Original subtitles

Good old Bret.

- Where is it? - It?

You know what I'm talking about, you wretch.

You stashed that money somewhere.

Maverick. You're rumpling me.

- Well, where is it? - I can't tell you.

What do you mean you can't tell me?

Well, can't you see, old boy, you're the only friend I have in this town.

If I told you where the money was, I wouldn't even have you.

- I am not your friend, Buckley. - Oh, yes, you are, Maverick.

Nobody but a friend would do what... What you're going to do for me.

And what might that be?

You're going to break me out of this preposterous jail.

From the entertainment capital of the world...

produced for television by Warner Bros.

Up till about 1 8 69, nobody had ever heard...

of a town named Junction Flats, Wyoming.

Then, all of a sudden, Junction Flats got its name in all the papers, for a while.

It was in Junction Flats that a staunch, young sheriff, named Morrison Pyne...

single-handedly captured Hognose Hughes...

the terror of the western plain.

As it turned out, Sheriff Pyne's day in the sun was a pretty short one...

because it was from this same jail on the same day...

that Hognose Hughes made his spectacular escape to freedom.

On his way to the city limits, he lowered the

population of Junction Flats 10 percent...

by killing 13 of its leading citizens.

The fellows who untied the sheriff said he was fit to be tied all over again.

That's all there is to the story.

The only reason I mention it at all is, oh,

about eight years later I happened to pass...

through the town of Broken Wheel, about 40 miles west of Junction Flats.

I was minding my own business, which is poker.

One look into the community center and I knew I was in the wrong town.

Maverick, hold up there. Ha, ha, ha.

Dandy Jim Buckley.

By George, it is a small world, isn't it?

"Crowded" is the word for it.

If I hadn't looked up when I did, we'd have missed each other again.

Yep.

Well, tell me about yourself.

How have you been and what have you been doing?

And, um, have you got any money?

Take care of yourself, Buckley.

Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime.

Ha, ha. My dear, Maverick.

I can't tell you how I've missed those little drolleries of yours.

You have the refreshing wholesomeness of a genuine frontier wit.

You do have money, don't you?

Not for you. If you wanna steal money, do it from somebody else.

I can't blame you for saying that.

You're remembering me the way I used to be.

I'm not like that anymore, Maverick.

- I'm a new man, and a better one. - Yeah.

I tell you what did it.

I realized an honest dollar is easier to come by than a crooked one.

It's changed my whole life.

It gives you a good, clean feeling, working for a living.

Don't get me choked up, Buckley.

I've got to have $2000 and you're going to give it to me.

- Goodbye, Buckley. - You're not to look at it as a loan.

You're simply putting your money to work.

I'm not going to keep anything from you, Maverick.

A certain business contact.

A large legitimate corporation finds itself pathetically in need of horses.

Any kind of horses. All they can buy for whatever they have to pay.

- Horses? - Yes.

I have acquired this whole territory, as a horse buyer.

They'll pay me a commission on every horse.

Buckley, I'm trying to picture you as an honest tradesman.

And it isn't easy.

Now, tell me, who are these people you're dealing with and what's their grift?

Maverick, I'm not selling anything. I'm buying.

There's no con game in which you buy.

Now, give me the 2000 like a good boy and I'll guarantee you at least 4000 back.

I'm putting 2000 of my own in it.

That's how much I think of this proposition.

Deep down in his depraved little

heart Dandy Jim Buckley knew that he had me.

He knew and I knew that I couldn't sleep until I'd figured out what he was up to.

It was nothing but curiosity making me do something...

no sane man would do.

I was drawing to an inside straight.

One thing about Dandy Jim Buckley, he was never predictable.

He was doing the last thing on earth I ever expected him to do with my $2000.

He was buying horses, lots of horses.

In fact, it seemed at times as if he had

his heart set on buying every horse in town.

Day after day, he had been buying those horses.

Night after night, I'd been going without sleep trying to figure out why.

Then early one morning, a little before noon...

something seemed different.

It was like Sunday morning in the middle of the week.

Not a sound anywhere.

And then I suddenly knew Dandy Jim Buckley had struck.

- What's happened? Where is everybody? - Gold.

Gold what?

- They found gold over at Cobb's Creek. - Who found gold?

Some prospector snuck in and filed a claim,

but the whole town knowed it in 20 minutes.

- Tell me something. - I ain't got time, mister.

Fifty dollars.

I'm sure if we talked it over we could arrive at some equitable figure.

Sixty...

Well, who's got time to talk?

Buckley...

if you lay a hand on my horse, you'll never need yours again.

Maverick, old boy, I was bringing him to you.

- Yeah, by way of Idaho. - Ha, ha, ha.

There it is again. That ready wit.

Aren't you going down to Cobb's Creek? There's gold out there.

Oh, no need to be greedy about it when we have $10,000 right here.

- Ten? - Thousand dollars.

Didn't I tell you an honest dollar was easier than a crooked one?

I really didn't know what you meant at the time.

You'd probably get an argument from some of the suckers.

All those people standing around at Cobb's Creek...

looking for that grizzly old prospector of yours.

They might even want their money back.

Yes. Well, I see no use in arguing with a rustic population.

Which, incidentally, is probably half way back here by now.

Look, Bret, even if the money weren't honestly come by, which it was...

I can't remember which money came from which rube.

Let's go somewhere where we can talk.

Ha!

Twenty for you, 20 for me.

Twenty for you, 20 for me.

Maverick, my friend...

you're not really going to give yours back, are you?

You don't understand me at all, Buckley. I love money but I hate jails.

Twenty for you, 20 for me. Twenty for you, 20 for me.

The first chance I'd had to sleep in days and I slept.

Funny thing though, when I woke up, I felt, well, stiff.

Now, he wouldn't have gone that way, because that way is Broken Wheel...

and they'd kill him there.

My idea was to follow him that way and maybe just half kill him.

Dandy Jim Buckley was a changed man. Getting a sense of decency.

All the other times he robbed me and sneaked off...

he'd taken my horse too.

- Got a good cigar? - Yes, sir.

Say, I've been wondering about the name of your town. Sounds familiar.

Junction Flats.

Of course. I read about this town in a book.

Isn't this the town that Hognose Hughes broke out of jail?

Stranger, folks in Junction Flats ain't much on reading books.

They ain't much either for talking about jail breaks or Hognose Hughes.

Why would that be?

Because the sheriff here is a little touchy on the subject.

Hm.

Oh, say, one more thing.

I kind of lost track of a friend of mine.

He'd be a stranger in town. Maybe you've seen him.

There was another stranger in just today.

Fellow by the name of Barnum.

- P.T. Barnum? - That's the way he signed in.

- The hotel? - The jail.

- Tell me. - Fellow came in right after lunch.

Sat down at the poker table, joined the game.

Wasn't no time at all before he was accusing Leroy Howard of cheating.

It was a bad wound.

He might live and he might not.

- Barnum? - Leroy.

His life's hanging by a hair.

- Leroy. - Barnum.

The folks here is hanging around to see how it comes out.

We was figuring if the boy died, we'd hang the stranger ourselves.

That poor boy wasn't no more than 28 year old.

Well, wouldn't the sheriff have something to say about that?

Oh, he'd have a lot to say. He's Leroy's uncle.

- Oh. - And he didn't like it one durn bit.

I ain't ever seen the sheriff this mad since the day...

Hognose Hughes broke out of his jail.

Sheriff swore nobody would ever break out of his jail again.

The way he feels now though...

I don't suppose he'd mind people breaking in...

for a worthy cause.

Oh, and lynching is a worthy cause.

Well, now, it does help folks let off steam.

And two, it's a great saving in time and expense.

Only cost to the taxpayer would be the burying of the stranger.

And him being a poor man, well, he'd appreciate that himself.

A poor man?

Lost all the money he had before the game broke up.

- He did, huh? - Sure did.

Upwards of $75.

- That's all he had? - Uh-huh.

Anything else I can do for you?

Yeah. Yeah.

I'd hate to go through a famous town like Junction Flats and not get to see the jail.

Could you tell me where it is?

I'll show it to you.

With $10,000 at stake, Buckley would be

out of that little old jail before morning.

And I'd be waiting for him.

I'd know that jail anywhere from pictures in the books.

That's the old jail. The new one's on the corner.

- That one? - Yep.

And as a law student, it disturbs me...

to think of even a cold-blooded killer lying in a strange jail...

without the benefit of legal counsel.

All lawyers feel that way.

Sheriff, it would be a bad blow to the reputation of this town...

to hang a man before the trial.

It would be in all the papers.

Hadn't thought of that.

Well, there's just you and me between him and the fury of the mob.

- He ain't got no money to pay for lawyers. - Money is the last thing in the world...

that I'm thinking of.

I wonder if I could just talk with your prisoner.

I reckon he's entitled to that.

It'll take a minute to get the keys to the cell.

- You keep them in the safe? - I sure do, mister.

And I'm the only one who's got the combination.

No point in having jails...

if folks are just wandering in and out whenever they please.

Hey. Search him.

You got a visitor, Barnum. This fellow here wants to be your lawyer. Ha.

- How do you do? - This is Mr. Bret Maverick.

Mr. Maverick's a lawyer.

I'm very happy to know you, Mr. Maverick? Won't you come in?

No. This here is close enough.

I heard the trouble you were in, Mr. Barnum...

and I figured you could use legal assistance.

That was very thoughtful of you.

- I'm afraid I need all the help I can get. - Of course, you do.

Mr. Maverick, I'm as innocent as a newborn babe.

You shot that boy. You know you did.

He shot first.

Careful, Mr. Barnum. Anything you say can be used against you.

I'm surprised you didn't tell him that yourself.

Sheriff, I'd like to talk to my client in private.

No, sir. I don't leave nobody alone with my prisoners.

I hope you'll understand, Mr. Barnum. I...

As your lawyer, I'd like to see you given all your legal rights.

When I leave this town, I'd like to leave with a good conscience...

knowing that you had received a fair shake and a fair trial.

- I appreciate that. - Before they hung you.

And I want you to understand the situation

the sheriff is in and not hold it against him.

He has his sworn duty on one hand...

and on the other hand he has his feelings for his own flesh and blood.

I understand.

Of course, you do.

The folks all over the country will understand that.

Once all the facts are known.

All right.

Talk to him. Talk your head off.

Good, old Bret.

- Where is it? - It?

You know what I'm talking about, you wretch.

You stashed that money somewhere.

Maverick. You're rumpling me.

- Well, where is it? - I can't tell you.

What do you mean you can't tell me?

Well, can't you see, old boy, you're the only friend I have in this town.

If I told you where the money was, I wouldn't even have you.

- I am not your friend, Buckley. - Oh, yes, you are, Maverick.

Nobody but a friend would do what... What you're going to do for me.

And what might that be?

You're going to break me out of this preposterous jail.

You don't know me at all, Buckley.

I've never broken anybody out of jail in my life.

And If I were to start, why would I start with you?

You tell me why I'd do it?

Because you're greedy and because I know where the money is.

And if these rubes string me up, I'll die a rich man.

Would you really do a thing like that?

Would you die with $10,000 on your conscience.

- And 2000 of it my money? - I'd die happy that way.

- And you're not gonna tell me? - No.

But I'll show you.

Now, you swear the other fellow drew first?

Have I ever lied to you?

We'll split the money again. Half and half.

That's right.

I'll take my half, plus half of your half.

- My legal fee. - Oh, no. Fifty-fifty.

Well, Mr. Barnum, I sure hope you change your mind about needing a lawyer.

All right. Three to one.

Well, good day.

In all my life I'd seen only one building put together as solidly...

as the new jail at Junction Flats.

But that was the United States Mint in Denver.

It's surprising how few ways there are for an enterprising man...

to spring himself from a good jail.

Oh, there's habeas corpus.

But I wasn't sure they had that in Junction Flats.

Lots of places a man could shoot his way out.

But this wasn't one of those places.

Then, of course, there's always the classic approach to the problem.

Are you sure that's what you want?

Well, yes, ma'am. Is there something wrong?

Well, I think I ought to tell you...

fashionable ladies haven't been wearing tie-back dresses...

oh, two, three seasons now.

They're considered, uh, déclassé.

Well, I'm afraid it's gonna have to be a tie-back dress, ma'am.

Hm. Well, very well.

We'll see if we have one tucked away somewhere.

I'm afraid this is all we have.

As I say, there isn't much demand for them now.

Well, what I had in mind was more of a red dress, ma'am.

Red? Who on earth are you buying if for?

My mother.

Oh, your mother. Oh.

- Well, that will take a little more time. - Oh, there's no hurry.

Maverick?

- Were they mice you been hollering about? - They're not mice.

Well, you wait and see.

- Mice, huh? - Get over there.

Oh!

Shh. Be quiet.

Hey, get back over there.

Unh!

Hey, hey, hey. Hold this.

Thank you, ma'am. You've been a big help.

What are you doing in my basement?

Well, I hate to say this, ma'am...

but I'm looking for something to tie you up with.

Shh.

You think you can stop that music...

and foot-stomping long enough to eat your supper?

You can only feel so bad, sheriff...

then the essential cheerfulness of man takes over.

You start feeling good.

You got nothing to feel good about.

- How utterly appetizing. - Yeah.

- Going home to supper? - Where else would I be going?

I'll check in around 11. Anybody who wants me, I'll be home.

Don't you ever get tired of playing that monotonous thing?

Well, this isn't really my chosen instrument, deputy.

I'm a whiz on the musical saw.

I don't suppose you have a saw I could borrow, have you?

You keep playing that mouth organ till I can find you one.

All quiet along the Potomac tonight

Except here and there a stray picket

Is shot as he walks on his beat, to and fro

By a rifleman hid in the thicket

'Tis nothing A private or two now and then

- Will not count in the news of the battle - In the news of the battle

- Not an officer lost, only one of the men - An officer lost, only one of the men

- Moaning out all alone the death rattle - Moaning out all alone the death rattle

- All quiet along - Quiet along

- The Potomac tonight - The Potomac tonight

Oh!

- And one for me. - And Buckley, you better use the chalk.

That last 100 you put on your pile was 200 stuck together.

Oh.

Well, no need to argue.

One for me and three for you.

One for me and...

three for you. Well, that's the lot of it.

It's a pleasure to do business with you, Mr. Buckley.

No, Buckley, we'll just fold them up together, side by side...

for just a teensy bit longer.

Maverick, partner, tell me you're not thinking what I know you're thinking.

What's that, Buckley?

You don't want that money on your conscience. Not all that money.

Don't be evil-minded.

Now if you'll just sit up and turn around with your hands behind you...

long enough for me to get a loop on you.

There we go.

This is an awful blow, Maverick.

If a man can't trust his best friend...

whom can he trust?

Well, I'm doggoned if I know.

Now if you'll just lie down there comfortably, I'll sort of hog tie you.

Comfortably.

Look here, Maverick.

I don't want you to do anything you'll be ashamed of the rest of your life.

You know the way lawyers take money is one thing...

the way thieves take it is another.

Believe me, Buckley, this is the only part that I really enjoy.

And I'm doing this for your own good. I am your lawyer.

You're not paying me just to make you a fugitive.

I have to go back to Junction Flats and clear your good name.

Of course, I am being a little selfish about it.

I'm trying to clear my own name too.

I may wanna come back to Wyoming again sometime.

But believe me, one of these days you're gonna thank me for what I'm doing.

I believe my bath is ready. You'll excuse me if I freshen up a bit.

Well, first off, sheriff, tell me how your nephew is.

He's better. He ain't good. But he's better.

I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

Well, that's good.

Now let's start figuring out what you came here for.

All right.

Ain't it wonderful how these young jackleg lawyers...

works day and night for their clients?

Even when they ain't got no clients anymore.

Sure beats all, sheriff.

Well, I still got my client.

Maybe you wouldn't mind telling us where you got him.

- I was just getting to that. - Well, get to it fast.

Sheriff, I got a proposition to make.

Now, my client likes to think of himself as a law-abiding citizen.

- A good, honest, upright man. - He does?

And when I took over this case, my client was sitting back there...

in his dungeon cell, swearing he was an innocent man.

Well, state your proposition.

If you'll give me your personal guarantee that he won't be lynched...

if you'll take a personal responsibility that he'll be safe and alive...

when the circuit judge gets here, my client is willing to give himself up.

I don't want him.

I don't think I heard you, sheriff.

Leroy, when he came to this morning, owned up that he drew first.

Well, sheriff, that's gonna make my client the happiest man in the world.

Well, now, I just wish there was some way that you can get that message back to him.

How's that again?

Because you ain't in no position to tell him yourself.

Well, I don't think I follow you, sheriff.

Mr. Maverick, shooting people's one thing. Folks does it all the time.

Lots of times it's done just because they're high-spirited and prankish.

But what you did ain't prankish. It was cold-blooded mean.

It's a crime against nature and the statutes of Wyoming.

Did I do something wrong?

Mr. Maverick, you washed up today.

You didn't get the dirt out from underneath your fingernails.

Now let's see what we've got you on the books for.

Obstructing justice, aiding in the escape of a felon.

- You told me yourself he wasn't a felon. - He was at the time.

Mr. Maverick, if you're still alive and safe when the circuit judge gets here...

you're gonna know where to have your mail sent for the next 30 years.

See that he stays comfortable, George.

Don't take your eyes off him for a minute.

He's the tricky one. He's the dangerous criminal.

Goodnight, sheriff.

Goodnight, counselor.

Oh, I forgot to tell you something.

Don't be gabby because it can be used against you.

Buckley, I'm waiting.

Well, let's see.

It would still take him another half hour to work his way out of his ropes.

Another five minutes to figure out that I hadn't made off with the company funds...

that I really had gone to see the sheriff.

Getting into town would take at least an hour longer than it had taken me...

because he'd be coming in roundabout...

so as not to meet any public officials on the road.

But then how would he know I was here?

Oh, he'd find out some way.

Then how would he break me out? I couldn't see Dandy Jim doing heavy work.

He'd stay neat at all costs.

Suddenly, I had a horrible thought.

You suppose he'd just sit off to one side and wait for me to break myself out?

You know, just for a change, we might play slap jack.

All right. Slap jack.

That ought to be the sheriff.

But that ain't his knock.

Well, don't give up hope. It might be the mob.

Yeah? BUCKLEY: Open up.

Good evening.

I'm a fugitive from justice. I've come to give myself up.

And good evening to you.

I had to come back and make sure they were treating you right.

We need another hand for the game.

- You come in with your hands raised. - Delighted.

Oh.

- What are you doing here? - Well, paying my debt to society.

Dandy boy, your folks will be proud of you.

Well, I always try to do the right thing.

Tell me, deputy, which room is mine? The last room was rather drafty, you know.

Why did you have to pick a time like now to give yourself up?

I got no place to put you.

Don't tell me I need a reservation to break into jail. You've lots of room.

You know I ain't got the key to them cells.

The sheriff keeps them in the safe.

I'd forgotten all about that.

Do you want to go get the sheriff or me? Either way is agreeable to me.

You could just as well have waited to turn yourself in in the morning.

My work's complicated enough as it is.

Did you ever see this done, deputy?

Try and touch your hand with your...

Buckley, I always thought you were reasonably smart.

Well, aren't I?

No, you aren't. This is the stupidest thing you've done yet.

You come busting in with a lot of fireworks, a lot of smart alec tricks...

they don't amount to a hill of beans.

Where do you suppose they keep handcuffs?

- In the top drawer. - Oh.

All you've done is hurt this gentleman's feelings.

- You haven't helped me at all. - Oh, come now.

Mustn't throw in your cards before I've finished dealing.

So just where do you plan to start?

- You're gonna gnaw through the bars? - I'll use the keys, of course.

The keys, my friend, are in the safe.

Well, what goes shut must come open again. Heh, heh, heh.

Could I lend you a hair pin or something?

Don't you just love his sense of humor?

What a nice safe. I've never tried one quite like it.

Really well built. Can't even hear the tumblers click.

Well, I hope no one's in a hurry.

This isn't the sort of job you can just rush through.

- Take your time. - You're wasting your time, mister.

- That safe wouldn't open with dynamite. - I could steal some dynamite.

But, no. No, I can't destroy other people's property.

He's one of the most kind-hearted men you'd ever wanna meet.

Very thoughtful and considerate.

- Mr. Pyne, are you up? - I'm up.

- Are you up early or are you up late? - Both.

What you fussing and brooding about this time?

I got things on my mind, Ma.

I don't rightly know what they are.

I think I'll mosey on down and have a look at the jail.

Sit down.

You think somebody's made off with it?

Morrie Pyne, I don't know what's got into you lately.

But it's getting worse all the time. You

ain't been yourself at all since all that...

- Don't you say it. - You ain't paid to work 24 hours a day.

Now just unfold yourself and come to bed.

It's really quite tedious, you know.

But it wouldn't be fun if it were easy, would it?

Nothing like the joy of honest labor.

Yes. It's all in the way a body's brought up, I suppose.

Did you ever read the story of Robert the Bruce when you were a child?

No. And I just don't believe that you were ever a child.

Heh, heh. Well, Robert the Bruce was king of Scotland or one of those places.

And he was having a devil of a time.

Then one day he was sitting in a cave watching a little spider...

trying to spin a web across a cranny.

Six times that little spider tried but he simply couldn't do it.

But when he tried the seventh time, do you know what happened?

Robert the Bruce leaned over and stomped on him?

I wish you hadn't interrupted me.

Now I can't even remember how the story came out.

I think I've got two of them.

Those things must be frightfully uncomfortable.

He keeps looking like he's listening for something outside.

Of course he does because he is.

You're hoping to hear the sheriff coming, aren't you?

- That's right. - Well, you should have known that.

It's the nature of man. Man can't live without something to hope for.

I'm not hoping. I'm just waiting.

That's right. Don't let me stop you.

Sheriff, what a delightful... Drop the gun, please.

- How'd you get in here? - Well, your friendly assistant let me in.

Did you give him your gun too?

Oh, no, he didn't give it to him, sheriff. My friend here took it.

Cutest trick you ever saw.

Bret, it's really nothing. I've done it countless times before.

Here, we'll show you. I'll take the gun.

Well, heh, heh, heh.

You see, you try and touch your hand with... Unh!

But George forgot to back up.

Okay, Maverick, your humor is becoming a bit tiresome.

Sorry, Buckley, I couldn't resist it.

Are you gonna tie him up or lock him up?

Tie him up? In the best jail in Wyoming?

May I trouble you for the keys, please? Thank you.

Now if you'll just step this way.

Sheriff, I could almost feel sorry for you.

But you would have let the decent element lynch me.

- You shot that boy. - Now, that's what I mean.

So you'll have to feel sorry for yourself.

Boys, don't leave me like this.

Shoot me. Kill me.

Sheriff, that's against the law.

Forty-nine eighty, 4980, 5000, 5000.

This business of dividing it up is becoming monotonous.

I almost wish one or the other had all of it.

I know you do, Buckley.

Well, Maverick, which way shall we go now?

- You can go that way and I'll go that way. - Oh.

Oh, uh, may I have my gun?

You can buy a new one somewhere. You're a rich man now.

Maverick, parting is such sweet sorrow.

I know that too. Goodbye, Jim.

Goodbye, Bret.

Oh, one thing, Bret, whatever became of Hognose Hughes?

Three months later, he got ahold of some bad chili at a picnic and died in agony.

Oh.

Oh, well.

All quiet along the Potomac tonight

Except here and there a stray picket

Is shot as he walks on his beat, to and fro

Buckley.

It's me, old boy.

- Where'd you get that buffalo rifle? - I found it.

On the ground, please.

Now, I wonder if you'd mind standing up?

Weeping sad and lonely

Hopes and fears, how vain

When this cruel war is over

Praying that we meet again