- 2 months ago
While walking down the main street in North Fork, John Hallager is shot from someone hiding in the shadows. Marshal Micah Torrance arrests Billy Mathis who had been seeing Hallager's daughter Lucy despite being told to stay away.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The Rifleman
00:06Starring Chuck Connors
00:30The Rifleman
01:00Give me a box of shells, .44 caliber
01:08Well, now, Mr. Halligate, just who do you figure on shooting?
01:12Does it matter?
01:14Just having a little joke
01:30I don't know.
01:36I don't know.
01:38I don't know.
01:39I don't know.
01:42I don't know.
01:44I can't believe it.
01:46Jumpin' catfish. I've never seen anything like that before.
02:11What do you suppose it is?
02:13Medicine show, I guess. Something like that.
02:15Can you read the sign?
02:17World's Greatest Mentalist.
02:20What does that mean?
02:22Well, that's a fancy name for a mind reader.
02:25It means he can tell what you're thinking.
02:27Honest?
02:28Well, that's what he claims, anyway.
02:31Hello there.
02:32A good day to you, sir.
02:34And more of the same to the young lad.
02:36Hi.
02:38Would you be so kind as to grant an indulgence to a wayfarer?
02:42If you can tell us just how we can help.
02:44Are those stars what I need at the moment?
02:46A beacon, a guidepost.
02:49Or have I set me foot upon the high road to nowhere?
02:52Well, that depends on where you're headed, sir.
02:55A place in the wilderness called North Fork.
02:59Are you going to put on a show in North Fork, mister?
03:01That is me fancy.
03:03An unforgettable performance.
03:05Admission 50 cents, a quarter to Sprott's.
03:08Can you really tell what people are thinking?
03:11The thoughts hidden in men's minds are not secrets to me.
03:16You, young man, at this moment are thinking how you may extract a quarter from your painter
03:20to buy a ticket for the performance.
03:24He's got a funny way of talking if you ask me.
03:26Follow me, sir.
03:27You think he got lost?
03:38Oh, no.
03:39He'll be along, son.
03:40You wouldn't want to stay out here and wait for him, would you?
03:42Sure.
03:43That's what I figured.
03:48You can't prove anything against Billy, and you know it.
03:51He wasn't even in town that night.
03:53How could he have killed Dad?
03:55I've only got his word for that.
03:56If it were anybody but Billy Mathis, that would be good enough.
03:59Lucy, you're not being fair.
04:01I arrested Billy because he's the only one I know outside of me who owns a shotgun.
04:05Besides, he had a good reason to do it.
04:09Lucas, Lucas, you were Billy's friend.
04:11Still am, I hope.
04:12Then do something.
04:13Help him.
04:14That's what I came to town for, Lucy.
04:16Now you go on home and stop worrying.
04:17If Billy didn't do it, he won't be in jail long.
04:20All right, Lucas.
04:21I'm counting on you to get him out.
04:25I'm sorry, Micah.
04:26It's just that I know that Billy's innocent.
04:31I'm glad you came along when you did, Lucas.
04:34Well, she's got a lot of faith in her, boy.
04:36She's in love with him.
04:38What's he got to say for himself?
04:40Says his shotgun was stolen from him.
04:42Other than that, he just sits in his cell and stares at the ceiling.
04:45Maybe you can get something more out of him.
04:47Come on.
04:47Come on.
04:47You got them off company, boy.
04:57How are you, Billy?
05:00Expect an answer to that?
05:01I didn't ask to hear my head roar.
05:03If I got free lunch and free meals a day, what more can a man ask you?
05:07I've heard all this before.
05:08I'll be in the office.
05:11Did you push-whack John Halliger?
05:13What difference does that make?
05:15Get on your feet when you talk to me.
05:20Yeah, that's better.
05:22Not to me it isn't.
05:24I'm still looking out through the bars.
05:26They tell me Halliger was in the hardware buying shells just before he was shot.
05:30So I heard.
05:31Was that because of you?
05:32He never made no secret about what he'd do if he caught me seeing Lucy again.
05:36Were you seeing Lucy?
05:37Yeah.
05:38Where were you Saturday night?
05:39I was sitting on a rock four miles out of town.
05:41I was there from sundown till near midnight.
05:43Waiting for Lucy, huh?
05:45Yeah, she never showed up.
05:46Nobody did.
05:48So if it's an alibi you're looking for, you're going to have to get it from a couple of prairie dogs.
05:52What did Halliger have against you, Billy?
05:54You know what it was.
05:56No daughter of his is going to marry a $40 a month cowhand.
05:58Oh, no.
05:59No, you've got to own a thousand and a blooded stock for it to even let you talk to her.
06:04He had no use for me.
06:05I knew that.
06:06What makes it so bad for you is that he was killed with a shotgun and yours is missing.
06:11Now, I'd like to hear you tell me you didn't do it, Billy.
06:15You show me how that'll get me out of here and I'll say it.
06:21Well, did you get any place?
06:26Well, not so far.
06:27I couldn't walk back.
06:29You know, Michael, he was always a hard-nosed kid.
06:31Now, I can see him killing John Halligot, all right.
06:34But not from ambush.
06:36And I don't think he'd use a shotgun.
06:39Hey, Paul, he just came in this minute.
06:41Who?
06:42Well, James Brown McBride.
06:43Who do you think?
06:44Oh, good.
06:46What am I going to do, Lucas?
06:47I don't have any real proof against the kid.
06:49Maybe he didn't do it.
06:50Then you suppose the rest of me aren't evidence, not motives.
06:54If I could just see into his mind.
06:57Well, say, why don't you get James Brown McBride to do it?
07:00He's a mind reader.
07:01I'm afraid he couldn't help much, son.
07:03Well, he is a mind reader.
07:03Come on, will you wait outside, please?
07:07Yes, sir.
07:07Just sign the register and pick out an empty room.
07:34They're all hostels anyway.
07:35Now, you just mind your tongue, Joe Hyatt.
07:38I take it, sir, you are not an employee of this caravan, sir.
07:42He's employed to keep that chair from walking away.
07:45I don't suppose you'd be interested in a friendly little game, would you?
07:49Unfortunately, the element of chance does not enter into any game in which I engage.
07:55What is this, a debating society or a poker game?
07:57What's from there, boss?
07:59No sport in blood?
08:00Would you be good enough to hang this in the window for me?
08:03A mind reader.
08:07Boy.
08:08Yes, sir?
08:09Don't loiter in the doorway.
08:11Come over here.
08:15You strike me as a lad who'd recognize the business opportunity, should you hear of one.
08:20Would you consider a fee admission to the performance as adequate compensation for posting these show cards about the town?
08:26No, sir.
08:27Huh?
08:27What's that?
08:30Well, I might do it for two tickets.
08:32You're not a rule agent in disguise, are you, my boy?
08:36Well, all right.
08:39Here.
08:40And see that they're all adequately displayed.
08:43I sure will.
08:44Well, I don't see how a man can turn down an invite like that.
09:10All right.
09:11Yahoo!
09:12Mark!
09:15My ticket.
09:16Oh.
09:25And now, ladies and gentlemen, if you have inscribed upon those tiny sips of paper the questions, the problems, the riddles of life which you have so long wished to know,
09:37I shall attempt to reveal the answers to you.
09:40Kindly fold your slips twice and deposit them in the basket which is being passed among you.
09:46Owing to the brevity of the time that I am privileged to be with you, it will be impossible for me to give you my answers to each of you privately.
09:54But have no fear, ladies and gentlemen.
09:57I shall express myself in such a manner that only the asker of the question shall know to whom I speak.
10:05Due to the natural skepticism of those among you who question the ability to read minds,
10:12I shall ask those of you who wish to acknowledge your questions to do so after I have given you the answers.
10:18Thank you, sir.
10:21And to answer the question that is uppermost in your mind, for your kind assistance, yes, you will receive your reward.
10:28In the next world.
10:37You will notice, ladies and gentlemen, that I do not read the question beforehand.
10:42I simply place it to my temple.
10:45The mind draws in the vibration.
10:47Yes.
10:48It is coming through for me.
10:49A lady wants to know if her husband's trips to Amarillo are entirely business.
10:56The answer is yes, madam.
10:58Of one kind or another.
11:05That is the question precisely.
11:14Now I am asked who has been stealing liquor from the back of my saloon.
11:19The saloon in question is the last chance.
11:26The only answer I can honorably give to the proprietor is this.
11:31When a man has the biggest thirst and the smallest purse in North Fork,
11:36what else can he do but steal his liquor?
11:38The next question asks,
11:49Who killed John Halliger?
11:52The shotgun that killed John Halliger was fired from the alley next to the last chance.
12:01After the foul deed,
12:04the murderer ran to a horse that was waiting at the rear of the saloon and fled.
12:10But this is a matter for the authorities.
12:12It would be improper to say more than this.
12:17For murder, though it have no tongue,
12:20will speak.
12:21Good evening, Marshal.
12:43And you, sir?
12:44I trust you enjoyed the performance.
12:47It was pretty good.
12:48We just kind of like to know where you got all that stuff.
12:51I can give no other explanation for my unique talent except
12:54that I am the seventh son of the seventh son.
12:57Whether that accounts for it, I cannot say.
12:59Wouldn't be just a trick, would it?
13:01I believe you witnessed the demonstration, Marshal.
13:04Did she or so?
13:05The Marshal would like to know more about the Halliger murder.
13:08Gentlemen, I can add nothing to what I said during that performance.
13:13I was thinking of vibrations from someone in the audience.
13:16Abruptly, they grew weak and faded off.
13:19Are you saying the murderer was here tonight?
13:22Possibly.
13:23Yes, quite possibly.
13:25Or it may have been merely a witness to the foul deed.
13:29What did you mean by murder will speak?
13:33Merely a line I borrowed from the immortal barn.
13:35Tell me something, Mr. McBride.
13:39If you were to come face to face with a man suspected of killing Halliger,
13:43could you pick up any vibrations?
13:47I hear the science of telepathy has not yet received universal acceptance.
13:52My testimony would have no standing in a court of law.
13:56I'd cooperate in full, as are you, McBride.
14:00What do you say, McBride?
14:01Will you come over to the jail with us?
14:03Tonight?
14:04No, gentlemen, the mind is too weary.
14:08The chance of a mistake would be too great for a man's life at stake.
14:12Tomorrow morning, I'm fresh.
14:15Yes, quite possibly.
14:17I could help you then.
14:18Just make sure you'll be there.
14:19You'll come along and be a witness, won't you, Lucas?
14:21Yes, I'll be there as soon as I get Mark off to school.
14:25Nine o'clock, Mr. McBride?
14:27I shall be at your service, sir.
14:29I'll be there as soon as I get you.
14:30Lucas!
14:44Yankees!
14:45etasanne
14:50Good morning, Lucy.
15:16Lucas.
15:17Well, it looks like Billy's eating pretty well these days.
15:22I want him to know that he still has one friend left.
15:26Lucy, we're doing the best we can.
15:28Thank you, Lucas.
15:29But he's still in jail.
15:32Oh, Lucas!
15:35And it looks like you had a trip to town with nothing.
15:38How's that?
15:40Mr. McBride skulked out in the middle of the night.
15:43I've telegraphed every place he might show up in.
15:45When I find him, I'm going to drag him right back here.
15:47Michael, may I take this into Billy?
15:49Sure, go ahead.
15:50Now, Michael McBride couldn't have done us any good anyway.
15:53How do you know all those facts?
15:55Well, I thought about that.
15:56He was in town six hours, right?
15:58Well, you keep your eyes open and your ears cleaned out.
16:02But by that time...
16:03Well, it may be so, but...
16:05...weather killed John Halliger ain't likely to be telling it around.
16:07Well, just the same, I think we ought to find out who McBride did talk to yesterday.
16:13Well, the hotel's as good a place as any to start.
16:22I'll be alone as soon as I send Lucy home.
16:24Lucas?
16:25Why don't you put that squirrel gun in the corner and try your luck?
16:43Now, Joe, you know luck's got nothing to do with any game you deal?
16:47Beginning to think that myself.
16:49Well, I don't give the city man ideas, Lucas.
16:51This is Mr. Fogarty, and he sells knives.
16:55Finest steel made.
16:57What brings you into town so early, Lucas?
16:59Well, to talk to that mind-reading fellow.
17:03Eye open.
17:04Oh, he's long gone.
17:05I know.
17:07Should have left three days ago myself.
17:11That old boy kind of shook things up last night, didn't he?
17:14You figure all he said about Halliger was just a stab in the dock?
17:18It could be.
17:19Or he could have talked to someone.
17:21Did he try to pump you for any gossip, Joe?
17:23Nope.
17:24Deal the cards.
17:25Don't figure he pumped anybody else.
17:28I saw him go up to his room shortly after he registered.
17:31He didn't come down again until it was time for his show.
17:34You sure?
17:35He might have gone out when you weren't looking.
17:37Lucas, nobody gets past me.
17:41You never know who's got a couple of dollars to donate.
17:44Well, take you, for instance.
17:45He'd like to take me.
17:46We'll do it, Joe.
17:47Hello, Eddie.
17:47Good morning, Lucas.
17:48Can I look at the register?
17:49Yeah, sure.
17:55All right, Billy, you're free, but you'll never get away with it.
18:06That goes for you, too, Lucy.
18:12Lucy, this is going to go bad for you.
18:14Go on, Billy.
18:15Don't worry about me.
18:16Lucas McCain's horse is tied up out front.
18:19Get out of here, Billy!
18:21Billy, use your head!
18:29Billy, hold up!
18:43Lucy, you're a fool.
18:44What did you want me to do, leave him in there to hang?
18:46Even if he killed your own father?
18:48He didn't!
18:49I know he didn't!
18:49An innocent man doesn't run, Lucy.
19:06I've got $50.
19:07Says they'll bring him in slung over Santa.
19:09Oh.
19:10Pardon me.
19:11Can you spare a few minutes, Mr. Pugety?
19:14Well, actually, I was just about ready to leave, but...
19:18I was just wondering if you were at the show last night.
19:21No, sir, I wasn't.
19:23That's too bad.
19:24You should have been there.
19:25It was mighty interesting.
19:27This James Barrow McBride seems to know all the secrets in town.
19:33Don't you believe in mind reading, Mr. McCain?
19:35No.
19:36No.
19:38Do you?
19:38Well, I, uh, I've heard stories about horses and dogs that were taken hundreds of miles away from their homes and managed to find their way back by themselves.
19:51I can't explain that.
19:52Can you?
19:54Well, if a horse could talk, I might find out.
19:56You know, people are more interested in finding out where McBride gets all his information.
20:03Now, I've got an explanation.
20:05Oh, I, I couldn't prove it, of course.
20:09But, Mr. Pugety, would you like to hear it?
20:12You see, I think every town McBride performed in had already been visited by someone else.
20:18Oh, got there maybe a day or so in advance.
20:20It's like a salesman, for instance.
20:24Now, if this salesman did a little bit of talking, a lot of listening, he could pick up some mighty interesting gossip.
20:33He might even learn about John Halliger's murder.
20:37Are you accusing me of it?
20:39Oh, no, Mr. Pugety.
20:40I'm just trying to keep you out of jail as a witness.
20:44Now, do you want to tell me or the marshal?
20:47I knew I shouldn't have stuck around here trying to win my money back.
20:52All right, let's keep it friendly.
20:55I got it from a, from an old character that hangs around the saloon, catching drinks.
21:00That, Osborne?
21:01Yeah, that's the one.
21:03Best source of information in town is usually the town drunk.
21:06I don't know how much more Osborne knew.
21:08He passed out on me about that time.
21:10But, but, but he's the one that told me.
21:14Morning, Lucas.
21:17Ed, I want you to tell me all you know about John Halliger's murder.
21:28What?
21:29I don't know what you mean, Lucas.
21:32How would I know anything about...
21:35You're joking, aren't you, Lucas?
21:38You talk too much to that salesman, Ed.
21:41Did you kill Halliger?
21:42Me?
21:48That's foolish, Lucas.
21:50I never killed nobody in my whole life, you know that.
21:53And then you saw something you weren't supposed to.
21:55Were you in the alley that night?
21:58Yeah.
22:00I was there.
22:02He never seen me in the dark, though.
22:03I never seen him neither till that shotgun went off.
22:05Scared.
22:08Have you ever had a shotgun go off the back of you?
22:10Why didn't you tell that to the marshal?
22:12I was afraid to, Lucas.
22:14The reason I was hiding there.
22:16I'm the one who's been stealing the, stealing the liquor from the saloon.
22:19Who fired the gun?
22:20Was it Billy Mathis?
22:22I don't know, and that's the truth.
22:24All I seen was somebody run out to a horse and ride out of there.
22:28Nothing else?
22:29That's all.
22:30So help me here.
22:31Wait.
22:33No, I...
22:34I remember he clinked when he ran.
22:38Clinked?
22:39Yeah, like he had a pocket full of silver dollars.
22:41Not just a couple of whole pocket full.
22:43Nobody carries that much.
22:47Unless he just won a part in a poker game.
22:50Don't move around, Lucas.
22:52I'll kill you if you do.
22:54You were just about to come up with my name now, weren't you, Lucas?
22:56As a matter of fact, I was.
22:59Why'd you do it, Joe?
23:01A little argument over some odd cards.
23:03I heard he was gunning for me.
23:05Pretty poor reason to ambush a man.
23:07Good enough reason for me.
23:09Anyway, I don't see any of the townspeople grieving for him.
23:13Then you were gonna let Billy Mathis swing for it, huh?
23:16That's right.
23:17I thought that was a real good idea of mine, using his gun.
23:21He don't mean nothing to me.
23:22Neither do you.
23:24Or that slack-mouthed drunkard there.
23:25I think I'd better take that rifle, Lucas.
23:29And do it slow and easy.
23:39Just give it a year.
23:40Mark, what are you hammering?
24:05I'm hanging up my poster.
24:07What poster?
24:08James Beryl McBride.
24:13Why don't you give that to Lucy and Billy for a wedding present?
24:16Oh, I got another one for them.
24:18You know, I just might be a mind reader when I grow up.
24:22Oh.
24:22Now you listen to me, boy.
24:24A man who learns to see and hear and think
24:28will be the mind reader six ways to Tuesday.
24:31So while you're waiting to grow up, you just be a book reader.
24:33And that means...
24:34Get in the house and do my homework.
24:37A man don't need to be a mind reader around here.
24:39What?
24:42Here.
24:43Here.
24:43Here.
24:44Here.
24:48Here.
24:50THE END
25:20THE END
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