Original subtitles

Micah, what's he doing in town?

I wish I knew.

Corey?

Get back on that horse and ride out.

A man usually gets told to ride out o' town

When he's broken the law, marshal.

I'm not waitin' for you to leave a body lyin'

In the street, corey,

I'm tellin' you what we tell all killers ridin' into north fork.

Keep on movin'.

You got a lot of faith in that badge you're wearin', marshal.

I'd say offhand that that badge is worth about what it weighs.

Two ounces of tin don't bring much in the market these days.

You told me to get out of town, marshal,

I'm not gonna tell you that.

You go on livin' in this town, you grow old,

You die in bed here.

But that badge, I wanna see it lyin' in the dirt at sundown.

If that badge is still pinned to your vest at sundown, marshal,

You'll be lyin' in the dirt with it.

Whoa! Whoa!

That tendon actin' up again?

Yup, it sure is.

Hi.

Hi, boy.

Somethin' I can do to help?

Yeah, you can trade horses with me.

Wouldn't be such a good swap from where I look.

That all depends.

Realize that a... Bent-up gold piece might not look as pretty

As a... Silver dollar, but it's a better deal.

It might be you have a better horse,

But I've raised mine from a colt an' I sorta like 'im.

I ain't in the horse-tradin' business, son.

I'll take you into town, cocoa,

An' get you fixed up real proper.

Uh, my pa's ranch is just around the bend,

If you wanna take 'im there.

I could make a bandage an' make up a salt pack

To take down the swellin'.

That's right kind o' you, thank you.

All right.

How's this, mr. Corey?

Just fine.

Oh, no, I- I don't want any pay for it.

Nice farm, real nice.

There's somethin' about... Standin' on your own land,

Workin' it, knowin' that you'll get out of it

What you put into it.

Guess the harder you work, the- the better the crops.

That's the way it usually turns out.

Sleepin' good, eatin' good an' being with people.

Being with people?

You mean like town hall meetings?

We're havin' one tonight.

Picnic supper, games later on, things like that.

Listen to me. Don't ever leave the land, boy.

Always be a part of it, part of the community.

People lookin' at you, smilin' at you,

Always being glad to see you.

Uh... Maybe I shouldn't ask, mr. Corey, but...

Are you a wagon train scout?

Huh?

Well, I... Mean, you don't often see people

Wearin' buckskins in these parts.

Well, I guess buckskins are just a habit with me now.

I used to work with buffalo bill's wild west show.

I guess I kinda got used to wearin' 'em.

You- you mean you knew buffalo bill?

I was with 'im for 4 years.

I- I mean, wh- what did you do in the circus?

Oh, gun handlin'. Fancy shootin', mostly.

Fancy shootin'! Would you show me?

All right, boy, sit over there.

That'll be the best seat in the house, right there.

An' around you is all types of people.

They all came for the big show, right?

An' all of a sudden, the ringmaster comes in an' he says,

"ladies an' gentlemen! We present to you...

The fastest gun in the west, tip corey!"

An' I come ridin' in with cocoa over there.

He slows down just enough

To let me kind of slide off nice an' easy.

Then I give it one of these here.

An' all of a sudden the crowd kinda becomes quiet,

Then I start my tricks.

Flat spins, all kind of spins,

Little tricks to catch the eye, everythin' like this here.

Kinda easin' in all the way,

Doin' flat spins an' everythin' like that.

An' then, finally, the wind-up with one o' these.

Then I start, with a nice easy trick.

It's easy to me, but to the audience it looks hard.

Tin can, for instance, to start it off.

Always catches the public's eye.

An' now, for the big trick.

Every act in the circus had a big trick to do,

Somethin' special that no one else could do.

That's why buffalo bill hired me, for this one.

I want you to pay attention, boy.

Take this nail, make a mark, right there.

Take my knife... An' I'm gonna put a bullet hole

Right in the middle of that mark,

Then I'm gonna put the knife right over the bullet hole.

Now, for the last lesson-

Hold it! There won't be any last lesson.

Get off this ranch, an' be quick.

But pa, mr. Corey was just-

You heard me, corey. Mount up an' get out o' here.

Certainly, mr. Mccain.

Thank you, boy, for the... Bandage an' all.

Well... It's... All right.

I'm sorry if I overstayed my welcome... Mr. Mccain.

Goodbye, boy.

So long.

Pa, you didn't let me explain. It was only a circus act.

He used to be with-

Mark, tip corey is a killer.

A killer?!

Wherever he goes, he leaves a dead man behind.

There must be 12 men lyin' in their graves because of 'im.

Well, he said he used to be in the buffalo bill wild west show.

Then he discovered there was more money

In hirin' his gun out.

He draws so fast you... You can just barely see him.

Come on, you better get washed up.

You're supposed to help mrs. Wingate

At the town hall tonight.

An' I've gotta go in an' hold down micah's desk for 'im.

Yeah, I forgot about helpin' mrs. Wingate.

You gonna be deputy marshal tonight?

Until micah gets back.

Judge out there is preparing to send a boy to prison.

Micah has proof he's innocent.

Oh. Pa?

Have you ever seen corey do his circus act?

No, why?

The things he can do with that gun.

Go on.

I'm sorry it took me so long in comin' back, pa.

But I didn't forget about you, not for a second.

It just took me a while to search 'em out, that's all.

But I found 'em, pa.

I finally found 'em an' I killed 'em.

I killed some others, too. It just happened, pa.

I went searchin' for just them five but...

Things just happen.

Now they call me a fast gun, a killer, nobody askin' why.

Nobody.

An' no matter where I go, pa, there's always somebody waitin'

For me, waitin' to make me prove it.

An' that's all I do, pa, I just keep proving it an' proving it

An' proving it, an' I'm lonesome, pa!

Pa, pa, I'm lonesome.

I thought you were leavin' early for the county court.

I, uh, I changed my mind,

So you won't have to take over from me after all.

Because of tip corey?

Nils just told me.

Well, I'm certainly not gonna throw my badge in the street

So he can grind it into the dirt.

Micah, he was just blowin' off steam.

He stopped at my place. When he left, he was headed south.

South?

But there's nothin' beyond your place but high butte.

That's right. That's a 5-hour ride.

If he's comin' back this way, which I doubt,

He won't get here before midnight.

Micah, you've got plenty o' time

To get up to the county court an' back.

Also, what's more important?

A boy on his way to prison for somethin' he didn't do

Or... Standin' on your pride against a gunslinger?

If I hustle, I can be back by 10:00.

You know, lucas boy, pride is a funny thing.

It can get you into trouble dealin' with people,

But then without it,

It can get you into trouble dealin' with yourself.

Did you take any...Spare shells for that scatter-gun?

Oh, sure. I always carry an extra supply in my saddlebag.

Why do you ask?

Well, I didn't see you take any. Just wanted to remind you.

Have a good trip.

I'll tell mrs. Wingate to save some food for you.

Tell her I'll be back with a good appetite.

See you're wearin' the marshal's badge, mr. Mccain.

That's right.

You gonna be wearin' that badge at sundown?

You know what I told the marshal about that badge, don't you?

I know.

Well, if I were you, mr. Mccain,

I'd take that badge an' put it back where I got it from.

You don't happen to be me, corey.

Mr. Mccain!

Mccain, you got about an hour to think it over.

Whether you should die for a badge

That don't even belong to you.

You happen to have the same hour, corey.

I'll be movin' on, mccain, but when I do,

I'll be lookin' down at the dirt an' I'll be seein' that badge.

Now, whether it's pinned to your shirt or not

Is your choice to make. Not mine!

Mark, you go on back to the town house 'til I come for you.

Go on, son.

Who is it?

It's me, mr. Corey. Mark mccain.

Your pa send you to talk to me, boy?

No, sir.

Good.

I'd hate to change my opinion about 'im.

I just can't understand you, mr. Corey.

My pa is only a rancher. He never did anythin' to you.

I know he didn't.

Well, then why do you wanna fight 'im?

I don't. I like your pa, boy.

I like a man who stands up straight, says what he means.

It's that badge he's wearin', an' what it means to this town.

Doesn't seem like you'd wanna make a fool out of the town.

But... Well, that's what you'd be doing if-

If the marshal's badge was thrown in the dirt.

Boy, behind your ranch, on a hill, there's a graveyard.

In that graveyard, there's a cross up there

That has "unknown" written on it.

I know the one you mean.

Every so often I- I pass it an' I put some flowers on it.

You planted flowers on that grave?

Well, it's the only gravestone without a name on it.

I guess I've always... Felt kinda sorry for who...

Whoever's buried there.

My pa's buried there, boy.

He was killed right out here in the street...

By some drunken trail hands.

I'm sorry.

I was seven.

We rode into town an' we saw these drunken trail hands.

They were... Funnin' with a young indian girl.

Said to me, he said,

"boy, you go over to the marshal's office an' you...

You fetch 'im."

When I went over there... I got the marshal out, all right.

He took one look at what was going on,

And he turned around an'... Went right back into the office.

Them drunken trail hands... They killed 'im.

They knew there was nobody gonna stop them

From doing what they wanted to do, so they killed my pa.

But that was a long time ago.

An' if you're blamin' micah, well, he wasn't here.

An' my pa wasn't here, either.

But the law was here.

My pa believed in that law.

Because he believed, he died.

But I found them, boy, an' I killed them.

Now there's only one thing left.

The marshal's badge!

My pa will never throw that- that badge in the street.

He's got too much pride.

Please, mr. Corey, you- you're so good with that gun,

I don't want nothin' to happen to my pa.

Please!

You- you better go, boy.

Boy, thank you for plantin' the flowers on the grave.

They never took. I don't know why but... They just never grew.

Maybe they never grew because he wanted you to come back

An' plant some more.

Mr. Mccain, I don't think you can out-shoot me, do you?

I don't know, an' I'm not anxious to find out.

Why are you goin' up against me?

Because I don't believe in compromising principles.

I can't compromise principles, either.

I came in town for one thing, that badge you're wearin'.

One last bit of unfinished business.

I wonder about your principles, corey.

I think you came into to this town lookin' for an excuse

To kill, any excuse just to add another name to that long list.

No, you're wrong, mr. Mccain.

The trouble is that eventually that long list

Starts to ride with you.

Corey, I doubt that anyone asks to face your gun.

So it seems to me, when you use it,

It's your choice, not theirs.

Mr. Mccain, what does it mean to you?

I mean, throwin' that badge into the dirt, it's a symbol,

Pick it up when I'm gone.

But it's important to me, mr. Mccain,

Very, very important.

What have you got to lose?

You've got everythin' that I've ever wanted.

You've got a son, a home, friends.

All I've got is my reputation.

Mr. Mccain, let me leave this town

With what little I came in with.

I can't back down now, not if I wanna go on livin'.

I have to live with myself too, corey.

Mr. Mccain, I'm gonna go to the livery and... Get my horse.

I'm gonna come back out, I'm gonna call you outside.

Then I'm gonna have to kill you.

Marshal mccain, I'm waitin' for that badge you're wearin'!

Unpin it, mccain, unpin it an' let it drop on the dirt

Or so help me you'll drop with it still pinned to your shirt.

That's the only way you'll get it in the dirt, corey,

By droppin' me with it. But somebody else will pick it up.

That's the one thing you don't understand.

There'll always be somebody around

To pick up for what's right.

You mean somebody pickin' up that badge?

Mccain, you got a lot to learn about this world.

When this is all over an' you're lyin' in the dirt,

That tin star will be shinin' white hot.

It'll be much too hot for anybody to touch.

An' when you're lyin' there in the dirt, mccain,

I want you to look around, take one look,

An' you tell me who'll pick it up!

Nobody, mccain, not a soul.

Go ahead, mccain, go ahead an' ask 'em!

Ask 'em who'll pick up the badge!

I'll pick it up!

Maybe not right away, but someday, somewhere,

I'll- I'll pick it up an' I'll come after you.

Won't be for a long time yet, but someday...

Someday you're gonna see that badge again,

An' I'll be behind it.

So you just be ready, mr. Corey, you hear?

Cuz someday, somewhere-

Mark, stand back, son.

A long time ago, on this very spot, I-

I said words very much like that.

Corey: I'm callin' you, mccain.

Don't do it!

You were slow.

A man gets tired, mccain.

Flowers?

All right.

Pa!

Flowers?

I-I know what he meant, pa.

The flowers didn't die out, pa.

Maybe they'll keep on growin' this time.

I'm sure they will.

There's somethin' I sure don't understand.

Mr. Corey talked so nice sometimes, like...

Like he maybe liked everyone, like he wanted to make friends.

How come he only did things that didn't make him happy?

Sometimes a man comes to a fork in the road,

Stumbles over a little stone, gets himself mixed up

An' takes the wrong road.

Somebody once said, "there but for the grace of god go I."