The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961): Season 3, Episode 10 - Mr. Buntline's Vacation - full transcript

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

Wyatt, you owe me $3.

- For what?
- Collect telegram.

Mmm.

Hey, it's from Ned Buntline.

"Arriving in Dodge City in a few days on vacation."

"Best personal regards."

I wonder why he sent it collect.

I don't know. That's not what bothers me, though.

I'll never forget that last visit he paid us...

Him, Buffalo Bill and that...



That German prince, remember?

Yeah.

We pulled that fake stage holdup,

backfired and turned out to be a real kidnapping.

Yeah, I'll never forget it.

Say, Wyatt, Buntline must be in serious trouble

to send a telegram collect.

Well, if he is in trouble,

I'll do my best to help him out of it.

This old Buntline Special he gave me has saved my life a couple of times.

Yeah, mine too.

♪ 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.

Well, we made it.

I thank you, sir, for your courtesy.

Ahh. Phew!

It was an arduous trip, my friend.

An arduous trip.

Well, you didn't come all the way by horseback, did you?

Oh no, I picked up a wagon ride from a migrating family,

then from a farmer and...

The truth is, Wyatt,

Ned Buntline is broke.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Buntline.

Well, I have fallen on some evil days.

Well, surely between your writing and that wild west show you have

with Buffalo Bill Cody, it seems that you would have...

Well, the wild west show doesn't start for another four months.

And as for my writing...

My last efforts have been rejected.

Rejected.

Well, were they... were there any reasons?

Well, yes.

The publisher said my new stories

lacked authenticity.

Oh. Well, maybe they do.

Yes, well, the same thought occurred to me.

That's part of the reason why I'm here, Wyatt...

To replenish the well.

I'm afraid you're going to find it awfully quiet here in Dodge, Mr. Buntline.

It's my job to keep it that way.

Now what's the other part of your reason?

Well, the other part is that you're the only...

I mean, I hate to impose on our frie...

Don't worry about it, Mr. Buntline.

You go on over to the hotel,

check in, get yourself a room.

You charge all your meals to me, huh?

Thank you, Wyatt. I'll pay you out of the first week of the tour.

No, you won't.

No, I tried to repay you for the Buntline Special,

you gave me and you wouldn't accept it.

Now you're gonna have to.

You know, this is the most accurate gun I've ever used.

I'm glad.

- Hello, Mr. Buntline.
- Well!

- Good to see you.
- It's good to see you, young man.

Well, if you'll pardon me, Wyatt,

I have to go over to the hotel and register.

I'll... I'll see you later.

- We'll have dinner, all right?
- Good, good. Splendid.

Ah. Thank you.

Well?

Mr. Buntline is temporarily broke.

Is that all?

Hal, for a proud little man like Mr. Buntline, that's enough.

Hey, Wyatt, Wyatt, there's a man after me.

- There's a man after me.
- Wait a minute. Who's after you?

He followed me

all the way from St. Louis. He's gonna kill me.

He... now don't do that,

because I tell you the man is after me.

- Just take it easy and relax. Relax.
- He's very dangerous.

Now just tell me the whole story.

Well, I've always been pretty good at cards, you know.

And when I found that I needed a few dollars,

I took passage on one of the better Mississippi river boats.

And I was doing very well, as a matter of fact,

until I ran afoul of this fella.

This fellow that's following you?

Exactly, the fella that's...

Of course, he's a professional gambler, you know...

Well, as a matter of fact, so am I.

And it was very exciting until he started to cheat.

- Oh, he cheated?
- Yeah, he... he cheated.

Well, why...

Why didn't you expose him?

Oh, he was too clever for that.

And before I knew it, my money was all gone

and I was deeply in debt to him.

I'm surprised he didn't throw you in the Mississippi.

- Mmm.
- Well, I gave him a check

for almost $1,000.

And the check was no good.

Yes, no good at all.

Well, now surely, Mr. Buntline,

you can't expect me to

have sympathy for even a good friend that would write bad checks.

I'm not asking for sympathy.

I'm asking for protection.

Marshal, there's a man

in the long branch who won't check his gun.

- Well, is he drunk?
- No, just won't take his gun off.

It's probably... maybe...

Mister, there's a law in this town about checking guns.

You're breaking it.

I don't expect to be here long.

Why don't you leave now and save some trouble?

I'm not finished with my business here yet.

You're refusing to check your gun

or leave town, right?

That's right.

Mister, your business is finished.

Can I talk to you privately, marshal?

All right, not with that gun on you.

Unbuckle it.

It's Wyatt, Mr. Buntline.

Oh, just a minute.

Sit down.

- Now what's your name?
- Would you look at these papers first, marshal?

Well, Lieutenant, I certainly don't intend

to arrest an army officer

on a Special Assignment,

but at the same time, I can't let you walk

around town wearing guns, not in civilian clothes.

But if I'm in uniform, it defeats the purpose of my mission.

And if I'm unarmed... well, if I meet the man I'm looking for...

He'll be unarmed, too, if he's in this town.

Now you wanna tell me who you're looking for?

It's confidential, marshal.

This is one of my deputies and a close personal friend of mine, Mr. Ned Buntline.

Well, two weeks ago, the United States Arsenal

in Illinois was broken into and robbed.

100 rifles were taken and a gatling gun,

along with about 20,000 rounds of ammunition.

A gatling gun, huh?

And the army thinks they...

Thinks they're somewhere around here, huh?

Somewhere in the southwest apache Territory.

Are you one of general crook's officers, young man?

- That's right.
- Well, what is your full name?

Charles A. Wharton, First Lieutenant, United States...

- what are you doing, sir?
- I'm making some notes.

This'll make the most sensational book you ever read.

If one word of this leaks out, Mr. Buntline,

I'll personally see to it that you wind up in front of a firing squad.

I beg your pardon.

Lieutenant, I think Mr. Buntline is convinced.

- Go on.
- The guns were thought to have been shipped

in cases marked "machinery" towards Kansas City.

We almost intercepted them there awaiting shipment to the southwest.

Mmm. What about this man you're looking for?

Vincent Slade, but he has used other names.

- You know him?
- No, but I've memorized his description.

About six feet, 180 lbs,

dark hair, dark eyes,

sometimes wears a mustache,

a deep cultured voice.

Identifying marks and scars...

Diagonal knife scar on the outside of his right hand.

That's the fella. That's the fella that's after me.

- He's here... the gambler.
- Well, I'd be grateful

- if you'd point him out, sir.
- Wait a moment, Lieutenant.

Are your orders to bring in Mr. Slade, recover the guns or both?

Preferably both. However, if Slade is killed or captured,

it's doubtful the guns will reach the apaches.

- He's the brains.
- Well, he fits the description right down to the scar.

If there were just some way that we could be sure.

Well, I think there is.

I think Mr. Buntline can help us.

- Me?
- Mm-hmm.

I think the first thing to do is to find out

if this man is really looking for you, Mr. Buntline.

- Oh, he is, he is.
- If he ignores Mr. Buntline,

- that means he's here for the stolen guns.
- Mm-hmm.

Suppose he doesn't ignore me?

Mr. Buntline, I'll tell you what you'd better do.

You offer to repay him part of the money you owe.

- Well, I'd like to, but...
- I'll lend you the money.

All right, see, there are four of us,

so I'll put on a extra deputy

and we'll keep a watch around the clock.

Oh.

Mr. Buntline has found our man. Hal.

- Go check his hotel room.
- Right.

Lieutenant, you'd better stay out of sight.

Some people might remember you refused to check your gun.

Drink's over here, sir.

Oh, I beg your pardon, sir, I...

Well, you remember me, surely.

- Ned Buntline.
- I'm not sure I've had the pleasure, sir.

Well, you must recall our recent joust at the card tables.

Card tables? I believe the last time I did any gambling

was several weeks ago on the Mississippi.

That was the very locale.

I'm Terribly sorry. I can't recall your name.

- Smith.
- Smith! Ah yes.

Yes, Mr. Smith.

This is a little embarrassing for me.

I lost rather heavily to you.

But not too heavily, right, Mr. Buntline?

- Oh, I'm afraid I did.
- As a matter of fact,

you've been on my conscience for some time.

- I have?
- Well, that check I gave you.

Oh yes, I do recall that check.

I lost it the very next evening.

Oh, goodness. I insist on making that check good.

You may run into the gambler you lost it to.

I'm not worried about it. Why should you be?

Now here we are... $100 on account.

I'm afraid I couldn't take it, Mr. Buntline.

Oh now now, I insist, I insist.

Well, thank you.

I really must be going.

- Well, will you be around for some time?
- Not more than a few days.

- Oh?
- Good evening.

Good evening, Mr. Smith, and thank you for being so understanding.

Did you see the scar? He's our man.

Nice work, Mr. Buntline.

Hal, find anything else?

No, that was all. Apparently he doesn't even have a gun.

He's probably got his gun on him.

Well, I hope he doesn't try to use it.

If he does, I'll have to arrest him

and there goes our plan for seizing the rifles

- right out the window.
- I'll take the first shift of watching him.

All right, hal, thanks. Ted, you relieve him at 4:00.

Mr. Buntline, you take over at 8:00

- right.
- I'll take the next shift...

If he's still in town.

- And what if he isn't?
- Then we won't be either.

We'll be out after him.

Well, they look like a couple of good horses to me.

Would you see that they're all taken care of? I'll be taking off tomorrow.

Sure.

He's back in his hotel room.

He's probably waiting for somebody to reach him.

Lieutenant, keep an eye on him, huh?

You know, I've been figuring out here how much those guns are worth to him.

There's $20,000 for the rifles

and then there's the gatling gun and the ammunition.

And don't forget the apaches pay in gold.

Yeah. You know, just to make sure he doesn't sneak out on us,

we ought to watch his horses.

They're all hobbled in Mr. McKay's Meadow.

The wagon's there, too.

- Yeah, Wyatt, that's a good idea.
- Hey, Wyatt.

Let me do that will you? I haven't been sleeping nights, anyway.

All right, Mr. Buntline.

Ted, take him out there and show him where the Meadow is, huh?

- And you come right back.
- Sure thing.

Thank you, Wyatt. I've been itching for action.

- Mel.
- Here we are, Vince.

Unhobble the horses and hitch up the team.

Get me my saddle.

Well, these men won't be too hard to follow.

Hal, Ted, bring the horses.

What about Mr. Buntline?

We can't go looking for him now.

If he's fallen asleep, let's hope he stays that way.

He must be out of his mind.

He hasn't even got a gun.

We'll stay about five minutes behind 'em

until daylight, then we'll drop back.

Hello, boys. Any coffee inside?

- Plenty.
- Good, let's have some before we load up.

And once we're past cimarron, it's easy.

We'll cross the panhandle about here.

Thanks. In a few days, we'll hit the pecos river.

- Then we'll head south.
- By night or day?

Day. Nobody'll stop a covered wagon.

- Did you assemble the gatling gun?
- I sure did,

and I'm itching to try it out.

We've got more cups than we need.

- What's the matter?
- Keep talking. We've got company.

Well, may get a chance to use that gatling gun

in case anybody gets nosy.

Now I want all of you

to study this map very carefully.

- Hal, I got a good idea where they are.
- That old prospector's shack.

Yeah. We'd better split up and approach from different directions.

That's the last of the rifles.

Good. Let's get the gatling gun.

All right, let's go.

- Vince, there's four of them trailing us.
- How far away are they?

Well, not more than 10 minutes.

Hide the wagon over there in those rocks.

We'll spot ourselves around the cabin.

No one is to fire a shot until we're sure we can get every one of them.

Understand?

Well, he's alive.

It's Ted and the Lieutenant.

The minute they step outside...

Shh.

Did you hear something?

Yeah, a rifle being cocked.

I saw something move.

Next time you see something move, shoot.

- Oh. I...
- Mr. Buntline.

- Wyatt?
- What happened?

I heard them talk about the route they're going to take...

Across the panhandle and the cimeron,

and then south through the pecos.

They couldn't have started or we'd have seen them.

There's one of them.

Smoke 'em out, men!

Get the wagon.

- There goes one!
- Hal, close that door!

- Go on, I'm... go on.
- We'll pick you up later.

- Ooh. Hold up.
- Whoa whoa.

Oh no.

- What is it?
- Get down on your faces, everybody!

Wyatt... oh.

Hey, Wyatt, there's a cellar down here.

There's nobody alive in there.

We'll make sure.

Burn it down. I'll cover you.

Now's our chance. I think they're reloading.

Mr. Buntline, here's where I use your gun.

Well, I'm glad to say I think he'll live.

Wow!

Well, now don't tell me you gentlemen have been up all night.

- Hello, Wyatt.
- Good morning, marshal.

Lieutenant, I thought you forbade Mr. Buntline to write about this.

Well, it certainly is fascinating to read about.

Of course, general crook will have to approve.

There. There you are.

Here, Wyatt.

Here. It begins there.

And I defy any publisher to turn this one down.

Well...

I never thought I'd hear myself say it,

but sometimes it certainly does pay to be dishonest.

I beg your pardon?

I said it pays to be dishonest...

For some people.

Suppose you hadn't written that bad check on the riverboat?

Do you realize you probably changed

the whole course of history?

You... you put all that in here, of course.

I certainly did not. Don't you remember?

I told you that that other fella cheated.

♪ 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 ♪

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