Original subtitles

(moderate jazz)

- Rosie, we've struck it rich!

We struck it rich!

(man yelling)

Rosie?

What's the matter, Rosie?

Can't you hear me?

We struck it rich!

We're rich!

Poor life is over, Rosie!

Now it's over!

(man laughing)

We're rich, Rosie, we're rich!

What's the matter?

From now on you're gonna live on corn, bran.

I'll even buy you a mattress.

Let's see what we'd better do.

Better get lassoed, huh?

Come on, we're gonna get ready.

(Rosie baying)

What's the matter, Rosie?

Come on, we gotta get.

Look, I'll claim it in both our names,

Jack and Rosie McConkie.

Now come on.

You afraid I'm gonna get rid of you and buy a car?

And why would I do a foolish thing like that?

You and me is partners!

Now come on.

Rosie, I'm asking you nice.

Now come on.

(jaunty music)

Come on.

Why you stubborn mule!

Come on now!

- Nothin' but a bastard, floppy-eared mule,

that's all ya are!

I'm goin' to town by myself!

(moderate jazz)

Hey fella,

you wouldn't be figuring on going on back to town, would ya?

- Had enough prospecting?

- How do you get on this thing?

(jaunty music)

Prospectors, eh?

- Well we figured while we're out here

we'll just take a look.

- Gonna take a look, eh?

(Jack chuckling)

You know, the last five miles,

you fellas looked at a little gold outcropping,

some uranium, a little beryllium.

You looked at it but you never seen it.

You went right on!

Prospectors!

Why this country's full of prospectors.

They fly in here on Friday night

and fly back out again on Sunday,

go out and see their families.

- I told you not to fly too high

without the oxygen, captain.

The altitude has got one of our passengers.

(jaunty music)

- Prospectors!

How do you open this thing?

Boys, I don't want you to feel bad.

You've been about as near to finding the treasure

as you'll never know.

You've been sittin' right there in that car

with a million dollars.

Two, three, maybe five ain't too much to say.

I've struck it rich.

I've been out on the desert for 30 years,

just me and my burro.

Well I've hit it a small way a couple of times

but this time I really hit it.

Beryllium.

Brochantite.

Rare as a baby with whiskers.

Got the assay.

(Buz laughing)

- Two bits?

- You're on.

- Tails, he's a millionaire, and heads, he's crazy.

- And who's got what?

- You call it.

- You know there's a good possibility

he might be a crazy millionaire.

Heads.

(soft jazz)

- Harry'll be right back.

What do you drink?

- We can wait.

- [Woman] No trouble.

- [Buz] Beer.

- [Tod] The same.

- New in town?

- Are you the official census taker?

- Semiofficial.

You gonna make your fortune?

- How do you know we haven't made it already?

- That's one thing I can tell by just looking.

- One of us used to have money, which one?

- He did.

It's easy, he doesn't talk as much.

(chuckling)

Doesn't have to.

Maybe didn't use to have the.

Also he's smoother.

You're um....

(chuckling)

I'm giving you the whole book for nothing.

- You're writing a book?

- Living one.

- Oh?

- How about being in chapter 12?

(chuckling)

- Well, what comes before?

- We might get together, and, uh,

go over the synopsis.

- Tonight?

- Maybe.

- You don't even know where I live.

- It's a small town.

- Well I guess I'll see a movie or something.

- Lady?

What's his credit rating?

- He just found a million dollars.

If you happen to come looking for me,

just ask anybody for Wendy.

- Just like I told you.

The BU contents are 41%.

(Jack laughing)

Bartender?

Whiskey triple.

Give these fellers anything they want.

Been years since I've had a drink.

Ain't had nothin' to celebrate.

The last time I got drunk was up in Yellowstone.

Took seven hours to use up that (mumbles).

4,000 dollars.

It doesn't taste like I remember.

Hmm.

Hmm.

It'd be funny if I lose my taste for liquor.

Ain't that something?

What's the point of being rich

if you can't appreciate whisky?

That's terrible.

You fellers envy me, don't you?

- Just a little.

- Yeah.

If a man's going to be rich like I am,

he oughta have some preparation.

Learn him how to live rich.

I've been living out there in the desert

on burro and sowbelly.

I ain't had no trainin'.

You know this time I don't wanna get drunk

and throw it all way.

You know what I'm going to do?

Give you fellas 1,000 dollars

to drive me into Eureka tomorrow.

File my claim.

- You can buy your own cab for 1,000 dollars.

- Don't nobody understand anymore

the grand way we used to do things.

(jaunty music)

- Want your quarter back?

- Thanks.

- Hey, boys.

Come here.

I ain't gonna fool a couple young fellers like you.

Sure, sure I found that brochantite all right.

I got it hid away good.

Not even any monument set up on it.

Ain't nobody gonna find it.

You know anything about mining?

- [Buz] Well you get a shovel and you dig it out.

- Not this stuff.

It ain't like gold, you can't pan it.

Needs machinery.

Needs money, lots of money to make money.

I ain't got it to get it.

- Just walk into any bank.

- Oh sure, they give you a royalty.

Can you see any bank handing out five million dollars

in machinery to some old whiskered coot like me?

No.

And minin's big business these days.

Needs organization.

Takes a businessman.

Do I look like a businessman to ya?

- From riches to rags in one easy lesson, huh?

- That money's there all right, don't you worry.

Ain't nobody gonna find it.

Well, nice talkin' to you boys.

Guess I'd better get started.

I got a long walk ahead of me.

(instrumental music)

- Pop?

Why don't you stay in town tonight?

Well I,

well I don't sleep well away from home.

- Look, one ex-millionaire to another,

get yourself a bridal suite.

(moderate jazz)

- When we knock off work,

what do you say we do a little exploring, okay?

- Exploring or prospecting?

- What do you got against waking up a millionaire

tomorrow morning?

- Nothin'.

(instrumental music)

- You stay put.

- Mornin' Jack.

Got some good news for ya.

We've come to buy you out.

- You tell Durant I said he had enough holdings already.

- He says to tell you he won't take no for an answer, Jack.

- Well I ain't got anything for sale.

You go tell him he's wasting your time.

- Durant says to tell you he's making this offer blind.

- I shot my mouth off about that assay last night.

He ain't offerin' nothin' blind, Beau.

- Well you sign this quick claim, Jack,

and you've got yourself 5,000 dollars.

Cash.

- That's legal, ain't it?

5,000 dollars for somethin' that's worth millions.

- One dollar in valuable considerations

is all it takes to make it legal, Jack.

- And what are the valuable considerations?

- Your hide.

(suspenseful music)

- Look, we've got about 30 dollars we can invest.

- We might have, after we get paid.

- Well, why don't we buy a Geiger counter?

- You've really got the bug, haven't you?

- Yeah.

When I was a kid the orphanage took us to this museum.

They had a map there that showed

all the locations of the sunken treasure ships.

I never got that out of my head.

- You know, this isn't exactly ocean around here.

- Well it used to be the bottom of an ocean.

I can't get that out of my head, either.

(chuckling)

(suspenseful music)

(Jack groaning)

Let's take him to the infirmary, it's probably quicker.

- Okay.

(burro baying)

- All right, Nurse, dress him.

First we'll need x-rays,

but he has a concussion, maybe a fracture.

I think every rib on his left side's broken.

Is he kin?

- No, he's just a friend.

- Your friend may not live, mister.

- Boys?

Boys, come here.

Guess I got worked over.

Tried to thank you out there on the road.

Couldn't get the words to come out.

- Just take it easy, huh?

- Doc, come here.

You, Nurse.

I want you to listen.

I want you to listen good.

I, Jack McConkie,

of sound mind,

legal will,

askin' you to be witness.

If I don't make it,

I want you to give these two boys here

everything I own, have, or will have.

What's your name?

- Tod Stiles.

- Buz Murdock.

- That's the names.

If I don't make it,

you do as I say.

And live.

I'll take care of 'em.

Now you two get out.

I wanna say somethin' secret.

I can't see.

My eyes don't focus.

I can't see.

Well, come here, come close.

I want you to listen.

Please listen.

Listen real close.

(somber music)

- You know, if the old man dies--

- Look, Buz, I don't want him to die!

- Oh, come on.

- Well I dig that old guy.

I dig the toughness in him.

I like the way he stands up and lives

without asking for mercy or saying please or apologizing.

- Look, I didn't mean it that way.

- I guess the old guy got to me.

(soft music)

- Have you seen (mumbles) men?

- Down there!

(Beau whistling)

Hey!

Down below, down below!

Yes!

(suspenseful music)

(Beau speaking indistinctly)

- [Man With Documents] Ah, it's nice to meet you.

Sit down.

- How do you do?

- Hi.

- Now why don't you go and fix yourself a drink?

(soft music)

My wife, Wendy.

And this is?

- Buz Murdock.

This is my buddy, Tod Stiles.

- Hello.

- How do you do?

- May I fix you a drink?

- [Husband] We were talking business.

- Do we ever talk anything else?

- Are you on your way to the pool or just coming out?

- Oh, you've actually noticed what I'm wearing.

- What you're not wearing.

- Buz?

That's your name, isn't it?

- Yeah.

- Would you like to drive me into town?

- Babcock will drive you into town.

- I don't want Babcock, I want him.

How about it?

(Wendy chuckling)

I'll change first.

- Yeah, we can drive her into town.

- I didn't say "we," I said, "you in my car."

I suppose you're too busy?

- You know I have an early day with my tax lawyers.

- Yes, I know.

- I thought you were going to make yourself a drink?

Sit down.

Now, I want to do you boys a favor.

You're both fired.

No, I want to negotiate with you.

And you don't negotiate with employees, you tell them.

I understand that McConkie is pretty sick.

I also understand that you two are the inheritors.

Come on, it's my mine.

Why wouldn't I know what goes on in the infirmary?

I'd like to make a deal with you two boys,

either as McConkie's heirs or as his agents.

- What's the big hurry?

- Because business doesn't stand still.

What's the assay?

Brochantite I know.

What percentage berylium oxide?

- 41.

- Pegmatite?

- Mmm hmm, with beryl.

- No claim has been filed, I checked.

That means it's wide open for anybody to find.

I may get the news first but I don't get it exclusively.

- What's the deal?

- I'd put up all the necessary cash for further exploration.

If the vein goes hungry, we're all even.

If it's rich, 75%.

- For our side?

- For me.

(Buz chuckles)

- Does he have the money to mine it?

Are you ready to put up the necessary capital?

Sure I'm taking a big bite, why not?

Money is a tool.

What you pay for a steam shovel or a power drill,

well you pay for money, too.

- Thanks for the course in the economics.

- Yeah, you're only the first bidder

and I think if you'll give us 25%

we can probably find somebody to give us 50%.

- Remember, you're under pressure of time.

I can make a deal with anybody who stakes that claim.

35%.

Well, sleep on it.

- I thought you were taking me into town?

(soft music)

- [Buz] See you later?

- Don't wait up, Fred.

- She's a rough lady, your wife.

- Well that's the way you like 'em, isn't it, Beau?

Now let's have a little talk about strategy and tactics

and how you loused up on McConkie this morning.

(soft music)

- Do you know from here you can look out

five miles over the Colorado Plateau?

Do you like looking that far ahead?

- Not much point to it, is there?

I mean, things change right under your eyes.

Like for example, you meet somebody in a bar

and they give you go-ahead signals that mean green light,

only you weren't wearing that ring in the bar.

- You don't go out with married women, is that it?

- That makes me a square, huh?

- It might make you very nice.

I put it on and off depending on the mood I'm in.

Right now the mood is on.

- What's my part in this game?

To talk it off?

"My husband's a very nice guy

"but he just doesn't understand me."

Unquote.

- There's a trick you can play here.

You stand right on the edge

and you hold onto me, or I hold onto you,

and you look up at the sky

and very slowly bring your eyes down, down, down,

till you're looking right into the gorge.

And just at that moment you'll feel that you're falling off,

and you will if someone isn't holding onto you.

You want to try it?

(soft music)

- Sure.

(Wendy laughing)

- Don't worry, I haven't pushed anybody off

if more than a month.

Come on.

Now look up.

(Buz sighs)

That's something you can't do alone.

Didn't you feel that you were going right over the edge?

(soft music)

- Why don't you bring your husband out here?

He might appreciate the view.

- I brought him up here once.

He stood just about where you're standing

and he looked out

and his eyes were shining,

and I thought

there is poetry in him.

Then he said, "What fantastic country this is.

"Uranium, gold, beryllium."

In this country, a man who dreams of being a millionaire

is just a piker.

He understands me.

He looks at a rock and then he looks at me and he says,

"Honey, I'm busy.

"Why don't you go and amuse yourself?"

And I do.

- Well if you don't get along with him,

why don't you leave him?

Does the fact that he's worth seven million dollars

mean he's worth holding onto?

- Oh, the millions impress you, too?

Well I'll tell you something, the money isn't worth it.

- You say that too easy.

I bet you never missed a meal in your life.

- Oh, I'll match you any day.

- Yeah?

- Fred and I were married a long time before he got rich.

At night I used to work as a waitress in the bar.

And during the daytime I had a job.

I wouldn't even spend money on food

because Fred needed it for his equipment.

And whenever I got a free meal, I'd give it to Fred.

You use up a lot of calories

walking around that desert floor.

Millions!

- The old man's not so good, huh?

Come on, get in.

- I think maybe I'd better stay around.

- Well you can pray just as well on the move.

- What's up?

- I'll tell ya, get in.

(suspenseful music)

- Mel?

- [Mel] Yes, ma'am?

- I want a pickup truck for those boys,

fully equipped for desert work.

Water tank, heavy-duty generator, extra battery.

The works.

- [Mel] I'm sorry, Mrs. Durant,

I can't do that without a signed requisition.

- And I want a baerylometer on that pickup when it rolls.

- [Mel] Mrs. Durant, I can't do that.

- You go get Beau Babcock down here

and tell him I'm waiting.

I want him right now.

- Yes, ma'am.

- Sign us out, will you, Beau?

- This is private property and you're trespassing.

Get off.

- Better be careful, these are my guests.

- You've got just about 30 seconds.

- Didn't you hear the lady?

- I run these works, honey.

If I say off to Durant himself, he moves.

(mumbles), move!

(instrumental music)

- You know how to work this?

- Yeah, I guess so.

- Take it easy, it's radioactive!

It isn't a Geiger counter, so be careful.

Try it.

Swing it away from you.

Hold it out front.

Hold it.

Keep it close to the ground.

As close as three inches.

And keep it straight.

It's so radioactive,

you'll lose your feet if you're not careful.

(soft jazz)

Put your hand there.

That's the spirit.

You're my best pupil.

Now this is where we turn it on,

and if it starts ticking,

you're in.

Not a very pleasant thing to carry around

but handy if you need it.

Now you wear that as my talisman.

Bye.

Good luck.

- [Buz] Thanks.

- Well now all we have to do is find a beryl mine.

I marked the landmarks Mr. McConkie told us about

on this map.

Now here's Molly's Hills.

Molly's Hills.

And here's the road he was telling us about, I think.

And here's where it intersects the dry river bed.

(suspenseful music)

- And another thing, what were you trying to pull

with those kids down at the mine?

- You had McConkie beaten up to a point

where he couldn't talk to you if he wanted to.

- Wendy,

Wendy, can't you understand the tax mess I'm in?

The government has disallowed

a million and a half in deductions.

I need that mine.

- You never think of anything else, do you?

Look, if McConkie hadn't met those boys

you wouldn't have a prayer of finding that mine.

After they talk to you, you give them a deal,

you give them 25%, and just push them right out of here.

- I came up to 35.

- Oh, you need that mine even if you have to give them 80%!

I'll tell you what I did, I grubstaked them,

and they're out there right now

looking for McConkie's claim,

and when find it, do you know who they're going to tell?

Me!

(suspenseful music)

(door closing)

(soft music)

- I'm beginning to wonder if there really is a claim,

and if there, where is it and will the Bobbsy Twins find it?

- What do you expect, the stuff just to be laying around

on top of the ground so anybody can come along

and pick it up?

You know, if it was as easy as that,

the country'd be full of millionaires!

- You're overheated, you need a drink.

(suspenseful music)

Take a look.

Top of that plateau on the right.

See it that time?

- [Tod] Mmm hmm.

- What do you think it is?

- Might be a rifle barrel.

- If there were a road up there

I might think it was a hubcap or flash over the windshield.

- You know, it just could be

a pair of high-powered binoculars.

- Ah, Big Brother's watching us, huh?

- Maybe the same somebody who beat up Mr. McConkie.

- They think we'll lead 'em to the claim.

- Why should we disappoint 'em?

- That's an idea.

What do we do next?

- When we stand up,

you better hand me that copy of the claim.

- Right.

- That oughta do it.

Watch yourself, Murdock.

- [Buz] Watch out, huh?

- You can go now, sonny.

- You got it wrong, "sonny."

You're the one that's going home.

- Get off our land.

(Buz chuckling)

- I think we went through this once before, didn't we?

- The last warning, sonny.

- Look, this is our claim.

I don't care how you cut it up.

You're late.

My buddy's on his way to file this claim.

- Yeah.

Yeah, we saw him go.

He's as good a messenger as anybody.

You still don't get it, do you, sonny?

You went out on our time, in a company truck,

using the company's berylometer.

Anything you find belongs to us.

Go ahead, boys.

- Now go chase yourselves!

(suspenseful music)

- Didn't read that contractor's sign

when you went to work for us, did ya?

Any minerals you discover during working hours

belongs to the company.

- Your boss fired me.

- That so?

That's not what my hiring records show, sonny.

- Go on, move.

Move!

All right, all right!

- Now, let's take a reading and see what we got.

Well?

- Nothing.

- Here, test that.

(machine buzzing)

Turn it off.

Stake him.

(suspenseful music)

Now, I'll tell you what I'm going to do.

I'm going to put the berylometer over your head.

A few minutes of radioactivity and your brains will fry.

In a week or so you'll start to die, real slow.

(Buz grunting)

You know, money isn't going to do you any good

if you don't live to enjoy it.

Now, I'm asking you for the last time, sonny.

(engine rumbling)

(suspenseful music)

(men grunting)

- Tod, Tod!

Tod!

Tod!

(soft music)

(horn honking)

We brought back some of your personal property.

- [Tod] Door-to-door delivery.

- We oughta work you over

the way you had McConkie worked over.

If he lives he'll handle you in his own way

and if he dies you're up for murder

with these three slobs.

- You took us in, Mrs. Durant.

When you grubstaked us I thought you were a nice lady.

You gave us the company truck and the company berylometer.

But I'm gonna tell you something, you're not gonna be able

to make that employment contract stick.

- I didn't do that.

(birds chirping)

Tell them, Fred, I didn't do that.

- Wait a minute.

Now wait a minute, I still wanna make a deal with ya.

50/50 hard and fast, I'll take--

- [Tod] I just explained it to you,

we're gonna find that claim without your equipment or you.

- Why don't you guys get wise?

Let me tell you something about the world you live in,

it's dog-eat-dog, it's man-explode-man.

Everything is about to--

- Why don't you go bury yourself?

(instrumental music)

- How ya feelin'?

- Oh, oh!

(Jack chuckling)

Well, feelin' pretty good.

Reckon' I'm gonna get well!

- Rosie sends her regards.

She'd rather be here with you

but the livery stable where she's staying?

Pretty good bag of oats.

(Jack chuckling)

- There's more good news, too.

We found your claim.

- The monuments are set and we filed a claim in Eureka.

Sound and legal.

- My name's on there!

- That's right.

- You could have taken it.

Nobody to stop you.

Perfectly legal, nothing I could do.

- Well, I'll tell ya, Mr. McConkie.

I've got a bill for services rendered.

You owe us 1,000 dollars.

Oh, put our names right there,

so when you get the money, you send it.

- You sure you trust me?

- Well, I don't think 1,000 dollars is too much to ask.

Well, get well.

(soft music)

(door closing)

- You know what, I don't mind 1,000 boy.

I'll pay it if I can.

I had a feeling of friendship.

Kind of a shock to see it's just business cut and dry.

- Well, Mr. McConkie, we probably won't see you again.

Good luck, huh?

You know, sometimes I just don't understand you.

- What do you want?

You wanna let him get all soft inside with feeling for us?

Then he gets suckered into giving us half the money

he worked his whole life for?

- You could have said no in a nice way.

- I would have said yes.

(birds chirping)

- You saw old Jack?

There's something I'm anxious to tell you.

It's off.

It's off forever.

Next time it'll stay on forever.

Buy me a drink?

Take me with you.

I've already bought my ticket.

I'm going to stay with a girlfriend in Denver

till I get a job.

That's my plan.

You can change it.

I'm ready and you're not.

I hope you find what you're looking for.

- We're leaving town.

- Good luck.

Go.

(birds chirping)

- Know what?

I got that restless feeling.

Let's just go.

(soft music)

(moderate jazz)

- [Announcer] This has been a Screen Gems Film Presentation

from Columbia Pictures,

Herbert B. Leonard, Executive Producer.