Original subtitles

- [Narrator] San Francisco, August 1852,

vigilante justice wasn't dead,

it was only sleeping.

(tense music)

- I can't help it, Terrence.

I will not stay in the same room with that,

that woman!

- Let's not discuss it here.

Come on.

- Commander, just a minute.

(dramatic music)

(gun fires)

(body thuds)

- Joe.

Joe.

- Terrence.

Terrence!

He's dead.

You killed him!

- Oh, Joe, what have you done?

- What happened, Joe?

- I only wanted to talk to him.

He pulled a gun.

What else could I do?

- He had no gun.

- There's one way to find out.

You saw the gun?

- Darling, the marshal's asking you.

- [Joe] He grabbed for his hip pocket-

- [Matt] I don't care what he grabbed for.

What did he come up with?

- [Joe] Oh, it's so dark, I-

- Then you didn't see it.

- When a man makes a move like that,

you don't stop the light a lamp.

- You should have, Joe.

There's no gun.

♪ California ♪

♪ California ♪

- "The Californians" ♪ There's gold ♪

in them there hills in California

♪ I've come to live where life is best ♪

♪ In the golden West ♪

♪ I'm gonna strike it rich in California ♪

♪ California ♪

- Matt, he had a gun.

- [Matt] Oh, sure.

- He was walking away,

down the street with his wife.

I came out.

I called to him.

He turned around and grabbed for his gun.

- Same thing all over again.

- What do you mean?

- Tonight in the restaurant,

Mrs. Buchanan can't stand saloon girls.

She wants to have everyone know it.

- She insulted Ivy three times this week.

- Monday night at McGuire's,

she made such a fuss that they stopped the show.

I guess maybe I ought to start getting used

to that sort of thing.

- Not while you're out with me.

- Joe, how far away was he when he turned?

- I don't know.

- Well, guess.

- Matt, it was dark out.

I tell you- - 10 feet? 20?

- 12 feet, 6 1/2 inches.

- [Matt] Don't get smart with me!

- I tell you, he had a gun.

Do you think I'm lying to you?

- Joe, Matt's just doing his job.

- It's more than my job.

Joe, I'm scared for you.

- I'll get off.

I'm not guilty.

- Ten to one the vigilantes won't believe it.

Buchanan was on their committee.

- The vigilantes?

- The vigilantes broke up a year ago, Matt.

- Don't think they'll stay that way.

You know what you've done to me is put me

right smack in the middle.

It doesn't matter who did it or what happened.

You killed a big man in San Francisco,

and there's gonna be a big noise real quick.

- I'd better see Broderick.

- You stay away from Broderick.

That'll only make it worse.

A couple of hotheads on the vigilance committee

have been waiting a year for something just like this.

Joe, I'm gonna put you in jail.

- [Joe] Matt!

- You need protection.

(tense music)

- Hello, Johnny, come on in.

- Working late, Jack?

- They're loaded for bear, Matt.

- That's what I figured.

You turn a town over to a mob,

sometimes it's hard to get it back.

- They've kept their peace for a year,

but I, I can't control the committee, Matt.

You know that.

They'll go ahead without me.

- Who's in there?

- Coleman, Brennan, McAuliffe and Hagadorn.

- I'm gonna talk to them.

- All right, come on.

You all know the city marshal, I guess, boys.

- Well, you don't waste time,

quarter to 12, three hours flat.

Have you hung him yet?

- Before you fly off the handle,

I better playing a thing or two.

- I'm going to explain something first.

There was a killing tonight.

All right, the dead man is important.

The suspected killer is only a Mexican gambler.

- Now, now, look, Joe Ortega's a friend of yours, Matt.

How can you possibly do your job as a marshal?

- Oh, so that's what this meeting is all about.

- You always yammered you didn't like the job.

- Well, right now I'm crazy about it.

- You won't resign?

- Not now.

- Then why get your back up about the committee?

- Now, wait a minute- - We intend to see-

- Bill, Bill, please, please.

Excuse me, Matt.

Look, we trusted Matt with this job.

Now it's our business to stick behind him.

- Whose side are you on?

- I am on the side of law or order.

I'm on the side of the people!

- Where do the people stand?

He's the jailer, Ivy Bennett's the judge and jury.

- Oh!

- What does that mean?

- You know very well what it means.

She's got Broderick and his machine

just where she wants him.

She twists his ear,

she gets anything she asks for!

- She won't twist his ear.

- Who's gonna stop her?

- He will because he's city marshal.

- Have you lost your guts?

- Oh now just one minute, Bill!

- He hasn't lost his guts.

He made a deal with me,

and he's sticking to it!

- The fact remains that Ortega's a killer,

and that Bennett woman's gonna buy him off.

- All right.

I'm gonna make a deal with you.

You stay out of this,

and I'll see that Ivy Bennett stays out of it

and Broderick too.

And that man is gonna get an honest trial

in a people's court!

- Well, you've got to go along with that, huh?

- All right.

You got a deal.

(tense music)

- There's only one thing wrong about me

not going to Broderick.

Joe won't get an honest shake.

That woman's out to get him.

- Did you talk to her?

- Me, go callin' on Aurelia Buchanan?

- Then why are you so sure?

- Instinct.

Women can feel things sometimes,

pick 'em right out of the air.

Those baby blue eyes of hers have got blood in 'em.

- Lady doesn't even know Joe Ortega.

- Neither did her husband.

But we ran into him three times in a week.

Don't ask me why.

Maybe she don't like gamblers.

Maybe she don't like Mexicans.

I don't know.

But she won't let up till they kill him.

I know it.

I could see it in her face.

- Ivy, I promised the committee

that you wouldn't go to Broderick.

- Then you run right back and cancel it.

- Do one thing for me.

Let me talk to her first.

- She's gonna dance at his hanging.

- Let me talk to her?

- When?

- Tomorrow morning.

- I'll ride over there with you.

Don't worry, I'll wait outside.

(pensive music)

- I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne, I can't help you.

- Mrs. Buchanan,

I only want you to realize what you're doing.

Those other witnesses are riff-raff,

but the jury will listen to you, believe you.

I want you to understand

that you hold a man's life in your hands.

- Annette?

- Yes, Madame?

- Would you excuse us, please?

- Madame.

- Now, Mr. Wayne.

- I was saying that it can be up to you

whether Joe Ortega lives or dies.

- I can't help that.

- What have you got against Joe Ortega?

- I don't even know him.

- And it's only coincidence that you

and your husband ran into him three times in one week?

- It's a small world.

- What about Ivy Bennet?

- I have no use for her kind.

If that's what you're asking.

- And you still insist

that your husband didn't carry a gun?

- Of course he didn't!

- I think he did.

- Mr. Wayne- - Mrs. Buchanan.

You know as well as I do that nine of 10 men

in this city go armed.

Your husband and was a Naval man,

born, schooled in the tradition.

He would have considered sidearms

as basic as a pair of boots.

- He did not carry a gun.

- Then why did he grab for his side pocket?

- He didn't!

- [Matt] Ortega says he did.

- Mr. Ortega is lying!

He came out of the restaurant,

called out to my husband,

and when Terrence turned, he shot him.

- I know Joe Ortega.

He wouldn't have done a thing like that.

- Oh no?

What about the man in New Orleans?

And the one in Sac...

Sacramento.

- You've done some investigating.

- I've heard what they say about Mr. Ortega.

The talk's all over the street.

- But what have you got against him?

Why do you want to see him hanged?

- Mr. Wayne, I told you,

I don't even know the man.

Annette?

- You have nothing to say?

- No.

- Madame.

- Give him his hat, Annette.

Good day, Mr. Wayne.

Good day, Mr. Wayne.

- How could you do it?

- You keep your mouth shut.

You understand that?

- Well?

- Nothing.

You were right.

- I'm gonna get Broderick to buy me a judge,

a jury on a set of witnesses.

- You can't do that.

I gave them my word.

- I don't care what you told them.

- Ivy, I know Joe pretty well.

I don't think that he did this murder.

If he's given an honest trial,

I'm sure that he'll be acquitted,

so you can't take a chance on the other thing.

They're itching to put that rope around his neck.

You've got to help me stop them.

- Sorry, Matt.

I'm gonna save Joe's life.

I'll buy the judge and jury if I have to.

Driver, take me to David Broderick's.

(tense music)

- [Court Officer] Do you solemnly swear that the testimony

you're about to give is the truth,

the whole truth and nothing but the truth,

so help you God?

- I do.

- [Lawyer] Your name please?

- Annie Mortigan.

- Where do you live, Annie?

- 218 Clay Street.

- Occupation?

- I sell flowers.

- [Lawyer] I see.

And it was in the course of business

that you were outside the Hill House

around nine o'clock on the night of the 19th of August.

- It was.

- How near would you say you were

to the commander at the time of the shooting?

- [Annie] Near enough to see him plain.

- 20 feet?

30?

- I couldn't recognize my own mother at 30 feet.

(people chuckling)

It wasn't more than 10.

- [Lawyer] 10 feet.

And the commander was facing you?

- [Annie] Before or after he turned?

- Oh, he turned?

- Sure, when the accused called out to him.

- [Lawyer] So the commander turned.

Was he facing you then?

- That's a silly question.

(people chuckling)

- Perhaps it is, answer it anyway.

- Well, he wouldn't be facing me!

He was facing the accused, naturally.

- Why naturally?

- Because he was fixin' to kill him.

- [Lawyer] Will you repeat that please?

- I said the commander was fixin' to kill him.

- How do you know?

- That's another silly question.

(people chuckling)

He had a gun in his hand.

- You say he had a gun in his hand.

What happened to it?

- How do I know what happened to the gun?

One minute I sees the gun,

the next minute he was flat

on his face in the mud, surrounded by people.

But I'm tellin' you, he pulled a gun.

- I'll give you my opinion.

He had a gun.

I think someone in the crowd picked up that gun.

- Every witness bought and paid for.

- No!

I won't change one word of my testimony.

He did not have a gun.

He did not grab at his pocket.

They're all lying.

She's responsible for this.

He did not have a gun.

He didn't!

That woman paid those witnesses to lie.

- I didn't ask you anything about that, Mrs. Buchanan.

Thank you.

- (throat clears) Not guilty.

(people muttering)

(tense music)

- In this edition of "The Star,"

we feel are duty-bound to do something unprecedented

in the six-year history of this paper.

- Some time ago, we endorsed a man for public office,

backed him without reservation.

The comic opera trial of Joe Ortega,

gambler, liar, murderer,

has demonstrated beyond question where his loyalties lie.

- This for the record is our apology

to the people of San Francisco

for recommending the appointment of.

- Matthew Wayne as city marshal.

We thought Harrigan was incompetent.

Matthew Wayne can give Harrigan cards

in spades in the game of chicanery and corruption.

Broderick and his gang of thieves are playing

on the citizens of his city.

- Look around you.

You've got an audience.

Where are you going?

- Where do you think?

(dramatic music)

I thought you were standing by me.

- You lied to me, Matt.

You made a fool out of me,

my paper and the committee.

- McGivern, you don't belong in the newspaper business.

Your temper gets tangled up with your thinking.

- I'm thinking clear enough.

I said in print that you'd see to it

that Ortega got an honest trial.

It was a farce.

- Do you think I had anything to do with that?

- Broderick was sitting up there

like a puppeteer pulling the strings.

- You call that a trial?

- Well, he's going to find out

that we're bigger than he is.

- Jack, you can't go along with that mob.

- Sorry, Matt.

- You're gonna have to print a retraction.

- A retraction?

Huh.

You haven't seen anything yet, Marshal.

- McGivern, I'm gonna make you eat this editorial.

- You show me that I'm wrong, Matt, and I will.

Broderick acquitted Ortega.

All right.

Now you're friend's going to have to face us.

(dramatic music)

- What's the matter?

- Let's go. - What?

- We're all packed.

There's a hack waiting outside.

- Where are we going?

- The boat to Oakland leaves in 10 minutes.

- Wait a minute.

Are we running away?

- We're being sensible.

- What happened?

Come on, come on, tell me.

- Wait till we get on the boat.

Come on.

- Now.

- The vigilance committee won't go along with the trial.

They're going to have another one tonight at McGivern's.

Come on.

Joe, that's one jury I can't fix!

Come on!

- What do you think this is going to look like?

I'm not a murderer.

I can't run away.

(horses approaching)

- All right, Ortega, you come with us.

- At least you can't say that I didn't try.

- Come on.

(somber music)

- I cannot tell you that, Monsieur.

It is not my place to-

- You know she was lying, don't you?

- No.

- Then why did you give her that look

when she was testifying?

- What look?

- You shook your head.

- She was swearing the commander didn't carry a gun,

and you know that he did.

- Please, Monsieur, not now.

The madame is asleep.

Maybe tomorrow.

- Annette.

Tomorrow will be too late.

Now, you listen to me.

There were six people outside of that restaurant

who could've seen the gun

if Mrs. Buchanan hadn't been standing in the way.

Nobody saw the gun.

They said they did, but they didn't.

The only person who could've seen it

was Mrs. Buchanan herself.

She was also close enough to have picked it up.

But if she had, you would have seen that.

And you know that she picked that gun up.

You know she lied on the stand.

(door opening)

- Annette, please go.

- Annette will stay here.

You haven't answered my question.

What about the gun?

- I don't know.

- You do know.

- He never let me touch his gun, Monsieur.

He...

- No, of course he wouldn't let you touch his gun,

would he, Annette?

A pocket pistol is a very dangerous weapon, isn't it?

And he'd keep it loaded too, right?

(bell clanging)

Do you know what that means?

Annette, right now Joe Ortega is being tried

by a jury of vigilantes.

They didn't like what went on in court yesterday,

so they're gonna convict him this time.

And then they'll take them up in the loft

down there at the firehouse,

and they're gonna put a rope around his neck

and the other end over the beam.

And then they're gonna toss him out.

Did you ever see a man choke to death?

Well, he's got about 10 minutes to live.

Annette, Father Schiller tells me

that you've been to church three times every day

since the commander was shot.

What's troubling your soul that much?

- $100 a piece, eh?

- Yes, sir.

The lady paid us.

- And of course nobody saw a gun.

- No, sir.

- Have anything else to say?

- No.

- All right, you may go.

Have you anything to say, Mr. Ortega?

- He had a gun.

- Yes.

Well, gentlemen, that seems to be it.

How say you?

- The verdict is guilty.

- Not guilty.

- [Jack] This is no longer your affair, Wayne!

- One more witness to be heard from, McGivern.

And another piece of evidence, Buchanan's pistol,

with the hammer down and a dud cap.

(gun clicking)

All duds.

What about it, Annette?

- The gambler did not kill him.

She did.

Because she was the one who put

the blank caps into his pistol.

She hated him.

She wanted his money.

She never gave him peace.

Talking, talking, talking all the time

about that Bennett woman.

- You're lying, Annette.

- It is you who lie, Madame.

You lie when you say he did not carry the gun.

You steal it because you know

when they find it, they ask questions.

You hate him.

You want his money.

You kill him.

Murderess! (crying)

(somber music)

- In a shootout, he wouldn't have stood a chance.

Well, gentlemen, you feel proud of yourselves?

(dramatic music)

(peaceful music)

- Matthew Wayne, I've got business with you.

- I think you'd better leave the Buchanan woman to me.

- Oh, it's got nothing to do with the Buchanan woman.

Now, would you step up to the bar with me, please?

Excuse me, ma'am.

Jerry, usual, please.

- What is this, McGivern?

- Matt, the Irish are a stubborn race.

When the chips are down, they're the soul of honor.

Now, I want to tell you that the vigilantes

are officially dead, but there's one more task

left to the McGivern.

Now then.

(Matt laughing)

- Come on, McGivern, with editorial,

champagne is better.

- I don't believe it.

(light cheerful music)

I think it's stuck.

♪ California ♪

♪ Oh, I've traveled here, I've traveled there ♪

♪ I guess I've been most everywhere ♪

♪ But I like where I am today ♪

♪ And here is where I'll stay ♪

♪ Now, one thing I just can't endure ♪

♪ Is bein' broke and bein' poor ♪

♪ So I come west to take the cure ♪

♪ And here is where I'll stay ♪

♪ I've come to California ♪

♪ California ♪

♪ There's gold in them-there hills in California ♪

♪ I've come to live where life is best ♪

♪ In the golden west ♪

♪ I'm gonna strike it rich in California ♪

♪ California ♪

♪ California ♪

♪ There's gold in them-there hills ♪

♪ In California ♪

Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0