Original subtitles

- Well, four hours to Kansas City.

You don't have to be there 'til Monday.

So, what'll we do 'til Monday?

- Harleyville.

We could be there in an hour.

That gives us tonight, Thursday night,

Friday night, Saturday night, and, uh,

Sunday to recover.

[birds tweeting]

- Hey, what's that Gladstone Landing?

Isn't that the place where you rent those large rafts,

you take those trips down the Ozark River?

Recover from what?

- You never heard of Harleyville Dude Ranch?

- In Missouri? [laughs]

- Oh, it's the latest thing.

Very, uh, chick.

- [laughs] You know how it is with me and,

and horses.

Nah, give me the catfish every time.

Think of all those fish just waiting

to be rolled in cornmeal and fried.

- By now, the girls are already bored stiff

with cookouts and horses,

and their first whiff of fresh air.

- What girls?

They're, uh, ripe for some avant garde chatter

over a dry martini.

They're desperate for contact with the outer world.

You and I, my catfish-loving friend,

we're the outer world.

- Let's take the simple life this time, okay?

Let's go fishing.

- Buz, these are girls from the finest families

in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York.

They've been sent out here by their parents

to get close to nature.

Now, you wouldn't want to go against their parents wishes.

- Coin.

- You mean, you'd actually prefer a catfish to a--

- Coin.

[birds tweeting]

- Call it.

- Heads.

- Girls, bah!

Who needs 'em?

[humorous music]

[peaceful music]

QuickFix / Resync By Chuck

[spirited music]

[jittery music]

[dejected music]

[playful music]

[plodding music]

[playful music]

[dejected music]

[pleasant music]

[spirited music]

- Hold it! [tires screech]

well, there you go.

- There you go what?

- A man fishing.

- What do you know, a man fishing.

- Yeah, well, it goes to show there's fish in this country.

- I don't notice him catching any.

[reel whining]

[whooshing]

It's a new tire.

- A souvenir.

- Let's go to work.

[birds tweeting]

[plunks]

[splashes]

[tense music]

[splashing]

[laughing]

[Tod laughing]

[humorous music] [Tod laughing]

[pleasant music]

Oh, just think of those catfish

all ready to roll in cornmeal.

- Mr. Butler, this is Mr. Stiles.

Mr. Butler, here, is a great fisherman.

He knows every bend of the river,

every little fishing hole from here to the Gulf of Mexico.

- Mr. Butler,

I see you've caught yourself a blowfish this time.

- Come on, knock it off, huh?

- Well, if you two anglers will excuse me,

I'm gonna change a tire.

- [Johah] Oh, here, I'll help.

[tense music]

[playful music]

- Let me help, he says.

- I heard him.

- Well, he sure helped.

- Well, he's...

A fisherman.

- He's certainly not a tire-changer.

[humorous music]

[rifle fires]

[spirited music]

[humorous music] [truck backfiring]

- Hi, Martha!

Hiya!

[humorous music] [truck backfiring]

Hi, Constable!

What do you think of my new truck?

- Better get that wreck off the street.

- [chuckles] We'll get her fixed up, all right.

Hey, got any painting or paper hanging

you want to have done?

- Not by you, or that brother of yours, Butler.

- Ha ha, he's a funny man.

Well, bye-bye!

[humorous music] [truck backfiring]

- [Frank] I want my ring back, and I want it now!

I don't want any more dilly-dallying about it.

You give it back to me now!

I ain't waiting for nobody, you get my ring now!

You know my father's the constable!

You know what's gonna happen

if you don't give it back to me!

I'm waitin'.

Are you gonna tell me where that ring is?

- What's going on in here?

Frank Lauderbeck, you got no call

to yell and holler in my house.

- I got a right to get my ring back from Suzy.

- So, you'll get it back if you want it.

I'm only too happy Suzy's got sense enough not to marry ya.

- Tell her to give me my ring.

- Yeah, he only loaned it to her, you know,

in case everything worked out.

- Which it didn't, and we was witnesses.

- All right, Suzy, give him the ring.

And good riddance!

- [stammers] I'd like to, Grandpa, but...

Well, I can't.

- Why not?

- Yeah, why not?

- Well, when I broke off with him,

I took it off and I put it away.

- Well, then you go get it, dear.

- Well, I was scared it would get lost or something,

so I hid it. [sobs]

- You hid it?

- In your tackle box.

- Oh, well, then I'll go and get it.

[Suzy sobs]

- Tackle box?

You believe that one, she'll tell ya another.

She's lyin'.

And I want my ring, or there's gonna be trouble.

- Well, nobody wants your ring.

You'll get it...

Tomorrow.

- I want it now.

I'll get my father to have you pinched.

- Well, you see, my brother, he'll be here tomorrow.

Uh, we're going into business,

and now that I got my truck--

- Truck?

You never had enough money in your life

even to buy a bicycle.

- Hey!

- [Young Man] Hey, man, he's got a truck!

- Yeah!

- You sold my ring and bought yourself a truck.

- No such thing.

The truth of the matter is

my brother borrowed my fishing tackle.

When he gets here tomorrow, you'll get your ring.

- You and that hard luck brother of yours,

you're no good!

Now, you'll see.

My father'll take care of you!

- Yeah! - Yeah!

[screen door slams]

- And they'll do it too, Grandpa. [crying]

- Oh, don't you worry, baby.

When your uncle gets here tomorrow,

everything will be fine. [Suzy cries]

[pleasant music]

- You say it's your brother's birthday?

- Tomorrow.

- And he lives in Gladstone?

- Yeah.

I always take him a cake.

- Well, that's pretty thoughtful, huh, Tod?

- Well, Suzy expects it.

Suzy's a grandchild.

- Well, we're going to Gladstone.

- [Johah] You'll pass a lake that's full of bass.

- Let me help you here, huh?

[thudding]

- Uh, look, Mr. Butler, it's a tight squeeze

for that many miles, but, uh,

we're going that way, if you'd like to ride.

- Oh, I'll show you a shortcut.

[playful music]

[humorous music]

[car engine starts]

[whistles]

[Shaggy barks]

[playful music]

That shortcut, now, is just down the road a piece.

It's a little rough, but it'll save a lot of time.

[playful music]

[Shaggy whines]

[playful music]

- Mr. Butler, we're almost out of gas.

You did say there was a station along here.

- [Johah] That's right.

- Just down the road a piece.

- He knows the road, just keep driving.

- It's been an hour since we saw anything or anybody.

We're lost.

- He knows when he's lost, he went to Yale.

- We had a cousin that went to jail.

Moonshining.

It was the same year that Sam entered

the hog-calling contest and got laryngitis.

He's always running into bum luck.

- If you and your brother are such buddies,

how come you don't live together?

- Well, Sam had a family, and I never did.

And we didn't have the money

to do the things we wanted to do.

- That's rough.

- Oh, not too bad,

thanks to our pensions.

- Pensions?

- World War One.

You see, we always wanted to have a little business,

like painting and paper hanging,

and we had the brushes and all of that,

but not enough money to buy a truck.

[Shaggy barks]

- Is that it?

- Yeah, that's it.

[horn honks]

[horn honks]

[engine rumbling]

[whistles]

- Hi.

What can I do for ya?

- Fill it up.

- What?

- Fill it up!

- Right.

Uh, where do I put her?

- Over here.

- Right.

Don't see many cars like this hereabouts.

This is a racer, isn't it?

- No.

Say, you wouldn't happen to have a tire for sale?

- Oh, I wouldn't have a tire to fit this 'un.

We got mostly tractor tires hereabouts.

- That's great.

Here we are on a road I wish I'd never found

without a spare.

I certainly hope you get a catfish.

- So, things will get better.

- Yep, some days it starts afore sunup.

The hens won't lay,

the rain falls on the new mown hay,

a calf is born betimes, a pig dies,

and then it gets bad. [laughs]

[laughs]

Uh-oh.

He with you?

- Yeah, why?

- [Gas Attendant] Things been happenin'?

- [Buz] Well, a few little things.

- Yep.

You got yourself a jinx.

J-I-N-K-S, jinks.

[horse whinnies]

[birds tweeting]

That'll be $4.82.

- Stop looking like that.

I've seen you walk under

broken mirrors before.

- Well, there are accident-prone people.

He might be one of 'em.

- Well, can't leave him here, can we?

- Before you make up your minds,

why don't you ask him his first name?

- [Buz] What's that got to do with anything?

- Just ask him.

- Uh, Mr. Butler?

Do you mind, huh?

- Jonah.

[humorous music]

- They handicapped him before he had a chance to fight back.

- All right, Jonah, get in.

The catfish are waiting. [Shaggy barks]

- You're gonna be sorry!

[playful music]

[pleasant music]

- This is not a trial, you understand, Sam.

Constable Lauderbeck arrested you for theft,

and I'm gonna have to hold you.

- Well, I never stole anything in my life,

and you know it, Abe, or Your Honor.

- Would you want a lawyer?

- No, I don't need a lawyer, I ain't done nothin'.

- I'm afraid, Sam, I'm gonna have to hold you under bond.

$500.

- $500!

If I had $500, do you think I'd have bought a $50 truck?

- You sold my $100 ring for a lousy $50!

- [gavel thuds] Quiet, Frank!

- The boy's right,

nobody's gonna believe that story about a tackle box.

- I'm running this hearing, Constable!

You just keep your mouth shut!

- Grandpa didn't know the ring was in the tackle box.

It's not his fault, it's all mine. [sobs]

- But the point is, Suzy, we don't have the tackle box.

And until Jonah shows up,

I'll just have to hold your Grandpa.

About that truck, that looks bad, you know.

- I saved that money for years.

I cut your lawn, Abe, er, Your Honor.

I fixed your doorbell, Constable.

I ran errands, I painted fences,

I did every doggone thing I could think of

to earn the money.

- All that don't cut no ice with me.

My boy's entitled to his property.

- Would you want to put up your truck for part of the bond?

- Here, Suzy, you take that truck,

and you drive it straight home.

And don't leave the keys in the ignition.

And park it carefully,

and bring it back here tomorrow.

All right, Abe, er, Your Honor...

I'm ready to go to jail.

- Oh, Grandpa! [sobbing]

[pleasant music]

[Shaggy barks]

- Haven't wet a hook since Colorado.

There's trout at the end of every rainbow,

rainbow trout.

- There's a boat down here.

- [Buz] Can we borrow one?

- I never did know who owns 'em.

- You gonna keep count?

- I'm gonna go to sleep!

And dream about Harleyville!

[birds tweeting]

- A little small, isn't it?

- Well, this is a small lake.

[humorous music]

[pleasant music]

I put a worm on that hook there for you.

- Yeah, I know, but...

- They like worms.

[humorous music]

- I'm coming!

[humorous music]

[boinging]

[humorous music]

[Shaggy barks]

[humorous music]

[Shaggy whines]

[humorous music]

- Shaggy!

Shaggy!

- Maybe he's chasing a fish.

- He won't even chase a rabbit.

Don't worry, I'll find him.

- I don't know, there's something about him like...

He's got moxy.

- He needs it!

- He's bumping into bad luck everywhere he turns.

- He's snake bit.

[dejected music]

- [Buz] Jonah!

Shaggy, anybody!

- Here I am!

- You all right?

- I couldn't find him.

- Are you all right?

- Oh, I'm all right, but I couldn't find Shaggy.

- Well...

Well, look, Jonah, maybe if we make camp, he'll come back.

And in the meantime, we could catch ourselves some fish.

- And roll 'em in cornmeal.

- You boys have been very nice to me,

and I can't lie to ya.

I never caught a fish in my life.

- You can't mean never.

- Never.

- But you said that that lake was just full of bass.

- As far as I'm concerned, it is.

Only I never caught one.

- Does anybody catch fish in that lake?

- Practically everybody.

[birds tweeting]

- Hey, Jonah?

What's that big bug there?

- Bug?

- Yeah, right there, at the tip of my shoe.

See it?

Yeah, right there.

- Oh!

A four-leaf clover.

- Well, what do you know about that?

- Bless you and keep you, Mother Machree.

- I never found one before in my life.

Let's go fishin'.

[cheerful, energetic music]

[pleasant music]

[reel winding]

[reel whirring] [spirited music]

- Play him easy now, Jonah!

It looks like a big one, play him easy.

- Oh, don't lose him, please don't lose him.

[reel whirring] [spirited music]

- Tighten the line, tighten the line, don't let him run.

Don't let him play you, make him come to you.

- Hold him, Jonah!

[reel whirring] [spirited music]

- We got him.

- Give me room, give me room.

[spirited music] [intense fishing]

Give me the net!

[victorious music]

- Holly, Izaak Walton, it's the mother of them all!

Jonah, you busted yourself a jinx.

- Do you think so?

Gee, I wish Shaggy was here to see this.

- Now, don't you fret, Suzy.

Everything is gonna be all right.

I didn't steal the ring, did I?

- Lots of people get in trouble for things

they never did. [sniffles]

I'm scared, Grandpa.

- Now, there ain't nothin' to be scared about.

- I should've never gotten mixed up with that Frank.

[sniffles] So what if he did have his own car,

take me to dances, and buy me presents,

and kiss me. [sobs]

- Honey, that's the story of womankind

the world over and forever.

Oceans of tears over no-good men.

Oh, come on, cheer up, honey.

Everything is gonna be all right when Jonah gets back.

- Oh [sobs], if Jonah gets here,

and if he's still in one piece.

If he still has that tackle box! [sobs]

- Suzy...

Now, now, Suzy.

Bodidley-bodidley-bodidley.

[laughing] That's my girl.

Now, you go home and get a good night's sleep.

And don't you worry.

- Okay, Grandpa.

I love you, Grandpa.

- Me, too.

[fretful music]

[chuckles]

- Suzy, I want to talk to ya.

- You put my grandfather in jail,

and now you want to talk to me?

- I warned ya.

- You had to hurt me through him.

Why don't you just go away from here, Frank!

- I'm willing to make a deal.

- No!

- Marry me, and I'll forget about the ring.

[thuds]

- I may not be a very bright girl, Frank,

but if you don't get out of here this very minute!

[thuds]

[crickets chirping]

- Sam's always giving me things.

You see, I'm his kid brother.

He gave me a dog, one time.

It was a Saint Bernard named Bernard.

- Well, we didn't have many dogs in my neighborhood,

mostly cats.

Alley cats, that is.

- [laughs] I had a Dane named Hamlet.

- That figures. [laughs]

- Sam raised Shaggy, see.

And when he saw how much the dog liked me,

why, he just gave him to me.

- Jonah, it's like a losing streak, it can be broken.

You found the four-leaf clover, and you caught that catfish.

It was a big one, too.

You'll find Shaggy again.

- Oh, I'm not complaining.

I eat well, and I'm healthy,

I have Sam and Suzy, and...

Well, it's just that people worry about me,

and it shows on 'em.

You fellas look sleepy.

[pleasant music]

[humorous music]

[spirited music]

There's the place.

You turn to the right, and it'll be on the left.

You fellas are gonna like Sam and little Suzy.

You're gonna stay and have

a piece of birthday cake, ain't ya?

[spirited, cheerful music]

- Wouldn't miss it for anything.

[spirited, cheerful music]

[Shaggy barks]

- Shaggy!

[Shaggy whines]

Aw, Shaggy.

Things are gonna be different from now on.

Look...

See what I found?

A four-leaf clover,

and it changed my luck immediately.

I caught a fish that was...[Shaggy groans]

It was that long.

And look, I'm all nice and dry now, too.

[Shaggy groans]

Oh, Shaggy.

You can't stay mad at me.

[playful music]

Now, we go see Sam.

- Looks like nobody's home.

[knocking]

[Shaggy whines and barks]

- Looks like Shaggy's trying to tell us something.

[Shaggy barks]

[Shaggy barking]

- Come on.

[Shaggy barking]

- You get the feeling this whole thing is not for real?

- What makes you say that?

[car engine starts] [humorous music]

- So, you see, Sam, if that ring don't turn up,

I'm gonna have to hold you in jail

'til I can panel a jury.

- Jail?

- Uncle Jonah! [sobs]

- That's Suzy?

- Little granddaughter.

- Am I glad to see you!

- Sam, what's this all about?

- Have you got my tackle box?

- Yep.

- [chuckles] There you are, Abe.

- Can you produce it?

- Sure.

[spirited music]

[humorous music]

- I'm Buz, that's Tod, friends of the family.

- Good friends.

- Thank heavens you're here.

- Careful, careful, Jonah.

We don't need a rod.

Have you any knowledge of a ring,

a diamond ring belonging to Frank Lauderbeck?

- The diamond ring from the dime store?

- I paid a hundred bucks for that ring!

- You got stuck. [crowd laughing]

- Please, uh, may I see the tackle box?

[sniffs] ;)

Will you keep that dang thing outta here, Jonah?

- I wrapped it up in tissue paper

and put it in the tackle box.

- A girl like you should have diamonds on all your fingers.

- Honest, I did.

- I believe you.

- We believe. ;)

- Well, he doesn't.

- [Tod] Who, him?

- Yes, he's the one who started this whole thing.

- Heads.

[Tod grunts]

- He's mine.

- Well, I can't find the ring.

- I told ya, he's stallin'.

- Jonah, please don't do this to me.

- I didn't say it was in there.

- Then you do know where it is?

Now, that diamond ring is the property of Frank Lauderbeck.

If you've got any idea where it is,

you're gonna save a lot of trouble for Sam here.

- Look, Abe, I decided to go fishing.

- What's that got to do with anything?

- [gavel bangs] Quiet, Constable.

Go ahead, Jonah.

- Well, I went to that little lake in Crown Valley.

- Where the three of us went that summer?

- That's the place.

- Where the fish were biting for everybody else except us.

[laughing]

- I never did thing there were any fish in that lake.

- If there's any there, they sure weren't friendly with us.

[laughing]

- Can we please get on with this?

- Well, last evening, I sneaked up there,

casted and caught the biggest--

- Hey, hey, watch it there!

- Excuse me.

It's the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

- Now, we'll talk about that fishing later. [gavel bangs]

Now, about that ring.

- Oh, oh, that dime store ring?

- I object, Your Honor!

- [Abe] Quiet! [gavel bangs]

Go ahead, Jonah.

- Well, me and the boys were over to that lake.

- He's trying to put my eye out.

- Well, me and the boys over there,

had a little accident,

and I discovered that the ring

on the tip of my pole was missing

so I fixed it with the best thing I could find.

[playful music]

I hate to give it up, it was kinda lucky for me.

- Is this the ring in question?

[playful music]

Now, there's, uh...

There's been a false accusation against Sam Butler here.

I declare the case dismissed. [gavel bangs]

[thuds]

- They treat you all right, you all right, Sam?

- Well, it wasn't like home.

- But I got here all right.

- Yeah, sure, but I did something though.

I got myself a truck! [laughs]

- Good, I want you to meet a couple of friends of mine.

Buz Murdoch and Tod Stiles.

- Hi, Buz. - How do you do.

- Hi. - Hiya, glad to know ya.

But you didn't listen.

I got us a truck.

A truck for our business! [claps]

- A truck for--

- Yeah, yeah, come on, I'll show it to you, come on.

Oh, wait, I've gotta get my hat!

Thank you.

See?

[Shaggy barks]

[Shaggy barking] [fretful music]

[tense music]

[thuds]

- Hey!

[birds tweeting]

[tense music]

[reverberating]

[Shaggy barks] [tense music]

[tense music]

[Shaggy whines]

[pleasant music] [truck backfires]

[Shaggy barking]

- That darn dog gets more impatient every day. [laughs]

- He's just got a sweet tooth, that's all.

- Yeah, well, he better not try

to come to the table again this year.

Jonah, ya didn't forget.

- Did I ever?

- Well, we'll...[rattling]

- This will be the best birthday Grandpa's ever had,

thanks to both of you.

- Well, it really wasn't anything, Suzy.

Once I saw Jonah's problem was self-induced,

a personally brought-on hypnotic defeatism,

that's all there was to it.

You sure are pretty.

- I don't understand him.

[whispering]

[tender music]

- "Let's go fishing", he said.

That's what he said.

[rattling and banging]

- What?

- Sam, Sam.

[pleasant music]

This looks like it took quite a beating back here, and...

Oh, well, that's all right, that's Buz.

He's a nice boy.

[majestic music]

["Happy Birthday" instrumental]

[spirited music]

[Shaggy barks]

[spirited music]

[jazzy orchestral music]

- [Narrator] This has been a Screen Gems Film Presentation,

Herbert B. Leonard, Executive Producer.

QuickFix / Resync By Chuck