Original subtitles

Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.

♪♪

I wish there was some way of sticking things together

without using glue.

If a person would set right in a chair to begin with,

and not like it was a piece of iron,

why, they wouldn't always be a-crumbling down.

- Mister? - Guess I got to go around

fixing up after everybody.

- Hey, mister? - Don't bother me now, boy.

I'm-I'm working.

I'm looking for the marshal.

Yeah, well, you come to the right place...

This is where he lives... Only he ain't here right now.

I got a message for the marshal.

Well, you can't give it to him if he ain't here, can you?

It's on this paper.

Well, all right, here, give it to me.

No. I had to swear to give it to him personal.

Well, you can't give it to him if he ain't here, can you?

When will he be back?

Well, look, boy, I don't go around

checking up on the marshal.

You want to give me the message or don't you?

I ain't to let loose of it to nobody but him.

Fine. All right.

Suit yourself. Suit yourself.

Here. Uh, tap that for me, would you?

Ah. Yeah.

All right.

Now this one.

Hit that one, right there.

Hit it. Hit it.

There. Now, that ought to do it.

If I can just get it to stay there for a spell.

Oh, Mr. Dillon, the kid there wants to see you.

Well, what can I do for you, young fella?

Got this message, if you're the marshal.

Well, I'm the marshal, all right.

Hey!

What is it?

Ab Butler.

Chester, this is from an old friend of mine

- I haven't seen for ten years. - What does it say?

He says he's lying out near Cotton Wells,

and he's got a bullet in the back.

You better go get Doc.

Well, he ain't here, Mr. Dillon.

He won't be back till tonight.

He went out to the Simpson place.

Should I ought to get the horses?

And we'll need a wagon, Chester.

Well, th...

♪♪

Any sign of him, Mr. Dillon?

No, but he's got to be around here somewhere, Chester.

Hold it right there!

Ho!

Ab?

Matt Dillon.

Ab, what's happened to you?

I was riding... riding up from Texas.

I got ambushed.

I got a bullet in my back two days ago.

Tried to make it to Dodge.

I just couldn't go no further.

Ab, do you think you can move now?

Uh...

I don't know.

That bullet...

it just didn't do me no good at all.

All right, just take it easy.

Chester, see if you can bring that wagon a little closer.

Yes, sir. Hyah!

Ab, now, don't worry about a thing.

We're gonna have you back to Dodge in no time at all.

You know, Matt...

I sure planned a different kind of reunion than this.

Doc, what do you think about his chances?

Well, I don't know. He's lost so doggone much blood.

Must be made of iron, or he wouldn't have lasted this long.

Sure is a terrible thing

to shoot a man in the back like that.

Yeah.

- Is it all right to talk to him? - Yeah, go ahead.

Ab?

What are my chances?

Well, you're gonna be just fine.

Now, don't fool me, Matt; you've know'd me too long.

Am I gonna make it?

Doc says he's not sure.

Oh.

Matt...

I got to stay hid.

Ab, who was it that shot you?

Uh...

I can't tell you.

But one thing I know for sure, he'll be looking for me...

for as long as I'm alive.

Doc...

you're planning to keep him here a while, aren't you?

Well, sure. I got to keep an eye on him.

Uh, there'll be people coming in here?

Well, sure, there'll be people.

Well, he... he wants to keep out of sight, Doc.

Well... only thing I can do is put him in the back room there.

I'll have to get it ready, though.

Chester, will you give me a hand?

Yeah.

You know, Ab, I'd like to help you if I can.

You want to tell me what happened out there?

Well, I can tell you this:

I didn't do nothing wrong.

That...

that fellow who's after me...

well, it's a personal matter.

Sure.

Uh... you believe me, don't you?

Ab, if you tell me, I believe it.

Good.

Matt...

you know I wouldn't... I wouldn't do nothing

to put you in a bad spot.

Ab, you're gonna be all right here.

Doc's gonna take good care of you.

Nobody's gonna bother you.

I knew I could count on you.

We were mighty good friends, weren't we?

We still are.

You're ready to get some sleep now.

- Hello, stranger. - Howdy.

- Got grain here? - Sure I have.

He's had a hard ride.

I'll take good care of him.

What's the best hotel in town?

Uh, the Dodge House down the street.

Did you ever hear of man named Ab Butler?

Is that you?

No, it ain't me.

No. No, I never heard of him.

What are you, a lawman or something?

Just take good care of my horse.

Oh, sure, sure, I will.

Howdy.

Well, howdy.

Do you live here?

Yeah, I guess you could say that.

You must know almost everybody in town, don't you?

Reckon so.

I'm looking for a man, mister... It'd be worth

a couple of bucks to me if you could help me find him.

Oh?

Friend of mine.

We got separated on the trail.

His name's Butler.

Ab Butler.

Butler.

Do you know him?

Uh...

Ab Butler.

No, I... I don't think I do.

Well, much obliged.

If-if he should turn up, who should I say is looking for him?

If he turns up, I'll find him.

Yeah.

Good luck.

Mr. Dillon?

There he is, Mr. Dillon,

standing down there by that post.

Yeah.

Chester, you better stay here.

Mister.

What's your name?

My name's Joe Leeds, Marshal.

I understand you're looking for Ab Butler.

Word sure gets around fast, don't it?

What do you want him for?

Well, I'll tell you, Marshal,

I'm not in the habit of asking help from the law.

Well, I'm not offering any; I've asked you a question.

It's a personal matter, Marshal.

Strictly personal.

You gonna answer me?

When I find Ab Butler...

it'll be no concern of yours.

It'll be between him and me, just the two of us.

Three of us.

Well, I sure admire a man who cottons to his job

the way you do, Marshal.

If you want to find out just how much I cotton to my job,

you make one false move around this town.

That's the only warning you're gonna get.

Find out anything?

Enough.

Say, I think we better get on up to Doc's.

I want to tell him about this so he can keep an eye open.

In fact, I think it'd be a good idea

if you stayed around up there, too.

Sure.

This ain't gonna put Ab Butler at his ease, is it?

Well, we aren't gonna tell him about it; not yet.

- Well, Ab. - Matt.

So, you're up and around, huh?

Yeah, I... I got kind of tired

of looking at the four walls in there.

- Where's Doc? - Oh, he just went out.

He said he'd be back directly.

How are you feeling?

Well, I'm... I'm gonna make it.

Doc ain't worried no more.

Yeah, I know. I saw him this morning.

Ab, I'm, uh, gonna leave Chester here with you for a while.

Why?

Is something wrong, Matt?

No... No, just in case you need anything.

Well, now... you don't have to, Chester.

Oh, I don't mind at all.

Keep me in out of the sun.

Well, I'll, uh, I'll see you later.

All right, Mr. Dillon.

There you are, mister.

Doc, I'm from up in that country.

Well, I don't care whether you are or not.

Name of the river is the Purgatoire.

We always call it the Picket Wire.

Well, that's not its name; it's the Purgatoire.

Picket Wire's a lot easier to say.

Well, I can't help that.

Awful lot of folks who can't pronounce the name

called it a lot of silly things,

like the Purgatory and things like that.

How do you know all of this, Doc?

Well, I'll just tell you.

When I was a young fella, back in the '20s,

I did a little bit of knocking around up in that country.

I was with the Hudson Bay Company Trapping Company

for a while, and we were all through Colorado

and Yellowstone and all through there.

I'll tell you something else,

there was a lot of real men up in there then.

There was the Carson family

and the Sublettes and the Bents.

I know that.

Hiya, Doc.

How are you?

Good, Kitty, how are you?

Fine.

You've been kind of a stranger around here.

I've missed you.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

Well, I tell you, I, uh,

I don't mean to stay away from here,

but I've been kind of busy.

- Oh, you're always busy. - That's just an excuse.

No, no, an awful lot; I'll tell you the truth.

I been pretty busy.

Got a sick fella up in my office.

Who?

Well, I don't think you'd know him.

What's he sick with?

Sick with a bullet.

In his back.

You know who did it?

No, I don't.

That's something for Matt to worry about.

And I better be getting back there.

Clem,

it's the Purgatoire.

What you going out the back way for?

Oh, I'm going by the post office.

Don't stay away so often.

I'll see you.

Have another, mister?

No, no more.

Can you tell me where the doc's office is?

Why sure, right down the street.

You'll see a sign; go up the stairs.

Thanks.

What's the matter, Matt? You know him?

Yeah, I know him.

He's gunning for a friend of mine.

What?

I wouldn't worry about him, Marshal.

Not just now anyway.

Why not?

Well, he's sick or something.

He just asked me where the doc's office is.

He what?

That's right.

I'll see you later.

Leeds.

Stay where you are, Marshal.

You're not going in there.

You ain't stopping me.

You should've let me do it, Marshal.

Shoot him in the back again?

He had it coming.

Ab must have been telling you some lies.

What do you mean?

He's got the money.

What money?

Bank money.

Texas.

We robbed it together.

Ab shot the teller,

then he run off.

Are you telling me the truth?

Ain't no odds for me to lie.

Not now.

Find that money, Marshal.

Find it...

Do you suppose that he was telling the truth

about Ab, I mean?

I don't know.

Well, Ab sure don't have no money on him now,

that's for sure.

Well, he could've buried it out there somewhere

where we found him.

Yeah, I reckon so. Yeah.

Ab ain't a bank robber.

I don't like to think that.

Well, maybe he didn't do it, Mr. Dillon.

Him saying so don't give it no proof.

Chester,

I think we better ride out there and find out.

Would you get the horses?

Yes, sir.

Find anything, Chester?

No, I didn't find nothing.

Suppose he was able to dig a hole and bury it somewheres?

Well, it hasn't rained lately, Chester.

You know, if he'd have buried it, why,

we'd probably see the loose dirt around somewhere.

Well, I scoured the whole hillside.

- Looked everywhere that I could. - You know something,

I'm beginning to think there never was any money.

Well, that's what I kind of think.

You know that Leeds could have been lying.

He wasn't no good anyway,

shooting a man in the back like that.

Yeah, then again, what reason would he have

to lie when he was dying?

Well, I just don't think that Ab Butler's

a kind of a feller would turn bank robber.

I've known him for a long time, Chester.

I never would have thought so either.

Well, maybe you should have just sort of asked Ab

about the money and let it gone at that.

Maybe you're right.

Well, might as well get back, huh?

Wait a minute.

Sure is a lot of money there, Mr. Dillon.

Of course, by getting it all back like we did,

maybe it won't go so hard on Ab.

Well...

Chester, there's just one thing you're forgetting.

- What's that? - Ab murdered the bank teller.

Ar-Are... are you gonna tell him that?

About finding the money, I mean?

Yeah, might as well get it over with.

I'll have some coffee for you when you get...

Here you are, Ab.

Now, that's not much of a dinner, Doc.

No.

Well, I'll do a little better for you tonight, Ab.

Glad to see you're hungry, though.

That's a good sign.

Well, I ought to be able to get out of here tomorrow.

Don't you think so, Doc?

Well, I don't know about that,

but you're on the mend.

You got nothing to worry about, anyway.

Yeah, nothing at all.

Except that Leeds fella.

Ab, you never did tell me why he was after you.

Well, he never said neither, did he?

No, I don't think so.

According to Matt, he was... he was dead when he fell.

Yeah, well, let's just leave it at that, huh, Doc?

All right, Ab.

Hello, Matt.

Matt.

Doc.

You want to tell me about it, Ab?

Tell you about what?

Everything.

What's bothering you, Matt?

Leeds.

He told me the whole story just before he died.

Oh?

I didn't want to tell you till I made sure.

Well, now, just how'd you make sure?

Rode out, found the money.

Well...

I was hoping to keep you out of this, Matt.

Look...

why don't you keep the money?

Send it back; tell them I got away.

I'll be riding out of here pretty soon,

and I promise I won't never come back.

Just let you go, huh?

Well, sure.

We're friends, ain't we?

Now, who's gonna know?

Look, Chester, he's not gonna talk, if you tell him.

Doc, well, Doc's on my side.

Ain't you, Doc?

Matt...

they'll hang me down there.

I killed a man in that bank.

Yeah... I know.

Doc, when can I take him to jail?

Matt...

You just unbuckle your gun belt real easy.

Ab, you're a fool.

Just do what I tell you.

I'll just come after you.

No, you won't.

I'm gonna kill you, Matt.

I gotta do it.

I don't trust you no more.

All right, now let me tell you something.

Maybe you'll get a bullet in me, sure.

But I'll get one in you, too,

before I die.

You'll never make it out that door.

Oh, I just got no choice.

I'm sorry about this, Matt.

Doc?

Yeah, I plumb forgot about you.

You sure did, Ab.

You see...

Doc's a friend of mine, too.

Well, there's another bullet there that's got to come out.

Doc...

just leave it in.

Hmm?

Where it'll make it easier...

when they hang me.