Original subtitles

♪♪

Oh, look, antelope.

They're cows.

Ben, we're in the middle of Nevada. They're antelope.

Cows.

Oh, stop being a stick in the mud.

Well, it's just I don't get it.

You go to this charity auction,

and of all the trips you could have bid on,

you had to wind up with this one.

Because I thought that spending the weekend

with a bunch of friends at a dude ranch sounded like fun,

and I haven't thrown a party in a long time,

and the money went for a good cause.

And as luck would have it, nobody else bid on it.

There's going to be horses.

Of course there's going to be horses. It's a dude ranch.

I don't know how to ride one of them.

Well, you'll learn.

I'm not going to get on one of them.

Oh, Ben.

I'm afraid of horses.

May as well get out and stretch your legs, folks.

Oh, wow.

This is great.

Reminds me of a mini-mall my ex-brother-in-law talked me into buying.

Well, this isn't the dude ranch, is it, Julie?

No. I'm sure the driver's just taking a break or something.

Either that, or he's looking for a fire extinguisher.

Oh, Ben.

Let me go see what's going on.

What's the trouble?

Engine's overheating.

Any reason why?

We're out of oil.

Out of oil?

Yep.

The crank case is leaking like a sieve.

How long is it going to take you to fix it?

My job is to drive this bus, not to fix it.

Well, what are you going to do about it?

Get on the radio, tell the boss to send a mechanic out here.

May as well make yourselves comfortable, folks.

Looks like we're going to be here a while.

It's okay. He's got a radio.

It's not like we're going to be stranded here for days or anything.

Come on, you guys. It will be fun.

Now, who wants to go exploring?

Oh, hey, hey.

I vote we find a nice shady tree and play a little game of chance.

Have a few cold ones.

Now you're talking.

Come on, let's look around.

- Want to go with us? - No, thanks.

Hey, Ben, Julie... come here. You've got to see this.

You're blocking the door.

♪♪

What will it be?

Who is the sheriff talking to?

That's Ned Salem.

The cardshark's Gil Brisco. Must be new in town.

That's old Bob...

Yep.

Dead drunk, the same as always.

Well, well, I don't believe I've had the pleasure.

Welcome to Golden Springs, stranger.

My name's Michelle.

What's yours?

I need to talk to you.

It will have to wait. I'm busy.

Miss Thomas!

I just heard about Willis.

He drew on me, Conrad.

Drew on me and lost.

Here's what I'm going to do, Sheriff.

First I'm going to step over to that bar and get me a drink.

Then I'm going to go get my gun, and I'm going to come looking for you.

You do...

you're going to wind up just like your uncle...

Dead.

Whiskey.

Not that stuff, the good stuff under here.

Don't never let him pour from them bottles up there... he waters them down.

Thanks for the tip.

I'm Ben Matlock.

Conrad McMasters.

New in these parts?

Real new.

Where are you staying?

I don't know yet.

Any suggestions?

Julie's Boarding House, right down the street.

She's about to have a vacancy.

She is?

Her brother's room.

He's the sheriff.

Morning.

Hi.

Are you Julie?

You must be the stranger my brother told me about.

Need a room, do you?

As a matter of fact, I do.

Going to be in town long?

I'm not really sure.

This here's your room.

It will cost you a dollar a day in advance.

A dollar?

That includes meals, of course.

Oh.

Oh, I'll take it.

Uh, will some of these do?

My Lord!

I'm renting you a room, not selling you the place.

This is just fine.

Well, you've got yourself room and board now for five days.

Oh.

You, uh, with the railroad, Mr...?

Matlock. No, I'm not.

Men who carry all that cash usually work for the railroad...

Or just got done robbing it.

You're no outlaw, are you, Mr. Matlock?

No, no. I'm a lawyer.

I'll just get you some water so you can wash up.

Uh, actually right now, I'm more interested in using the facilities.

You know, the restroom.

The men's...

Oh, of course. It's right out back.

Out back?

I ain't going to tell you but one time, Sheriff.

If you don't stop messing in my affairs, tin badge or no,

you're going to be real sorry. Do you hear me?

Where's the sheriff?

At the jail.

Hey, Willis is a no-good troublemaker, Conrad.

He ain't worth dying for, and you know it.

A man's got to do what a man's got to do.

Get your gun on.

You don't want to do this, Conrad.

You killed my uncle.

You didn't even like your uncle.

He raised me.

I owe him.

He raised you because he liked having somebody around

he could kick the tar out of.

Get your gun on.

In my desk, bottom drawer.

Some folks is just too nice for their own damn good.

Ohh!

Jailhouse?

Let's get down there!

Excuse me, please.

Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me.

Excuse me. Excuse me.

Uh, excuse me. Could I just slip through this, in here?

Come on. Let's go.

- But I didn't kill him. - Come on.

I didn't do it.

Somebody's got to believe me. I didn't kill him.

I'm innocent.

I guess he clobbered me,

because the next thing I know, I'm lying on the floor

and he's lying across from me with a big hole in his chest.

Where was your gun?

In my hand.

And I don't know how it got there, I swear.

Then what happened?

I got up to take a look at the sheriff,

and then the deputy comes in and starts hollering.

You mean the deputy came in

and saw you standing over the sheriff with the gun in your hand?

Yes.

Oh.

Are there any lawyers in this town?

There used to, but it seems like people always get mad at them

and wind up shooting them.

Damn it, Willis!

If I'd have just shot him myself

instead of waiting around for the sheriff to do it,

none of this would have happened.

I thought he was your uncle.

He was the meanest man that ever walked this earth.

Well, why did you go after the sheriff like that?

Willis was family.

A man's got to do what a man's got to do.

Why is that?

Why is what?

Why does a man got to do what a man's got to do?

Do you realize how many people have been killed in John Wayne movies

all because of that one line?

Men, women, children, towns, villages, forts...

All wiped out because somebody strapped on a gun

and said a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

Somebody should have jerked that jackass around

and knocked the living hell out of him.

A man's got to do what a man's got to do.

Well, if you want me to take your case, I will.

As it happens, I'm a lawyer.

How come?

I like being a lawyer.

No, how come you'll take my case? You don't hardly even know me.

I don't know.

Somewhere in my mind I feel like I do.

Well, I can't pay you much.

The fact is I can't pay you nothing.

You don't have to pay me.

Just don't shoot me.

Any idea what time it was when you heard the shot?

I didn't hear no shot.

You didn't?

A gun this big, I'd think you could hear the shot all the way to California.

There's five bullets.

The sixth one went through the sheriff and stuck in the wall there.

You are going to run ballistics to make sure

the bullet came out of this gun, aren't you?

I'm going to do what?

Uh, you're going to, uh...

run a full investigation?

Well, Conrad said he was going to get the sheriff.

That's what he done.

Of course, if the sheriff had been wearing his gun,

that would have been self-defense.

But since he weren't, that just makes it cold-blooded murder.

Cut and dried, just the way the circuit court judge likes it.

Uh, Ned Salem...

I saw him out behind the boarding house today giving the sheriff what for.

The sheriff was probably talking to him about that cattle rustling.

What cattle rustling?

The rustling he thought Ned was doing.

Where can I find Ned Salem?

At his ranch, I expect.

It's the Lazy B. It's about an hour's ride north of town.

Hour's ride.

Let's be friends.

Come on.

Now, I'm kind of new at this, so I'll...

So I'll take all the help I can get.

Now, you... There you go, that's a boy.

Yeah. Now you stay right here.

Stand still, and I'm gonna... get on.

I nearly got it. There.

No.

Would you stand real still, and I'll...

Could you... Could you just...

Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.

Hold still. Hold still. Hold still. Hold still. Hold still.

Wait.

Giddyup.

Come on.

Come on, come on. Giddyup.

Come on.

No. No. No. No.

Oh, no. No. No. Whoa.

Let Captain Stewart take his pick from this bunch,

but make sure the ones we take him come from that herd down by the river.

Man thinks he knows his cattle, but he don't.

Come on, run.

Oh, this saddle is getting...

Is getting a little hard, Brownie.

We're getting close, Brownie.

We're going to get them. Come on.

Mr. Salem?

I'm Ben Matlock.

Oh, I've seen you earlier, in the saloon.

You know, if you come to town to buy some beef, you've come to the right place.

Oh, no, no. I'm not buying.

I'm... I'm a lawyer.

Too bad.

Lawyers don't seem to fare too well around here.

That's what I heard.

Anyway, I'm representing the man accused of killing the sheriff.

Oh, that's a terrible thing. The sheriff was a good man.

Yeah. I understand that he suspects you of coming by some of these cattle illegally.

I ain't no cattle rustler, and the sheriff knew it.

Why, him and me was friends.

It didn't sound like it from what I heard behind the boarding house today.

Now you look here.

I run a big outfit here, and I run it right.

The army over at Fort Rye wants beef, they buy it from me.

I got me a contract.

I got lots of contracts.

Now, some of the ranchers don't like that,

so they try to make me look bad by accusing me of things I didn't do.

Oh, yeah.

It's just that you were so mad,

and then, an hour later, he was so dead.

Well, I wasn't mad enough to kill him, if that's what you're getting at.

McMasters, now he was mad enough.

Brisco, too.

- Gil Brisco? - Yeah.

Sheriff threw him in the hoosgow for cheating last week

just when a bunch of miners he was looking forward to gamble with come to town.

Well, Gil Brisco was fit to be tied.

- Swore he'd get even. - Oh?

Well, I appreciate the tip.

Glad to help.

Come on, Brownie.

Come on.

Come on, Brownie.

Come on, come on, come on.

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

You ain't going to do this for a whole hour, are you... are you, Brownie?

Hey, Mr. Brisco.

Hey. Ben Matlock.

Oh, yes, of course.

Word gets around fast in Golden Springs, Mr. Matlock.

- Pleased to meet you. - Yes.

You know, I don't think I've ever seen a lawyer up close before...

Not a live one, at least.

Oh.

I'd like to ask you some questions.

- Where are you from? - Atlanta.

Do they play five card draw down in Atlanta?

What's that got to do with my asking you some questions?

Well, nothing loosens my tongue quite like a game of cards, that's all.

Oh. Well... Two dollar ante.

Well, you aren't going to cheat, are you?

I have never cheated at cards in my life, and I never will.

That's the God's honest truth, Mr. Matlock.

Is that why the sheriff threw you in jail last week?

He threw me in jail because I was showing

what he considered to be an unhealthy interest in his sister.

Cards.

Accusing me of something I never did

and temporarily depriving me of my livelihood

was his clever way of telling me to stay away from her.

Oh. I bet that made you mad.

Yes, it did.

But you didn't stay away from her?

Raise.

No, I didn't.

Is that why he wound up dead an hour later?

Looks like everybody but you and me has folded.

What you got?

Three 5s.

Three ladies.

Where were you around 1:30 this afternoon?

I'm afraid you're going to have to ante up before I answer that.

You've taken everything I've got.

Then our conversation, though it has been my pleasure, is over.

Well, hello, Ben.

I've been expecting you.

You have?

I have.

I've heard all about you.

And I just assumed in time you'd hear all about me.

Here, let me help you get more comfortable.

Uh...

Uh, uh, uh,

I... I just came up here to talk.

I gambled all my money away. I mean, every penny.

Oh, you poor thing.

What I mean is I can't pay you.

Oh, sure you can.

Look, you've got these nice silver cufflinks

and, oh, this beautiful gold pocket watch.

Why, if all I took around these parts was cash,

I'd have gone out of business years ago.

Um, uh...

I... I wanted to ask you about the sheriff.

What about him?

What did he want to talk to you about?

Same thing he always wanted to talk about... my leaving.

He was the only man in town who wasn't pleased as pie I'd settled here.

Of course, that's because he was the only man in town

who hadn't availed himself of my services.

He would have eventually if he hadn't had such a prude for a sister.

Let me just slip this right off.

I just came up here to talk.

And now that we've talked, I'd just as soon leave.

See, I'm kind of a prude myself.

Wait a minute.

I'll walk you out.

It's not often I get to be seen with a lawyer.

I just hope nobody shoots you.

Hey, are you Michelle?

I am. What's your name?

Blue. I just came down from Hollister.

Buy you a drink?

Now, you didn't come all the way from Hollister

just to buy me a drink, now did you, Blue?

Hold it, Michelle. I want to see you right now.

- Hey, wait your turn. - Stay out of this.

Bob?

Bob.

Are you all right?

You knew my brother, and he was a good sheriff.

There weren't no call for him to be cut down in the prime of life by some coward.

You... I ask you, is that fair?

I say we do something about it, and I say we do it now.

Unlock it, Tom.

Now, Miss Julie, you know I can't do that.

You owe my brother, Tom.

Or did you forget how he saved your hide

that time Lennie Canfield come out after you for accidentally shooting his horse.

Judge Hogelby has already been sent for.

If he gets here and he finds Conrad has already been hung,

there's going to be hell to pay, and I'm going to be the one paying it.

Excuse me. Excuse me. Let me through. Let me through.

Excuse me. Let me get through.

Watch your feet. Let me through.

You can't do this.

Of course I can.

He killed my brother.

It just looks like he killed your brother.

Well, that's good enough for us, isn't it?

Yeah!

All right. All right. All right. All right.

You want to string him up, okay, but two points:

1, I'm his lawyer, and he deserves a fair trial;

and 2, I'm a customer at your place of business... your boarding house...

And that's a conflict of interest and might be viewed as against the law.

All right, everybody out.

Out. Out.

Hope you like beans, Mr. Matlock,

because that's what you're going to be getting for lunch.

And dinner, more than likely.

Breakfast, too.

Thanks. I thought I was a goner there for a second.

I thought you was, too.

I rode out to Ned Salem's place,

and he said all this cattle rustling stuff was just a rumor.

Well, all I know is some cowboy swore he saw a bunch of steers

with a Broken Rock brand in with Ned Salem's herd.

Why didn't the sheriff take a look himself?

Well, he did. He rode there the same day.

The only brands he saw in Salem's herd was Salem's.

This cowboy, what's his name?

Rudy Simms.

Do you know where I can find him?

Whoa. Whoa. We don't have to be in such a hurry.

There you go.

- Rudy Simms? - Yeah.

I'm Ben Matlock.

Boy, that was some brawl, wasn't it?

I don't remember seeing you there.

Well, I spent most of my time under a table.

I have this strong sense of self-preservation.

I'm trying to help Conrad McMasters prove

that he was not the one who shot the sheriff.

I'm his lawyer.

Yeah?

Well, I hear that you told the sheriff

that you thought Ned Salem had stolen some cattle.

Yep, that's right.

Do you want to tell me how that happened?

Well, you know last time it rained about a week ago?

Actually, I'm kind of new in town, so no, I don't.

But go on.

Well, I was riding watch around midnight...

The northern flank of the herd, just like always...

When the rain started.

Let me tell you, it poured so hard, I couldn't see 2 feet in front of my face.

Come morning, when the rain let up, there was 20 head of them missing.

I looked and I looked, but I'll be damned if I could find them.

A couple of days later, when I was riding by Ned Salem's herd,

I could have sworn I saw a bunch of steers

with the Broken Rock brand mixed in with his.

So I told the sheriff.

He rode out there and took a look.

He didn't see no Broken Rock steers.

That was the end of it.

Any idea what happened to them?

I guess maybe I just plum made a mistake.

Yeah, I guess you did.

Um...

Oh, could I... Yeah. There you go.

Now stand real still. Stand real still.

Okay?

Stand still now. Here I come.

Bye.

Come on, horse, come on.

Come up here. Come up.

Hi.

May I come in?

Not if all you want to do is talk.

This time I'm buying.

Well, what are you standing out there for? Come right in.

Well, that was some fight, wasn't it?

It was disgraceful.

I swear, I just don't know what gets into you boys sometimes.

What did Rudy want?

Rudy?

The cowboy that started it.

The same thing you want.

He seemed determined to get it.

Well, some men have needs that just can't be denied.

So he was just a customer?

Just like you.

Well, not exactly.

You're leaving?

Well, I said I was buying, but I didn't say what.

What will it be?

Club soda with a lime.

Whiskey.

Something wrong with your drink?

Smells like stain remover.

Want me to taste it for you?

Tastes a little like stain remover, but it's smooth.

I don't get it. I just don't get it.

Why would Michelle pay off Rudy?

Rudy?

Now, there's a walking testimony to the goodness of man if I ever seen one.

Just last week, he come walking down the back stairs from Miss Michelle's room,

sees me lying in the alley trying to sleep in the pouring rain,

gives me a dollar so's I can spend the rest of the night in the boarding house.

The man's truly a monument to charity and mercy.

Here. Have another.

Have it all.

You're a genius.

Thanks. I always thought so.

Would you like a ride?

Oh, no, that's all right. I'm just on my way to the boarding house.

- But on second thought... - Whoa.

On second thought, what the hell.

I've been riding so much lately, I've got bruises in places I've never seen.

This is a much more civilized way to travel.

- Your rig? - Uh-huh.

When I go somewhere, I like to go in style.

Do you like it?

Yeah, it's nice.

These cushions are real nice.

Hello, Miss Michelle.

Well, here we are.

Well, thanks for the lift.

Should have known you two would get together.

Why, Miss Julie, I do believe you're jealous.

Well, the first thing I seen was Conrad standing there with his gun in his hand.

And the next thing I seen was the sheriff, shot through the chest and dead as Moses.

Wasn't wearing his gun or nothing.

Where was his gun?

Bottom desk drawer.

Yeah, Conrad come in and shot him before he could even get it open.

Objection. Witness is speculating.

I know that. Sit down.

Well, what about them?

Well, they ain't standing up.

I mean, aren't you going to tell them to disregard what he just said?

Hell, look at them. Half of them's asleep,

the other half wouldn't know what I was talking about if I told them.

Now sit down.

But, Your Honor...

I've had about enough of you, Mr. Matlock.

I've got to be in Carson City come sundown

because at sunup I've got to preside over Buck Macy's trial,

because if he ain't hung pretty quick,

them outlaws he's running around with is going to bust him out of jail,

and a whole lot of people are going to get killed in the process.

Now, I can't get down there

if you keep jumping out of your chair every 10 seconds like some jackrabbit.

Now, I've had enough. You sit down!

How many times was the sheriff shot?

Once.

And there was only one bullet missing from Conrad's gun.

Thank you. You can go sit.

What about my cross-examination?

I don't want a cross-examination.

Anybody else got anything to say?

Yes, sir.

May I call somebody else to the stand?

Who?

Michelle Thomas.

Miss Michelle.

I suppose a woman in your profession

gets to know the cowboys around here pretty well.

That's one way of putting it.

What they do, where they work, when they ride watch.

Most of them got better things to do when they're with me

than talk about their jobs, Mr. Matlock.

Yeah, but they tell you, though, don't they?

Sometimes, when they're down here having a drink,

especially when they ride watch?

And then you pass that information along to Ned Salem,

and then, between the two of you,

you decide which cowboy you'll lure up to your room.

And while he's busy with you up there,

Ned Salem and his boys are busy helping themselves to the cattle

that cowboy is supposed to be watching, aren't they?

That's the craziest notion I've ever heard.

It's so crazy, it worked every time, didn't it?

Ned would sell the cattle right away and give you your cut,

and nobody ever knew because the cowboys you got up to your room

were too embarrassed or afraid of being fired to say anything.

Until... Rudy came along.

Now, as it happened, Rudy was with you

instead of watching a Broken Rock herd that night.

It rained last week, but a couple of days later,

he came across some of those stolen cattle,

only by now they were part of Ned Salem's herd,

so Rudy told the sheriff that he thought you and Ned were in cahoots.

Then the sheriff confronted you, and soon thereafter, you shot him.

Me? Shoot somebody?

Why, I wouldn't even know which end of a gun to point.

And then Rudy confronted you,

but you couldn't shoot him right there in your room...

You wouldn't have anybody to frame...

So you paid him off with a solid gold candlestick

and made him promise to keep his mouth shut about the cowboys,

your relationship with Ned Salem, and everything else.

And he was all prepared to do that until last night,

when I explained to him what perjury means.

Now, if I put him where you're sitting, Miss Thomas, he's not going to lie.

Mr. Matlock, I don't reckon that half the people in this room

know what the word conjecture means, but I do, and I've had enough.

Now, either you prove what you're saying, or stop saying it and sit down!

Proof, right. Proof.

Believe it or not, that's just what I was coming to.

Gunshots! Sounds like it's coming from the jail.

Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it.

Everything is all right. Everything's fine.

See, that's just Bob shooting Conrad's gun off over at the jail.

- See? - Order.

Order in the court! Everybody back here!

Everybody back here and sit down!

I've always wondered why nobody heard the fatal shot.

Yet you all heard that shot just now.

You even had a pretty good idea where it came from.

So why didn't anybody hear it then?

I'll tell you.

Here's why.

Would you tell the judge what this is, Tom?

Well, it looks like one of those cushions off Miss Michelle's buggy.

That's right.

Jake King watched me take it off her buggy

over at the livery stable this morning, didn't you, Jake?

This is why you didn't hear the shot.

The other afternoon,

when Conrad came in here wearing his gun, looking for the sheriff,

you went and got this cushion, didn't you?

And you also got a gun, and you went over to the sheriff's office,

and not only was the sheriff still alive, but Conrad was unconscious,

and you saw your opportunity, and you put your gun into this pillow

and fired through it so no one could hear the shot and come running.

And then, with the sheriff dead, you walked over to Conrad,

took one bullet out of his pistol, and put the gun in his hand.

Then you slipped out without anybody seeing you.

And finally, you put this cushion back in your buggy,

thinking no one would notice.

But I noticed yesterday, when you were so kind to give me that ride.

There.

Here, here, here.

Order, order!

All right, don't nobody move.

- Now, see here, young lady. - Sit down!

Now, I'm leaving here,

and if anybody tries to stop me, the lawyer here gets a bullet.

- Get out of my way. - Nope.

I'll kill him, I swear I will. I've got nothing to lose.

- Let her go! - She makes a good point, Tom.

- Move. - Nope.

Ohh! No. Oh.

Ben, are you all right?

What happened?

That sign came loose and whacked you on the head.

You're alive.

Of course I'm alive.

You've been out cold, Ben.

The mechanic's here.

Wait, wait. Don't get up. You should rest.

- That's all right. - Ben?

That's okay. I can get... I can get plenty of rest on the stagecoach.

I mean... I mean the bus.

Excuse me, sir.

How long do you think it will take for you to get us rolling again?

I don't know. Now get on the bus and sit down.

- She just asked you a simple question. - Ohh!

Look, I've got to be in Carson City come sunup

because another one of these buses broke down,

and if I don't fix it, there's going to be one mad busload of tourists.

Now, a man's got to do what a man's got to do,

so get on the bus and sit down!

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