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It'll be a hot one today, Cootch.

Look, I'm just trying to help you, mister.

You've helped.

Now, just take it easy, friend.

I lost my horse, and now I'm buying your horse.

He's not for sale, mister. Well, you'd better change your mind.

I'm paying you a good price for it.

Your life.

That looks about right, doesn't it?

It looks fine to me, Pa. I wonder if Little Joe's gonna like it.

Well, why shouldn't he?

Well, he probably figures he's getting a little bit too old

for surprise birthday parties.

Oh, come on, now.

A man's never too old to have friends over to help him celebrate an occasion.

Well, the beef's all dressed and ready for the spit.

The musicians will be here before sundown.

Good. Yeah, I think he'll be pleased.

Hey!

Hey, hey, hey!

No.

No.

No.

No!

No!

Thank you for coming.

Ah, Ben, it was a great party. You know, I haven't had so much fun

since old Judge Potter married for the fourth time.

It was nice having you, Clem. Good night, Ben.

And you stop worrying, Ben.

Worrying? About what? I'm not worried.

Ben, I've known you for a long time.

Little Joe, he'll make it home fine.

And that was a real fine party. Thank you.

Let's go. Thank you for coming.

You going somewhere? Ain't we all?

I'm going to bed. Pa.

I'm going to bed, and I suggest you do the same.

Pa, he's in trouble.

Now, isn't that a fool thing to say?

His horse could have thrown a shoe.

Anything could have made him late. Sure.

Could have stepped off in a saloon to have a drink.

Not tonight. Not with $2,000 in his saddlebags.

Now, Joseph is old enough to take care of himself.

I'm not gonna go out searching for him

just because he's a couple of hours late.

He's not a child.

Besides, what if he was tired

and decided to just bed down for the night in a hotel?

We'd look foolish going out looking for him, wouldn't we?

Mm-hm.

We'd all feel a lot better, though, wouldn't we?

I am not worried.

I'll get changed.

This...

This town is deserted.

There was nothing.

You rest for a while.

I don't understand. There was nothing.

There was nothing when I came here.

Please, Mr. Cartwright.

You know me?

You had some papers in your pocket.

Not very ladylike, I'm afraid, but we were curious.

Yeah, but there was...

There was nothing here. I came into this town and there was nothing.

Please.

You-- You rest now, Mr. Cartwright.

Rest, please.

He will live.

What did you find out about him? Only his name.

He's young and he's strong.

But he carries a gun.

A lot of men carry guns.

They're not all willing to use them. I think this boy will.

And if he won't?

We've got to try. We've waited so long for someone.

"Received from Little Joe Cartwright." Little Joe?

Yeah, I know what you mean.

That's what I get for being the youngest member of the family.

Two hundred head of cattle, $10 a head, $2,000.

That's a lot of money.

It was a lot of money.

I don't have it anymore, but I'll get it back.

I'm, uh...

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that.

I just had to know.

Know what?

About you.

That man that just left the room. That's my father.

Oh.

About this whole town.

Maninville.

Maninville.

Yesterday it wasn't Maninville. Yesterday it--

You had a head wound.

And you'd been in the sun a long time without water.

The sun does funny things to a man.

It does strange things, but yesterday this town was nothing, a ghost town.

You rest now. It was deserted.

We'll talk again later. I don't wanna rest now, Miss...?

Corman, Louise Corman. And you will rest.

Doctor's orders.

Well, I don't take orders from the doctor.

However, if his nurse would ask me very nicely...

She already has.

And she's very strict.

She's also very pretty.

All right, I'll rest.

I'll rest.

How is he?

Curious, asking questions. And you told him...?

Exactly what you wanted me to tell him, nothing.

I was just getting ready to close, Mrs. O'Brien.

It's not important. I can come back.

Not bad.

It would make a lovely dress, don't you think?

But not for mourning, of course, not for a widow.

But for a fiesta, yes.

You are planning a fiesta, a celebration,

now that your savior has arrived?

Your messiah.

Or is he your fatted calf?

Well, I'm gonna take another chance.

Raise you 10,000. I'll just call you.

High stakes today.

It would be if toothpicks were money.

It's more fun this way. It makes us all feel important.

Well, now, feel important somewhere else. It's lunchtime.

Oh, come on, Louise. Really, I can't eat anymore today.

Now, if the good women of Maninville can take the time to cook...

Yeah, I know, Louise, I know, then I can take the time to eat it.

Are you folks always this way to strangers?

Well, whenever we can help someone.

I know, but everybody in this town,

stopping by to say hello, bringing me gifts.

Anything wrong with that?

No, there's nothing wrong. It just means

you've got a real swell town here. You ought to be very proud of it.

Hey, wait a minute, where are you going?

You fellas left me $20,000 in the hole.

Well, here, this makes us all about even.

We'll start again after lunch. Okay, you got a deal.

I think the patient can sit up for a little while longer.

All right, chicken soup, Mrs. Allison. Potato soup, Mrs. O'Leary.

Beef broth, Mrs. Turner. Irish stew and beef stew.

Where do you wanna start? That's a good question.

Hey, Louise, who's that?

We were talking about chicken soup.

What's going on here in Maninville?

A minute ago you thought it was the most wonderful town in the world.

That's not the point.

The day I came here-- You were "I. We've gone all over that.

Yeah, we haven't come up with any answers.

You, your father, the people of this town.

Where was everyone that day? We were at a funeral.

We were burying our sheriff.

Your boy, not 25 years old. We need him, Mrs. O'Brien.

You should know better than anybody else how much we need him.

You expect me to cry for you?

No, we...

We expect you not to get in the way, all of us.

We may not get another chance.

But you had a chance once.

What did you do with it?

Well...

Well, this time it may be different.

We hope you won't get in the way.

Nobody's seen him.

He certainly would have stopped here.

He always did when he came this way.

What do we do now?

Backtrack some more and keep backtracking till we find him.

Hyah!

Hi. How are you? All right?

Yeah, stop worrying. I feel fine. Ha, ha.

Mr. Cartwright.

Uh, Mr. Cartwright, Miss O'Brien, our late sheriff's wife.

Very pleased to meet you, Mrs. O'Brien.

Don't be pleased to meet me.

Don't be pleased at anything that happens in this place.

Mr. Cartwright, leave this town while you still can.

Tell him, Miss Corman.

Or don't you know what these people are planning?

They're going to kill you just as surely as they killed my husband.

You leave him alone.

Stop saying such ridiculous things.

Wait a minute, Louise. What's she talking about?

It's nothing. Ever since her husband died,

she's been imagining all sons of things.

You poor fool.

You poor, misguided fool.

A black and white pinto, huh? That's right.

He was here, just like you described.

And?

He rode out of here yesterday morning.

He said he was headed for the cantina up by Dry Bluffs.

Yeah, well, he never got there. Well, it's not my fault.

Somewhere between here and Dry Bluffs.

All healed?

I'll be fine, thanks to you.

I guess I better be going.

Why so soon?

Something I have to do.

Find that money you lost?

It was trusted to me, and I let it be taken away.

I've gotta try to find him.

I don't know how, but I'm gonna have to try.

Good bye.

Please don't leave me, Little Joe.

Please don't leave me.

Hey.

I'll be back.

Mr. Corman, Mr. Masterson, I'm leaving now.

I just wish there was some way I could repay you for all you've done for me.

There is.

Put that on.

You're not serious.

Well, we're convinced that you could handle the job.

Well, that's very flattering but-- And we're convinced that you will.

Well, I'm not a-- I'm not a lawman, Mr. Corman.

No, but you're a man, aren't you?

Well, a man pays back his debts.

Now, wait a minute. Now, you said you owe us something.

All right, we're telling you how you can pay us back.

You're telling me or you're asking me?

Whichever way you prefer.

We're offering you a job. It's as simple as that.

Is it? Is it that simple?

Then why don't you start by telling me what happened to your last sheriff?

And why have I been warned to get out of this town?

We thought you liked the people of Martinville.

We thought you might want to help us.

Help with what?

Now, why doesn't somebody tell me what's going on in this town?

All right, I'll tell Y--

Then I'm sorry.

Will you lend me a horse?

Mr. Masterson?

Will you sell me a horse?

Thanks.

I need a horse.

Anybody here got a horse they wanna sell?

You'll get no horse from anyone in this town, Cartwright.

Stop him, Louise. I've tried to, Papa.

Well, then try again. How?

Well, you're a woman. He likes you.

But he's also a human being. One human being.

One soul. And we're 260. Now, which is more important?

Little Joe? Little Joe, wait.

Little Joe.

Oh, I got a lot of friends out there.

What'd they do? Hide all the livestock?

All right. I walked into this town. I was in a lot worse shape. I can walk out.

We're all prisoners in this town, Little Joe, can't you see that?

What do you mean?

Whose prisoners?

His name is Felix Matthews.

He drove off our livestock and he killed our sheriff.

He's the leader of a band of outlaws who operate out of this town.

They disappear for weeks at a time,

but they always come back, and then the terror begins all over again.

But why don't they stop them? We can't stop them.

Once we might have, but it was profitable not to.

They spent money here and they let us alone.

But then, slowly, they became stronger and stronger

and we became weaker.

And suddenly, Maninville was their town.

Why didn't you tell me all this before?

I know I should have.

But I wasn't sure I wanted you to get involved in our problems.

What changed your mind?

They're coming back tonight.

They'll have their pockets full of money and the smell of blood in their nostrils.

And do you think whiskey and food is all they want?

Felix Matthews likes me.

I've managed to keep him away so far, but a girl gets tired, Little Joe.

It's a long, losing battle.

You mean that your father

and the rest of this town is gonna let something like that happen?

They wanna stop them, Little Joe, but they're afraid.

They need help.

And you're the only one who can help them.

What should we do, Little Joe?

Fight them! Has it ever occurred to you to fight them?

It occurred to us. We're just not fighters!

Most men aren't until they have to be.

Till their families are threatened, their countries.

Look...

All we did was ask you to help us.

You didn't ask me to do anything.

You tried to trick me into taking a job I didn't know anything about.

We're asking you now, honestly and openly.

Look, no one man can do this for you.

It takes the whole town, every single one of you.

We have the manpower and we have the guns.

What we need is a leader.

Someone who's willing to risk his life for us.

Let's go outside. We've get work to do.

Get it up in there real close.

That's not going to be nearly high enough, Cartwright.

A good horse could easily jump that.

That's the idea, we want them to jump it.

Once they're on the inside, we fire up that coal oil, they'll be trapped.

Hey, Pete, Gene, get that coal oil and start soaking this barricade good.

You got the rifles for the roofs and the shotguns for the barricade?

I'll have them.

I'll go check the other barricade.

All right.

What did you tell him? How poor you all are?

How unfortunate?

Or how helpless?

Do you think he would have believed the truth?

No.

Thank you for that, anyway.

Then you promised him something? What, Miss Corman?

Sweet nights and soft guitars for the rest of his short life?

Long nights under the moonlight?

The sweet smell of sage?

Or was it something more down to earth?

Something else that he won't receive?

Get out of here.

I thought so.

You got him to fall in love with you.

That's it, isn't it?

Please leave, Katie. Why?

So you can throw that boy's life away?

What he doesn't know won't hurt him?

He doesn't have to die. Doesn't he?

One man against all of them.

Please, Katie. Don't you see? He's all we have.

He's our only chance to get out of this town,

to get off these streets after so many years.

And for that, he dies? Yes, he dies.

Oh, sure, they're building barricades, acting like brave men now.

But you know when the showdown comes,

that boy will have no more help than my husband had

when he thought he could fight back.

Because even if the help were theirs to give,

the people of this town just don't have it in them.

They never did.

They're getting exactly what they deserve.

All we can do now is wait.

Want some hot? No, thank you.

Are you sorry?

Sorry about what? We got you involved in all this?

I'd be a lot worse off if I hadn't wandered into Maninville.

Be lying out in the desert somewhere, dead.

Are you doing this for me?

I'm doing it. That's all that's important.

No, it isn't.

You have to be doing it for the whole town, all of them.

Okay, if that's the way you want it. No, it has to be that way.

If not, it's all a waste.

They're coming. We can hear their horses.

All right, that's far enough, Matthews.

Well, well, well. What have we here?

You know what it is and you know what it's for.

Masterson, Corman, get up there where I can see you.

Get up here.

Are you playing games again?

Well, you see, Mr. Matthews... Don't "mister" him, Corman.

This isn't a game, Matthews.

You're through in this town, get that straight now.

All right, Masterson,

get this pile of junk out of the middle of the street right now.

We're coming through. This pile of junk stays.

You're gonna let this boy dig his own grave, Masterson, with his mouth.

It's my grave, maybe.

There's no maybe about it.

Now, I'll tell you what I'm going to do.

Me and the boys are gonna rest up for a spell,

and then we'll come down.

Maybe it will be in an hour, maybe we'll wait till sunup.

Maybe. Maybe not even then.

Just maybe.

Oh, but we'll be back.

And if this barricade is still up when we get here,

do you know what we're gonna do then?

Well, let me tell you, gentlemen.

Have you ever seen a town wiped out?

Taken apart piece by piece?

Well, you've got an experience in store for you, gentlemen.

Think about that.

Oh, and, uh, Masterson, if you make us fight,

don't waste all your ammunition on me and the boys.

Save some for the womenfolk and the kids.

I tried to warn you.

It'll work out fine.

If you leave now, while you have the chance.

You sound like you're trying to protect Felix Matthews.

I thought you said he was the man that shot your husband.

He pointed the gun, he pulled the trigger, yes, but that's all.

You wanna know what killed my husband?

Cowardice.

It was the cowardice of a whole town.

"Fight them," my husband said. And they were all for it.

"Build a barricade," he said.

And they ran out into the street with their chairs and their mattresses.

Or did you think this idea of yours was 100 percent original?

This time it'll work. Will it?

It's been tried before, my friend.

And do you know what happened?

They've learned their lesson, Little Joe. They'll know better this time.

Have they? Look at them. They're beginning to fall apart already.

And in a few hours, the barricades will come down again.

And when that happens, Felix Matthews will ride in after you.

And not one man in this town will lift a finger to stop him.

It's his.

Looks like one man on horseback and one on foot.

Yeah, going right out in the desert

Let's ride.

Easy, honey, easy.

Easy, honey.

Easy, mister, easy. Now, take it easy.

Come to your senses! Can't you see it won't work?

Go on, take him inside.

He's right.

It's no use. We can't win.

What do you mean he's right? You're winning. Can't you see that?

You called his bluff. Matthews can't fight his way into this town.

Not now, he can't.

But in a few days, a few weeks.

How long can we go on living like this?

In other words, you wanna quit.

No, it's not a question of quitting. It's a question of common sense.

We gambled and we lost.

And you're always gonna lose, Masterson. You and men like you.

Because you're willing to trade your basic rights for a few stinking pennies.

Then when you find out you made a bad deal,

you scream you're being victimized.

Don't judge us, boy. Why shouldn't I judge you?

Because...

Because you don't know us.

Oh, we thought we could be strong but--

No, no, Corman, you thought I could be strong for you.

Well, I can't, not by myself.

So we lose. Again, we lose.

And you're gonna take it just like that.

I tried to warn you, but you wouldn't listen.

I tried to tell you what kind of men they are.

It's no good.

It just didn't work out.

I'm sorry, Little Joe.

No, I lost them.

Last night, they were so ready to fight, and now I lost them.

Wait.

I told you to wait. If you want this barricade down, all right.

I helped build it, I'll show you how to tear it down.

The first thing that goes is your courage.

That just gets in the way.

The next thing to go is your manhood. Another thing you don't need.

Concern for the safety of your women and children.

It's too late for that now.

All right, and here's the last thing.

This is the last thing, but that's gotta go too, doesn't it, gentlemen?

This is your self-respect.

All right, there it is.

There's what's left of you.

Nothing.

Now Matthews can ride into this town

just like he was going to a Sunday meeting.

But a breach goes both ways, gentlemen.

If a man can ride into it, another one can walk out,

and that's just what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna take this gun and I'm gonna walk through that barricade

and I'm gonna walk down that street up to that mesa

and I'm gonna kill as many of Matthews' men

as I can before they kill me.

Now, is there anybody in this town man enough to join me?

Well, that's just plain suicide. Maybe not.

It's an old cavalry trick, Masterson.

When everything seems hopeless, charge.

Look, we can do it if you'll just get behind me.

Well, they'll put all of us down before we get halfway up that hill.

Oh, no, they won't, because it's the last thing they'll expect from you.

Look, we can do it.

Now, who's with me? I'm with you.

I'll go with you if you'll lead us.

You know I'll lead you.

Can't you see he's right?

Can't you see we've got to do it? We must do it.

Are you willing to go? Yes.

How about the rest of you? Who'll go?

I'll go talk to the rest of the men at the other barricade.

Oh, Little Joe, please be careful.

I don't want you to worry. Nothing's gonna happen.

I got too much going for me.

Little Joe, there's something you don't know about us.

Ca rtwrig ht, we' re ready.

When I come back, I wanna see you standing right here.

Right here.

All right.

All right. Let's get to these rocks as quick as we can and spread out.

Let's go.

All right, let's go!

Well, the money's all there. It's in the saddlebag.

Thanks, Pa.

Hey, Pa, that's not Matthews.

That's the man that stole my horse. Hmm.

It took a lot of doing, son, tracking him down by yourself on foot.

Yeah, but, Pa, it wasn't by myself. I had--

I had the whole town behind me.

What town?

Where is everybody?

Little Joe, there's no one here except us.

But I had the whole town behind me, Pa, really behind me.

The whole town of Maninville.

Little Joe, son, I don't know what you're trying to say or why,

but Maninville has been a ghost town for a good number of years.

A ghost town? Yeah.

Louise.

I don't understand. I know there were people in this town.

I talked to them. I worked with them.

Joseph, there was also a hot sun and a head wound.

The sun does funny things to a person.

That's what she said to me. Who?

A girl I met here. Louise.

Son, Maninville has been a dead town for such a long time there's even--

There's even a legend connected with it.

Something about a sheriff or something.

O'Brien?

Well, I don't know what his name was, but the story goes that

Maninville turned its back on him and let him get killed.

The sheriff's wife, well, she just put a curse on the whole town.

Doomed all the people of Martinville to walk the streets

of the town for all eternity

until some fella came along who was foolish enough,

or maybe brave enough, to risk his life for them.

Sounds son of weird.

Yeah, well, all legends sound weird or a little funny,

depending on how you look at them.

I know there were people in this town, Pa.

Joe, let's get on home. We'll talk about it.

Pa, wait a minute.

That wagon. It wasn't here when I first came into town.

It must have been.

It wasn't, Pa. It was pan of a barricade.

I know. I built it. I turned that wagon over myself.

Joe, come on home. There's nothing here.

Son, when a man knows something deep down in his head,

when he really knows, he doesn't have to argue about it,

he doesn't have to prove it.

Just knowing, that's enough.

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