Original subtitles

- [Narrator] In the early days of California,

it was estimated that out of every pound of gold produced

six ounces found their way into the pockets of gamblers,

thieves or confidence men.

That's true story is based

on the most daring swindle of all.

One that ended in murder.

The first gold brick scheme in recorded history.

It happened in San Francisco in 1854.

(townsfolk chattering)

- What's going on here?

- Let him through. - What is this?

Clay.

Clay Kendall.

(friends laughing)

- Matt Wayne, it's been a long time.

- It sure has.

- What are you doing in San Francisco?

- I am the city marshal.

(Clay laughing)

What the devil are you up to, Clay?

- Well, it seems the populace have gotten wind

of my bonanza.

Solid gold, Matt, worth a hundred thousand dollars or more.

And it's all mine.

And this is just the start.

Take it away, boys.

- Clay.

This better be on the up and up.

Or you can't count on friendship.

I'm gonna have to put you where you belong

for a long, long time.

(friends laughing)

(dramatic music)

* California

* California

- [Narrator] The Californians.

* In California

* I come to live where life is best *

* In the golden west

* I'm gonna strike it rich

* In California

* California

(dramatic music)

(townsfolk chattering)

- All right, folks, you'll learn all about it in good time.

I promise you.

- Where'd you get this?

- Honest toil.

I struck it rich down Calaveras way.

I smelted and cast the proceeds for easier handling.

- Where's the mine?

- You're a friend and I love you like a brother, Matt

but I'm not going to tell you just yet.

And I'm not going to tell the rest of you either.

When the time comes, I might let you in on it.

Meanwhile, would you kind of depart,

I have business to discuss with Mr. Morgan.

- All right, people, closely,

start moving towards the door.

(townsfolk muttering)

- Now, sir, you still wish to deposit this, er...

- Well, you might call it a brick.

A gold brick, as it were.

Why yes, if you insist, I'll leave it in your care.

I'm thirsty, son.

Do you know where they sell liquid refreshment?

- I'm glad you brought that up, Clay.

I'd like to have a little talk with you.

- Pardon me, sir.

What shall I do with the gold brick while you're gone?

- Put it in your safe and keep a sharp eye on it.

(worrisome music)

- What's your game, Clay?

- I'm just letting him Morgan stew

in the juices of his own avarice.

- Why?

- I reckon, noise is like an alarm,

don't tell me you take that badge seriously, Matt?

- Seriously enough to run you out of town

if I find you're up to your old tricks again.

- How can you talk that way, Matt, we're friends.

More than that, we're practically brothers.

- What do you plan to do with that brick, Clay?

- I'm going to make it grow and multiply

until I can pave Market Street.

Legitimately, of course.

With the help of a greedy banker.

- Real gold.

You ever see so much of it in one lump?

- Why did you bring that thing in here, father?

- So many people coming in to look at it

there wasn't room for the customers.

- Get rid of it, father.

There's something strange about it.

(door knocking)

- Come in.

- Hello, Mr. Morgan.

Miss. Morgan.

- What can I do for you, Marshal?

- I'd like to have a word with you about

this man Clay Kendall.

- How well do you know him, Marshal Wayne?

- I know him very well.

We went through the Mexican War together.

He's one of the bravest man I've ever known.

Among other things, he saved my life at the risk of his own.

I owe that man a great debt.

And I like him.

But what I wanna tell you is that I wouldn't trust him

as far as you can throw that gold brick.

If it is gold.

- Well thank you for your advice, Marshal.

I am fully capable of conducting my own affairs.

(door clicking)

(townsfolk muttering)

- Matt.

I'm not a bit surprised to see you here,

I bet I can even tell you why you came.

You told him I was a crook, didn't you?

- I warned him not to trust you, Clay.

- Well, you can't argue

against a hundred thousand dollars, friend.

Oh, I'm sorry for the intrusion.

- No intrusion, Mr. Kendall.

This is my daughter Dora.

- Why, how do you do, Miss. Morgan?

Oh, forgive me for staring

but after six lonely months in the diggings

it's such a pleasure to see a pretty girl again.

- I'm sure you came here for something more important

than to discuss me, Mr. Kendall.

- Well if I did, it's slipped my mind completely.

- Now, come, come now, let's get down

to business, Mr. Kendall.

What about this gold brick?

- Well, I'm going to exhibit it in your bank window.

- Why?

- For the same reason you brought it in here.

It attracts crowds and crowds have money

to invest in what I'm going to sell.

- What have you to sell?

- A gold mine.

The one that came from.

I'm going to sell stock in it.

- Why would you want to sell stock in a valuable property?

- Well, that brick represents what I dug out

with my own hands.

There's millions more where that came from

but it's going to take money to get it out.

- Why don't you sell the gold brick?

- Well, it'll take more than the gold brick is worth

to exploit the mine fully.

I'm going to need a loan to get things started.

- You could be a swindler.

- Of course I could, but I'm not.

- How big a loan, Mr. Kendall?

- $5,000.

I guess the hundred thousand dollars worth

of collateral, is that too much?

- Well...

- And Mr. Morgan, I'm going to need a man

of your financial background in my organization.

I'll make you a partner in the Clay Kendall Corporation.

You're lovely, Miss. Morgan.

One day you're going to have

an entirely different opinion of me.

(worrisome music)

- I want you to put Clay Kendall in jail.

And Attorney Pitt is here to see that you do it.

- Why?

- He persuaded my father to loan him $5,000

on that gold brick.

- Well, he's my friend, I'd love to put him in jail.

I mean, for his own protection.

But I can't arrest him without a legal reason.

- Matt, if that brick isn't gold

then Kendall would be guilty of obtaining money

under false pretenses.

- Mr. Morgan said that he tested the brick.

- With his teeth.

- Is that the only test he gave it?

Well, now, let's go have another look at that brick.

What are you gonna do with that?

- Oh, hello, Marshal.

Pitt.

Put it in the window.

Why?

- I just found out you lent Mr. Kendall $5,000

on the strength of your teeth, Mr. Morgan.

Well, now as a depositor Attorney Pitt

demands a more thorough test

at the United States Assay Office.

- Well, I know gold when I see it,

I've handled enough of it in my time.

- Just the same, would you object to an assayers opinion?

- Of course not.

- How about you, Clay?

- Oh, I object, most strenuously.

- Mr. Pitt, will you give me a hand with this?

(worrisome music)

(townsfolk muttering)

(hammer tapping)

- Just the corners, please.

- And why just the corners?

Because that's the only place that's gold?

- Because I wanna exhibit it,

I don't want holes dug in it.

- I represent the United States Government.

Nobody's going to tell me my business.

Nobody.

I intend to take samples from all parts

and I'm going to dig deep.

(worrisome music)

As pure of gold as I've ever seen.

I'll melt it and pour it back in the brick for you.

- Did you ever doubt it, Matt?

Excuse me.

(townsfolk muttering)

It's been declared pure gold.

(townsfolk cheering)

If that brick had have been gold plated as you suspected

would you put me in jail, Matt?

- Of course.

- Why?

What I'm doing is strictly legitimate.

With Morgan sponsoring me, I'm gonna

run that gold brick in millions.

- Well, you know, Clay, I'm a law man.

If I tell Morgan what I have to,

he won't be sponsoring you.

- Ah, but he will.

In the first place, he's greedy.

And the second, I'm going to marry his daughter.

- You...

Does she know it?

- I'm saving it for a surprise.

(friends chuckling)

- Ever since I first met you, I wanted you

more than anything else in the world.

You're the loveliest thing

that's ever come into my life, Dora.

- Don't say it, unless you mean it, Clay.

(gentle music)

(tender music)

Thanks for being best man, I knew I could count on you, son.

- Don't count on me too much.

- Dora, my best friend would like to kiss the bride.

(townsfolk muttering)

- Kitty, you've scrubbed a lot

of floors in your time to earn your money,

are you sure you know what you're doing with it?

- Oh, of course I do.

I'm buying me a hunk of gold mine.

- Have either of you ever seen it?

- Sure, I've never seen the U.S. Treasury

but I know there's gold in it.

Mind your own business, Marshal.

(worrisome music)

- When I tried to warn those investors

they just get mad at me.

They believe in the stock

because Walter Morgan is sponsoring it.

- And because there's a a hundred thousand dollars

gold brick in the bank window.

- Well, that doesn't mean they're ever gonna see any of it.

Jeremy, isn't there some way we can legally put a stop

to that stock sale?

- No, it's a perfectly legal under California law.

And besides what makes you think the investors

will lose all their money?

- Because I know Clay Kendall.

- I don't understand, Matt.

What have you got against him?

He saved your life, didn't he?

- Who told you that?

- Oh, I had a long talk with him.

He strikes me as a pretty solid citizen.

- Oh, no, not you, Jeremy.

You didn't...

- I did invest a few hundred dollars in those shares.

Just in case.

- For another week San Francisco investors

poured their hard earned money into Clay Kendall stock.

Then the line of investors began to dwindle

and it seemed that the harvest was coming to an end.

It seems that Kendall has made all the money he can

out of the stock sales.

He's liable to skip town any minute.

I want you to follow him, Trent.

Don't let him out of your sight.

And if he makes a break, let me know.

- Very good, sir.

(worrisome music)

- Clay.

- Hello, dear.

What took you so long?

- There were a lot of people at the bank

demanding to know when you're going

to start developing the mine.

- Oh, I'll declare a dividend tomorrow.

That'll shut them up.

It'll probably start the stock sales booming again.

- Well how can you declare a dividend

when the mine isn't even in operation?

- It'll come out of the stockholders pockets.

I'll give them 10 cents for every dollar they've paid me

and they'll think they're getting rich.

- Why don't you use the money to develop the mine,

like you promised?

- Well, I might as well tell you,

you'll find out sooner or later anyway.

The mine's worthless.

- No.

- It's just an old abandoned hole in the ground,

I won in a poker game.

- Marshal Wayne's right.

You're a swindler.

- There's no law says that I can't sell shares

in a hole in the ground if people are willing to buy them.

- You made them think there was gold.

- I didn't put anything in writing.

I didn't break any laws.

- You lied to father.

You let him put $20,000 of his own money into the scheme.

- It's his own fault for being so greedy.

- How about your stockholders?

- They're stockholders of genuine

bonafide hole in the ground, the lucky people.

But you're not going to tell anyone, are you?

Not even your father.

- What makes you think I won't?

- Because you love me.

- Do you think I'd be a party to a swindle, Clay?

Do you think I'd turn against my own father?

For love of you?

Is that what you think of me?

- I know that I love you.

(doorbell jingling)

I told you never to come here.

(worrisome music)

Well, something's come up.

If I'm not back within an hour,

meet me at the old Castro Ranch on the outskirts of town.

- What is it, Clay?

- I'll have to explain it later.

- You can talk 'till you're blue in the face, Kendall,

but fork over the money or else I tell what I know.

- Well, I wish you'd be more reasonably, Asa.

I need the money to declare a stock dividend.

If you're willing to wait, I'll double your fee.

- I'm not gonna wait any longer.

Sooner or later they're gonna get on to you

and I wanna be long gone when they do.

I want the money.

(hand slapping) Now!

- I thought you were following Clay Kendall.

- I have been.

- Well, where is he?

- He's at Asa Warren's house.

Warrens the assayer that tested Clay's gold brick.

- Yes, I know.

Come on.

(anxious music)

Dead.

Trent, are you sure that Kendall

was the only on in the room with him?

- Absolutely positive.

I saw them right through that window.

- Well, go back to the station.

Start a city-wide search for Clay Kendall.

- Yes, sir.

Oh and, Trent.

See if you can find Mr. Morgan.

Tell him to bring his daughter,

meet me at his bank as soon as he can.

- Yes, sir.

- Well, it's about time.

What is this all about, Marshal?

- Where's your son-in-law.

- I don't know.

Will you answered my question.

What is this all about?

(hammer tapping) Stop that.

What are you doing?

- I'm trying to prove a motive for the murder of Asa Warren.

- You think Clay had something to do with it, Mr. Wayne?

- Sorry, Miss. Dora, yes.

(hammer tapping)

- Well if he...

If Clay did, why, Marshal, why?

(hammer tapping)

- Here's why.

- Lead.

- With a thin coating of gold on top.

(anxious music) - No, it can't be.

We saw the tests.

Those samples were pure gold.

- No they weren't.

You see Warren was working with Clay Kendall.

That's why he knew just where to dig,

to bring out the gold that had been soldered into this lead.

That's why Clay killed him to shut him up.

- No.

No.

- I'm ruined.

I'm ruined. - Oh, father.

Darling, everything will be all right.

- Oh, leave me alone.

How do I know you're not all in this together?

- Father.

You married him, didn't you?

And he was your best friend.

You knew he was a crook.

Why did you let him get away with it?

Why?

Answer me that.

- Because of people like you, Mr. Morgan.

My hands were tied by greedy people.

Gold-hungry people.

People who insisted on believing in him,

in spite of my warning and their own better judgment.

- Well, he'll not get away with it.

I'll find a way.

He can't ruin me like this.

- I suppose we all insisted on believing in him

because he offered us the things we wanted most.

- Any idea where he might be hiding?

- Mr. Wayne, I can't tell you.

He's still my husband.

- He's also a murderer

who stole a savings of hundreds of people.

I intend to get that money back.

Now, where is he?

- He...

He told me to meet him at the old Castro Ranch.

Marshal.

You won't hurt him, will you, please.

Remember he saved your life.

- I remember.

(downhearted music)

(anxious music)

- Welcome, friend, come sit a spell.

- Clay, I'm arresting him for the murder of Asa Warren.

- So my wife told you where to find me.

I didn't think she'd do that.

- She decided she owed it to your investors

to get their money back.

- Oh, they can divide the gold brick.

- The gold coating on that lead brick is worth about $40.

- So you know about that, huh?

- Where's the money?

- Right there.

You want part of it, friend?

- I'm taking you and the gold back to San Francisco, Clay.

Come on.

- Ah.

I'll resist.

And you'll have to kill me.

You wouldn't wanna do that now, would you?

- It isn't what I wanna do that counts.

- Well, even if you succeeded in overcoming me,

delivering me up to the gallows,

you'd still be responsible for my death.

Wouldn't you?

- You did kill Asa Warren, didn't you?

- Yes.

And I owe the state of California a life.

But you owe me one.

Yours. (anxious music)

Are you going to pay me by taking mine?

- Clay, I promise you, you'll get a fair trial.

- After which they'll probably hang me.

I prefer to die with both feet on the ground.

So it's up to you.

Either you kill me or I ride out of here free.

- Don't try that, Clay.

- Oh, you wouldn't do anything.

I know you too well.

You're a man of honor and you always pay your debts.

You might've sent me to jail on a minor charge

but it isn't in you to send me to the gallows.

I bet right now you're remembering how it felt

to look death in the face.

And how precious your life was when I gave it back to you.

You liked me once.

And in spite of everything, you still do.

- You may as well take my badge.

Don't need it anymore.

- I know you'd feel that way.

And I'm sorry.

But you can get along without that badge,

I can't get along without money.

(horse neighing)

That's my father-in-law, he's got a gun.

- Clay!

Clay, he's going to kill you.

- Get away, Dora.

(suspenseful music)

- No, you don't.

Put that gun on the table.

(gun thudding)

- Give me that gun.

- Don't do it, Matt.

If he kills me, you've got no problem.

- I'm warning you, Marshal.

(gun clicking)

- Father! - No, no.

No. - Father!

Let him go.

- You're coming in with me now, Clay.

- Well, let's don't go through that again, friend.

- We're even.

I saved your life, you saved mine.

The debts paid.

- Well, that's right.

But I'm still not gonna hang.

(dramatic music) (gun booming)

(table thudding)

(worrisome music)

Like I said, I won't be around

for the hanging, will I, Matt?

I always knew I could count on you

when the chips were down, friend.

Dora.

Dora, you're still the loveliest thing

that ever came into my life.

- Oh, Clay.

Clay.

You betrayed us, you cheated us

but we couldn't help loving you.

Could we, Marshal?

- No, we couldn't.

- [Narrator] Thus San Francisco gain the dubious honor

of being the birthplace of the first gold brick

and a long line of Clay Kendall's imitators

are still selling gold bricks

to a public that never learns.

* 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 cannot do *

* 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 there them 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

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