Original subtitles

"You will make room on your train"

"for Doctor C. Ames Willoughby."

"Doctor"! Well, it's ridiculous and I'm not gonna do it.

I am not gonna take you to Silver Creek.

Anybody can see, it's perfectly obvious

that when the governor wrote this he thought you were a man.

A female sawbones out in this country... That's enough, Major.

I am a doctor, and that letter instructs you to take me to Silver Creek

no matter what your personal opinion might be.

Well, let me tell you something, missy.

You may know something about doctorin', I don't know.

But I happen to know something about Silver Creek

and the country and the town and the people!

And I am not gonna be responsible for taking you alone out into that country.

Then you refuse to abide by the instructions of that letter?

Oh, forget that letter, will ya?

I'm responsible for the people in my wagon train!

Let me tell you something.

I purchased a wagon, and all of my things

are stored in it, ready to go.

Now, I'm going to Silver Creek

if I have to go alone.

Why don't you just try that?

You'll never been seen or heard of alive again!

Would you like to accept that responsibility, Major?

All right.

All right, I'll take you.

But we leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning,

and you better be on time.

Whoever would want to fight with a woman?

A woman doctor to boot!

♪

MAN: Get goin'!

Look, mister, you made me promise on my mother

that I'd let you know when it was a half hour before dawn.

I'm not gonna tell you anymore. Now get goin'.

You're a gentleman and a scholar

and I hereby officially relieve you of your word.

Oh, get goin'.

I need one more.

Don't you understand? Just one more!

Something I can do for you, lady?

This man is sick.

Can you help me get him on the couch?

Sick, lady? He's drunk.

I tell you he's sick. I'm a doctor.

Lady, if you're a doctor, I'm the stork.

Hey! You know how to wake up a drunk!

What saloon do you work in?

I'm gonna come over and watch you dance sometime.

Come on, stand up.

Stand up.

Where do you live? I'll see that you're taken home.

I'm not interested.

I told you, I'll come and watch you dance sometime.

Better hurry, doctor.

Baby's ready!

Do you know who this man is, where he lives?

I said do you know who this man is, where he lives?

He ain't from around these parts.

And... if you can believe a drunk... his name is Grover.

He's just passing through on that wagon train of Major Adams'.

Over by Foster's pond on the north side of town.

Hank, get these leaders straightened out.

What the devil do you think I'm trying to do?!

Simmons!

If you can't handle that team,

you better get somebody that can handle 'em for you!

Much obliged, Hawkes.

I can handle my horses, Major.

But there just ain't no sense in...

I just can't figure it out.

She was bound and determined last night.

Well, it's no skin off of my nose.

I told her to be on time. Who'd you tell, Major?

Doctor Willoughby, a woman doctor. A female sawbones?!

That's that's been holding us up all morning?

I can't find her no place.

Well, we're not gonna wait any longer.

I told her to be here at the crack of dawn.

We're not gonna wait. We're gonna go on.

And Bart ain't here neither. Bart? Where is he?

He ain't in his wagon, ain't been there all night.

Get yourself a horse and go into town and get him.

More waiting! Why do you waste your time on that drunk?

We got company.

Bart Grover's no good, and you know it!

Whoa!

Well, Doctor Willoughby.

What's your hurry? You're only an hour late!

Is there supposed to be a man on this train named Grover?

That's right, Bart Grover. Have you seen him?

Well, the people on this wagon train are your responsibility.

Have you seen him? Do you know where he is?

Yes, he's right back there. Bill! Give me a hand.

Let's get this fella out of this wagon. Now, don't move him.

Lookie here, lady... "Doctor."

"Doctor," "lady"... I don't care what you call yourself.

I gave in to you last night against my better judgment,

but if you think you're gonna tell me

how to handle the people on this train, you got another think coming!

That man is sick, and as a doctor, I order you not to move him.

He's sick, all right... like a sponge. He's just plain drunk.

He needs medical attention. If he doesn't get it, he'll get pneumonia.

You can tell by the color of his skin he has a liver ailment.

It might turn into stomach poisoning.

Come on, Bill, we've wasted enough time already with this.

I'm sorry to have delayed your start.

Well, if any of you need medical attention, I am a doctor.

I'll be with you until Silver Creek.

( crowd murmuring.

Imagine... a woman doctor.

Whoever heard of such a thing?

And if she is a doctor, and has to take care of a man...

Major, I am going to need your help.

That'll be the day.

What can I do for you, ma'am?

If I'm to take care of your friend, help me get down off this wagon.

Now, listen, you've given me enough delay already.

He's your responsibility, too.

If you'd be kind enough to drive the wagon... I'm not gonna drive this...

I can't attend to your friend

and drive the wagon at the same time.

Bill, go get a driver up here.

I'll pull 'em into line.

Fine time of day to get started.

I gave Bart Grover strict orders not to leave this camp last night.

It seems to me, Major Adams,

that you possess a great proficiency for issuing orders

and a deplorable lack of proficiency in their enforcement.

Now, look here. I...

Major, I shouldn't have said that.

We've all had a trying day. I'm sorry.

Heeyah! Giddyup here!

Ha ha ha ha!

The people on this train are really not such bad people once you get to know 'em.

It's just that they're... You don't have to apologize for them, Major.

I've been a doctor for a number of years,

I don't think there's anything people can do or say

that would offend me because of my chosen profession.

I'm sure of that.

You must a very sensitive and observant man

to have noticed.

You know, the people on your wagon train are relatively nice.

Back in Boston they used to throw stones through my windows

and hoot at me on the street.

It's shocking to see how abusive people can be

when they don't understand and become intolerant.

The interesting thing is that women are the most abusive.

Can you explain that?

Well... no, I...

I don't guess I could.

You see...

I don't really know much about women.

Well, that's very honest.

It's rare to find a man who would admit it, Major.

You know, there's no need to be so formal out here.

Why don't you just call me Seth?

All right.

My name's Carol.

Carol, huh?

I must say it suits you better than "Doctor."

Why does Carol suit me better than Doctor?

Well, ma'am, you can't deny that you're a mighty pretty woman,

but... But what?

Do you think because I'm a doctor I'm not a woman?

That I wouldn't like to have a home and children and a husband

to share all my problems and pleasures?

Well, if that's what you think, you're wrong!

But then, I forgot...

You don't know anything about women.

Well, no, ma'am, I don't.

I never been married.

Outside of the women on the wagon train, I just don't see many.

That just shows you...

I would have wagered you were a married man.

I might have been, but... she died.

Oh, I'm...

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to pry.

She must have been very lovely.

She was.

But...

I guess that was just meant to be, that's all.

Seth... do you believe

that there is a predestined plan to our lives?

That what's to happen will happen

no matter what we want or do?

Well, Carol, I can only speak for myself,

but I really think I'm doing what I was meant to do.

Sure, I've got some regrets about things that have happened in the past,

but somehow I feel that those things were meant to be.

And as for the future,

I'd like to believe that everything that's gonna happen

is gonna happen for the best.

Well, I might not have put it just that way...

but I think you and I have a lot in common.

I think we could become very good friends.

I think we better go back to camp.

Seth, I'm concerned about your friend Mr. Grover.

He's a sick man. Why does he drink so much?

I don't mean how did it become a drug or a crutch to him,

I know how, medically,

but what I want to know is why.

If I knew that, there's a possibility I could help him.

Well, Carol...

I've known Bart Grover practically all my life,

and that's quite a while.

See, we grew up together,

we were always real good friends.

Then when the war came along,

all the others just got right behind that brass band

and filed into the nearest recruiting office.

But not Bart.

He was kind of a pacifist, I guess...

Said he didn't believe in killing people.

And nobody could dispute how right the man was.

But that didn't keep other people from poking fun at him

just because he wasn't in uniform.

I poked fun at him, too.

I think that's why he finally joined up.

From there on in, everything went wrong for Bart.

You see, he'd married a pretty little girl

that he not only loved,

but he just really worshipped.

And the army and the fighting and everything

just almost drove him out of his mind.

He wasn't a bad soldier...

He didn't drink and carouse or gripe...

Whatever was bothering him, he kept to himself.

Finally, when the war was over,

Bart went home.

And he found out that that pretty little girl

had run off with some other man.

Well, Bart just fell into a thousand little pieces.

Somehow he was never able to...

get those pieces back together again.

That's when he found the bottle.

I'll just never forgive myself for prodding him into the army.

Anyhow, we brought him out to the west,

to the big sky and the great, great open country,

hoping to God that that would do him some good.

But it hasn't worked.

Oh, Carol, it's...

it's a real tragedy.

Poor fella...

He can't see anything, he can't hear anything,

think anything, he's just...

He's just like a big baby with a bottle.

Major Adams.

Yeah, Charlie, here I am.

Bart found another one of them bottles he had stashed away

and he's dead drunk... And sick, too.

He's still saying that same thing over and over...

"I'm gonna kill 'em both, I'm gonna kill 'em both."

Where is he now? Gave him that little treatment,

put him in the female sawbones' wagon.

Then I come to tell you about it.

I'll take care of him, Major.

I hope you can.

Ho!

What do you want to do, Major?

Just keep the people back.

Nothin' they can do for 'em now.

Get circled up quick as you can. I'll go have a look.

Charlie! Circle 'em up!

Sure never expected Indian trouble in this part of the country.

Major, this man is still alive. Are you sure?

He's still got a pulse.

Can you do anything for him? I'll try.

Get him inside the circle, boys.

Come on, give us a hand!

Think he's got a chance?

I've done all I can.

Doctor...

I think I better tell you...

we may be in for some real trouble.

I just don't understand it.

McCullough's out there someplace, but...

Of course, he could have passed through here before this happened...

Do you think there's any possibility

that he could come to long enough for us

to learn anything about it?

I've given him caffeine,

that's a stimulant for his heart.

All we can do now is wait.

Ma'am, I can't get that Grover to eat.

I'll shove it down this throat if you say so.

No, I better see him.

If he should come to for only a moment, send for me.

I brought you some stew.

I know how you feel, but you have to eat.

How could you know how I feel?

Do you know what it's like to have a belly that feels as if it's full of feathers?

You haven't had any nourishment in days.

Try.

Why?

Please?

No thanks... Mother.

I don't know why I bother with you.

"I swear by Apollo the physician,

"by Aesculapius, Hygeia, and Panacea,

"and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses,

"to keep according to my ability and my judgment

"the following oath:

"In every house where I enter,

"I will enter only for the good of my patients,

"keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and seduction

"and especially from the places of love with women or men,

"be they free or slaves.

"All that may come to my knowledge

"in the exercise of my profession

"or outside of my profession

"or in daily commerce with men

"that should not be spread abroad

"I will never reveal.

"If I keep this oath faithfully,

may I enjoy my life and practice my art."

That's why you bother with me...

to practice your art, Doctor.

Without a patient,

how can you practice?

You're a fool...

The worst kind... An educated fool.

And I've taken all the insults I intend to take.

Now, eat this, or I'll go out and get some of the men

to force it down you!

If you want to help me, you get me a drink.

If you're any kind of doctor at all, you'll get me a drink.

Let's stop playing games.

I don't care what you think.

Please.

He hasn't moved.

I think he's breathing easier, though.

Seth, have you got any liquor?

Well, yeah, but... for him?

No.

Oh. Bart wants a drink, huh?

I need a bottle right away.

Well, you're not gonna get it.

He just can't handle it.

You oughta know that as well as I do.

Let him suffer it out... He'll get over it.

If he gets too ornery, we'll just hog-tie him. We've done it before.

You refuse to give it to me?

I most certainly do.

Must I remind you that he's a sick man?

All right, he's a sick man.

You're the doctor, you get him well.

But I'll be goldarned if I'm gonna let you

try to cure fire with fire where that fella is concerned.

Oh, Carol, why don't you give up?

Let us take care of Bart. Quit worrying about him.

Best cure I know of for a drunk

is a set of well-placed knuckles.

It's much better than all your medicines and all your attention.

Major, I haven't got the time or the patience to hear your theories.

I know you're the boss of this wagon train,

but you've got to have respect for me as a doctor.

You can refuse to give me the liquor,

but I think it's only fair to warn you

that you'll be forcing me to use

my limited supply of medical alcohol,

which could endanger somebody else's life if they need it.

Carol, will you listen...

All right...

Doctor.

There ya are.

Just remember, this is your idea, not mine.

Stop looking at me like that!

Get out! Get out! Leave me alone!

What's the matter with you?

Don't you understand that you and all women make me sick?!

A doctor! A woman doctor!

Ha ha! Or are you a woman?

What are you? You're nothing! You're as nothing as I am!

You hate me, don't you? Well, say it... you hate me!

Get out.

Get out!

BART: Get out!

Leave me alone.

Get out.

Bill. Charlie.

Keep an eye on him, will ya?

Doctor?

Doctor!

Yes? He's coming to.

Is he conscious? Not yet, but you better come.

Ohh...

Aaaaaah!

Keep him down.

Easy, easy. Now, relax.

The Indians are gone. You're amongst friends. Can you hear me?

The Indians are gone and you're among friends.

Can you tell us what happened? Can you hear me?

Can you tell us what happened?

A fight... over Indian girl.

I killed the father...

the chief... Big Elk.

Lord help us... Big Elk.

Where's... my brother?

They killed him.

They murdered him.

They butchered...

Go get some help and a couple of shovels.

Yes, sir.

Carol, you better try to get some rest.

This may be a night we'll never forget...

if we live through it.

Bart, what the devil are you doing out here?

Let's get back to the wagons. You know, Seth,

the stars look different than when you look at them through the bottom of a bottle.

A couple of white trappers have killed an Indian chief.

We've got trouble... Real trouble.

I can smell the dew on the dry grass

and it doesn't remind me of whiskey.

Bart, there are Indians out here.

They're hostile, they can smell you a mile away.

If you don't listen to me and come on,

you're gonna be seeing more stars than you ever saw in the bottom on a bottle.

Now, come on. How long before sun-up?

Huh... that's funny...

Been a long time since I cared whether the sun does come up.

How long ago, Seth... was the war over?

What?

Six years, Bart. Six years.

Six years?

That's right.

Unless Flint's too far out ahead of us,

chances are he knows about this Indian flare-up.

If he does, and if nothing had happened to him,

why, he's probably headed on to Fort Stad...

and no use talking about going back at all...

We're closer to Fort Stad than we are anyplace else.

He gets through, we'll have little to worry about.

I sure hope he gets through.

Well, good morning, Doctor.

I want to talk to you when we get a chance.

All the rest of you, pass the word to the other wagons, will ya?

We're gonna pull out as soon as we can.

Rig your wagons for battle.

Tell every single driver to keep up close

and to circle up at the first sign of Indian attack.

I don't care if they hear the order or not-

circle up and get ready for a fight.

Any wagon pulls out of line,

we haven't got time to stop and pick 'em up, pull 'em back in again.

Is that clear? Indians!

Let 'em try and touch me!

Take cover! Stand fast!

Make no move that looks like resistance!

No firing whatsoever unless I give the order!

I repeat: No resistance and no firing!

Dale, go get me a white rag on a stick.

All that talk about resistance...

Them Indians are here to fight, not talk.

Maybe so, Charlie...

but I'm gonna go try to make 'em talk.

Major, are you sure this is the right thing to do?

No, ma'am, I'm not. But I'm gonna try it.

Miss...

Doctor.

I'm ashamed I don't even know your first name.

Calling you Doctor after what happened last night

doesn't seem right.

What I mean is...

What I'm trying to say is...

Well, it's difficult...

It's impossible if I call you Doctor.

It's Carol. Carol.

I, uh...

well, something very important happened last night,

and it's important that I should tell you.

I think I know.

Well, folks, we're in luck so far.

That Indian chief I was talking to there is White Feather.

Happens to be a friend of mine.

That wouldn't have made any difference except for one thing...

Big Elk is still alive.

White Feather wants an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,

so I've made a deal with him.

I'm going back to their village with them and try to save Big Elk's life.

How badly is he wounded?

I don't know, Doctor,

except they told me that he had a bullet right here.

Oh, they did say one thing, yes...

That the wound was all full of evil spirits,

which means that it's infected.

The first thing to do is get the bullet out and cauterize the wound

if he's to have a chance, and if what you say is so,

that bullet could be in his lung or close to his heart.

I realize that, but it's a gamble I had to take. It's the only chance we had.

I can perform the operation.

You sure can, Doctor.

But it's dangerous going back with those Indians.

I'm willing. All right, Doc.

You're not gonna get any argument out of me on that score.

As far as I'm concerned, you're the boss of the surgical department.

I just hope you're a good doctor,

'cause if there's anything I don't want to be, it's a dead hero.

I'll get my medical bag.

Charlie, go get her a horse.

Bill, you know, there not gonna let you move this train out of here

unless we save Big Elk's life.

If Flint comes back with any troops,

don't let them or anybody else make any issue of it

until you know exactly our circumstances.

Clear? Yes, sir.

Seth.

If anything happens to her...

and the Indians don't kill you, I will.

Nothing's gonna happen to her as long as I'm still alive.

How bad is it, Carol? Think he's got a chance?

I don't understand it...

The wound's infected, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

The bullet must have struck this big rib and deflected.

And if that's the case, it could have penetrated the pericardial sac.

I can't probe in there, it's too close to the heart.

What are you gonna do?

Well, I haven't got a choice, Seth.

I've got to open up that area.

You keep him as immobile as you can.

He'll probably lose consciousness,

but in the meantime he's gonna feel a great deal of pain.

You don't have to worry about that.

He may feel the pain, but he won't move a muscle... not this old fella.

All right. Hand me that scalpel, the one on the end.

What's happening?

Oh, Lord.

He wants me to do it.

I forgot about that...

Some of these tribes have real strict rules...

they won't let a woman be a medicine man.

We'd be fighting a tradition of over a hundred years.

We just haven't got a chance, Carol.

They just won't let you do it.

How the devil I forgot this, I don't know.

They won't let you do it.

Well, then, you're gonna have to do it.

Me? Carol, I can't do that! You've got to.

Listen, in the army I helped amputate legs and things like that,

but this is too delicate, I can't do this.

You have no choice... You have to.

Carol... You can do it if you'll do just exactly as I tell you.

All right.

Now take the scalpel

and very gently just barely touch the skin,

just barely cut it,

and make an incision from there to there.

Right here? Yeah.

Now, easy...

That's it. Easy.

Light. That's it.

Now...

Now take this and clamp it onto the skin right here.

Here? Just the very edge.

That's right. Yeah. Like that?

And let it lay down.

Let your instrument lay. Here?

Yes. Now take your scalpel again

and cut into that muscle right there.

Cut the muscle?

Just enough so you can separate it.

Right here? That's right.

That's enough. That's... that's it.

Now separate it and see...

Easily. Don't tear it, just move them apart.

Well, it did hit that big rib.

There are the splinters.

There it is, Seth.

There. Do you see it? Yeah.

Now, Seth, take this instrument...

This is what you're going after the bullet with...

And go right down into the wound.

Easy. Take it very gently.

You don't want to tear the flesh.

Does it feel like you're hitting metal there?

Yeah, I feel it.

All right. Now, very easily turn your...

Turn your probe... That's right, easily...

So that you feel that you're surrounding it.

Like that? That's right.

All right. Have you done it?

I think so.

Now clamp it.

There. Now, Seth,

you're going to bring the bullet out...

You're going to bring the bullet out very slowly,

but straight up, pulling it.

All right?

Yeah.

Now.

Well, you've done it, Seth.

This man's got a chance.

Do you think you can make them understand that?

It's no use telling them anything.

They believe what they see, and this old fellow's alive.

It's a good thing he is, or we wouldn't be.

I'm sure glad I gave you that whiskey.

You said this would save somebody's life once...

Bill, this Grover is making me nervous...

Walking up and down like a wildcat in a cage ever since they left.

Well, I know how he feels, Charlie.

You know, you don't have any brains at all...

We're in a lot of trouble.

Even if Dr. Willoughby's lucky enough to get Big Elk all patched up,

those Indians aren't gonna stand by their word.

They been gone too long,

and we're running out of time and chance.

Maybe I'm not very bright, but I'm smart enough to know this:

if we don't get Grover a bottle, he's liable to go berserk.

And if a man ever had an excuse to get drunk, he's got one,

and so have we.

I'll go get the jug.

CHARLIE: Grover...

Pretty good stuff.

Well, does it help any?

Sure did. Look.

Well, I'll be darned.

Pull that team of mules up here!

You don't have to stay so close up together now,

Major. But stay in line.

Dr. Willoughby wants to talk to you immediately.

Oh? What does she want?

She wants to see you.

Bart, what's the matter with you? You look kind of si...

I saw you talking to Bart.

What's the matter with him, do you know?

Think he's got that glint in his eye for a bottle?

I don't think you're gonna have to worry about anymore.

Bart's found himself. He knows what he wants.

Yeah... I know what he wants, too.

He wants you.

Well, yes, he... he wanted me.

And it pained me to have to tell him that that could never be.

You see, the most important thing for Bart

was to find someone to love again.

Oh, Carol, you're wasting... Seth, I'm not going on with you.

You... Big Elk is going to need medical attention for at least two weeks,

and I've got to stay here and see that he pulls through.

Two weeks?! I can't hold up this train

for two hours, let alone two weeks! I don't expect you to.

Where did you get this idea now?

This morning you were just as happy to get out of that teepee as I was.

I came out of that teepee thinking only as a woman.

I was happy to be alive and that the ordeal was over.

When I got to thinking about what we had done,

two things etched in my mind...

One, admiration for your fortitude,

but shame for me that I would walk out on a sick man

who really needs my help.

So now you're changing your mind again, huh?

You're getting just like a woman again, huh?

Just a couple of days ago

wild horses couldn't have stopped you

from fulfilling your mission to Silver Creek,

And now, just because of some ungrateful redskin,

you're going to throw your whole...

You are as stubborn as you are strong.

I'm not giving up going to Silver Creek.

How you gonna get there? I don't know how I'm going to get there.

If I could persuade you,

I can certainly persuade White Feather to get me there safely.

And there's one other thing...

Don't ever forget this...

I took an oath once, and I'm never going to give it up.

You said it once yourself, Seth...

Everything that happens, happens for the best.

Wagons...