The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961): Season 2, Episode 29 - Young Gun - full transcript

Brash eighteen year old Jimmy Craig arrives in Dodge City planning to be a deputy. However, he introduces himself to the town by trying to pick a gunfight with a man in a group teasing him about his age. Earp is insure how to handle him.

You're under arrest, Mr. Craig.

I tried to be on your side, Mr. Earp.

But you wouldn't let me.

Now I'm against you.

And you ain't gonna take me.

Yes, I am, boy.

All right, then.

We might as well find out right now

how good I really am.

♪ Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp ♪

♪ Brave, courageous, and bold ♪



♪ Long live his fame and long live his glory ♪

♪ And long may his story be told ♪

"The life and legend of Wyatt Earp,"

starring Hugh O'Brian.

Before Wyatt Earp had been Marshal of Dodge City for very long,

his fame had spread throughout the west.

But fame, as Wyatt found out,

is a coin with two sides.

It is both a reward and a punishment.

It brings trouble and carries responsibility.

It was Wyatt Earp's fame

that brought the boy Jimmy Craig to Dodge City.

Hey, Gabe, will you look at that.

Hey, son, where's this gun taking you?



Right to break his leg, might'n to.

Hey, Ed, here's a gunslinger for you.

Something on your mind, mister?

I was just wonderin', son,

what man it is that you're planning to use that thing on.

Your old man know you got a gun, Sonny?

You trying to pick a fight with me, mister?

Now, son, I'm a peaceable man.

Do you know who this is, son?

That's Ed Beatty.

Not even grown men pick fights with him.

I don't care who he is.

He can't make fun of me.

Sonny, I think that gun's gone to your head.

You better take it back where you found it.

This is my gun. And I can use it.

Yeah, I bet.

Even get it out of the holster without shooting yourself, probably.

You want to try me?

I'd like to oblige you, son,

but you see I'm not wearing guns.

There's a law in this town. You gotta check 'em.

I'm a law abiding man.

You can get 'em.

I'll meet you any place you say.

Take my advice, boy.

Get rid of that Cannon before you get yourself hurt.

I'll take that.

Glad you arrived, Marshal.

He's a real dangerous character.

Didn't have to laugh at him, Beatty.

Why not? It's kinda funny.

All right, go on about your business.

All of you.

Don't be too hard on him, Wyatt.

He probably ain't killed more than a few.

He ain't hardly had time.

Yeah.

Wyatt? Are you Wyatt Earp?

That's right.

Gee, I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Earp.

I come all the way from Wichita to see you.

Riding on that old mule.

You did, huh?

Yes, sir.

My name's Jim Craig.

Well, mighty glad to know you, Mr. Craig.

Now what'd you want to talk to me about?

Well, uh, it's business.

Can we go to your office?

All right.

Come in.

Now what's on your mind?

Besides arguing with a gun fighter.

That fella a gunfighter too?

Too?

Aren't you a little young to be a gunfighter?

What's age got to do with it?

It's how good can you use a gun.

You can use this pretty good, huh?

Yes, sir. I been practicin' a whole year at home.

Where's home?

Like I said, Wichita.

A farm right outside of town.

I set up targets out behind the barn.

Moved back a few feet every week.

You ever tried this on a man?

No, sir. Just targets and rabbits.

But I'm not worried, Mr. Earp.

I'm good. Plenty fast.

Don't see how anybody could be much faster.

Yeah.

Well, I'll tell you, Mr. Craig,

being fast is one thing,

but you, uh, you gotta also hit what you're aiming at.

Now I just got one little question I'd like to ask you.

Yes, sir.

Why?

Why? Well, I want to be a lawman.

Like you. Just like you.

I heard all about you.

That's why I saved up and got the gun and started practicing.

Now I'm good enough, so I come here.

Well, it's one thing being able to defend oneself

if you have to.

But deciding deliberately to become a gunfighter

even on the right side of the law...

You did it.

Not deliberately.

Not at your age.

Mr. Earp, my mind's made up.

I come here to Wichita to be one of your deputies.

Mr. Craig, I'm not a hero.

I'm only doing a job that somebody has to do.

And it's not easy.

Matter of fact, it's kinda dangerous.

You seem to keep living.

Well, I been lucky.

But it's not a living for a boy.

Now you go on back home and grow up.

You'll think better of it in a year or two.

You can't talk me out of this.

Look, this isn't a play thing.

And the first time you pull this trigger against a real man,

you're starting something that's never ending.

Not until one of 'em ends it for you.

It can end mighty fast for an inexperienced boy.

You better try staying alive a little longer.

I'm asking, Mr. Earp, do I get the job?

No. I need men, not boys.

You want me to prove I can use a gun?

You want to come outside?

Are you threatening me, Mr. Craig?

No. But I'm gonna show you.

You fire that gun in Dodge City, boy,

and you're gonna go to jail.

Then we'll go outside of town.

I wouldn't hire you if you were the fastest gun I'd ever seen.

I heard you was a fair man.

I come all the way from Wichita to show you.

All right, maybe I owe you that much.

But I'm telling you right now, Mr. Craig,

it's not gonna change my mind.

Pick up your shells.

Camped here last night.

Couldn't afford the price of a hotel room.

All right, just stand over there.

All right, now.

Now.

Pretty good.

I just wanted to point out, Mr. Craig,

that the single most important thing in a gunfight

is not how well you shoot,

but how well you face the other man's bullet.

I'll show you I can do that, too.

No, you're going on home.

You don't think I'm good enough?

No, I think you're too good.

Shooting like that's only gonna get you in trouble.

I ain't afraid of trouble.

No, you're too ready for it.

Trouble will come easy.

I'll be able to handle it.

Well, you might get away with it a few times,

get yourself a reputation.

Then all the fast guns will gather like flies around honey.

Sooner or later, you'll come up against one you can't beat.

You take my advice, Mr. Craig, and go on home.

I had enough of that kind of advice from my pa.

And who's your pa?

His name's hanford Craig.

He gave you good advice, boy. You better take it.

No. I left there for good.

I come here to show you. And I will.

All right, I don't care what you do,

as long as you don't do it in Dodge City.

You understand?

You stay out of Dodge with that gun.

Wyatt? Looks like trouble.

What trouble?

That kid's back in town.

With his gun?

Big as life. And he's asking for Beatty.

And I told him I didn't think that $30 was enough for a job like that.

Said I might take a chance for about $50.

Well, Sonny,

I thought the Marshal took that hardware away from you.

You do a lot of talking, mister.

Now you want to prove up?

You see I'm still not wearing any guns.

Well, like I said before, go get 'em.

I'll wait.

Look, boy, I got nothing against you.

I like you. You got spunk.

I'm sorry if you took my riding too hard,

but let's forget all about it

and then we'll eat dinner, huh?

Are you gonna get them guns?

Look, I don't fight kids.

Go home to your papa before you get yourself killed.

You afraid to try yourself against a kid?

Why you... Beatty!

I told you to stay out of Dodge with that gun.

Now you're under arrest.

No!

Marshal, better keep him out of my way from now on.

You just see that you don't come looking for him.

You're gonna be sorry for this.

You're not very smart, are you, Mr. Craig?

You want to be a gunfighter, huh?

Well, you know how to use a gun,

but you don't know when to use it.

Now this morning you started to draw against a man that wasn't even armed.

Tonight you tried to draw against me

after I had my gun out and already in my hand.

You're not gonna live very long that way, Mr. Craig.

I don't need no more of your advice, Marshal.

Wow.

I guess I just don't know how to handle kids.

You got to admire him, though, Wyatt.

He's got spirit.

You know, it's one thing to buffalo an adult.

You figure he knows what he's doing, that he had it coming,

but a kid...

Yeah, it is a problem.

I guess I need some help.

I'm gonna go send a telegram to Wichita.

Maybe his father can handle him.

Mr. Craig.

I'm Marshal Earp.

Where's my boy? What have you done with him?

He's all right. Safe inside.

You've got no right to put my boy in jail.

He threatened to kill a man, Mr. Craig.

Don't matter.

He must have had good reason for whatever he done.

Let's go inside.

Now where is he?

Let him out of there. Right now.

In a minute.

First don't you want to know what happened?

I'll hear it from him.

I don't need to take your word.

All right, hal.

Mr. Craig, how old is Jimmy?

18.

You think he's old enough to be wearing a gun?

Why not? I did.

Maybe you had to in those days.

It's no different today.

A boy's got to grow up fast out here.

Doesn't have to grow up to be a gunfighter.

The boy can take care of himself.

You really believe that?

I know it.

He told me you advised him against coming here.

Whatever's between him and me is no business of yours.

Well, it's business of mine if he's gun fighting in Dodge City.

Hello, boy.

Hello, pa.

You all right?

Sure.

What happened to your head?

He buffaloed me.

You hit a boy?

If I hadn't, one of us might have been dead.

You got all the answers, ain't ya?

No.

One of 'em I haven't got.

What do you do with a boy like that, Mr. Craig?

He's a good boy.

He could be, if he lives long enough.

You needn't trouble yourself about him, Marshal.

All right, I won't.

But you get him out of here. Out of Dodge City.

You take him on back to Wichita and you keep him there.

You got my gun, Marshal.

Mr. Craig, if you got any sense at all,

you'll keep this gun from him

until he gets old enough not to pick a fight

with everybody he meets.

Come on, pa.

And I thought you was a great man.

Come on, boy. Get on.

I ain't going with you, pa.

'Least not yet.

Now look here, boy.

I wasn't gonna let on to him in there,

but I already told you how I feel about it.

Yeah, we been all over that.

And I ain't changed my mind.

Now, Jamie, I was willing to give you a chance.

I figured if you was man enough to want to try,

you was man enough to do like you said.

But it ain't worked out.

It will. I changed my plan some.

No. That man in there might be right.

You might be biting off a chaw too big for you.

Now you better come along home for a time.

I said no.

At least not till I tend to something.

What?

Well, you always said don't allow nobody

to insult us craigs.

Well, somebody did.

And I gotta tend to it.

Now listen here, Jamie.

Maybe you better forget it.

Come along home.

No. Now you go on.

Maybe I'll catch up with you later.

Jamie, come back.

♪ Oh ♪

♪ he was a young'un ♪

♪ and he was headstrong ♪

♪ and he was out against the world all alone ♪

♪ and like a young'un ♪

♪ he rushed in headlong ♪

♪ and tried to be a man before he was grown ♪

♪ no telling what he'll do ♪

♪ never was a young'un so very contrary ♪

♪ whatever he would do ♪

♪ trouble always gathered all around him ♪

♪ and found him ♪

♪ he was a young'un ♪

♪ and he was headstrong ♪

♪ and it was him against the world all alone ♪

now you gonna get them guns?

Yeah. Up the street.

Be in front of the Long Branch saloon in five minutes.

Jamie, you can't do...

You stay out of this, pa.

Jamie, you can't do this.

That man'll kill you.

I don't think so, pa.

Anyway, I got to now.

There's something going on out there.

Craig's wagon is still out there.

Marshal, you better come.

Where?

Man said in front of the Long Branch Saloon.

He's gone for his gun.

Beatty. Yeah.

Marshal. Beatty's almost a professional gunfighter.

What do you think I been trying to tell you and your boy?

Come on, Hal.

It ain't Jamie.

No, it's Beatty. He's dead.

Never seen anything like it, Wyatt.

Kid's as fast as greased lightning.

Yes, sir, he got Ed Beatty good.

In a fair draw too.

Where is he?

I don't know, Marshal.

He just put up his gun

and walked away as cool as you please.

Well, Mr. Craig.

He said he could, and he did.

You realize what's happened now that he's killed a man?

You're meaning I'm to blame?

Maybe I do.

Hal.

What are you gonna do?

I'm gonna arrest him, Mr. Craig.

No, this was a fair fight. They said so.

Even so, he'll have to stand trial.

Don't you touch my boy.

He'll kill ya. He won't be took.

You'll more than likely have to kill him, Wyatt.

He's pretty good.

Don't take any chances.

If you hurt my boy, Earp, I'll kill you.

If I don't, somebody else sure will after this.

Who's there?

Just stay right there.

I guess maybe you'll believe me now.

You're under arrest, Mr. Craig.

What do you mean?

It was a fair fight.

You have to stand trial anyway.

The jury'll decide.

But you can't arrest me.

We ain't in Dodge now.

Just come along peacefully.

Drop your gun.

No.

I tried to be on your side, Mr. Earp.

But you wouldn't let me.

Now I'm against you.

And you ain't gonna take me.

Yes, I am, boy.

All right, then.

We might as well find out right now

how good I really am.

Here.

Be all right.

Get you to a doctor.

I'm sorry, boy.

Doc?

Shattered the bone above the wrist.

He'll pull through fine,

but that wrist is gonna be stiff.

Too stiff for farm work?

For farm work? No.

For gunplay, yes.

Well, you got your way, Marshal.

Yeah, and you're still living, boy.

Marshal.

You said something about killing me, Mr. Craig.

No. I was wrong.

I guess maybe I even ought to...

Thank you.

But I can't.

I know.

♪ 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 ♪