Original subtitles

Now I know I'm home.

Thanks, Lisa.

I drink to the loveliest, liveliest lady on the Coast.

And to all you scamps and scalawags.

May the man upstairs deal justly with the best of ya,

and gently with the rest of ya.

And I'm gonna tell you why I'm here.

I'm here to strengthen our fight

against these high-muck-a-mucks who think they can go on

buying and selling California at their price,

not ours!

Let's talk about it.

Come on inside. The drinks are on me.

I told you he was a powerhouse.

In his natural element, yes.

However, water seeks its own level.

Suppose it turns into a flood?

Then it has to be stopped.

How do you propose to do that?

Buy him.

As his lady friend was very careful to explain,

everything on the Barbary Coast is for sale.

At a price.

Howdy, folks. I'm the Old Ranger.

A gun like this killed two men with one bullet.

It happened in old San Francisco,

on the wild, wide-open Barbary Coast,

when for the only time in history,

a Supreme Court justice and a United States senator

met in a duel to the death that only one of them wanted

on the so-called field of honor.

And one of them proved that...

I tell you, Lincoln's the man to watch.

Abraham Lincoln. I never heard of him.

Yeah, well, you will soon enough.

His name will spread like wildfire.

He's gonna beat Buchanan, and he'll beat Douglas as well.

Let's talk about you, Dave.

About me? Mm-hmm.

Well, I'm going to do my best to deliver California for Abe Lincoln.

And I think it can be done.

They'll give you an argument.

They don't even like you being a senator.

Who's "they"? You mean those nabobs

up there on Nob Hill?

Mm-hmm.

Oh.

Well, they've got a few things to learn.

And they're going to have to learn they don't own California.

The people own it.

And there's more and more of them coming every day.

They're pouring in from all over.

They're staking their lives, their dreams and hopes,

on what lies ahead.

And I don't mean gold mines either. I mean homes.

And I don't mean get rich quick.

I mean building a better world for those that come after them.

Hey...

you go into a campaign speech at the wink of an eye.

That I do.

You see, I... I'm not yet unwound from Washington.

Back there if you don't get up on your hind legs and bray a bit,

nobody pays any heed to you.

Well, you're being paid plenty of heed-to here,

right here in San Francisco.

There's an ugly rumor, Dave, that you'll never see Washington again.

Well, it's a free country, Lisa.

Men have a right to agree and disagree.

Votes'll tell who's right or wrong.

Any man can be beat if people want him out.

Until they do, he's in.

If I'm out, well, all right,

but I'll still back the winner.

As this fellow Lincoln says,

"United we stand, divided we fall,"

and he's right.

You shouldn't come here anymore, Dave.

It's ammunition for your enemies,

having it said that you come to the Barbary Coast

to see a woman like me.

Listen, Lisa,

I'm very proud to be able to come here and see you.

I'm proud to call you the truest friend I have.

We met 10 years too late, Dave.

Lisa, you're a lady.

You're a real lady.

A Barbary Coast lady, Dave.

Walk your road. Stay on it, but stay off mine.

We'll both be sorry if you don't.

Oh, Lisa.

Look!

Aces on eights...

that's money in the bank.

It's the dead man's hand.

You remind me of an old grandmother of mine.

Strange thoughts are always coming to her from out of nowhere.

She used to hear the banshees screaming at night.

So that's not for you, Lisa, not at all.

It's not for Dave Broderick either.

I told them I didn't want to be disturbed.

I hope you'll forgive this untimely intrusion.

I'm busy right now, Judge Terry.

I have company.

I know. Senator Broderick.

I want to talk with him.

So... you're Senator Broderick.

I am. And you're Chief Justice Terry.

Well, I've been looking forward to meeting you, sir, for some time.

I think we can dispense with the amenities

that this environment doesn't call for.

We have some private matters to discuss.

This happens to be where I live.

I'm well aware of that.

If there's a charge for a place

that the senator and I can, uh, settle our business affairs,

I'd be more than willing to...

Uh, yes, yes, Judge, all right.

Let me, please.

Lisa, would you mind?

For Senator Broderick it's on the house.

Well, Judge, what can I do for you?

I'm sure you didn't come here just to look me over.

Broderick, what do you want?

What do I want?

Well, I sort of figured

that you and I were together on that, Judge.

Of course, different parties,

different ideas about who and what and when,

but it's California that counts. Isn't it?

That is you, uh,

see yourself as the leader California needs.

Well, no, not only myself.

The State needs many leaders to keep the people stirred up

and get them organized.

You have your following, Judge. I have mine.

But we're both going in the same direction.

Unfortunately we're not.

Oh...

Well then, suppose we...

I suppose we let the best man win.

And he will.

The mob will not rule.

And to see that it doesn't,

I'm prepared to make a deal with you here and now.

What kind of a deal?

You know what I mean, Broderick.

What's your price to eliminate yourself from California politics?

You have a nuisance value, I admit.

You mean, withdraw as a candidate for reelection to the Senate,

and I suppose draw my votes

to you and your crowd, eh?

Well, now...

maybe we better find out what all this is going to be worth to you.

Well, now, Judge,

that's not enough, you know.

No, that's not anywhere near enough.

You know, now, one of us is an awful fool,

and I think it might be me.

I actually believe that maybe you came here

to have a talk with me man to man like,

you know, Chief Justice Terry,

high-born gentleman from ol' Kentucky,

and Dave Broderick, Hell's Kitchen nobody

from little ol' New York,

but the two of us together,

Californians,

'cause I always looked up to you, you know,

particularly in respect to your high position.

But you've convicted yourself here

of having no right to hold that position.

I made you a proposition. I know you made me a proposition!

And I'm going to make you a proposition, Mr. Terry.

Now, you listen to me.

You quit politics and you stay quit,

and what's been said here in this room

will remain between the two of us,

but if you don't,

I promise...

that what you've done here tonight

will get you booted off the bench

with the shame of the honorable profession that you misrepresent.

No, Broderick.

Attack me, and I'll say you're lying,

and I'd be believed against an accuser such as yourself,

a cheap, rabble-rousing upstart.

And you, uh, have no witness.

But he has a witness, Mr. Terry.

Terry, the great aristocrat,

gentleman from the old school,

too fine to mingle with the common mob,

but not too fine to pay for a little dishonesty.

Go on back to Nob Hill, where you belong, Judge!

Who's going to believe your kind of woman?

There, just a moment...

Now I'll have to kill you.

Senator, your loyal defenders refused to let me go up to your room.

Oh. Well, that's good.

Thanks very much, boys.

Well, what's your newspaper about to condemn me for today, huh?

You know our policy? Oh, indeed I do.

It's the exact opposite of my own.

Oh, seriously, Senator, we publish an impartial newspaper.

Oh, do you? Well, I have a bit of a shocking statement for you,

but I... I doubt very much if you'll print it.

Well, perhaps you should hear Judge Terry's statement,

issued exclusively to me.

Oh, exclusively. Naturally.

He owns you and that newspaper of yours lock, stock, and barrel.

We are told that, uh,

you had a public fistfight with Judge Terry last night

in a dive down on the Barbary Coast, the Gold Eagle,

operated by a female faro dealer who calls herself Lisa Bouquette.

I wouldn't call the Gold Eagle a dive.

And I'd call Miss Bouquette a lady if I were you.

Come, now, Senator. After all...

"After all" what?

Well, the fact remains

it will be all over San Francisco

that you and the judge fought over a woman of the Coast.

He admits it. Oh, he does, does he?

Well, that's a fine gentleman for ya.

He says having brought scandal

to an office of public trust, as a man of honor,

he can do no less than resign, effective immediately.

Resign, huh? And he calls on you to do the same.

Oh, oh.

Oh, well, now it makes sense.

Quoting Judge Terry:

"A senator, as well as a chief justice,

like Caesar's wife, must be above reproach."

Oh, I see. Yes. Well, minus all that fancy stuff,

what he wants to do is push me into resigning so he can win after all, huh?

Well, that's a very cute game, but it won't work.

I wouldn't call it a game.

You call it anything you like.

Now Dave Broderick has a quote for you, short and to the point.

Take it down with your pencil and get all the words straight.

For once, Judge Terry and I are in complete agreement.

He's quite right in admitting that he's no longer fit for public office.

As for myself, I've got nothing to be ashamed of.

I've got nothing to hide or cover up.

I'm not going to do as he hopes. I'm not going to resign.

I beg your pardon.

Am I addressing David Broderick, Esq.?

You know who I am. And by the way, "Senator" goes in front of that name.

On behalf of my principal, the Honorable David S. Terry,

I'm instructed to deliver to you, by hand,

his cartel of challenge.

Judge Terry has my answer right there.

Do you, in the presence of a witness,

decline to receive his challenge?

I've got no reason to read anything from him.

Uh, Senator, I think you'd be interested in this.

The people who vote for you, as well as those who don't,

would be very interested to know what you do about it.

What is it?

For one thing, the judge gives the real reason for his resignation.

"To be free as a private citizen in taking a gentleman's recourse

since you have," as he puts it,

"dragged him down to your level."

Now, you listen. Terry got exactly what he deserved from me,

and if he pushes me any further, he's gonna get worse.

Then you're willing to meet him?

There's no reason to meet him.

He disagrees.

He calls on you to make a public apology

disavowing false accusations,

which he declines to dignify by repetition.

Or to give him satisfaction to which he is entitled,

pursuant to the code duello.

You mean he wants me to fight a duel?

Why, I'll spit right in his eye. The man must be mad.

You have his challenge, Senator.

Refuse it, and he will publish you a liar and a coward.

Let me see that thing.

"Revolvers on the field of honor at ten paces."

You know, I never had a gun in my hand in my life.

Never in my life.

Come in, Miss Bouquette.

I, uh, suppose Broderick sent you.

No, he doesn't play that way.

Forgive me if I don't believe you.

You know what that's called?

Dead man's hand.

Is it supposed to frighten me?

Maybe you should think about it.

I didn't draw the hand. Anyhow, I'm not at all superstitious.

Aren't you?

Maybe it's just plain political fear then.

You are practicing up to kill a man, if you can.

I'd hardly expect you to understand.

A woman of my kind?

I understand just fine.

You and your aristocratic ancestors, your fine Kentucky background.

If you're a gentleman, Mr. Terry,

then I'm glad Dave Broderick is the opposite,

because he fights clean... win, lose, or draw.

And that's why you want him dead, no matter how.

Well, he has as much chance as I have.

You know that's not true.

You're not man enough to stand up to him with your hands,

so you have to arrange to use a gun.

He hasn't half a chance.

He embarrassed me in the eyes of the public.

I was brought up to seek satisfaction for such an act.

Is that really the excuse you've given yourself?

I, uh... I think this has gone far enough.

Oh, the truth's beginning to hurt, huh?

Go back to Broderick and tell him he knows how to avoid our meeting.

And that's the only way.

All he has to do is sell his soul to save his skin, huh?

You know he won't do that.

That's his decision, not mine.

You're wasting your time, Miss Bouquette.

Oh, no, I'm not.

Because I've got you clear and complete.

I see you as you really are.

Come on. Take a look. Take a good, long look.

You see it?

You're jealous of Dave Broderick because he's what you're not.

You're afraid of him, because alive or dead,

he's more of a man than you ever will be, or ever could be,

and that's what you've got to live with.

I'll thank you to leave now.

Tell me, Mr. Terry,

if I insulted you in public,

would you demand satisfaction on the field of honor from me?

You can't do it, Dave. You just can't do it.

We can't let you do it.

Whatever happens, the papers will give you the worst of it.

That's right. But the people won't. They love you, Dave.

Actually the people forget you soon enough.

But in any event, no one will be able to say

that Dave Broderick backed off when it came to a showdown.

And now,

I think our company's arrived below.

Dave, the party needs you.

California needs you.

Mike, there never was a man who couldn't be replaced. That's not so, Dave.

Well, the man upstairs says it is, and who am I to argue with him?

Well, what time do you make it? Almost 5:00.

Oh, that's right. Time to be traveling.

For the last time, Dave, you couldn't hit a barn door with a shotgun at ten paces.

That's very true.

But it's what's behind the gun that counts. Not who, what.

But Terry's fought duels before.

I know. That story's followed him from Kentucky.

I haven't heard of any gunfights he's been in since he landed in San Francisco.

He's not bluffing. He's out to get ya.

Sure. As they say on the Bowery, "It's either git or git got."

You're wrong to go through with it, Dave.

Aw, Mike, what... what else can I do?

Can't let down the thousands of people like Lisa,

who've gone with me all the way.

You know, it's too bad you ever got mixed up with her.

Oh, I'm... I'm sorry, Dave. No offense intended.

It's all right. There's none taken then.

And by the way, uh,

I'd like you to tell Lisa for me in case that, uh...

Oh, no. Never mind. Forget it.

Well, which of you's going with me?

I... No, I can't take both of you.

It's against the rules of the code duello,

as explained to me by Mr. Jarvis.

Oh, there's a tricky man for ya.

Tricky man with tricky plans.

Poor old Terry thinks he's using him.

Well...

Call it.Heads.

Well, Mike.

Dave.

I'll be seein' ya.

I'm sure you will, Mike.

And, please God, I'll see you.

The seconds will arm their principals.

You still don't have to do it.

Oh, no. This had to happen.

Since I was born, it had to happen.

It's very likely the same for him.

It's all written down in the Great Book.

Only we don't do the writing, we just turn the pages while they last.

The seconds will withdraw from the principals.

Hold that as steady as you can.

Perhaps I should just wound him.

I do have an unfair advantage.

Wound him, and he'll kill you. Finish him.

Gentlemen, as the code requires,

I now call upon you to reconsider.

If an apology is made,

or the challenge is withdrawn,

we will proceed no further.

By your silence,

you indicate to these witnesses

that you will face the final issue of your own free will.

I will count to three.

On three, you will fire.

Whoa, whoa.

One.

Two.

Three.

Dave!

Oh, Dave, you crazy fool!

Ah, Lisa, what are you doing out here?

This is no place for a lady.

Dave?

I wanted them all to know that California

wasn't the royal preserve of them nabobs from Nob Hill.

You spread the word for me, Lisa.

It rests on you, the shadow of Dave Broderick.

It'll go with you wherever you walk,

wherever you run as long as you last,

until you've paid for what you've done today.

You better start running, Your Honor.

You did what you had to do.

Yes.

I've just made Dave Broderick a great man,

and I've made myself a murderer.

On September 13, 1859,

30,000 mourners followed Broderick to his grave.

And 30 years later, David Terry came out of the shadows

to threaten United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Field,

who had called Terry a murderer,

and, worse than that, a murderer who called himself a gentleman.

Defending Justice Field,

a deputy marshal shot Terry

with a gun like this,

and the gentleman gun was dead.