Original subtitles

DRIVER: Hyah! Hyah!

JIM: One of the most daring and sensational crimes

ever staged in the West

took place the afternoon of October the 4th

on the rim of the Arizona Desert.

Two of the five outlaws

were the notorious Red Willis and Curly Dean,

who had just been released after serving

long terms in prison.

RED: All right, everybody out.

Hand down that strongbox.

Hand it here.

I hope you men realize what you're doing.

Looks a little older than he did the last time we saw him,

but it's him, all right,

George Skagway.

Senator Skagway.

You come a long way since you was a circuit judge.

Get on that horse over there.

What? RED: You heard what he said.

Get on the horse.

Who are you men?

What do you want?

We're kidnapping you, Senator.

Yeah, we're gonna hold you for ransom.

I'm warning you,

you'll never get away with this.

They'll send troops out after me.

They'll comb every dry wash and gully.

Sure they will. Let's go.

JIM: My name is Jim Hardie.

I work for Wells Fargo.

I was in San Francisco at the time

the kidnapping happened,

but I heard about it.

Everybody in the whole country heard about it.

And the senator was right.

They not only had troops looking for him,

but a special band of tough United States Marshals.

Where have you been?

I came as soon as I heard about it.

You know what this does to the company?

Makes us look pretty bad.

People will be saying if Wells Fargo

can't give safe passage to a United States senator,

what about simple, ordinary people?

You can't blame 'em for that.

We've got to find Skagway

and bring him back safely.

Oh, I know it's a tall order.

The United States Army can't find him,

so how are we gonna do it?

But we've got to do it.

Did you know he was the judge

who sent Red Willis and Curly Dean

to prison for 20 years?

No, I didn't. That was before my time.

They swore revenge, and I guess they haven't forgotten.

Then you don't think that they're just holding him for ransom.

Have they asked for ransom? No.

I think they'll keep him awhile, torture him,

and then kill him.

And we can't let that happen.

Yeah.

Like you say, that's a tall order.

Seems to me the reason the soldiers and the rest

can't find him is because that Red Willis gang

has cleared out of the area,

gone to another part of the country.

But where?

Who could know? Who could guess?

Somebody that thinks like Willis.

Somebody that acts like him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do you remember that old outlaw

we sent up of Dawson,

Bob Dawson?

That old-timer you arrested

and put away a year or two ago?

That's him. Hmm.

Bob Dawson and Willis

were in the same penitentiary together

up until about a month ago.

Dawson's still there.

We were always kind of friendly.

You put him away and you're friendly?

Yeah.

Yeah, he claims he needed the peace and quiet of a prison

to write his memoirs.

He'll drive a hard bargain, all right.

If we can get the cooperation of the prison authorities,

Bob Dawson would be a lot of help to us.

They'll cooperate. The United States Government

will order them to.

Well, hop to it, Jim.

There's no time to lose.

I'll let you know.

How many times have I told you guards

not to bother me when I'm writing?

GUARD: You have a visitor. Don't want no visitors.

Just want peace and quiet.

You one of them journalist fellas?

Wanna write my life history?

You're just wasting your time.

I got it just about all writ.

You mean you don't remember me, huh?

Sure, I do. Now, don't tell me.

I'll have it in just a minute.

Test of my memory power. Let's see.

Man from Wells Fargo, Jim Hardie.

How are you, Jim?

Fair to middlin'.

They leaving you here?

Don't tell me you fell, Jim. Not you.

Not an honest man like you.

Somebody framed you.

What dirty skunk was it?

No, I'm not a prisoner. Oh.

Came here to make you a proposition.

How would you like to get out of here?

You mean, before I finish my memoirs?

Yeah.

You can finish those somewhere else.

You got a gleam in your eye, boy.

That means there's something on your mind.

Yeah, there is.

Red Willis.

Sit down here and tell me all about it.

Red who?

Willis.

Couple of months ago, he was your roommate.

Hmm. It's my memory power.

Memory powers, they keeps failing me.

He and his men took Senator Skagway

off of one of our stages.

I need you to help us get him back.

Old Scalawag Skagway?

I remember him, all right.

He one of the meanest circuit judges ever was.

I got him in my life story.

He won't like what I got to say about him.

Red Willis didn't like him, either.

No. The man had a lot of enemies,

powerful enemies.

What makes you think I could tell you

where Red and the gang has got him hid out?

Because you're the only man who knows

all of his old hideouts.

You're the one that taught him

all that clever little tricks that he knows

when he was nothing but a pup.

You've been doing research on me?

Don't have to. The whole world knows

you're the cleverest outlaw that ever lived.

You mean they ain't forgotten?

They're liable to, unless you get out of here

pretty quick and do something spectacular,

something that'll make the headlines, huh?

A lot of people think you're dead.

You practically are, locked up here

in this little old 4 x 4 cell.

You know what I think?

I think you are trying to get around me.

You know what I think?

I think we're wasting each other's time.

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Sit down here and tell me the whole proposition.

Spell it out real slow.

S-L-O, slow.

The government can't put up a reward

for a United States Senator.

Oh, I can see that. Be bad politics.

Besides, they'd lose face.

But we can.

He was taken off of a Wells Fargo stagecoach,

and we feel responsible.

We're willing to put up a $50,000 reward

for the release of Skagway.

You take me to where he is,

I'll put the proposition to 'em.

$50,000 is a lot of money.

How do you know Red won't just turn around

and take it away from you and kill you to the boot?

I don't, but we'll take a posse along

to try to see that doesn't happen.

Big enough to capture Red and Curly and the gang?

It won't be an official posse.

It'll be made up of employees of Wells Fargo.

Be a flat deal.

$50,000 for the release of Skagway,

no questions asked.

What do I get out of it?

$2,000 and your release.

I don't know, Jim.

I don't know.

Besides, I got no idea where Red and Curly are.

I'd just be guessing.

I don't guess too good on chicken feed.

All right.

We'll make it 5,000 and your release.

Memory powers are beginning to come back a little.

Maybe I do remember a few little things at that.

I figured you would.

Sit down.

Pulling up my roots.

Cutting myself off from my friends.

Desert Spring is over 300 miles

from where they took the senator.

Are you sure that's where you wanna start out?

Are you questioning my "stragedy"?

You lead me on a wild goose chase,

and I'll make you think to question your "stragedy."

Nah, no need for you to fret, Hardie.

Ain't nothing you can do but trust me.

You got that ransom money with you?

It's in the bank in Desert Springs.

Oh. That's a good idea.

No sense in you and me carrying it with us

from here to there.

Too many robbers about these days.

Pff, pff, pff, pff, pff.

We gonna pick the posse up there?

They'll be there when we get there.

Saying goodbye to the old jailhouse

makes me kind of sad.

Well, if we don't find Willis,

we'll make you happy again.

Is that it there? Yup, $50,000.

Want me to carry it for you?

Nope. No, it ain't heavy.

I was just talking

with the boys about the provisions we're carrying.

It ain't enough.

What else do we need? Oh, lots of things,

I know that country up there.

Bugs, beetles, lizards, vultures,

rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, say nothing of scorpions.

You come on over to the store with me, you boys,

and we'll pick a few things in short order,

including some medicine.

All right.

What are you doing?

Gonna leave the money in the bank

till we get through shopping.

Didn't figure on that.

Yeah.

Now, you got any other ideas?

Probably wouldn't have got very far anyway.

Not unless you know a hole somewhere you could crawl in.

Yeah. Old-timer like me

has got to keep his hand in when making a try

every now and then.

You're a smart man, Hardie.

We didn't need no provisions.

I just wanted to get you and the boys over in the store,

then I was gonna slip out the side door

and ride away with the money.

I don't know what come over me.

Temptation maybe.

You got it all out of your system now?

Oh, yeah, yeah, it's all out of my system now.

I guess being close to that big piece of money

made me kind of itchy, you know.

No, I'm over it now. I'm over it now.

You can trust me all the way. All the way.

Hey, don't I get to carry a gun like the other boys?

I could get killed out there.

You never quit trying, do you?

Every trick in the book. Who, me?

If we give you a gun, the minute our back's turned,

you've got the drop on us.

Like I said, Hardie, you are a smart man.

If a man is gonna stay ahead of you,

he's gonna have to be smart.

I don't know how Red and Curly

is gonna take this.

I've got a hunch that's not bothering you too much.

Now, that's where you're wrong, young feller.

I never double-crossed anybody before in my life,

except them that deserved it.

Reckon I won't print this one little unsavory chapter

in my memoirs.

Dawson, if you reach for my rifle,

both you and your memoirs

are going to come to a sudden end.

You hear that man? He's mean as he can be.

He acts like he got hisself an itch to kill me.

You acted like you had an itch to grab his rifle.

I was just flickering at flies.

I've never seen so many suspicious people.

Are you sure you know where you're going?

Would I lie about it? You would if you thought

it'd do you any good.

Well, Jim,

I gave you my word.

Well, I ain't as young as I used to be.

It's my memory powers.

They failing you again?

You know, I wouldn't be surprised

if I was lost.

I told you.

Just let me think a little bit.

Well, let me help you.

I promised you a pardon from prison

and a $5,000 reward.

That's better, that's better.

Keep going, that's good.

You get us out here,

now you want to raise the ante.

You want more than the 5,000, is that it?

Don't give it to him!

Man's got a right to make as good a deal as he can.

10,000 sound a little more fair to you?

Let's get the one thing straight first.

Have you really been taking us to Red's hideout,

or are you just leading us around in circles?

I still think he's joyriding us.

All he's waiting for is a chance at that money pouch.

He doesn't know where we are,

except out here among the rocks.

Hate having a man calling me a liar.

How much further is it?

Well, now, let's see.

Oh, I'd say we leave our horses over here

and make camp over there in them rocks,

get an early start in the morning,

we ought to be there by noon.

All right.

We'll make camp here.

Hardie?

Durn thing was turned the wrong way.

You should've let me kill him.

Ain't as fast on the draw as I once was.

He's so hungry for that 50,000,

he'll do anything. Murder every one of us

the first chance he gets.

What about it, Dawson?

There's only one of me, ain't they?

Six of you.

You gonna let a poor, old, broken-down man scare you?

No, I'm not.

Hope you won't be sorry about this, Hardie.

I hope not, either.

I've been doing some thinking.

Again?

If you hadn't stopped that feller when you did,

I'd be dead two hours now.

You'd already have me laid out

and buried under the sand

so the vultures couldn't get me.

With your memoirs unfinished.

I owe you something.

Like what?

Same thing you gave me maybe.

You're getting soft, old-timer.

Been soft all along.

Biggest fault in the outlaw profession.

When I owe a man something,

I like to pay it back.

Yeah, you do that sometime.

That's what I'm thinking about.

Yeah,

looks like we might be getting a little rain

over there in them foothills.

MAN: What was that? Men, men!

I saw 'em right over there!

MAN: Come on!

All right, hold it, Hardie.

Let's have them guns.

Butt first.

Is that the favor you were gonna do for me?

You do what you're told.

I don't want any nonsense out of you.

Now you get back the way we came and fast.

Get that animal out of here.

Hold it, Hardie.

We're gonna take the rocks here.

Smart as you ever were, aren't you?

Yeah, I can take care of myself.

We're nowhere near Red Willis and his men, aren't we?

All you ever wanted to do was get your hands

on the ransom money.

You may be closer to Red and Curly and the gang

than you think, Hardie.

Since I'm gonna need a place to hole up

after this little episodie,

I'm gonna be spitting glad to see my old pal Red.

Now get going.

This is that favor I promised you.

How's that?

If the whole bunch of us had ridden up here,

we'd have been slaughtered.

Red and Curly holed up in there

till 50 men couldn't get them out.

Maybe two of us could.

Especially if one of the two knew his way around a bit.

Is this one of your old hideouts?

Who do you think told Red and Curly about it?

Scalawag Skagway,

United States Senator,

walked up the ladder of bodies of the men he hung

and the man he sent to rot in jail.

You never thought any of them would get away, did you?

Get away and come looking for you?

But a couple of us did!

When we gonna ask for the ransom?

Maybe never.

But you and Red said you would.

Me and the boys wouldn't have taken no chances

like this otherwise.

What chances?

Do you know how this place is laid out?

Protected on every side.

I don't care about that.

We do.

When are we gonna collect on him?

How are you gonna ask ransom for a dead man?

He ain't dead. Not yet, he ain't.

I'm getting sick of this!

How sick?

You're a stir bug,

you and Curly both.

Sitting behind bars for 20 years eating your hearts out

just to torture a poor old man.

Well, I'm getting out of here.

Feet first or our way?

You trying to tell me you know more

how to get in there than I do?

There's the line of the sun,

coming from over here.

Most of the time, their backs are gonna be turned,

but even if they're looking this way,

the glint off of those rocks

are gonna keep them blinded about half of the time.

Why didn't I think of that?

It's gonna be dangerous either way.

Even if we manage to jump them,

there's gonna be noise.

That'll alert the others.

Not if we crawl in there inch by inch.

You think you can make it?

Come on, let's go.

All right, Senator. No!

Come on, stand up, on your feet.

I am sick of playing with you.

RED: Hey! What do you two think you're doing up there?

It's Bob Dawson!

Better drop it, Red.

Ain't a man in the world could have gotten in here, 'cept you.

Get over there.

Red, you left a pair of your socks

under the mattress in our cell.

I got them in my bedroll.

They treat you pretty bad, Senator?

Never thought I'd get out of here.

What's the idea? Will somebody tell me

what this is all about?

Look. All right, Hardie,

just one more little trick.

Drop them guns.

All right. Now, I'm gonna let you go free.

Take old Scalawag here with you.

I want that $50,000.

Gonna split it up with Red here

for hurting his pride,

busting into his secret hideout

and killing his friend.

All right. I'll go get it.

How do you know he'll come back?

He won't leave without the senator.

That was the whole purpose of his trip.

First you rescue me and then you...

I don't understand you, Dawson.

Yeah, you never did.

Not even in the old days, you never did.

All right, give it to Red here.

All right, now you take the senator and go on.

Don't you think you better count it first?

Why?

They might have shorted me some at the bank.

They wouldn't do that.

Newspaper!

I'm surprised at you, Dawson.

You didn't think I'd actually bring

cash money out of here, did you?

How could a man of your integrity

stoop to such a low trick?

Well, it wasn't easy.

Red? I don't rightly know

how I'm gonna break this to you.

Break what?

Now, don't get all riled up

and start yelling bad names till I explain.

You'll see it the same as I do.

You'd do the same. The same what?

Well, when there's a chance to make a...

Make something out of a big thing like this,

you know, a big hunk of money,

that's one thing.

Hardie here, he took me in.

He don't have the money.

Way it looks now, I got no other way to go

but to follow the original deal.

What deal?

DAWSON: Well, for turning you and the boys in

and rescuing the senator here,

they're gonna give me a pardon from prison

and give me $5,000.

Way it looks now, I'm gonna to take it.

Why, you dirty, double-dealin'...

It grieves me too, Red.

You're gonna have to go back to that jailhouse anyway.

You know, Red, there's some days when I wish

I never was an outlaw.

You have to do such terrible things.

Let's move.

All right, get going, Red.

Where have you been? Why did you duck out?

Dawson figured the two us

could pull it off better by ourselves.

Didn't want any of you fellas getting hurt.

Especially that one.

Bob Dawson got his $5,000

and a conditional pardon from prison,

the condition being that he was to report to me

from time to time.

He's been too busy finishing his memoirs

to get into too much trouble,

and he's reported three times already.

I never know when he's gonna miss the next report

or that I might have to go out looking for him again.

But I hope not.