Original subtitles

Lift up that eyes, lift up that eyes, folks, and there she be, glory, glory,

there she be, the paradise, the paradise of the prairie,

the frontier crossroads of the world. Your future, folks, your future.

A smack dab in the middle of your new colony. But don't ask me, folks.

Ask any man who knows. Well, I know. You see them crops

waving in the breeze? Well, that's my future.

Brother Hanlon knows. Brother Hanlon knows.

No more digging in dirty coal pit bottoms for him. And now, folks,

just feast your eyes on those woody hills.

Feast your eyes on those woody hills just chock full of air.

Rocks full of sweetmeat squirrel, chuck full of deer,

waiting and begging to be shot, skinned and feasted on your table of plenty.

Anybody here? Anybody here know what Rock Bound New England Crag sells for today?

Thirty dollars an acre.

There's a man that knows. Thirty dollars an acre.

And what's the price of the same piece of rich land in our colony?

Just begging for a plow? One dollar. One dollar at 25 cents the acre.

Count me in.

Three days.

For three days we listened to him on this dock, waiting for him to finish.

I did not believe him when he took your money.

And I do not believe him even more now.

What does it take? What does it take to rise off your knees and walk into the sun?

Martinez-Vanderbrink will give you all the details, all the answers,

right down to the last tenpenny nail.

What's the name of the town?

All the answers to that, ma'am. And why can't I answer your question?

Because there are thieves, speculators, land grabbers, all lurking about us,

ready to steal our future before we sail down the river past

the last snag into the beautiful harbor of our promised land.

On what?

On a boat.

On an ark, if you will.

Which boat, Mr. Vonderbrink?

The answer to that question is burning inside me, I cannot tell you,

because I must protect our colony.

I do not believe you, Mr. Van de Brink.

I can say this, however.

She will be a queen. She will be a queen of the Nile.

She will be a beautiful, beautiful boat with the

finest cabins and the finest style that...

Of course, of course, you better start loading as soon as I come, please.

I'll do my work, don't worry about that. You just do yours.

I'm just about to, I'm just about to.

Lost your bearings, Captain? This is Cincinnati.

You're a servant, ma'am.

You are the captain?

The only one for miles around, ma'am.

I would like to know your plans.

Plans, ma'am?

Well, they vary according to the drift of the current.

I would like to know your plans about sailing.

Sailing? We sail tomorrow morning at sunup.

But between now and then lies a whole evening.

Do not be ridiculous, Captain.

I am talking about your passengers. Passengers? Passengers, ma'am.

Why, we're carrying wagon wheels this trip.

Wagon wheels?

Martinus!

Here's the wager, folks. If you're a river champion here,

can swill this down in one breath.

All the drinks for all night are on Martinez-Vanderbrink.

Ready the champion, ready all, down the hatch!

Is this what you call getting loaded?

In a manner of speaking, yeah.

I thought you were supposed to be loading up those wagon wheels. Ah,

no wagon wheels. I checked all the warehouses.

What?

Well, there's some delay in Pittsburgh.

They said they won't be here for seven or eight days.

There must be some kind of cargo we can get in the meantime. Not a chance.

Most of the warehouses is empty. Well, I even went to the harbor.

Oh, you did? Well, as you said, Mr. Blake, you take care of your job,

and I'll take care of mine.

Good evening, Mr. Lonsbury. Good evening, sir. Ah, there she is.

The North's got us bringing beauty to the West.

Must you always lie, Mr. Vanderbrink?

Who me lie?

Lies.

Lies about our leaving for the past three days. How much longer, if ever.

Tecla, please.

But it would be a help to know.

Would you have me betray the colony, sir?

Have you not done that already?

How marvelous it will be to have you at a disadvantage, Tekla.

What will you say when the boat sails tomorrow? Bravo, Martinez,

I make you a promise. She will apologize to everyone for doubting you.

Believe me, Papa, there will be no need.

Oh, Tekla.

So much like my wife, that girl.

Running, running, always running.

You know, you're the only woman that ever ran from me.

Let go of me. Only such strength.

I've never known a woman like you, Tekla Kroma.

What are you selling now, Martinus van der Brink?

Myself.

I have no use for such merchandise.

Then you are running from love.

I cannot love a man like you.

Then why not? What other man has what I'd offer?

You see that?

You see the palm of my hand? You see that glisten? You know what that is?

That's tomorrow all wrapped up in my palm. It's yours for the asking.

You sell a dream.

I offer you the future.

I am a practical woman, Martinez.

I am too much in need.

Up to date.

Take the dream.

You mean like Mr. Hanlon, the Shaftos, my father?

Oh, those poor people.

You took their money.

In exchange for hope? A home to build, land of their own.

You really believe all that, don't you?

I believe everything I say.

You do sell a dream.

I pray it will not become a nightmare.

There's something about that girl.

Come in, come in. I hope my razor is sharp enough. Excellent.

And the shaving soap, superb.

I see we share a common insistence on the best, Captain.

You always share other people's belongings without asking their permission.

What better compliment, Captain,

can one man pay the other than to feel at home in his quarters?

I say, old boy, have we misplaced the astringent?

Try the bottle marked bourbon.

Oh.

Oh.

Yes.

I suspect you're wondering who I am, Captain.

My name is Martinez Vanderbrink, who has the answer to your problems.

And you, the answer to mine.

The answer to my problem?

The Enterprise, Captain.

The queen of the rivers, lying idle with her hole

begging to be filled. What Chicago? People.

Twenty charming people on their voyage to paradise.

And just what paradise is that?

These seal orders will tell you when you read them second day out.

Second day out of how many?

However many it takes to travel 200 miles or so, depending on the drift.

I'm sorry, Captain.

Any further information would be a betrayal of my trust.

Forgive me, Captain, but I felt sure with the warehouses

empty and your wagon wheels eight days late.

However, the harbormaster tells me there'll be another boat today.

But those eager souls willing to pay $40 a piece. Done. Don't bother to count it,

Captain. I'm sure the amount is exact.

Until tomorrow, good friend.

Yeah, well, that's as full as yours is. Tie her down.

Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Shafto.

Up the stairs and to your right. Cabin number seven, Mr. Shafto.

All right, Master.

Now, don't be alarmed, ma'am. That's just a salute to a lovely lady.

May I escort the lovely lady to her suite?

Oh, I... Thank you, sir.

Perhaps you're not acquainted with the enterprise or the bars in the main salon.

I drink where I want and what I want. No, not on board this boat, sir.

Any liquor not accounted for is considered contraband. Don't rub me wrong, mister.

What'd you do that for? Red Dog,

why don't you join the lovely ladies in the main salon?

Ah, there she is.

The cultural pride of our colony.

Ma chérie.

Oh, Captain, may I present the Countess Ilona de Madrigal,

representative of beauty and culture in the West,

bringing the latest fashions from France to the Western frontier.

Capitaine Gray Holden, Delon, please.

Enchanté de faire votre connaissance, madame la comtesse.

Ah, monsieur le capitaine parle français?

Non, non, non, un peu, un peu. C'est jarmon.

I see we share a similar taste.

Especially in beauty, Captain. Oh, yeah, no doubt about that.

And now for the supreme test, Captain. Test? Test?

Captain Holden, may I present Mr. Henning Cronin.

Mr. Cronin, Captain, is no mere mortal,

but a Norse eagle who robbed of his press and freedom in the old world

is ready and willing to do battle with print and ink in the new.

Just an old dog learning new tricks of a strange tongue.

America is spelled with a C, Papa.

Oh, Captain, my daughter, Tecla.

We've already met.

You have?

Over some wagon wheels.

You're so much like me, Captain, I think you're almost my image.

Could there really be two such people like you, Martinez?

In America, anything can happen. Imagine, I will own

my own newspaper again, and with my own presses.

And thanks to Martinez for a very little amount of money.

Just every penny you saved.

Tecla, you did not believe Martinez about the sailing, and here we are.

Well, perhaps I am wrong, Martinez, and I do owe you an apology.

A triumph like that is like winning the world.

You know, there's something in you that brings out something in...

Still telling the future?

No.

The present.

Don't bother, Mr. Van de Brink.

You know, Martinez, if I thought you were capable of loving anybody else,

I think it might just be her. No, I think I

love her even more, Captain. More than what?

Than myself.

You don't love a woman like that, Captain. You conquer her. Conquer her? Why,

you haven't learned how to lose.

Well, I never had adequate competition until

you arrived. Yeah, that's true, that's true.

Anyway, I think she's the kind of a girl who picks her own winners.

I think you're right, Captain. Too bad you've got such a head start. Yeah.

Hmm?

Oh, Captain, I won't be going with you this trip.

What do you mean? Well, I have a lot of colony business, you know,

equipment to buy, livestock, horses, plows, wagons.

Yes, it looks as if you're going to have a clear field this trip.

You lucky dog. Yeah.

You better get a show on.

Captain.

Oh, that woman.

Well, at least the rest of the group trust me. Yes, well, they have to.

You have all their money.

Goodbye, sir. Goodbye, Martinez.

Horses?

I heard you were buying horses and maybe cows.

You heard wrong.

Well, Mr. Shanto, how's the wife feeling?

Well, the fact is, Captain,

she'll feel a great deal better when she knows exactly where the colony is. Yeah.

Well, we're two days out.

That sounds like the captain.

There goes the captain. Hello, Captain. We're all pretty excited, Captain. Well,

now, these are the sealed orders that Martinez Vandebrick

gave me to open up the second day out.

Open it up.

Come on, man, what's the name of the clown?

What does it say?

Rolling Stone.

Hey, Captain, is it far? I don't know, Miss Shepton.

What's that Rolling Stone like, Captain?

I haven't the faintest idea, Miss Gaines. I don't know.

What do you mean you don't know? Well, just what I mean. I don't know.

I've never heard of the place.

Well, what kind of a captain are you? You've got a map, ain't you? I have a map.

Would you like a look at it?

Hey, you think that'll help?

Excuse me. Wait, you say there ain't no such place?

I'm saying that I'm not going to make up my

mind until I talk to my pilot. It's there.

Rolling Stone's there.

I hope so, ma'am.

He's just gone by. Right down in black and white, 250 acres,

government survey and all.

I bought this newspaper. Look at the beautiful print.

How could there be a press like that in no town? There's got to be a town now.

I was wrong. There are two such men like Martinez.

All right, now listen to me over here. My pilot, Mr. Blake,

hasn't seen this map yet. Until he does, I have nothing further to say to you.

Ah, that can't be the Ohio.

Yeah, I know, I know, but what is it then?

More than likely one of those land schemes.

Swindle, you mean.

Hey, wait a minute.

Look, look, see those shoals there?

And the spill and the way that horseshoe bend comes around there?

You know, I haven't been on that for years.

You know what that is?

It's a Wabash.

Oh, no. I'll bet you that's a Wabash.

Yeah, maybe. Maybe.

What about Rolling Stone? No, no, there's nothing

along those banks. Nothing but wilderness.

I remember.

Looks to me like you've been horse-collar.

Thanks a whole lot.

Like it or not, you're part of the deal, Gray. Yeah? Not for long.

Hey, Carney.

What is it, you lop-eared son of a sea serpent?

Stand by to turn around.

The boat stopped.

I can feel it.

And that will make you feel a wee bit more comfortable.

The captain, he read out the town name?

Aye.

Rolling Stone.

How beautiful.

A rolling stone.

Will it be long?

Not long, my love.

Now you rest, lassie.

Pretty soon you'll be wanting to dance on the village green.

What do you mean, turn around? I mean,

you still have a chance to save your own skin. Cincinnati's only three days upriver.

We paid our money. We've got a right to go on.

Go on? To what?

To Rolling Stone, our town.

Ma'am, my pilot's never heard of that place, and he knows every inch of the river.

We got our rights. We paid our passage. You paid half your passage.

So that's it, huh?

Trying to hook us for more money. Well, he's not going

to get away with it. There is no more money.

Every penny of it went for land.

Vanderbrink took it, not me. I bought me a farm,

a piece of the sun in Rolling Stone Sky.

Nobody's going to keep me from going there. What's going on up the river?

Mr. Cronin, you're a man of sense.

No sense.

No money, no place to go except Rolling Stone. It's Chateau. Your wife is sick.

Think of what it means to her.

I know what it means to her, and I say we've got to go on.

What are you going to do?

Mr. Gaines, I'm going to rabbit my own decision. I'm still captain of this boat.

Well, you listen to me, Mr. Captain of this boat.

You're steering for Rolling Stone, like it or not.

May I remind you, Mr. Hanlon, I am still captain of this boat.

End of a dream, Captain?

A touch of frost always wakes a man.

By Martinez Van Der Brigg.

Well, what do we do now?

Now it's we.

Can't dump them ashore.

That's the long of it.

We've only been paid for 150 miles.

That's the short of it.

Well, they've got no money, Bill.

Besides, maybe, maybe there is a Rolling Stone somewhere.

God willing?

God willing.

Arnie, give her all she's got. Full ahead.

Come on, Connors, we're moving. We're going on the road. Come on, Connors,

I'll buy you a drink. Let's celebrate.

Hey, with all that cabbage, you ought to buy me a drink.

I, uh...

I want to thank you for allowing them to dream a while longer.

Well, don't mistake business for charity.

I do not mistake what you do. I hope I can repay you for your kindness.

I am a practical woman, Captain Holden.

Because of my father, I must be.

What's impractical about this?

There are many kinds of rolling stones.

Your kind... is not for me.

You midget-headed blowbag!

What's the idea of scaring me half out of my clothes with that thing?

Thing? These are my bagpipes. You know Ken the Pipes.

No, I know Ken the Pipe.

I thought maybe if I change my name and had the money to go with

it and move somewhere where people didn't know who I was. Well, now you know.

I know nothing, Madame Contessa.

That Frenchie jabber. This is Red Dog handling you're talking to.

Red Dog.

Do you know me?

Doesn't everybody?

What do you want?

Land. More land. The kind your money can buy.

I'm no pig. Half of this will do.

Ocean door, I long to hear you.

Far away you roam.

But...

I couldn't sleep.

That moon is very bright.

Much longer, Gray?

Two nights at the most.

I... I'd better...

Rolling Stone.

Not a chance of being wrong.

I wish you were.

Just this once.

I'll be seeing the missus after.

Hey, Captain, why are we stopping here? This is where you get off.

I knew you was going to pull some kind of trick. What kind of trick?

We ain't getting off this boat without a good reason. This is your destination.

There's reason enough for getting off.

Well, you ain't getting away with it.

Quickly now.

Time is spilling through like sand.

There, there.

The cutlets, Robert.

That's it all.

Such a gift from our Martinez.

Look, Yonda.

Isn't she a sight?

Church steeple gleaming, the school.

Filly screen, see a scale and rub it.

We'll be living again.

Thank Martinez for that. Hey there!

Ahoy!

Is this the Rolling Stone town site?

Rolling Stone.

That it was.

Same thing.

Yes, sirree.

Got sold on Rolling Stone like the rest.

Come up the river on a boat pretty, like that one you're on.

Gotta have a reason for a town.

No reason here. The land, ain't that no good neither?

What good's farming when there's no one here to buy what you grow?

When you stayed, why?

Hailen wife, no money, nought to go back.

Ask that fresh new widower there.

He'll be here to keep me company long after the rest of you have left.

Do you think I knew he was a swindler?

Promise the city to me. Men's promises, I've heard them for years. Now, Mr. Gane,

you get back to that boat and you find everything

you can in the way of bedding and shelter.

What?

Shelter.

Bedding.

But what about all those people?

What about them? They tried to buy the world for a dollar a quarter an acre.

I didn't sell it to them.

Well, you cannot just leave them here.

Captain.

Could we borrow a few things from your ship?

Some canvas for shelter, a little bedding.

That won't be necessary. You can go back down river with us.

That won't be possible, Captain.

None of us have anything to go back to.

We'll have to settle for this.

They wouldn't have to.

If you found Martinez, you could make sure that

they got what he promised. Cows, horses, plows.

If I find Martinez, how am I gonna find Martinez? That's gonna be your problem,

Gray. Oh, thank you very much.

And what's your problem, Mr. Blake?

I'm gonna stay here. I'm gonna try and keep

these folks going while you're down river.

Mr. Game, let's get on board, see what we can find to help.

What about you, Declan?

I'm going to stay with my father.

What do you think I run from from the mines?

I left a tool just like this to come out here and farm.

What does the man think farming is? The sun, the warm sun.

You'll get used to that on your back, too, after a while.

You take your men on out in these woods here and see what game you can find.

The rest of you fellas stay with me.

We'll do our best to make these cabins more livable.

Begging your pardon, Captain.

Maybe you want to buy some horses or cattle, huh? What?

For the colony.

Oh, no, no. I'm looking for a fellow. A fellow named Vanderbrigg. Ah,

my good friend, Martinez.

Yeah, that's something I am buying.

Oh, no, no, no, no, not now, ladies. No, no, no,

no, no, not yet, ladies. No, first, a toast.

A toast to my departure to the opportunity-laden southwest frontier.

And there's the champagne, the finest champagne.

Vintage champagne, especially important for Martinez-Vanderbrink.

Captain Holden!

This is a delightfully unexpected surprise, sir. Won't you come in, Captain?

Ladies, will you be good enough to leave the

good Captain and I for just a few minutes,

ladies? I'll be with you very shortly.

You're a liar, a cheat, and a scoundrel.

Captain, how can you say that?

Martinez Vandebrigg always gives full measure. Full measure of fraud.

Fraud?

Do you call giving poor, desolate people hope fraud?

There is a Rolling Stone, Captain. You've been there yourself.

You really believe that?

Of course, Captain.

How can a man sell anything in which he doesn't believe?

It's faith, Captain.

It's faith that makes miracles. It's faith that moves people west.

It's faith that builds cities. It's even faith that

puts cargo in your vessel, Captain. Faith in you.

I don't cheat people.

You don't believe in people.

What about those people who believed in you? You're

supposed to bring them horses, oxen, supplies?

Yes.

Yes, that's true. There has been a delay. A shortage.

Not one cow in sight. Oh, but I assure you, Captain,

that this difficulty for Martinez-Vanderbrink is simply a challenge.

The Enterprise sails tomorrow morning.

If you don't have everything on board by then,

there really will be a shortage of Martinus van der Brigg.

Yes, that would be a pity.

No need to count it, my man.

I'm sure the amount is exact.

Now, if you'll be kind enough to watch my bags while I bid a final goodbye.

You yahoos, come on, get those passengers aboard.

Come on!

You see, Captain, nothing but the finest livestock

for our glorious colony of buildings.

Yeah, I can see nothing will hold you but a challenge.

A bottle of wine, Mr. Vandenbrink, the best.

Oh, thank you, Captain. Not at all. Sit down, sit down.

No, over here.

It's too bad you lost Tecla Cronin.

Lost nonsense.

Who is my golden goddess? She's not your golden goddess anymore. Come, come, come,

Captain, if she really had a choice. Not a chance.

She's one piece of the world that you don't own.

Ah, the wine.

If I had made plans for the Southwest Front Pier, Captain, I would really show...

You can serve the bottle now.

I would really show you how wrong you can be, Captain.

Better clean up this mess. Put this part up in irons.

Look, I'm telling you, the four of us can make it out of here. With what?

With money.

There's just as much more with us come from.

Now, I can't make it alone, but all together.

I don't know.

This is our one chance.

Shafto.

This is my home.

Cronan, will you tell him? Nobody's coming back up here.

Captain Holdenville will be back.

I suppose the next thing you'll tell me is that

Martinez Vandebrigg is coming with him. Yeah, I say it for her.

Why are you ignorant, old Claude, falling for his line?

Can't you see what he's done to us?

He gave us all a chance for the future. Sure!

You think I'm gonna break my back digging in that dirt?

It's good dirt.

The land is rich, just like he said.

Now you listen to me, Farmer. You'll do as Red Dog says. Animal!

I know your kind. This world is different. Here we make our own choice.

I...

What are they doing down there? Looks like a necktie party. Yep.

A necktie party? Yep.

Whose?

Yours.

My colony awaits.

All I know is the others tried it and failed. Of course they did.

Because they were too soon.

That's why these people were able to buy a piece of tomorrow for a song.

I tell you, folks, the possibilities of this town are unlimited.

Think of it. To the north of us, what do we have? Swedes. Legions of Swedes.

And what are they waiting for? Just waiting for Mr.

Cronin here to print a paper in their own native tongue. And that's not all, folks.

We have resources, natural resources. Rolling rivers.

Canals. Canals are buildings. A building to link us with the cities of the North.

But we can't waste a minute, folks. We've got to work now.

I promise you, if you go to work this very minute,

Rolling Stone will be a city of commerce by tomorrow.

Well, what now, Martinez Vandenberg?

You gonna give up your 24-hour release in the world? No, Captain,

I think I'll leave the rivers to you. Why, thank you.

Not at all, Captain.

Take a look.

Take a look at the share in my rivers for you, if you want them.

As I said once before, Captain Holden, I'm a practical woman,

and wandering the rivers, it's not for me.

No?

Nor waiting for my man ship to return.

It would appear, Captain, you are left with the river.

Nor is a yonder man for me forever wandering over the next rise.

Wandering? Tekla, I'm here.

Why did you come back, Martinus van der Brink?

To offer you the present and the future.

Our future.

Well, my husband will move towards a future in one place, like Rolling Stone.

Your husband?

Whoever he may be. Whoever.

Where anything can happen.

Captain.

Captain, you've been a great help to me.

You've been a great help to all of us.

I think it's the least we can do to return the favor.

Captain, I've been doing a little figuring.

It appears to me that you'll be needing wood for your boilers.

Now, I understand the current rate is $3.50 a quart, is that right? Yes, $3.50.

And as much as Rolling Stone is the only available source,

I see no reason why we couldn't give it to you for, say, five.

Five!

Five! Ha!

Bye.

Hey, you win, Mr. Vandebrink.

You win.

Hard to believe. No, I mean, it's really hard to believe. Well,

you'd better believe it. Yeah, don't rub it in.

Honey! What's biting you topside dandies now? Smoke. I want to see smoke.

Lots of it.

Let's show these Rolling Stone folk our signal, huh?