Original subtitles

Judge Flood, you gotta help me.

Be still, Peter.

- But, sir, there's... - I said, be still.

Now...

how may I help you, Peter?

Judge, I was out in Dodge City

and a fella over there got hisself shot.

I didn't have nothing to do with it,

but that marshal over there, he thinks I done it.

And he's been chasing me for three days and two nights now.

When I first set eyes on you, Peter,

you didn't have any more future than a hungry hound.

But I thought I saw promise in you.

And you rewarded me by running off.

I suppose the punishment I earn for my

misdirected generosity is the trouble

you brought back with you.

Get out of my town, Peter.

You let me take Osuna and a couple of men,

we'll go out there and get that marshal.

And we'll put him down in hard labor for you.

He's big, he'll work real good for you.

And I won't never run off like that no more, I swear it.

Hard labor is a punishment

for wrongdoers convicted under the law.

Hard labor is not a convenience

for murderers passing through my town.

Now, I said get out.

All right, Murphy.

Drop the gun belt.

You're under arrest.

He wants to see me hang.

As I see it, Peter,

there's only one way out.

That's over him.

Osuna.

You got a sheriff in this town?

Certainly, Marshal, we even have an undertaker.

Everything'll be taken care of,

after your trial.

What?

You stand accused of the murder

of one Peter Murphy, a citizen of this town.

And you will be tried by a jury of your peers.

It's not a legal court.

You got no jurisdiction here.

Oh, you are wrong, Mr. Dillon.

The town of Silverton has a charter from the federal government

which establishes this court.

And my name is registered as justice in Washington, DC,

in the capital of this country.

My name is registered as the man who administers

the law in Silverton.

And I am a man who has a high regard for the law

as an instrument to maintain order

and tranquility among the people.

And as a result of my influence,

this is an orderly and progressive community

which does not tolerate the likes of murderers.

Court's in session.

The jury, having heard the evidence,

has concluded its deliberations.

The foreman will now report the verdict.

He's guilty, guilty as charged, Your Honor.

Do you find something amusing

in these proceedings, Mrs. Ames?

No. No.

No?

I mean, no, Your Honor.

Matthew Dillon, you've been found

guilty as charged of first-degree murder.

Do you have anything to say before this court

pronounces sentence on you?

- Will that make any difference? - No.

You are a murderer, and I will now pass judgment upon you.

I believe we've forgotten something, Mr. Osuna.

Mr. Osuna, it goes against my grain

to pass sentence for such a crime

on a man wearing the badge of a U.S. Marshal.

Please remove it.

Leave the badge alone.

Matthew Dillon, for the heinous crime of murder,

I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment,

at hard labor.

This court is adjourned.

Ole Judge Flood put many in the mine.

Ole Judge Flood make them dig that ore.

Ole Judge Flood ain't treating them kind.

Ole Judge Flood just treating them poor.

Ole Judge Flood make them dig that ore.

Ole Judge Flood just treating them.

Well now, you're awake now, are you, sir?

That's fine.

You can admire the work I'm doing on you.

I'm a very fine man at chaining.

I learned the trade from the best in the business,

in the warm Georgia sunshine.

Before the emancipation, I thank you, sir.

Did you admire my poem to His Honor, sir?

Your new friend here, Mr. Latch is his name.

Now, he don't like it.

No, sir, he don't like it not one bit.

But Mr. Latch don't say nothing.

Because he knows this poet might tickle him with these.

Who are you?

Widge Spott is the name, sir.

I am your... blacksmith.

And your... cook, sir.

And your... custodian of the general premises.

Where are we?

This is Judge Flood's silver mine, sir, the mine.

Also known to those more familiar with its pleasures,

as the other side of damnation.

And this chain means you have breathed your last free air.

You see, sir, I have often been called upon

to clamp iron on a man's leg.

But I've yet to be asked to take one off,

at least not off a live body.

Mike?

Tell Osuna his man is hobbled, and wide awake.

Now listen to me, Widge.

You gotta know by this time I'm a United States Marshal.

This Flood's running an outlaw court.

You go along with him, you're just as guilty as the rest.

Listen, you, I first tasted iron when I was 16.

I run halfway across Georgia with the hounds at my heels.

When they caught me, your law said they could put me in chains.

Well the law put Flood in the judge's seat,

and they put the judge's hammer in his hand.

And I'd say he's about as fair a man as any court ever had.

Maybe sometime you and me

can sit down and talk about justice.

The rules here are simple.

Bath and shave occasionally.

That's not a rule, Mr. Spott, it's a privilege.

A reward for hard work, which you'll soon find out.

We're gonna be seeing a lot of each other, Dillon.

I'm gonna whip some of the temperament outta you.

Shut up, Osuna.

You came to grief before I pronounced sentence on you, Mr. Dillon.

But it was for a life term of hard labor,

that term to be served here in this silver mine.

- Your mine? - Yes, my mine.

But then every tree and rock for a day's ride

in any direction from Silverton belongs to me.

The issue is punishment for murderer, not ownership.

Let me tell you something, Flood.

There'll be a lotta men looking for me.

A United States Marshal doesn't just disappear, you know.

Yes.

Maybe they will come after you.

And maybe another court might find some,

some technical flaw in my proceedings, but...

after all, they could hardly doubt the word

of a whole town, backed up by the word of a man

whose name is registered in Washington, DC,

as an administrator of justice, hmm?

I think you better put those concerns

out of your mind, Mr. Dillon.

Bed him down.

Start him an hour earlier than the others in the morning.

I'd like Mr. Dillon to get off on the right foot.

By the way, Mr. Dillon,

this is Latch.

He's been here the longest.

Others have fallen, but Latch endures.

He's our Barabbas.

Ignorant, faithless, at times ugly.

But he endures.

You'd do well to learn from him.

All right, Dillon, on your feet.

Come on!

Come on.

All right, you too, come on, get up.

Let's get at it.

What about food?

You've got an hour's work in front of you

before breakfast, Latch.

That's your first present from your new partner here.

All right, Dillon, let's see you set

an example of honest toil.

Move out.

By the way, you know, ole Latch there

has tried to escape three times.

He's always talking some fool into running off with him.

But them chains slow him down. Never was hard to catch.

So the judge started throwing him in the hole.

First time, he sat there four days.

Second time we caught him, it was a week.

Well the third time, judge figured

he'd cure ole Latch for good.

Or kill him.

Left him down there two weeks.

I figured we'd pull up a corpse.

But ole Latch there, naw, he came out just fine.

Of course, he don't talk much anymore.

And he gets fits when he starts feeling closed in.

About that time, we gotta crack his skull to calm him down.

But, he does the job as good as he ever did.

They brought you down after dinner?

That's right.

My name's Dan Fifer.

Fifer, Matt Dillon.

Will you tell me what it's like, outside?

What do you mean?

Is summer over, what month is it?

Yeah, summer's over.

It's middle of September.

Thought so. I thought the air coming down the shaft was getting cooler.

The guards think it's a joke.

They'll tell you it's June,

and the next day they'll tell you it's May or July.

You lose track of time,

because nothing ever changes down here.

The lice stays the same.

You lose track until somebody new comes down,

then you find out.

How long's it been for you?

September, is it...

That makes it, uh,

two years and three months.

Never thought I'd make it in the beginning.

I guess I had it pretty easy before.

How'd they get you?

I was a drummer, see.

Dry goods and mail order.

So, I figured I'd open up some new territory up this way.

Well, Flood steps outta the saloon,

takes a look at my horse and says I stole it.

I owned that mare three years.

Dillon, you, Fifer, less talk and more work.

Get up, Latchy.

I wanna talk to you later,

find out what it's like out there now, what's been happening.

Beans, soup and sourdough, my sirs.

Food to fill your bellies and send strength through your bodies

like the silver ore in the rock.

My bean soup will take care of you.

Mr. Latch, must I caution you, one piece per man.

Ah, my new sir.

And how is life treating you since last night?

Widge, don't forget what I told you.

You keep going along with Flood,

one of these times you'll have to answer for it.

And you remember what I said.

This is how your law works sometimes.

Delicious bean soup and sourdough.

Step right up, delicious bean soup.

Bean soup and sourdough, yes sir.

Food for your bellies.

Somebody oughta warn you, Dillon.

Latch here'll steal your food if he gets a chance.

A man's gotta eat down here.

If he don't, he won't make it.

Thanks for the warning.

This here's my partner.

Elton Fine.

We've been properties now for, oh...

a year and a half.

Elton.

Mr. Dillon.

Anybody ever break outta here?

No, but seven have tried.

Not counting Latch.

They're all dead.

Latch might as well be dead,

because he ain't much more than an animal.

How'd they try it?

Just go crazy.

Tear into a guard, take off running.

Of course, two men with a chain between them

can't hardly run at all.

Most of them were shot down before they got outside.

There's gotta be some way.

Ain't no way.

Only hope is that the law,

the real law,

find out what Flood's up to and gets us loose.

Fifer!

I'll take that.

Latch, I'm eating that food.

Give it back to him, Latch.

You stay out of it, Dillon,

he knows how to use that chain.

I said give it back to him.

All right, break it up!

I said, break it up!

Stand off.

Dillon's got an education coming.

All right, now.

Break it up, Dillon.

I said, break it up!

It's all right, take him out.

On your feet, Latch, come on Dillon.

Out!

All right, boys, that's all the fun for today.

The first thing to learn at hard labor, Mr. Dillon,

is to mind your own business.

If Mr. Latch tries to grab Mr. Fifer's dinner,

that is between Mr. Latch and Mr. Fifer.

You will only come to grief

sticking your nose into such matters.

Now, the second and most important thing to learn

is that I do not tolerate fighting among prisoners.

It's wasteful of energy.

And sometimes renders men incapable of work.

And those who do cause strife,

always regret it.

You want me to throw them in the hole, Judge?

No.

No, Mr. Osuna.

I think we'll turn their punishments to a profit.

I believe it's time we expanded the south shaft.

When you're through blasting,

these two will set the timbers.

You're gonna like this, Dillon.

The blast loosens everything up.

You never know when half the mountain's

gonna come down on top of you.

You and your partner move out.

You took a chance, Mr. Dillon.

And to endure, you can't afford to take chances.

Because a man who's down,

he never has any luck.

Ole Latch there is getting edgy, Dillon.

He knows about setting timber.

Yeah, you're gonna have your hands full if he gets

one of his fits while you two are down there working.

Hang on to your britches.

All right, that's just a taste of it, Dillon.

Down there, the rock'll still be setting.

Oh yeah, you'll be able to hear it

groaning and creaking all around you.

All right, Bill.

Go over, you take the rest of that stuff up top.

I can handle these two.

Dillon, grab some of that timber.

Latch, grab that shovel and get on down there.

Come on, grab that shovel there.

All right, go on, move it.

All right, let's go, Latch.

I ain't going with you.

You can't make me.

Now look, Latch,

we got a chance to get outta here.

They put you down in the hole.

Dark.

So dark.

Bad things.

They're not gonna get us if we get them first.

Latch, we got no choice.

Osuna's not gonna forget about this.

They're gonna be after us.

We gotta get outta here now.

Now pick up the chain.

Let's go.

Come on!

Come on, pick it up.

All right, let's go.

Hey, Osuna, you down here?

Osuna, Flood wants you up on top.

All right, drop the gun.

Mike, I got him, Mike.

I didn't have no part of what happened to Osuna back there.

Tell the judge that I got him for you, Mike.

Sure, Latch.

I'll tell Flood what a good job you did for him.

All right, let's go.

This is the second time in a day I've had to come down here

because of the two of you.

Now, I don't intend to come down again for the same reason.

You others, I want you to listen.

Dillon didn't have to bring this on.

He could have accepted his punishment

and resigned himself to work,

but he chose to bring on more punishment, and he will have it.

Mr. Osuna, put him in the hole.

Seven days.

Oh no, Judge, please.

Judge, I'm the one that got him.

Judge, I did it for you.

Mr. Latch, this chain makes a marriage.

The two are bonded into one, the fate of one

becomes the fate of the other.

You oughta understand that by now.

Our Barabbas.

But I don't hear the crowd shouting, Give us Barabbas.

No, the crowd is strangely silent.

How will you endure now, Mr. Latch?

Be interesting to see.

No, Judge.

Take them out.

Move, let's go.

Come on, come on.

Well, you're looking at home

till the judge remembers to haul you out, Dillon.

And I ain't gonna be the one to remind him.

No!

All right.

Roll him in.

That's an eight-foot drop, Dillon.

You wanna jump in, or you want ole Latch

to drag you in after him?

Makes no difference to me.

Kick him in.

You're a dead man, Dillon.

You were a dead man the day

you woke up with iron on your leg.

Lock it.

Well, one of them's alive.

Other one ain't moving.

Probably dead.

Bring the ladder, Bill.

Yeah.

Whew.

All right, come on up.

See what they look like.

If they look as bad as they smell,

it's really gonna be something.

Come on, Dillon.

All right, come on, bring him out.

Come on, move.

Somehow they endured.

Well, was it a spiritual experience, Mr. Dillon?

I understand the time in the hole

sometimes brings on visions.

I'm alive, Flood.

So you are.

And able to work.

Mr. Osuna, get them to clean up some,

put them back to work in the morning.

Half-days for a while.

Ole Latch don't look like he got much left in him, Judge.

Get what's there, Mr. Osuna, get what's there.

Sip slowly, son.

Stomach will rebel.

It's not used to such fine treat.

No one expected you two to be alive.

The judge is delighted, of course.

Set an example for the other prisoners.

And he will yet get more...

more work outta you.

I'll tell you something, Widge.

I'm gonna get outta this place.

And when I do, I'm coming back.

I believe you may just do that.

You gonna help me?

I broke my chains and made it to Illinois in '57.

Before the war.

After the war, I went back to Georgia.

There was nothing left.

Everybody scattered.

I got no place but this one.

If you got no place but this one,

you got no place at all.

I believe...

you may be trouble for me, sir.

All right, my sons, a cool drink to quench your thirst.

A cool drink in the heat of your labor.

Come, my sirs, a cool drink, that's it.

A cool drink in the heat of hard labor.

A cool drink in the heat of labor.

Come, my sirs, a cool drink.

Dillon, you can't do the work of two men for long.

If they find out Latch isn't holding up his end of the work,

they're gonna put a bullet in him.

It's too late for Latch.

Besides, you don't owe him nothing, that's for sure.

What was he like before, anyway?

It's hard to believe now, but...

he was, he was a good one.

Full of spit, but...

he could pull up a joke every now and then,

even down here.

That's before they started throwing him in the hole.

What he is now don't...

show nothing of what he was before.

I never thought...

a man could be wrecked like that.

What about Flood?

You know anything about him?

Oh.

There's all kinds of stories about that man.

One you hear the most is he was born

in Missouri with a shriveled leg.

Some say his folks threw him out.

Didn't have no use for him, so ever since then he's...

been trying to prove them wrong.

Ain't got no woman.

Just...

sits in the back of that... saloon

writing outta them law books.

And counting his money, I guess.

Some say he wants to be governor.

I heard talking.

No talking.

Look at this.

What is it?

A tree root.

Tree root?

Yeah.

Dig out?

We're under a mountain.

That root means the shaft is heading toward the surface.

It can't be far.

All we gotta do is bring part of the shaft down behind us,

then we can work alone.

We start digging.

The biggest problem's gonna be the air.

Hope we got enough to last.

What if Flood decides to dig us out?

Well that's a gamble we gotta take,

but I think he's gonna write us off.

Now this is a job I can't do by myself, Fifer.

And Latch here isn't gonna be any good at all.

Now, are you with me?

At first, I thought being down here

would kill me...

but I survived.

And I guess I'm proud of that.

Just staying alive isn't gonna do you any good.

Flood's not gonna let you outta here alive.

The only way you're gonna get outta here is feet first.

Have to talk to Elton.

Sure ain't going anywhere he don't.

How you gonna bring that shaft down?

Dynamite.

Where you gonna get that?

I got an idea.

Yes, sir, a treat today.

Chicken stew with real meat in it.

But in truth, it could be called something else.

Perhaps even crow stew, or small buzzard stew.

I do have my doubts about that chicken,

but my schedule did not permit me to exam it

before I put it in the pot.

But my sourdough will take care of you.

Yes, sir, chicken stew.

Widge, I need a stick of dynamite and a cap and a fuse.

What?

Get it for me as soon as you can.

Have a full bowl,

the judge likes his gentlemen to keep up their strength.

Chicken stew.

Chicken stew with real meat in it.

Chicken stew.

Yeah, I'm with you, Dillon.

Sounds like a good way for a man to get killed.

That can happen.

Dillon.

My pa and me, we got a spread.

Little spread south of Denver.

I come up here to buy some stock.

That's when Flood grabbed me.

You know, I was...

I was thinking about him last night.

My pa, I mean.

I tried to make out what his face looked like.

I could... I couldn't bring it in real clear.

That really scares me.

So, you just, uh,

you just point the way, see, because I'd just as soon

be dead as to be like that.

Yeah, I'm...

I'm right behind you, Mr. Dillon.

What about Latch?

I guess if he had a choice, he wouldn't be with us.

Well, if he's half the man you said he was

before he went in that hole,

I guess he'd like to be with us.

We better get some sleep.

What about that dynamite?

We'll see.

All right, let's get to work.

We're going today.

Let's go.

All right, start digging, we're short on time.

Nobody knows what happened, Judge.

Mike said he thought he heard an explosion, but...

Explosion?

Did some fool leave dynamite down here?

Oh no, not a chance.

No, what I figured what he heard was just the sound

of some rock coming down or a pocket of gas or something.

Four men, you say?

Yeah.

Dillon too?

Yeah.

Well maybe it's best this way.

Nobody'll ever find him where he's at now, hmm?

Should we dig out the bodies?

No, don't waste your time.

Well, they might still be alive.

They won't be for long, air won't last.

All right.

Whew.

Dillon, I don't like the way Latch looks.

I hope he can hold on.

It's getting a lot harder to breathe in here.

I know.

Dig, Elton.

The torch.

All right, let's keep at it.

Hey, outta my way!

All right, hold it.

Hold on, Elton, can't go through yet.

Hold it, hold on there.

We gotta wait till dark.

We gotta try and take Flood, there's no other way.

Look, Dillon, I just wanna head for home

as fast as I can.

It's not gonna work, Fifer.

These chains'll slow us down too much.

Not only that, but there's men still inside the mountain.

Ain't no guns, Dillon, and we're certainly not gonna

sweet talk Flood into giving up.

I think I know where we can get a gun.

We gotta find Widge.

Let's go.

You men stay there.

I am touched you thought to visit, my sirs.

Widge?

Wasn't hard to figure what you were up to,

but I never thought you'd make it.

You're a hard man for the judge to kill.

Widge, I gotta have a gun.

I thought if my moles could burrow their way outta the mountain

they would need a gun.

Thanks.

Now look, we're going around the front.

Can you get in the back?

I can get in the back.

Now, Latch, you gotta hold this chain real quiet.

Understand?

Latch, stay close to me.

Don't move, Flood.

Dillon, how?

Good evening, Your Honor, sir.

Widge.

I believe with the judge under control,

the others won't be much...

This justice of yours if painful business.

All right, up there.

These look better on them.

Come on, let's go.

Those will fit you properly, my sirs.

Now, Widge,

pretty good job for a man with one arm.

As I said, I'm a good man for chain work.

You know, I'm gonna need a man

to help me get these men back to Dodge.

There'll be a deputy's wages in it.

Since it seems I'm between employments,

I'll take your job, providing you do the cooking.

Ha ha, we both do the cooking.

Done.

Well, you're heading east, we're heading south.

So, uh, we'll say so long.

So long, Fifer.

Elton, how's your memory now?

A little sunshine and a fresh breeze

has seemingly worked a miracle.

Really, thank you.

I'll be sending a circuit judge and a lawman

up here as soon as possible.

- Well, so long, Elton. - Marshal.

- Fifer. - So long.

Oh, Mike, thanks for the horses.

Ready to go, Latch?

Yeah.

You know, we got a good doctor back in Dodge.

He'll get you on your feet.