Original subtitles

Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.

Well, Chester, think we ought to get somethin' to eat?

Mr. Dillon, them's the greatest words in the English language.

Yeah, I think it's gonna be a nice night, Mr. Dillon.

Yep.

Evenin', Marshal.

Evenin', Jezra. Mrs. Cobb.

That's the most dilapidated old buggy I ever seen.

Yeah, well, Jezra believes in gettin' full value out of things.

He calls it makin' do.

Well, he ain't makin' do too good, as far as I can see.

Well, are we gonna stand here talkin', or are we gonna go eat?

Well, I'd rather not talk.

You know, speakin' of makin' do,

Jezra starved a horse to death a couple of years ago

just seein' how short he could cut his rations.

Yeah.

Whoa. Whoa, boy. Whoa, boy.

Keep it tight right there!

It's spooky!

Whoa, boy. Whoa.

Mr. Dillon, are you all right?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right.

Did you find him?

No. He got away in the dark.

Any of you folks see what happened, though?

Man: Never seen a thing.

Hadn't you ought to get that fixed, Mr. Dillon?

No. No, it'll be all right. It'll keep a while.

Marshal, you've allowed this town to become a sink of inequity...

A city of painted Jezebels, scoundrels, and murdering assassins.

The name of Dodge should be changed to Sodom and Gomorrah.

You all right, Mrs. Cobb?

Somebody tried to kill us.

They were standin' in the shadows by the corner of that building.

You'll kindly remember your place, if you please.

- But the marshal... - Minerva!

I'm sorry, Jezra.

You got any idea who it was?

How could I know? The coward struck from the darkness.

Did you see anything else, Mrs. Cobb?

I heard some shots.

If the first one hadn't scared the horse and started him rearing,

we'd both be dead now, Marshal.

You're the law here, such law as there is,

and I demand an accounting for this assault.

You know of anybody that might think he has reason to kill you?

Certainly not.

I've never had an enemy in my life.

Well, you got one now.

All right, folks. Break it up.

Hello, Matt.

Doc.

How you feelin'?

We'll, pretty good.

What you doing there?

I'm makin' up a prescription for old Mrs. Prudlin.

Oh, what's wrong with her?

Oh, nothin'. Nothin' really at all.

Never has been anything.

She thinks there is. That's the important part.

These are... These are foolin' pills.

Foolin' pills?

Yeah. See, I have to accommodate her.

These are just sugar and water.

Little coloring, little binder.

You mean she doesn't know the difference?

Oh, no. Of course not.

I'll bet you charge her plenty for 'em.

Well, certainly.

That's part of the game we play.

See, I charge her for 'em, and she never pays me.

That's the part that makes her feel good.

I have to let those dry a little bit now.

Here, you sit down. I'll have a look at that arm.

Okay.

This been painin' you much?

Didn't hurt at all 'til you put those stitches in it.

Well, if you don't know any more about marshalin'

than you do about doctorin',

why, it's no wonder people get shot now in the streets.

Well, I...

Looks all right. I can take those stitches out,

as long as they're botherin' ya.

This may hurt a little.

With you doing it, I bet it will.

Just hold still a minute.

What's the matter?

Must've had that one sewed to the bone.

What'd you use there, buckskin thong or somethin'?

I'm surprised you didn't carry on this much when I sewed you up.

Well, how could I? You had me full of whiskey.

Well, if you're angling for a free drink,

you might as well save your breath 'til you get shot again.

Looks fine, Matt. I'm not even gonna bandage you anymore.

Good.

Hey, Matt, you ever find out who shot at ol' Jezra Cobb?

Nope.

Funny thing about that. I've been thinkin'.

Not too many people like him, but there aren't many

who hate him that much, either. Do they?

No. Most people just try to stay away from him, that's all.

Well, that's what I mean.

He's not the kind that would rouse up

strong feelings in anybody one way or another.

Hmm. He must have aroused feelings in whoever it was that tried to kill him.

Trouble is I don't know which one it was.

Whoever it was might have been after his wife.

My gosh, I never even thought of that.

What's the matter? Is that botherin' ya?

No. It's goin' to be all right, I guess. Just a little stiff.

Well, it will be for a while. You're pretty lucky, you know.

Yeah?

Whoever tried that might try it again.

I've been thinkin' about that.

But you know, it's been three days now,

and nothing's happened. I can't figure it out.

Come in.

Oh, Kitty, hi.

Mornin'.

- Hello, Kitty. - Matt.

Well, what are you doin' up here?

Well, he's hidin' from old Jezra Cobb, that's what he's doing.

Don't let him kid ya. I just came out here

to have a couple of stitches taken out.

Oh.

Should've gone to the butcher shop.

Hmm.

What did you do, come up here and invite me to breakfast, maybe?

You already had breakfast.

I did not!

You ate with me.

Oh, I forgot. Well, it didn't impress me very much.

What can I do for you?

Well, I came up to see if you could give me something for ol' Clem.

The bartender?

Mm-hmm.

What's the matter with him?

Oh, he got to arguin' with Mr. Hightower last night

about rye whiskey and how it wouldn't hurt you.

He tried so hard to prove his point

that they finally had to take him out and float him in the horse trough.

He don't feel too good today.

Well, we can fix that up easy enough.

Doc here will just give him one of Mrs. Prudlin's pills.

Oh, shut up.

Mrs. Prudlin's pills?

Don't pay any attention to him. He's just actin' smart.

Well, they worked wonders for her, didn't they?

I'll prescribe for my patients, if you don't mind.

Got him going pretty good this morning.

Here, Kitty, you can give him a couple of those.

I don't guarantee 'em, exactly, but they might help him.

Now wait a minute. I wouldn't give him any of those.

Why not?

Well, I think he'd be better if you took him back out

and threw him in the horse trough again.

How's your arm?

Well, it's going to be all right, I guess.

You take too many chances, you know it?

Kitty, I take a chance every time I come up to this office.

Aw.

Looks like you got some trouble down there, Kitty.

What do you mean?

Well, I expected it. Always ends up like this.

Oh, he sneaks in three or four times a year.

Jezra Cobb?

Yeah. Old self-righteous Jezra.

You'll pay for this! You wait and see!

I'll teach the lot of you!

The day will pass, you wait and see!

The day will come!

Brings trouble every time he comes in.

He drinks too much and just bothers everybody.

Bothers them how?

By tryin' to reform 'em, as he calls it.

Of course the girls get the worst of it.

Dealers and the bartenders won't put up with him.

Well, I declare.

You know what he calls 'em? Painted Jezebels.

Says he's goin' to cure them of their transgressions.

But the only cure he knows is to grab his cane

and try to beat the living daylights

out of anyone he can get his hands on.

Well, he sure keeps it quiet. I've never heard about that before.

You ask any of the girls. They'll tell ya.

Matt, you suppose one of the girls might've tried to shoot him?

Well, I don't know. I'd better go over there and talk to 'em.

Oh, Doc, I forgot to pay for the powders.

Oh, there's no charge for that.

Oh, well, thank you.

You come over to the Long Branch tonight,

and we'll have a drink together.

Well, I'll do that. That's better than breakfast any time.

See you later.

So long, Doctor.

Matt.

Hello, Jezra.

I've been waitin' here for two hours, Marshal.

You have, huh?

It's been three days now. What have you accomplished?

Not much, I'm afraid.

There's an end to patience, Marshal.

I intend to start legal action.

Now, could I have the simple courtesy of your attention?

Anytime you decide to stop lying, yeah.

- Lying? - That's right.

What do you mean?

You told me the other night

that you couldn't think of anybody that might have a reason to kill you.

That is absolutely true.

Mm-hmm.

Well, I'm afraid there are a couple of young ladies over at the Long Branch

that might have different idea about that.

Ladies?

Dance hall girls.

I'd hate to have one of 'em lookin' down a gun barrel at me.

It wasn't a woman who fired those shots.

I could tell that much at least.

It didn't have to be a woman.

She could've hired a man to do it.

How dare they even think of attacking me!

Abandoned women, painting their faces,

cavorting in public to the devil's music.

Well, if you don't like it, I'd say you'd better stay away from them

before one of 'em sticks a knife in your back.

You really think one of 'em might've got somebody to try to kill me?

There's a couple of 'em down there that hated you enough to.

Very well, then. Why don't you jail them

if they're plotting to kill me?

I don't have any proof that they're plotting to kill ya.

It's one of those girls. I know it is!

Maybe.

Now let me tell you somethin'.

If one of those girls had come in here to this office

with the story they told me about you,

you'd be the one I threw in jail.

- I don't know what you mean. - You know what I mean.

You're in league with the adversary.

You're aiding and abetting the forces of evil!

All I'm aiding and abetting

is a person's right to live the way they want to,

as long as it's within the law.

While I'm marshal, that's the way it's going to be around here.

Now, if you don't like the way those girls behave,

I'd suggest you just stay clear of 'em.

It's too late! One of them is tryin' to kill me!

That may be. I don't know. I haven't got any proof of it yet.

I might be that there's 100 people trying to kill you.

I'll have you know, Marshal, that I'm admired and respected

by every decent citizen in this town.

Not by me, you're not.

I don't admire a man that goes around beating up woman.

I didn't come here to be insulted.

I don't know what you came here for, and I don't much care.

Why don't you go on back out to your ranch?

You'd be safer out there anyway.

And while you're at it,

if you can think of anything else that might help save your skin,

you'd better let me know.

Um, Mr. Dillon, could I see ya a minute?

Yeah.

It's Miss Kitty over at the Long Branch. She wants to see you right away.

What for?

Well, it seems like there's a feller

over there that's been drinkin' awful heavy

and he's been talkin' an awful lot.

So?

Well, he claims that somebody offered him $300 to kill ol' Jezra there.

Jezra, you stay right there 'til I get back.

- $50, Clem. - Sure.

Oh, Matt, I'm glad you're here.

I was afraid you might be out somewhere.

Which one is he?

Well, don't turn around. It'll let on.

He might be suspicious.

I think he realizes he said too much already.

He's the one down at the end of the bar all by himself.

He's been here all day playing poker

with the house dealer and a couple of cowboys.

Drinkin' heavy, too.

Has he been in here before?

No, just during this past week.

He's a drifter, I guess, just ridin' through.

His name's Puggy Rado.

Puggy Rado?

I've never heard that one before.

Well, I ain't, either, but I seen him around Dodge,

though, a time or two. I seen him on the street.

What'd he say?

Well, he just got talkin' braggy like... You know, fastest gun in Texas,

that sort of thing.

Boys kept egging him on.

He finally claimed he'd been offered $300 to kill Jezra Cobb.

Well, did he say who it was that made the offer?

No. Just shut up real quick and pulled out of the game.

Well, maybe he'd just heard that Jezra had been shot at

and he's just kind of braggin' around a little.

Well, maybe, except that he wouldn't

have had any reason to shut up so quick.

Miss Kitty, can I see you a minute, please?

- Yeah, Clem. Excuse me, Matt. - Sure.

Miss Kitty, I...

Hold it right there, Marshal!

Barkeep, get around here. Hurry it up!

Move away.

Come on, move over.

Marshal, you try to haul down on that gun,

I'm gonna put a bullet right in her back.

Just take it easy, Kitty.

That's right. Easy, girlie. You just take it real easy.

And that goes for all of ya, too.

I reckon somebody must have told her what I said.

And then she sent for you, huh?

Who hired you, Rado?

Ah, you'd like to know that, wouldn't you, Marshal?

You just hold still!

What do you aim to do?

Me and her's getting out of here now, Marshal.

Move.

And if anybody... Now, you listen to me!

If anybody lays a hand on his gun... Get up there.

If anybody lays a hand on his gun,

you're goin' have a mighty pretty corpse right here on the floor.

How are you, Kitty?

I'm okay. Thanks, Matt.

Doc, you sure picked a good time to get thirsty.

You all right?

Well, it scared the daylights out of me. Who is that?

Ah, some gunman named Puggy Rado.

Well, Jezra, there's your man.

You mean that's him, the man who shot at us?

He was braggin' all over that somebody had offered him $300 to kill you.

Well, that's the fella who...

The fella who what?

Did you say $300?

That's right.

I've got to get on home now.

I've got stock to tend to.

Well, I guess ol' Jezra don't have nothin' to worry about now anyway.

I'm not so sure, Chester.

I think we'd better ride out to his place this afternoon.

Jezra, I'm bakin' a pie for ya.

A plum pie. See?

No! Oh, Jezra, no! Don't!

Oh!

Now get the egg money.

What?

I said get the egg money!

There was over $300 in that jar, Minerva.

I... I know.

I took it into Doc.

We've been owin' him a long time for that sickness I had, remember?

Mm-hmm.

I reckon it'll be a bad one this time, Minerva.

About as bad as I can make it without killin' you.

No, Jezra.

Where... Where you goin'?

Why, to the barn, Minerva, to fetch me a piece of hickory.

Oh, no, Jezra.

Please don't.

It's gonna be a bad one this time, Minerva.

A real bad one.

Oh, no.

No! No!

Maybe he ain't home yet, Mr. Dillon.

We'll soon find out.

Why hello, Marshal. Chester.

I wasn't expectin' nobody.

Hello, Mrs. Cobb. Is your husband home?

Yes. He come back from town about a half hour ago.

He's out in the barn.

Won't you come in and sit a spell?

- Well... - Oh, please.

All right. Thank you.

Real kind of you to come out and visit.

Well, sit down, be comfortable.

All right, thanks.

I just this minute took a brand-new wild plum pie out of the oven.

Second one I baked today.

I don't often get to feed callers, though.

You ain't goin' to deprive me of the chance.

Well, I didn't think you cared much for callers, Mrs. Cobb.

Oh, I love to have folks in.

But Jezra ain't never been one to encourage it.

The righteous must turn their faces from the world,

for the world is the cradle of sin.

That's what Jezra always said.

There you are, Chester.

Thank you.

That smells real good.

Eat hearty. I baked that pie fresh.

First one got kind of wasted.

How many years you and Jezra been married?

17.

And in all those years, Mrs. Cobb,

How many times did you husband beat you?

How's that, Marshal?

I said how many times has your husband beat you?

I'd hate to count the times.

It was for my transgressions, he told me.

He used to read the Good Book to me, that a husband's got a right to that.

Well, I ain't never learned to read.

So I didn't know.

But last month I asked Reverend Blouze,

and he told me there weren't nothin' like that in the Good Book.

I guess Jezra's got his own version.

He'd been lying to me all that time,

making me think it was written that a man had a right to beat his wife.

And I didn't know no different 'til the reverend told me.

Well... last week...

a drifter come by, and I...

You offered him $300 to kill your husband, didn't you?

That's right.

Jezra found out and come back,

wearing that glory smile.

That's what I hated worse than the beatings was that glory smile.

Well,

guess we'd better go have a talk with your husband.

It won't do no good, Marshal.

Sit down and finish your pie.

It won't do no good.

Why not?

Well, I'm tryin' to tell you...

You'll be wantin' this, Marshal.

What are you talkin' about?

I followed him out to the barn

when he went to get a hickory stick to beat me with.

And, Marshal, I...

I come as close to him as I could so that I wouldn't miss him.

Jezra ain't never gonna beat me no more.

So you see there's...

no hurry goin' to the barn.

Won't you sit down and finish your pie?

I'll put some coffee on.

We'll have that much time, won't we?