Original subtitles

If you can't find Buckner, what then?

You gonna stop them when they ride in?

Well, don't feel too bad about it.

Maybe your town isn't that important.

Towns like this all die out sooner or later.

They don't leave too many mourners.

A few leaning headboards to prove that men were here long enough to die.

A few rotting walls left standing.

I guess it really isn't worth dying for.

Some of the hundreds of thousands of cattle...

driven up the dusty trail from Texas to the Kansas railheads...

in the 1870s.

The trip was hard on men and beef alike.

So the drive sometimes stopped a while in Southern Kansas...

where the water was free and the grass green.

They had some pretty good poker games in those towns along the way.

And Kiowa City was one of them.

A town made prosperous by the trail drivers.

A prosperity they weren't always happy with.

The trail hands felt they were cheated in the stores and saloons.

Townspeople felt that the cowhands were a bunch of savages.

I don't know about that.

But they weren't very good poker players.

- Well, boys? - I don't think...

See you.

How many of them kings you sneak off the bottom of that deck?

You know, friend, a man can lose more than his money with talk like that.

I'll say it again.

You deal crooked.

I'm gonna kill you, Mr. Tinhorn.

Thanks, marshal. You just saved a life.

I'm not sure just whose.

I'm a great believer in peace and quiet.

I think I'll go to bed...

before some of his Texas friends decide to pick up the argument.

Come on, boys, give me a hand here.

The only difference between day and night on Trail Street...

is that the nights are just a little noisier.

Not much noisier.

But this morning, it was quiet. Too quiet.

Maverick.

You're better keeping off the streets.

A shootout?

- Who? - Marshal Hardie, Jack Wade.

Why?

Walt buffaloed one of Wade's hands last night.

Killed it.

The man in the saloon?

That's the one.

Died early this morning.

Where is Walt?

Holed up in the jail.

It won't do him much good. Wade will pry him out somehow.

And Wade?

Ain't sure.

I think he's having breakfast down at Lil's place.

Ain't nothing like having a breakfast before you kill a man.

Walt's a good man. He'll take Wade in a fair draw.

Don't think there's gonna be anything fair about this, do you?

Thank you, Mr. Somers.

Going someplace?

Uh, visiting a sick friend.

Don't stay long, it might be catching.

Walt, open up, it's me, Maverick.

You taking a hand in this?

- I would if I thought it would help. - It wouldn't.

What did you come here for?

See if I could talk some sense into you.

You know, that rifle is no good, what you need is a Gatling gun.

Maybe.

Seeing as you don't have a Gatling...

why don't you just stay out till this thing blows over?

- I'm not afraid of Jack Wade. - Nobody said you were.

But you can't lick the whole outfit.

And I counted over a dozen trail hands out there.

If I run, Wade's boys will hoorah the town.

Sure as you're born, they hoorah it.

I suppose they do.

The town is paying me to see they don't.

Anyway...

if I run, I can't come back.

A marshal's wages are pretty poor pay for getting killed.

I knew what I was getting into when I took the job.

You better get out before the music starts.

If I hadn't drawn those three kings...

none of this would be happening.

- If you think I can help, Walt... - I said you couldn't.

If I can keep this just one man against one man...

I'll have a chance.

The two of us will be asking for a shootout.

You better go out there with this.

Wade sees a shotgun, he might decide to parley instead of shooting.

Keep one eye on Red Scanlon.

I still say they're not paying you enough.

You'd better get off the street, Mr. Buckner.

- Sir? - There's going to be some shooting.

Who?

Hardie and Jack Wade.

Well, isn't anyone going to do anything to stop it?

How are you with a .45?

- What? - I said can you use a gun?

Uh, no, no, of course not.

That's the only way anybody's gonna stop this.

With guns. Plenty of them.

You'd better get on to your shop, Mr. Buckner.

I see you coming out of Hardie's office.

You couldn't miss seeing me.

You buying cards in this game?

No, poker is my game.

Glad to hear that. You can pass the word around.

There will be no more trouble in town after this is over...

so long as nobody kicks up a fuss.

I was wondering, will it be a fair fight?

Your marshal hit our boy from behind.

Nice, harmless kid.

Call that a fair fight?

Where is Wade?

Leave Wade alone.

I didn't expect to run into so many friends...

came out without my gun.

I'll put it on as soon as I have breakfast.

Wade inside?

No gun.

Hello, Bret.

Hi, Lil.

What do you want?

I wanna make a deal.

- About Hardie? - Yup.

- Hardie's dead. - Not yet.

What time he has left don't make much difference. He's dead.

Won't you let him ride out, Wade? He won't come back.

It'll do you just as much good to say you

ran him out of town, as it would to kill him.

Why not, Jack?

- Hardie killed one of my hands. - It was an accident.

Hardie's a good man.

You always liked him.

He should've got out as soon as that boy died.

He should've known I'd be after him.

Why didn't the fool get out when he had the chance?

He won't ride because he's afraid you'll tree the town.

- If I say I won't? - He'll ride out. I'll make him.

If Hardie rides out, you're out of the cow business, Wade.

What do you think the boys are gonna feel about this?

You got 5000 head bedded down at the flats.

If he's alive tonight, you'll be riding herd on those cows all alone.

You won't have a crew.

What's the matter with you, Red? Trying to stir up a killing?

Those trail hands expect the boss to act like one.

If he don't, they'll quit him.

I don't aim to lose my 10 percent cut.

If we have to kill a louse to keep our crew loyal, kill him, he's got it coming.

Don't listen to him, Jack.

Stay out of this.

If your old man was alive, he'd have this town cleaned out by now.

You don't have to tell me what my old man would do.

Looks to me like I do.

All right, you told me.

Get out of here, Maverick.

- No deal? - No deal.

Must gravel a man.

Holding on to a spread like yours...

and still taking orders from a third-rate gunslinger like Red.

You want some, Maverick?

You want it now?

Still no gun, no breakfast.

They're not gonna stop at killing Hardie.

I saw it in their faces this morning.

The devil's lose and Hardie is just the beginning.

- Take it easy, Gus. - Take it easy. Take it easy.

It's not likely they'll bust up your place like they'll bust up mine.

My place is all I got and they're gonna bust it up.

I seen it in their eyes this morning.

Do you have any coffee on the stove?

Yeah, but it's not ready yet.

I got a stomachache. Knots inside.

Did you see Hardie?

Yeah, that's what's making me sick.

You think Wade's bunch is gonna pull out after it's over?

Mm-mm. Wade will wanna pull out.

The way I see it, he'd like to pull out right now. Scanlon won't let him.

There's a man that needs killing, that Red.

You don't think he'll bust up the town, do you?

Anyone thinking about stopping him?

This is no better than murder, we've got to do something.

- I said we've got to do something. - George.

- This ain't Ohio. - What's Ohio got to with it?

Folks think and act different back where you come from.

- But surely, the townspeople... - The townspeople ain't gonna do a thing.

Think they'd stand up against them trail hands?

Why, those boys will chew them down fine and spit them out.

I'm not saying it's right.

It just happens to be the way things be.

Isn't that Walt Hardie's woman?

Yeah.

- Mr. Wade. - Yes?

I'm Walt Hardie's wife.

Go home, Mrs. Hardie.

If you'll just listen to me a minute.

My husband didn't mean to hurt that boy.

He just hit him a little too hard. He didn't mean it.

Walt's not a mean man.

He's kind.

Mr. Wade, don't hurt my husband.

Get her away from here.

If you and Walt would just sit down together...

maybe have a drink or something...

to talk it over like folks, that's all, Mr. Wade.

If you'll just talk together, try to understand.

No, Mr. Wade. No, no.

You're a young man.

You don't wanna live with this the rest of your life.

Here, take care of her.

No. Stop him.

Somebody, stop him! No. No!

All right, Hardie, come on out.

What's on your mind, Jack?

You killed one of my boys.

Get him, Red.

That does it.

Let's go get a drink.

You feeling hostile?

You always have somebody do your killing for you, Wade?

Maverick's a real gambler, likes to push his luck.

Shut up, Red.

I wasn't afraid, if that's what you're getting at.

Then why didn't you give him a chance?

Because he didn't have one coming.

He didn't give my trail hand a chance.

Your boys feel pretty good again now, huh?

That's right.

Now stay out of my way.

I'll ask you again. You buying in?

You'll know if I do.

Oh? How?

I'll never turn my back to you.

You saw it?

This was murder.

Cold, deliberate murder.

But what are you gonna do about it?

There's not much as time can do, Mr. Buckner.

Most of the people in this town don't even own a gun.

Those who do don't know how to use one.

If anyone tries to do anything...

just mean more people killed.

Like Walt was.

Is that all this means to any of you?

Can you see a man murdered in cold blood and forget it?

Simmer down, George.

There ain't nothing we can do.

Well, I'll do something.

I'll make Jack Wade's name a byword for cowardice.

I'll label him a back-shooting assassin.

Make Kansas so hard for him, he'll never again drive a herd up here from Texas.

You do that, George, and you're as good as dead.

The marshal fell mortally wounded without a chance to return a shot.

The assassins then adjourned to the Idle Hour Saloon...

where they drank several glasses of whiskey...

before riding out to their camp on Kiowa Flats.

Set that up on a broadside, get it circulated.

You're buying yourself a lot of grief, George.

I'll handle the grief as it comes.

For a segundo, you do a side of loafing, Red.

I'm thinking.

Good water, good grass hereabouts.

Wouldn't hurt none to lay the herd over another day.

- It ain't what's on your mind. - Ain't it?

You're looking for more killing, more trouble.

No, sir.

I just don't like to leave grassfire smoldering behind me.

There's to be no more trouble in Kiowa City.

- You're the boss. - Somebody load that wagon, let's roll.

Can't till Harry gets back from town, sent him in for some flour.

Hyah! Hyah!

Son, where'd you get this?

Mr. Buckner gave me two bits to deliver them.

Said to give one to every man I saw.

- You read this? - I told you to look out for Buckner.

He's a rabbit, but he brays like a Rocky Mountain canary...

loud enough to bring down the roof.

They probably can't be stopped now but at least it can be avoided.

Where are you going?

Well, I'm gonna pack my things and ride out before Wade and his outfit ride in.

You're that scared of him?

Me? Scared of Wade and 50 well-armed trail hands?

Perish the thought.

"Shortly before 9:00, Jack Wade emerged from Lil's hotel.

A heart-rending scene ensued as Mrs. Hardie pleaded with him...

for the life of her husband."

That's pretty strong stuff.

"Brutally ignoring the cries of the distressed woman...

Wade and his gunman Red Scanlon proceeded to the town jail...

where Wade called Marshal Hardie to come out.

As Hardie appeared, Wade engaged him in conversation...

then Scanlon open fire.

The marshal fell mortally wounded without a chance to return a shot.

The assassins..."

- Who put this out? - I don't know, a kid gave it to me.

Pretty rough medicine. You know what Whiskey Jack would do...

- if he was alive? - We might pull out of this.

That town will be up a tree before he was through with it.

Towns like this been cheating and belittling

our kind since the first trail drive.

They take our money and hate us for every dime.

Your pa never forgave them for that.

I said leave my old man out of this.

Tell the boys to saddle up, we're riding into town.

You run off 50 or 60 more of those broadsides.

Gonna take them up to the capital with me and spread them around the state offices.

We wanna talk to you, Mr. Buckner.

Not now. I'm packing to leave on a coach for Topeka.

Raise the devil and now you're flying to hide in church.

- What do you mean? - Did you ever see a town getting treed?

- Treed? - Ripped to bits.

Looting, burning, tearing everything to flinders.

That's what's gonna happen here in Kiowa if Wade rides in.

- Then I hope he does ride in. - Blast your eyes!

You'll take up arms to defend your property...

when you wouldn't move to save a man's life.

If Wade and his trail tramps do wreck Kiowa...

it will be because you gentlemen are too cowardly to defend it.

Good day.

A regular game cock, ain't he?

What's he going to Topeka for?

Rouse up the governor against Wade.

Hasn't he done enough rousting for one day?

Going someplace, Maverick?

Considering to.

You've been considering wrong.

No one rides out.

- Well, what if one does? - Liable to meet with an accident.

Well, like the bear said to the trap:

"I'll stay because of my foot."

How far do you have to be pushed before you get mad?

Pretty far. Just why are you pushing so hard?

I don't like the way you wear your head.

It's too high and your neck's too stiff.

I just don't like you, Maverick. I see you're wearing your gun.

Just in case I run across a snake.

Yes, sir.

There's nothing like a good wet down before you drag your herd, Mr. Wade.

Got a long, dry spell ahead.

A man has to get a little liquor in.

Just to face the idea of choosing them cows up the trail.

Best liquor in the house, Mr. Wade. Saving it for my best customers.

- All right? - Everything's fine.

Who wrote this, Gus?

It's none of my doing, Mr. Wade.

Well, drink up, boys.

Everything is on the house.

I ask you. Who wrote this?

Mr. Wade, I tell you, I didn't.

- Who wrote it? - I swear, I don't know, Mr. Wade.

Gus, are you trying to poison me?

Why, Mr. Wade, I...

See if that tastes like drinking liquor to you.

Tastes like sheep-dip, if you ask me.

You fixing to bust up my place?

All right, boys.

- Wait a minute. - Hold it.

Gus just remembered something, didn't you, Gus?

His name is Buckner. Runs the print shop.

Where will we find him?

He's going out on the night coach, going to the governor about Hardie's being killed.

All right, boys, bust it up.

Please, boys. Don't bust it. Don't bust it.

Where's Buckner?

Mr. Buckner ain't here.

Don't fool me. Where is he?

- He left town. - He ain't had time to leave town.

Make him talk.

What good is it gonna do for you to keep quiet?

Where did Buckner go?

He passed out.

He's dead. Shouldn't have hit him so hard.

Let's go.

They were after me and he wouldn't tell them where I was.

You heard them?

- Why didn't you come in? - I couldn't. I was afraid.

I wanted to. Believe me, I wanted to. I started to a couple of times.

I couldn't.

Tried to make my hand take hold of the door latch.

All I could do was just stand there...

and listen to the sounds.

When the sounds stopped, I came in.

They were gone. I found Charlie.

I know they'd have stopped if I'd come in. I know that.

But I couldn't help him, Maverick.

I wanted to but I just couldn't force myself to walk through that door.

Why couldn't you have stopped to think before you sounded off with this?

A man who shouts brave and loud and then runs when he gets answered...

that man makes me sick.

- What are you gonna do? - I don't know.

I ought to turn you over to Wade before your fool antics gets more people killed.

You haven't any right to do that.

Let go.

Anyone but you. You haven't any right to turn me over.

What do you mean?

We're two of a kind.

You and I, we both let our friends be killed.

We were both afraid, Maverick, and you know it.

Get away from me.

You can't condemn me, Maverick. Not without condemning yourself.

Maverick.

That's far enough.

- Don't get proddy. - You've been drinking tiger milk?

Shut up, Red. Where's Buckner?

How would I know?

Don't lie to me.

I don't think I heard you right.

Maybe you can hear me better.

You're not fast enough to hit me from where you're standing.

Try to get any closer and I'll kill you.

Heh. That's a gambler's bluff.

It might be.

- Hold it. - Let me try him, Wade.

I said hold it.

You side with the wrong people.

I'm a fence straddler, Wade. I don't side with anybody.

I just like to be left alone.

See that you don't slip off of that fence onto the wrong side.

Spread the word around.

If Buckner gets out of Kiowa...

I'm gonna take this town apart.

You tell folks that.

I'm gonna tree this town like no town ever got treed before.

You tell them if I don't have Buckner in my hands by 9:00 tonight...

I'm taking the town.

I knew he was gonna wreck me.

That's why I told him about Buckner.

Tried to save my property, that's all.

Just tried to keep from getting busted...

but he went ahead anyhow and busted.

Busted it good.

Well, you did your best to save it.

It wasn't worth it.

Nothing's worth feeling the way I do now.

Feeling brave?

- Some. - Don't get too brave.

I'm telling you, I'm through being scared by men like Wade and Scanlon.

It's not a good way to feel.

Are you afraid of him?

I should be, so I guess I am.

- You let Wade push you around. - Did I?

He pushed you around like he pushed the rest of us.

He stood out there and dared you to do something about Walt Hardie.

That's pushing.

A man's a fool to call a hand when he knows he's beat.

- That's one of the rules of my business. - Just what is your business?

Staying alive, enjoying good food...

- an untroubled mind and a good digestion. - Is that all?

When my brother and I left home, my pappy said:

"If either one of you comes back with a medal...

I'll beat you to death."

Gus.

You sure turned the devil loose when you told about Buckner.

- Now we can't find him nowhere. - What do you plan to do if you find him?

Why, turn him over to Wade.

Only thing we can do now.

- It's either that or the whole town goes. - He shouldn't have writ that about Wade.

He had no right to do that. Not if he runs, after.

If you can't find Buckner, what then?

You gonna stop them when they ride in?

Well, don't feel too bad about it.

Maybe your town isn't that important.

Towns like this all die out sooner or later.

They don't leave too many mourners.

A few leaning headboards to prove that men were here long enough to die.

A few rotting walls left standing.

I guess it really isn't worth dying for.

- Any sign? - No.

Threw men on each of the roads, put the rest to the outfit...

working the washes where a man might try to sneak through.

That Buckner, he's either got jackrabbit blood...

and he's halfway to Topeka or else he ain't left town.

And I don't think he has.

I declare, I can almost smell him.

If he's in there, we'll root him out. If we don't, I'll turn the hands loose.

You reckon those people will fight?

- Maybe. - That ought to make for a real hoedown.

Might be somebody who get killed. I'm short-handed as it is.

Trail hands comes cheap.

When do we start the ball?

I gave him until 9:00 to turn up Buckner. We'll wait till then.

- How did you get in here? - In the back way.

Well, you're just getting out the same way.

Did anyone see you come up here?

No, I don't think so.

You don't think so? You got your own neck in a noose...

now you're trying to fit mine in it and you "don't think so"?

There wasn't any place to go.

Come back here.

It'll be dark soon. You're gonna leave then.

Go on. Sit down.

You can't blame me for attacking Jack Wade the way I did. He murdered a man.

I can blame you when you knew you didn't have the backbone to take consequences.

I believe in the law. The law says...

There isn't any law out here except what a man can make and enforce for himself.

It can't last long, but that's the way it is for now.

Jack Wade's been living by his own rules all his life.

Got enough horses in his remuda to mount a regiment.

Forty or 50 men who treat him like king of the mountain.

If you're gonna talk to a man like that about laws...

you better be ready to back it up.

What will he do to me?

Kill you.

Well, what did you expect?

I thought the men in this town would stand behind what I did.

It just doesn't seem right to let an innocent like you get killed.

- Where are you going? - To see if I can make a deal.

- Deal? What kind of a deal? - I don't know.

I'll think of something. I hope.

What if you told Wade that I promise to get out another broadside...

taking back what I said in the first one.

If you told him I promised I wouldn't go to see the governor.

Is that what you want me to do?

Do you think he just forget the whole thing then if I did that?

I don't know. I doubt it, but I'll try.

You can't stay here. As soon as it gets dark, you better leave.

Where will I go?

I don't know but this is gonna be one of the first places they'll look.

And if you get killed anyway...

try not to mention my name.

- Just about 7:30. - Hour and a half to go.

Wade, we'd like a word with you.

That's far enough.

Just keep your hands in sight.

Say your piece.

Like to make a deal.

I'm listening.

We wanna know your intentions for Mr. Buckner.

Well, some of the boys in favor of shooting.

Red here is in favor of roping and dragging him.

Me? I ain't made up my mind.

Mr. Wade, I'd like to see this thing settled without no bloodshed.

Why, Mr. Somers, so would I.

But that printer wrote some hard things about me and my hands.

Mighty hard.

And what's more, he printed them.

What do you think my boys think of me...

- if I just turn the other cheek? - Mr. Wade.

My boys have got to work off steam one way or another, Mr. Somers.

I'd say the best thing you could do would be to turn up Buckner.

Save a heap of trouble.

What if Buckner promised to print another broadside?

Take back all those nasty lies...

and tell the town what really nice gentlemen you and your boys are.

I said we wanted Buckner.

When we get him, we'll ride out.

He'll promise not to go to see the governor too.

Let Buckner tell us that.

And you got one hour and a half to get him here.

I wanna hear it from you, Wade.

You take our deal?

Just don't reckon I can. Sorry.

I hope they don't.

- Don't what? - Turn Buckner over.

I think I'd like taking this town apart.

- Who is it? BUCKNER: George Buckner.

- What are you doing here? - Please, I need help. Please.

Come in.

You know, for a man who writes brave, you're pretty meeching.

You should never have written those things you did about Jack.

I know.

It's not just yourself, it's the rest of the town who's gonna suffer.

Why can't you be a man? Go out there. Take what's coming to you.

I guess you ain't much of a man.

I won't be staying long.

Maverick's gone out to make an arrangement with Mr. Wade.

Arrangement?

I agreed to print a retraction.

Kind of an apology. I said I wouldn't go to see the governor.

- And you'll go right on living here? - Why not?

I guess if you have to ask, I can't tell you.

I didn't have to ask.

It don't matter.

Look, I know Jack Wade.

He won't settle for an apology. He'll get you or he'll tree the town.

Did you ever see a town get treed, Mr. Buckner?

You know, folks back east think cowboys are real romantic-like.

They write books about them that way. But they ain't like that.

- They're dirty, sweaty, smelly. - You don't have...

No, you listen to me so you know what they're gonna do to this town.

They come off the trail hungry for everything.

That's why towns like this have deadlines and town marshals...

to keep the savages down here where they belong.

But our marshal here is dead.

And no deadline is gonna stop Wade and his crew.

Why do you tell me these things?

Just so you'll know what you're costing this town.

You had to be so brave in that paper of yours.

Why ain't you brave now?

I never thought of myself as a coward...

not until they killed Charlie.

I could have saved him.

All I had to do was open that door and walk in.

Why didn't you?

I heard them beating him...

the sounds.

And I wanted to.

Even then, I wanted to.

I... I just couldn't force myself...

to open the door.

And I see this little gal just yesterday, say howdy to her.

She flips her head at me, walks off like I was dirt.

- How much longer? - About 45 minutes.

All right.

That's what I know.

I hope you didn't make that deal with Jack Wade.

Why not, Lil?

- Did you think it will help Buckner? - It'd keep him alive.

And that's all.

Did you make the deal?

No, Wade refused.

Well, what are you brave men waiting for now?

- Where's Buckner? - Why do you wanna know?

So you can turn him over to Jack?

You hiding him, Lil?

He came to me.

I didn't throw him out.

Isn't there a man in this town willing to fight for what's his?

Ain't much we can do, Lil.

You can fight.

Did you ever think of that?

And what about you? You wear a gun. Don't you know how to use it?

If I have to.

And you don't figure you have to now, huh?

Lil, you're making that fence I've been straddling pretty uncomfortable.

Why don't you get off it before Jack and his men...

knock it right up from under you?

I think you've already pushed me off of it just by walking in here now.

Or by hiding Buckner, I don't know which.

Anyone else here feeling light in the head?

Guess we ain't got much choice, they're gonna come anyway no matter what we do.

Jed Williams and his brother can help I suppose if I'd put it up to him.

Better get word uptown. Tell the folks not to show no lights, to keep inside.

- How about roping off the streets? - I don't think we have time.

We can throw up a barricade, it might slow them up a bit.

I tell you one thing, we maybe will

damage them, but we ain't gonna stop them.

And I had to raise a family in this town... - That's right...

- I don't know... - Get it out...

It's about that time.

All right, boys, come on.

Buckner.

Stand away from that man, Maverick.

You'll have to take both of us, Wade...

and a lot of men behind us.

That's far enough.

Get them, Red.

Hold your fire!

Boys?

Your boss is dead and so is Scanlon.

Leave now and there won't be any more shooting.

Well, what about it?

Lots of room, gents.

What will it be? Stud or draw?