Original subtitles

Don't you ever give up, Sontag?

If I'd had some help...

I'd of made it this time.

- No guts. - Guts enough.

I just got more brains than to try and escape

with such little time to do.

They work you over?

I don't wanna die in here.

And I got me something on the outside that needs doing.

I ain't gonna help you break out. It ain't worth it.

Not that.

Look... Phoenix...

if I don't get out of here...

I got me a lot of money.

And some of that can be yours.

- Where? - Outside. Hidden.

How much and what?

The how much... is $2,000.

Thousand?

And the what...

is kill a man.

Who is he? Why do you want him killed?

Man's name is Jess Hume.

Last I heard he was living somewhere around Dodge City.

No thanks.

Oh, look, boy, there's nothing to it.

A bullet in the back.

A knife in the throat.

A nudge off a cliff. There are lots of ways.

Probably only take a couple of seconds.

And you're gonna be $2,000 richer.

I don't think so.

Well, you don't do it, I'll just get me somebody else who will.

You just think about it, boy.

$2,000 in brand-new gold double eagles.

I'll tell you how we'll work it.

You kill him.

When that's done, you send me a letter.

You put one of those gold double eagles in it so that I know he's dead.

I could just take the money.

No, you won't.

You're not like that, boy.

I ain't said I'd do it.

Well, you suit yourself!

But the way you are now, you're gonna scratch

and you're gonna scrape outside until you find yourself

coming right back here to this stinking hole for the rest of your life!

But with that money...

women, clothes,

a real farm with decent crops and cattle.

A chance for a whole new life.

You just think about that, boy.

Just you think about that.

You're just too blamed ornery to answer a serious question.

Well, I've answered a serious question as serious as I can.

I tell ya, it takes... well, it takes eight years for the average doctor.

Now, if I was to take myself a good notion,

I could do some of the things you do.

The pulling a hind tooth

or putting a little old dab of turpentine on a raw corn...

Stuff like that, well, there ain't nothing to that.

What about surgery, Festus?

It's pretty complicated business being a surgeon.

Well, I don't wanna be no surgeon.

Of course not. He don't even know what it means.

That there's why I don't wanna be one.

What we're talking about, Miss Kitty,

is a plain old doctor, like old Doc here.

There ain't nobody plainer than him.

Of course not. There ain't anybody plainer than old Doc.

And it just took me eight years, that's all.

Now, you trying to tell me

if I was to start right this here minute,

- that it would take me eight years? - That's right.

I'm trying to tell you that if you was to start

right this here minute,

it would take you eight years...

to learn how to read the eye chart!

So blamed sour today,

he'd pickle a peach orchard.

Newly: Double eagle. Don't see many of those.

You handle that pretty well.

Yeah, well enough.

You been in here before? You look kinda familiar.

Well, I used to work in a Wild West show until it folded.

Ah.

- Couple of boxes of cartridges, too. - You bet.

Say, maybe you might know about this friend I've been wanting to look up.

Last I heard he figured to settle down here in Dodge.

- What's his name? - Jess Hume.

Yeah, he lives out of town a couple of miles east.

Got himself a few acres of bottomland and a house.

There's an arrow at the crossroad. You can't miss it.

- Thanks. Be seeing you. - You bet.

Can I help you carry those, ma'am?

Oh, I didn't see you.

Well, I didn't mean to scare you.

This the Hume place?

Yes.

Are you a friend of my husband's?

Well, I ain't sure.

I thought the only Hume I knew wasn't married.

Thanks.

In the trough.

Cheyenne say that water sleeps sometimes, you know that?

No, I didn't.

Yeah, they say a horse will die if he drinks sleeping water.

That's why a horse will always blow before he drinks at night,

to wake up the water.

You know quite a bit about Indians.

Oh, about enough to cure warts and keep my scalp where it is.

Thanks.

Jess should be home soon. He's hunting.

- You been married long? - No, not long.

It appears you could use an extra hand around here.

I suppose we could, but affording one is something else.

I work mighty cheap.

Not cheap enough for us, I'm afraid.

Day's work for an evening's meal.

That sounds more than fair, Mr...

The name's Phoenix.

Phoenix. That a first or a last name?

Well, it's the only name I got.

I was an orphan raised by the barber in Phoenix, Arizona.

Phoenix is a bird that rose up out of its own ashes to start a new life.

Is that you?

Well, I guess so.

I am sort of on a road back, so to speak.

You know, it's funny.

I know about the Phoenix 'cause it's my name.

But how do you?

You mean a woman isn't supposed to know about mythology?

I ain't met one yet.

But then, on the other hand, I ain't met that many ladies in my life neither.

I'm Kate Hume.

Well, can I go to work?

Well, Jess started splitting the winter supply of wood,

but along with everything else,

I don't think he's quite gonna make it.

A wedge might make a bit of a dent in it.

There's one in the barn.

And there's an axe right there.

You shouldn't use an axe for a hammer.

Sledge would do a lot better job.

Well, there's a sledge in the barn, too.

All right.

Oh, Newly, what's up?

Marshal, this fella just come into town

and bought himself a new horse, clothes, and a gun.

And I thought he looked kinda familiar so I checked out these posters

and, well, this is him here... Armed robbery Kansas City.

Where is he now?

Well, he said he's an old friend of Jess Hume's.

I gave him directions and sent him over there.

Better go and check up on him.

- Yeah. - Thanks.

- Brought you some water. - Thank you.

This wood's seasoned pretty good. Shouldn't take long.

You must've been a woodsman.

I've been a lot of things.

Jess is a good man, but he doesn't know much about homesteading.

Well, it's good land.

Should raise a fine harvest if it's tended proper.

You a farmer, too?

Yes, ma'am.

Well, for a while in New Mexico.

Rock and alkali,

but I managed to raise a pretty good crop

until the drought came along to wipe me out.

Jess has tried so hard.

It just takes so much you don't learn being a lawman.

A lawman?

He was sheriff of Abilene County for 25 years.

- Your name Phoenix? - That's right.

Got a poster in my office says you're a wanted man.

Well, it must be an old one.

I served my time.

Can you prove it?

Got a paper.

Well, they're supposed to call those posters in when a man's released.

I guess they forgot.

Yeah, I know.

They're quick enough to pass your picture around when you're wanted,

but nobody burns them once you paid your debt.

Well, I'll burn the one I got and I'll tell everybody you're clean.

Thanks, Marshal.

I aim to let the past stay where it is, start a new life.

Sounds good.

Anything I can do for you, let me know.

- Well, there's one thing. - What's that?

The people here, the Humes,

do you have to let them know about me?

Well, they got a right to know.

Well, I know that even though I ain't wanted no more,

the fact that I'm an ex-convict

might make them feel not quite so friendly toward me.

It's what you do from here on that counts.

Kate: Hello, Matt.

Hello, Kate.

- How are things? - We're fine.

Is there anything wrong?

He found out I was in prison.

Came to check me out.

- In prison? - He served his time, Kate.

All I want's a chance to make a new life.

Well, that's your right, Phoenix. Your slate's clean.

- Where's Jess? - He's hunting.

He should be back anytime.

Well, I can't wait,

but you tell him I still want him to give up this place

and come to work for me.

I'll tell him, but you know how he is. He's as stubborn as a mule.

I don't suppose it's any of my business...

Man gets lonely...

he ain't too careful about the company he keeps.

I reckon by the time I figured that out it was too late.

What happened?

They talked me into standing look out

while they went into a little bank in Kansas City.

They never came out of that bank alive.

I was still standing there holding the horses when it was all over.

Well, I... I couldn't have moved anyway,

even if they hadn't come out and put the handcuffs on me.

Just stood there...

listened to the gunfire from inside.

Looking at the bodies lying dead in the doorway.

It's quite a story, mister.

You have to pardon me if I say it's not the first time I've heard it.

It's the Gospel truth.

Well...

I reckon I run into too many fellas that was just holding the horses.

But it don't much matter.

You've paid your debt.

I'm afraid there's a part of Jess that's just never stopped being a lawman.

Whatever you did is past and gone.

I like to think of it that way.

That's what prisons are for...

Make a man cherish his freedom.

Sometimes freedom can be a prison.

It's a hard life.

You can cut something out of it if you put your mind to it.

It's just a matter of finishing what you start.

Well, I reckon that's been my trouble all along.

Thanks for dinner. I think I'll turn in now.

- Good night. - Good night.

Good night.

Thank you, Jess.

For what?

For helping him to start out on the right road.

He helped us.

He could go on helping us.

Kate, we can't afford a hired hand.

Matt Dillon's right, Jess.

We can't make it by ourselves.

We've got to.

There isn't any other way.

You refuse to see any other way.

Matt's tried to make you understand.

Kate, I don't want to talk about it anymore.

- It's through. Finished. - Jess.

Kate, I was one kind of a lawman.

I can't be any other.

Thought you might need these.

Thank you.

Where will you go?

New Orleans maybe.

Soak up some of that good life.

I'm sorry you can't stay.

So am I.

- Good night. - Good night.

Morning.

Good morning. Did I wake you up?

I've been meaning to get this roof done for some time now.

How 'bout some help?

I thought you were leaving this morning.

Well, I ain't got no place to go in no hurry.

Another day don't matter much.

Can't pay you.

I didn't ask.

Kinda hard pounding nails with one hand, ain't it?

Yeah.

Maybe you could hand them shingles to me. That would help.

Thanks.

Kate tells me you was raised by a barber in Phoenix.

Name of Horace by any chance?

Yeah. Horace Cabe.

Picked me up for a pint of whiskey in a mining camp.

He's a good man.

I used to get a shave in his place every time I came into town.

That a fact?

Well, I probably cleaned up after you.

Used to sweep up hair

and listen to them cattlemen come in and tell their tall tales...

Make my own hair stand on end.

Kate: Good morning.

I got some coffee if you want it.

Eh, maybe Phoenix could use some.

I gotta rive some more shingles for this roof.

It's gonna be kinda messy, ain't it?

I mean, mixing store-bought shingles with hand cuts, they won't fit right.

Well, I got no choice.

I'm fresh out of cash and I don't like promise-buying.

- Promise-buying? - Yeah.

Promise to pay when and if I can.

- Here. - Thank you.

I'm just helping him fix the roof before I leave.

He may not say it, but he's grateful.

So am I.

You know, sitting up here

reminds me of a game I used to play when I was a kid.

What?

King of the Mountain. Do you know it?

Sounds like a boys' game.

Well, it was.

The idea was you sat on the mountain as long as you could

and the other kids came along and tried to push you off.

I'm afraid the closest I ever got to that kind of game was Snap.

- Did you every play Snap? - I sure did.

One time at the only party I ever went to, back home.

You snap your fingers at a girl and she chased you all around the room.

Those were good times.

Happy times.

Plenty of good food and a warm bed and nothing to worry about

but playing games and doing your homework.

What came along to change it?

I got older.

We all do.

Well, that ain't what I mean.

I mean, you're pretty and you're smart.

You oughta have a big house full of kids by now,

and driving around a fancy carriage.

Makes you think I'd fit in to that kind of life?

I don't know. Just something about you I guess.

Say, you never did tell me how you know about the phoenix.

Well, it's just something I picked up.

Well, I've seen all them books in the house.

- They all yours? - My father's.

He liked me to read to him

and I used to read about all sorts of things.

Couldn't he read to himself?

He got a bone disease, put him to bed.

Couldn't turn the pages.

How long?

How long what?

How long did you read to him?

- I don't know what you mean. - Sure you do.

I mean, how many years did you read to him?

One year, five years, ten, what?

I was 17 when he took to his bed,

and I was 26 when he died.

It was Jess Hume that kept us both alive.

Well, it appears it was a real good investment.

Wait a minute.

I'm sorry.

I had no call to say what I did. No call at all.

Jess is one of the finest men I've ever met.

He's decent, he's brave, and he's kind.

Is that why you married him?

I married him because I love him.

And just so you'll know, Mr. Phoenix,

I asked him.

How come you go on living out here letting this place go down

when you could move into town?

I keep it up good enough for us.

Being and ex-lawman,

seems like you'd get a job somewhere.

Pride what's doing it? Keeping you away from people?

Give a fella a free meal,

takes all kinds of liberties, don't he?

So I'm nosey.

You getting tired yet?

Not a bit.

I can go on as long as you can.

Lawman that can't shoot

is worth about as much as barn with a hole in the roof.

How'd it happen?

Gun fight?

No.

Got drunk one night and a horse stepped on my hand.

All right. No more questions.

You look...

like you're wearing out some, boy.

That so?

I was just thinking we make a pretty good team.

We can... we can quit any time you say.

You know...

for a man with only one good hand...

you sure got a lot of strength.

Well, you lose one...

the other one gets stronger.

Didn't you never hear that, boy?

I wished I had.

Oh, boy... Oh!

Oh, boy.

Oh, that last one...

Good one. Oh!

You're all right. You're all right.

Let's get something to eat.

I'm so hungry I could eat a bear with the hair on it.

Mrs. Hume said she was gonna bring the lunch up here.

Good.

Let's wash up first.

All right.

Phoenix!

Help him!

You saved him.

You saved his life.

Yeah, that's what I did, all right.

Ain't that something?

Want something to eat, Sontag?

Did it come?

You better take this, or I'm gonna pour it out.

If it come and you're not giving it to me...

What you gonna do, Sontag?

Beat me up?

Besides, who'd you know could write anyway?

I got me a letter coming,

Fraker, and you better give it to me.

I got it.

Right here in my shirt.

Only you ain't getting it.

Eh... now, you want it?

Sontag, come wrestle me for it.

I want my letter! Where is it?!

I ain't got it, Sontag. I was just fooling you.

Honest, I ain't got it.

You're leaving, aren't you?

That's right.

Came in for some biscuits.

Help yourself.

Thought you might stay a while.

Jess and I sure like having you around.

You're a big help and all.

Phoenix: Well, you're just gonna have to get somebody else to help you out.

Where will you go?

Somewhere. Anywhere.

What's the difference?

Makes a difference to us.

Look, I saved his life! What more do you want of me?!

I don't understand why you're yelling

or why you're going or anything.

You don't wanna know.

Yes, I do.

Because I came here to kill Jess, that's why.

To kill him stone-cold dead.

I don't understand.

Understanding words should be easy for a book-reader.

All that talk about my being on the way to New Orleans

and working for my lodging,

it was just leading you on so I'd get a chance to murder him.

I'm a hired killer, Mrs. Hume.

I was hired to kill your husband for money.

I am so damn spineless, I couldn't do it.

Who hired you to kill Jess?

What's the difference? Man with money.

Why did he want Jess dead so badly?

I don't know.

I didn't ask and I didn't care.

I thought it'd be easier if I didn't know anything about him.

Maybe you'd have been better off if I had let him drown.

You could get out of here.

You could've come to New Orleans with me.

You must've wanted that money very much.

I figured it was a chance for a new life.

Things I thought I'd never have without it.

But I just couldn't do it.

Maybe now you know something about yourself you didn't know before.

If that means being a born sucker, you're right.

I think you're something far more than that.

I don't know what I am.

Well...

maybe you'll find out in New Orleans.

It's as good a place as any to start a new life.

What about you?

We'll find a way.

Good-bye, Kate.

Howdy.

Your name Phoenix, is it?

That's right.

Festus Haggen. I'm the deputy marshal.

I reckon he didn't burn my picture.

Oh, if you're meaning Marshal Dillon, he sure did burn it.

Now, I ain't gonna bother you none.

I'm just fixin' to ask you a couple questions.

Like what?

Well, you... you was in Leavenworth, wasn't you?

That's right.

Now I just got word that a feller escaped from up yonder.

I thought maybe you might've run across him.

- What's his name? - Sontag.

John Sontag.

You know him, did you?

No.

You're sure?

I'm sure.

Jess, don't.

- You need to rest. - I'm all right.

You're not. You took a bad fall.

Now don't mother me, Kate.

All right.

I'm sorry.

About a lot of things.

So am I.

I love you.

I know.

You're... you're alive.

You're still alive.

Oh, I prayed you would be.

I didn't think there'd be any hope after this much time.

What do you want, Sontag?

Sontag... That's me, ma'am.

Late of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

You're the one hired that boy to kill me.

Where is he?

He's gone.

But he's coming back.

Well, it'll be too late for him to earn his money, ma'am.

You see, I prayed that he didn't have the guts to do it.

So I could finish the job myself.

You got a shovel, Hume, or can't you afford one?

Not as poor off as I figured.

Dig.

- Why? - Do you dig or does she?

Let her go, Sontag.

She doesn't have anything to do with this.

Dig! Or I'll kill her.

What's the matter, Sheriff?

- My head. - Does it hurt?

A little.

You don't know what pain is.

Yet.

You're sick.

You stop digging one more time...

and I'll cover you up alive.

That's enough.

- Sontag... - You shut up.

You're dying.

- No. - You've known it all along.

That's why you broke out.

You wanted to get to me before it happened.

That's it, isn't it?

'Cause of my slugs in ya? Is that what's killing you?

Slow death.

Your lead eating away at my...

vital organs until I drop.

Sontag!

Sontag?

Phoenix saved my life.

For the second time.

You knew him before at Leavenworth, didn't you?

Yeah.

He paid me to come here and kill Hume.

Guess that means I can't keep the money.

Matt...

it doesn't matter now why he came here.

Well, like you said, Matt, all that matters is what he did here.

You gonna be moving on?

Reckon so.

Well, I still say you don't belong out here.

I'm afraid I'm just not cut out for big houses and fancy carriages.

Maybe.

Well, I've said good-bye once.

Good-bye again.

Good-bye.

You, uh, you are gonna keep riding, aren't you?

Yeah, I guess I learned

there's no future in trying to take something that doesn't belong to you.

No matter how much you want it.

- Good luck to you. - Thanks, Marshal.