Original subtitles

"Heads or Tails?"

A thrilling and true tale by Buffalo Bill Cody.

Transcribed by J.W. Buel.

With the arrival of the steam engine,

the romance of the land fades into oblivion.

In this new world,

bandits become heroes in the minds of the average boy

who longs to make his name known to the world.

You see, If a writer lends

the magic of his imagination

to the plain narrative...

...anything can transform into quite a story.

I met her at Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

The greatest show of our time.

The crowd scatters,

in a cloud of dust Buffalo Bill Cody emerges.

He fires one shot.

Our hero advances on the savage Sioux.

He fires two more shots.

Now upon the enemy,

he draws a knife, to finish the deed.

The brave drops...

lifeless.

He scalps him.

Shows it to his comrades and shouts,

"For Custer!"

That stupid son of a bitch.

This ends the uprising.

You're very kind.

What you have just seen,

is how America became a land

of opportunity.

God's brave men and women

who paved the path

for civilization with their sacrifices,

America would not be the free,

united and powerful country it is.

America has possibility.

The possibility to better one's lot in life.

And the opportunity for every man and every woman

to become truly free.

Yes, friends. America is the land of freedom.

And now...

...we'd like to extend our sincere gratitude

to our generous hosts, the noble Rupè family.

Who, I'm told, are blazing a trail across this country,

much like the American settlers did.

Godspeed and thank you.

And now, my dear friends,

comes that bittersweet moment

when I must bid you, Arrivederci.

Before I do, I will leave you with this.

If you must shoot,

do not miss.

And always aim

for the heart.

Chapter 1.

Kidnapped.

Well, the taking of the scalp was revenge for Custer's death.

It was deemed an appropriate act of war at the time.

But you asked if it was true.

And I'd like to state, right here,

and right now, unequivocally,

everything in our show is absolutely true,

down to the last detail.

Ask any Indian in the show

and they'll tell you the same.

See, I've had quite a bit to do with the American

Indians, all the years.

I've tracked them, I've fought them

and I've tried to understand them.

I've also tried to be as fair to them as I could,

given the circumstances. Of course

our present circumstances find us

as a family here in this theatrical endeavor.

Very proud of that.

As a matter of fact,

I would like to turn things over

to a dear friend of mine who will

speak to you herself.

She is a legend of the American West.

She's, in fact, the daughter of the great Chief,

Sitting Bull.

May God rest his soul.

You won't find a better example

of the nobility of her people

than Many Horses

who will speak to you now. My dear.

Is it all true?

Was it really so violent?

Oh, you speak inglese , huh?

Well, let me ask you this, Miss.

Is everything you say always true?

Must be a terrible burden...

I do my best.

As do I.

And the truth is, the American West

was much more violent than our little circus here.

Terrible, in fact.

But terrible things must be done in the name of progress.

No great nation was ever founded without violence.

But is it glorious to win with blood?

What an interesting question.

You know, Miss...

...if you don't mind my saying...

...I think you could be a star.

And I know how to pick 'em.

I don't know what it is, but you've got it...

But I think you need a different costume.

You don't seem comfortable in that one.

I like it,

-it's just a little bit tight. -Mm.

Bill! You met my wife.

Oh!

French women talk too much.

Oh, I see, well...

Forgive me, sir, but I do find your wife's

curiosity very refreshing.

Enchanté, madame.

Speaking of refreshing, what say we go to the bar, shall we?

-This way. -Ah!

Very good, now, as I was saying,

ya'll people think they want the truth,

but what they really want is a good story.

And they're willing to pay good money for it,

I can tell you that.

Whiskey doppio!

You know, they wanna come hear a story

they want to hear about themselves.

And to see the finest cowboys

on God's green earth.

Finest horsemen in the world.

Gracias.

The best cowboys in the world are in his stable.

Hmm, well,

I'm sure your Italian cowherders are quite special, sir,

but they wouldn't stand the ghost of a chance

against my cowboys.

Sorry?

I think he's challenging you. He loves to bet.

He loves to bet?

You're gonna bet against my boys, is that right?

Boys, you won't believe what I just heard!

You're gonna regret that bet, sir.

Can you imagine the temerity of it?

This fella here wants to bet against you.

Put these cowboys here in Italy up against you.

The sheer temerity of it!

I've never heard of anything so ridiculous in my whole life.

Hold on to that, slim.

Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry to interrupt the party,

but I've got one hundred dollars here

for anyone who thinks they can best

my cowboys at horsemanship.

It's a big bet for a big ride. Who is in?

You asked for and you got it.

Our last big, unplanned act of the day.

Alright. This is how it's going to go.

There will be two six men team.

One team of Americans, one team of Italians.

Two wild horses.

The best nag these Italians can provide

and an American Mustang.

They must... lasso,

subdue, saddle

and ride this wild beast

in the shortest time possible.

Alright, boys, you're ready?

You know what makes a true cowboy?

There we go! There we go!

It ain't luck,

I can tell you that.

A cowboy must be tough, of course.

But he must also know the mind of a horse.

They must be brave and pure of character...

because a horse knows a liar

without even seeing a man.

A horse knows the true heart of a man

and sees straight through wicked man.

A cowboy must be champion of the weak.

Oh!

And be pure of heart.

He must have the strength of a man...

but the innocence of a boy.

That is what defines

a true cowboy.

An unlikely result, congratulations.

Come on, boys, let's beat it.

Come on, let's go, excuse me ladies.

He fooled us enough.

Well, with all due respect, sir...

I can't help you.

You and my debauched son

made a mess with your bet.

And now...

he's dead.

Well, I did not kill your son.

"Buffalo Bill is an exploiter of the Indians,

a fraud, an impostor,

a shameless inventor of fairy tales,

a false hero,

scoundrel and a drunk."

-Want me to go on? -No, that won't be necessary.

Now, a drunk I would debate,

but the rest of this is bullshit and you know it.

- Good day. - Bill!

You're not out of fashion...

...yet.

What do you want from me, Mr. Rupè?

I want you...

to bring that woman back to me.

Bring her to me

and every damn newspaper in this country

will have your name on the front page.

"Buffalo Bill catches the bastard...

...and saves the dame."

Mm.

Not bad. Not bad.

Not bad at all.

Yes, that might make a very fine tale.

Well, I hate to spoil the love story, Johnny,

but it's time to saddle up, we're back in the money.

Miss...

Chapter 2. To the rescue.

The outlaw had dragged his prisoner

to a malarial swamp

to try and hide their tracks.

But such evasions can't fool a great tracker.

I've faced gators, timber rattlers,

snapping turtles and more,

lurking in similar muddy waters.

And though the land may be different...

...the spirit of this expedition remains the same.

With the courage and conduct

that only the gallant possess...

...we set forth...

...to save our Rose.

Ah...

Hmm.

Hmm.

Chapter 3.

A startling discovery.

Johnny! Look here.

You walked right past that. You see that twig?

That's a broken twig. You know what that means, don't you?

That means they walked right through here.

Now, every single thing on the ground is a clue for us.

There, look closer.

Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there.

You see that, Johnny?

Lot of hidden truths out here, write that in our journal.

Folks will think we're damn poets when they read it.

Mark my words, boy, this is gonna be quite a story.

Hell, might be the finest dime-store novel ever written!

True bravery is not the lack of fear...

but the strength to keep going in spite of it.

So be the hero of your own story.

Just like Buffalo Bill Cody.

Hm...

Santino!

Huh?

Huh...

Chapter 4.

So long and farewell.

Oh! Oh!

Oh!

What a beautiful baby you have here.

Oh!

What will his future be like?

And yours?

Here, here.

Here.

There, there...

Yeah.

Here, here...

Here you are...

Yeah, there.

Well?

Will you seize the opportunity

or will you let someone else decide your faith?

Hm?

Look what you've created.

Look what you brought into the world.

What will you make of it?

Hm?

Brother crow...

I'm looking for someone.

Can you help me?

Johnny, you won't believe what he just told me.

Shoo!

Ah...

Hmm...

We followed the bird's advice.

But what we discovered

would make me question my very sanity.

Like the legend of El Muerto.

He was left to roam for weeks as a warning to other outlaws.

Some say his ghost still wanders the borderlands.

When the moon is full.

Well Johnny, we found most of him.

Crow was right!

Huh?

The wind, the rain, the grind...

She had never slept under the stars before,

never walked this long without stopping.

A life for the strong to be sure.

But damned if it ain't a life for the lonely as well.

You see, in the end, what are we left with?

Only the ones who touched our hearts.

Did you really think I wouldn't find ya?

You must be dreaming!

Johnny, go gather some firewood!

Look at you.

You must be cold.

Jiggs up, mademoiselle.

You're safe now, with old Bill Cody.

You know, Miss...

The more I think about it...

the more I think...

there must have been something more going on

between you and that cowboy than people realize.

Because...

you wouldn't have gotten this far

being an uncooperative hostage.

But here's the good news, I won't mention it.

Not to your father-in-law, not to anyone.

If you come back with me,

you can tell them any story you want.

And I'll...

I'll return you to your life of comfort.

It looks like the fellow that killed your husband

has already paid the price.

This is the perfect ending for the story, isn't it?

I'm not going back.

I won't let anyone take me anywhere anymore.

I killed my husband...

....and I will kill you, if I have to.

Well, well.

You see, there is something about you.

I am impressed with you, miss.

Well, I must admit you've got the jump on me right now.

But one of us, maybe both of us...

Maybe all three of us...

are going to end up getting shot, if this continues.

That's how these things tend to work out in my experience.

And I think that would be a shame, don't you?

So, if you don't mind, I'd like to propose another option.

No, no, don't get jumpy.

What say, we let faith settle this?

See, I'll flip this coin...

and if it comes up heads...

well, we'll have ourselves a good old gun battle.

But if it comes up tails, we go our separate ways

and pretend this little meeting never happened.

What'd you say?

You rely too much on luck, Mr. Cody.

Is it ever righteous to win with blood?

You know the interesting thing about heads or tails, miss,

is what you wish for

while the coin tumbles through the air.

She felt she had it all.

An elegant home, a polite smile,

a happy marriage.

But fate had others plans.

Her husband was gunned down in cold blood.

The gutless murderer by the name of Santo

shot his boss and kidnapped his wife.

The oldest story of them all.

Now she gazed into her captor's devilish eyes

and saw the blood-red mouth of a lion.

She screamed, her cries so wild and frantic

that the entire grandstand

rushed to see what had happened.

This delicate rose was taken...

in a cowardly manner.

Against her will.

Plucked from her beautiful garden.

Et voilà.