Original subtitles

- [Dion] San Francisco, 1851.

A frontier city of crime and corruption.

The vigilantes formed to maintain law and order

hanged one man who was guilty beyond any reasonable doubt,

and they almost hanged many others.

This case on record is the true story

of how the vigilantes struggled to keep their record clean.

- You've milked me dry, Humboldt,

with that scabby scandal sheet of yours.

For the last time, I'm telling you to stop blackmailing me.

- Mr. Selwyn, you're in no position to tell me anything.

- I have no way of getting more money.

- You'll find a way.

I want another $2,000. You have 24 hours.

- I'm gonna report you to the police.

- See the chief himself. He's a good friend of mine.

- Someday someone's gonna kill you, Humboldt.

It'll be a great day for all of us.

(suspenseful music)

♪ California, California ♪

- [Announcer] "The Californians".

♪ I've come to live where life is best ♪

♪ In the golden west ♪

♪ I'm gonna strike it rich in California ♪

- Why didn't you come to us in the first place?

We might've gotten evidence while you were paying off.

- Pride, shame, stupidity.

- I don't understand what you want us to do.

You know we don't act until

the courts have tried and failed.

- I know that,

but the committee should investigate Humboldt.

- That's right.

You know, Humboldt must be blackmailing other people too.

- Undoubtedly he is.

You see, that's the beauty of blackmail.

The victim never dares accuse the tormentor.

Where are you going to?

- You know, maybe I can find out something

about these other people.

Is it all right with you if I offer David Douglas a job,

working for you on the "Star"?

- Douglas, that chap that writes Humboldt's filth?

I should say not.

- Well, I'll make him the offer anyway.

You won't have to worry unless he accepts it.

(somber music)

- Rum.

Rum.

Oh, hello, Patrick.

- How are you, Douglas?

- What's on your mind this beautiful evening?

- You know, I hate to see a good man like you

working on a scandal sheet like the "Ledger".

- It's a job.

And Humboldt can't afford to fire me.

- He can't? Why?

- No decent newspaperman would work for him.

- How would you like to write a story about Humboldt

for the "California Star"?

- I'd love to, but I won't.

- [Dion] Why not?

- Can't bite the hand that feeds me.

Even if it's a dirty one.

- You know, someday things are gonna catch up with Humboldt.

Someday somebody's gonna kill him.

And if I'm lucky or drunk enough, I might even do it myself.

Goodnight, Patrick.

(somber music)

- You're late.

Drunk as usual.

How the devil do you manage to write in that condition?

- You have to be in this condition to write this filth.

- Don't turn up your nose at an honest job, Douglas.

- Dirty job.

Why don't you get out of here and let me get to work?

Oh, and by the way, I want some money.

- You were paid for the week.

- I said I wanted some money,

or in 10 seconds I'll walk out of this office,

and where are you gonna find a replacement for me?

No decent newspaperman would work for you, and you know it.

Dominic.

A pint to the best Barbados.

Hurry.

- Dominic, you go back to your work.

You're not sending office help

on your personal errands, Douglas.

- Try to remember one thing, Humboldt.

Without me, this dirty scandal sheet

you call a newspaper couldn't exist.

Now go on, Dominic, come on.

- All right. All right.

Don't get huffy.

Do that story on John Selwyn.

Give it a good play, but be discreet.

- Destroy his good name

without incurring action for libel, huh?

- Well, the man is a crook. He deserves exposure.

- You mean he stopped paying off.

- All right, all right. He stopped paying off.

Oh, uh, by the way.

I understand your darling's here in town.

- Who?

- Sweet Alice.

She and her husband, the Honorable Louis Pritchard

of the United States District Court.

Hmm.

Might be something there, wouldn't you say, Douglas?

- Shut up, Humboldt.

- Ah, struck a nerve, didn't I?

- You set your filthy tongue to her name again

and I'll kill you.

- You, kill me? (laughing)

You haven't enough guts.

Why, you know you couldn't exist without me.

We've been together a long, long time, Douglas.

Suppose you forget about the Selwyn story

and do one about Alice Pritchard.

- I'll do nothing of the sort.

- Yes you will.

And I want it sentimental, with the slop of a man in love.

- I'll, I'll kill you first, Humboldt.

- Have the copy on my desk by morning.

If it isn't there when I come in,

I'll write the story myself.

But of course, without your warmth,

your understanding, and your, oh yes.

Your compassion. (chuckling)

Good night, Douglas.

(ominous music)

- Judge Pritchard, I,

I beg of you again to reconsider your refusal

to meet with the vigilance committee.

- I'm sorry, Mr. McGivern,

but I disapprove strongly of the vigilante movement.

- That's because you don't realize

the conditions that prevail here.

It's been a shortage of men such as yourself

that gave rise to the vigilantes.

Thank you, Mrs. Pritchard.

Decent men in this city realized that

they had to take action into their own hands.

- But you have the courts.

- I very much regret to say

that our courts are still corrupt.

Cheap politicians run by the underworld preside over them.

Every day vicious, notorious criminals are set at large

without any token of legal pretext.

- I assure you, sir,

that such a condition will not exist in my court.

- You reputation is guarantee of that.

I do wish, though, that you would meet with our committee

and, well, let us show you the difficulties

that you're up against and offer any help that we can.

- Very well, Mr. McGivern, I'll meet with your committee.

- Good. Thank you, judge.

- This is excellent brandy, ma'am.

I do hope that you'll drop by the house real soon.

I know my wife is very anxious to help you

get acquainted with San Francisco.

- I should be delighted.

- Good night.

- Good night.

- Thanks.

(suspenseful music)

(Douglas knocking)

- Who is it?

- [David] An old friend, name of Douglas.

- David Douglas?

It is.

Come in.

How did you know I was in San Francisco?

How did you happen to find me?

- I've never lost you.

- David. Stay out of my life.

I have what I want. Position, respectability, husband.

Don't make me lose them.

- Women have short memories.

- Why did you come here?

- Does the judge know about me?

- No.

- Does he know about Memphis?

- No.

- What does he know about you?

- Nothing.

He loves me, trusts me.

He knows nothing except what I've told him.

- You love him?

- Very much.

- Then tell him the truth.

About me, Memphis, everything.

- Why? The past is past.

- You're wrong, sweet Alice.

The past is very much not the past.

It's today, tomorrow.

- David, you sound like a blackmailer.

- I'm trying to keep you from being blackmailed.

- Oh, who would blackmail me?

- The charming leech who employs me.

The highly respected owner of the "San Francisco Ledger".

- I don't believe it.

- You better tell His Honor the truth, the whole truth.

It's your only chance to avoid blackmail.

- David, his better not be a scheme of yours.

- Sweet Alice.

It isn't.

The devil has a way of looking after his own.

(suspenseful music)

- Why do you show me this, Mr. Humboldt?

- Oh, it is our policy to show such items

to the affected persons

to permit them to correct any errors in fact.

Are there any errors, Mrs. Pritchard?

- You know there aren't.

- Then I can assume that we are free

to print this as it stands.

- Don't play with me, Humboldt.

What's your price?

- $5,000, now.

- And then more later and then more

and more and more until you've bled me dry.

I don't have that kind of money, Humboldt.

- Then I suggest that you get it.

This won't be published for two days, Mrs. Pritchard.

That should give you plenty of time.

- Just a moment.

Where did you get this information?

- Oh, I have my sources.

Good day, Mrs. Pritchard.

(ominous music)

(someone knocking) - All right, all right.

Alice.

- Humboldt came to my house.

He showed me the story he's going to run in his paper.

You wrote that story, David.

- That's right.

- I was right. This is a scheme of yours.

- If I hadn't done the story, he'd have written it himself.

His version isn't nearly as pretty as mine.

- I don't believe it.

This is your way of getting even with me.

- Did you tell the judge the truth?

- No.

- Why not?

- Because he is a judge. Because he has respect for the law.

His love for me couldn't stand the shock of finding out

his wife was convicted of murder,

sentenced to prison, and never served her sentence.

- I'll tell you again.

Your only weapon against Humboldt is the truth.

- It would wreck my marriage, my life.

- Why did you come here?

- David, do you still love me?

- What difference does that make now?

- Because if you do, I need your help.

- Help? I have no money.

- I want you to kill Humboldt.

- What? (laughing)

- Listen to me, David.

Kill him and I'll get Louis to release you.

Let you go free.

- That husband of yours with a great respect for the law?

- He'll be so grateful to you

for protecting my reputation and his.

He'll let you off. I know he will.

- You mean he'll let me off to keep my mouth shut.

- Suppose he doesn't.

- He loves me.

He'd no more refuse to do what I asked than you would.

Don't you understand?

- I'm sorry, Alice.

The answer is no.

- David, if you don't kill Humboldt, I swear I will.

- Good.

You're can kill him quickly

by telling your husband the truth.

All of it.

- That would be killing myself.

You don't want that, do you, David?

(wistful music)

- Dominic.

Barbados.

- Ah, what's wrong with you?

You're on time and sober.

- I've thought about killing you for a long time, Humboldt.

Every time I got drunk,

I'd hope the bottle would give me courage

to go through with it.

Now I don't need the bottle for courage.

- What are you talking about?

Oh, put that thing down.

- I'm talking about Alice Pritchard.

- Oh now, look, let's talk this over.

I was wrong.

I didn't think you were still in love with the woman.

Oh, put that thing down, Douglas.

It might go off by mistake.

- You're sure of yourself, aren't you?

- No, I'm sure of you.

It takes guts to shoot a man in cold blood

and all you've got's a belly full of stale rum.

- Here. Protect yourself.

I'm going to shoot on the count of three.

One, two.

- I'm not gonna touch that gun, Douglas.

Stop this nonsense. Sweet Alice isn't worth it.

- Maybe you're right, Humboldt.

It is nonsense.

I called your hand, didn't I?

- All that was for Sweet Alice.

You still thinks she's an angel, don't you?

Let me remind you of something.

I sat on that jury, remember?

And to me and 11 other men,

she was just a cheap little honky-tonker

who killed a good man because she couldn't sweet-talk him

out of the last few dollars he had to his name.

Sweet Alice indeed.

I'm going to disgrace her and

put her back in prison where she belongs.

(guns firing)

- Dominic. Go for the police.

I've just killed Humboldt.

(suspenseful music)

- I'm sure you'll be happy to know

that Pritchard turned Douglas loose.

- He what?

- Yes, dismissed the charge at a preliminary hearing.

Didn't even go to a jury.

- On what grounds did he dismiss it?

- Self-defense.

Self-defense has become an excuse for cold-blooded murder.

I thought we were finished with all that

when we got Pritchard on the bench,

but he's as bad as all the rest of that crooked bunch.

- You mean you think somebody got to Pritchard?

- Do I think? I'm sure of it.

Look, how could any reasonable man,

let alone a judge who is well-versed

in the rules of evidence, dismiss that charge

on the grounds of self-defense?

- If you ask me, Humboldt ain't no great loss.

- And the man that killed him is no better.

Ah, look, Dion, we can't let them get away with it.

We've got to bring Douglas to trial.

- I was hoping we were through with that business.

- So was I.

But if we accept the ruling of this court,

we're right back where we started

when we first formed the vigilantes.

No, the committee has got to bring him to trial.

Jim, go on down to the engine house and ring the bell.

- Okay.

(somber music)

(bell ringing)

(gavel banging)

- [Dion] The doctor who attended Humboldt testified

that the shot had been fired from some distance.

Other witnesses told of seeing Douglas

standing over the dead man, gun in hand.

Douglas himself had sent for the police

and admitted the killing.

I myself was called to establish previous intent.

- Did you at any time hear the defendant

express a desire to commit murder?

- I did.

- Would you please tell the court what he said?

- He said that someday things would catch up with Humboldt.

He drank to Humboldt's murder.

- Did the defendant ever express his own intention

to commit murder?

- He said if he got lucky enough or drunk enough,

he might do it himself.

- I see. Thank you very much.

Mr. Douglas, you may cross-examine the witness.

- No questions.

- David Douglas, you have been tried before

the Vigilance Committee of San Francisco

and found guilty of the crime of murder.

It is the sentence of this body that you

be hanged by the neck until you are dead,

the sentence to be carried out at dawn.

May God have mercy on your soul.

(somber music)

- Jack, I'm not happy about this.

- Who is in matters like this?

- I have a feeling the man

is trying to protect somebody else.

- Why do you say that?

- The way he acts, the way he refused to talk.

He's, he's too resigned. He wants to die.

- Dion, the man's been found guilty.

He's admitted to murder.

Now we, we just can't reprieve him

on one of your hunches, you know.

- Did you look in his eyes?

- Yes I did.

But I also heard the evidence.

I'm sorry, Dion. The man's got to hang.

- Jack, the committee can't afford to make a mistake.

I'm gonna look around.

Hunch or no hunch, I'm sure there's a lot we don't know.

(suspenseful music)

What are you doing here?

Who are you?

Well, speak up.

You mean you can't speak, but you can hear?

You know anything about the shooting?

You want to know how Mr. Douglas is?

Well, it looks like they're gonna hang him

tomorrow morning for Humboldt's murder.

Two shots?

But only one was fired.

You mean two shots at once, fired at the same time?

You mean somebody else was over there?

Did you see him?

Well, why didn't you get to testify to this?

Were you afraid? Why?

To read type from a galley, you have to read backwards.

What I read in this rack of type was dynamite.

Ammunition for blackmail.

Get me a proof of this, right away.

Two shots fired. One bullet in Humboldt.

Where was the other?

(suspenseful music)

The proofs in the type rack were absolute evidence

of Humboldt's blackmailing.

A messy story on Alice Pritchard,

wife of the judge who released Douglas without a trial.

Judge Pritchard could be called upon

to explain Douglas' admission of guilt

and lack of self-defense.

- I saw McGivern.

They're going to hang Douglas.

He wouldn't say one word in his own defense.

- I told you David wouldn't talk.

- If the vigilantes knew that he killed

to prevent blackmail, I'm sure they wouldn't hang him.

- Then what would happen to my reputation? Yours?

Do you think they'd still want you on the bench?

- No reputation is worth a man's life.

- Louis. I'm your wife.

I love you.

I'm not going to let you do it.

(someone knocking)

- Judge Pritchard.

The vigilance committee wants to question you

in the matter of David Douglas.

- I'll answer every question I can.

- We want to question Mrs. Pritchard too.

- I'll only be a minute.

(ominous music)

- Is it time?

What are you doing here?

Why is she here?

- There are just a few things we'd like to find out.

How long have you known Mrs. Pritchard?

- None of your business.

McGivern, if you're gonna hang me, get on with it,

but stop these questions.

- What do you say, Mrs. Pritchard?

- Don't talk, Alice.

- Doesn't matter, David.

They know.

Thank you, David, for trying to protect me,

but you shouldn't have killed Humboldt.

- [David] It's better for you, isn't it?

- Yes. And I'll always be grateful.

- Douglas, what kind of a gun did you use to shoot Humboldt?

- 41-caliber Derringer.

- That's right. That's the bullet you fired.

You want to know where I found it?

In the wall, down at the office of the "Ledger".

- This is the bullet that was

recovered from Humboldt's body.

It's a 36-caliber.

- [Dion] Douglas, you didn't kill Humboldt.

Somebody standing at the rear door killed him.

The guns went off so close together

it sounded like one shot.

- This is the gun that killed Humboldt.

Isn't it, Mrs. Pritchard?

- I don't know what you're talking about.

- We found it in your desk. It's a 36-caliber.

- [Louis] Alice. This is my gun.

- Well, Mrs. Pritchard?

- All right. I killed him.

- You lied. You murdered.

- You were going to let them hang me, weren't you?

- Why not?

My right to live comes first.

- It always has, hasn't it?

- Take them outside.

(somber music)

- Sweet Alice.

- Real sweet.

- You're free now, David, you know?

- Yeah. Free of her too.

- Dion, your strong sense of justice has kept us

from making a terrible mistake.

What might've been written into the records of San Francisco

as the wrongful hanging of David Douglas will,

thanks to you, go on record as

the rightful conviction of Alice Pritchard.

You not only saved a life,

but you protected the good name of the vigilance committee.

On behalf of all of us, our sincerest gratitude.

(dramatic music)

♪ California ♪

♪ Oh I've traveled here, I've traveled there ♪

♪ I guess I've been most everywhere ♪

♪ But I like where I am today ♪

♪ And here is where I'll stay ♪

♪ Now one thing I just can't endure ♪

♪ Is being broke and being poor ♪

♪ So I come west to take the cure ♪

♪ And here is where I'll stay ♪

♪ I've come to California, California ♪

♪ There's gold in them there hills in California ♪

♪ I've come to live where life is best ♪

♪ In the golden west ♪

♪ I'm gonna strike it rich in California ♪

♪ California, California ♪

♪ There's gold in them there hills ♪

♪ In California ♪

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