Original subtitles

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oh

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quite a day for us a professor

imagine

a great author and adventurer nicodemus

legend coming to live right here in

sheridan yes miss demands quite a day

this could do for us what the alamo did

for san antonio

of course they did have a massacre down

there

well i think that adds to the tourist

value over the place don't you there's

massacres to get your attention ah the

glover brothers

the glover brothers intend down opening

the legend wax museum

they bought that statue from a cigar

store up in denver

best they could do on

short notice

a little turpentine and you'll never

even see the war paint yes it's a

remarkable resemblance

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it isn't is it too

maybe he was in a fight

did anyone ever tell you you look just

like the man my name is ernest fratt

unlike your mr legend there i was once

a promising writer of walks

there's the stage all right like we

practiced only better

come on

welcome to sheridan folks the new home

of the great nicodemus legend see our

legend memorabilia shop right on front

street commemorative scarves marked out

all right tonight only the odd fellows

and rebecca's living statues recreation

of the battle at the bro farm admission

10 cents

how are you

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where's mr legend

he jumped out at the buffalo head saloon

uh then pardon me ma'am i'll take care

of it i'm i'm sure nicodemus just

stopped to freshen up

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it's just disgraceful it's disgusting

too you see the streets in this town

legend stuff everywhere you think pt

barnum was running the place talking

about you

these people have rolled out the red

carpet expecting to see nicodemus legend

and look at you

well

the eastbound accommodations on the

union pacific just aren't what they used

to be

and again i could have been in a cattle

car i don't recall

i'd have to sneak you into the hotel to

make you presentable to whom am i being

presented

there they are oh wonderful

your grand reception in an alley behind

the saloon

mr legend

are you ill oh

just a slight headache from the rugged

trip

mr legend was just telling me

that he is traveling incognito

he is undercover on a case

of course

chamberlain brown

mayo pro tem

among other things

mr legend i would like to give you your

official welcome to the town of sheridan

thank you

welcome

we had a key made up unfortunately it

got lost in freight somewhere east of

cheyenne hmm so did i hey is mr

nicodemus legend back here

mr legend is working undercover today

okay

incognito as well

name's amos white mr legend

owner editor and publisher of sheridan

weekly trumpet

thought you might want to see this right

away

to mr nicodemus legend have decided to

turn myself in and pay for my crimes

we'll surrender only to legend in person

signed

jb serengo

just who is this

seringo fella

the most notorious bank robber in the

west on his last job he killed the

garden cold blood

no thank you no no

took quarter million dollars from the

midland merchants bank in tucson well

you wire him back and say

shame on you

and i'm not available but we can't do

that mr legend nobody knows where jim's

hit out

if it's not too much trouble

could you work in a massacre this time

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double size corner view and the indoor

privy is right next door

thank you skeeter yes sir a pleasure sir

if you need anything else just throw

something out the window i'll be right

up

i'd feel more comfortable if you were to

compound away from the temptations of

main street all contraire my friend

a writer needs distraction once in a

while what you need is to consider just

who you are

who i am is ernest brett and ernest

pratt is wise enough not to get caught

in a crossfire between bank detectives

and a ruthless bandit killer yes but

nicodemus legend belongs in the

crossfire he thrives on it

legend thrives only in the pages of

these books

not anymore

i don't believe it

you're starting to sound like everybody

else in this town

you know me

you know i'm not nicodemus legend what's

wrong with you people

they're proud of you oh please

i suppose you believe in santa claus too

i do millions of people do and every

year santa claus delivers

ah professor

i've been thinking all this business

through

you know my contract with e.c allen

calls for five legend books a year yes

and for you to live here and to work

with me

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so

i'll nose around

i'll cook up some stories you supply the

technical whiz-bangs

we'll have some laughs i'll write some

books

i'll make some money

but i am not mind you not going to run

around pretending to be something i'm

not

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you say that as if you thought you

actually had a choice

i like to think it's still my life no

it is theirs

you gave it to them the minute you put

pen to paper the minute you put your

picture on the cover of your books

they own your life now

that was not part of the contract

you'll see

see what what are you talking about what

does that mean

it means you'll see

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what do you need mr legend

it's pratt

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here we go

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old forester my good man

a full bottle and a clean glass

i bet you pardon

whiskey

that stuff is for sale isn't it or is

this some kind of whiskey museum

well it's for sale mr legend but

i can't sell it to you

why not

everybody knows nicodemus legend doesn't

drink

what's your name friend

lamar you a married man lamar

only 19 years

all right

then there must be something in your

life that you don't want your wife to

know about

she sure does hate it when i chew my

toenails

sounds like a woman of quality lamarr

don't you ever lose her

but you see

to a writer

the reader of his book is like

a wife and there are a couple of small

things in my life that i don't want my

wife to know about

it would be bad for business if people

saw me give you hardly

got any coffee i just put up a pot of

tea

come on

you take that cup

fill it with bourbon i'll pay full price

we'll call it t

no one will know the difference and i'll

be a happy man

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[Applause]

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go ahead and play it

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i'll see ya

we're playing for real money here

what a coincidence

brought some of that along

what are we playing gents i'm late for

dinner

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everybody knows you don't gamble mr

legend

why preacher cullen would condemn them

to hell just for dealing you into a game

for gumdrops

condemn them to hell

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mr legend

roscoe barnes chief of security midland

merchant bank tucson i'll be providing

security for you at the surrender site

on saturday now we need to discuss hold

on there roscoe

surrender site

what surrender site

gentleman jim suringo's

sorry

i believe i have a personal appearance

that day at a wedding

it could be a hanging i don't recall

well you'll have to rearrange your

schedule oh i wish i could but my

publisher himself mr e.c allen arranges

my schedule

it's out of my hands

in that case

there's no problem because mr allen has

pledged your full cooperation with law

enforcement efforts

he has

well of course i always cooperate it's

the

participate part that could be the

problem

as i said there's no problem mr allen

said that you would be in tucson

for the surrender

he said that

must be a switch in public relations

strategy

you see i generally have a policy

against doing personal appearances with

notorious killers it's a small quirk of

mine

well i guarantee you'll be in no

personal danger i'll have a hundred guns

on saringo

if he so much as blinks out of rhythm

he'll be dead

you'll shoot him

repeatedly

while i'm standing next to him

he killed one of my guards mr legend and

i promise you he will not have the

chance to hurt anybody else ever again

now

maybe needing transportation to tucson

no thank you i'll make my own

arrangements

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nicodemus legend

i generally don't do private signings

sir if you'd like to check with the

souvenir shop around the corner i'm sure

they could accommodate you

my name's soringo

folks around here like to call me

gentleman jim serengo

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i didn't kill anyone mr legend

i'm a bank robber

i'm proud to say a damn good one

nobody needs to get hurt if you know

what you're doing

yes

well i'm sure the marshall will be

fascinated by your side of the story

they say i killed a guard

you know how folks feel about a man that

kills a badge

i reckon i'll never get a fair trial

that's why i'm coming to you

mr serengo

jim

i am a writer of stories that's all i am

the kind of help you need i can't give

you this ain't no different than what

you did for the pace and twins and

amarillo

double shadows you read that book

i read all the western dimes and i'm

glad to say yours are the best

ned buntline wouldn't know which end of

a mule to feed

well

i'm becoming increasingly sympathetic to

your cause sir

i don't have to tell you what the name

nicodemus legend means around these

parts

but i don't think you know what the name

gentleman jim soringo means to the folks

around here either

see mr legend

they know i only steal from insured

banks and not from the customers

they also know that

i'm willing to share my good fortune

with those in need

and until now

they knew i'd never hurt anybody

someone's trying to take away my good

name

any idea who

nope

but i figure between now and saturday

you might be able to find something out

there weren't no shots fired while i was

in that bank it wasn't until i got

outside that i heard a gunfire

there must have been witnesses all the

witnesses say i did it they also say

that i stole a quarter of a million

dollars

i couldn't make that much money if i

robbed every bank in arizona mr legend

there was only ten thousand dollars in

that vault

and that's the god's truth

i'm just asking you to investigate it

for yourself

see i believe in you legend

and i'm willing to turn myself in and

save my good name

so long as i know that nicodemus legend

is on the case

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see you saturday

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you know i have to admit

the world looks a lot better from up

here

well i knew that once you had settled in

and had a chance to think things through

you'd be glad to get back into action

again

glad to be back

i've been coerced i'm surrounded

my publisher commits my services to the

bank and seringo

well he did something that i find

completely unforgivable

he put his life into your hands

exactly i hate that

keep us on the same course oh i've sent

legend on a lot of investigations but

never old ernie pratt no sir

i'm not sure he's up to it well he was

up to it the last time and remember you

have the power of the bartok research

facility behind you

always a comfort

you know ernest i think that this little

adventure is going to be good for legend

and besides it might help some of the

problems that we've noticed in your last

few books what

what problems

ramos will explain

ramos

my excellent scientific associates

he also has studied literature at

harvard

oh well

do tell ramos

i was mentioning to the professor that

your later books

were a bit predictable

yes wow

my audience has grown to expect a

certain value for their dime

yes but unpredictability is something

that you need

earnest

a man who does not have adventure in his

heart cannot write adventure books

yes well keep in mind

if the hero dies the adventure is over

oh

don't worry we'll be right behind you

yet another comfort

wow

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it's an honor to have you here in tucson

but mr legend we weren't expecting you

until saturday

i don't like to begin a case unless i'm

completely conversed with all the

particulars roscoe

now

could you tell me where the unfortunate

guard was located when he was shot rest

his soul

right there on his knees getting off the

floor

would you mind

assuming the position for us

and

where was saringa

at the door

about to leave

mr legend i don't understand bear with

me roscoe bear with me

now

could you tell me

from your perspective

what you saw

we came out of the office mr winslow and

i

everybody was face down on the floor but

justice serena was about to leave

with the money young phillips our

security man got to his knees and went

for his gun

jim shot him dead

and uh

ran out

could you gentlemen stand where you were

that day

please

fine now is this approximately how mr

ceringa was holding his gun

yes

would you hope this please

all right now according to the autopsy

report

the bullet entered the chest right here

just above the second rib the deceased

was 178 centimeters you know what you're

about 180 centimeters i think yeah would

you put this

lift up your arm there we go

once you have determined the trajectory

it's really quite easy to be able to

track the bullet to its final

destination so

since we know from the autopsy report

that the bullet passed right through the

body the bullet should be just about

here

oh that's

it's really quite curious

it isn't here

what is he talking about tracking

bullets the science of forensics

gentlemen

perhaps you read how i used forensics to

solve the mystery of the feather creek

stalker

perhaps not what does science have to do

with the murder i saw with my own eyes

it is possible sir that you did not see

what you thought you were seeing

why there's a magician friend of mine in

san francisco who had me convinced that

he was sawing in half a half-naked woman

nearly brought my heart to a stop

for you see

that young lady was a dear friend

but of course i was not seeing what i

thought i saw

but as a matter of fact the young lady

and i shared a cup of tea afterwards and

she didn't spring a single leak

i know what i saw mr legend i assure you

we saw serengo shoot young phillips now

is there anything else we can do to help

you

just one more thing mr winslow

250 000 is a lot of money for a bank

this size

why i wouldn't imagine you could hold

more than

say

10 000.

this bank is the depository for most of

the business interest of this part of

arizona

no slight intended

gentlemen

good day

he knows about the money if he knew

about the money he wouldn't be asking

questions like this he'd be talking to a

bank examiner then what is he up to

i don't know

but i promise you after we kill serengo

on saturday nobody's gonna care and if

nicodemus legend wants to get in the way

he'll just have to die there too

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ah yes

here we go

we found him alice

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don't you want to see no no i'll stay

out here and stand guard

in case there's a problem with security

or something

why would they be guarding dead people

because they may have read edgar poe as

i did as a child

for years afterwards i had to sleep with

a burning candle in my room

of course i don't need it as much

anymore

his internal organs have been removed oh

i do you need his liver

i really do need you ernest

what

would you scare up his liver please and

his heart oh and his heart

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oh and to think

just last week she could have been

reading one of my books oh yes ernest

they all live to worship you

the rear wound is slightly higher than

the front

tell me ramos

how is it you know so much about medical

examination he studied medicine at

harvard for a year

of course

silly me

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i believe i found his organs

ah telltale heart

i remember it well

i had to sleep in mother pratt's room

for a week

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never more

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ah yes

the bullet track definitely expands from

the rear to the front there's no

question about it this man was shot in

the back

could the coroner have mistaken an

entrance wound for an exit wound

possibly if he weren't paying attention

or

if he were paid not to pay attention

well in either case it just proves that

gentleman jim could not have done it all

the witnesses place him in front of the

victim

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in the back that's impossible we've got

the forensic evidence to prove it

i don't know much about your uh

forensic science mr legend

frankly it could work better in a book

than a quarter long

but we'll give it all a look once jim's

behind bars

my only concern is that he make it there

a lot

here he comes

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[Applause]

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me

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thank you

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what are you doing

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marshall

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[Applause]

uh

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oh

get ready to get us out of here

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the guy's pointing at me

you're taking me hostage

ah

hold your fire he's taking nicodemus

legend hostage

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all right

go

[Applause]

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wow

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well

we should be safe here for a while mrs

yancy owns the place she's like a mother

to me

maybe you should have written more often

huh

this is nancy it's me jimmy cerringo

jimmy

is that you

i owe everything to gentleman jim

serengo yes sir when my husband died

bank foreclosed on the ranch

gentleman jim gave me the money to buy

the deed i took it from the bank that

held the paper i figured miss yancy

needed it more than they did sounds like

you took your inspiration from another

thief in history

robin hood

joaquin murieta do they always have to

be english

none of this gentleman jim thing ever

would have happened if it wasn't for my

horse your horse ah

i never did set out to become gentleman

jim soringo

hell 10 years ago i was nothing but a

brawling gambling thief

one day i was riding like hell on a

getaway from a dodge bank

all of a sudden i look up and there's

this lady crossing the street with her

baby

i had no time to react

next thing i know

my horse he just pulls up for a second

by the time we get going again lady was

already across the street safely out of

harm's way

excuse me i need to use one of your

bullets just for a moment

anyway by the time i got to denver

folks was already talking about it only

the story changed a little bit

they were saying how i got down off my

horse and helped the lady across the

street

and then by the time i got to santa fe

story changed again only this time folks

were saying how i gave all the money

that i stole to the lady for the child's

education

none of it was true though

so all because of that horse

folks took to calling me gentleman jim

and i found that i liked it

because they started looking at me

different

treating me with respect

instead of looking at me with

disgust and fear like they always did

so i figure

why stay a lost soul if i can become

somebody entirely new

somebody your audience wanted you to be

like i said mr legend

my name has come to mean a lot to me

just as i know your names come to me a

lot to you

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well now

this is the situation the chemical

composition

of the bullet that was taken out of your

shoulder and the one that killed the

bank guard are identical and they do not

match the bullet that was pulled out of

your belt

i don't understand what's the difference

these have traces of bismuth and

antimony

this one yours is pure lead

these are government issues wait a

minute why would the bank want to kill

one of its own security men

in my book

if it were my book

it had something to do with that missing

money the quarter million stealing that

much money from a small frontier bank it

would have to take place over a period

of time months even embezzlement

well

if one of the honest security agents

found out about it

like young phillips perhaps

they could use the robbery as an

opportunity to silence him permanently

while still providing an explanation for

the missing funds

well gentlemen the only place to find

evidence if there is any

is in that vault

i guess that means i'm gonna have to

teach you boys how to rob a bank

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the safe we want is in winslow's office

we're gonna blow it wide open with a

whole bunch of dynamite oh dynamite will

come now

what's the problem well it's been done

it's loud it's bulky this is not just a

bank robbery this is an opportunity to

advance the science of bank robberies

mr legend i have been working with

dynamite for 10 years now

yes

i'm sorry professor but in this

particular field of endeavor

young jim

is the professor

fine fine

thank you mr legend

all right fellas now listen up

right back in here is an alley where we

can secure the horses in a wagon

while the professor

and ramos will be in the office blowing

open the safe with dynamite

i'll be on this end right here watching

the townsfolk on the outside through

these two windows

mr legend this here is going to be you

right here securing this area and

watching the folks inside any questions

yes

do i have to be the milkmaid

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afternoon good kind citizens

my name is gentleman jim zaringo and

this here's a hold up

with a special guest appearance by mr

nicodemus legend thank you jimmy it's

great to be here

now folks there's nothing to worry about

nobody's going to get hurt you all just

relax and watch

and you'll all be in my next book huh

all right get them hands up and let's

get started by throwing all them guns to

the center of the room

come on roscoe let's have it

thank you

what the hell's this

that's the ten thousand dollars i stole

from this here bank

you broke into this bank to give

the money back

i don't want no money stolen from honest

people what do you mean by that it means

mr winslow that we intend to find out if

you embezzled a quarter of a million

dollars from the good people of this

community

my associates will be here shortly to

examine the safe in your office

where's the data mat

it's here

what kind of dynamite is that it's

better than dynamite it's the bartok

smokeless nitroglycerin gelatin more

efficient easier to detonate the future

of explosives

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it's all right folks i perform this

demonstration at county fairs all the

time he'll be all right

and most of his hair will grow back

that's gonna draw a lot of unwanted

attention

all right

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it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder to

get out of here than it was to get in we

got company

professor

man

the truth shall set us free

come on winslow let's go

[Music]

you better hope we find what we're

looking for in that safe

what do you think mr winslow any chance

we'll find another set of books in there

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here we go

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it's certainly smokeless

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quiet too

damn it bartok

can you open that safe or not of course

i can open it it's obvious the charge in

the igniters was insufficient for some

reason

it's probably the wires

you know you're in there jim walk on out

now while you still can

professor

compensating 30 seconds jim

my talk let's go

[Music]

we're all going to get killed can you

see that

give this up now

and i promise

all the charges

are dropped

yeah well how are you gonna get them to

drop a murder charge mr winslow

i'll tell them

that barnes

was

the one who shot phillips

he's willing to give up his partner

now i really want to see what's in that

safe

me too

[Music]

i'm not willing to let this become a

standoff

you tell the boys if they get a clear

shot at jim take it

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thank you

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so much for advancing the science of

bank robbery

good job

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well

the trial is set for tuesday

marshall doesn't think that you will

have to testify as he has all the

evidence he needs and the federal

attorney said he's dropping all the

charges against you

evidently barnes and winslow were the

big fish in all this and you were just

well

you helped catch them

oh and there's something from the bank

offices that we have to show you

go ahead

it's a reward jimmy

the bank just given money to me

doesn't seem like i earned it

and there is a letter from the president

of the bank apologizing for any harm

that might have been done to your name

i mentioned in passing they might be

facing an interesting libel suit on your

behalf

name like yours

well we know how important it is to

protect that don't we

[Music]

very nice to have met you sir nice to

meet you too sir

on our way

thank you mr legend

adios

james

thank you too mrs yancy take care now

[Music]

admit it ernest this will make a perfect

legend story the adventure is back in

your heart again

is that what that is

i thought it was the fish taco from the

roadside vendor

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ah

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do

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you