Forty Guns (1957) Movie Script

Whoa. Hey, where can
we get a bath?
Barney Cashman's Russ House,
across the street.
Thanks. Wes.
Save a bath for me.
Leave me alone. Keep away from me,
Brockie.
Don't make me shoot you.
- What's wrong, John?
- Huh?
Since when did you start
pulling a gun on a man's back?
Griff? That you, Griff?
You promised you'd wear glasses.
Griff. Just goes to show if you pray
long enough, something happens.
Praying never gave a man the shakes.
- Who's picking on you, John?
- A boy, Griff.
A wet-nose, but mean, ugly.
- He was drunk...
- He made you skin back, didn't he?
He gave me an hour to get out of town.
- Then you'd better go.
- You gotta help me.
I didn't come to town
to spank a wet-nose.
If he throws down on me,
I haven't got a chance.
Your eyes have been getting
worse, haven't they, John?
I'm broke. I've got
to hang on to my job.
There's nothing else I can do.
You and me only got one trade.
Take it away from us,
and what do you got left?
There's a good eye doctor in Prescott.
Oh, I can't sneak out like that, Griff.
You haven't got any choice.
You must have a good reason
for not wanting to help me.
- It's none of my business.
- Then why are you here?
Start running, John.
Run before your eyes give out all the way.
What if the doctor can't make me see?
Then you'll be blind instead of dead.
Put it back, Barney.
- Griff.
- How are ya, Barney?
That you behind
the shrubbery, Wes?
Yep. How's nosy Barney?
Bankin' my silver, boys.
This camp's a bonanza.
- I told you, Griff.
- Our brother, Chico,
he's headed for California.
- California? With all the diggin's here?
- Our folks are out there.
I couldn't help reading the name
on that warrant, Griff.
You'll need more than a third gun
to pick up Howard Swain.
- You know where I can find him?
- Out at the Dragoons.
We passed nothing out there but a woman
on a white stallion and a regiment of riders.
Then you've seen Jessica Drummond...
the one I just sung about,
the one I wrote the ballad about.
- Nobody around the Dragoons
is allowed to sing it.
- So that's Drummond, huh?
Yep. Boss of Cochise County.
She and them 40 guns
that ride with her.
Beautiful woman, ain't she, Griff?
- Swain one of her 40 thieves?
- He sure is.
- Howdy, Marshal.
- Howdy, Shotgun.
- Going someplace?
- Just up the road a piece.
- Hello, Marshal.
- Howdy, Miss Louvenia.
Chisholm!
Where you goin'?
You're runnin' out, ain't ya?
Please, Brockie! Please!
Give me your coffee.
Have some coffee, Marshal.
Slap that leather, Marshal.
Please, Brockie.
You don't know what you're doin', son.
You're no gunfighter.
You're a mouth-fighter!
- Now, pull that plow handle.
- Please, Brockie!
Isn't there a sensible man here
that can stop this drunken...
Dad!
Now, that's a marshal for ya.
Come on, Charlie.
Lets go have some fun.
- How is he, Doc?
- He'll live, but he'll be stone blind.
- Why didn't you take my advice, John?
- I did.
You need a gun, Griff?
Mr. Spanger here...
No, it's not my fight.
- I'll put a stop to this.
- You can't tangle with 'em.
Nobody's gonna wreck
my shop.
He's a gunsmith, not a gunfighter.
Mr. Gunsmith!
- Yes, Mr. Bonell?
- All right, Wes.
- Where's your shop?
- I'll be glad to show you,
Mr. Bonell. Come on! Come on!
Let's break up the store.
- Which one, Brockie?
- That one!
Let me have a.44-40.
Charlie! Charlie Savage!
Look who's comin'.
- I'm gettin'outta here.
- What's the matter, Charlie? You sick?
There's only one man walks like that.
When he gets closer, I'll skin him!
What's the matter with you guys?
He's all alone!
Aahh!
Stand back, mister!
I'm givin' ya fair warning!
Stand back, mister!
Here.
Thanks, Mr. Spanger.
Oh, uh, here.
- That's for the bullet.
- It'll cost you six bits to clean the rifle.
Ya know, that rifle could
stand a little readjustment.
I almost killed him. Yeah.
She even looks good in overalls.
- Who?
- Built like a.40-40.
I'd like to stay around long enough
to clean a rifle.
Wes, Chico, let's go!
Can you see me a farm dog? Me...
I cut my teeth on a gun.
They're still milk teeth.
Remember what Pa says:
"They who labor in the earth
are the chosen people of God."
But I don't wanna be a chosen people.
I wanna be Griff' s third gun.
If he'd only give me a chance,
I wouldn't let you down.
A man never knows what
he'll do in a showdown.
- Were you ever scared?
- All the time.
I got your ticket.
See that you don't lose it.
I read in the paper there's been
lots of stagecoach accidents.
Holdups... three and four a week.
Desperadoes killed all the passengers.
They never bother women or boys.
- If you were my size, I'd make you eat that.
- Excuse me, gentlemen.
- Which one is Griff Bonell?
- What can I do for you?
I'm Ned Logan, Mr. Bonell,
the sheriff of Cochise County.
I guess you must be Wes, huh?
Now, I'm sorry
a bunch of drunken rowdies...
had to be your welcoming party, Mr. Bonell.
- Staying in town long?
- Long enough.
That Brockie's a spoiled kid.
That pistol-whipping
ought to sober him up.
- He's all yours.
- I don't want him.
I just come to thank you for...
thank you for tossing him in jail.
Too bad I wasn't around
to give old Chisholm a hand...
but, you see, I... I had to
ride to the border on business.
With all your deputies?
Well, being sheriff and tax assessor...
and collector all at the same time...
a man needs plenty of help.
Cowmen have a way of
lyin' about their herds.
Yeah. It gets pretty tough sometimes
dodging Apaches when you have to...
serve writs of attachment on outlying
ranches and mines and sawmills.
Uh, you here on official business?
Yes, I guess you do have
your hands full at that.
Thinkin' of pounding
the hills for a little silver?
Right now, I'm thinking
of pounding out a telegram.
Oh, well, this is the place
right here to do it.
Tex'll take care of you.
Tex, a friend of mine...
wants to send a message.
I seen you make the walk, Mr. Bonell.
A little slower than that stroll
you took in Dodge City.
Would you send that, please?
Uh, "To Nicholas Bonell."
I was in the cavalry with a
Captain Nick Bonell in '47 in Mexico.
He got hit in the leg
and was invalid at home.
- That was, uh, 34 years ago.
- He's my father.
- Is the leg any better?
- It will be when he gets that telegram.
"Nicholas Bonell, Colton, California.
"All in good health.
"Chico leaving Saturday.
"Will write after we
complete our business here.
- Signed, Griff and Wes."
- Thank you.
Well, Mr. Bonell,
anything I can do for you, I'll be here.
Thank you, Mr. Logan.
Just a little bump
on the head, Jessica.
Where's the man who
assaulted my brother?
- I barreled him.
- Why isn't he locked up?
There was no charges against him.
You know who he is.
I'm quite familiar with Mr. Bonell's talents.
A legal killer for hire.
I'm surprised a man of his caliber
would put his brand on a calf.
That calf was old enough to put
a.45 slug in a blind man's leg.
- Blind?
- That's right.
What are the charges
against Brockie Drummond?
- Disturbing the peace.
- Disturbing the peace?
He shot a man
who wouldn't draw on him.
- Did you see it?
- No, but everybody knows it.
The Honorable District and Circuit Court,
County of Cochise is now in session.
Since no warrant was issued
for the arrest of the prisoner,
the argument was a personal one.
The prisoner produced signatures
of eyewitnesses swearing
he shot in self-defense.
Brockie Drummond, this court finds
you guilty of disturbing the peace.
A $50 fine. Release the prisoner,
his guns and his horse.
Court now stands adjourned.
No wonder Marshal Chisholm
never gave us any trouble.
He couldn't see.
Why did you shoot him?
- Was it over that half-breed?
- I don't know what you mean.
I don't want an unbranded calf in my corral
because of your carelessness...
and I'm tired of paying
for your mistakes.
- Did she get to you?
- Of course she did. They all do.
You'll wind up with a woman
in every placita and a calf in every corral.
- Give me your gun.
- Sometimes a man's gotta
blow off a little steam.
If you can't handle a horse
without spurs, you have no business riding.
Come on. Your guns.
Rio!
Why'd you run to my sister,
cry on her shoulder like the rest?
No, Brockie, I'm not like the rest.
Runnin'to her for help.
That makes you no different.
Who could I go to, Brockie?
Who could I turn to?
You know I'm alone, and you wouldn't
see me anymore.
I had to go to her.
You know what
you're gonna do?
You're gonna go to my sister, and you're
gonna tell her I never touched you.
No, Brockie.
I'm not going to lie to her.
She was kind to me.
She gave me money.
She said she would
help me, and that...
- You're gonna tell her it's a lie.
- No, Brockie.
I ought to shove you right off this cliff.
- You do, and your bread
and butter goes with me.
- If Jessica weren't your sister...
You'll never get her, Logan.
You're too clumsy, too weak.
You haven't got the stomach
for her kind of woman.
I've wanted to kill you lots of times
for the trouble that you cause her.
Why don't you grow up and stop
riding roughshod over these girls?
You've got a chance to amount to something
with a woman like Jessica behind you.
We paid Chisholm 300 a month.
We'd go to five to get you.
- Just the name Bonell is worth the extra
- Drop from line...
of bore five-eighths to eleven-sixteenths
at comb for low mounting.
Five-eighths to eleven-sixteenths.
There are worse jobs
than being city marshal.
Drop at heel between one
and one five-eighths.
One and one five-eighths.
It's time you settled down
in one place, Wes.
This is good wood for the stock.
Fiddle back grain. You don't want that.
Give me that new walnut
that just came in, Dad.
That, uh, flame grain.
This what you mean?
- Looks pretty good.
- Yeah?
- Just fine.
- First time I ever been measured for a rifle.
You've got a high cheekbone
and a low shoulder.
Gonna make trouble for you?
Nothing I can't handle.
How long will it take
to make this rifle for me?
A long time. You'll have to come in
every day for a fittin'.
Yeah?
I guess it is time I settled down.
But this town looks like any other town.
A Spanger rifle looks like any other rifle...
unless you know good work from bad.
This is pretty good work.
Never saw any better.
Yeah. This kind of rifle's
worth hangin' around for.
I never kissed a gunsmith before.
Any recoil?
Whoa!
Whoa.
I have a warrant for
one of your men, Miss Drummond.
Would you mind passing it down, please?
Mr. Connelly,
does the governor know about this?
It didn't come through
our office in Prescott.
- Judge Macy?
- It's not a local warrant.
- Is it in order?
- Yes, I think so.
It should be. It came direct from the
attorney general's office in Washington.
Mr. Logan, it's a reflection on you...
for one of your own deputies
to be charged with robbing the mails.
I'm sure he will surrender to the United
States government without resistance.
- Won't you, Mr. Swain?
- What are you talkin' about?
Are you Chief Deputy Swain?
- That's right.
- Then you know what
I'm talking about. Let's go.
You heard Mr. Bonell. Go with him.
One moment, please, Mr. Bonell.
Aren't you afraid of ambush?
I'm always afraid of losing government
property. Keeps me awake nights.
That's hard to believe after
what I've heard about you.
Just as hard for me to swallow
what I've heard about you.
Oh? And just what did you hear?
Would you gentlemen excuse us, please?
The whiskey's in the sideboard.
My reputation is going to suffer.
A deputy charged with robbing
the mails is hard to believe.
And I once arrested a lieutenant governor.
Horse thief.
- Don't forget this.
- I've got lots more of em.
- For my guests?
- Any more of em been robbing the mails?
Now, what do you want?
Logan wears the badge,
but he's afraid of guns.
The job pays well. Percentage
on commissions, and so forth.
And a man could get rich
on the "and so forth." Is that it?
- You offering me the job?
- You wouldn't have any
trouble getting elected.
- With your help?
- With or without my help,
a popular killer like you.
I don't figure the job is my size.
It could be any size you want it to be.
I'm not interested in you, Mr. Bonell.
It's your trademark.
- May I feel it?
- Uh-uh.
- Just curious.
- It might go off in your face.
I'll take a chance.
You could have broken my brother's skull.
I could have, if I tried.
I suppose I should be grateful
you weren't hired to kill him.
I don't kill for hire.
I'm sure you don't kill for fun.
I'm sure you're sure.
You asked for the whiskey.
That's good whiskey, Logan.
You oughta try it.
Whoa.
You check him in, Wes.
I'll see you at the hotel.
I disliked leavin' Miss Drummond's
peaceful dinner party, Mr. Bonell...
but as sheriff, I had to be back here
in my official capacity.
I appreciate that, Sheriff.
Give the prisoner anything he wants.
Room and board's on Uncle Sam.
Swain, I... I can't believe it.
Honest to goodness, a man in your position.
Here you are drawin' clean pay
every month, and you rob the mails.
You oughta go to a head doctor.
Excuse me. Come on.
How long does this...
this idiot got to board with us?
A couple of days, Sheriff.
Mr. Bonell...
Why don't you save the government
some money, hang him right now?
I wish I could, Sheriff,
but it's out of our jurisdiction.
Uh-huh. Did...
Did he do this all by himself?
I know how miserable you feel, Sheriff.
His kind puts a damper on
all peace officers in the county.
- I know that.
- It's true.
- This is to bind him over
to the attorney general.
- Oh?
Everything's gotta be read and signed.
- All of them. Government regulations.
- Of course. Yeah.
I'll pick 'em up later, with the prisoner.
Chico?
Chico!
Chico!
- Barney! Barney Cashman!
- Yeah?
Barney, come here.
- Yeah? What is it?
- Where's Chico?
The last I saw him,
he was headed for a drink.
He never touched the stuff.
I told you to keep an eye on him.
- Is Griff Bonell up there?
- Yeah, I'm here.
We've got your brother Chico.
Where do you want us to put the body?
We're with the First Division.
We came down here to have some fun.
But your brother here
drank up half the whiskey.
And he wrecked the whole
place doin' it.
Thank you, boys.
Thanks, Corporal. Barney.
- Thanks. Thanks.
- Good night.
I can figure a squirt like Brockie Drummond
getting liquored up.
He was born that way... scared and loud.
But you going off half-cocked
like that... Why, Chico?
- I'm old enough to drink.
- You're not old enough to hold it.
- Then I'll learn.
- Why?
That's my business.
Chico. Chico, what's bothering you?
Why do you think I came to Tombstone
with you? For the ride?
You pistol-whipped a man...
wouldn't let me be part of the play.
What if something happened to Wes?
You know you'd never make the walk
without a second gun covering you.
You rode out to the Dragoons, and
you wouldn't let me be in on the arrest.
I feel like a third leg.
- Did I hurt you, Chico?
- No.
I got no taste for farmin'.
I don't want any part of it.
Why?
You learned me to handle a gun.
You learned me too good.
Chico, you know
what happened to Chisholm.
It could happen to you,
could happen to me.
Remember when I told you how those
Roman fighters used to chop each other
up...
in some big arena, and you laughed
and called them freaks?
It won't be long now before people
will be laughing at men like me.
The last few towns we rode through,
they looked at my gun.
I know they figured I was one
of those freaks out of the past.
There's a new era coming up, Chico.
My kind of making a living
is on the way out.
- For a gunfighter, you do
an awful lot of talking.
- I'm a freak, Chico!
I just don't want you to be one.
Well, I'm tired of being wet-nosed.
I'm no agricultural cowboy.
I know.
A brand-new.45 Colt Peacemaker.
Nickel-plated, ivory stock. For me?
It's for killing rattlesnakes
and wild animals.
You'll find plenty
of both of em on the farm.
Well, you tell her this for me:
She can't buy me off like the others.
I'm not making a target
out of myself for her or anyone else.
That Griff Bonell... Do you think
he cares anything about the border?
He'd find me wherever I go...
he and his brother.
And if they didn't,
someone else would.
Swain, look, she's got influence.
You know that, don't you?
She'll pull strings for you
later on. Sure. Sure.
Later's too late.
She's getting me out of here
right away, and legally.
Tomorrow I wanna walk
the street. I'm still chief deputy.
If she can swing it, she's the boss.
And if she doesn't, remember there
isn't anything about her I don't know.
You want me to tell her that?
- You're sure?
- You heard me.
Who shot you, Swain? Who shot you?
Did you see him at all? Did you?
Who shot you in the back?
You can tell me if you saw him, 'cause
I'm your friend. You know that, don't you?
If you saw him, we'll do something about it.
Don't you know who shot you?
- Straighten out my legs.
- They are straight.
I think his spine is busted, don't you?
He-He-He's trying to say something.
D-Did you see who shot you? Did you?
If you saw him, why-why don't you tell us?
We'll... We'll find out who
did it, won't we, Mr. Bonell?
Did he... Did he whisper to you at all?
Did he... Did he tell you who did it?
Did he, Mr. Bonell?
Cut the slug out, Wes.
It's no good to us in a corpse.
Excuse me, Sheriff.
Did you ever see this slug before?
Sure. It comes from
a new high-powered rifle.
Sharps-Borchardt makes it.
- Seen any around here?
- Only one man in the territory has one like it.
- Who's that?
- The late Howard Swain.
This slug was just cut out of his spine.
Then he must've been shot with his own
gun.
Who's the best shot in the territory?
- I didn't shoot him.
- No.
After you, who's the best shot?
Charlie Savage.
You got in a panic.
But I had to act fast,
and Charlie Savage is your best shot.
- You made a decision for me?
- Sometimes, you know, a partner can't wait.
I'm your boss, not your partner.
You want me to crawl?
I didn't know you'd take it like this.
How do you think
Griff Bonell will take it?
But you're in the clear.
Everything's all been settled.
Murder never solved anything.
It was your decision, and it's your finish.
- You had Swain killed, not me.
- Yes, but I had no other choice.
You just hanged yourself.
Start running, Logan.
Start running like a feist dog
with your tail between your legs.
- Please, Jessica...
- Take your gun hawks and run!
You must feel naked without your army.
The Dragoons is at your disposal.
What name is on your warrant this time?
- One of your riders, Charlie Savage.
- Oh? What did he do?
Just damaged some federal property.
You seen him around?
I don't keep track of my men, Mr. Bonell...
and I'm not responsible
for what they do away from here.
Must be plenty of good
hiding places on your land.
- I'll be glad to show them to you.
- Can you spare the time?
I wanna see if you find him on my land.
You wanna spank him?
I just wanna see if you can take him.
There's a good hideout.
Whoa. Whoa.
Whoa!
I was bitten by a rattler
in there when I was 15.
- Bet that rattler died.
- Yeah, I bet he did.
- You don't think much of me, do you?
- No, I think a lot of you.
I think it's gonna be rough on you
if your brother's mixed up in this killing.
- Murder is not in his blood.
- With your brand on him,
anything could be in his blood.
Hyah!
Whoa. Whoa.
- What's the matter? You look upset.
- I was born upset.
Until I was eight, I thought everything
with four feet and horns was a cow...
and everything with two feet
and a gun was a man.
At nine, I learned the difference.
Not between beef and men,
but between cold blood and breeding.
At 10, I branded calves, peeled horses...
rode the range and slept on the ground.
My father was rounding up
strays when Brockie was born.
I was alone with my mother.
I was 12. I delivered him.
He was born in this shack.
My mother died giving birth.
I buried her, went out
and roped a cow, got milk for Brockie.
He lived.
When I was 15, a saddle tramp
tried to get rough with me in here.
The rattler?
My father
was no hand with a gun.
He was shot trying to
keep me from getting bit.
- Did you step on the rattler?
- Mm-hmm.
My father built this shack
with his own hands.
And you've kept it as a shrine.
No.
Just a reminder not to let go of anything.
When I was 18, I was boss of my own
spread.
I picked up Logan, a $100-a-month
sheriff in a broken-down camp.
I put him on. I got interested
in voting, taxes and silver.
I spent money for
the good of this territory...
sent lobbyists to the Prescott Council,
financed mining camps, sawmills.
- You came a long way.
- So have you.
My men talk a lot about you.
Did they ever tell you I drove most of em
out of different camps, one time or another?
Those you didn't draw on told me.
You shot your way across the map.
This is the last stop, Griff.
The frontier is finished.
There'll be no more towns
to break, no more men to break.
It's time you started to break yourself.
If a town has got to have peace, let
somebody else build it on graves.
You don't want the only evidence of
your life's work to be bullet holes in men.
I want you to run the Dragoons for me.
- I want you to throw in with me.
- You still interested in my gun?
It's time you threw your gun away.
You'll have to sooner or later.
I'm giving you the chance.
Why me?
I need a strong man to carry out my orders.
And a weak man to take them.
My throat's dry. I'm talking too much.
- What do you want?
- You'd better not let her
catch you wearing those guns.
You're not giving orders for her anymore.
Nothing would give me greater pleasure than
to watch Griff Bonell blow your head off...
- but then she'd blame me for it.
- I wanna be the one to kill him.
Look, nobody wants to kill him, Brockie...
but the pressure's gotta
come off her and off me too.
Everything's gonna be like
it was. Give me those guns!
I already gave up these guns once
to her. Nobody else is gonna take 'em.
This is Charlie Savage's play
and nobody else's.
Don't you see, if we're mixed up
in it, she's mixed up in it too?
- Give me the guns, Brockie.
- All right.
Then I want you to get across
the street and wait for me over there.
- Who's gonna face Griff Bonell?
- Wiley. Come on. Get out of here.
Wiley. Wiley.
Wiley. Wiley.
Come on out here.
- I don't like it, Sheriff.
- Absolutely nothing to worry about.
You see,
Wes'll come in first...
as he always does, with a rifle
to look the situation over.
Then he'll plant himself somewhere
around here to cover Griff' s back.
Now...
Then, you see, Griff will come in.
He'll stop right here. He's cautious.
Now, Wiley, you've got
nothing to worry about at all...
because, you know, you're gonna be...
you're gonna be right here around the
corner.
They can't... can't see you at all.
Now, listen, Griff will call out,
"Charlie Savage."
And you say, "Yeah?"
Then he'll call out
he's got a warrant for you.
And you say, "Come and get me."
And he'll say, "All right".
Now, look.
Griff will take that one step.
That's what I mean. That's when
he'll see I'm not Charlie Savage.
That's when he'll be dead.
- Any luck?
- No. No word on him in Phoenix or
Prescott.
- What about Tucson?
- They think he may have
slipped across the border.
Griff!
I've been looking all over for you.
Charlie Savage is in town.
He's over at the Undertaker's Alley
waiting for a showdown.
- Where's that?
- Across from the gunsmith's shop.
- Who told you he was in town waiting for me?
- Savage. Charlie Savage did.
- He don't look scared.
- Thanks, Barney.
- Come on!
- It's all right, Barney.
- Can I help?
- You go back and run your bathhouse.
- I'll call you if I need you.
- All right, but don't forget.
Well, let's take a walk.
No. We'd better wait until
we get Chico on that stage.
Get him out of town.
Here you are. Hey, Griff.
Barney Cashman's been
lookin' for you. What's up?
Not a thing.
In you go.
- It might take a couple days to find out
where Charlie Savage is holing up.
- Yep.
- Might even take you a week.
- Yeah.
- Can't I stick around till you run him down?
- Nope.
- Aw, come on, Griff.
- Say hello to the folks.
Tell 'em we'll come home for a visit soon,
maybe in the next few weeks.
Tell them I got a surprise for 'em.
You know, he really would
have made a good third gun.
What's this about a surprise?
I'm gettin' married.
Well, you won't find
many wives who can make a gun.
That's right.
Are you, uh, gonna stick around here?
Yeah. I'm gonna be city marshal.
Pay any good?
Oh, better than a federal job.
Anyway, they want
the Bonell name for the job.
You know, after you pick up Charlie Savage,
you'll need a new second gun.
Yeah, that's right.
Charlie Savage in there?
Charlie Savage!
- Charlie Savage!
- Yeah?
This is Griff Bonell.
I've got a warrant for you.
Get rid of your gun, and come out with
your hands high and your fingers spread.
Did you hear me?
Come on out!
Come... and get me.
All right.
So you did need a third gun.
He had you right in his sights.
Who is it?
Charlie Savage.
Barney Cashman told me
he was calling for a showdown.
I jumped the stage
as soon as it turned the corner.
I got him right
through the head. One shot.
And you wanted me to be a farmer.
- Now what did I do wrong?
- Now you've killed a man.
- Murdered!
- He didn't die of old age.
- I'll find out who rigged this up.
- Here!
You're not gonna make this a personal fight,
not so long as I made you my second gun.
- Understand?
- Yes, sir.
Sure fix 'em up pretty in this camp.
Last time I killed a man was 10 years ago.
A boy.
He was no good, like your brother.
But he was still a boy, and I killed him.
I could have made a crippling shot,
but I didn't.
Did you ever see a dead boy's eyes
in the sky?
Truest gun in the West. Hah.
You know why I hate
to get into fights?
I can't miss.
Am I talking too much?
In my heart, I've always asked
forgiveness before I killed...
just like an Indian asking forgiveness
from an animal before the slaughter.
You can't ask after you kill.
It's too late then.
I didn't come here to talk about that.
I came to talk about Brockie.
He put Charlie Savage's corpse
on public display in a store window.
A boy who'd do a thing like that is dead.
Or nearly dead.
But there's still time.
You think he was mixed up in that ambush.
I don't know what to think.
My brother Wes is getting married.
I'm pulling out
right after the wedding.
That's why I'm here...
to talk about Brockie.
I know how close you are to him,
more like a son than a brother.
I know. I've got
a brother the same age.
You can break yours
before you have to bury him.
Sorry, Jessica, but...
but I had to shoot him.
There was no other possible way to...
Why didn't you kill me?
He thought you were my brother.
Nobody wants to be associated with murder.
Now Swain is dead. Savage is dead.
Your agent on the senate floor ran off.
The governor turned his back on you.
Everybody's desertin' the ship.
The captain is drowning.
The Dragoons are breakin'
up, and it's his fault.
He's your enemy. He's out to crush you.
That's why I tried to kill him.
To get your job back?
Have you gone crazy?
Job?
Why do you think I lied for you,
stole, bribed and cheated?
For my job?
For money?
Jessica, I'm a man.
I have a man's feelings.
You can't buy what I feel.
A man can't keep this
to himself forever.
"I kept telling myself,"Patience.
Hold on. Hold fast. She'll understand."
But a man can only wait
for so long.
And a man has got to do
something...
about what's in his heart,
or it'll break.
What do you want
to do with him?
Nothing.
Jessica.
Jessica, don't do that to me.
Please, Jessica, don't...
don't pay me off like the others.
Please, Jessica.
Jessica, don't do that.
Please.
Jessica, please.
I'm sorry, Ned.
You know the real reason
why he tried to kill you.
He knows I'm in love with you.
Everything he said is true. The Dragoons
is crumbling, but I don't care anymore.
I could save it, but I don't want to.
I know how he feels.
He feels about me the way I feel about you.
But we can forget him now,
and everything else...
the boy you've killed,
the life I've led, everything.
Nothing can hurt us now.
You're not leaving here without me, Griff.
What's happened to us is like war...
easy to start, hard to stop.
I never knew how to like anybody
until I knew how to love.
And I like you, Griff.
- What's that?
- Nothing. Nothing.
We'd better take a look.
I want those church bells ringin', Sexton.
Don't you worry about 'em.
They'll be ringing.
And you, Mr. Fly, you better
make this your best job.
First time I had to wash to take
a wedding picture, Mr. Spanger.
- Have you gotten plenty of rice?
- Every bag in camp.
Here they come!
Here they come!
Will you come in a little closer, please?
All right, here we go.
Hold it!
One more!
Aren't you gonna kiss the bride, Griff?
Wes! Wes! Wes! Oh, Wes!
Wes! Wes! Wes! Oh, Wes!
Wes! Wes! Wes!
Wes! Wes! Wes! Wes!
Whoa!
If you weren't full of this cheap gun,
this whole mess wouldn't have happened.
And you, you're lucky you kissed the bride,
or else my bullet'd be in your head!
I'll do everything I can to see him live.
Well, the government's gonna play fair.
In view of your cooperation, they're
gonna drop the charges against you.
But as your lawyer, I must tell you
again you didn't have to give them so much.
They would've been satisfied with half.
The politicians were flabbergasted when
they found out what you were gonna do.
You, uh... You could still
be boss, you know...
if you wanted to.
Sure, sure, the government knows
you kept back a lot of the tax money...
that Logan and his
gunmen collected.
But Uncle Sam got twice as much
that way than he did before you came along.
Miss Drummond, do you
know what this means?
They'll take away your land, your cattle...
your house, everything you've built up.
Everything.
Where you been all this time?
Holdin' hands with Griff Bonell?
Got any money left to fight for me?
- The fight's over, Brockie.
- It's never over!
You've been buying people all your life.
You gotta get me out of this!
I spent every dollar I could hang on to.
The judge and jury couldn't be bought.
Well, get an appeal! We can still win!
- We lost.
- "We"? It's my neck!
I know, but there's nothing
more I can do for you.
You killed a United States marshal.
If it weren't for his brother,
you'd get me out of this right now.
You've got to hang, Brockie.
Come on. We got a rope, but the
government
won't let us hang you. Come on!
Jess... You're right, Jess.
You've been coverin' for me all my life.
I'm sorry. I'll take my medicine.
Oh, Brockie!
Brockie, don't!
Don't, Brockie! Throw your gun down!
Brockie, don't! Brockie, don't!
Brockie, get rid of your gun.
Put your hands high...
and your fingers spread.
What are you afraid of, Griff?
Come on out!
What are you waitin' for?
Let's see you shoot her.
I'm killed!
Don't shoot, Mr. Bonell. I'm killed!
Get a doctor. She'll live.
Miss Drummond! What are you doin'
out of bed? You know what Doc Hudson said.
- I'm all right, Mr. Cashman.
- Now get back to your room
right now, Miss Drummond.
The doc said not to let you out of the hotel.
Thank you very much, but I'll be all right.
You're a lucky woman it was
Griff Bonell done that shootin'.
He put that bullet in ya
right where he wanted it put.
I know that, Mr. Spanger.
There's nothing I can do or say or pray for...
that will bring him back to you.
It's very hard to forget the man you love.
I know.
You have one thing
in your favor, Mrs. Bonell:
Youth.
Barney meant no harm by that.
He just likes that song.
You wouldn't take my advice, Marshal.
I'm gonna take it myself.
- Where you goin'?
- California.
What about Jessica Drummond?
I want to talk about her, Griff.
You know, you did something for her
that you wouldn't have done...
for Ma or Wes or me or anybody else.
You lost your head.
You didn't kill him like a peace officer.
You blew up inside...
did everything you learned me not to do.
Must've loved her an awful lot
to kill Brockie the way you did.
You don't talk like
a wet-nose anymore, Chico.
- Then why don't you go to her?
- You think it's me?
I want her. I'll never have her
because she won't have me.
Chico, if she'd have killed you,
I never would have forgiven her.
You know why?
'Cause I'm not big enough.
You gotta be big to forgive.