Original subtitles

- Early in 1851, many San Francisco merchants faced

bankruptcy at the hands of well-organized gangs of robbers.

My job as City Marshal was to find the boss thief

of San Francisco, and those helping him.

Hold it!

(gun fires)

(gun firing repeatedly)

(gun fires)

(gun firing repeatedly)

(gun fires)

(ominous music)

(gun fires)

♪ California, California ♪

- [Announcer] The Californians

♪ I've come to live where life is best in the golden west ♪

♪ I'm going to strike it rich in California ♪

- Well, if it ain't Wilkins, you get him, Mac?

- No, Mr. Bender here did.

Chad, grab some men and comb Sydney town

for a green freight wagon, there'll be blood on it.

You notify the Colonel.

Now, Mr. Bender, do you mind telling me what a member

of the board of aldermen be doing

in a place like this under these circumstances?

- For one thing, I was saving your life.

I live near here, Marshal.

Shall we continue the conversation at my home?

- Good idea.

(suspenseful music)

- You're late, Albert, and it's damp out.

I don't hold with such hours.

Oh.

- Nelly, say hello to Marshal Wayne.

Marshal, this is my wife.

- How do you do?

- Great pleasure to know you, ma'am.

- I saved the Marshal's life, Nelly.

I had to kill a man to do it.

- I don't hold with killing, unless it's in a worthy cause.

- I certainly hope you consider me a worthy cause.

- I've heard things about you, Marshal.

I suppose you'd like your snack now, Albert?

- It'll settle my nerves.

- Excuse me.

- Sit down, Marshal.

- Thank you.

- Now, as to the reason for my being

at the scene of the robbery.

As a member of the Board of Aldermen, I have taken it

upon myself to investigate crime in San Francisco.

My colleagues have given me a secret fund for that purpose.

The most vicious crime today is the wholesale robbery

of our merchants.

- Yes, I've been spending a great deal

of time trying to find out who's responsible for it.

- But you don't have the funds

for buying information, and I do.

- Glass of milk, Mr. Wayne?

- Oh, no thank you, ma'am.

- That's all we have.

I don't hold with liquor.

Liquor is the root of all evil.

- I heard the same thing about money.

You were saying, Mr. Bender?

- I have a great deal of information

about the robberies, Marshal,

especially the receivers of stolen goods.

- A piece of cake, Mr. Wayne?

- No thank you.

- Heaven knows we can't afford cake, not with eggs selling

for a dollar a piece.

It's criminal, the prices they charge.

Why don't you investigate that, Albert?

- It's out of my control, my dear.

As I say, Marshal, we trust you.

- Except that you're a gambling man, Mr. Wayne.

I don't hold with gambling,

you might as well understand that.

- There are worse things.

Mr. Bender, I'd appreciate any information you have

on receivers of stolen goods.

- Here's the list, Marshal, names and addresses,

and the kind of stolen goods to look for.

- You sure of your information?

- Positive.

- And I don't hold with smoking, Mr. Wayne.

Well, I thank you to put that cigar away.

- As you wish.

That's a beautiful brooch.

- The only luxury I'd ever allowed myself.

Has a picture of Walter in it.

I think I'd rather have Walter dead

than see him drinking or gambling.

- Walter's our son, Marshal.

He's at a fine college in the east.

- Walter is going to be a gentlemen, a great man.

I think that's all I live for, Mr. Wayne,

to see my son a great man.

This city isn't a fit place for a boy like Walter

to grow up in, Mr. Wayne.

That's more important than warehouse robberies.

Why don't you clean out the dives, the gambling dens?

Send the painted women packing, the Jezebels

and corrupt boys like Walter,

bring them down into the flaming pit.

- Now, now, my dear, keep calm.

- Marshal, you have the list.

I want those places raided tomorrow at the latest.

- Not without search warrants.

- Judge Whitaker will have the warrants

for you in the morning.

- Nevermind that, Mr. Wayne, first, I want you to raid

the cesspools of sin.

Make this a decent place for boys like Walter to live in,

do you hear me?

- Good night, ma'am.

(suspenseful music)

- Ow!

Let go, you'll make me deaf.

- What are you doing lurking about here?

- I wasn't lurking about, I'm waiting to see you.

- What about?

- Willie Wilkins, (indistinct).

- Harry's brother?

- Reared by the same sainted mother, we was.

- And a great credit to her, you fine pair of thieves.

- Rob, me, governor?

It was that was the black sheep of the family.

- What did you want to see me about?

- To tell you that was hired to kill you.

- Oh, I see, you wanted to get into my good side by telling

me something I already know.

All right, who paid him for the job?

- Nobody, and that's the rub.

He was to have been paid after he'd done the job.

I always did tell , "Cash in advance, or no murder,"

but he wouldn't listen to nobody.

- Well, who was supposed to have paid him?

- I don't know, but if I find out,

what's there in it for me?

- It might save you from the gallows.

- Well, we just locked up the last of those 10 men.

Gotta hand it to Alderman Bender,

his information was 100% good.

- I wonder.

- About what?

- Did you notice any peculiar coincidence

about this list of suspects?

- Nope.

Well, anyway, our job's all done.

- Now Shane, what makes you think our job is done

because we lock a man up?

- Well, ain't it?

- Sometimes, other times it just begins.

I'm going over and have a talk with Alderman Bender.

- Oh, Mr. Wayne, come in.

I'm so glad you came.

I just had the most distressing news, I'm at my wit's end.

- What's the trouble?

- A letter from my son, Walter, he's coming here.

His ship will dock any day now.

- What's so upsetting?

I thought you'd be glad to see him.

- Not now, not here, not in this, this Sodom of a city.

Mr. Wayne, you've got to shut down the dives,

the sinful gambling dens.

- Young men don't get into trouble

unless they go asking for it.

- That's just it, if Albert were only here.

- I want to see your husband, where is he?

- I don't know.

What do you want to see him about?

- Those arrests we were making lately,

I'd like to check his source of information.

- They're guilty, all of them, sinners,

propagates, evil men.

- Tell me, Mrs. Bender, what does your husband

do for a living?

- What difference does that make?

- Surely he's not living on the salary

of a San Francisco alderman.

- What do you mean by that, Mr. Wayne?

Why are you standing here making insinuations

against my husband, when you should be making this

a decent place to live in?

Don't you understand, Walter will be here any day now?

- I certainly hope he approves of us.

If anybody should come asking for me, I'll be down

at that warehouse that was robbed the other night,

looking for evidence.

(dramatic music)

(suspenseful music)

(music crescendos)

(thud)

- You feeling all right now?

- Yes, yes, I'm all right, but there's

something I just don't understand.

- Some things I don't understand, Mr. Bender,

for instance, you came into that warehouse

to kill me tonight, didn't you?

- I did no such thing.

I was afraid for your safety.

It's a hangout for thieves and murderers.

- You should know, seeing as you own it,

under an assumed name, of course.

I found that out from the city records.

- Yes, I, I do own it, but I only discovered recently

it was being used for illegal purposes.

How can you accuse me of such a terrible thing, Marshal?

- For one thing, there was something awfully peculiar

about that list of suspects you gave me.

- But your men found the evidence

in every place that I named.

- Because it was planted there for them to find.

- What makes you think that?

- Six of those suspects are

in the hay, grain, and feed business.

What business are you in, Mr. Bender?

- Why, I'm a, I'm a financier.

- Oh, well, under still another name, you're

also in the hay, grain, and feed business.

- Well, you see, Nelly gave our son, Walter

the impression that I was a banker.

- Are your son's sensibilities so fine that he'd object

to the family name on a honest business?

- You know how these eastern colleges are, Marshal.

The young men who go there look down on commerce.

What does this prove, anyway?

- To me, it proves that you tried to eliminate

your competition by planting evidence on them.

As the head of a gang of thieves, that'd be

awfully easy for you to do, wouldn't it?

- How can you believe such a terrible thing

against me, Marshal?

I'm an alderman, I saved your life.

- That too was under peculiar circumstances.

You tipped me off to a robbery,

and then you deliberately killed one of your own men

to try and win my confidence.

- I refuse to talk to you anymore, Marshal.

I demand that send for my lawyer.

- All right, we'll send for him.

Meantime Chad, suppose you lock him up?

You've done a monstrous thing, Marshal.

This will kill my wife.

It'll kill her.

- Say nothing of what it will do to dear Walter.

- Well, we sure enough got the goods on that bird.

- If we can convict him on this charge,

maybe he'll spill the rest.

- What do you mean if we can convict him?

- The preliminary hearings are in the court

of Judge Whitaker, the man who issued these warrants.

- You don't trust Judge Whitaker?

- He's no more dishonest than most of our judges.

So far he's resisted the temptation to sell the courthouse.

- I understand you've placed my husband

under arrest, Marshal.

- How did you find that out, Mrs. Bender?

From a little man with a Cockney accent.

- Willie Wilkins?

- He didn't give his name.

Is it true, Mr. Wayne?

- Yes.

- On what possible charge?

- That warehouse your husband was defending against robbery

the other night belongs to him.

It's full of stolen goods.

- That's absurd, Albert doesn't have a warehouse.

- Perhaps he's been withholding things from you.

- He wouldn't dare.

You've made a terrible mistake, Marshal.

Release him immediately.

- I'm afraid that'd be impossible.

- But he's innocent.

- He'll have a hearing tomorrow on those charges.

If he is innocent, he'll have a chance to prove it.

- You hate my husband, don't you?

- I'm not exuberantly fond of him.

- You hate him because he's fighting

for law and order, spoiling your graft.

Well, I'll expose you, Marshal.

I'll see that you're brought to justice.

I despise you, Mr. Wayne, how I despise you.

- She ain't exuberantly fond of you, neither.

- No, it's just that she wants to make this

a fit city for Walter to live in.

- Understand, Mr. Bender, this is not a trial.

It is merely a hearing to determine

if there is reason to hold you for trial.

How do you plead?

- Not guilty, Your Honor.

- I have studied the evidence, and I concur

in that plea, Mr. Bender.

I agree that ownership of a warehouse does not prove

guilty knowledge of stolen goods.

(gavel bangs)

Case dismissed.

- Just a minute, Your Honor, you forgot something.

- What?

- You forgot to give him a medal.

(gavel banging)

(knocking)

- Come in.

What are you doing here?

Haven't you persecuted us enough?

- Where's your husband, Mrs. Bender?

- You should know that, didn't you send for him?

- No, I didn't.

- A man came here.

He looked like a thug, but he had a badge.

He said you wanted to see Albert at the warehouse.

- When did this man come here?

- Half an hour ago.

What's wrong, what's happened to my husband?

- I don't know, but I better find him.

(suspenseful music)

Halt!

(gun fires)

Bender, who shot you?

- Him, I hate him.

- Who?

- Walter.

(ominous music)

- Mrs. Bender.

(gasps)

- You did this!

You killed him!

Albert, Albert!

- Now listen, either find Willie Wilkins,

or I'll send a raiding squad down here

and tear this place apart, you understand?

They tell me you're ready to talk, Willie.

- Yes, I'll talk.

I tell ya, I didn't follow Mr. Bender

last night to kill him.

I was just trying to collect an honest debt, I was.

- What do you mean, what debt?

- Well, what he owed me brother,

for trying to kill you.

- So Bender did hire Harry?

- Yes.

You see, Harry was blackmailing him, so Mr. Bender agrees

to pay off Harry by hiring Harry to kill you.

Then he crosses Harry, makes you think he's a blooming hero,

and it don't cost him nothing.

- So then you took up where Harry left

off and you proceeded to blackmail Bender?

- Yes, I guess you could call it something like that,

but that Mr. Bender, ooh, he's a tight one

in all his dealings.

- All his dealings?

What other dealings did you have with him?

- Just business, me and some of the other coves,

including Harry, popping warehouses

and ships and things like that.

- Oh, I see.

Willie, I want you to tell me what happened

the night he was killed.

- Well, I just followed him from his home.

- Who was with him?

- There wasn't nobody with him.

When he came to the warehouse, I waited till I was thirsty,

then I went down to the pub for a drink.

I came back, and I heard a shot.

- You should have, seeing it was you that fired it.

You were robbing him when I came in.

- I was not robbing him, I was just trying to collect

an honest debt, I was.

He didn't have much in his pockets.

- Search him.

- Where'd you get this?

- I found it in Benders' hand.

- Lock him up.

- You're not gonna hang me, are you, Marshal?

Just think of me poor old sainted mother.

- So, Alderman Bender was a boss thief all along, huh?

- No, the boss thief was the one who killed Alderman Bender.

- You mean Willie Wilkins?

- Who?

I don't mean Willie Wilkins.

(suspenseful music)

(knocking)

- Come in.

Mr. Wayne, it was kind of you to come.

I'm sorry I spoke harshly to you last night,

but I was out of my mind with grief.

- Well, well, Mrs. Bender, you knew all along

that your husband was a thief, didn't you?

- Mr. Wayne, I'm ill.

The doctor said I wasn't to be disturbed.

Why are you saying such a horrible thing?

- You can forget all that.

Willie Wilkins confessed.

We're going to get other confessions too.

- I was afraid something like this would happen.

Albert should have been more careful of his associates.

- It's all your fault.

You forced him to do it, I know that now, but why?

- Albert was a failure at everything he ever touched.

- So you framed his competitors in the feed business?

- With them out of the way, he could have made

an honest living again.

- There are other ways to make an honest living, you know.

- There wouldn't have been enough money.

Our son was to be a gentlemen, he had to be a gentleman.

- To the extent that his mother was willing to commit

crime on his behalf?

- Walter needed all the things that go with college,

Mr. Wayne, clothes, a carriage, spending money.

Besides, I didn't commit any crimes, Mr. Bender did.

But you forced him to do it.

- You don't understand, Mr. Wayne.

I needed the money for Walter.

- I wonder how Walter will feel when he finds

out that his mother is a murderess.

- You must be out of your mind.

- Willie Wilkins took this from your dying husband's hand.

Remember?

Walter's picture in it?

- The only luxury I ever allowed myself.

- Why did you kill him?

He was weak.

He was afraid his associates were going to kill him,

said he was going to your office to confess,

to ask for protection.

I followed him.

You can see, I had to do what I did.

- Funny, you don't hold with smoking, you don't hold

with drinking, but you don't bat an eye at murder.

- I couldn't let Walter find out his father was

a confessed thief, could I?

- Well, he will find out as soon as I arrest you.

- But you aren't going to arrest me, are you, Mr. Wayne?

- Oh, why no?

- Judge Whitaker was very reasonable.

How much do you want, Mr. Wayne, within reason that is.

- Well, I'll be a-

- I don't hold with swearing, Mr. Wayne.

Things are bad enough as they are.

Now, let's settle our business

and you can get on about your duties.

- No, I'm afraid you'll have to come

along with me, Mrs. Bender.

- If you won't be reasonable, I'll have to kill you.

Please believe me.

Don't worry, I believe you.

(knocking)

- Walter, oh darling Walter!

(dramatic music)

- No, not in there with those painted women.

Walter will be here anytime now.

(women laughing)

- You mean she was the boss thief of San Francisco?

- That's right, Chad, she was,

and here comes the reason now.

- Walter, forgive me, son, I did it all for you.

I love you so.

- Do you?

- I've lived my whole life for you.

- You've lived mine too.

- I wanted you to have things.

I wanted you to be a gentleman.

- Well, it isn't too late.

Where's the money, mother?

- I won't tell you, it'll ruin you.

You'll spend it on evil things.

Oh, Walter, don't you love me anymore?

- Do you want me to laugh in your face?

- [Marshal] How sharper than a serpent's tooth.

Thus Nellie began to pay in full measure for her crimes.

Now I could understand why Albert Bender hated his son

with his dying breath.

(crashing)

His mother had warned him about this kind of woman.

His leg was broken, but what hurt Nellie

the most was that he was no gentlemen.

He swore horribly.

♪ 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 being broke and being 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 going to 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