- 6 weeks ago
Mark comes across the dead body of a stranger. Although the man has no identification on him, he does have a belt with the initials "RM" on it that may provide a clue to his identity.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The Rifleman
00:06Starring Chuck Connors
00:30All right, go on to your mother.
01:00The Rifleman
01:30What are you, boy?
01:38Stop your yelling, boy!
01:50Now, what you're all fretting about, Sonny?
01:54I didn't mean to scare you like that.
01:56What is it, Mark?
02:00There's a dead man's body lying in a gully near the cutoff to Willow Springs.
02:03You mean you found him?
02:04Yes, sir.
02:05There was a calf caught in some bushes, and after I let it loose, I stumbled into the grave.
02:09All right, now, boy, take it easy.
02:10Is that why you're late?
02:12No, sir.
02:13I stayed at school to help Miss Adams.
02:16You'll stay with the boy, Artemis?
02:17You bet I will.
02:19Yes, sirree, Bob.
02:20You bet I will.
02:21Thanks.
02:21Where are you going, Paul?
02:22Well, I'm going to see what's got to be done.
02:24You better stay here with Mr. Quarles.
02:27Who is he?
02:29Well, he's our cousin by marriage to Uncle Alder down in Springfield.
02:32We haven't seen him since you were a baby.
02:34Howdy, Mark.
02:35Artemis is patching our roof, son.
02:37Then you can stop fretting about that man you found.
02:39It'll be taken care of.
02:40I'll try.
02:41Artemis J. Quarles at your service.
02:43Jack of all trades, master of none.
02:46Well, come on, you two.
02:46Help me hitch up the team.
02:50You'll tend to supper if I'm not back in time.
02:52You can count on it.
02:54Yep.
02:54Yes, sirree.
02:55We'll work the galley together, won't we, matey?
02:57Now, tell him how you fought off the pirates, Artemis.
03:00Pirates?
03:01The old Navy man.
03:02Guy, did you really fight off the pirates?
03:04Yep.
03:07Hi-ya!
03:08Wow.
03:16Now, let's you and me go get something to eat.
03:18What do you say?
03:19All right.
03:19Fine.
03:23Now, there's the ship I sail on now.
03:26The China Queen.
03:27Name of the last ship I birthed on.
03:30Went down off the coast of Chile in the roaring 40s.
03:33All hands lost.
03:34It was two months after I signed off.
03:37You really sailed the seas?
03:40Yes, sir.
03:41All seven of them fought pirates at Trinidad and Madagascar.
03:46You're not afraid now, are you, Mark?
03:48No, sir.
03:53What are these things?
03:55Oh, the tattoos?
03:57Well, I'll tell you.
03:58It was in Queensland.
04:00Five days after we sank a Spanish ship and took 30 prisoners.
04:04They wanted to make us walk the port.
04:05They wanted to make us walk the port.
04:07Why'd you bring him back here?
04:22I want the marshal to see him.
04:23Now, before I take him to town, I want to ask you a question, Mark.
04:28Well, sirree, I guess the boy wasn't fooling there.
04:32How long did you say he'd been out there, Lucas?
04:34Well, I'd say he was killed this morning.
04:36This morning?
04:37Who was he?
04:38I don't know.
04:39He doesn't have any papers on him.
04:40What do you want to ask me?
04:41Well, Mark, I wanted to find out if you picked anything up out there that you might have forgotten about.
04:45Something to give us a clue.
04:47No, sir.
04:47I didn't pick up anything.
04:50Bullet, don't leave a clue, Lucas.
04:52He was killed with a knife, Artemis.
04:54Well, who could have done it?
04:56Nobody around here carries a knife.
04:58Well, I guess the marshal will want to know who I am, huh?
05:01Me being a stranger in the neighborhood and everything.
05:04I can vouch for you.
05:05I'd rather you didn't, Lucas.
05:07I could stand a little suspicion.
05:09As long as I didn't do it.
05:11Great for business.
05:12Gets your name around.
05:13Then when everything's cleared up, people give you work.
05:16Scott-free advertising.
05:17Well, I don't think Marshal Torrance is in that kind of a business, Artemis.
05:21Yeah, maybe he ain't.
05:22But on the other hand, I could have done it.
05:25I killed a lot of men in my time.
05:27You fought pirates, didn't you?
05:29Oh, hundreds of them.
05:32Well, just in case the marshal does ask, where were you this morning?
05:39Well, I guess I was picking daisies to make a crown from a horse's head.
05:48That's what I was doing, picking daisies.
05:53Well, I'd rather get going.
05:54I won't be late.
06:05Well, mighty good vittles we cooked up, boy.
06:08You'd make a good man in a galley.
06:10Think I'd be old enough?
06:12Oh, sure.
06:12We had them younger than you, the China Queen.
06:15Artemis.
06:15He had a name, all right.
06:24He's got his initials burned into his belt.
06:27R.M.
06:29Well, at least that's something to go on, ain't it?
06:31Well, I don't know.
06:32Who do you think he is?
06:34I'll get the boy tucked in.
06:35You go ahead.
06:37I won't be long.
06:38Now, you get your face washed, get under the covers, and then call me.
06:41What are you going to tell me about?
06:42Oh, about finding pearls off Madagascar, where a man dives into eight fathoms of shark-infested water.
06:50Tom!
06:51Now, you go ahead and get ready for bed.
06:53I've got a tendermist stock.
06:55Then I'll come back and finish telling you about the pearl divers.
07:12I've got a tendermist stock.
07:33I've got a tendermist stock.
07:36Come on.
08:06Come on.
08:30Killed with a knife, huh?
08:32You say Mark found him?
08:33Phil, where is Mark?
08:34Well, he doesn't know any more, Micah.
08:36Left him at the ranch without him as quarrels.
08:38Who's he?
08:39He's fixing up our roof.
08:41Cousin by marriage.
08:42Well, let's take a look here.
08:45You ever see him before?
08:47Never.
08:49There's not much a gun for you.
08:51On this bell with the initials R.M.
08:53R.M.?
08:54Why, Harry, I saw these initials today on a man's saddle in town.
09:00You sure?
09:01Of course I'm sure.
09:02I got the man in jail right now for being liquored up in the last chance.
09:06His name's Carson.
09:07Joe Carson.
09:09Let's get this body over the power, Lucas, and have a talk with him.
09:12I didn't kill anybody.
09:23Didn't you ever buy anything from a fellow that had his initials on him?
09:26If I did, I'd take him off.
09:29Look, Marshal, now, if a fellow puts his initials on his saddle, then he put them on his holster, too.
09:34Looker here.
09:36Mine is clean.
09:38What are you trying to prove?
09:41When you found that fellow, he had his holster on him, didn't he?
09:44No.
09:44What about it?
09:46Well, he was wearing a fancy gun, Marshal.
09:49Now, you saw what I was carrying.
09:51If I killed a man, why didn't I take his gun off him?
09:53You're not squeezing out of this that easy, mister.
09:56McCain here says the man wasn't carrying a gun or a holster.
10:00Now, this .38 of yours could have belonged to him.
10:02Maybe he just didn't initial everything.
10:04Look, it's in truth.
10:06I'm telling you, it is.
10:07You got a bill of sale for the horse?
10:09No!
10:09I tell you, we made the deal outside of Willis Springs.
10:12Where do you come from?
10:15Nowhere in particular.
10:17Just a drifter, more or less.
10:20Bronc rider, wrangler, you name it.
10:23Flush one day and broke the next.
10:26Marshal, I'm telling you now, I'd made a kill in playing poker.
10:30I liked that fellow's horse and saddle, so I made a deal with him for it.
10:33If you had that much money, how come you broke now?
10:35Well, it was only $65 to begin with.
10:39I paid the fellow 50 for the horse and saddle, and then I spent the rest of it right here in town.
10:43And you don't know who the man was?
10:45No, I don't.
10:47The fellow said he was a drifter the same as me, only broke.
10:50When I offered to buy his goods off of him, he sold them to me.
10:53I was going to buy that gun of his, too, but he said that wasn't part of the deal.
10:58It's a, what is it, it's a Pearl Handle Russian .44.
11:02And nobody saw you make the transaction?
11:05No, you're just going to have to take my word for it.
11:07Nobody has to take anybody's word for anything.
11:09You'll get a trial.
11:11Marshal, I didn't do it!
11:13Well, don't you believe me?
11:14Don't either one of you men believe one word I've been telling you?
11:23Marshal, I didn't kill anybody, you hear me?
11:28Listen, I didn't do it, hear?
11:31I didn't kill anybody!
11:32What do you think, Lucas?
11:41I don't know.
11:43I'll see you in a morning.
11:51Ah, just about does it.
11:53One more shingle will do it.
11:56Ah.
11:57Aren't you ever scared of falling?
11:59Falling?
12:00Ha, ha, ha, ha!
12:01Artemis J. Qualls never fell off anything.
12:05I learned how to hang on.
12:06Reefing sails in typhoons.
12:11Someone fell sometimes, didn't they?
12:14Where?
12:14Well, from bringing in sails.
12:17Oh, ho, ho, ho!
12:18Indeed they did.
12:19I saw a fellow let go once.
12:22He had a hook for an arm.
12:23Used to hang from the braces, swing back and forth like a monkey.
12:27And one day, it just broke, hook and all.
12:30I guess he let it get rusty and it'd just give way.
12:34Well, don't you ever let anything get rusty, boy.
12:37Well, I guess I'm about done, Lucas.
12:44Just some cleaning up to do now.
12:46All right.
12:48Paul?
12:48What?
12:49You figured it'll hang that man in town?
12:52Well, I'd say it's a good bet, son.
12:54Don't you believe you did it?
12:56I don't know what to believe.
12:58I want to thank you again for watching the boy last night.
13:00Well, it was a pleasure.
13:03Sorry it had to be done under such trying circumstances.
13:07You think that fellow did it, huh?
13:09No, it's the way it looks.
13:12Never could abide killing none.
13:14Except when a man come at me first.
13:17Well, you killed him then, didn't you?
13:18I sure did that, all right.
13:20What'd you kill him with?
13:21Never mind, Mark.
13:22Don't make no difference how you get rid of a pirate or a cutthroat, boy.
13:27Except I never used a gun.
13:30Always used swords.
13:33Swords?
13:34Well, don't you like guns?
13:36Yeah, sure.
13:37I like guns fine.
13:39Guns are beautiful things.
13:41Turned out with love and care.
13:43All shiny and bright.
13:45Guns like a beautiful woman.
13:48But to me, using a gun is like a woman putting rouge on her face.
13:52Never should be marred.
13:54Never.
13:57That's a beauty, that rifle you got there, Lucas.
14:00Don't suppose you want to sell it, do you?
14:03No.
14:04Pay you a good price for it.
14:05Oh, I'd never sell his rifle.
14:09You can't say I ever saw one quite like it.
14:12A man would be proud to own that,
14:14even if it was only to hang it over his fireplace
14:16or up in his wagon so he could fall asleep at night looking at it.
14:20Well, if you won't sell it, I guess that's that.
14:26What kind of shells do you use, Lucas?
14:2844-40s.
14:30I got a whole box full in my wagon,
14:32traded them in with a fellow for some work last month,
14:35sell them to you cheap.
14:37Oh, no, no thanks.
14:37I don't need any shells.
14:38Is something wrong?
14:48There's something I've got to find out right now.
14:51I'm going into town, son.
14:52Can I come along?
14:53No, you stay here and finish cleaning the yard.
14:58I'll be back before you're through, Artemis.
15:00Don't you hurry, Lucas.
15:01It's got the whole day.
15:02Never crossed my mind, Lucas.
15:16Well, I didn't think anything about it either.
15:18I just put some shells in my saddlebag.
15:20Then I remembered Carson didn't have a saddlebag with his gear.
15:23Sweeney, let's take a look at that drifter's saddlebag
15:26you told me it took for credit yesterday.
15:28Come on.
15:32.44s, Micah.
15:40These wouldn't fit Carson's gun.
15:42He was a lion.
15:44Where's the dead man's gun?
15:46Sweeney, did you take anything out of this?
15:48I didn't touch a thing, sir.
15:49Help me, Hannah.
15:54You're thinking Carson didn't do it, huh?
15:56Why were you told us about the gun?
16:01You could have sold the gun.
16:02Last night after he got caught, made up that whole story of his.
16:06Well, I don't think he was lying, Micah.
16:07He was scared.
16:08They're all scared.
16:10Let me ask you this, Lucas.
16:11Who else do you suppose could have killed anybody on that road from Willow Springs?
16:15There hasn't been a stranger in town in five days.
16:18Except Artemis Quarles.
16:20Your distant cousin?
16:22No.
16:23Micah, if Carson's story is true that he bought that horse's saddle
16:27and left the stranger on foot,
16:28maybe the stranger was picked up on his way to North Fork.
16:30Well, let's go out and see Quarles, just to ease your mind.
16:34It sure has been swell.
16:50Listen to your stories, Mr. Quarles.
16:53You liked them, huh?
16:55Did you get the place cleaned up like your pa asked you to?
16:58Yes, sir.
16:58Good.
16:59I got to get the horses hitched up.
17:00Got to go look for some more work.
17:01Come on.
17:29Wow!
17:36Wow!
17:36What are you doing, boy?
18:06Why are you going through my things?
18:08I didn't mean no harm, Mr. Qualls.
18:11I'm just putting your tools away.
18:13I didn't know you had anything like this.
18:16Anybody with guns like this, I'd think they'd show them around.
18:18Ain't for you to bother with.
18:20Well, don't get mad, Mr. Qualls.
18:23Wait till I show Pa your guns.
18:25Pa loves fancy firearms.
18:28He does, does he?
18:30What do you know?
18:32So your Pa likes fancy guns, eh?
18:36Yes, sir.
18:37You aren't mad at me anymore, are you?
18:39No, of course I ain't mad.
18:42It's just that I treasure my things and I don't like folks poking around in them.
18:47Yes, sir.
18:48I don't blame you.
18:49And I'd be mighty glad to show your Pa all the things I own when he returns,
18:54except I got a ride over the valley to see a man about another roof job your Pa told me about.
18:59Maybe you'd like to ride with me, eh?
19:02We'll be back in an hour.
19:04Will you tell me about where you got the guns?
19:06Indeed I will.
19:07Well, now, let's you and me get hitched up, eh?
19:12You bet.
19:12What's holding you up, son?
19:33I was hungry.
19:35Got a piece of bread for you, too.
19:36Ain't that nice.
19:39We'll be back before the supper again.
19:43Well, even if we're not home before supper, it'll be all right.
19:47I'll have Pa on note so he'll know I'm with you.
19:50Pa!
19:52What's wrong?
19:53Here, you wait here.
19:55I just remembered some tools I forgot in the barn.
19:58Mr. Paul!
20:20Why'd you come back, boy?
20:21Well, I was still hungry.
20:23I thought you were going to the barn.
20:24I knew it.
20:27You tore it up.
20:29Why'd you do that, Mr. Corals?
20:31I should tell your Pa about that gun.
20:33About that pearl handle gun.
20:36What about it?
20:37What about the gun?
20:38If only you'd stayed out of my wagon, boy.
20:41Okay.
20:54What about it?
20:54Let's go.
20:55, man.
20:55Come on, boy.
20:57That's it.
20:58Let's go.
20:58Bye, man.
20:59Come on.
20:59Come on.
20:59Come on, boy.
21:02Come on, boy.
21:03Come on, boy.
21:19Come on.
21:20You are my boy.
21:22Come on, boy.
21:23What's the matter?
21:46Why do you want to hurt me?
21:47Because I'd tell you about that gun of his.
21:49What gun?
21:50His poor handled gun in the wagon.
21:53Quarrels.
22:02Artemis!
22:15Throw it down, Artemis.
22:23Come on out, Artemis.
22:37All right, drop that gun.
22:55I don't want to hurt you.
22:55Well, you're not going to pull that trigger out of us?
23:05I know how you feel about guns.
23:15You're right.
23:16I can't fire it.
23:24I never should be marred.
23:27Never.
23:27Well, Marshal, you can tell those fellas over this soon.
23:41I'll be back from a saddlebag.
23:43As soon as I can raise ten dollars.
23:45Just be careful how you raise it, mister.
23:47Well, I always have.
23:48I certainly want to thank you for having some trust in you, fellow man.
23:54Well, I could have been wrong.
23:55That's why we have the law.
23:58Mistakes can happen.
24:00Yeah.
24:00I guess we can all make mistakes.
24:08There's a focus especially about Churchill and relatives.
24:11Now, let's say just those who tell us they fought pirates.
24:13Yeah.
24:14Paul?
24:21Why, son?
24:23He didn't fight pirates, didn't he?
24:25Maybe.
24:26Maybe not.
24:27He told me such wonderful stories about sailing ships and finding pearls.
24:33You liked him, didn't you?
24:34Yeah.
24:35Well, you just remember the good things he told you, huh?
24:38Let me tell you about the time he was sailing off the coast to Chile.
24:42Tell me on the way home.
24:43He started a huge wheeler, almost twice the size of a twin.
25:13The night he was sailing off the coast.
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