Original subtitles

[Gunshots]

[Speaking Apache]

(Captain Richards) Hold your fire!

I got them troopers placed all around that hill there.

He ain't about to sneak out on us.

Well, we can't rush him. I got orders to take him alive.

What are you gonna do then?

I'm very interested, too, Captain Richards. What are you going to do?

Well, he can't stay in there forever, Mr. Graham.

He's gotta come out sometime.

When he does I advise you to treat him as you would any prisoner of war.

Extend the same consideration even though he is just a

poor, half-naked redskin.

He ain't no poor, half-naked redskin. He's a dirty red-handed butcher!

That's your opinion.

Now, I'm here to see he gets humane treatment and a fair hearing

or else my newspaper will blast all of you clear across this nation.

What do you think?

–I think he's out of ammunition. –Oh?

–Otherwise those two men would be dead. –That's for sure.

It could be a trick.

No, I don't think so. I'm gonna take a couple of your men and bring him back.

Hold on.

I can't afford to have him beaten or manhandled.

Sounds to me like you're worried about that newspaper man.

That's right.

He demanded to come out here. He's positive the Army

is killing Indians left and right when no one's looking.

He's waiting for a chance to pin something on us.

Well, I'm not the Army. If you won't give me the men, I'll go alone.

(Captain Richards) Mr. Lane

(Captain Richards) Mr. Lane, come back here! That's an order!

Lane? Is that man Hondo Lane?

That's right.

Well, that's how you managed to track down the Apache Kid, huh?

You hired his friend.

A man who knows him like a brother to track him, and then you bushwhacked him.

That man's another Judas.

Lou, let's go!

(Hondo) Come on out, Kid!

Nobody's gonna shoot.

Liar!

It's all over, Kid.

[Yells]

Are you proud of yourself, Lane?

Leading a whole troop of heavily armed soldiers

to capture one poor, helpless little Indian.

Mister, when was the first time you ever saw an Indian?

First time? Three months ago.

Young Indian boy in Texas.

They said he stole a gun.

They hung him without a hearing.

The next day they found out he was innocent.

When I heard the Army was hunting this man

I came to see him get justice, and I'll see he gets it!

He'll get a fair trial, Mr. Graham.

Well, that'll be the first fair thing I've seen in his case.

They say you were one of the few white men he ever trusted.

Well, is that all it means to you?

A shrug?

No words, no feeling for a life-long friend?

Ask the Kid that. It didn't have to be this way.

It's the way he wanted it.

You tracked him down and flushed him out like an animal.

Lou, get a picture of the Apache Kid.

We'll run it under the heading of...

"Man's Inhumanity to Man."

Hold it! Hold it!

You're wrong about this Indian, Mr. Graham.

You and your stories making him out to be a storybook hero.

That may be fiction to you, but it's fact to me and thousands of readers.

Now move aside, Captain

or you'll get your name in the headlines

as the officer who denied freedom to the press.

Okay, Lou.

When I write you up in this story, Lane

you'll wish you never heard of the Apache Kid.

♪ ♪

Hey, that is a mighty important prisoner you got inside there, Sarge. Look at that.

Yeah.

If that newspaper feller keeps writin' about him, I'm gonna start believin' it myself.

Hey, listen to this.

"Is the Apache Kid dead or alive?"

Huh!

Well, he looks alive to me.

"Has he been starved, tortured, murdered?"

Fat and sassy.

"If not, why can't he be seen so the rest of the nation

"can hear his side of the story?"

I can see him just as plain as a wart on the end of a pretty girl's nose.

Hey, Kid, what is your side of the story, huh?

No talk.

Well, he'll probably feel more like speakin' at the time of the trial.

Just before they use him to trim a tree with.

You better take good care of your starved boarders.

(Soldier) Detail, open the gate!

Another courier from Fort Whipple.

Must be urgent business from Colonel Crook.

Yeah, 'bout that more'n likely.

You know the ruckus that Graham fella is stirrin' up

tryin' to get to chew the fat with the Apache Kid

if I was the old man I'd lock 'em both up in the same cell till the day of the trial.

–Good idea. –That is a good idea.

You put 'em both in the same cell, then they have to talk to one another.

I'm sorry, Mr. Lane.

I got orders from Colonel Crook to cooperate with Mr. Graham

till the circuit judge arrives to try the Apache Kid.

I'm gonna see Graham right now and set him straight.

He's a big reporter, Mr. Lane.

Carries a lot of influence in a lot of high places.

Thousands of people read what he writes.

Dime novel garbage, that's what he writes.

Maybe. Maybe it is, but it's one way to sell a lot of newspapers.

Find an underdog the American public can feel sorry for.

Well, he hit a gold mine with this one.

Overnight he made the Apache Kid a national hero.

And look at these.

Look at these.

Protests from do-gooders. Societies to protect the Indian.

Other newspapers hopping on the bandwagon.

And a lot of nasty letters to President Grant himself.

Why don't you throw him outta here?

Because he's too important to throw out.

He's too important to push around at all.

Ace reporter for the Civil War. Covered the Ohio flood disaster.

Champion of the coal miners of Pennsylvania

the mill workers of New England.

Well, this time he's wrong. Dead wrong.

The Apache Kid is a bad Indian, that's all.

Well, nothin' worse than a bad Indian except maybe a bad white man.

I gave Mr. Graham permission to interview the Apache Kid in jail.

I'd like to interview him for just five minutes.

Well, if you lay a hand on him

I'm gonna have to lock you up.

"Friendship" and "loyalty"

now those are the key words we'll use to arouse the nation on your behalf.

Hey, Hondo.

Where you going?

Guardhouse.

You didn't bounce your fist off the captain's jaw, too, did you?

Gonna pay a little visit to Graham and the Apache Kid.

Well, I'll just mosey on in with you, then.

It ain't everyday a fella can walk into jail and ride out again.

Hondo Lane was, uh, once your very close friend.

Is that so?

Now you once worked as a scout for the Army.

Now Lane has the job you should have.

Naturally he, uh, wants to discredit you.

Right?

No, the Army made a big mistake in firing you.

They'd like you out of the way, out of the record.

Now that's a real story, isn't it?

Oh, I am going to write story after story about the Apache Kid

telling the world who you are, what you're really like

and why you must go free

so you can rejoin your people and lead them in their desperate struggle

to survive against the white man's prejudice and intolerance

and treachery.

Is that the way it is, Kid?

Graham, I'm here to get you to stop bleedin' for a man that's no good.

No good because he's an Indian?

There are a lot of Indians who've been cheated, tricked, and kicked around by the whites.

They could use your help.

But the Apache Kid is not one of 'em.

I'm supposed to take your word?

Try takin' my word, mister.

Or, uh, maybe the Kid's word here, huh?

How 'bout it Kid, who kept you from starvin'?

Who raised you and taught you how to scout?

Who treated you and Hondo like you was both his sons?

Come on, Kid, you can recollect that white man's name, can't you?

Al Sieber?

Just about the best scout and the

best human bein' that ever hit the West. Ain't that right, Hondo?

Al taught us everything we know about scouting.

And didn't he even get you a job with the Army tracking?

At more money than you ever figured to see in the rest of your life.

And the first little mistake he made, the Army fired him.

Little mistake he made, mister, was stealin' rifles and horses.

Graham

that's what your real Apache Kid is.

Apache Kid... [scoffs]

Look at him. He's hardly more than that.

A kid.

He was the runt of the litter.

And he's been tryin' to make up for his size ever since by robbing, cheating

murdering women, children.

But he hasn't grown another inch.

Lies...

I'd expect lies from the man who put you in that cell.

And he'll keep lying until you're tried and convicted

to justify his part in capturing you.

Graham, you've got wool between your ears.

Forget him, Kid. Now look.

Look at this.

Look at that, hm?

That is what the whole country is gonna see.

Now by the time you go to trial

I'll have thousands of people from every state and territory in the union supporting you.

My paper's gonna hire the best lawyers in the country to defend you.

Now they'll set you free.

You have my word.

Thank you, Guard.

Thanks very much.

Fire!

(Sergeant) Come out for a little fresh air, Jenks?

You had him and you let him go.

I rode three days to get back here for his trial.

And now all I'm gonna get is another barrage of directives from Washington.

We'll get him back.

Dead or alive, we'll get him back.

And while you're at it, Captain

would you mind bringing him back on that horse he stole from you?

Yes, sir.

Ah, now, this, uh, this fella Graham.

He can't say that we mistreated the Apache Kid now, can he?

We only gave him free room and board

let him walk out of here and gave him an Army horse to do it on.

At least Graham can see what the Apache Kid is now.

He attacked three guards, killed one.

He'll say they were torturin' him to death or something like that.

Well...

unless we spike his guns, the stories'll get worse.

So from now on the Army stays out of it.

Hondo

I'm sending you after the Kid alone.

I want you to bring him back here for that

fair trial Graham's been yelling about

and this time we'll invite reporters from all over the country to sit in.

Agreed?

Agreed?

Agreed.

I'll go along with you, Hondo.

No, no, Buffalo.

I need you to ride back to Fort Whipple with me.

I think you better go to Vittoro and ask him to

cooperate with us in bringing this wild man in.

I'll ask him that.

Hondo

good luck.

I hear you're going after the Apache Kid again, huh?

That's right.

Alone?

That's right.

I don't believe that for a minute.

Crook and Richards have probably got a hundred men scattered out there

just waitin' to fill the Kid full of holes as soon as you flush him out.

Lou, get a shot of him.

I want the whole country to get a good look at the new Judas.

Don't worry, Lou.

The ten thousand words I'm gonna write about him

will be worth more than one picture.

[Sam barking]

[Water splashing]

[Girls laughing]

[Drum and flute music]

The Apache Kid is an outlaw to me as well as to you, my son.

but I cannot help you bring him to white man's justice.

He does as much damage to your people as he does to the white man.

Yes, he strikes at us, too.

But if I send my braves into white man's territory to hunt him down

shots will be fired.

I know all Indians look the same to some white men.

One mistake and open warfare could spread like prairie fire.

Well, the Kid could start that fire all by himself.

Running Wolf, son of Godanah

has chosen Star Bird to be his bride.

Will you stay for the feast?

Reminds me of another wedding

a long time ago.

I remember it well also, my son.

You and Destarte.

Well...

Kid's had a good start.

I guess I better make camp somewhere and pick up his trail in the morning.

Be careful. You may not wish to shoot to kill

but the Apache Kid knows no other way.

It is time, my children.

(Vittoro) Go to the huts where your fathers wait for you and say your farewells.

(Vittoro) At dawn you will ride out of here as man and wife with all our blessings.

Go, my children.

[Gasps]

[Sam barking]

Well, it don't make sense, Sam.

[Hoofbeats]

Think I found the Apache Kid's trail

but it don't make sense.

The moccasin tracks runnin' alongside of an Army horse

followed by an Indian pony.

Last night Running Wolf's bride was taken from the village.

Her father murdered by the Apache Kid.

You sure about that?

The sign of the cougar which the Apache Kid wore around his neck

was found in the ceremonial hut.

Well, that explains the moccasin tracks.

What about the Indian pony?

By the laws of our tribe

Running Wolf must seek revenge alone.

He left before the sun rose to pick up the trail.

Well, it looks like he'll get there before I do.

If he does, one or both of them will be killed.

Well, it'll be Running Wolf. He's no match for the Kid.

That's why I come to you.

You must find the Apache Kid before Running Wolf does.

I'll do my best.

[Sam whimpering]

Shut up, Sam. Get some sleep.

[Gasps]

[Star Bird screams]

[Groan]

[Screams]

[Gunshots]

[Sam barking]

[Crying]

It's all right now. Nothing more is gonna happen.

Daddy.

Daddy, Daddy!

Daddy, Daddy!

An Indian killed my daddy.

Where's your mother?

Out there.

She died a year ago.

Daddy buried her over there.

[Emmy Jo crying]

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Sam, I guess we're gonna have to pick up that trail later.

Emmy Jo

I gotta ride you back to the fort where folks can take care of you.

[Sam barking]

(Angie) Hm-hmm.

Here, Emmy Jo.

Mr. and Mrs. Keene are going to take Emmy Jo.

They have seven children. They said they wouldn't even notice one more.

Thanks, Angie.

You're not going right back out, are you?

Well, I lost a lot of time. I got a job to do.

But it's so unfair making you alone responsible

for bringing back the Apache Kid.

It's not a question of what's fair, only of what's best.

I can have an early supper if you'd...

(Soldier) Mr. Lane?

Captain Richards wants to see you right away.

Well, I'll take you up on that supper one of these days.

See you later, Johnny, Emmy Jo.

–You take care of her. –I will, Emberato.

–Goodbye. –Bye, Emberato.

(Johnny) So long.

He didn't waste any time getting the story to his newspaper about the Apache Kid's escape.

He even got permission from Colonel Crook to send that story over the wire at Fort Whipple.

Captain, the longer I stand here and talk to you, the harder it is

gonna be to pick up that trail.

I'm getting fed up with advice and criticism on what to do

and what not to do about the Apache Kid.

Well, not half as fed up as I am tryin' to track him down.

If I had my way he'd have been dead a long time ago.

Well, it's still not the right way.

My career is on the line. My whole career is at stake.

If you think the politicians and brass are sniping now

wait till they read Graham's latest story.

"One lone Indian pitted against a thousand armed troopers."

"Hunted down like a wild animal and forced to act like one."

"Hounded to the point of insanity."

You oughta tell Graham the Apache Kid just murdered two of his own people

captured another one, and made an orphan of a helpless little girl.

I would. I'd tell him, except right now he's out looking for the Apache Kid himself.

Well, that's good. Maybe he'll find him.

At least he's out of the fort. Save us a lot of trouble.

He doesn't stand a chance. He left the day after you did.

Hired a couple of no-good Indians to guide him for twenty dollars.

–Well, that sounds like Joe Goose and Half Moon. –That's right.

They'd sell him for twenty cents, and that'd be a poor buy.

I told him that. I begged with him.

I pleaded with him, but he wouldn't listen.

As soon as he got word from his newspaper they were hiring the best lawyers

he wanted the Apache Kid to see the telegram.

Proof that he had powerful supporters behind him.

The Apache Kid can't even read.

I told him that.

But Graham thinks he's the only man in the territory the Apache Kid'll trust

and voluntarily give himself up to.

–That's why you're here. –Yeah, I know.

Find Graham and the Apache Kid and save both their worthless hides.

Exactly.

What is it? What's going on?

–Why are we stopping? –Tracks.

The Apache Kid?

Maybe.

What do you mean "maybe"?

Are we getting close?

Too close.

Now what does that mean?

[Speaks Apache]

Apache Kid's old stomping ground. He always comes back here.

This is as far as we go.

You pay now.

I promised you twenty dollars when you find the Kid.

The Kid is over there.

You pay now.

Uh...

Uh, yes, yes.

Well, now look...

Look, I'll double your fee.

Get me the Kid and I'll pay you forty dollars, huh?

We quit now.

Apache Kid too close.

What? Hey, wait a minute! What are you...?

Wait a minute! What are you...? What do you think you're...?

Oh, no you don't. No you don't!

Good riddance, you thieving bums!

I'll find the Apache Kid myself!

Who are you?

Who did this to you?

Can't you speak English?

[Hoofbeats approaching]

[Gunshot]

I kill!

No, Kid. You won't shoot me. No, you can't.

I kill!

(Apache Kid) I kill!

She's dead.

You coulda killed him and you didn't.

Just because you gave your word.

I still don't believe it. I...

just can't understand.

Don't even try, Graham.

Hi, kids.

Sam got some kind of a problem, has he?

–We're just hunting for ticks. –Ticks?

That don't hardly seem like no fittin' occupation for a

pretty young lady.

She's not a pretty young lady.

Emmy Jo's about as good as a boy.

–She don't mind bugs at all. –She don't? [Laughs]

Hey, Emmy Jo, I hear you got a whole new slew of brothers and sisters.

Yeah, my new mommy's in the store right now buying me a yellow dress.

A yellow dress?

Oh, I bet that's pretty.

Would you wear it if I take you to the dance?

Sure, Uncle Buffalo.

Uncle? Ahh...

Ah, let's hunt ticks.

Hondo.

Wait up a minute.

I never did get a chance to thank you properly for saving my life.

–It's not necessary. –I'm very grateful.

I know I can't ever completely repay a debt like that

but I'll try to show my gratitude in a small way.

Forget it.

I've written you up for my paper.

Great story.

"Hondo Lane, man of incredible honesty and fair play"

"with the courage of a mountain lion."

"A lone American hunting down a vicious savage."

–Don't print it. –I insist.

You won't change your mind?

No, sir. I owe you a great debt.

Debt's cancelled.

[Sam barking]

♪ ♪