.

How do you do, Mr. Earp?

I'm in good health, thank you, ma'am.

I came all the way in from the cattle camp just to meet you.

My dad says I'm a born hero worshiper.

I guess I am sort of cheeky about it.

- Would you mind just shaking hands?
- Not at all.

Thank you very much.

Well, not bad.

I believe everything you told me about Mr. Earp.

We already heard how he cut down the Thompsons.

I didn't tell a half of it.

Well, now, hold on.

All this gushy talk isn't needed.

I'm not President Grant.

Now, what favor can I do for you?

Favor?

Well, I would guess that, uh, one of your relatives was in trouble or something.

Oh, no, Mr. Earp.

Miss Crandall's dad runs a big cattle spread.

Is your father, uh, Tom Crandall? The Oklahoma Sheriff there?

Mr. Earp is suspicious of me, but all great marshals have to be that way.

You see, I've met Mr., uh, Hickkok of Wichita,

and Mr. Bassett of Dodd City, Mr. Luke Short of Abilene...

He specializes in marshal.

And now I can brag that I met the great Wyatt Earp.

Well, thanks for introducing us, Pat.

Hope I meet you again real soon.

You, too, Bat.

Same here, Ms. Crandall.

You weren't too polite, Mr. Earp.

I wasn't intending to be.

She's the nicest girl I ever met.

No paint and potter and no swear words.

I thought you'd like her.

Mr. Masterson, I wish you'd stick to poker.

You wouldn't get hurt so bad.

Sir?

Did it ever occur to you that Miss Crandall may not be telling the whole truth? No.

No. What do you mean?

She smiled with her mouth, but there wasn't any smile in her eyes.

- But didn't you notice it?
- No.

And that story about her riding all the way into town just to shake my hand.

Well, you're famous, Mr. Earp.

No, that's just local notoriety, that's all.

I'm not trying to say that she's going to lead you into a life of shame.

A life of shame? With her? Why, Mr. Earp!

Mr. Masterson, I think the time has come for you and I to have a serious talk.

Excuse me, Wyatt.

I just heard the new prisoners talking.

They say Ben Thompson's in town.

- Where?
- The Red Dog Saloon.

I sure hope he's wearing his gun.

Now, you stay here.

How's the marshalin' business?

Quiet. Hope it stays that way.

Don't expect any trouble from me.

I'm back in this poker game.

Care to sit in?

No, thanks. Not right now.

- You forgot something, didn't you?
- Forgot what?

There’s a sign. There's a check rack.

Take them off.

Let's go see the judge.

Judge Osborne going to back you up in that
gun checking monkey business, and you know it.

Let's see what the judge says.

Well, all right.

I think it's a fine state of affairs.

A man can't sit down into an honest poker game without
you coming around pestering him all the time.

I got a big investment here.

I got a heavy investment, too, Ben.

- In what?
- This town.

I got my whole hide put up for security.

We asked Judge Miller to come in.

River? Yes, sir.

- Hey.
- Judge Miller.

- Where's Judge Osmond?
- We don't have Judge Osmond anymore.

He left town last night, Ben.

For good.

The governor made Henry sign and appointed me.

Judge Miller, I found Ben in the Red Dog wearing his guns.

- Did he try to resist you?
- No, sir.

Very well, that'll be ten days in jail, Mr. Thompson.

His name is fine. I'll pay.

The jail sentence is mandatory.

Lock him up, Mike.

This is the second time you've tried this trick.

You don't want me.

You want my brother.

That's right.

You think Bill's fool enough to come walking into a trap
like this? Twice now I've let you run it over me, Wyatt.

Next time I'm going to gun you.

I'll keep that in mind, eh.

Put 'im in a clean cell.

Is it going to work?

He knows Bill's a fool. That's what made him so mad.

You think Bill will come in and try to break Ben out?

Sure. He'll come into town with his whole gang and aim to blast his way through.

Then we'd better swear on some special deputies.

We sure had.

Here are the deputies.

Wyatt, do you know all these gentlemen?

Mr. Daley.

Mr. Davidson.

You, sir?

I'm Jim Richards, Marshal.

I met you at Sheriff Whitney's funeral.

All right, sir.

Well, now, to explain this, I better tell
you what I know about the Thompsons.

First, with the exception of Bill's escape last week,

they've only pulled one other jail delivery.

That was in Hayes, Kansas, March of '71.

Now, Bill was in jail for robbing a stage.

Ben and about twelve gunslingers rode up to the
jail and started a big palaver with the sheriff.

Under cover of this, two men on foot sneaked around
back and blew a hole in the wall with dynamite.

They yanked Bill out, put them on a horse, and the job was done.

But Wyatt, what makes you so sure they'll try the same thing here?

Ben is the brains of the outfit and we got him locked up.

Bill was too stupid to think up a plan of his own and it might have been too much to even try.

I don't want to seem too positive about this, Ed.

But, you're the boss.

No, I think you figured it pretty close.

Well, then, here's the layout the way I see it.

We station men at these points here, here and here.

We'll let Bill make his fight talk right here.

But we don't do any shooting until the dynamiters are spotted.

And I hope we can drop them and by that time...

Mr. Earp, can I see you a minute?

- Yes?
- It's Miss Abby. She's outside.

She told me something you should know, sir.

Gentlemen, you go ahead and pick your stations.

Bat's got something that might be important.

All right, Richard, you take this station here.

Daily, you're here.

- Does he believe me now?
- Sure he does, Miss Crandall.

Look, I only want to help you.

Maybe I did sound a little too romantic about peace officers,
but I recognized Ben Thompson when you were taking him to jail.

I could identify him.

Now just let me get this straight.

You think it was Ben that pulled that Wells Fargo job in Topeka.

She saw Ben and the others before they put on their masks.

Just give me one good look at him, Mr. Earp.

Or are you still afraid I'm trying to lead Bat into a life of shame?

Well, that was a joke that shouldn't have been repeated, and I apologize.

Then we're friends?

It's no use, Bat.

You rode shotgun for Wells Fargo, Mr. Earp.

Don't you want to solve...?

You've said enough already.

Mr. Masterson.

Yes, sir.

- Do you mind if I frisk you?
- What?

- You're wearing pants, aren't you?
- Mr. Earp!

You say you want a close look at Ben Thompson.

Well, all visitors in there must be searched.

All right.

Nothing personal, now.

All right, we'll go see Ben.

Well?

- Hey, what is this?
- Life's full of questions, Ben.

Well, was he the one you...? She just left!

- Well, did she identify him?
- Maybe

Well, there, that proves she's all right.

And you insulted Miss Crandall by searching her.

Mr. Masterson.

Oh, I'm sorry.

You didn't really have to search her, though.

Look, if you expect to be a peace officer someday,
you're going to have to deal with suspicion.

What?

One of the oldest dodges a woman can use to gain confidence is to identify someone.

See, this puts her on the side of the law.

You still don't trust her.

Now, she may be everything she says.

On the other hand, she may have used that identification
trick to find out exactly where Ben cell is,

and to let him know by her appearance that Bill is on his way.

Miss Abby, mixed up with the Thompsons?

I may be doing her a great injustice.

Well, you sure are, Mr. Earp.

Well, in that case, I'll apologize and right.

We better be getting to our stations.

Bill's coming today. You'll want to work it before sundown.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Earp, they're comin'!

Afoot? Are you sure?

Yes, sir. I saw them stop to get organized in the picnic grove.

Now, you'd better go tell Judge Miller.

Wait!

Remind his we don't want anybody killed. They'll give us no information dead.

Tell them not to hurt Bill's horses, huh?

Yes, sir.

Hey, Earp!

Hey!

Ya hear me?

Open that door and turn Ben loose.

It's no use, Bill. We got two men down.

Deputy's got it from the roof.

I'm going to take the men out of myself. Get outta my way.

Ben, I'm coming and get you out.

Pick up the guns.

- Pete!
- Get in there!

Pete, bring the keys!

Bill, you stupid idiot.

Go and get in.

Take real good care of him, Ben.

Heh-heh. No use trying to beat you.

How about we call it a night?

That suits me.

What's your hunch?

- Do you think the Thompson crowd will come back?
- No, not tonight.

Well, I'll let the special deputies go home. All right?

All right.

Ah, Mike, will you check the cells again for me?

Right.

I suppose we'll have to hang Bill.

Yeah, I suppose.

What else but hanging?

You don't sound too enthusiastic, Wyatt.

I'm not.

If I were the judge, I'd take Bill's mental condition into account.

I saw his eyes when he killed Sheriff Whitney.

I got another good look at him again today.

We ought to think about it then.

Well, we'll see.

Good night.

Good night.

You know, you could have been killed taking Bill the way you did.

- Now you don't think he should be hanged?
- Not if he's crazy, no.

But he murdered Sheriff Whitney.

Mr. Masterson, I hope Bill is sane and gets the rope.

But if he's a lunatic, the law says you can't hang him.

- The law says.
- I thought you wanted to be an officer of the law.

Well, yes, sir, but I sure don't...

Then you'd better learn it'll be your job to protect
every man's life, even when you think he deserves to die.

- By the way, what...what happened to Miss Crandall? Did she leave town?
- She went back to camp before the fight.

- Why?
- Oh, I wish I knew exactly what she was up to.

Well, Miss Cradle is absolutely on the level.

Women disillusion you.

She likes you, Mr. Earp.

She says you're the best looking and most capable of all the marshals she's met.

She's met a lot of marshals.

That's what she said.

They're all sound asleep, Wyatt.

Good.

- You and Bat think you can stay awake?
- Sure.

We both slept from after supper until almost midnight.

Good.

I'm going to run over the hotel and get a little sleep.

Now, no visitors.

If anybody knocks, I don't care if it's a governor with a prisoner.

You keep them outside and

one of you come on over the hotel and get me.

Right.

Yes, sir.

Good night.

Oh, Mr. Masterson,

don't take what I said too seriously about women.

I'm no expert.

Come to think of it, no man is.

Bat, let me in. Quick!

- Miss Abby, what's wrong?
- They're after me because I told on Ben.

Is Mr. Earp here?

No, at the hotel.

Who's that?

Oh, it's Mr. Teague, the deputy.

- Stick 'em up, both of you.
- Miss Abby, you with a gun?

- Take his keys.
- You, drop your gun belt with your left hand.

You must be loco.

Treading with the Thompson's.

Shut up.

Through that door, both of you.

Go on.

Good girl.

Open up that door.

All right, you two, inside.

Better tie them up and gag 'em.

Nah, stranglin's quicker.

- Ben?
- Get over there.

You, outside, you idiot.

You go to that and I'll leave you right here in this cell.

Right over there.

I don't like you.

You done a good job. Now, where's the marshal?

He's at the hotel.

The horses are right around the corner.

I'm going to get out of here fast.

No, we got business first.

What do you mean?

I promised to gun, Wyatt. That's just what I'm going to do.

Hey, Earp!

Marshal Earp!

I just traded places with your friends, Wyatt,

so get your guns and come down here and make your fight.

If that's the way you want it, Ben.

Not in the back!

Play cool and stay out of this!

Crazy fool!

I told you this has got to be done in a fair fight.

He won't let you do it.

You better get him out of here.

I'm going to kill Earp myself.

Now get on that horse.

I got to get him out of here.

Well, go on, then. I'll try and keep Earp here.

Thanks, Honey. I'll see you later.

Bill wouldn't let Ben make a fair fight.

Don't start for your guns.

You're fast, but all I got to do is pull a trigger.

- I didn't quite guess it, did I?
- Not quite.

So you're one of Ben's girls, huh?

I'm his girl. The only one.

- Well, what about his wife in Wichita?
- You're lying.

There's Nita Dreams in Amarillo.

Jean Prentice, who lived in Dodge.

I don't believe you.

What about Alice Maebry? She, uh, lived right here in Ellsworth.

She went to Denver and killed herself when Ben left her.

Ben gets around living his kind of life.

It comes in handy having a love sick girl like you and every town in the circuit.

No, I did guess you wrong.

I thought you had brains.

For a young girl like you,

getting yourself mixed up with a dishonest gambler and a road agent?

Don't you see what a fool you made of yourself, Miss Abby?

Keep your sermon to yourself.

I'll look out for me. You look out for you.

All right.

Let's start walking.

Where?

To jail.

Women. I don't know.

Now, Mr. Masterson, that, uh, is a reckless statement.

They're, uh, subjects that can occupy a man all of his life.

Yes, sir.

- What's going to happen to Miss Abby?
- Come here and I'll show you.

Hey, is Judge Miller turning her loose?

Mr. Masterson, when a woman is young,
she's too young to know right from wrong.

And if she's pretty, there's no law of
man that can touch her bonnet strings.

Yeah, but didn't you raise a holler, Mr. Earp?

No. No, I didn't.

I got other things more important on my mind.

There's an insane killer running loose, and this time,
when I arrest Bill Thompson, he's going to stay locked up.

- By the way, when does Miss Abby's trial come up?
- Oh, I, uh, I wanted to talk to you about that, Wyatt.

- As a matter of fact, I...
- You let her go, huh? Well, that was wise. Ed.

Is it just because she was a woman?

Well, that and the fact that, uh, well, you see, actually, we
don't have any facilities for women in this particular jail.

Yeah, that's it. That's it exactly.

No facilities.

♪ Well, he cleaned up the country ♪

♪ The old Wild West country ♪

♪ He made law and order prevail ♪

♪ And none can deny it ♪

♪ The legend of Wyatt ♪

♪ Forever will live on the trail ♪

♪ Oh, Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp ♪

♪ Brave, courageous and bold ♪

♪ Long live his fame and long live his glory ♪

♪ And long may his story be told ♪

♪ Long may his story ♪

♪ Be told ♪

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.