Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958–1961): Season 1, Episode 23 - Call Your Shot - full transcript

Anything I can do for you?

- Yeah... Mr Henshaw?
- Gabe Henshaw. Who are you?

My name's Randall.

- Well I wasn't sure you could come.
- Why not?

As I said in my letter,
I've only $30 to put out.

Slow season,
sometimes I work cheap.

In your letter, Mr Henshaw,
you said your son had been killed.

That's why I wanted you to come.

I want you to find Wilt's body.

CALL YOUR SHOT

There is no body.



There's no body
because no one was killed.

That wasn't black crepe on the old
man's door, just a bunch of flowers.

That black crepe on the door
and the black band on his arm,

it's his way of making
something of himself.

He craves a little importance.
He don't know which end is up.

He did have a son.

He has a son.

Now listen.

Gabe said his boy left the
house Thursday after supper.

Went to see someone
and didn't return.

Did he said who?

- No.
- You know why?

Because there was no one.

Wilt Henshaw got sick of
watching old Gabe belt the bottle



and took off for parts unknown.

Something?

I've never known a man
who'd give up his whole bank roll

just to save his pride.

- Thirty dollars!
- Thirty dollars.

You staying around?

- I'll know after I see someone.
- Who?

A girl, Abbie Fenton.

Why?

The old man said it was
his son's girl. I'll see you.

Randall.

Abbie Fenton comes
from a nice family.

Old Gabe gave them a
lot of grief with his wild talk.

If they're not let be,
the town won't like it.

If I get any trouble, I can always
come to you for protection, Sheriff.

He's coming here.

It figured.

I don't like it.

- Is Abbie in the house?
- Yes.

Gregg, be careful.

- Mr Fenton?
- Yes.

My name's Randall. Can
I talk to you for a minute?

Yes, of course,
won't you come in?

What can I do for you?

I was hoping to talk
to your daughter.

I'm sorry, she's in bed.
She's not feeling well.

- Perhaps I could help you?
- It's about Wilt Henshaw.

- Oh, that...
- He's been missing since Thursday.

His father said the boy went out to
see someone. Maybe your daughter...

I'm sorry old Gabe got you
involved in this, Mr Randall.

Whisky?

No, thank you.

The old man suffers from
delusions of grandeur.

Kept linking his son's
name with my daughter's.

Quite a ridiculous combination.

My daughter is engaged
to marry Jed Miller.

Gabe told me the boy had
planned to marry your daughter.

He's liable to say anything
that comes into his mind

if the saying of it would
catch him a free drink.

He's not looking for a
drink, just to find his son.

Well, I wish him luck.

Sorry I couldn't help.

Well, you could help me some.
Let me talk to your daughter.

As I said, she's in bed, sick.

Maybe tonight, if
you're still in town,

and she's feeling better...

Much obliged.

Howdy!

- My name is...
- Josh Randall. Come in.

Gabe Henshaw has been
blowing off all over town

how he's sent for the most famous
man-hunter in the whole territory.

He's over-advertized.

Not at all, you got
quite a reputation.

I know all about you.

I was hoping you'd
be able to help me.

Sure, you name it.

I hear Wilt Henshaw
worked for you.

Wilt and about 45 other men.

Any idea what happened?

I figure he got sick of
the old man and took off.

Seemed nice enough to
me when I talked to him.

Let me tell you something
about old man Henshaw.

Number one, he's a boozer.

There's nothing he likes better
than one drink a day, all day long.

Two, he's lazy.

I had to fire him from
his job at my sawmill.

Three... he's a nuisance.

Yes. The Sheriff
told me about it.

I figure the boy just got
fed up with him and took off.

Of course, old Gabe
refuses to admit it to himself.

He prefers to think he's dead.

Come here, take a look at this.

That's where old
Gabe gets his ideas.

Out of a bottle.

I'm sorry you had to come
all this way for nothing.

Sorry to cause you the trouble.

No trouble at all, any time.

Bye now.

You're running out on me.

There doesn't seem to be much
substance to what you told me.

No, because there's not
much substance to me.

I'm the town plague, I'm
dirt under everybody's feet.

Real joy would come if I were to be
washed away in the next cloudburst.

From what I heard
your boy is likely alive.

He's dead!

- Most people seem to think...
- what's best for them to think.

You told me that Abbie Fenton
and your boy were planning to marry.

As true as I'm sitting here.

- Her father said no.
- He's lying.

Jed Miller thinks your
boy just rode out of town.

That would suit him!

He's always been jealous
of Abbie's regard for Wilt.

What about the Sheriff?

Just doesn't like to
go against the town.

Neither do I.

Please, Mr Randall, hear me out.

All my life I've been a failure

except to my boy.

Sometimes we didn't
have food in our stomachs.

Sometimes we were
cold for lack of clothing.

But one thing we
always had in our home:

it's love.

The love of my boy for me

and my love for him.

I'm not arguing that.

He's dead. Otherwise,
he'd come home.

I'm not looking for trouble. I'm
not even looking for revenge.

All I want for him is a
good Christian burial.

Please Mr Randall,
I need your help.

You've got all the help
you need right there.

Mr Randall.

- Yes, ma'am?
- I'm Abbie Fenton.

Well, your father
says you're ill.

I must speak to you.

- All right.
- Not here.

- Hotel lobby?
- No.

Abbie!

All right, mother.

Goodbye again, Mr Randall.

Behind the school
at nine o'clock.

Abbie, please,
remember you're not well.

I'm not ill.

Abbie, please!

I heard you're leaving town.

I wanted to say goodbye.

If you had any sense, you'd
get on your horse and ride.

While you're able.

You'll stay, then?

Till nine o'clock
tonight, anyway.

You wanna tell him
something? Go ahead!

Just remember, you might be
talking your father's neck into a noose.

Let her go, Al.

Go ahead. Tell him
whatever you want.

You were doing a job for $30.

Here's sixty. They ought to
take you far enough away.

How did I get here?

Crawled to the door in
the middle of the night.

It's daylight.

Just before noon.

You sure were busted up.

Got any idea who did it?

Maybe.

Give me my weapon.

You're in no condition
to pick a fight.

Thank you.

Trying to break down
my front door, Randall?

- Just a minute!
- What is it, Gregg?

The fool's gone
crazy. Get the Sheriff.

You better had, 'cause
your daughter's in trouble!

- What have you got to do with Abbie?
- This. Excuse me.

Get out of here.

If you wanna stop me going
through that door, you'd better...

Take your choice, Randall.

You walk out of this
house or stop the bullet.

Last night I was
looking for a body.

Now I think I'm
looking for a murderer.

Why talk about
murder in this house?

Because your daughter
is mixed up in it.

I ought to kill you
where you stand.

- Why did you set me up last night?
- Get out of here!

She asked me to meet her last
night and suddenly I get all beat up.

I didn't have anything
to do with those men.

If you weren't acting as bait,
you had something to tell me.

Don't say anything.

Well?

I loved Wilt.

Don't be a fool, Abbie.

I've been a fool long
enough, keeping quiet.

Now it's time that I stopped.

- Where's Wilt Henshaw?
- Abbie!

- He's dead.
- Where?

I don't know. Jed
took his body away.

Jed Miller?

He came while Wilt and me
were walking through the woods.

He was crazy jealous
and he grabbed at me.

Wilt fought him. Jed shot Wilt.

Jed said my father told him
that he wanted to get rid of Wilt.

If I talked about what I saw,

my father would hang.

What was Wilt Henshaw?
A drunkard's son.

A drop of rain's worth
more than he was.

Jed Miller's the biggest
man this town has ever seen.

The man my
daughter should marry.

That's fine!

Just fine!

Still here?

I found out what
happened to Wilt Henshaw.

Yeah?

Jed Miller killed him.
Oh, I've got a witness.

Abbie Fenton.

How long have you known?

Since it happened, I guess.

Why didn't you arrest Miller?

Nobody's been
pressing. Until now.

If you need some
backing just swear me in.

I don't need backing. When Jed
comes back to town, I'll talk to him.

You'll talk to him?

Where is he?

Up at his sawmill.

Got maybe a dozen men with
him, all pretty handy with the guns.

You've got over a dozen
men. Just swear them in.

You can't get anybody to
join a posse against Jed Miller.

He's too highly
regarded in these parts.

Supposing we try.

Wouldn't be no use.

That sawmill's ten miles up
river, out of my jurisdiction.

It seems to me, as far
as Jed Miller's concerned,

the sidewalk in front of your
office is out of jurisdiction.

That's not a very
kind thing to say.

Yeah.

What will you have?

A posse.

All right, we all know
why I came to town.

To find Wilt Henshaw's body.

Well I found it.

He's dead, and
Jed Miller killed him.

Abbie Fenton saw it happen.

You men don't
seem to understand.

- A man has been killed here.
- Tell the Sheriff.

I did.

That's why I'm talking
to you men now.

He'd rather have this town smell
of murder than to arrest Jed Miller.

I'd like to prove he's a liar.

You're not proving he's a liar,
just proving yourself an optimist.

I see. Who are you?

Jim Hendricks, editor
of the Varga Sentinel.

You tell them what happens to
anybody who commits a murder.

Jed Miller isn't just anybody.

See, this was no better
than a ghost town once.

Drought, cattle
blight, crops failing.

Jed Miller came in with his
sawmill and gave people jobs.

The stores did business again.

- This town prospered.
- He killed a man.

Wilt Henshaw was nothing.

I guess that
sounds harsh to you.

What I mean is, if
he came or went,

it couldn't mean
anything to Varga.

But if anything
happened to Jed Miller,

the breath would go
right out of this town

We owe Jed Miller more
than we can ever repay.

You don't owe him your souls.

I'm not in the mood to
exchange philosophy with you.

I'm just stating the facts.

Now you listen.

Let this killing stand and you can
write a big obituary for this town.

Jed Miller's boys.

Yeah.

- They the one's that busted you up?
- I think so.

I think I know who
killed your boy.

Who?

Jed Miller.

So he killed my boy!

Where do you think you're going?

I'm gonna get my shotgun,
I'm gonna kill Jed Miller!

You told me the only thing you wanted
was a Christian burial for your son.

- Someone has to take care of him.
- Somebody is. Me.

No, you've earned your pay,
you found out who got him.

I'm not gonna have you
shot doing my business.

- This is my business.
- Now look, Mr Randall...

Now listen to me.

I figure as long as we can keep
these fellas away from Miller,

I stand a good chance.

We'll keep them away.

You made the wrong turn, mister.

The road out is that way.

You made the wrong turn.

If I have to kill you, it
won't be out of revenge.

I don't want anything to prevent
a good Christian burial for my boy!

What do you want?

Your friend, the bounty
hunter, he's here.

I'd figured he'd be out
of the state by this day.

I knew he wouldn't be.

Make sure he doesn't get his
gun out of his holster, understand?

Hello.

- Mr Miller.
- What can I do for you?

One, tell me where
Wilt Henshaw's body is.

Sure, he's buried
out back. And two?

And two, why not come to
town and stand trial for murder?

Sure was nice of Gregg Fenton
to pay for all those flowers.

And that casket
sure is impressive.

They tell me you
paid $90 for it.

I didn't pay for it exactly.

Gabe paid 30 and the rest of it
was donated by people unknown.

I guess you figure this
town owes you an apology.

Not at all. This town can
only do one thing for me.

- What's that?
- Watch me ride out.

It'll be the first time
in a week I feel clean.

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