Maverick (1957) s01e16 Episode Script

1
MAN:
You there, what are you doing?
BRET:
Hyah!
Hold it. Hold it there.
SHERIFF: Finish your drink, mister.
It's along ride back to town.
I didn't really believe it was you.
It's me, sheriff.
And if you've had your water,
you can climb aboard your horse now.
Sheriff, I couldn't do that
if my life depended on it.
You think it don't?
It's my leg.
I've been losing more blood
than I thought.
I know. That's how I trailed you.
Look, I'm gonna have to rest a while
before I can ride again.
It's the only way I'll ever make it back.
Twenty minutes.
Then you're riding back to North Span.
Either in your saddle or across it.
I'm much obliged.
Kind of a clumsy job.
I guess I'll never make
a good bank robber.
Not for the next 20 years, anyhow.
It was my first try at it.
Like to know why I did it?
Not especially.
It's a pretty uncommon story.
Well, you save it for the jury.
I'll make you a bet, sheriff.
Ten dollars even--
My money, not the bank's.
"That if I told you the story,
I wouldn't ride back to town at all.
My job is just to bring you back.
So you save your breath.
I'll change that bet.
You not only wouldn't take me back
you wouldn't even
take the money back.
If that's worth $10 to you, go ahead.
Well, to begin with
10 weeks ago,
10 weeks ago yesterday
I was down in Denver
big hotel there
playing poker.
Thank you.
Why, I'm surprised at you, Bret.
You're rm bluffer.
I could be, though.
All I'm lacking is courage
and an honest face.
I don't wanna go through life
the way I am now
a simple country boy.
I think I'll see you.
- Porter.
PORTER: Yes, ma'am?
The gentleman in black broadcloth,
is that Mr. Maverick?
There are two Mr. Mavericks here
at the hotel.
The one in there new
is Mr. Bret Maverick.
- Will you give him this, please?
- Certainly, ma'am.
Thank you.
Who's this from, friend?
The lady in the lobby gave it to me.
A tall, blond, good-looking woman.
- A lady in a green dress?
- That's the one.
- Are you sure I'm the one the note is for?
- She said particularly, "Mr. Bret Maverick."
Thank you, Mr. Maverick.
Gentlemen, there are more important things
than getting rich.
Mr. Maverick.
Please, sit down.
I'm so glad you could come.
I'm glad you asked me.
Oh, uh
Neutral grain spirits, ma'am.
Nourishing and convivial.
I'm afraid there's no need to be convivial,
Mr. Maverick.
I've asked you here on a business matter.
If you came under a mistaken impression,
I'm sorry.
I'm desolated, Miss.
Mrs. Ross. I'm a widow.
Well, to tell you the truth
I never indulge in anything
stronger than coffee.
Now, what can I do for you, Mrs. Ross?
I have a rather strange request
to make of you.
I'm on my way north
and I've come as far as I can by train.
I'm leaving by stagecoach
tomorrow morning for North Span, Montana.
I'd like you to accompany me on the trip.
That's along way from Denver.
I'm prepared to pay you $1000.
One thousand dollars
for the pleasure of my company?
Understand me, Mr. Maverick.
The pleasure of your company
doesn't enter into at all.
What I need is your protection.
If you don't mind my saying 50,
Mrs. Ross
you look quite capable
of taking care of yourself.
Lots of people travel alone these days.
I'm not alone, Mr. Maverick.
- Ma'am?
- I'm taking this with me.
I can take care of myself.
I'm not sure I can take care
of $200,000 in cash.
Do you always carry this much money
around with you?
I've carried it all the way up
from East Texas
and I intend to carry it on to Montana.
If it was my money
and I wanted to get it to Montana
I'd just ship it.
Let Wells Fargo do the hauling
and the worrying.
There isn't any Wells Fargo
west of Fort Laramie.
That's 300 miles this side of North Span.
When you need help
looking after your suitcase full of money
do you always pick a stranger?
You're not quite a stranger.
We have a mutual friend in Denver.
Mr. Petersen, a lawyer.
He assures me you are honest,
capable and discreet.
Naturally, I'm flattered.
If it interests you,
he also says you're a gentleman.
What was his name again?
Heh. On this occasion, you would be.
Will you help me?
There'd have to be one thing understand.
If it's the money I'm protecting,
this suitcase never leaves my sight.
I assure you, Mr. Maverick,
between here and Montana
this suitcase and you and I
will be inseparable.
BRET: For any price, a thousand miles
is a long distance to go.
But that wasn't half the distance
Mrs. Ross kept between me and herself.
Play some cards?
No.
Uh, sister?
Mother.
BRET: It's along way to go
when there's nobody to talk to.
You were talking.
Occasionally,
I like to hear somebody talking back.
I suppose I could carry on a conversation
with the suitcase.
Money talks.
Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude.
It wouldn't feel so lonely
if I even knew your first name.
Your feed is better when it's hot.
Elizabeth is a pretty name.
Heh. I suppose so.
You're not Elizabeth, huh?
Well, let's try some others.
Let's start with A.
Mister
I've got something to say
and I hope you don't take it unkindly.
What's that, friend?
You got a mighty handsome wife.
Thank you.
Makes this whole part of the country
start to look civilized.
She's a fine little woman.
My name is Maverick, ma'am.
I'm your neighbor across the hall.
I've been wondering
how I could get to know you.
I know you have.
If you're not doing anything, well
suppose we leave the baby somewhere
and enjoy the town.
Thank you, but I am doing something.
Going out with another man?
Staying in, Mr. Maverick
with a huge tub of hot, soapy water.
Oh, maybe later then.
The Montana stage doesn't leave
until tomorrow morning.
Mr. Maverick, the way I feel,
I'll probably still be in that tub.
I suppose you won't be needing me.
If you wanna go out,
you can leave the suitcase with me.
I'll get the suitcase.
Are you sure?
It's a true green,
but the red on the seal is a little brownish.
- Is he saying"?
- It's counterfeit, Mr. Maverick.
Where did you say you got this?
Denver.
I won it in a poker game.
Well, we'll get it to the government men
and they'll-- What are you doing?
You shouldn't have done that.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I always wanted to light a cigar
with a hundred dollar bill.
Satisfaction is real, even if the bill isn't.
BRET: She was an uncommon person,
Mrs. Ross.
And in this situation, whatever it was,
she just didn't fit at all.
Carrying around that much cash
is ridiculous.
But when it isn't even real money
Mrs. Ross.
Yes?
There's something
I have to ask you about.
[CHUCKLES]
You're very persistent, Mr. Maverick.
I suppose I might as well tell you
and get it over with.
It's Margaret.
CLERK: Good evening.
- Good evening.
Mr. Maverick
and wife.
Mrs. Maverick.
We have a very nice, big, corner room
for you.
The best room in the house.
Yes, well, now
do you suppose you could rustle up
two nice, big, corner rooms?
Mrs. Maverick keeps insisting
that I snore.
Well, the room that I described to you
is, uh, the only room we have.
The cattle buyers are in town.
If there should be any cancellation,
I'll let you know.
[RINGS]
Front.
[SIGHS]
Where do you usually sleep
when the hotels are full?
In the livery stable.
On a soft bed of fragrant hay.
Well?
When I don't have a fifth of a million dollars
sleeping with me.
And the town isn't full
of drunken cowboys.
I suppose you'll have to leave
the money here.
I'm sure it'd be safe overnight.
If that was the case, Mrs. Ross
I could still be in that card game
in Denver.
What do you propose then?
That I sleep in the stable?
No, I suppose I could borrow
two shotguns
and we could sit up all night
watching each other.
Mr. Maverick,
your humor is beginning to fade.
We could make an extra room,
it'd give us both some privacy.
If one of us wanted to stay awake
and hold it up.
You're thoroughly enjoying yourself,
aren't you, Mr. Maverick?
Mrs. Ross
I've enjoyed myself more
on the short end of a fistfight
and your privacy is the last thing on earth
that either of us has to worry about.
I don't understand.
You carry your own privacy
and it's a lot more substantial
than that silly thing.
That's a strange thing to say.
Strange, Mrs. Ross?
You come along with $200,000 in cash
tucked under your arm and you say:
"If you're not doing anything
for the next 10 minutes, Mr. Maverick
come along with me and ride
on a stagecoach for a thousand miles."
And this being a sensible,
everyday suggestion
I say, "Thank you kindly, Mrs. Ross,
I believe I will."
So we ride.
In the morning, we say, "Good morning."
In the evening, we say, "Good night."
And in between,
we don't say anything at all.
I am sorry, Bret. It's just that
I haven't tried to pry
into your silly little secret.
I haven't had designs
on either you or your money.
I've been the perfect little gentleman.
Not too bright, but a gentleman.
May I say something?
If you're sure you feel up to it.
You sound strange.
You talk like a small, angry boy
who won't say why he's angry.
That's right. Ida.
What is bothering you?
Please, Bret,
things are confused enough already.
Successful trip.
We've got the whole cattle crowd
in the bag.
GRIMES: Fine day.
- Yes, it is.
- Are you going to North Span too?
- That's right.
Oh, I'm sorry.
We neglected to introduce ourselves.
This is my friend Andrew Wiggins.
My name is John Grimes.
- Bret Maverick.
- It's a pleasure.
Is this your first trip to Montana,
Mrs. Maverick?
Mrs. Ross. Yes, it is.
I have a feeling we've met before,
Mr. Grimes.
[CHUCKLES]
That's what I was supposed to say,
Mrs. Ross.
- You're not from Texas, are you?
- Louisiana, New Orleans.
Hope you're planning
to settle in North Span.
I haven't fully decided.
It's a wonderful country, Montana.
I've heard that it's excellent farmland.
Farmland?
[BOTH LAUGH]
I'm afraid you've been talking
to the wrong people, Mrs. Ross.
Montana land is too good
to waste on potatoes.
It's grazing land. Cattle country.
Oh, I'm ashamed to say it,
but I don't know the difference.
Any land that will feed cattle
is cattle land.
- Any land that won't is farmland.
- That's right.
You sound as if you have a cause,
Mr. Grimes.
I suppose I do.
When sheep and sodbusters move in
on good rangeland
destroys a whole way of life.
I've seen it happen in parts of Texas.
And I don't wanna see it happen
here in Montana.
Montana is opening up, Mrs. Ross,
but it's got to start right.
- We'll be a state in two or three years.
- A state? Montana?
The 41st state of the Union.
You're looking at the man
who's gonna be the first governor.
Let me be the first to congratulate you.
Oh, not me. Mr. Grimes.
Would you like to be the governor
of Montana, Mr. Grimes?
Well, I hadn't thought of it.
But if I were needed,
I suppose I'd have no choice.
I find this very exciting.
I'm impressed, Mr. Grimes.
What would you do as governor?
This is all so sudden, Mrs. Ross.
You'd have to give me time to think.
Since this is going to be your first evening
in North Span
why don't you have dinner with me?
I promise to have my entire
political platform prepared by then.
That's very kind of you,
but I have a dinner engagement.
Well, perhaps tomorrow then?
Sometime soon.
What a perfectly lovely landscape.
I can't believe it.
Two miles more
and we'll be in North Span.
Goodbye, stagecoach.
"That's going to destroy
a whole way of life."
Bret Maverick,
you are jealous of that man.
Jealous?
Just because Mr. Grimes' ranch house
was three-stories high
- Ha, ha.
-just because the stagecoach
went 10 miles out of the way
to drop him off?
No, I wish him luck.
If he can win your hand
with all our money in it
he's bound to be the governor
of the 41st state.
Then I can always come to you
if I need a pardon for anything.
Wouldn't it be simpler
just to make you governor instead?
Don't you like Governor Grimes?
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
You'll be happy to know
that in a few minutes
you'll be out of a job.
We're gonna get rid
of that extra luggage of yours.
Well, bully for us.
What are we gonna do with it?
The only sensible thing we can do
with that money. Put it in the bank.
Uh
Of course, in the bank.
Whenever you're ready.
- I'll get my coat.
- And the suitcase.
And now, what references do you have,
Mrs. Ross?
The very best, Mr. Bradshaw. Money.
Heh. Yeah, you're absolutely right.
Uh, what sum were you planning
to, as you put it, leave with us?
Two hundred thousand dollars.
- Did you say 200,000?
- That's correct.
Well, that's a lot of money.
It may take a couple of weeks
for your draft to clear.
But if you need anything
in the meantime
It's not a draft, Mr. Bradshaw. It's cash.
Cash?
Mr. Maverick was kind enough
to act as my bodyguard.
Would you mind, Mr. Maverick?
Does something trouble you,
Mr. Bradshaw?
If anything troubled me
it would be my conscience.
I must say, as a banker,
if I had that kind of money
I'd put it some place
where it would earn
more than the 6 percent interest
this bank would pay on it.
I don't want to open an account.
I only want to rent a strongbox
in your safe.
A strongbox?
[SCOFFS]
My dear Mrs. Ross
you can't lock this kind of capital
up in a box.
Why, it's financial madness.
Banks fail, Mr. Bradshaw.
Boxes don't.
Oh, come now, Mrs. Ross.
These are modern times.
When is the last time you heard
of a bank failing?
The one my late husband used
lost his whole fortune for him.
Something in excess
of half a million dollars.
Mr. Ross literally killed himself
building his estate back up to this.
None of which
he ever entrusted to a bank.
And now, may I see your strongbox?
Certainly, Mrs. Ross.
Right this way, please.
One thousand dollars.
You've been along time earning it.
Counting it, Bret?
No, no. I was just looking at it.
Are you sure you don't have a suitcase
that I don't know about?
Whatever makes you ask that?
I thought all your hundreds
were the old spread-eagle issue.
These are all new ones
with Mr. Lincoln on the front.
Heh. That's progress.
Thank you for everything, Bret.
I'm sure it's been tedious
and mystifying to you.
Just mystifying.
Our friend in Denver was right about you.
You're honest, discreet
and a gentleman.
That last is the part that hurts.
That was goodbye, Bret.
It couldn't have been goodbye
because I'm not leaving you.
- The stagecoach--
- Can pound calluses on somebody else
for a while.
I don't want you here, Bret.
I don't want
complications.
We've got those already. Both of us.
I don't know what yours are, Margaret
but I'm beginning to understand mine.
What are you trying to say, Bret?
You hit pretty hard.
- I wasn't even swinging at you.
- I know.
If you'd swung, I could have ducked.
I'm sorry, Bret.
I'm not in love with you.
You're not?
Who are you in love with?
I'm not in love with anyone.
- I'm not going to be in love with anyone.
- Why not?
Because I can't afford to be.
We'll see.
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Well, Mr. Maverick.
Good afternoon, sir.
I was supposed to meet Mrs. Ross here.
Has she turned up yet?
She's come and gone.
Oh, that's a pity.
Well, as long as she got
what she came after.
- Oh, yes.
- She usually does.
Uh, Mr. Maverick, do you have a minute?
Mr. Maverick,
you're an old friend of Mrs. Ross.
BRET: Well
- Tell me
does she seem eccentric to you?
Eccentric? Mrs. Ross?
Well, there's that business
of the strongbox. Now, you saw that.
Leaving 200,000 lying around
doing absolutely nothing.
Women don't think the way we do,
Mr. Bradshaw
but that isn't always eccentric.
If she's got $200,000
earning no interest at all
why should she borrow 20,000
at 8 percent?
If she needs 20,000,
why don't she borrow it from herself?
If everybody got into that habit, you'd
soon be but of business, wouldn't you?
And she had a good reason
for wanting the money.
Now, that's neither here nor there.
Well, all right.
Why did you lend her the money?
Because it will earn me $1600 a year
and I don't believe in strongboxes.
If you think the woman is irresponsible--
With the collateral she's got,
Mr. Maverick
the strongbox in there
plus the property itself
I don't care if she's a babbling idiot.
When she goes through this 20,000,
I shall be happy to lend her another 20.
Oh, what makes you think
she'll go through this 20?
Because the business she's buying
won't run itself.
What does a woman know
about publishing a newspaper?
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
The fellow get on the stagecoach,
but I didn't think nothing of it.
He sold the newspaper
and eloped with the money.
What? He sold the paper?
- It doesn't belong to him, it belongs to me.
- Could we prove it?
I bought off his mortgages,
handed it to him.
I've been covering his losses.
I'm the owner of The Territorial Times.
He was the owner of record.
Nothing you can do.
Oh, isn't there? I want him taken off
that stagecoach and brought back here.
It's no use. We couldn't prove
you're the real owner of the paper.
Matter of fact, I don't think we'd want to
even if we could.
- Bad politics, huh?
- Dynamite.
You're right.
What do we do now, Mr. Grimes?
Buy the new editor.
Who is the new editor?
Some woman named, uh, "Ross."
The woman in the stagecoach.
In that case,
maybe we can save our money.
You know, from the way she took to me,
I don't think we have to buy her at all.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Gentlemen
tn our new editor.
Hey, sun, all right.
Give me one of them, will you?
Let's see
how us mean, old, dirt farmers
are picking on the poor, little cattlemen
this week, huh?
MARGARET: Three more families
of decent American farmers
moved out of Sherman County
last week.
Driven from their homes not by hunger
nor fatigue, nor the rigors of climate
but by the harassments, the violence
and the organized economic pressure
of a small, powerful, selfish group of men.
The bully boys of the cattle clique.
The cattlemen are organized
and they are tireless.
They are determined that Montana
shall raise beef instead of families.
We who would fight them
must organize also
and must neither slumber nor sleep
until we have established
that Montana belongs not to cattle
but to people.
The Times will identify the leading members
of the cattlemen's cabal.
Each with his background
and with his particular function
in the plot against the people.
The first of these articles
will appear in our next edition.
We'll see about that.
May I give you some friendly advice,
Mrs. Ross?
I was delighted to learn that you were
gonna settle here and buy the newspaper.
I want you to get off to the right start.
I want the people of North Span
to like you and admire you as I do.
Please go on, Mr. Grimes.
People will get the idea
that you're attacking the cattle interests
without really knowing who they are
and what they represent.
I know these ranchers, Mrs. Ross.
They're good, sound, substantial people.
What Mr. Grimes is trying to say
is it's smarter to attack the farmer.
GRIMES:
I'm not saying that at all.
Mrs. Ross, I merely urge you
to keep an open mind.
My mind is always open, Mr. Grimes.
- And so are my eyes.
- Good.
Keep an open datebook ton.
I'll give Mr. Maverick here
a run for his money.
MARGARET:
John Grimes is a charming man
a ruthless man, a violent man.
His methods before he moved north
and changed his name
made him the only cattleman
ever to be thrown out of Texas.
Mr. Grimes' participation
in the political history of Texas
was brief and bloody.
And even today, the most hardened
of Texas beef barons
cannot remember him
without a shudder of shame.
Untrue. It's vicious.
What are you trying to do to me?
Ruin me?
Just trying to stop you, Mr. Grimes.
And I will.
You're not going to setup
a cattlemen's kingdom in Montana.
You're not gonna be governor either.
- And you're going to stop me?
- I'm doing that already.
I know everything about you.
Who you are and what you are up to.
I know how you fight
and I know how to fight you.
Enjoy yourself, Mrs. Ross,
it will be a short fight.
You'll never even know what hit you.
If anything at all hits me, Mr. Grimes,
everyone will know what it was.
If any violence happens
even to my printing press,
you're the one they'll come for.
Mr. Grimes, you can't turn your hand
without cutting your own throat.
You've got a lot to learn about me,
Mrs. Ross.
Did you get your date?
Margaret?
What's the matter, little soldier?
Just tired.
You ought to be.
It's hard work sorting Wildcats.
You know, if I was gonna feel sorry
for somebody, it'd be Grimes.
He came out of here bleeding
from a dozen wounds.
You two just don't seem
to hit it off, do you?
If you ever wanna give up
this type of work
I can make an honest housewife
out of you.
Why would you wanna do that?
Can't help myself.
I fell in love with you.
You almost said it, didn't you?
You know, fighting yourself,
you can't win.
I'm gonna walk you home.
It's one way
of keeping you out of trouble.
[MARGARET CHUCKLES]
BRET:
You like your new house?
I won't ask you in.
Margaret, are you sure
you don't need somebody to talk to?
I can't, Bret.
Thank you for walking me home.
I owe you a favor.
For not paying me off
in counterfeit money.
All right, Bret. Come in.
Then Grimes was right.
You are from Texas.
He and his cattlemen
were burning crops and houses
and beating people and killing people.
It was my husband
who stand up to them.
- Was he a farmer?
- No.
A printer, an engraver.
He ran a newspaper and I helped him.
What happened to him?
Grimes sent his men around, they smashed
the printing presses and the type
the whole building.
They beat my husband horribly
and left him for dead.
Go on.
I took him to New Orleans.
We spent a year
going from one doctor to another.
Then I brought him home
a hopeless cripple.
He tried to start up again
in a little print shop but he couldn't.
He was broken in more than body, Bret.
He died in poverty and bitterness.
At the very end, he had an obsession
a rage for vengeance.
He felt that Grimes
could be fought only with money.
And he had no money
50 he printed his own.
He didn't tell me until he was dying.
And he made me swear that I wouldn't
let Grimes getaway with it ever again.
And the counterfeit money?
I haven't spent a penny of it. I never will.
But when people think you have money,
they're delighted to lend you more.
That's all there is to it.
Not quite.
What else is there?
Do you love me?
I can't turn aside for anything.
I've done what I had to do.
All right, if I'm gonna have to stand around
and wait for you
the least I can do is pitch in and help.
What time do I come to work
in the morning?
- You know who they were?
- No, sir.
- You all right? Did they hurt you?
- I'm not hurt, ma'am.
They threw me in a shed,
rode off with all my papers.
- You were right after all.
- We made extra copies just in case.
This time, you have an assistant
to help you deliver.
BOY: Sir?
Bret, please, be careful.
Oh, we will.
We won't lose a single copy.
May I help you?
You've already been a lot of help to us,
Miss Ross.
Folks around here think mighty high
of you.
- That's very kind.
- My name is Miss Effie Walker.
My old man is Jed Walker.
We run a farm up north of town.
I'm happy to meet you, Mrs. Walker.
My old man knows things
about Mr. John Grimes
that even you don't know, Miss Ross.
He worked for Mr. Grimes
till he couldn't stand it no more.
Oh?
He knows things that would put Mr. Grimes
in the penitentiary
if they ever come out.
But he never said nothing to nobody
because he knowed he'd be killed
if he did.
Why do you come to me new?
Jed is bad sick and he's sinking fast.
He's worried about me
not having nothing when he's gone
50 he thought you might could
pay him something for what he knows.
Of course, I will.
Can you take me to him?
Oh, I'd be scared to be seen with you.
But I can tell you how to get there.
You ride out north past the old bridge
Every copy delivered
and not a shot fired in anger.
You wanna hire me permanent, son?
You know where the Walker Ranch is,
north of town?
Walker?
The last Walkers moved away
from here in the early spring.
They went back east.
[HORSE WHINNIES]
[MARGARET SCREAMS]
[WAGON SMASHES]
Mrs. Ross is dead.
[ALL GASP]
[ALL MURMURING]
Maverick.
Where are you going?
Looking for Grimes.
If you're aiming to gun anybody down,
I won't have it.
Sheriff, half the population in this town
can draw faster than I can.
If there's gonna be a fight,
it will be a fair fight.
Grimes.
Something you wanna say to me,
Mr. Maverick?
That's right.
Margaret Ross is dead.
That's terrible.
I know Mrs. Ross considered herself
my enemy for some reason
but I thought the world of her.
You killed her
and didn't even have the courage
to show her your face.
Killed her?
Me, kill Mrs. Ross?
Why, folks, you don't believe
that stuff she put in the newspaper?
You're upset, Mr. Maverick.
We all are.
I said, you killed her.
You're also a liar and a coward.
- So you're forcing a gunfight?
- No.
You're a killer and a liar and a coward.
You wanna get on your horse new
and leave?
I won't stop you.
SHERIFF:
She was a good woman, Mrs. Ross.
She saw what had to be done
and she wasn't slow to do it.
You know, sheriff
it's hard to realize
that this is the same town.
We thought we was whipped
and she showed us we wasn't.
SHERIFF: When she went down,
she took them with her.
- I think she knew she would.
- I'll tell you one thing.
Folks around this town are gonna
remember Mrs. Ross for along time.
It's a memory
that will keep us strong and proud.
Wouldn't have been right otherwise.
Not to her, nor to the town.
I guess there's worse things
than going to jail for bank robbery.
I'd rather face that
than a bad conscience.
Are you strong enough to ride new?
I guess so.
[GRUNTS]
You better ride south.
Oh.
Thank you, sheriff.
Don't let the fire go out.
I won't.
[English - us - SDH]