Original subtitles

Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.

Water!

Hey, Frank, is this the town you was counting on

having such a good time in tonight?

Huh?

Aw, a good sneeze would blow this place right off the map.

Who says it's on the map?

Hey, you, where does a man buy a drink in this graveyard, huh?

Thanks.

Sheriff's office?

Well, you can buy your liquor

and get arrested in the same place... very convenient.

Mark down these dresses much more,

might as well give 'em away.

- Hi. - Howdy.

Uh, we were told we could get a drink here.

Well, I... I hope you were told no hard stuff, though.

Hate to disappoint you.

What does, uh, "no hard stuff" mean?

Soda pop's all we carry.

Are you funnin' us, mister?

Folks hereabouts do most of their hard drinking at home.

Lemon goes down easier than root beer.

I'll bet you get a lot of laughs with that one.

You got two choices here, boys... You can have your soda pop

with a laugh or without a laugh.

Well, if I don't get to wash down this dust,

I'll be fit only for choking.

- Give me a lemon. - Two. -Three. -Root beer.

Hey, plowboy.

You look, uh, mighty interested in that book there.

Has it got maybe some, um...

pictures?

No, it's just a little brain twister

I'm struggling with.

Well, now...

maybe we can give you a hand with it.

No, it's... just a mess of figures.

It's kind of complicated even to say 'em.

That means "mind your own business."

No, I... I didn't mean it that way.

Yeah. Hey, that, uh, that sign out front,

you're the badge toter here, huh?

Oh, well, it's, uh... it's kind of an honorary thing.

Uh, folks, well, they... they vote me a little pay

if I'm taken away from the store.

Saturday nights you must have your hands full.

Well, uh, the crickets do get a little noisy at times.

But we tend to overlook that.

Well, now, there's our second laugh.

We got four bottles of pop, we got two laughs to go, right?

Uh, how much do the folks vote you a month

to count the crickets?

Three dollars. Maybe five sometimes.

Ooh.

Now, you tell us that you're the deputy,

and we've had our fourth laugh.

That's my son, Clayton. As a matter of fact,

he is my deputy when I need one.

We got a sheriff and his deputy handing us our soda pop!

Tell me, plowboy, how much do you get paid

for your deputying?

Dollar a month.

Hey, we been wasting our time bringing up herds!

The real money's right here,

handing out soda pop and the law!

You boys want to take your bottles and finish 'em riding,

you're, uh, welcome.

Somebody's asking us to git, Sam.

Uh, uh, you got real quick enforcement here

in case we should decide to settle down?

Looks like you get no answer, Sam.

Yeah.

♪♪

♪♪

Hold it, mister!

You owe five dollars for that broken glass in there.

You figured out a way to collect it?

Clayton!

- Clayton, now, leave it be! - But, Pa...

He ain't worth the trouble. Now, come on!

You better listen to your pa, sonny.

Wait a minute, plowboy.

I kind of go along with your pa there.

Five dollars don't seem worth having a fuss over.

Brother Frank?

Is that enough for your fuss?

Come on, son. Come on.

Before you take him away, Pop...

I got a piece of advice for him.

When you're gonna open your mouth, boy,

first thing you do is make a count of the other man's muscle

and you count your own.

Now, if you see he's bigger, you just smile.

You don't say a word, you just smile.

Start smiling, boy.

That's right, you're gonna eat the biggest dish of crow

in Oklahoma, and you got three seconds to do it.

You don't learn very quick, do you, kid?

Wait a minute.

He ain't asking too much, son.

After all, a... a smile's pretty cheap.

Pa, don't!

Why, he's just a boy; he don't mean nothing.

Why, I reckon a man has to age a little

to see the ways of the world.

Why... why, I-I got these gray hairs

proving it pays to smile every now and again

to get along, son.

I, uh... I want to apologize again, mister,

for not having nothing in my place

to-to stake a true thirst.

Uh...

You, uh...

You come back this way, mister, and I...

I just might have something on hand I'd be proud to offer,

and... uh...

Sheriff...

you must have been a real terror in your time.

Hyah!

Let's go!

The day's kind of... kind of warming up.

I could stand a little soda pop myself.

How could you do it, Pa?

It's better than you laying dead out there in the dust.

Never before in my whole life

have I seen you do something like that.

Can you tell me a better way to have handled 'em?

Well, I'd have died before I grinned at him.

You mighty near did.

- Where are you going? - Going after 'em.

You're crazy!

I'm set on having those men before a judge, Pa.

Why, there's four of 'em... You ain't but a boy!

Oh, I growed up quite a bit in the last few minutes.

And if you'll be making out a legal warrant,

I'll be serving it on 'em.

I won't do anything of the kind!

Well, then I'll go after them without a warrant.

Clayton!

All right.

I'll... I'll make out a warrant.

I'll saddle up.

John... Doe.

Four Does.

Disorderly...

conduct.

Signed...

John...

Greenwood...

Sheriff...

Sheriff of Greenwood...

Flats...

T...

♪♪

Looks like another kill over there.

Sure does.

Howdy.

Morning.

I'm guessing I'm on a line for Dodge City?

Well, that's about right... Four miles due east.

- You're Marshal Dillon of Dodge. - That's right.

Heard a lot about you.

My name's Clayton. Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood.

How do? This is Festus Haggen here.

Howdy.

Nice to know you. You haven't come across

four drovers riding Mexican saddles, have you?

Well, I'll tell you, you're liable to find

a lot of men out here in this country these days

that fit that description.

Son, there's trail camps strung out up and down here

for 40 or 50 miles waiting for them

eastern cattle buyers to come in.

You've tucked yourself on quite a chore

trying to cull out four drovers.

Guessing I'll be... doubling these saddle sores.

If you really want to find 'em, I'll tell you,

why don't you let them come to you?

I reckon I don't follow that, Marshal.

Well, most of the drovers in this part of the country

head into Dodge on Saturday nights.

You'll probably find the men you're looking for

at the Long Branch.

I'd sure say that sounds like common sense.

I'll follow your advice, Marshal.

Nice to have met you both.

So long.

Right nice-looking boy, ain't he?

Kind of reminds me of myself when I was a young'un.

Mm-hmm.

♪♪

Well, looks like we're up against

a real bad pack of wolves... They killed this one

just for the pleasure of it.

They sure couldn't have been hungry

after gorging theirselves on that other'n back yonder.

Yeah.

I'll do the talking.

- Howdy. - Howdy.

Yeah, we're trying to get a line on these wolves

that have been causing all the trouble around here.

You didn't, by any chance,

see 'em bring down that steer, did you?

No. They're too smart for that, Marshal.

They've sure been doing a lot of trouble.

Do you suppose they could be coming in from the west hills?

Well, fair guess, they are.

We're trying to get brands on our calves as quick as possible

before we lose any more in the canyons.

Well, a lot of the outfits have been losing steers.

Dodge is offering $25 apiece

for all the wolf skins you bring in.

No, I think we'll be kept busy enough

keeping an eye on our own stock.

- So long. - Much obliged.

Ride over and let Sam know we had a visitor.

♪♪

Yeah. That'd take the run out of anybody, all right.

They're getting around to offering bounties now.

How many we bring in?

About 20 so far.

Back! Back!

Get back!

Come on!

Why don't you teach them dogs to stay off the rest of us.

Aw, shut up.

You don't train a killer dog by making him friendly.

♪♪

Have a drink, cowboy.

- How much is a beer? - Nickel.

But this drink's on the house.

I'll draw you a beer if you'd rather have it.

For free?

Absolutely.

Sure would be kind of you.

Um...

How much are they?

Well, they're free if you buy a drink.

In that case, I reckon I'll pay for the beer.

Help yourself.

Sure am beholden to you.

Do you mind if I sit down?

Anyplace at all.

Thank you.

Send over a couple cups of coffee, Sam.

Yes, ma'am.

I was gonna have some coffee, but you took my favorite table.

Oh, I... never intended to, ma'am.

I'm awful sorry.

How tall are you?

Too tall for comfort.

Still growing, huh?

Yes, ma'am.

Well, you won't be

if you keep eating pretzels and beer for breakfast.

No, ma'am.

I've ordered some coffee, if you care to join me.

Oh, no, I-I couldn't, really.

I'm Kitty Russell. I own this place.

I reckon I'm more of a country boy than I thought.

My name's Clayton Thaddeus Greenwood.

Happy to meet you.

They call my brother Clayton Lowell Greenwood,

so I always have to give my full handle so that, you know,

- people won't get confused. - Thanks, Sam.

Oh, wait a minute.

How about some eggs to go with this coffee?

Oh, no, that-that'd be too much, really.

Now, wait a minute, I know two things...

One, you're short on change,

and two, that you'll pay me back.

So why don't you show me some country boy common sense, huh?

I might just learn to live at this table

the way things are going.

♪♪

♪♪

Well, the job's yours, Festus, if you want it.

Being it's a worry to you, Matthew,

I'll be glad to do all I can.

Well, it's a worry because these ranchers

are gonna be in real trouble this winter

with all these wolves around.

I'll get my traps together and start setting 'em

- first thing in the morning. - Well, see you later.

So long.

♪♪

♪♪

And there she was!

You fellas, uh...

finish that story down at the jail.

I said you'll be finishing the story over in jail.

I'm saying you're under arrest.

Hey, it's the, uh, the-the-the plowboy.

I got a warrant right here.

I didn't get your names at the store,

so my pa just wrote in "John Does."

Well, this is for them, uh, the-the-the windows

in Oklahoma there.

The damages cost $40 to repair.

The warrant is for the damages and disorderly conduct.

Disorderly conduct?!

- -Hey! Hey, everybody! Stop it! Hey!

Hey, hey, quiet! Quiet!

Quiet, everybody!

Hey, lookie here. Lookie.

You got a big treat in store for you.

This here's a plowboy,

and there's only one of the kind.

Plowboy, tell these nice people how much you earn

with that badge of yours.

Whole dollar a month, this boy gets.

Well, he's a lawman... You didn't tell me that.

Well, I didn't know it myself.

Sam, I think you better go get Matt.

You know, plowboy, uh...

you ought to keep that old badge of yours rubbed bright.

Ow! Aah!

I was hoping there wouldn't be any trouble.

I'm real sorry, ma'am.

So you people can all see that there's a gun over there

pointed at us.

Now, I want witnesses to remember...

that we didn't start no trouble.

Well, you got a witness that he's a lawman

and he's trying to take you to jail peaceably.

You keep out of this.

He hasn't got the right to arrest anybody.

Well, sonny, which, uh, which one of us you gonna shoot, huh?

Made up your mind?

All right, hold it here.

I think you can put that away now.

I was just putting these men under arrest, Marshal.

Well, since when do you pay attention to an Oklahoma badge?

Oklahoma?

I got a proper warrant, Marshal.

Tell him what it's for, plowboy...

Disorderly conduct.

In Oklahoma.

I'm, uh, sorry to have to tell you this, young fella,

but this isn't any good here in Kansas.

Look, uh, why don't you come along with me to the office.

We can talk this over.

- What about them? - They're not going anywhere.

The last thing my pa did was make out that warrant,

and I just couldn't go home with them fellas still on the loose.

Well, son, I can sure understand how you feel,

your father dying like that and all...

but I'm afraid there's not much you can do to those men

while they're here in Kansas.

You couldn't arrest them for me?

Not on an Oklahoma warrant.

I was counting on having them fellas before a judge.

Well... see, the most any judge would do

would be maybe to fine 'em for the damages,

give 'em a day or two in jail, but that's about it.

They can't be held responsible for your father's death.

That might have happened anyway.

But it wouldn't have happened, Marshal.

I know it wouldn't have happened.

Well, that's one of the things you have to learn about the law:

Justice is sometimes pretty hard to come by.

Yes, sir.

Your father was John Greenwood, wasn't he?

How'd you know that?

Oh, I ran into him a time or two

when he was sheriff down in Tulsa.

He got shot up pretty bad.

Yeah, I heard about that.

Your father was quite a man.

Yes, sir, he was.

It's taken me quite a while to puzzle that out, though.

What'll you do now, get back home?

No, sir. I'm gonna stay on the trail of those fellas,

even if I have to wait till they get back to Oklahoma.

You know... if you do that,

you might be betting a little more than you bargained for.

If you take my advice, son, you'll forget about it,

go back home.

Maybe so, Marshal, but I've made up my mind

that I'm gonna get them, and I am.

I want to thank you, though, for your advice.

Well, good luck.

Thank you.

- Toro! Toro! - Toro!

Ha-ha!

Olé!

Hey. Hey. Hey, fellas.

Look who's here.

- Hey, plowboy. - Sonny?

How's old smiley doing down your way, plowboy?

Real friendly fella, your pa... You should take after him more.

Yeah, them store-bought teeth of his,

they sure smile there, fella!

Tell you one thing about your old man,

he sure knows a gunfighter when he sees one!

Howdy again, Thad.

Howdy.

If I was you, I wouldn't pay no mind to them fellers at all.

I reckon I better get used to it.

I may be here for some time.

You ain't fixin' to leave?

Not for a while.

Guess maybe I ought to put my horse up someplace?

Old Moss ain't here, but there's plenty of room in yonder.

- Bring him on in. Come on. - Thank you.

♪♪

♪♪

Now, when they start moving,

cut 30 or so head up in the canyon.

And watch yourselves... There's too many drovers around

to get careless.

All right, time to move. Go on!

Hyah!

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Have a look at his right front foot, will you?

He's been favoring it a little.

♪♪

See what I told you?

Every time we turn around, there he is.

Yeah, looks like we better have a little talk.

Hello, plowboy.

The boys tell me you been making

quite a nuisance of yourself the last few days.

I'm just kind of keeping an eye on you fellas.

Well, look, uh...

we might not have had time to mention it back in Oklahoma,

but... we don't like people keeping an eye on us.

We don't like it at all.

A fella who's got nothing to hide

has got no cause to worry about somebody watching him.

I got a piece of advice for you, kid:

You stay off our heels, or you're gonna get yourself hurt.

That's right.

We don't like you nor no one else following us around.

Any time you fellas try to use force to stop me,

that'd be against the law, wouldn't it?

I could have you jailed for assault.

No.

Any time you fellas looking for trouble...

I'll be around.

♪♪

♪♪

I don't know what you're looking around for.

It'd be crazy, him out there watching at night.

Don't make much sense,

him watching when we're at the barbershop

or... drinking at the Oasis, but there he is.

We got to do something about him, Sam.

He keeps popping up like this, we're gonna find him on our tail

some night when we're running the dogs.

We'll water and feed the dogs, but they stay where they are

till the plowboy gets tired of watching us.

But we're losing money every day that passes, Sam,

and it's already been a week.

He's right, Sam. We rounded up all the calves that we could.

Now, if we don't start working the dogs pretty soon,

we ain't gonna make no money at all.

If you just let us put a bullet in that kid...

I told you before, we can't afford to kill him.

We do that, we'll have the marshal on our neck,

and then we'll be in real trouble.

We've got to do something.

We can't just let that kid spoil everything.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was...

You're right... We got to do something.

♪♪

Well, lookie here, Matthew, them's coyote tracks.

Them ain't wolf tracks.

I'll tell you, I haven't saw a blessed sign of a wolf

in four or five days.

Well...

There's no vultures, either.

Now, you know, Matthew, it ain't like a pack of wolves

to just run off like that, and there ain't been

enough hunting to scare 'em off.

Well, that's for sure; according to the number of kills we had

out here last week, it must have been a large wolf pack, too.

And yet, nobody's brought in a single skin.

Now, doesn't that strike you kind of funny?

Sure does.

Something else, too, that bothers me.

The deer are running free out here on the prairie,

not even trying to stay next to the timber.

Now, that's not natural when there's a wolf pack around.

You mean you think it's not a wolf pack,

could be something else doing it?

That's exactly what I'm beginning to think, Festus.

Come on.

♪♪

♪♪

Still at it, ain't you, boy?

He'll just never learn, Sam.

You know, it sure is a shame.

I think you'd pick up something from his old man.

You know, I've seen some people crawl in my time,

but I ain't never seen nobody crawl

the way he did.

Ain't that right, Sam?

Mm-hmm.

Real bootlicker with a star.

Remember how it was, plowboy?

Remember how your pa come belly up

first time he seen a gun?

Uh, what'd you say to him after we left?

Did you thank him for saving your skin?

I don't think so, Sam.

I think the old man just gave him

some smiling lessons.

Come on, take it easy! Look out, now!

Cut it out!

Hold him!

Hold it.

That's enough of that.

Hold it up.

All right, now, get out of there.

Who started this?

He did.

Is that right, Wally?

Well, they come to his table, Marshal,

but... the boy threw the first punch.

We come over to his table.

He been doggin' our trail night and day, Marshal.

Where we come from, you call a man to accounts

if he's following you around.

We got a right to protect ourselves,

even if it's a... a badge doing the meddling.

Young fella, I told you this once before,

but I guess I'll have to tell you again.

You got no right to bother these men

as long as they're in Kansas.

Well, they come to my table first.

That doesn't make any difference.

Now, if you got a personal dispute with them,

you better take off that badge before you settle it.

The two of 'em don't go together.

Yeah, that's telling him, Marshal.

Shut up.

Wally, you total up the damages.

They'll pay for their end, and he'll pay for his.

But I ain't got any money, Marshal.

In that case, I think I'm gonna just

throw you in jail for a couple of days.

In jail?

That's right... Maybe a couple of days in jail

will teach you a little respect for the rights of others.

Now, let's go.

Well, what do you think of that?

I think the cattle business is gonna pick up tonight.

♪♪

Thad, come on out.

You mean you're... you're letting me go?

Well, I'm afraid I played a little trick on you.

I didn't really mean to lock you up in the first place.

I just wanted those drovers to think you were locked up.

What for?

Well... you see, we got to thinking

about these wolf packs and so forth,

and we figured maybe it wasn't really wolves after all.

But whatever it was, was just made to look like wolves,

and that could only be dogs.

Now, if they was wild dogs a-chasing them cattle,

why, they wouldn't have gave up

like they done here about a week ago,

about the time you started trailing them drovers.

I still don't understand.

Well, we didn't, either, at first,

but we got it figured out now.

Them fellers have been a-rustlin' calves

by siccing dogs on them herds.

And they was doing just fine till you come along,

started to botherin' them and a-stickin' on their trail, see?

What's that got to do with putting me in jail?

Golly Bill, Matthew, he's thicker than I thought he was.

Thad, don't you understand?

As long as they figure you're in jail

and not out a-botherin' and a-proddin' around

someplace on their trail, well, they're gonna start

to siccing their dogs on the herds again.

We'll get right out there

and cabbage on to 'em red-handed, understand?

I reckon I got a lot to learn about being a lawman.

Well, now, you're just liable to pick up a point or two

if you just keep a eagle eye on me tonight.

All right, let's go.

Thad.

Mister, them dogs are mean!

- -Yeah. - They know what's coming.

Sound of things, so do they.

Go get 'em!

All right.

Good luck.

There they are!

♪♪

- Who's that? - I don't know.

- And I ain't waitin' to find out! Hyah! - Hyah!

♪♪

Go on! I'm all right!

Don't let 'em get away!

Hyah!

♪♪

♪♪

Hold it, or I'll put a bullet in you!

Don't shoot me, Marshal.

All right, drop that gun easy.

Now, let's get out of here. Go on.

- Is he dead? - Yeah.

That leaves the one you call Sam. Where is he?

Back in the draw with them dogs.

Keep an eye on him, Festus.

Come on.

Someone's coming, is that it?

All right, let's give him a little surprise.

Go get him!

♪♪

You all right?

Yes, sir.

S-Sure glad to see you.

I'll see if I can find your horse.

We'll get you back to town, have Doc take a look at you.

I'll tell you something else.

The first big mistake you made

was a-havin' a old hill boy like me around.

Well, the very reason Matthew hired me

is 'cause I know more about four-legged critters

than anybody you've ever saw.

And that goes special for wolves.

Oh, why don't you stop bragging, Festus.

You didn't find any wolves.

Probably a pretty good thing, too, because if you had've,

you'd have been chasing 'em all over western Kansas,

then those fellas would have made off

with every calf in the country.

Doc, you're a-talkin' a unkindness there.

Uh, only you... Leave it to Matthew right here.

We knowed more about them yay-hoos

than you've ever heard of before we left town.

- Right, Matthew? - Oh, absolutely.

Well, Thad, you're looking some better.

I owe that all to the doctor having a real touch.

There, you see?

See how out-of-town folks appreciate me

more than the locals do?

I'll tell you why that is. 'Cause they ain't had

as many sorry dealing's with you as we have.

You know, I don't know whether you've got anything else to do,

but if you have, I wish you'd go do it someplace else.

Uh, hold...

See what I mean, Thad?

Right there's the orneriest old scudder

I've ever saw.

I'm sorry I caused you all so much trouble.

You have nothing to apologize for, Thad.

You know, if it hadn't been for you dogging those fellas,

we might not have caught up with them till it was too late.

Well, that was just blind luck, Marshal.

I'd have been cooked real bad

if it hadn't been for you and Mr. Haggen.

I'll tell you something, I think your pa

would've been real proud of you.

Thank you kindly for saying so.

Festus tells me you're thinking of staying in Dodge.

Yes, sir. I left my brother down at the store,

and he's got a wife and a couple of young'uns, and the store

might be bringing in just enough to keep 'em going.

Well, I'll tell you, I could use some help around here,

as long as these drovers are in town.

All I can pay is eight dollars a month,

but maybe that's enough to keep you in grubstake anyway.

Well, that's eight times more than I was making back home.

Good. Let's talk about it on the way down to the office.

I feel very honored.

Oh, Doc, do you mind if I owe you for all the doctoring?

Now that you're a lawman, you don't have to pay me anything.

Matt never does.

Thank you.

I guess I kind of owe you, too, Mr. Haggen,

for all your kindness and everything.

Oh, fiddle! It's easy to be kind to a feller like you, Thad.

Don't let him soft-soap you, son.

You'll be lost before you start.

Why do you always have to go

blabbin' your mouth?

Now, you know as well as I do...

Thad, if you're gonna be around Dodge very long,

I guess you'll have to get used to that.

You ever listen to a mockingbird, Mr. Dillon?

- A mockingbird? - Even when he's scolding,

he's got a little chuckle in him.

Hmm. I see what you mean.

♪♪