The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961): Season 1, Episode 26 - The Desperate Half-Hour - full transcript

♪ 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, as Marshal of Wichita in 1875,

had gone against hardened killers

like Manning Clemens and John Wesley Harden,

mature men with a lust for blood

and a quick hand on the grip of a Colt .45.

But there was a group of desperados,

most of them 18 or 20 years old,



who styled themselves Billy the Kid

or the Pecos Kid

or the Comanche Kid.

A few of them were like young Lonnie McVey,

known as the Kansas Kid,

who found himself hounded by a reputation

and driven toward death

at the end of a posse's rope.

How bad is he?

Ah, not too good.

We better get him to a doctor.

Anything really new in the paper?

Well, Times in New York City

is charging corruption by Tammany Hall.



The French have asked President Grant

if he'd like a statue.

Of himself?

No, statue of liberty.

They want to give it to us,

'cause we're the first republic.

Oh, I think that's a very nice idea.

How much would it cost?

No, Martha. That's not the point.

The point is, that if they gave us...

Lonnie?

Yeah, it's me.

Now, Martha...

Why have you come here?

Used to be my home, didn't it?

Lonnie, my boy, it's still your home.

We've missed you so and waited.

Martha.

There's a posse after me.

That's the only reason I came back.

A posse?

And you expect us to hide you here?

I always thought you were my father.

Oh, now, John...

We told him last time

he mustn't ever come back.

Oh, I... You agreed to it!

I know, but...

Why did you come here? Why is the law after you?

For something I didn't do.

You see, John?

No.

He's a stage robber

and a murderer.

Get out.

Not right now.

Please, John.

He can't expect us to hide

the Kansas Kid from the law.

Shut up. I'll hide myself.

I don't want you to do anything but shut up.

Ain't askin' ya.

I'm tellin' ya.

Lonnie, not your own father.

You practically threw me out,

ignored me when I was a kid.

I don't owe you a thing.

Far as I'm concerned,

you're just any stranger.

And this is just any house.

You can't hide here.

Who's stopping me?

Playing common sense oughta stop ya.

That posse'll report to Marshal Earp.

This is the first place he'll search.

He nor any other marshal don't know my real name.

You're not going to tell on him, John.

You can't.

He's our son.

He won't tell on me.

He knows what he'll get if he does.

Turned my horse loose

and made it here on foot.

I'm dead beat.

I'm going upstairs.

The least you can do is give me a bed for the night,

considering you haven't much choice.

Now, Martha, we agreed...

Lonnie, what are they after you for?

They say I killed a man.

They aim to hang me.

Marshal Earp, this is Sheriff Osbourne

from Kingman County.

Oh, howdy. Mr. Earp,

these are my two deputies,

Larson, Jones...

Glad to know you. A long way from home. Yeah.

They chased the Kansas Kid into town,

but he got away. Oh, how?

The Kid shot Danny Obert,

just when we were overtaking him

outside the city limits.

We had to take care of him.

He's over at the Doc's now.

Dr. Blake's a good man.

Seemed to know his business.

Sit down, gentlemen.

And you think the Kid's holed up in Wichita, huh?

Oh, he has to be. Rolled in here

not more than a half an hour ago.

Now, what's he wanted for

besides wounding one of your deputies?

Well, he killed a Wells Fargo guard

in a stage hold up outside of Kingman City.

I'm having some of these printed up.

The Kansas Kid.

There are a dozen kids this and that.

What's his real name?

Nobody knows. Works out of the bush country.

Never comes in to town, huh?

Hmm. If he has,

he's sure got sense enough

not to brag on who he is.

But your men can identify him?

We got close enough for that.

He's slender,

brown hair,

brown eyes...

Good-lookin' kid.

Marshal Earp,

we picked up a stray horse

that was wandering on cross street

off Douglas Avenue. I got him outside.

That could be the Kid's horse.

Let's take a look.

This is the one right here.

Got the blaze.

Three white stockings.

Belongs to Kid, all right.

Looks like he was traveling light.

Been a long ride.

Looks like an old saddle, too,

about 8 or 9 years I'd say. Uh-huh.

The saddle-maker's mark

might give us a lead.

Looks like old man Gentry's.

Here, in Wichita?

Yeah.

We'll take the horse on down to his shop.

You and your men might as well get some rest

and something to eat.

Any objection to my going along

with you, Mr. Earp?

It happens there is. Old man Gentry may not

want to talk in front of strangers.

Okay, you're the law in Wichita,

so long as we get the kid.

If he's here, you'll get him.

Come on, boy.

Who is it?

Your mother.

Where's the old man?

Did he go to turn me in?

I don't know.

I was born in this house.

I might as well die here.

If you're innocent as you say,

you should give yourself up.

Stand trial, I suppose.

Yes.

They've tagged me with enough jobs

to hang me nine times.

We know Marshal Earp.

He's a decent young man.

He goes to our church.

Awful fast with a gun, I hear.

He'd treat you fairly.

I'm good with a gun, too.

Guns.

That's how it started.

You were smaller than the boys your age.

You thought you'd be evened up with guns.

I evened up.

Your father would have stood by you.

The morning you ran away

he'd gone to hire a lawyer.

What have you done now?

What have you brought to us?

The old man's walking around in the yard.

Guess he can't make up his mind to turn me in.

I want you to make up your own mind.

Go to Marshal Earp and tell him

you're this, this Kansas Kid.

Too late, Mom.

It's never too late to... To go to prison?

I could take that for stage robbery.

But you don't know what it's like

to have a reputation like mine.

They accuse me of hold ups

I was miles away from,

of shooting men I never saw in my life.

Every crime that's unsolved, I did it.

I'm the Kansas Kid.

And proud of it.

Not anymore.

Then go to Marshal Earp.

Tell him what you've just told me.

Mom, I never could talk to Poppa,

but I used to be able to tell you things.

Tell me now, Lonnie.

All right.

You ever hear of lynching?

Earp would hand me over to that posse.

They'd hang me on the trail.

That your saddle, Mr. Gentry?

Yeah, I made it.

Remember who bought it?

Forget.

You keep a record of all your sales, don't you?

No.

Look, Mr. Gentry,

Wichita is a small town.

The boy that rode that can't hide here for very long.

Now, if you know who it is,

the kindest thing you could do is to tell me.

How do you figure that?

Some men from Kingman County are after him.

I can vouch for me and my deputies,

but the other crowd spots him first,

I can't vouch for them.

Your memory improving?

You wouldn't want me to remember, Wyatt.

Some friends of mine involved?

Good, decent, people.

Your withholding information like this

might lead to the arrest of an outlaw.

You know what that means? Jail?

You wouldn't go that far.

Yes, I would if I had to.

Come on, you might as well tell me.

I'm gonna find out anyway.

Okay, Wyatt.

I tried to protect a good family.

John McVey bought if from me.

John McVey?

I'm looking for a kid that's 18 or 19 years of age.

Does he have any children?

He had a son, if you must know.

No, I almost wish I didn't have to know.

He's their sorrow, Wyatt.

Make it as easy on them as you can.

Yeah.

I'll be back for that later.

Oh, hello, Wyatt. Come in.

Evening, John.

Why don't you sit down?

No, thanks.

Is your son at home? Wyatt?

Look, I know you want to lie to me.

And I couldn't blame you much if you did.

He said he didn't kill the Wells Fargo guard.

Well, maybe he didn't.

I... I'm not trying to make excuses for him.

People blamed his mother and me.

They always blame the parents

when a boy goes wrong.

Well, they shouldn't blame his mother.

I'm the one, I guess.

Always on the go.

Ohio to Illinois.

Illinois to Kentuck'

and then out here.

Scratching for a living.

And forgetting, I guess,

that my boy needed a little "love me."

And every time he needed me, Wyatt,

I wasn't around.

Ain't much feeling between us, I guess.

And heavens knows there oughta be.

I... I still don't know the whole answer,

between him and me.

But, Wyatt,

save him for us if you can.

I'll do what I can, John.

Now, I have to arrest him. Where is he?

Well, not alone, Wyatt.

He's got two .45's.

Give Mrs. McVey a little time.

Perhaps she can talk him into...

All right, Marshal Earp, come and get me.

No, Lonnie. He's our friend.

No friend of mine.

I'm sorry.

Take it careful, Earp.

Don't shoot him.

Aim at me.

Finish what you've started, Lonnie.

Mom, that was a crazy thing to do.

I might have pulled the trigger accidental.

Not so smart of you, Mr. Earp.

Why didn't you jerk your guns before you came in?

This is your home, Lonnie.

I didn't think you'd want to do any shooting in here.

My home.

Sure. Ask him.

I want a fair trial for my son.

You promise that, Wyatt.

Of course.

Come on, Lonnie.

Before I turn you over to the posse,

you and I will have a long talk.

Come on.

Bye, Mom.

You deny you took any part

in the Wells Fargo robbery

near Kingman City, huh?

Yes.

Ah, I used to work for Wells Fargo.

Think I'd better get a telegram off

to Ed Beaty in Topeka.

He's their special agent for Kansas.

What good will that do?

You'll have to turn me over to the Kingman County

officers, anyway.

Not tonight, I don't.

Well, give me the rope as soon as you do.

You think they're gonna lynch ya?

What makes you so sure of that?

I know Osbourne.

Now look, you wounded one of his men.

He's pretty sore about it, and he's got a right to be.

But that doesn't make him a lyncher.

Have it your way.

Now, I want you to give me an honest answer

to one question. Did you ever kill a man?

No.

I shot up several, but I never killed anybody.

All right.

What difference does it make?

It makes a difference between a sentence

for armed robbery and the rope.

That's quite a big difference to your folks.

They don't care.

They care very much. More than you deserve.

Oh, sure.

Don't you play tough with me.

First time you get into real trouble, you run for home.

What'd you expect to find?

Strangers, a mother and father that hate ya?

I don't know... You found your parents!

The people that love you

in spite of everything you've done.

If I didn't think you were sorry for the pain you caused 'em,

I wouldn't even waste the cost for a telegram.

Holly!

You put this prisoner in a cell by himself.

I'm not gonna book him yet,

and I don't want any word going around town about it, you understand?

I'm gonna go down to the Eagle office

and send a telegram by press wire.

I'll be back in ten minutes.

Soon as I hear from Wells Fargo, I'll get word to your folks,

otherwise they won't be sleeping tonight.

Well, we better get back to the jail,

see if Earp has tracked down that saddle mark.

I don't trust that Earp fella, Charlie.

Why didn't he take you along?

It's his town.

Hey.

You the lawmen from Kingman City

that's after the Kansas Kid?

Yeah, you seen him?

No, but Marshal Earp's with the young fella in the jail.

Maybe he's pulling a fast one.

Oh?

I got a good look at the kid.

Slender, brown hair, brown eyes?

Yeah, that's him.

You just bought yourself a drink.

Oh, thanks.

Sit down, boys.

We don't want any trouble with Earp.

He's against lynching.

Oh?

You aim to swing the kid?

Just as quick as we get him away from Earp

and out of town.

But we're gonna have to play it smart.

You sure Wyatt won't turn him over to the posse?

John!

Oh, of course he won't.

Not till he hears from Wells Fargo.

Is there some legal trick that could work?

No, Martha.

They're officers of the law.

Why should they wanna work some trick?

Because...

I'm going over to that jail.

Oh, get a hold of yourself.

Wyatt will think we don't trust him.

I trust Wyatt.

But, not those Kingman County men.

Lonnie told me something.

What?

There won't be a fair trial.

Lonnie says they'll lynch him.

What's the big conference?

Well, Wyatt, there's some wild talk

I think you oughta know about. And what's that?

Uh, cowhand in the Texas bar

is telling it that the prisoner is the Kansas Kid.

They can't keep a cowhand from talking.

Yeah, but, Marshal... Hear you've made an arrest.

Fellow told me he recognized

the prisoner as a boy who used to live around here.

That's right, Mr. Osbourne.

Name of Lonnie McVey.

Well, I guess I oughta take a look at him.

Sit down for a second.

Well, Lonnie, he admits to being the Kansas Kid.

Say, fast work, Marshal.

Yeah, but he denies pulling the Wells Fargo job.

Sure, denying it. What's he got to lose?

You believe him?

This wire just came from Ed Beaty.

He's a special agent for Wells Fargo in Kansas.

I wired him, asking if he was positive

the kid pulled the job.

Uh-huh, well all he says here is

that his men on the case have some doubt.

Yeah, well I know Ed Beaty.

He'll check with the pinkertons.

You know there's one point we both forget.

What's that?

McVey claims to be the Kansas Kid.

But is he?

That's right.

Well, maybe I oughta take a look at him, anyway,

Just to make sure. All right.

I kinda hope he is bragging.

Stand up, Lonnie.

Well?

I don't know. I'm not sure.

Turn around, son.

You know me, Osbourne.

I never saw the kid in good light, close up.

Tell him to turn around.

Look, he's gotta identify you.

It's important.

All right.

Well, I sure couldn't swear to it.

Maybe you oughta have my boys in here,

take a look at him.

They get a better look at the kid?

Well, Larson did.

You know, it'd be a long haul

back to Kingman with the wrong man.

I thought you were gonna telegraph Wells Fargo.

I did.

They're checking with the Pinkertons.

Do you still claim you're the Kansas Kid?

Osbourne knows I am.

This is just some kind of a trick.

Maybe you're the tricky one.

If my boys aren't any more certain than I am,

we're wasting time.

Well, it's just common sense

to have him identified.

For you're sake, I gotta be positive.

Go get your boys.

Mrs. McVey is here.

I asked her to wait in there.

Well, thanks, Holly. That's very smart thinking.

I'm gonna make a round.

Right. See you later. You bet.

Come in, Mrs. McVey.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

That's quite all right. Please, sit down.

Thank you.

You're not going to let them take him away?

No.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Osbourne

is not too sure that Lonnie is the Kansas Kid.

Not sure?

He might be bragging?

Well, Lonnie thinks that Mr. Osbourne

is up to some kind of a trick.

But he's wrong.

You see...

Earp doesn't suspect a thing.

There's only him and the two deputies.

He thinks we're coming in to identify McVey.

Now, play it easy and casual

till I give the word.

Whether Lonnie's telling the truth or not,

Mr. Osbourne doesn't act like a hot-head

or a rope slinger to me.

But anyway, I'm not gonna release the boy

to Mr. Osbourne until I hear from Wells Fargo.

Oh, God bless you for that.

His father and I are so grateful.

Wyatt, Osbourne and his deputies

are headed up this way now.

Oh, good. Mrs. McVey,

would you mind waiting in the other room a moment?

I'll be right with you.

Here they are.

I got a hunch it's just a fool kid

trying to build himself into a desperate character.

Could be.

Well, let's take a look at him.

Hold it.

Looks like I guessed wrong.

Yeah, bring him in here.

Go ahead.

Get the keys.

Get 'em.

Go on, Holly.

You're not gonna make this work, Osbourne.

It's working.

Lock 'em up.

I told you about him.

Save your breath, kid. You're gonna be needing it.

Well, hurry up.

Don't be all day, Larson.

Come out of there, kid.

What are you gonna do with me?

You know what we're gonna do with you.

Hey, let go of me, what...

Let me go.

Lonnie, what are they doing?

They're gonna hang me.

Stop it! Turn him loose. Stop it!

Stop! No! You woman, get over there.

Mrs. McVey, come in here!

Wyatt!

Wyatt, they've taken him!

Nevermind that. Just get the other set of keys.

They're in my desk. Right hand drawer.

But, Wyatt... Just get the keys.

Ah, the Kansas Kid?

Yeah, they're all alike.

Screaming his head off.

Your marshal caught him.

We're taking him back to Kingman City.

Now, where is Marshal Earp?

Oh, he's taking care of a brawl in some saloon.

Did you hear which saloon? No.

I better go check.

They keys, I can't get it open! The keys?

What are you doing, Mrs. McVey?

They've locked Marshal Earp in there,

and they've taken my boy,

and I can't find the keys!

Hurry it up.

Hurry, please.

Mrs. McVey, you go home and stay there.

Paul, grab a shotgun. Right.

There's a good tree over there.

Let's get this job done

before Earp butts in.

Larson, be sure that's tied off good.

What's a matter with you, Jones?

Let me have that thing.

You don't know how to do anything.

I never saw such a guy.

All you gotta do is get the right place...

Wait a minute! Just... What?

Cut me down!

You dirty...

Kind of hate to let you down, Mr. Osbourne.

Mr. Earp, I...

We weren't intending to hang the kid... Oh!

Don't worry too much, Mrs. McVey.

With the Pinkertons clearing him of the murder charge,

all he has to face is a charge for robbery.

That's easy medicine, Mom.

I can take that.

Dad...

Good luck, son.

♪ 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 ♪