- 5 weeks ago
A wealthy, grieving man from San Francisco hires Paladin to locate his daughter-in-law, a woman he has never met, following the death of his son. The job becomes complicated when two different women show up, both claiming to be the legitimate widow. All identifying documents conveniently disappear, leaving Paladin to determine which one, the blonde or the brunette, is the real "Girl from Piccadilly" and the rightful heir.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00You have to trust me.
00:19If I'd been your enemy rather than your friend, you'd be dead by now.
00:30Uncle Martin?
00:32I don't know.
00:34Uncle Martin?
00:37I don't know.
00:39Uncle Martin?
00:43Uncle Martin?
00:49Uncle Martin?
00:51Uncle Martin, you're in the car.
00:54Uncle Martin?
00:57Uncle Martin, Mr. Paladin's here.
01:01Show him in, please, Gordon.
01:07How do you do, Mr. Paladin?
01:09Mr. Westbrook, it's a privilege to meet you, sir.
01:12Drink?
01:14This bourbon came around Cape Horn in a four-masted schooner.
01:18Water?
01:19No, thank you.
01:20If this bourbon needed more water, I think they'd have taken care of it as a distillery.
01:23I find that a four-master has exactly the right rolling motion to properly age a bourbon in the cask.
01:29You think that's wise, Uncle Martin?
01:35Thank you for showing Mr. Paladin in, Gordon.
01:38Pleasure meeting you, sir.
01:39Gordon?
01:44My nephew means well, Mr. Paladin, but he listens to my doctor, who is a fool.
01:49If a drink will kill me, I'm better off to go quickly and be done with it.
01:53I'll drink to your health.
01:59You, uh, have a very unusual business card, Mr. Paladin.
02:03I'm in a very unusual business.
02:05Yes.
02:06I confess I sent for you mainly out of curiosity.
02:09I never saw a professional gunman.
02:12Tell me, please, how can you be of use to me?
02:15Well, you're looking for the girl who married your son just before he died.
02:19I believe I can find her for you.
02:21With a gun?
02:23Sometimes a gun helps.
02:25Your son was a cavalry officer, wasn't he?
02:27Yes.
02:29He was stationed at an outpost near the Mexican border.
02:32He was killed in action, but I have no details of his death.
02:35You wrote to his commanding officer?
02:36Naturally, as soon as the war department notified me.
02:40His commanding officer sent me a very terse reply.
02:44It's one of the things that puzzled me.
02:47In the last letter that I ever received from my son,
02:50he told me that he had found the girl that he'd looked for all his life and that he'd married her.
02:56Did he give you her name?
02:57No.
02:58He said he was due to come home on leave.
03:01He wanted to introduce her to me in person.
03:07Mr. Westrow, did he say anything that would help you to identify her?
03:12Only the fact that she was English, from London.
03:15Then I received a telegram.
03:17I thought it would say what day he was coming.
03:20Instead, it said that he would never come.
03:25You were very close to your son, weren't you?
03:28He was all that a father could want.
03:30A braver, kinder, better man than I am, Mr. Paladin.
03:34I wouldn't want the girl he married to be in need of anything.
03:37I want her to come here and be my daughter.
03:40I'd like to try and find her for you, sir.
03:42Well, Mr. Paladin, I mean no offense,
03:44but I suspect it'll take more than a fast gun to find the girl.
03:48Well, I have more than a fast gun, Mr. Westrow.
03:59Allow me to demonstrate.
04:02Your import firm has a triple-A credit rating.
04:06Your bank balance averages $40,000,
04:09and you have security holdings in six prominent San Francisco companies,
04:14unbeknownst in most cases even to the board of directors.
04:16Very interesting.
04:19Anything more?
04:20Yes.
04:21You're a man of regular habits.
04:23You retire every night at 10 o'clock.
04:25Your doctor is Josiah McKinley, whom you respect more than you pretend to.
04:29You suffer from a cardiac weakness,
04:31which concerns you more than you let anyone know.
04:34Mr. Paladin, you've told me quite enough to demonstrate your ability.
04:38Oh, yes, and one more thing.
04:40You like your private little joke.
04:45Miss Whiskey did not come around Cape Horn in a formaster.
04:49If this was rocked in a cask at all,
04:52it was on a bumpy stagecoach ride from the distillery in Sacramento.
05:00Mr. Paladin, if you hadn't known that,
05:02you'd never have gotten a job.
05:04But you've convinced me.
05:05Why don't you keep out of the way?
05:16Slap to it there.
05:17Take another look, Major.
05:18I'm not wearing a uniform that takes orders from you.
05:23Then get off the post.
05:25Now get off the post when I have the answers to some questions,
05:27not before.
05:28Oh, sagebrush lawyer, huh?
05:30Well, we'll see how smart you are
05:33after you spend ten days in the guardhouse
05:35for trespassing on government property.
05:38I think the adjutant general
05:40may be very interested in that when I get out.
05:47Step in my office.
06:00Well, that was a pretty fancy talk.
06:02What charge were you thinking of making?
06:05Charges, Major.
06:06Charges.
06:08I made some inquiries.
06:09Lieutenant Westrop and two of his men were killed needlessly.
06:12They were killed in the line of duty.
06:14We often have these border clashes.
06:16This is a cavalry outpost, not a tea party.
06:19They were killed because someone is running contraband weapons
06:21across the border to Escobar.
06:24That old border pirate happens to be a friend of mine.
06:27Did he tell you who was running them?
06:30No, but I imagine he will if I decide to meet his price.
06:34What do you want?
06:35Where's Westrop's wife?
06:37He wasn't married.
06:39Junior officers aren't allowed to marry.
06:42Will his father send you?
06:43Yes.
06:46I have some of his personal effects.
06:54That's all?
06:56That's all.
07:23I'd like to see the marriage license registry for the past two months.
07:25You can't.
07:26Records are closed to the public.
07:28All right.
07:29I'd like a marriage license then.
07:31You'll have to fill this out.
07:35Now, when I get this filled out,
07:37I'll have to sign the marriage license registry, won't I?
07:40Get it out.
07:42Two dollars first.
07:43There's a page missing here.
08:02You can see where it's torn out.
08:03Take a look.
08:04Mm-hmm.
08:05So?
08:06Well, so what licenses were issued during this period?
08:10Was there one for a Michael Westrop?
08:13Now, you don't expect me to remember the name of everybody who applies for a marriage license, do you?
08:17Yes, I do.
08:21But I don't know Westrop.
08:22Never heard of him.
08:25I swear it.
08:25Please be at the side entrance of the Unitarian Church tonight at 11, Isabel.
08:51Well, let's go.
09:21I am Isabel Westrop.
09:33Oh, thank you for coming, Mr. Paladin.
09:35I wasn't sure you'd act on my note.
09:39How did you know who I was?
09:41Well, the clerk in Major Blaisdell's office, he's kept track of you while you looked for me.
09:45He was in my husband's platoon.
09:48I took a chance, hoping you were a friend.
09:50What do you mean?
09:53You're not the only one who's been looking for me, Mr. Paladin.
09:56An attempt was made on my life last week.
09:59I've kept hidden every moment since then.
10:01And what's the book?
10:02Oh, Dryden.
10:05All for love.
10:10It's a beautiful addition.
10:11Now, how can I be certain that you're Mrs. Michael Westrop?
10:20Why should I pretend?
10:21Well, there's a good deal of money involved.
10:23Family has a sizable fortune, didn't your husband tell you?
10:25No.
10:29We had such a short time together.
10:31Well, we talked about everything.
10:34Mostly what we wanted from life.
10:36Do you have your marriage license?
10:38No.
10:39It was burned in the fire.
10:41Someone set fire to the cottage Michael rented.
10:44Almost everything we had went up in smoke.
10:47I thought it was an accident until someone shot at me.
10:50Well, can you tell me the first name of your husband's father?
10:56I only don't know.
10:59Where do you come from?
11:00London.
11:01What part?
11:03Well, we lived in a little street called Shepherd's Lane,
11:05not far from Piccadilly.
11:07Look here, Mr. Paladin.
11:09You came here searching for me,
11:11and now that you've found me,
11:12you seem to be doing your best to prove I'm not me.
11:15I don't understand.
11:17Well, I'm not sure that I do either.
11:18But I'd like to take you back to Mr. Westrop in San Francisco.
11:23Will you come?
11:24Of course I will.
11:26I thought you might.
11:37Why did you come west?
11:40Oh, I had an aunt who was supposed to live in Wichita.
11:43After I got there, I was told she'd moved to Tucson.
11:45I suppose it was absurd to try and find her.
11:50And I felt so lost and alone.
11:53I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't met Michael.
11:56He was such a wonderful person.
12:00Martin Westrop.
12:02Michael's father.
12:04A very fine man.
12:05I'm sure you'll like him if you'll ever meet him.
12:12Isabel Westrop?
12:14Yes.
12:16Don't move.
12:17Have you ever seen that man before?
12:28No, I've never seen him.
12:30I wonder how he knew your name.
12:32Oh, Mr. Paladin.
12:52Sorry to have kept you waiting.
12:53Not at all.
12:54I'm delighted to see you, Mr. Westrop.
12:55You look well.
12:56I feel wonderful.
12:58I want to reimburse you for your time and trouble.
13:00Sorry you made that tedious journey for nothing.
13:04Nothing?
13:05She arrived only a few days after you left.
13:09Who arrived?
13:10My daughter-in-law.
13:13How much do I owe you?
13:16Well, there's no hurry about that.
13:18I'll bring you the accounting.
13:20I'd like very much to meet your daughter-in-law.
13:26Unfortunately, she isn't here just now.
13:28Gordon has her out showing her the city, shops, and so forth, you know.
13:32Well, I'm more sorry than I can say.
13:35You'll like her, Paladin.
13:37She's everything I'd hoped for.
13:38A wonderful girl.
13:39What is it, Mr. Paladin?
14:06What is it?
14:12I've always been suspicious of the sweet ones.
14:15They're the ones you have to watch.
14:18What's the matter, Mr. Paladin?
14:20I don't understand what you're saying.
14:22You know, you're good.
14:23You're really one of the very best I've ever seen.
14:26Mr. Paladin, please, if you have something to tell me, say it.
14:28All right.
14:29The real Mrs. Michael Westrop showed up.
14:32That makes you an imposter and me a fool.
14:34How dare you, sir?
14:37I will not be called an imposter.
14:39I am Michael Westrop's wife, and there is no other.
14:43Why would I do such an unspeakable thing?
14:48For half a million dollars?
14:55Well, you have conviction.
14:56I don't know whether you're lying or not, but you have conviction.
15:10Mr. Westrop, I hope I'm not intruding.
15:13You're welcome any time.
15:14Did you bring me an accounting of your expenses?
15:16No, I decided that in good faith I couldn't really charge you anything.
15:21All I ask is the privilege of meeting the young lady I was searching for.
15:25Of course.
15:26Won't you sit down?
15:28Gordon, will you ask Catherine if she can come down for a moment?
15:31Very well.
15:31Well, you look very happy.
15:42How wonderful that you found her.
15:44And how especially wonderful for the girl.
15:46And what a sweet and attractive girl she is.
15:49You know, I admire you.
15:51Under the circumstances, there aren't many men who would have followed their heart instead of their head.
15:55I'm afraid I don't quite understand.
15:57Most men would have kept that girl under six months' intensive cross-examination.
16:02They would have demanded conclusive proof.
16:05After all, she's your possible heiress.
16:07But she gave me proof.
16:08I didn't have to ask for it.
16:10She was sensitive enough to volunteer it.
16:13And the proof was conclusive?
16:15Come now, Mr. Peloton.
16:17Would she be here otherwise?
16:19She not only has every detail of Michael's life,
16:23she has their marriage license.
16:24Oh, you look lovely, my dear.
16:28There's someone here I want you to meet.
16:36Catherine, this is Mr. Peloton.
16:37Mr. Peloton, my son's wife.
16:39How do you do?
16:40Delighted to meet you.
16:44Dad told me you were off in the wild tracking me down.
16:46I was indeed.
16:47If I'd only written.
16:49But the news of Mike's death shocked me so.
16:52I wasn't myself for a long time.
16:55And, of course, I wasn't sure of my reception.
16:58And I'm very happy for both of you.
17:01In celebration, I'd like to plan a dinner for you at my hotel.
17:06I think the Carlton has the finest chef in the city.
17:08That is most kind of you, Mr. Peloton.
17:11Well, settle then.
17:12Tomorrow night at 8?
17:13Yes.
17:13Oh, one more thing.
17:23Did your husband have a favorite wine?
17:26Chablis in white wines.
17:28And Chateau Lafitte in Bordeaux.
17:30And, of course, he always loved champagne dry.
17:36Dry.
17:36A wonderful dinner, Mr. Peloton.
18:00Your chef is the most talented man.
18:03Well, I'm certainly happy you enjoyed it.
18:08Oh, no, really.
18:09I don't believe I should.
18:10I'm half giddy now.
18:12Well, you won't have to drink.
18:14I'd like to propose a toast.
18:17Gentlemen, here's to a young lady who left her native land a very short time ago.
18:22Two years ago.
18:24And in leaving her native land, she left her mother and father.
18:27My parents died when I was a child, Mr. Peloton.
18:30This young lady who lived in an East End orphanage.
18:33Mr. Peloton.
18:34I live with my aunt on Mount Street.
18:36That's in the West End.
18:38Near Piccadilly.
18:39You've probably never heard of it.
18:40On the contrary, I know it quite well.
18:42Somehow I never thought of you as a tourist.
18:44Well, I'm not a tourist, but I do travel.
18:47Now, if I may be permitted to go ahead with my toast, this young lady followed the man of her choice.
18:54And in a dusty border town in an old Dobie church, they were married.
19:00None of the niceties of the newly married state were hers.
19:03Instead, she, I beg your pardon, excuse me.
19:08On a delayed honeymoon, he's so much wanted to see Paris.
19:11After Paris, you're going to Nice.
19:14Mike Cavalry.
19:15Mike hated trains.
19:16And so he did.
19:18A cavalryman never trusts anything but a horse.
19:20I drink to the cavalry.
19:22Yes.
19:24To the cavalry.
19:33Oh, and speaking of the cavalry, did your husband tell you much about his commanding officer?
19:38Yes.
19:40Major Blaisdell, I believe his name was.
19:42Well, now, why didn't you two go to Major Blaisdell for permission to be married?
19:47Major Blaisdell was a rather difficult person.
19:50Mike felt he might refuse the request, so he kept it secret.
19:54Oh, I see.
19:55And because Major Blaisdell didn't know, you couldn't very well go to him after Mike's death or Mike's personal belongings, including the watch you gave him.
20:02That's right.
20:04You know, it's very interesting.
20:05You say you come from Mount Street.
20:06That's very near Hyde Park in the Great Exposition.
20:09Yes.
20:10Well, you certainly must have enjoyed that, although you were quite young at the time.
20:13How old were you?
20:15I was 16, I think.
20:19My dear, you're charming.
20:27But you're a liar.
20:30You abuse your privilege, Mr. Peloton.
20:32The Great Exposition was held in 1851.
20:39That's right.
20:40This young lady wasn't even born then.
20:42The church in the border town is Wood, not Dobie.
20:46And you never gave Michael Westrop a watch.
20:48The only watch among his personal belongings was the one his father gave him.
20:52Mr. Westrop, your daughter-in-law is a fraud.
20:54She never knew your son.
20:56That's ridiculous.
20:57I have their marriage license.
20:58I know printers in San Francisco who could produce a license showing that I was wed to Queen Victoria.
21:04But Catherine has other proof.
21:06She knows things that no one could have told her except Michael.
21:09Except Michael.
21:14Except Michael or the man who was raised with him.
21:19As a brother.
21:20He's insane.
21:22Of course.
21:23Why shouldn't Gordon tell Catherine anything?
21:26He's losing a fortune if she's my heiress.
21:29He's trying to palm her off as your daughter-in-law.
21:31Are you going to listen to any more of these ravings?
21:33Now, Gordon, perhaps you can tell us who wrote this letter.
21:37It offers $1,000 for the death of Mrs. Michael Westrop.
21:47Attempted murder is a very serious crime.
21:50It carries a long jail sentence.
21:53Now, this letter is in a woman's handwriting.
21:58Would you care to show us your handwriting?
22:01Gordon, maybe write this letter.
22:11He panned the whole thing just like you said.
22:21It'll be up to you whether or not you press charges against these two.
22:24No, just get them out of my sight.
22:27Please, get them out of my sight.
22:29Miss?
22:49I'm very sorry to have done this to you.
22:52I'm sorry you were right.
22:53Now, I have nothing.
23:00Excuse me.
23:10Isabel.
23:10Isabel.
23:10Mr. Westrop, I'd like you to meet Michael's wife.
23:20Her name is Isabel.
23:22Isabel.
23:23Now, you're a lonely man, and you're too anxious to believe.
23:26This time, we don't want you to believe anything until it's been proven.
23:31Mr. Westrop, we don't have to talk about it tonight.
23:33But tomorrow, we'll have a long chat about Michael.
23:36Well, this is an unexpected pleasure.
24:00Oh, Mr. Paladin, I only have a minute.
24:01But I couldn't leave without saying goodbye and thank you.
24:05Goodbye?
24:06Is there anything wrong?
24:07Oh, no.
24:07Everything is fine.
24:09Mr. Westrop's a wonderful man.
24:11So much like Michael.
24:13We're going on a trip together.
24:15Where?
24:15Well, our first stop is going to be England.
24:17And I'm going to show him London and all the places where I grew up.
24:21Well, I know you'll have a wonderful trip.
24:23I'm sure we will.
24:25And I want to give you this book.
24:29Somehow, I want you not to forget me.
24:41Isabel.
24:41Isabel.
24:42Isabel, this is the first edition of Dryden's All for Love.
24:49You shouldn't give me this book.
24:50It's very valuable.
24:51Yes, I know.
24:52But I want you to have it.
24:54It's been in my family for years.
24:57Errors like straw from the surface flow.
25:00He who would search for pearls must dive below.
25:03The prologue.
25:04Dryden was a very wise man.
25:06So are you, Mr. Paladin.
25:08Goodbye.
25:09Goodbye.
25:12Goodbye.
25:13Goodbye.
25:14Goodbye.
25:15Goodbye.
25:16Goodbye.
25:17Goodbye.
25:18Goodbye.
25:19Goodbye.
25:20Goodbye.
25:21Goodbye.
25:22Goodbye.
25:23Goodbye.
25:24Goodbye.
25:25Goodbye.
25:26Goodbye.
25:27Goodbye.
25:28Goodbye.
25:29Goodbye.
25:30Goodbye.
25:31Goodbye.
25:32Goodbye.
25:33Goodbye.
25:34Goodbye.
25:35Goodbye.
25:36Goodbye.
25:37Goodbye.
25:38Goodbye.
25:39Goodbye.
25:40Goodbye.
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