Original subtitles

Preload?

Nah, the air's thinning out and the wind's coming up.

I think I'll call it a day.

Put baby to bed, will you, pal?

I'll get a early start in the morning.

Yeah, swell.

That's exactly what Harv Walker said the last time,

and we haven't seen him since.

So, how lucky can you get?

Now you've got talent and dependability.

By

You're late.

Do you know where I was when they called me?

No.

On the 18th tee, right at the top of my backswing.

Hooked your drive. I can hear the alibi now.

Right.

They're waiting.

Dave!

Hey, Joe.

It's been a long time.

Too long. Hope I didn't louse up your game.

No problem.

I'd like you to meet Clint Carpenter.

Mr. Carpenter.

Dave tells me you flew together in Korea.

Yeah. Side-by-side.

He thinks you're the right man for this job,

and I hope so.

Oh? What kind of job's that, Dave?

Well, to find out what's going on.

Clint uses my dusting service.

Biggest customer I've got, as a matter of fact.

And I soon won't be any kind of customer, Mr. Mannix.

Somebody's out to ruin me.

They don't mind ruining me along with him.

Two of my pilots have disappeared on the job.

Disappeared?

Gone, not a trace.

Cars, belongings and all.

These, uh, pilots, they the kind that can be bought off?

Nah, not a chance.

I knew them both for years.

The first one, Harv Walker, came out of retirement to help me.

Well, what about local law?

Can't they come up with anything?

Well, there's a Sheriff Simkins.

He's been sheriff for 15 years.

He's good for writing out tickets

and cleaning up after accidents, but that's about it.

Joe, here's our problem.

Clint's stuck with a plague of insects.

Thrips, they're called, chomping away at the oranges.

At the rate they're going, a week, ten days is all we've got.

Well, it's, uh, not much time for an investigation.

Might be enough, Joe, if you could do the dusting yourself.

Me?

Hey, Dave, that's precision flying.

That's right. So is landing a fighter on

a carrier deck in a typhoon.

You did that, didn't you?

Yeah, well, now that was different.

Joe, compared to those hot ships we were jockeying,

the Ag Cat handles like a kite.

I could check you out down here, and, under the circumstances,

I think I could get a waiver for a license.

Dave, uh, maybe Mr. Mannix doesn't like the idea

of being a decoy.

Yeah, well, it's still a long shot, Dave.

That ever stop you before?

A couple of times there,

I thought you were gonna lose the plane.

I began to worry.

About me or your crop?

Link, tie her down for the night.

He'll make his first run in the morning.

Is that right?

Anything you say, Mr. Carpenter.

I put you up at the Orange Grove Inn out on the main highway.

You get cleaned up and then drive on over to the house.

You're having dinner with us at 5:00.

Oh?

Afterwards, we can talk.

I'll answer any questions you might have.

Well, I have one now.

All this property I just flew over, that yours, too?

About as far as the eye can see.

Then how come losing an orange crop can put you under?

I got some other investments that haven't been going so good.

Without this orange crop,

I wouldn't be able to hold on to my groves.

Might have to sell off some to raise some cash.

What kind of investments?

Stocks and things.

How about crap tables in Vegas?

I suppose snooping comes natural to you, Mannix.

I just like to know the people I'm working for.

Saves a lot of surprises.

Be at the house at 5:00.

We eat early and bed down early.

Ah, Mr. Mannix?

That's right.

Sheriff Simkins. You mind if I come in?

Not at all.

What can I do for you, Sheriff?

I, uh, understand you're working for Clint Carpenter,

is that right?

Yeah, I just started. I'll, uh, be dusting for him.

Yeah, uh, any problems so far?

Problems?

None that I know of.

Nice, friendly community.

Yeah, but look here, uh,

just how much do you know about the two crop dusters before you?

Well, what should I know?

There you are, you see?

The fact is, Mr. Mannix, they both disappeared.

There's even been some talk of foul play.

Maybe I'm just not following you, Sheriff.

Yeah, well, uh, what I'm trying to tell you,

Mr. Mannix, is that, uh, if I were in your shoes,

I'd cut out of here before something happened to me.

Just up and leave?

Yeah, but what about my contract with Dave Winters?

Yeah, well, uh...

it ain't Dave that's taking the chances, is it?

Now, uh, let me see if I've got this straight.

Are you telling me

that I can't count on your office for protection?

What I'm saying, Mr. Mannix, is

that this is one big hunk of country

with only me and my deputy to patrol it.

So, the best way I can give you protection is

to offer you some good, sound advice.

Oh, and, uh, don't think I don't appreciate that, Sheriff,

but I guess what it comes down to is

that I've got more confidence in you than you've got in yourself.

Yeah, well...

it's your funeral.

By

by

Mr. Mannix?

Yes.

Come in. Thank you.

You're expected.

This way, please.

Mr. Mannix.

I'm Nora Carpenter, Clint's wife.

How do you do?

Clint will be down in a minute.

Can I fix you a drink?

Thank you. A scotch on the rocks would be fine.

You're younger than the others.

The others?

The other two dusters.

Oh, the, uh, two missing dusters.

I wondered if Clint had told you.

But you still took the job.

Don't give me too much credit, Mrs. Carpenter.

The job pays very well.

Cheers.

They were nice men, those pilots.

I met each of them once.

At a dinner like this.

And then, never again.

Mr. Mannix...

I know it's important to my husband-- your dusting--

But on the other hand...

Jesse, hurry up with dinner.

At least be careful.

Ah, Mannix.

I see you've met my wife.

How about a drink for your husband, Nora?

Excuse me.

One a day.

Two and I get mean.

According to my family.

What do you think of the place?

It's everything you said it was.

My father started out in a farm shack.

No electricity, outside plumbing.

He built it all himself.

So, I guess we haven't done so bad at that.

And I'm sure you've added your bit.

I haven't stood still.

You can come to the table now.

It's about time!

You can seat Nora, if you would, Mannix.

I think she'd like that.

Be my pleasure.

Oh, darling. Marietta.

I wasn't expecting her.

Clint.

Oh, don't worry, Nora, darling.

I felt like joining the party,

and so I asked Jess to set another place.

You couldn't wait, huh?

No, I couldn't wait to toast your handsome guest of honor.

This is Mr. Mannix.

He's a crop duster.

My mother.

Very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Carpenter.

Another crop duster.

Seems like we have a new one every day.

Or maybe this young man didn't know about that.

Yes, uh, I am aware of it, Mrs. Carpenter.

Then why go on?

You don't need to concern yourself

with business matters, Marietta.

Just leave that to me.

Where's dinner, Jesse?!

That's the whole list, Mannix.

Maybe the one you're looking for is on it.

Anyway, they all hated my father, and they all hate me.

It's a pretty good-sized roster.

Does the order mean anything?

I'd say so; I put them down as they came to me.

Then this name at the top-- Sam Maturian--

He's the one you suspect the most?

Yeah.

Works in the groves.

Speaks for all the others.

Claims my father cheated him.

He's threatened to get even.

20 years, he's threatened.

Well, that ought to qualify.

How about the others?

Piddling besides him.

Little beefs of one kind or another.

Incidentally, uh, what about Sheriff Simkins?

Without my father's support, he'd have never made sheriff.

And without mine, he wouldn't be able to keep the job.

Okay, Maturian it is.

Oh, uh, meantime, there is something

you can be doing on your own.

What's that?

Find out if your hold on the sheriff

is as strong as you think it is.

You all right?

What are you doing here?

I found the door open, so I came in.

Maybe you can tell me what I'm doing here.

My friend must have dragged me in.

Very considerate.

What's the matter?

He also took my gun.

Well, the way things were going around here,

I thought I ought to have one.

Have you any idea who it was?

Nothing definite.

But, uh, let's talk about you.

Not long after you left, I drove into town

to get a prescription filled for my mother-in-law.

And, uh, I detoured here.

Not to warn me again?

You did that once, and, uh, I'm very grateful.

I had a feeling...

that you were someone I could talk to.

Works both ways.

I eavesdropped tonight, Mr. Mannix.

When Clint was telling you about Sam Maturian,

I wanted you to know that you'd only be wasting your time

and stirring up more trouble.

Why do you say that?

Because those people, Maturian's people,

they hate my husband enough as it is.

And because I simply can't believe that Sam Maturian,

for all he must hate the Carpenters,

could possibly be guilty of any of this.

You know him, then?

Not personally.

But I know what the people around here think of him.

You must, uh, know what real hate can do to a man, too.

I take it your husband doesn't know you're here.

Of course not.

Even though it's for him, too.

He'd be furious.

Yeah.

That seems to be his normal temperature.

He wasn't always that way, Mr. Mannix.

In the beginning...

Well, it-it was a wonderful marriage for three years.

Now, what changed it?

What changed him?

Clint, Sr. died.

It happened so quickly.

Almost overnight, Clint changed.

His friends became his enemies.

The trips to Las Vegas began.

Always without me.

And soon, I was cut off.

As surely as his mother had been cut off before me.

He became a different person altogether.

You mean, uh, he became another Clint, Sr.

And you were Marietta all over again.

I suppose you could say that.

Who is it?

Sheriff Simkins.

Just a minute.

Well, hello, Mannix.

Sheriff. Is this a raid?

No.

But, uh, if it had been,

I'd have come a little earlier and caught myself a fish.

Well, your timing could have been better.

Well, sorry about that.

But, uh, business goes on as usual, you know.

At least, mine does.

Uh, Joe Mannix, private investigator,

license number 13007.

Crop dusting just a hobby with you,

or, uh, is the detective business falling off?

Let me ask you a question, Sheriff.

You run a check on every visitor to Carpenter?

Uh, just about.

Clint, Sr. put me onto it.

You know, he didn't like meddling strangers.

So, I thought I'd give Clint, Jr. the same service.

What about it, Mannix?

Well, I was, uh, hired

by the Winters Crop-dusting Service

to find those two missing pilots.

Well, you said yourself you didn't get anyplace with it,

so maybe it's time for an outsider.

Well, what I mean is we haven't been able to prove anything,

but supposing I was to tell you that there is one party

who'd be tickled silly to see Clint, Jr. lose his tail.

Of course, proving that he's working at it

is something else again.

Sam Maturian.

Boy, you sure do work fast, don't you?

Yeah, fast enough to know there are people

around here who'd swear by him.

Fast enough to know

that he figures he's the rightful owner

of a good-sized chunk of the Carpenter spread?

Huh?

Yeah, that's right.

All that acreage out there in orange trees.

Now all he does is dig irrigation ditches around them.

Well, uh, that does change things a little.

It certainly does, doesn't it?

Well, I'm, uh, willing to give you

all the help I can, you know,

but, uh, keep your head down.

Oh, uh, by the way,

that perfume... it's kind of special.

I wonder what Junior would think if he knew that his wife

was visiting a man in his motel room

at this hour of the night.

Sorry I'm late, Joe.

Yeah, well, you can see I waited.

I see that.

Just coffee, Betty.

Well, what do you have?

Anything yet?

Well, I thought I ought to give you a report on my first flight.

I leaned over to reach for the car phone, and, uh...

Yeah?

Somebody took a potshot at me.

Oh, Joe. Who was it?

No idea.

What do you know about a man named Sam Maturian?

Well, he's a real old-timer around here.

He sticks with his own people.

Runs them with an iron hand.

His name keeps popping up.

Maybe it's time I had a little talk with him.

Well, uh, why don't you take a crack at him now

and I'll handle the dusting this morning?

Dave, you're the type of client every man ought to have.

Does all the real work himself.

And Joe...

Yeah, yeah.

Keep my head down?

Everybody keeps telling me that.

Keep it down anyway.

Sam Maturian around?

Who wants to know?

My name is Mannix.

I'm the new crop duster for Carpenter.

I'll tell you this, mister,

you got some nerve coming up here.

{man shouts in Armenian

Stop where you are.

All of you against one man?

What do you think you're doing?

Who are you?

He's Carpenter's new man, Sam.

That's who he is.

You... oh your way.

I came here, Mr. Maturian, hoping you and I could talk.

Get out!

One word from me, and they tear you apart!

{men murmuring

Our language you speak.

I grew up speaking it,

like most other second-generation Armenians.

Too strong for you, huh?

In my family, coffee this weak

is only for women and children.

But I must say, it's not bad for this neck of the woods.

You know...

...once I shared this drink with old man Carpenter...

Mm.

When we agreed on the oranges, the grove,

and the time he would give me to pay it off.

That was my one dream.

Having that land for our people.

What happened?

I slaved. Somehow, with the grace of God,

I got all the money together-- within the time, you know?

And then he didn't want it.

You mean old man Carpenter backed out of the deal?

He already had enough money for three lifetimes.

More power, that's what he wanted.

And what about your agreement?

Well, because I trusted him,

the agreement was, how do you say...

Verbal.

Well, it was his word against mine, huh?

First he had the marshal come around

with all the legalistic papers to evict me.

And then somewhere a judge,

with one sweep of his hand...

wiped out ten years of hard work.

But you stayed.

I was a younger man.

More?

Uh...

I was a much younger man then.

And all I lived for was to beat Carpenter to the ground.

And then one day...

he died, and he was in the ground,

and I was old.

Well, it was no different with that poor woman of his,

Marietta Carpenter.

All those years with that man!

And in the end... for what?

Why do you stay?

We have to. What else can we do?

Our lives are in this crop.

If it fails, we starve!

I see.

Then you have nothing to gain by stopping the dusting.

Not even... vengeance.

Something is wrong.

The plane's in trouble.

Dave.

Dave.

P-Plane...

...s-s-sabotaged.

Take it easy, Dave.

S-Sulfur in... the gas tank.

Exploded.

S-Saw it happen...

once... b-before.

Dave Winters dead?

I can't believe it.

Clint, give this up!

Stay out of this!

I can't! I won't!

Are you still with me, Mannix?

Dave Winters was my friend.

My deal was with him, too.

Then you'll finish dusting?

Yes.

Then you are a fool,

and you'll get what you deserve.

Why don't you go back to your room?

Maybe you didn't drain the bottle.

And you'll get what you deserve, too,

if you keep him around here.

What's that supposed to mean?

Kind of a man that would lure your wife

to his motel after you went to bed.

Is that the kind you want?

Is that the kind you can trust?

Do you know what you're saying?

Go ahead and ask him.

Ask him, if you don't believe me!

Ask him if she wasn't there!

Oh, Nora!

Nora! Oh, honey...

I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it.

Nora.

I didn't mean it.

Did you go to him last night?

Did you?!

Wait a minute, Carpenter.

Nothing happened.

She only came... You tramp!

I ought to kill you!

Listen to me, Carpenter! Nothing happened!

She didn't do anything wrong.

You're through, Mannix.

You're fired. Get out!

I may be fired...

but I'm not through.

Not until I find out who killed Dave Winters.

Oh, Mr. Mannix?

Phone call just came for you.

They wouldn't leave their name.

They leave a message? They just said that

Sam Maturian wants to see you right away at his place.

Thank you.

Mr. Maturian?

Poor fella's dead.

An old man like that...

How could you do such a thing, Mannix?

Shot with my missing gun, I suppose.

I don't have to guess who's got it.

How about this fellow, Tiny?

Didn't I tell you he was good?

This is...

well, what do you know?

Exhibit A.

Now, there's a murder weapon, if I ever saw one.

Put the cuffs on him, Tiny.

Too bad that plane crash caught Dave instead of me.

Would have saved you all this trouble.

Oh, well, you can't hit it right every time, you know.

So, you just keep on trying, right?

There's one thing that still puzzles me.

Oh, what's that?

At the trial, you're gonna have to come up with a motive.

Why did I kill Maturian?

Oh, we'll think of something.

Uh, Clint was scared of him, so he hired you to knock him off,

and collect yourself a big bonus.

You know, something like that.

Once a hick cop, always a hick cop.

Now what kind of talk is that?

There's not gonna be a trial. You know it and I know it.

Because you can't take a chance that I won't come up

with an alibi that'll stick.

Next thing you know,

I've launched a search for those missing pilots.

So, what's called for is a little roadside justice.

Prisoner shot while attempting to escape.

Man, you really are something.

Did you hear all that, Tiny?

Just, uh, where am I supposed to try this escape?

Well, I hate to keep you waiting.

This looks like as good a spot as any.

Pull over, Tiny.

Come on!

Let's get the dogs.

Hey, Steve!

Get off!

I got Sam's killer!

Steve, we got him!

Hold it, hold it!

I didn't kill him.

You got to believe me.

I didn't kill him.

You were the last one with him.

No, no, I wasn't.

The man who killed Sam was the last.

I believe you.

Sam trusted you.

He told me so.

You got to help me.

First thing, we get rid of these, all right?

Yeah.

Come.

Some of our men have not yet heard about Sam.

Still off on their search, the one you want.

A man as fast as Aram won't need luck, Mr. Mannix.

He'll have your scent out of the camp,

across the river in 15 minutes.

That's coming from the workers' place.

Come on.

Now for my part.

Did that shot come from here?

Mannix was trying to get to his car.

Where'd he go?

He got away.

Out there somewhere.

Well, don't worry.

We'll get him. Come on, fellas.

We should have killed him.

The law will take care of him,

if we can put the pieces together.

What else can I do?

Well, you can give me a lift.

There's somebody I want to talk to.

Hello, Mr. Mannix.

Will you tell Mrs. Carpenter I'd like to see her?

Mannix. What are you doing here?

Didn't I tell you to clear out?

I'd like to talk to your mother, Clint.

My mother?

Mr. Mannix, she's always been our friend.

I think you're going to find out

exactly what kind of a friend, Steve.

Now, I want to talk to your mother.

Hey, you don't give the orders here.

And if you got anything to say, you say it to me.

On the way out.

That's enough, Clint.

Get back to your room.

I'm sorry, Steve.

They say that you killed Sam Maturian, Mr. Mannix.

But you know better than that, don't you, Mrs. Carpenter?

In fact, you know the truth about

a great deal of what's been going on around here.

What do you mean by that?

Be quiet.

I mean, your mother was so anxious

to stop me from dusting the grove,

she made a bad slip.

Like what?

Mrs. Carpenter,

Nora didn't tell you about her visit to me last night.

Harmless as it was.

And I certainly didn't.

The only person who could have told you was Sheriff Simkins--

Your partner in this enterprise to destroy your son's crop.

You're lying.

Tell him he's wrong.

Tell him, Mother!

The sheriff wasn't my partner.

He was my employee...

...who promised me faithfully that no one would get hurt.

Sam Maturian... was a good man.

His murder was the last thing I would've wanted.

Try to believe that.

I believe it, Mrs. Carpenter.

And this, uh, whole plan of yours was for Sam Maturian?

For Sam and his people, yes, it was.

And now it's your turn, Clint.

How many times have I pleaded with you to make amends

for what your father did to Sam and his people?

How many times have I begged you to live decently?

With honesty and goodness instead of hate and greed.

That's what your father lived with.

I kept praying that you would be different.

But you finally gave up.

And decided to take it on yourself

to see that Sam Maturian got what belonged to him.

Your son would lose that acreage,

and then you'd secretly buy it in through Sheriff Simkins...

...turn it over to Sam Maturian.

Now it's no use.

I just failed again.

Mr. Mannix.

We found the bodies of the two pilots in the river.

Deep spot near Miller's Bend.

Cars, too.

Well, you finally got him.

Good going, fellas.

Don't touch him.

What are you doing?

You can stop pretending, Sheriff.

I told them everything.

You were only supposed to frighten those pilots away.

Instead, you killed them.

And Sam Maturian.

And you had a private deal with Clint's Las Vegas creditors.

With his gambling losses and the loss of the crop,

you were gonna join them in taking over

the entire Carpenter ranch when it went under.

It's all right here in the file, Sheriff.

At trial, they'll find out how much your mother

had to do with all of this, and how little.

That doesn't mean she won't need all the support she can get.

Steve.

Sam finally got the land for you.

By