Original subtitles

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

I’m making a gift for a dear friend.

It’s a going-away present.

It’s also in the nature of a surprise,

since he isn’t aware

the trip is being planned for him.

[clank]

This is peculiar.

I’m cutting along the dotted line.

[pop]

[clank, clatter]

Oh, well, I don’t really need anything fancy.

I’m only gonna chain it to his feet.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we present our story,

"Backward, Turn Backward."

Hey, Sheriff! When’s the hanging?

Nice turnout.

Saul, you’re a chemist. Tell me something.

How is it people can smell blood a mile away?

No, they can’t.

But they do. Every time.

Look at them.

Good, honest, God-fearing... vultures!

Don’t be too hard on them, Andy.

-All they want is-- -All they want is

Phil Canby’s head for dinner.

You gonna give it to them?

I don’t know.

-What’d you find? -Nothing.

Just about the cleanest job I ever saw.

What about this?

Oh, it’s the murder weapon, all right.

But I can’t tell you much more than that.

Why not?

Well, see for yourself. Pick it up.

Go on.

Now smell it.

Laundry soap?

Yep.

Yeah, he scrubbed it in the sink.

Then he washed out the sink.

You’ve got to hand it to old Canby,

he’s a neat murderer.

[clink]

Now you listen to me, Saul.

Phil Canby isn’t a murderer until a jury says so.

You understand? A jury!

I haven’t even arrested him yet.

You wanted to see me, Andy?

Yes.

Now, Miss Lyons,

I know you mean well, and I’m grateful

for the help you’ve been to us.

I’m going to have to ask you to hold your tongue about this,

until we make an arrest.

Oh, I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.

You’ve been telling people that you knew

something terrible was going to happen.

Well, it’s the truth,

and the truth never hurt anybody,

did it?

I’m not so sure.

Anyway, something terrible did happen,

before all this. And everybody knows it, too.

Phil Canby chasing

after a girl young enough to be his granddaughter.

Do you know what I saw?

I saw Phil Canby take Sue Thompson

in his arms and kiss her.

Right on the mouth.

Made me sick to my stomach.

Why?

"Why?" Oh, Andy, Phil Canby’s 60 years old!

-[Andy] Fifty-nine! -Oh!

Besides, the way I hear it, he offered to marry her

-and she accepted. -But that makes it even worse!

The very idea! A girl still in her teens...

...marrying an old fool like that.

Is that why you all want to see him hang?

Because you think he’s an old fool?

Would you like your daughter to marry a man of 59?

Were you in love with Matt Thompson?

I certainly was not!

[sighs] Oh, I...

I liked Matt well enough,

and I... well, I felt sorry for him,

all alone in this big old house.

Not exactly alone.

He had his daughter Sue.

Hmph! A lot of good she was!

You’d think that girl could at least keep this place clean.

Who took care of Sue when she was a baby after her mother died?

Her father.

-And when he was working? -Oh!

I don’t know.

From what I’ve heard, you were very good

to both Matt and Sue in those days.

I was only doing my duty, helping out.

I’ve heard rumors that you, you expected Matt

to propose to you.

Is that true?

Whoever told you such a silly thing?

Are you prepared to swear you heard

the Murray baby crying last night?

-I most certainly am. -At 10:30?

-That’s right. -You’re sure?

It couldn’t have been some other child?

Hardly. There isn’t another baby

in the whole block.

And I knew it was 10:30 because I looked at my clock

when I got home.

-Why did you do that? -I always do.

-And that was when you heard the baby crying? -Yes.

You know, Phil Canby swears

the baby was asleep at that time.

And never cried once.

That’s ridiculous!

I never heard him like that before,

rasping for breath. He kept it up all the time

I was getting ready for bed.

All right, Miss Lyons.

You can go on home now.

Well! Isn’t there anything I can do?

No, I think you’ve done just about enough.

We’ll call you.

The ambulance is here, Andy.

Can we haul it away?

-[door closes] -Yeah.

[chattering]

[boy] Hey, here comes the Sheriff!

[boy] You gonna arrest him now?

[doorbell buzzes]

Oh, Sheriff, come in.

Your father here?

Yes. He’s- He’s upstairs, I think.

With Sue Thompson?

[boy sobbing]

I’m sorry.

Philip, darling, I’m coming!

Yes, Mommy’s here!

It’s all right, darling. Mommy’s here now.

And I’ll have your lunch in just a moment.

He’s at that certain age.

I know. I had the same

-trouble with mine. -[boy] Mommy, come on!

-[crying] Now! -Now, now, young fellow,

what’s the matter? Quiet.

[crying continues]

[stops crying]

You certainly have a way with children.

With this one, I do.

Couldn’t rightly say about any others.

Got anything more to tell me, Phil?

Nothing more to tell.

They’re all blaming him for it, aren’t they?

Why? What’s wrong? He worked for those people.

He loved them. He was their friend.

Why are they all suddenly turning on him like this?

Don’t you know?

Yes, I suppose I do.

But it’s not right, Sheriff!

You can’t condemn a man for murder just because

you don’t approve of what he’s doing!

I’m not condemning your father, Betty.

I’m only trying to get at the truth.

You’ve got to believe that.

Told you all I know, Andy.

What’s the point going on about it?

Not a matter of point, Phil. It’s routine.

You don’t mind if I ask Sue a few questions,

-do you, Phil? -Not if she don’t.

Sue, Sheriff here wants to talk with you.

Yes, sir?

Sue, I’m going to speak straight out to you.

A lot of people think that Phil Canby is responsible

-for your father’s death. -That’s silly!

[Andy] Maybe so, but that’s the way it is.

Do you think he’s responsible?

It doesn’t make any difference what I think.

Now, Sue, I’m going to ask you a few questions.

I want you to tell me what happened last night,

just the way you remember it.

And don’t leave anything out.

Go ahead, tell him.

It’s all right. We got nothing to be afraid of.

I don’t know what to say.

Last night you asked Phil over to your house to fix the drain.

Is that right?

-Yes, sir. -[Andy] What happened?

Phil was fixing the drain.

We were talking about our plans.

Daddy came in and then he started to yell and say

awful, terrible [stammers] things.

What things?

He said he’d have me put in an institution

before he’d see his daughter married

-to an old man. -Let her tell it, Phil.

-Then what, Sue? -Phil yelled something

back at him. It scared me. I hid in the pantry

and put my fingers in my ears.

When did you come out of the pantry?

When Daddy told me to.

He said it was all over and I could go to bed now.

-Phil was gone? -Yes, sir!

I went upstairs and went to sleep.

All right.

Phil, I’ve got to talk to you now.

Alone.

Go upstairs, honey.

Won’t take long.

You rest some.

Nice girl.

Ain’t a girl! She’s a woman.

The best I’ve seen in long a time!

Phil, there’s no sense pretending.

You’re in trouble.

Miss Lyons says she heard little Philip

crying at 10:30 last night.

Your daughter admits you didn’t change the baby.

Now, that isn’t like you, Phil, neglecting him.

He was asleep.

I didn’t want to wake him up.

Matt Thompson was killed between 10:00 and 11:00.

And you say you were here at that time, babysitting,

while Betty and her husband went to the show.

You had the radio turned on.

That’s right.

Come home right after the quarrel.

9 o’clock.

Everybody knows that when you’re here,

that baby’s quiet.

Yet Miss Lyons heard him crying at 10:30!

Don’t you see what that means?

I never touched Matt!

All right, you never touched him!

Who did?

Don’t know.

I don’t rightly care.

State’s Attorney’s going to say that baby was crying

because you weren’t here to keep him quiet.

He’s going to say that you got to thinking

about Matt Thompson’s threats.

You couldn’t stand it anymore.

So, you went back and killed him.

You even left the wrench behind.

I was using that to fix the drain.

-Forgot it before... -Forgot it!

Why did you wash it with laundry soap?

Didn’t.

[rattling]

Phil! You’ve got to give me something more to go on!

I’d go all the way for you,

if you’d just give me some proof that you didn’t kill Matt.

Anything!

Anything.

Andy.

You think I did it, don’t you?

What else can I think?

Phil, this whole town’s against you.

If you don’t give me something more to go on,

you’re going to hang.

Phil, when did you first fall in love with Sue Thompson?

Fall in love?

Sounds funny, saying that about somebody my age,

don’t it, Andy?

Don’t rightly know.

Whatever it was,

it happened last spring.

[Phil] I was working in the yard

and kind of keeping an eye

on little Philip at the same time.

Sue come over to watch, like she always did.

She was no different, I guess.

All big-eyed and sad like a doe.

Like a big-eyed, sad little doe,

ready to run if you made a wrong move.

But she was different, somehow.

I’d been seeing her ever since she was a child,

but now it was like I was seeing her

for the first time.

Never seen such an expression on her face before.

Like... she wasn’t a little girl no more...

but a woman.

And she wasn’t just outside the yard,

but outside the world,

looking in.

I’d tried to fool myself into thinking

that I just felt protective towards her.

But it weren’t so.

I was in love with her.

I am in love with her.

She makes me feel young.

And I haven’t felt that way for 20 years.

Disgusted, Andy?

I just wish the two things could be separated.

You and Sue...

...and Matt Thompson’s murder.

Can’t be separated.

If they hang me, it won’t be for murder.

It’ll be because I fell in love with a 19-year-old girl.

[door opens and closes]

-What’s that about? -Nothing.

-How’s it going? -It isn’t.

What about the drain?

Well, there are wrench marks on it,

but I don’t know what that proves.

Harris is here.

-Where? -Upstairs.

Miss Thompson,

your father was murdered last night.

Now I’m going to find out who did it and why!

So you’d better tell me the truth!

I am telling you the truth.

Do you mean to tell me that you didn’t expect

your father to interfere with your marriage

to an old man like Phil Canby?

He never interfered with anything I did.

And don’t you know that he told Betty Murray that

he would chain you up rather than see you marry Canby?

He never said that to me!

[Harris] Oh, what did he say when you told him?

I think he said something like,

"Well, doesn’t that beat everything!"

And he laughed.

[door closes]

Are you taking over my job, Mr. Harris?

Well, it’s not a bad idea, Andy.

Seeing that sheriffs do have all the fun.

First on the scene, first to make an arrest.

Sue, Mr. Harris and I have some talking to do.

Why don’t you run on back?

I told you I’d let you know when I was ready.

And aren’t you?

Look, Andy, I’ve been getting a lot of calls.

Now, I understand your feelings in this matter,

and I sympathize in a way. But the press is

getting impatient! What they want is an arrest!

And if you can’t give them that, and personally,

I can’t understand why not.

At least tell them you have a suspect under surveillance.

Or would you rather have that mob out there take things into its own hands?

I’ll take care of it.

[Harris] Good.

Oh, what’s worrying you, Andy?

That there’s enough in here to nail Canby to the ground.

I know.

Well, you ought to. You put it together for me.

So, why are you stalling?

Look, Thompson threatens Canby, makes things unpleasant.

Canby flies into a rage

and beats out Thompson’s brains with a wrench.

Later, he cleans up and goes home.

Opportunity, motive, no alibi.

It all seems so obvious, Andy.

I know! I know!

And what’s his defense? He was home babysitting.

Now who’s gonna believe that after Miss Lyons testifies

she heard the baby screaming its head off?

All right! I’ll make the arrest...

after the funeral. Is that soon enough for you?

Andy, do me a favor.

Don’t mix me up with those wolves outside.

I’m after Canby because I think he’s guilty.

And I think that because of this evidence

you’ve given me.

-[bell chimes] -And to Thy charge, beloved Lord,

we dispatch the immortal soul

of Matthew Wallace Thompson.

In his life upon this earth, Matthew was a gardener,

tending for the loveliest of Thy creations,

the flowers.

So, in a way, it is fitting

that he should at last return to the soil

from whence his beloved roses sprang.

He was a good man.

He never missed a Sunday at church

from the age of seven

to the time of his cruel and hasty death.

But he has not truly died, as Thou dost well know.

He has but gone from this world to another.

And as we think of him now, reunited at last

with his loved ones, for all eternity,

we lift our hearts in joyous anticipation

of that dark, mysterious journey...

which awaits us all.

[doorbell buzzes]

-Hello, John. -Sheriff.

[door closes]

The old man, huh?

Better take your wife upstairs, John.

You too, Sue.

[Betty] I’m not leaving. This is my father’s house.

And I don’t have to leave if I don’t want to.

All right.

Phil Canby, I’m arresting you

for the willful murder of Matt Thompson.

[Betty] Oh, you’re crazy!

My father never killed anybody!

My father would never kill anybody!

Come, honey, it isn’t gonna help.

There’s nothing we can do. Let’s go, Phil.

-You can’t take him away! -He’ll be given a fair trial.

Don’t lie to her, Andy! If I can be arrested

for something I didn’t do, I can be hung for it.

Let’s get it done with.

You can take some things if you want.

Oh, I’ve no things.

And how do you feel now?

That’s right. You, Sue Thompson.

It’s all your fault. Every single bit of it!

If you hadn’t led my father on like this,

he never would have gotten into all this trouble!

-You’re just a-- -Betty!

-Leave her alone! -I won’t! I won’t!

She did this to you! She made you lose

all your friends, all your self-respect!

Now she’s sending you to jail!

-She doesn’t care! -[shrieking]

[whining]

[crying]

[squealing]

-That’s what Miss Lyons heard. -[whimpers]

[whining]

What will they do with her?

What they do with all sick people, I expect.

-Put her in a hospital. -[sobbing continues]

Do you think she knows she killed her father?

No, I don’t think she has any idea she killed him.

Until next week, that is.

I have a new piece of stone and have decided

to give sculpturing one more try.

Oh, well, what can you expect from a beginner?

[tools clattering]

Goodnight.