Original subtitles

Who's there?

Who's there?

Oh Festus, how are you?

So nice to see you, thank you.

Oh, Doc Adams, how good to see you.

Cora, thank you.

Cora there's something I must tell ya.

Renegade Comanches have been rampaging all over Kansas

and while your father was away they raided your place.

Cora, your mother's dead.

Oh, my God.

Pa!

Hiya!

Hold fire, no fire, no firing!

C'mon, give it up there.

Give it up there.

Renegades.

Probably split off from the main raiding party.

Captain, look at this.

I don't reckon they made this on no reservation.

This watch is from Dodge, belongs to Bear Sanderson.

I want them men.

They're goin' to jail, Bear.

They don't need jailin', they need killin'.

That'll be decided by a court of law,

there's gonna be no killin' here.

I'm sayin' the killin's been on the wrong side

and I'm gonna change it now.

Hold it right there.

These men are gonna be tried in a court of law

and if they're found guilty they'll hang.

In the meantime, nobody takes justice into his own hands.

Not you or anybody else.

That's the way it's been around this town,

that's the way it's gonna be.

Now stay outta the way.

Now listen to me!

Those murdering savages killed my wife

and I'm gonna see 'em burn in Hell for it!

Any man that ain't with me is against me!

We're with you Bear, we're on your side!

You would ask me, let me understand, to take a case

that no other lawyer will touch, forgive me,

in order intentionally to lose it.

It's not question of that.

I'm truly afraid of what my father might do

if you don't help me.

I sympathize with you, believe me I do

Well then please, will you take the case?

I'll see that you're paid very handsome

Miss Sanderson, it is not a question of money.

I cannot take the case.

Why?

Because it would not be fair.

Not to the men on trial and not to you

because you see, if I take a case I take it to win.

And those are the reasons you choose to give?

They are real and legitimate.

No, I'm sorry, they're false.

I think I'm beginning to understand you, Mr. Wolfe.

You are one of those very practical men

who is so indifferent to justice

that he won't take the time and trouble to see it done.

Goodnight, sir.

I want the ones that done it.

I want 'em and I'll have 'em.

Papa, listen to me, please.

If you try and deal with these men the way you want to

it won't work and you'll only destroy yourself.

You think I care what happens to me now?

What about me, papa?

Do you care what happens to me?

We want those Indians, Dillon!

- Yeah! - Come on, Send 'em out Dillon!

- We'll come in and get 'em! - Send 'em out!

Kill 'em!

Listen to me, those Indians are in jail,

that's where they're gonna stay,

nobody's gettin' 'em out.

Then we'll come in and get 'em.

That's far enough! Back off.

Break it up.

Back off all of you, before somebody gets blowed in two.

I came here to ask your help.

Now if you want to you could cool that town off right now.

If you don't you can blow the lid off it.

It's up to you.

Talk to me, mister.

Bear, if you come to Dodge on the prod

and you try to face me down, I'm gonna have to kill ya.

Come down to that, has it?

It's gone as far as it can go.

Marshal, you have prevailed on me to take the case

and I must warn you, I will fight it with all my skill,

which is considerable.

And how do you suppose your good public will react, sir,

when they discover, as they will,

that the man who represents your renegades

is himself a half-blooded Cherokee.

- There's one thing, Mr. Wolfe. - Yes?

Well, you and I both know you don't have much of a chance.

But there's one piece of evidence

that everybody seems to have missed.

I wanna make sure you don't.

I intend to prove beyond all possible doubt

that these men are not guilty.

Order!

Order!

And ladies and gentleman,

it is my painful duty to show as well

that this whole indictment is the kind of conveniently

and irresponsibly trumped up slander

which would never have come to trial

if the two defendants had been white men instead of Indians!

Order!

Order! Order!

Order!

Order!

Order, we will have order in this courtroom.

This court stands adjourned until tomorrow.

We could take care of that judge too.

Well you could be in quite a bit of danger

after this morning, Mr. Wolfe.

I'm gonna have to ask your cooperation in a few things.

Of course, Marshal.

I'd like you to take your meals in your room

and confine yourself there when you're not in court.

I'm also gonna have a guard take you back and forth

and he'll be outside your room at all times.

I appreciate your concern, Marshal,

but I am able to defend myself.

Against a man who doesn't care whether he lives or dies?

You're talking about Mr. Sanderson.

I am.

Mr. Wolfe.

Come in.

Miss Sanderson's here to see you.

Miss Sanderson?

Please forgive me for coming here to see you,

there didn't seem to be any other way.

Of course.

Of course, I'd hope to see you again to talk with you.

Really?

I would've thought otherwise.

You're angry.

Does that surprise you?

No.

No, I suppose it shouldn't.

Did you think that by trying to save the men

who murdered my mother you would win

my undying gratitude, Mr. Wolfe?

I didn't come here to talk about myself,

I came here to talk about you.

You see, I understand you now.

Am I so complicated, Miss Cora?

When I first came to you and you refused me,

you concealed the fact that you were yourself an Indian

and afraid to risk involvement.

Fear for myself had nothing to do with my position. I assure you.

You needn't justify it to me, Mr. Wolfe.

You refused me, shamed me for having asked

and then, as if to spite me, perversely took the case.

And I know why.

Perhaps you'd better tell me.

Because your own vindictive prejudice overcame your fear.

I've seen you in court, Mr. Wolfe,

I know how you feel about us.

You intend to destroy my father

because he's symbol of our domination over your race.

And you count on the law to protect you.

You poor, uncomprehending, miserable woman.

Are you really so corrupt as to think that I would

take the case of men such as these

if I didn't believe them to be innocent?

I am not so shallow as to be affected by anything you say.

You think it matters to me

what affects you and what doesn't?

What is sad is that a woman of your beauty and intelligence

has become so used to judging others

by the narrow likes of bias and prejudice

that she is unable to recognize idealism.

How can you talk about idealism?

Don't you see that I refused at first

because I knew that I might jeopardize

whatever chances they had for a fair trial?

I felt it altogether possible

that I might ensure their conviction.

I came in when I realized there was no ethical alternative.

These men mean so much to you?

Justice means so much to me!

Is that so hard for you to understand?

You made me a shameful offer and surely you know it.

My taking the case had nothing to do with fear

or money or your father, as man's symbol, or anything else.

I took the case when I realized

it was ethically impossible not to take it.

Justice in my life is everything, Miss Cora.

When you understand that, you will understand me.

Goodnight.

And in your opinion, the ponies with which

the defendants were captured had never been shod?

Not the ones I looked at, they hadn't.

Objection, Your Honor.

Counsel's argument is proving nothing.

We all know that the tracks found on the Sanderson's place

where those of shod horses.

But they might have changed horses

once they left the premises.

Might, indeed, Your Honor.

Why from shod to unshod?

Overruled.

Proceed, Counsel.

And when you arrived

will you tell the jury what you saw?

Well, the whole place was burnin' down.

Did you see anyone on the premises?

Anyone at all?

I found poor Lavinia, dead.

And as far as you know, you were the only person

on the premises between the time of the departure

of the guilty parties and the arrival of the law.

Well I'm the one that come in and got the Marshal.

Then I submit, gentlemen, and let the record so show,

that there is not a single soul alive that can identify

the killer or killers in a court of law.

At about 6:30 in the morning, we came on their camp.

They'd been sleeping, they offered no resistance.

They simply surrendered without a fight, sir?

Does that sound like fugitive murderers?

It would have been useless, we had them surrounded.

Captain, would you step over to this map, sir,

and show the court

the approximate location of the capture?

Here, near Jonathan Cooley,

about six miles south of the south fork of the Cimarron.

Some 45 miles from Dodge.

Thank you, Captain.

Captain Sykes, you are a cavalry man, are you not?

Yes sir, I am.

And in your work, what do you consider a hard days ride?

Well 30 miles would be a tough trip in one day.

Twelve or 15 hours riding time.

Thereabouts.

And what do you consider to be

the furthest possible distance

a horseman might ride in say, a 12 hour day?

A man might make 40 miles on a fine horse.

And yet, we are told by the prosecution

that in the space of less than 9 hours

from the time of the murder, the defendants

who were mounted on unshod Indian ponies

and who appeared to have been camped, slept,

and gave no resistance to capture,

had covered the almost 45 miles from the Sanderson house

to the point of their capture?

I call it utter nonsense, gentleman!

And I say it could not have been done!

Thank you.

No further witnesses for the defense today, Your Honor.

Tomorrow defense will call our key witness

and rest our case.

Then if prosecution has no further desire to recross?

None, Your Honor.

Captain, you may step down.

This court stands adjourned.

It's open.

Cora?

What are you doin' up this time of night?

Come on in.

Thank you.

Marshal, I have to talk to you.

What can I do for you?

It's about my father.

I'm afraid for him.

I'm afraid of what he might do.

I understand how you feel.

If they call him to the stand to testify

I don't know what'll happen.

They already have called for him tomorrow morning.

Lord.

Oh Marshal, he's not responsible for what he does anymore.

Cora, every man's responsible for what he does

and that includes your father.

I mean he doesn't have control over himself.

He's been hurt by so many things lately.

Everybody knows that, Cora.

People think more of him than anybody alive.

But if those men are acquitted he...

Cora, you know how I feel about your pa.

I'd do anything in the world to keep him outta trouble.

But he's gonna have to make a choice

between the law and violence.

All we can do is hope that he makes the right choice.

Papa.

Papa, please stop drinking.

It isn't gonna solve anything.

It won't, huh?

They started the trial yesterday, Papa.

Everyone saw that you weren't there.

Well they're gonna see a lot more of it

because I ain't playin' along with their game.

Well you'll have to go in if they call you.

I ain't never had to do nothing.

This is different.

Those men have a lawyer now, a good one.

I know all about it.

They got 'em one to match their color.

Makin' a joke outta me.

Nobody's making a joke out of anything, papa.

The people in the town are all on your side.

Take my name and let some halfbreed Indian shyster

drag it through the bumble.

Oh, Papa.

Ain't gonna matter in the end, though.

Papa, listen to me.

Now are you sure that those men are the ones who...

I know what happened, don't I?

And I know who done it.

Found them with her jewels on them.

In their filthy hands.

In court today, he made it sound like

the case against them was weak.

What else would he do?

That cheatin', low-livin' Indian liar.

But it ain't gonna make no difference.

What do you mean?

I mean there's three renegade bucks

gonna pay for it, instead of two.

Don't talk like that, Papa.

I'm gonna kill 'em.

Oh, all right then, kill 'em!

Ruin your life, throw everything away.

Put yourself and your own revenge before everything else.

That's the way it's always been, hasn't it, Papa?

I guess it'll never change.

It's always been Sanderson's this and Sanderson's that.

Your ranch, your wife, your daughter.

Until you made us feel like nothing

but little insignificant pieces of you.

Don't you talk to me like that, lady.

You've always had everything your own way

every time because you bullied everybody into submission.

Cora.

You made mama hate you.

You drove her to it.

'Cause you never once let her be herself.

Don't you say anything else about that woman.

I loved her.

Did you?

Then how is it every time she needed you,

you were 50 miles away, drunk in some bordello?

Get out.

Go on, get out.

You ain't never talked to me like that before.

And you ain't never going to again.

I raised you up to be my princess, lady.

Give you everything I could think of.

'Cause you was the rose of my love for your mama.

But you never know'd it, did ya?

No, Papa.

Well, maybe that don't make no difference neither.

Not anymore.

Because you see, I'm just a plain man.

But I am a man.

And you're just like her.

A man ain't good enough for you.

So, you just go on.

You go on back to your tea parties

and your high-tone college socials.

And if my name makes you ashamed,

you just leave it here when you go out

and don't come back again.

Mr. Sanderson.

You're not supposed to be here.

I've got to talk to that man yonder.

I can't let anybody in there unless Marshal says so.

I wasn't gonna kill him, not this time.

Mr. Sanderson, of course.

You've got that right, injun.

You come into my room like a common thief.

You have some reason for that?

Or shall I have you arrested?

I reckon you know if I'd come here to kill you

we wouldn't be a-talkin'.

When you turned that light up

it might have been the last light you ever saw.

I wouldn't have needed no light.

And you'd be all through hornin' in to other folks' business.

So you just put away that arm and listen.

I'm gonna give it to you as plain as I know how.

One is, you ain't callin' me in to talk at your circus.

Two is, if you get them crossbreeds anything but hung

in what you're doin' then I will come a-killin'.

You right along with 'em.

You savvy that?

As clearly as I have ever understood anything.

Now, you hear this.

It's my job to get those men acquitted if I can.

And I intend to do just that.

If I find it necessary to call you, I will.

And if you try to kill me because of it,

you may find that for once in your life

you've bitten off a lot more than you can chew.

All right, injun.

We understand each other.

And I'll give you one thing.

I never liked stepping on mealy bugs.

So, when I kill you, I'll have the satisfaction

of knowin' I killed a man.

C'mon Deputy, get up.

You ain't hurt that bad.

Order.

This court is now in session.

Bailiff will please call the first witness.

Mr. John Uriah Sanderson.

Mr. John Uriah Sanderson?

Is the witness present?

Mr. John Uriah Sanderson?

Your Honor, we cannot continue without his testimony.

Prosecution requires his identification of the jewelry

and the watch in question.

Here comes Bear now!

Order!

Bear?

Oh, Mr. Sanderson.

Would you please step up to the witness stand?

Your Honor, may it please the court,

prosecution has no desire to call Mr. Sanderson

if defense acknowledges as a matter of record

that the items in question did indeed belong

to him and his wife.

Defense so affirms.

Let the record so state.

If prosecution desires, defense will waive

formal right to administer the oath.

Do you concur, Counsel?

Yes, yes Your Honor.

Then the witness is excused.

If the court please,

defense will now call our final witness.

The court calls Miss May Lassiter.

Mighty pretty, May.

Order!

Order!

I will have order in this court!

Order!

Order in this court!

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

I do.

Sit down please.

Will you state your name please, madame?

I'm May Lassiter, sir.

Pleased to make your acquaintance.

Miss Lassiter, will you tell the court

where you live and have your place of business?

In the town of Sinnify on the Cherokee Strip.

Sir.

And what is the nature of your business, madam?

Entertainment.

Order!

Order!

Order!

Order!

If we cannot have order I will clear this courtroom.

Proceed.

Do you know what these items are, Miss Lassiter?

Well, of course.

Tell the court, please.

A watch and some jewelry.

Now I'm going to ask you

a very important question, Miss Lassiter,

and I want you to consider closely

before you answer, is that clear?

Yes.

Have you ever seen these items before

at anytime, anywhere?

Have you?

Yes.

Where and when?

You know the answer to that or you wouldn't ask me,

now why do we have to play these games?

I must caution you, Miss Lassiter,

we are in a court of law.

You will answer Counsel's questions, if you please.

Proceed.

Miss Lassiter?

They were in my jewelry box until a couple of weeks ago.

How did they happen to come into your possession?

Do I have to say?

Answer the question, Miss Lassiter.

Bear...

Mr. Sanderson gave 'em to me.

As a present.

Then Mr. Sanderson knew all along that this watch

and these jewels were not taken from his house.

No sir, he didn't.

How can you explain that?

Well, some men, when they've been drinkin' real heavy,

black out, don't remember anything that happens for hours.

Sometimes days.

Mr. Sanderson was like that.

When he'd been drinkin' he tried

to give away everything he had.

Mr. Sanderson gave you these

when he was in the condition you describe?

Yes, sir.

I always put things away that he gave me

when he was drunk.

I tried to give 'em back to him when he was sober.

But he'd never take 'em.

Did you try to return these jewels to him?

No, sir.

I ain't seen Mr. Sanderson

since the night he gave 'em to me.

Oh, I understand.

Now, if you will, Miss Lassiter, will you tell the court

how it was that these jewels came to be lost to you?

They were stolen by a couple of renegade bucks.

They were stolen?

I was closin' up.

I saw two Indians in my room

riflin' through my jewelry box.

I took a shot at them as they were goin' out the window,

but unfortunately I missed.

And would you recognize these men if you saw them again?

They're sittin' right over there.

Thank you, Miss Lassiter.

I just hope with all my heart

that if you made me do somethin' bad to Bear

you will pay for it.

I assure you ma'am, in the long run

you have done him the greatest favor anyone ever could.

That will be all.

Prosecution has desire to cross?

None, Your Honor.

Miss Lassiter, you may step down.

Gentleman of the jury, you have heard all you need here

in the defense of these two men...

except a closing summation.

Let me review.

Bear Sanderson was not at home when he might've prevented

the murder of his wife.

Overcome with rage and grief,

he seized on the first convenient scapegoats

without any concern for evidence, much less justice.

This is sad for many reasons.

It exposed a strong and decent man to harsh public scrutiny.

It wasted the time and the emotion

of the man, the town, and the court,

and most unfortunate of all,

it may have allowed the real killers to escape unpunished.

The watch and the jewels,

which were taken to have been totally incriminating

have been shown to be instead totally irrelevant.

They were not in the Sanderson house,

nor had they been there for some time prior to the crime.

And the fact that the defendants were found

with them in their possession,

exonerates rather than convicts them.

In closing, I ask that you find the defendants not guilty

because they are not guilty.

There is another, perhaps a higher duty

which I feel I must fulfill.

Bear Sanderson is a man Kansas has known and come to love.

A man respected with the best.

A man who grew to maturity

in conditions which have marked him for better and for worse

as what he is.

It has given him his strengths, which are many,

and his weaknesses and prejudices as well.

It could not be otherwise.

It is not for me, a man you do not know,

to tell you how you must adjust to what has happened here.

But I am a man of law, and I hope justice,

and I may ask.

It is perfection that makes ideals...

and flaws that make human beings.

And while to be blind is divine in justice,

it is only human in a man,

and to be forgiven.

The defense rests.

Miss Cora.

May I come in?

Of course, please do.

I don't imagine I'm welcome and I won't stay long.

But you are welcome.

I don't know quite how to begin.

I can't remember the last time I apologized for anything.

I guess we Sandersons have never been

very good at admitting mistakes.

You don't have to apologize to me for anything, Miss Cora.

In the courtroom you talked about forgiving.

Yes.

I hoped I might come here and try and make you understand

how sorry I am for all the things I said and did.

I must have hurt you very deeply.

Oh, please.

I've been sitting in that courtroom

watching you, listening to you...

and although I was angry and hurt,

I came to know you really.

To know your sense of justice,

as you said I must if I ever...

I guess what I'm trying to say is that

I'm very ashamed.

I want you to know that I have never in all my life

met a man like you.

That I respect and admire so much.

Please forgive me.

I've been thinkin' strong on goin' away, Matt.

I think that a lot of folks around here'd

miss you if you left.

Would they?

I don't know.

Just all seems to come apart on me.

Think you're wrong.

What about Cora?

No.

No, I've done lost her too.

Pushed her away myself.

Just 'cause she criticized me.

She never done that before, you see.

Nobody had.

Not for a long time.

Well but she's still your daughter, Bear.

She still loves you.

Yeah, she does.

But you see, everything she said is the truth.

That's what really burned.

Told me I'd forgot how to care about anybody.

Every man's got a few things in this life that he regrets.

Maybe.

I guess I was just never made to be married to any woman.

Well I'm, I learned how to give a little, but...

I never learned how to share.

You know what I mean, Matt?

Yeah, but there's a lot to be said for giving.

Yeah, but it's kinda sad when a man has to wait

until the shadows get long on his life

before he can see what he's been.

That fancy-schooled Cherokee done showed me my colors.

He's even took Cora from me now.

I know how she feels about him.

Doesn't have to end that way, Bear.

What can I do?

Well if I was you I'd go talk to 'em.

Talk to both of 'em.

Settle what's between you.

You figure a man can begin about sundown

and make a new life for hisself?

Best time of day in my way of thinkin'.

Come in.

Mr. Sanderson, sir, what can I do for you?

I'd like to talk to you.

Of course, come in.

Mr. Wolfe, I came here because...

I believe you're just.

And I know you can understand another man's pain.

I don't think badly of you.

Well I wouldn't blame you if you did.

You see, it ain't me I come about.

It's my girl, Cora.

I love her, Mr. Wolfe.

I ain't got the words to tell ya how much,

but I just don't care much about nothing no more

exceptin' her well-bein'.

You see, I know how Cora feels about you.

She told me.

And you would be a lot less man than you are

if you didn't feel somethin' for her.

Now, I ain't got the right to ask you nothin'

and I ain't goin' to.

I just say this.

If there's anything in your heart tells you it ain't right

for any reason,

I know you got the strength

to go and leave her.

Mr. Wolfe, no matter what happens,

I just want you to know I'd be proud to call you my friend.

Matthew, Miss Kitty, good news!

You couldn't get no better news than that

if you went to work and dreamed it up your own self.

- Read that. - Well you got it upside down.

Well it ain't for you, it's for Matthew.

It's official.

The rebellion's over.

- Thank Heavens. - Oh that's wonderful.

And you know what's gooder than that?

The Widow Brundage, Woody Lathrop, and the Banker Bodkin,

they're throwin' the biggest barn dance and chivaree

you have ever saw down there at the barn,

it's startin' right now.

And you just can't wait to get down there

and sop up all of that free suds, can ya?

You old scutter you, there ain't nothin' you can say to me

tonight to make me feel less

than a barn top rooster on a prime hoot.

I'm on the way.

We have strange ways of finding each other.

We're strange people.

I'd be foolish if I denied that.

I've never been very good at getting close to people.

Do you know that in all my life

I've never really had a friend?

Because Miss Cora, I have no people.

Can you understand that?

Well I had parents, of course, and they loved me.

But, well, they were different.

My mother's name was Shaughnessy.

My father's name was Wolf.

Not Mr. Wofle, just Wolf.

He worked a lifetime in the futile attempt

to earn that title, but they never gave it to him.

Whoever they are.

So he had little half-breed boy with the woman he loved.

And he read to him and made him study.

And when the boy was well grown

he sent him off to Princeton.

To become a gentleman.

To be called not Wolf, but Mr. Wolfe.

And he made his dream come true.

His, yes.

And the boy's?

He never had a dream.

I can't believe that.

But it's true.

Instead he became bitter,

and he made a life, compulsively, to compensate for that.

But a good life is a good life,

no matter what the motivation.

I like to think so.

But the boy never learned to love.

Well, that's something that comes late to many people.

Never to some.

Will it ever come to you?

If I am fortunate.

I've been fortunate.

All aboard, folks. Stage is leavin', hold up.

Cora, I have to go now.

Could've been different.

Perhaps.

But not for Wolf's son and Bear Sanderson's daughter.

But I have loved you Cora.

I do love you.

Know that.

All aboard!