Original subtitles

Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.

Pa?

Pa?

Pa, you in there?

Well, what you sittin' out here hollering about?

I thought you'd be up at the house by now.

Ain't it getting on dinner time?

Oh, dinner time all you ever think of?

I've been in there nursing the bay mare.

She got the colic real bad.

Well, gonna put my horse up and go get dinner started

Unless'n you want some help with the mare.

Oh, I don't need no help,

but you'd ought to been back two hours ago.

Just went to the south spring, didn't you?

Oh, there was some cattle there, Pa.

Why shouldn't there be?

Well, it was Dolan cattle.

Dolan cattle?

That far onto our land?

Yep.

I gathered them up and headed them back.

Oh, so you headed them back.

Now what good's that gonna do?

Well, what should I have done?

That south spring's six mile inside our land, ain't it?

Yeah.

Then you should have drove them cattle back, all the way,

and drove them hard, just as fast as they'd go.

Now, Pa, you'd run all the meat off them doing that.

Oh, you're catching on fast, Pete.

That's just what it'd do.

And when them Dolan brothers found out, then what?

Well, maybe it will learn them

to keep their cattle on their own land.

We ain't got enough grass for the whole countryside.

They might come riding down on us, Pa.

Pete, there's times when it don't matter

who comes riding down on you.

I don't believe in fighting all the time.

Man's got to fight.

He might lose but if he don't fight,

he's going to lose anyway, gonna lose everything.

Ah, thinking that way just leads to trouble, Pa.

Thinking your way just leads to robbed

by anybody who takes a mind to it.

Well, you go fix dinner and you eat it too.

I got work to do.

Where you going, Pa?

Show them Dolans there's one man on this ranch

that ain't afraid of them.

Coffee's about ready.

You had time to boil that coffee ten times over.

What you been doing here, Lee?

Well, I ain't been out shooting antelope.

- We didn't shoot no antelope. - So I see.

Never mind the talk; give me some coffee.

What do you think, Ed?

I don't know.

The cattle didn't stampede or nothing like that.

They was drove, and drove hard.

On purpose.

What are you talking about?

Them cattle we shoved over in Jeff Mossman's land.

What about them?

They was drove back.

Run half to death.

That old man Mossman done it.

He just mean enough.

Them cattle needed that grass.

What do you figure to do, Hutch?

Well, you ain't going to let

an old man scare us off, are you?

I might send you over to fight him.

Well, what's so funny?

You don't think I'll go?

He'd send you home in a sack.

That ol' man's got more fire in him than you have.

Well, his son sure ain't.

Nah, maybe you could take him on.

Let's get our horses.

What are you going to do, Hutch?

Ain't sure,

but it might be we don't have to kill

old Jeff Mossman just yet.

Let's go find out.

What's the matter, Pa?

The mare.

She dead?

Just now.

And I'll tell you something,

I could have saved her.

If what?

If you'd done what you should have done,

instead of me going back to do it for you.

That's when the mare needed me real bad.

And I was out there chasing them cattle off our land.

Ah, proves what I saw, Pa.

Your fighting ways just bring on trouble.

Well, now...

What is it?

It's them Dolan brothers. Now you've done it.

Now you've got them riding down just like I said they would.

Go up to the house, Pete.

What?

Go on up to the house like I told you.

If his ma was alive,

she'd stand right here alongside of me.

Mossman.

Jeff Mossman, come out of there.

Maybe he ain't in there, Hutch.

Maybe he's down at the barn.

Somebody's in there; I seen him move.

I'll put a bullet through that window

if you don't come out.

Well, if it ain't Pete.

Where's your pa?

I don't know. What do you want with him?

Answer his question, Pete.

Don't think up none of your own.

Where's he at?

I told you I don't know.

I've been in the house here all day.

Just like a woman.

Well, take your apron off, Pete, and come on down to the barn.

If your pa's there, we maybe gonna hang him.

Stop right there.

You ain't hanging no one today

Easy now, Jeff.

We just talking to scare that milksop son of yours.

What you riding on my land for?

Well, we came over to talk, neighbor-like.

Why ain't you up north to your house?

What you setting up camp down here for?

We got cattle down here.

Yeah, I seen 'em.

Yeah, you seen 'em, and you gave them

a good run all right, didn't you?

I'll run them harder next time.

You don't start biting off bits of my land like that.

I know what you're up to.

I'll tell you what we're up to.

We got a lot of cattle, Jeff, not much grass.

So, if a few of our cattle get in your land,

don't get in a huff about it.

'Cause if you do, we'll just move in

and take over your whole place, you got that clear?

Yeah, that's clear.

Next time I won't run your cattle off, I'll shoot them,

and I'll leave them there for the buzzards.

You do that and we'll hang you sure.

Well, then I reckon next time I see

any one of you Dolans, be fair to kill you.

There's three of us.

Only one of you.

Get riding, Hutch,

and take your riffraff brothers with you.

Take it a lot of learning, don't you, Jeff?

More than you can ever teach me.

Now you get riding like I said.

All right, kid, you can come out now.

They gone?

They're just trying to rouse us a little.

They're trying kill us.

No, not this time, but they will.

I know Dolan.

I told you, Pa; I told you what would happen.

For your sake, Pete, I hope they don't kill me.

If they did, they'd wash you off this place

like you was made of paper.

Hey,

look who's here.

Look at him,

trying to find a hole to crawl into.

Let's tie up over there.

What do you want?

Is this your stuff, Pete?

Of course it's ours.

You in town alone, Pete?

Pa's with me.

He went up the street after something.

He'll be back in a minute.

That don't bother us, now.

Lee, get up there.

Well, now what?

Rip open them sacks.

Hey, that's a fine idea.

Now, that ain't right, you oughtn't to do that.

Stop him, Hutch.

Make him quit that.

Dump some of it on him, Lee.

Maybe it will shut him up.

All right, that's enough, Lee.

- Get down. - Oh, that was fun, Hutch.

Well, that will show him, won't it?

Oh, my, this is sure going to make old Jeff awful mad.

Let's go to the Long Branch.

I need a drink.

Yeah, sure, so do I.

Sure is a sight.

So long, Pete.

Well, it's like I always say, Miss Kitty,

what the saloon business needs is a big fight

or a bank hold up, or even enginery.

Something to create lots of excitement

and make people thirsty.

Well, I wish they'd work up a thirst over something like,

uh, new school building

or, uh, putting cobblestones down on Front Street.

Something decent for a change.

Well, now maybe there would,

if anything decent ever happened around here.

Well, let's not give up hope, Dan.

We're young yet.

Sure, and almost broke, too.

Beats working for a living though, doesn't it?

Well, you got me there.

Hey, barkeep, set 'em up here.

Whiskey, a whole river of it.

We got barrels of whiskey, mister,

a whole shed full of it.

Yeah, plenty the last time I was in here.

All of it bad.

Well, maybe you shouldn't have tried to drink it all, mister.

Well, there you are, Grant.

That's the sure truth.

Here, try this; it's our best stock.

I'm only charging you regular.

- Say now. - I'll take it.

They said they were going to the Long Branch, huh?

- Yeah. - All right, Pete.

I'll talk to you later.

Hutch Dolan, don't try

no fancy moves.

Let's shoot him, Hutch.

Let's all three go to work on him.

Don't be a fool; he got the drop on us.

You done a bad thing out there, Hutch.

You and your coyote brothers.

Watch your mouth, mister.

For what you done, I want pay.

$20 to cover the damage.

You're sucking winds, Jeff.

Looks like I'll have to kill you then.

- Might as well be now as later. - Jeff.

You keep out of this, Marshal.

Jeff, put the rifle down.

All right, now you boys get your elbows on the bar.

It's him started it, Marshal.

Yeah, I just went by that wagon.

I saw what you did.

I want $20 to pay for it, Marshal.

I come here to collect or else.

Well, that sounds fair enough to me.

All right.

I'll have to reach in my pocket to get it.

Go ahead.

$20.

Here you are, Jeff.

Crawl for it.

I'll be leaving now, Marshal.

You showed him, Hutch.

You sure showed him.

No sense in leaving it there.

That calls for a drink.

Kitty.

Oh, I sure hate to see him get away with that.

Well, it's better than a shooting.

Well, they shouldn't have insulted old Jeff like that.

Whatever they did to his wagon must have been bad enough.

Yeah, and to his son, Pete, too.

Poured flour all over him.

Well, Pete never would lift a finger to defend himself.

So long, Marshal.

Even though they're gone,

there still may be some trouble out there.

Look out, Hutch!

Dolan.

He threw down on me, Marshal.

- I had to shoot. - Put the gun up.

Give me back my gun, Marshal.

You've had enough of guns for one day, Jeff.

Right, where you hit?

- Here. - All right, come on.

Let's get you up to Doc's.

- Easy. - I'm all right.

- Is he hurt bad, Mr. Dillon? - Bad enough, Chester.

Get him up to Doc's, will you?

Yes, sir.

Dolan, I can't arrest you this time,

but you stay away from Mossman

or you're going to be in real trouble.

Now look here, Marshal...

Shut up, Grant.

Let's go.

We pushed them about far enough, ain't we, Hutch?

We can leave them here.

They're on good grass now.

If they're left alone.

I ain't worried about Pete Mossman driving them off.

Jeff Mossman's back; he might make him do it.

You're right,

even though he can't do no riding himself.

We better stay on guard here, I guess.

We ain't so far up from their house,

we can't ride over and see what's going on.

It's a good idea.

Let's get them cattle stuffed, then we'll go.

All right, Pete.

Come on out of there.

We seen you.

Well, there he is.

What do you want? What are you doing here?

Your pa ain't hiding in there with a rifle, is he?

No.

We'll kill you sure if he starts shooting.

Don't do nothing; Pa ain't even here.

Where is he?

In town at Doc's.

Doc's keeping him there at his place till he's fit.

Too bad he ain't dead.

Well, he ain't dead.

He's going to be all right in a few days, Doc says.

Then I suppose he'd be coming back here

and making more trouble.

We'll kill him sure if he does.

Look here, fellas.

Listen to me.

I'm different from Pa.

Him and me don't think alike.

I believe in getting along with folks,

not fighting them all the time.

Ain't no reason for shooting and all that.

It just ain't right.

You talk real good sense, Pete.

If it wasn't for your pa, there wouldn't be no trouble.

But like you say, Pete,

your pa don't think like you.

Well, he's kind of old.

You got to bear with him.

Oh, we'll bear with him, all right.

Don't you worry about that, Pete.

Come on.

What is it, Hutch?

Got an idea.

What?

Gonna give Jeff a kind of homecoming.

Teach him a lesson at the same time.

Tell you about it later.

Well, morning.

Morning, Doc.

You two are up kind of early, ain't you?

Well, the early bird gets the worm, Doc.

Yeah, is that what they gave you for breakfast?

Yeah.

What got you up so early anyway?

Oh, we came by to see how Jeff Mossman's doing, Doc.

Well, he's doing pretty good.

I want him to walk around a little bit today.

Not too much though.

He needs to get his strength back.

You want to see him?

Yeah, might as well.

Well, all right.

Maybe you can talk him in to taking it easy.

He's getting awful hard to hold down.

Well, we'll try.

Oh, Jeff's got a mind of his own.

Indeed he has.

Come on in.

Jeff, you got comp...

Jeff?

Is he gone?

- Well, he sure look... - Uh-oh.

Huh?

Doc...

Well, he couldn't have gotten out of there.

- Not by a rope? - No, he couldn't have made it, Matt.

Mr. Dillon, I bet you he left took out after that Hutch Dolan.

- Huh? - We better get riding.

- Come on. - Probably rented a horse

down at the stable.

Still think he'd come along here, Mr. Dillon?

Well, these are fresh tracks in here, Chester.

Looks like he's headed for home.

Yeah, or straight for the Dolan camp, one.

Well, we'll try the ranch first.

Come on.

Look at that.

This must have happened last night

or else real early this morning.

Look here.

Is it Pete?

Yeah. He's burned to death.

Well, how'd that happen?

Well, I don't know, but my off-hand guess would be

it's the work of the Dolans, Chester.

Well, they wouldn't have brought him out here,

Mr. Dillon, and covered him up like that.

They sure wouldn't.

Jeff did that and he's got a head start on us.

I think we better do some riding.

Come on.

Well, I guess our troubles are over, hey Hutch?

I think so.

Jeff will know who done it, but he can't prove nothing.

Well, this will sure take the heart out of him, all right.

Yeah, and we got it all for free.

Even that bullet I put into him.

Hey.

We might even consider buying his land.

Just to be nice.

We could draw up some papers,

pay him later.

We'd pay him later, all right.

It's an idea.

Make everything look real legitimate.

We're gonna be rich, ain't we?

Don't move or I'll kill you.

You make one move, and I'll put a bullet through your heart.

He means it, Hutch.

Don't do nothing till I tell you.

What's troubling you, Jeff?

Think hard, Hutch.

It just might come to you.

Now, you ain't blaming me for protecting

myself the other day, are you?

What did you do to Pete?

Knock him over the head and then fire the house?

What are you talking about?

You're the worst men I ever knew, the three of you.

Just 'cause that boy of yours got drunk

or something and burned down the house.

He wouldn't fight back; he didn't believe in it.

So, you killed him.

It's a terrible thing you men done.

You saying we killed Pete?

You got any proof of that?

This ain't a law court.

I don't need no proof like you're saying.

You're making a fool of yourself, Jeff.

You got no right coming here and accusing us.

We got to see the marshal.

You ain't gonna see nobody.

Not all of you, leastways.

I'm shooting Hutch first,

then two of you if I live that long.

Now, hold on, Jeff.

We can settle this some other way.

Ain't no need for killing.

There's plenty of need.

Don't shoot.

You killed him!

Look, the marshal.

Too bad you had to get here right now, Marshal.

Now, Jeff, you just hold easy on that trigger finger.

Did you shoot him?

I did.

Well, Jeff, I'll take your gun now.

You tried to interfere last time, Marshal.

Didn't do no good.

Jeff, killing another man's not gonna help you any.

Now come on.

Oh, all right, Marshal.

I don't aim to fight with you.

I'll get Hutch and Lee another time.

How'd he die?

He reached for his gun, but it don't matter.

I was gonna shoot him anyway.

He's lying, Marshal.

Came sneaking in here and got the drop on us.

Shot Grant for nothing.

Grant was standing there with his hands up.

That's right, Marshal.

Then how come he's got his gun in his hand?

Didn't you ever hear of a man drawing after he was hit?

- Yeah, I've heard of it. - Well?

Well, I'll tell you one thing, Hutch.

However he died, it's better than getting burned to death.

Don't bother, Marshal.

It don't matter anymore.

Jeff, I'm sorry about what's happened,

and I'm gonna take it over now.

You believe them, what they say?

No, Jeff, I believe you.

Hutch, I'm gonna take you in.

You and Lee both.

What for, Marshal?

Murder's as good a charge as any.

Get him, Lee.

No, no, Marshal.

Chester, take a look at him.

He's dead, Mr. Dillon.

Chester, keep an eye on him.

Well, Jeff.

Thanks, Marshal.

Lee ain't worth locking up, Marshal.

He's no fighter.

No more than my Pete was.