Original subtitles

[ door opening ]

Don't make a sound. Just start walking around the side of the barn.

You mind telling me what this is all about?

You open your mouth once more, and you'll find out whether I mind.

Come on.

[ horses approaching ]

All right, get down.

Hi, Slim. It's been a long time.

Two years isn't so long you have to have a hired gun

to come and get me.

Oh, that's just a precaution.

Nothing personal,

come on here,

help yourself to a cup of coffee.

I heard you've been running outside the law, Gil.

Didn't know it'd gone this far though.

These men work for you?

Well, more or less.

Tell you, the way town's been

springing up around here right and left

it's been too crowded for man to operate alone.

You didn't bring me out here to tell me that.

No, I didn't.

I suppose you heard that Stacey Bishop's

planning on getting married.

Yeah, what about it?

Well, I'll tell you what about it, she's my wife.

I don't plan to see her taking up with any other man,

leastwise while I got anything to say about it.

It seems to me you lost any say about it

when she divorced you 3 years ago.

It was her father's doing.

You know Ed Bishop did everything

he could to break up our marriage, you know that.

I know nothing of the kind.

Ed and I've been friends for long and I can count,

oh, he's a tough man and hard to get along with sometimes,

but he wouldn't hurt anybody unless they were asking for it.

For a fellow such a long memory, it seems like you forgot

about Fredericksburg and Cold Harbor soon enough.

I haven't forgotten anything about the war

and how you saved me from that Reb ambush.

In fact I didn't think you were gonna

try to trade on that.

Same old Slim, straight as a rail

and no bend on the edges.

Ain't nobody talking about a trade,

I just wanted somebody I could trust,

somebody that would talk

some sense into that girl and her father.

Like what?

Like there ain't gonna be no wedding, that's what.

Stacey tries to go through with it,

a lot of people stand to get hurt.

Maybe you better tell him that yourself.

I tried to, but where I'm concerned

Ed Bishop's kind of hard of hearing.

I don't want him to...

miscalculate.

Well, I've been invited to the wedding, Gil,

and I'm gonna go.

But not because of you.

All right.

Just wanted to make sure

you know what you're getting yourself in for, that's all.

Pike!

Mr. Sherman's leaving us.

Isn't there some other way?

Slim, can't you find a better road than this?

I'm sorry, Daisy.

There's only one road in here.

Well, try to drive between the bumps,

or Stacey's beautiful wedding cake will be ruined.

Now stop worrying about the wedding cake.

This ranch isn't too far from here.

It's easy going from here.

I don't see why Ed Bishop ever built his ranch

way out here in the middle of nowhere.

Well, he didn't exactly build it.

Put up by missionaries a long time ago.

It was empty.

He needed a home for his family

so he just fixed it up and moved in.

Oh.

Slim,

you're not still worried about

what Gil Harrison said, are you?

Seems sort of far-fetched to me.

Why, one man couldn't stop

a whole wedding party, could he?

Ooh.

Bishop sure must like the privacy, Daisy.

One road leading into here

and they got the gate locked.

Leave her be, mister.

What do you want?

We're here for the wedding.

Not till tomorrow.

I know, but they asked us to come today.

Let's see the invite.

Daisy, you got that invitation?

Why, no.

I didn't think we needed it.

We're friends of the family.

My orders are nobody gets in without an invite.

But we're expected.

Go up to the house, ask Mr. Bishop, ask Stacey.

And leave the gate alone so you can burst in?

Now what are we supposed to do?

Camp out here? Go back to Laramie?

Up to you, but you aren't coming this way.

STACEY: Slim!

Daisy!

Why, it's Stacey.

We're not going which way?

Oh, Slim.

How nice of you to come.

Well, you didn't think I was gonna

miss your wedding, did you?

Well, I sure hope not.

Hello, Daisy. How are you?

I don't know when I've seen you looking so wonderful, Stacey.

Why, thank you.

It's that extra special something

that all brides have they tell me.

Where's Jess?

Well, somebody had to hold down the fort.

What you mean is he runs scared every time

anybody mentions the word marriage.

Listen, let's go up to the house.

Um, I'll ride with you so we can talk.

Well, you're gonna have to get us

through the line first.

Yeah, we forgot our invitation,

he's been kind of stubborn about it.

It's all right, Red. You can let them through.

I got my orders, Miss Stacey.

Your father told me not to--

Well, I'm telling you, open the gate!

Red's our foreman,

he's been with us about 10 years.

He's devoted to Pa, but sometimes

I think he carries it a little bit too far.

Wait now, Slim.

Oh-hoo.

Thank you, Red.

I'm sorry.

Forget it.

But you know you shouldn't have been

riding out there alone.

I can take care of myself.

Is Pa back from town yet?

No, ma'am.

Go ahead, Slim.

Come on.

I wanted a small wedding with just a few close friends.

You know Pa when he gets started.

There'll be at least 200 people here tomorrow.

I'm glad you decided to come early

so we'll have a chance to visit.

Well, you wanted us to come early, didn't you?

And there was a note in the invitation

saying to come today.

Well, I think I didn't even send out the invitations,

I left that to Marilee.

That little minx.

You better watch yourself, Slim.

What do you mean?

Well, Marilee didn't ask you to come early

for my benefit evidently.

This wedding fever is contagious.

Now your sister is a nice kid and all that, but...

Yes, but she's old enough to have ideas of her own.

Evidently they include you.

Stacey, what's that cabin?

Oh, what a pretty setting, almost like a painting.

Gil built that.

We spent part of our honeymoon there.

No one lives there now.

Somehow I never had the heart to see the place torn down.

And that's the whole story

exactly the way Gil put it to me.

I thought you'd want to know the truth.

I'm glad you told me.

You don't seem very surprised.

I don't think there's anything

my ex-husband could do that'll surprise me.

Stacey, thank you for letting me

pick your wonderful roses.

Oh, they are lovely.

Daisy!

Slim!

I was beginning to think you weren't coming.

Oh, nonsense.

Why, you couldn't keep Slim away.

Hi, Marilee.

Good to see you.

Well, it's a fine way of showing it.

Come on, Daisy, I'll take you to your room.

You know, I have a feeling

we're not even gonna be missed.

Well, that's more like it.

Well, I-- I better get these bags inside.

Oh, wait, I've got to talk to you.

Well, won't it keep?

No, this is serious.

Stacey's in trouble, we all are.

That's why I asked you to come early

so maybe you could help.

Yeah, I noticed

two or three guards posted on the way in.

Looks like I'm not the only one worried about

what Gil Harrison might do.

Well, then you know.

He made sure of that.

Oh, please, don't tell Stacey I told you this.

Gil's actually threatened her life

along with anyone else who gets in the way.

It's hard to believe

he's the same man I used to know.

He isn't the same.

Even when he was first married to Stacey,

he seemed to think the world owed him a living.

I can remember once when Dad asked him

a simple thing like,

well, like helping with the spring round-up,

Gil said no, that he'd taken his last order

from anyone at Appomattox.

Well, you know he was shot up pretty badly

during the war.

Guess he really never got over it.

Well, I know one thing he never got over,

Stacey's divorcing him.

Within a year he had a string of robberies

behind him and half a dozen men backing him up.

You know, it's strange the law hasn't caught up to him

long before now.

There's never been a single witness

who could tie him in with any of the things

that have happened.

And with what little law we have around here,

I don't expect that to change.

Marilee, your sister wants you.

Oh. All right, Lee.

You remember Slim Sherman, don't you?

Certainly. Good to see you again.

Same here.

Oh, will you both excuse me?

Well, now that congratulations are in order,

how does it feel being a bridegroom?

Well, I know there are a lot of stock answers to that,

but right now

I don't feel up to any of them.

What's wrong?

Ed Bishop's nearly 2 hours overdue

getting back from town.

He might have stopped to celebrate a little bit.

It's not every day a man marries off

one of his daughters.

You must have passed some of the guards

on your way in.

Did that look like he was celebrating?

Mr. Taylor.

Mr. Taylor, come quick!

Slim, he's hurt bad.

How did this happen, Red?

I don't know.

My son Frank here found him.

He was unconscious and tied to his horse.

Look like he's been clubbed.

We just brought him in as quick as we could.

You better read this, Lee.

"My first gift to the wedding party."

It's signed "A friend."

[ footsteps approaching ]

[ door shuts ]

DAISY: Well...

SLIM: What is it, Daisy?

I have been trying to reason with Ed Bishop.

You might as well talk to a stone wall.

Now what's the matter?Everything.

He won't stay in bed. He's up and dressed.

And now he has some crazy idea

of riding after whoever it was who hurt him.

There's nothing crazy about that.

Anybody trying to do me in is gonna have to answer--

You're not in any shape to go anywhere.

Besides you don't know for sure

who it was that whooped you off that saddle.

I know all I need to.

That note you found on me

is in Gil Harrison's handwriting.

All right, say he did it.

You're not gonna be much of a match for him

the shape you're in.

That's good advice, Ed. You may not like it, but--

I'll handle Gil Harrison

and in a way he won't forget.

Pa?

What are you doing out of bed?

Well, what does it look like?

Don't let that temper of yours

push you the wrong way.

Gil's got a lot of hard men backing him up.

So have I, and I'm getting them together right now.

Pa...

And if either of you just have the guts to come along,

we might even lynch him.

There must be some way to stop him short of hogtieing him.

He's like this, that's about all that's left.

ED: Red! Frank!

Get the men!

Where are we heading, Mr. Bishop?

To get Gil Harrison.

See that every man is armed.

And bring up a horse for me.

Yes, sir.

You let me do that for you.

Marilee, I swear you're worse than he is.

Slim, Lee, don't let him do this.

Well, one thing's for sure, Ed.

You take the law in your own hands,

and you'll be doing just what that gunslinger is.

You've had your chance to handle this,

you go talk to Harrison, reason with him.

And what did it get you, besides a bullet in the leg?

All right, so I lost my temper just the way you're doing now.

Instead of talk there was a shooting.

If that still doesn't prove it could have been handled

better some other way.

I'll tell you what it proves,

just this time that Harrison went up

against somebody in a gunfight

who ain't gonna come out second best!

Well, that's not fair!

Who said anything about the world being fair?

You eat or get eaten, that's as simple as that.

And it's high time he knew it.

It's also time you started making sense.

You had one gunfighter in this house

and couldn't live with it.

Now you're complaining because you haven't got another one.

I ain't complaining.

She's the one that's marrying you.

Well, it hasn't happened yet.

Why can't you leave him alone?

[ coughs ]

You're wrong about him, Ed.

As wrong as a man can be.

I tell you I...

Sit down, Ed.

Well, I told him I was afraid he'd broken some ribs.

It's a miracle he stayed on his feet as long as he did.

We've got to get him inside.

All right.

Come on.

How is he?

He's better.

Daisy is a good nurse.

Slim and Marilee are helping to tape him up.

He'll be fine.

Stacey.

Your father might have been hurt a lot worse.

I know.

And you also know I gave Red a telegram 2 days ago

to send to a federal marshal in Casper.

Now why did you stop him from sending it?

Red told you?

Let's just say I found out.

But the truth is you don't really want anything

much to happen to Gil Harrison, do you?

Lee, just because I'm marrying you,

does that mean I have to hate Gil?

No.

Hate and love are a little closer in that like,

but I don't think you should help him

run loose so he can

bushwhack anyone he wants to.

Why are you making it sound

like the whole thing is up to me?

Stacey.

I'd like the truth about you and Gil.

Lee, I'm marrying you.

Isn't that enough?

No.

Not unless you can be honest with yourself.

Look, I know how it was when you divorced him.

You were pretty well broken up.

And I tried to change that in every way I could.

And you have.

Well, then, level with me, Stacey!

I don't want any ghosts between us.

If you can't get Gil out of your system,

don't expect me to hold your hand

and tell you everything's all right,

because it isn't!

I don't expect anything like that.

It's just that...

whatever he is now, I was his wife once.

And is it my fault that I--

I can't just turn my feelings on and off like a tap?

No, it's not your fault.

But if you can't shut him out all the way,

I just don't think

there should be any wedding tomorrow.

Lee...

Lee, wait.

Slim, everything is going wrong.

Isn't there anything you can do?

[ indistinct chatter ]

The usual.

I hear you're looking for Gil Harrison.

No crime in that, is there?

Depends on what you want with him.

That didn't bother you much before.

Well, if you're talking about the other night,

that was different.

He wanted to see you.

Hold it.

Everybody, stay put.

Now I want to see Gil Harrison.

Where is he?

Stay away now, boys.

I wouldn't want our local deputy saying

he didn't have a chance to defend himself.

Vince, let's see how good you are with a live target.

Looks like you won.

It's too bad it's not gonna do you any good.

Let it go, Pike.

Ha, you're a hard man to get to see.

Kind of lucky a sore hand is all you got out of this.

Something special on your mind?

I want you to stop bothering the Bishops.

You're getting in way over your head, Gil.

Maybe it's the other way around.

They're expecting a couple of hundred guests out there

at the wedding tomorrow.

Are you gonna try to buck 'em all?

Don't stay around to find out, Slim.

Go on back to Laramie.

What do you expect to get out of this?

Stacey.

Then you're wasting your time.

After what you've done

she'll never want to see you again.

Except maybe behind bars.

You seem more sure about that than she is.

Now you get out of here while you still can.

Let him have it.

If you think I'm calling things off

because of Gil Harrison, you're wasting your time.

I'm only suggesting you

push the wedding back a few days, not call it off.

What's the difference? It adds up the same.

Well, not to me, it doesn't.

Then we just see it different.

Only because you're making it that way.

If Gil was anybody else,

an outlaw that never set foot in this place,

you wouldn't be so stubborn about

wanting to tangle with him.

I'm not denying that.

When Gil came back from the war,

I did everything I could for him.

I treated him like the son I never had.

When he and Stacey come to me

and said they were gonna be married,

I was about as proud as any man could be.

Then less than a year later it was over,

all on account of him.

Well, you don't forget things like that.

Just the same.

I know what's going through Gil's mind.

He's hungry for a fight.

Now if you let this thing cool off for a few days,

there might not be one.

There'll be one.

That gunslinger's been telling everybody

where to head in for just too long.

Now sooner or later he's got to be dealt with.

And you want it now?

It isn't a case of what I want.

It's a case of what has to be done.

Oh, Ed.

You've built this ranch from nothing,

poured most of your life into it.

If you go in to a fight with Gil,

there might not be much left.

We'll do all right. I'm through backing away.

It's too bad you weren't in town with me.

From what I saw, Harrison's got at least a dozen men.

Their guns are gonna be pointing exactly where he tells them to.

Then I've got Red and his crew to make sure they never get near this house.

And a lot of guests coming in who grew up

cutting their teeth on the front side

of a Springfield rifle.

So what's there to worry about?

Nothing I guess, Ed.

Goodnight.

Slim, I appreciate what you're trying to do,

but no way you can help Stacey and me.

I don't think anyone can.

Where is she now?

Down that cabin Harrison built for her.

Goes every once in a while when she's troubled

or she wants to think something out.

And you let her?

What am I supposed to do?

It's her ranch, isn't it?

Well, partly.

Hey, Lee, you planning on living here

after you're married?

I don't know that we're actually gonna be

married, Slim.

I do know that I wouldn't live here

with Stacey as man and wife for anything.

We're gonna make it on our own someplace else.

Good idea.

Only it's not gonna work unless you start cutting

through some of that pink ribbon

that Stacey's been wrapped up in most of her life.

What do you mean?

Well, since their mother died,

both girls have had just about everything they wanted,

been treated with kid gloves all the time.

That's partly why Gil made

such a strong impression on Stacey.

He forced her to go his way... treated her like dirt.

Because it was new, something strange...

she was drawn to him like a magnet.

Yeah, and she's still drawn to him,

even though she doesn't want to be.

It's your fault, Lee. Clear and simple.

My fault?

You're too nice for your own good.

There's nothing for her in that cabin except

some half-baked dream of what Gil might have been.

And letting her keep that dream alive...

made it seem like you didn't care.

At least not enough.

Maybe you're right.

Just knowing that cabin's there has

spoilt more days for me than I can count.

I guess it is time I did something about her, huh?

Don't you think you've spent enough time in here?

What if I have?

There's nothing so wrong in that, is there?

It's as wrong as anything can be, and you know it.

You don't understand, Lee.

Please go on.

I'll be along in just a minute.

All right, if you want to stay...

then we'll both stay.

Aren't you being a little childish?

No more than you,

trying to hang onto something in the past

that was never any good in the first place.

I hardly think you're in any position to know

whether it was any good or not.

Well, you're wrong.

I'm in a very good position to know.

It's in your eyes, it's in your face,

it's in practically everything you do.

What is?

Your storybook notion of how life ought to be.

You don't like it the way it really is,

full of problems you have to wrestle

with whether you like them or not.

Oh, no, what you want is a kind of a perfection

that nobody can spoil, like this place,

all neat and arranged, just the way you want.

I think you've said just about enough.

You're right, Stacey!

And I'm through trying to talk any sense into you!

This cabin is coming down right now.

Lee!

What's the matter with you? What are you doing?

You can't do that!

Oh, can't I? Huh?

I'm trying to...

No.

No.

I'll never forgive you for this. You don't know what you've done.

Settle down.

You had no right!

If you want me, Stacey...

this is the way it's got to be.

Oh, I wish you'd stay put.

Daisy, with all the fancy work you've done on that cake,

I think you've performed enough miracles.

And what about you?

I heard that you had something to do

with patching up whatever's wrong

between Lee and Stacey.

Yeah.

It's Gil Harrison who's got me stumped though.

It's not like him to drop a fight once

it's started.

Well, maybe he's decided it isn't worth it.

Anyhow worrying about it won't help.

Oh, my goodness, look at the time.

Well, the guests will be arriving soon,

and the girls aren't even dressed.

Why don't you open it up and have yourself a little nip?

No, thanks, I'll wait.

You're supposed to be taking it easy.

Well, I can't very well do that,

not the way things are turning out.

Lee just got back, was having a look around,

make sure everything was all right.

Everything isn't, huh?

Bridge over the river has been wrecked,

nobody can get across.

Well, that just about does it, huh?

Not by a long shock.

Some of the guests will be coming out from the north

across the flats, and that's the way

the preacher will be coming, too.

How about those men you were counting on to help?

What happens when they don't show?

Well, I still got Red and the crew.

Ed!

Yeah?

What's the matter?

All your hands, they're saddling up,

getting ready to leave.

Leave?

Red too?

Didn't make any sense to me either,

but he's pulling out, and so are all the others.

"And unless you and your crew are off

the Bishop ranch by noon,

you'll never see your son again."

You understand, don't you?

Nothing else could make me leave you like this.

Frank...

he's all I got.

It's all right, Red.

I wouldn't even ask you to stay.

Are you sure Harrison's got your boy?

You know, him saying it doesn't make it so.

I found the note at the main gate,

that's where Frank was posted.

His gun was on top of it.

And Frank wouldn't give that up for nobody.

You better leave right now. He might be up on a high ground watching.

I don't think his leaving's gonna do much good.

All right, I'm calling off the wedding, and I'm quitting.

Now that's what he wants, isn't it?

I think it's too late for that, too.

If I know Gil, the time for making a deal has run out.

He's not gonna be satisfied till he wrecks this place.I hope you're wrong, Slim.

If he decides to do that, there sure isn't much here to stop him.

It's kind of up to Red.

Look, I want to help, honest.

I'm not asking you to risk your son's life,

just work with us for a while.

What have you got in mind?

I haven't figured it all out yet, just an idea.

One thing's sure though, we got to go along

with what Gil wants.

Red and his men have to leave the ranch.

Well, what do you think?

They might pass as men if nobody looks too close.

Harrison will see what he expects to see,

Red and his crew pulling out.

He won't be looking for anything else.

We're ready.

Only one thing bothers me.

What's that?

The way I understand it we ride out

and leave my men here so Harrison will think the ranch

is wide open, but he still got my boy.

And once that gunslinger finds out

how we've crossed him, he--

By the time he does, we'll have made it

a point to get Frank away from him.

I hope.

As soon as the women are in the clear,

we'll cut back and find him.

Red, you got my word for it.

If I don't hear from you,

if Frank isn't safe, I'll give up.

We won't even try to make a fight of it here.

Thanks.

But I won't hold you to that.

I got a feeling if we don't find him real quick,

we never will.

You're not worried, are you?

Having me on your side?

Lee, I've been wrong about a lot of things.

And I'd like to apologize for what I said to you yesterday.

Forget it.

One other thing...

about that cabin of ours you burnt down.

What about it?

I'm glad it's gone.

I'd have torn that place down long ago myself,

only Stacey never would have forgiven me

if I'd been the one to do it.

Ho.

See something?

Yeah, on top of the ridge somebody is watching us.

They'll probably keep following us, too.

Make sure we don't double back.

If we don't shake him, we won't have a chance

to look for Frank.

And if we do, he'll go back and warn Gil.

There's a ravine about a mile west of here.

If he's still with us he won't be able to stay up high.

He'll have to drop down behind us...

and we'll be waiting for him someplace in that ravine.

That I'd like.

[ horse neighing ]

Well, if it isn't the knife thrower himself.

I was hoping it'd be you.

Mister, if you want to stay alive,

you better start talking about where my son is, and quick.

I don't know where he is.

I swear it, I don't know anything about it.

Yes, you do.

And you're gonna tell us.

Maybe I'll try seeing

how good I am with a live target.

Open up, Pete.

It's me, Vince.

Slim, behind you!

Not gonna be as easy as you thought, huh?

You're the one who's gonna be doing all the work.

Now either you go through that boarded window

or you're gonna talk your friend

into coming out here with his hands real high.

You know what would happen to me

if I tried to break through that window.

I got a pretty good idea, so you better start talking.

Now wait a minute.

Pete!

Give yourself up, it's no use.

If they want me, let them come and get me.

If you're gonna use that gun on me, mister,

go right ahead, but I'm not gonna

try to break in through that window.

Take off your coat.

Come on, take it off.

Put that rock in it and plenty of that dried grass.

Use the sleeves to tie it.

What are you gonna do?

Red...

Take him over by the window,

set fire to this when I tell you.

I want him to throw it through the opening in the boards.

I'll hit the door about the same time.

All right. Move.

When he throws it, make sure he doesn't miss.

He won't miss.

You have all the men spotted?

Best I could, at least you'll find the place

is pretty well covered.

Well, it stands to reason the trouble's gonna

come through the gate.

I put a double lock on it. That'll slow 'em down some.

I hope they don't start shooting too quick.

It'd be better if Gil thought he's gonna have his own way.

I already passed the word around.

None of our men will start firing until we do.

[ horses approaching ]

Ed, on the road.

Yeah, I see 'em.

Looks more like a fort than a house.

Don't matter nothing, we'll pull this gate down

and go in fast.

Looks like Harrison, right out in front.

Don't get in a hurry.

I meant what I said to Red about his son.

We can't wait much longer.

I know.

Bishop!

Bishop, you hear me?

I hear you.

Send Stacey out here.

You send her out of here,

or she's gonna get it with the rest of you.

You're wasting your time!

Ha!

Ha!

[ gunshots ]

It's no good.

They got it blocked from the inside.

Let's try this window.

I don't know about you, I'm getting out of here.

You're wasting your time with that thing, Slim.

I suppose you figured I was gonna end up

this way all along.

Nobody could stop you, no matter what we tried.

Gil, I'm sorry.

Why?

I guess I've given you

and Stacey the best wedding present of them all.

[ Slim playing mouth organ ]

Your homework, now.

Slim, tell me some more about the wedding.

Well, there's nothing else to tell, Mike.

With all that fighting, there must have been

something you left out.

Come to think of it, there was one thing

I forgot to tell you.

Sure there was, about how you hid

under the bed when all the shooting started.

No, it was after that.

At the wedding supper,

Marilee and I got to talking about Jess.

About me?

Thought you were the one she's been trying

to hitch up with.

Not anymore, pard.

After what I told her about you,

you're the number one choice.

I am?

Well, I don't even know her.

Doesn't make any difference.

Matter of fact she's riding out here tomorrow.

Wouldn't surprise me now if she didn't bring that

preacher with her.

Daisy, is he telling the truth?

You're just stringing him along, aren't ya?

Yeah. But don't you tell him that, huh?

[ plays harmonica ]

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