Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Gunsmoke, starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.

Don't you ever give up, Sontag?

If I had had some help, I would have made it this time.

No guts. -Guts enough.

I just got more brains than I'd try and escape

with such little time to do.

They work you over?

I don't want to die in here.

And I got me something on the outside that needs doing.

I ain't gonna help you break out.

It ain't worth it.

Not that.

Look, Phoenix.

If I don't get out of here, I got me a lot of money.

And some of that can be yours.

Where?

Outside, hidden.

How much and what?

How much is $2,000.

A thousand.

You know what?

Just kill a man.

Who is he?

Why do you want him killed?

The man's name is Jess Hume.

Last I heard, he was living somewhere around Dodge City.

No thanks.

Look, boy, there's nothing to it.

A bullet in the back, a knife in the throat,

a nudge off a cliff.

There are lots of ways, probably only take a couple of seconds.

And you're gonna $2,000 richer.

I don't think so.

Well, you don't do it, I'll just

get me somebody else who will.

You just think about it, boy.

$2,000 in brand new, gold double eagles.

I'll tell you how we'll work it.

You kill him.

When that's done, you send me a letter.

You put one of those gold double eagles

in it, so that I know he's dead.

I could just take money.

No, you won't.

You're not like that, boy.

I ain't said I'd do it.

Well, you suit yourself!

But the way you are now, you're gonna-- you're gonna scratch,

and you're gonna scrape outside, until you find yourself coming

right back here to this stinking hole for the rest of your life!

But with that money, women, clothes,

a real farm with decent crops and cattle,

a chance for a whole new life!

You just think about that, boy.

Just you think about that.

[theme music]

You're just too blamed ornery to answer a serious question.

Well, I've answered a serious question as serious as I can.

I tell you it takes-- well, it takes eight

years for the average doctor.

Now, if I was to take myself a good notion,

I could do some of the things you do,

the pulling of a hind tooth or putting

a little, old dab of turpentine know

on a raw corn, stuff like that.

Well, there ain't nothing to that.

Well, what about surgery, Festus.

It's pretty complicated business, being a surgeon.

Well, I don't want to be no surgeon.

Course not.

He don't even know what it means.

That there is why I don't wanna be one.

What we're talking about, Miss Kitty, is a plain old doctor,

like old Doc here.

There ain't nobody plainer than him.

Course not.

There ain't anybody plainer than old Doc,

and it just took the eight years.

That's all.

Now, you're trying to kill me if I

was to start right this here minute,

that it'd take me eight years?

That's right.

I'm trying to tell you that if you was to start right

this here minute, it'd take you eight years to learn

how to read the eye chart!

So blamed sour today he'd pickle a peach orchard.

Double eagle, don't see many of those.

You handle that pretty well.

-Well enough. -You been in here before?

You look kind of familiar.

Well, I used to work in a wild west show till it folded.

Ah.

Couple of boxes of cartridges to.

You bet.

Say, maybe you might know about this friend

I've been wanting to look up.

Last I heard, he figured to settle down here in Dodge.

What's his name?

Jess Hume.

Yeah, he lives out of town a couple of miles east.

Go himself a few acres of bottom land, a house.

There's an arrow at the cross road you can't miss.

Thanks. Be seeing.

You bet.

Can I help you carry those, ma'am?

Oh, I didn't see you.

Well, I didn't mean to scare you.

This the Hume place?

Yes.

Are you a friend of my husband's?

Well, I ain't sure.

Just the only Hume I knew wasn't married.

Thanks.

In the trough.

Cheyenne say that water sleeps sometimes, you know that?

No, I didn't.

Yeah, they say a horse'll die if he drinks sleeping water.

That's why a horse will always blow before he drinks

at night, to wake up the water.

You know quite a bit about Indians.

Oh, about enough to cure warts and keep my scalp where it is.

Thanks.

Jess should be home soon.

He's hunting.

You been married long?

No, not long.

It appears you can use an extra hand around here.

I suppose we could, but affording one

is something else.

I work mighty cheap.

Not cheap enough for us, I'm afraid.

Day's work for an evening's meal.

That sounds more than fair, mister--

The name's Phoenix.

Phoenix?

That a first or a last name?

Well, it's the only name I got.

I was an orphan raised by the barber in Phoenix, Arizona.

Phoenix is a bird that rose up out of its own ashes

to start a new life.

Is that you?

Well, I guess so.

I am sort of on a road back, so to speak.

You know, it's funny.

I know about the phoenix because it's by name, but how do you?

You mean a woman isn't supposed to know about mythology?

I ain't met one yet.

But then on the other hand, I ain't met that many ladies

in my life neither.

I'm Kate Hume.

Well, can I go to work?

We just started spitting the winter supply of wood,

but along with everything else, I don't

think he's quite gonna make it.

Wedge might make a bit of a dent in it.

There's one in the barn, and there's an axe right there.

Well, you shouldn't use an axe for a hammer.

Sledge'd do a lot better job.

Well, there's a sledge in the barn too.

All right.

Ah, Newly, what's up?

This fella just come into town, bought himself a new horse,

clothes, and a gun.

And I thought he looked kind of familiar,

so I checked out these posters, and, well, this is him here.

Armed robbery, Kansas City. -Where is he now?

Well, he said he's an old friend

of Jess Hume's, so I gave him directions

and sent him over there.

Better go and check up on him.

Yes, sir.

Brought you some water.

Thank you.

This wood's seasoned pretty good.

Shouldn't take long.

You must have been a woodsman.

I've been a lot of things.

Jess is a good man, but he doesn't

know much about homesteading.

Well, it's good land.

Should raise a fine harvest if it's tended proper.

You a farmer too?

Yes, ma'am, well, for a while in New Mexico.

Rock and alkali, but I managed to raise

a pretty good crop until the drought

came along and wiped me out.

Jess has tried so hard.

It just takes so much you don't learn, being a lawman.

A lawman?

He was sheriff of Abeline County for 25 years.

Your name Phoenix?

That's right.

Got a poster in my office, says you're a wanted man.

Well, it must be an old one.

I served my time.

Can you prove it?

Got a paper.

Well, they're supposed to call those posters

in when a man's released.

I guess they forgot.

Yeah, I know.

They're quick enough to pass your picture around when

you're wanted, but nobody burns them

once you've paid your debt.

Well, I'll burn the one I got, and I'll

tell everybody you're clean.

Thanks, marshal.

I aim to let the past stay where it is, start a new life.

Sounds good.

Anything I can do for you, let me know.

Well, there's one thing.

What's that?

The people here, the Humes, do you

have to let them know about me?

Well, they got a right to know.

Well, I know that even though I ain't wanted no more,

the fact that I'm an ex-convict might make them feel not

quite so friendly toward me.

It's what you do from here on that counts.

Hello, Matt.

Hello, Kate.

How are things?

We're fine.

Is there anything wrong?

He found out I was in prison, came to check me out.

In prison?

He served his time, Kate.

All I want's a chance to make a new life.

Well, that's your right, Phoenix.

Your slate's plate.

Where's Jess?

He's hunting.

He should be back any time.

Well, I can't wait, but you tell him

I still want him to give up this place and come to work for me.

I'll tell him, But you know how he is.

He's as stubborn as a mule.

I don't suppose it's any of my business.

Man gets lonely, he ain't too careful about the company

he keeps.

I reckon by the time I figured that out, it was too late.

Well, what happened?

They talked me into standing look-out

while they went into a little bank in Kansas City.

They never came out of that bank alive.

I was still standing there holding the horses

when it was all over.

Well, I-- I couldn't have moved anyway,

even if they hadn't come out and put the handcuffs on me.

Just stood there, listened to the gunfire

from inside, looking at the bodies

lying dead in the doorway.

It's quite a story, mister.

You'll have to pardon me if I say it's

not the first time I heard it.

It's the gospel truth.

Well, I reckon I run into many fellas that

was just holding the horses.

But it don't much matter.

You've paid your debt.

I'm afraid there's a part of Jess that's just

never stopped being a lawman.

Whatever you did is past and gone.

I like to think of it that way.

That's what prisons are for, make a man cherish his freedom.

Sometimes freedom can be a prison.

That's a hard life.

You can cut something out of it if you put your mind to it.

It's just a matter of finishing what you start.

Well, I reckon that's been my trouble all along.

Thanks for dinner.

I think I'll turn in now.

Good night.

Good night.

Good night.

Thank you, Jess.

For what?

For helping him to start out on the right road.

He helped us.

He could go on helping us.

Kate, we can't afford a hired hand.

Matt Dillon's right, Jess.

We can't make it by ourselves.

We've got to.

There isn't any other way.

You refuse to see any other way.

Matt's tried to make you understand.

Kate, I don't want to talk about it anymore.

It's through, finished.

Jess.

Kate, I was one kind of a lawman.

I can't be any other.

Thought you might need these.

Thank you.

Where will you go?

New Orleans, maybe, soak up some of that good life.

I'm sorry you can't stay.

So am I.

Good night.

Good night.

Morning.

Good morning.

Did I wake you up?

I've been meaning to get this roof done for some time now.

How about some help?

Thought you were leaving this morning?

Well, ain't got no place to go in no hurry.

Another day don't matter much.

Can't pay you.

I didn't ask.

Kinda hard pounding nails with one hand, ain't it?

Yeah, maybe you could hand them shingles to me.

That'd help.

Thanks.

Kate tells me you was raised by a barber in Phoenix.

Name of Horace, by any chance?

Yeah.

Horace Cabe.

Picked me up for a pint of whiskey in a mining camp.

He's a good man.

I used to get a shave in his place every time

I came into town.

That a fact.

Well, I probably cleaned up after you.

I used to sweep up hair and listen to them cattlemen

come in and tell their tall tales,

make my own hair stand on end.

KATE: Morning.

I got some coffee, if you want it.

Ah, maybe Phoenix could use some.

I gotta rear some more shingles for this roof.

It's gonna be kinda messy, ain't it?

I mean, mixing store-bought shingle with handcuts?

They won't fit right.

Well, I got no choice.

I'm fresh out of cash, and I don't like promise buying.

Promise buying?

Yeah, promise to pay when and if I can.

Here.

Thank you.

I'll just help him fix the roof before I leave.

He may not say it, but he's grateful.

So am I.

You know, sitting up here reminds me of a game I

used to play when I was a kid.

What?

King of the mountain.

Do you know it?

Sounds like a boy's game.

Well, it was.

The idea was, you stayed on the mountain as long as you could,

and the other kids came along and tried to push you off.

I'm afraid the closest I ever got to that kind of game

was snap.

Did you ever play snap?

I sure did.

One time at the only party I ever went to back home.

You snap your fingers at a girl,

and she'd chase you all around the room.

Those were good times, happy times.

Plenty of good food, and a warm bed, and nothing

to worry about-- playing games and doing your homework.

What came along to change it?

I got older.

We all do.

Well, that ain't what I mean.

I mean, you're pretty, and you're smart.

You ought to have a big house full of kids by now

and driving around a fancy carriage.

What makes you think I'd fit into that kind of life?

I dunno, just something about you, I guess.

Say, never did tell me how you know about the Phoenix.

Well, it's just something I picked up.

Well, I seen all them books in the house.

They all yours?

My father's.

He liked me to read to him, and I used to read

about all sorts of things.

Couldn't he read to himself?

He got a bone disease, put him to bed.

Couldn't turn the pages.

How long?

How long what?

Well, how long did you read to him?

I don't know what you mean.

Sure, you do.

I mean, how many years did you read to him?

One year, five years, 10?

What?

I was 17 when he took to his bed, and I was 26 when he died.

It was Jess Hume that kept us both alive.

Well, it appears it was a real good investment.

Wait a minute.

I'm sorry.

I had no call to say what I did.

No call at all.

Jess is one of the finest men I've ever met.

He's decent.

He's brave.

And he's kind.

Is that why you married him?

I married him because I love him.

And just so's you'll know, Mr. Phoenix, I asked him.

How can you go on living out here,

letting this place go down, when you could move into town?

I keep it up good enough for us.

Well, being an ex-lawman, seems like you'd get a job somewhere.

Pride what's doing it, keeping you away from people?

Give a fella free meal, takes all kind of liberties,

don't he?

So I'm nosey!

You getting tired yet?

Not a bit.

I can go as long as you can.

Lawman that can't shoot worth about as much as a barn

with a hole in the roof.

How'd it happen?

Gunfight?

No, got drunk one night and horse stepped on my hand.

All right.

No more questions.

You look like you're wearing out some, boy.

That's so?

I was just thinking we make a pretty good team.

We can-- we can quit any time you say.

You know, for a man with only one good hand,

you sure got a lot of strength.

Well, you lose one, the other ones gets stronger.

Didn't you never hear that, boy?

I wished I had.

Oh boy.

Oh boy.

[laughter]

Oh, that last one.

[laughter]

Good one.

You're all right.

You're all right.

Let's get something to eat.

I'm so hungry I could eat a bear with the hair on it.

Mrs. Hume said she was gonna bring the lunch up here.

Good.

Let's wash up first.

All right.

Phoenix, help him!

You saved him.

You saved his life.

Yeah, that's what I did all right.

Ain't that something?

Want something to eat, Sontag?

Did it come?

You better take this, or I'm gonna pour it out.

If it come and you're not giving to me--

What you gonna do, Sontag? Beat me up?

Besides, who do you know could write anyway?

I got me a letter coming, Frake,

and you better give it to me.

I got it right here in my shirt.

Only, you ain't getting it.

OK, you want it?

Sontag, come and wrestle me for it.

I want my letter!

Where is it?

I ain't got it, Sontag.

I was just fooling you.

Honest, I ain't got it.

Sontag!

You're leaving, aren't you?

That's right.

Came here for some biscuits.

Help yourself.

Thought you might stay a while.

Jess and I sure like having you around.

You're a big help and all.

PHOENIX: Well, you're just gonna have to get

somebody else to help you out.

Where will you go?

Somewhere, anywhere.

What's the difference?

Makes a difference to us.

Look, I saved his life.

What more do you want of me?

To understand why you're yelling,

or why you're going, or anything.

You don't wanna know.

Yes, I do.

Because I came here to kill Jess.

That's why.

To kill him stone cold dead.

I don't understand.

Understanding words should be easy for a book reader.

All my talk about being on the way to New Orleans

and working for my lodging it was just leading you on so I'd

get a chance to murder him.

I'm a hired killer, Mrs. Hume.

I was hired to kill your husband for money.

And I was so damned spineless I couldn't do it.

Who hired you to kill, Jess.

What's the difference?

A man with money.

Why did he want Jess dead so badly?

I don't know.

I didn't ask, and I didn't care.

I thought it'd be easier if I didn't know anything about him.

Maybe you'd have been better off if I had let him drown.

You could get out of here.

You could have to New Orleans with me.

You must have wanted that money very much.

I figured it was a chance for a new life, things I thought

I've never have without it.

But I just couldn't do it.

Maybe now you know something about yourself

you didn't know before.

If that means being a born sucker, you're right.

I think you're something far more than that.

I don't know what I am.

Well, maybe you'll find out in New Orleans.

It's as good a place as any to start a new life.

What about you?

We'll find a way.

Goodbye, Kate.

Howdy.

Your name Phoenix, is it?

That's right.

Festus Haggen. I'm the deputy marshal.

I reckon he didn't burn my picture.

If you're meaning Marshal Dillon, he sure did burn it.

Now, I ain't gonna bother you none.

I'm just fixing to ask you a couple questions.

Like what?

Well, you-- you was in Leavenworth, wasn't you?

That's right.

I just got word that a fella excaped from up yonder.

I thought maybe you might have run acrossed him.

What's his name?

Sontag, John Sontag.

Did you know him, did you?

No.

-You're sure. -I'm sure.

Jess, don't.

You need to rest. -I'm all right.

No, you're not.

You took a bad fall.

Now, don't mother me, Kate.

All right.

I'm sorry about a lot of things.

So am I.

I love you.

I know.

You-- you're alive.

You're still alive.

Well, I prayed you would be.

I didn't think there'd be any hope after this much time.

What do you want, Sontag?

Sontag?

That's me, ma'am.

Leader of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

You're the one hired that boy to kill me.

Where is he?

He's gone.

But he's coming back.

Well, it'd be to late for him to earn his money, ma'am.

You see, I prayed that he didn't have the guts to do it so I

could finish the job myself.

You got a shovel, Hume, or can't you afford one?

You're not as poor off as I figured.

Dig.

Why?

Well, you dig or does she?

Let her go, Sontag.

She didn't have anything to do with this.

Dig, or I'll kill her!

What's the matter, sheriff.

My head.

SONTAG: Does it hurt?

A little.

You don't know what pain is yet.

I'm

You're sick.

You stop digging one more time, and I'll cover you up alive.

That's enough.

Sontag.

You shut up.

You're dying.

No.

You've known it all along.

That's why you broke out.

You wanted to get to me before it happened.

That's it, isn't it?

Is it my slug's in you?

Is that what's killing you?

Slow death, your lead eating away at my-- my vital organs

until I drop.

Sontag!

Sontag.

Phoenix saved my life for the second time.

You knew him at Fort Leavenworth, didn't you?

Yeah.

He paid me to come here and kill Hume.

Guess that means I can't keep the money.

Matt, it doesn't matter now why he came here.

Well, like you said, Matt, all that matters

is what he did here.

You're gonna be moving on?

Reckon so.

I still say you don't belong out here.

I'm afraid I'm just not cut out for big houses

and fancy carriages.

Maybe.

Well.

I've said goodbye once.

Goodbye, again.

Goodbye.

You-- you are gonna keep riding, aren't you?

Yeah, I guess I learned there's no future in trying to take

something that doesn't belong to you,

no matter how much you want it.

Good luck to you.

Thanks, marshal.