TV-14 | 30min | Western, TV Series | Episode aired 25 March 1957
Aging, honest Marshall Ogburn shoots an unarmed suspect in heat of a violent burglary of a Wells Fargo bank and is fired. Jim is sent to investigate the robbery and try to recover the stolen money. It may lead to more than the money.
Director: Leslie H. Martinson
Writers: Dwight Newton
Stars: Dale Robertson, Leo Gordon, John Frederick
Aging, honest Marshall Ogburn shoots an unarmed suspect in heat of a violent burglary of a Wells Fargo bank and is fired. Jim is sent to investigate the robbery and try to recover the stolen money. It may lead to more than the money.
Director: Leslie H. Martinson
Writers: Dwight Newton
Stars: Dale Robertson, Leo Gordon, John Frederick
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00In a region like our western frontier, the real burden of law and order has always rested
00:10on the shoulders of some one man, the local lawman, county sheriff, town marshal, or whatever
00:16he might happen to be.
00:18This was the man who wore the badge and carried the gun to back it up, and when he walked,
00:24he walked alone.
00:26That's how it was in Antioch, a cow town on the Chisholm Trail.
00:30It would be a busy place when shipping season began, but tonight there wasn't much going
00:35on.
00:42Marshal Tom Ogburn had worn a star for twenty years, and he walked his beat as he had done
00:47on every night before.
01:00Sort of jumpy, ain't you?
01:03You ought to stop in at McCloy's, have something to settle your nerves.
01:07What do you drink on duty, Marshal?
01:09You needn't fret about me.
01:13Town seems quiet enough.
01:14That's how we like it.
01:15You maybe.
01:16The boss is losing money.
01:18I'll wait a week or two, heard he's starting moving north.
01:22Things will open up.
01:23Not all the way, Brees.
01:25Not wide open.
01:26Not while Antioch's got laws on its books.
01:29You and Webb McCloy better keep that in mind.
01:31I'm afraid we've got different ideas about how to run a town, Marshal.
01:35There's other towns.
01:36We happen to like this one.
01:37So do I.
01:38I looked into McCloy just now.
01:40He and O'Reilly's table was empty.
01:43Oh, he shut down about an hour ago.
01:45No action.
01:46I told that tin horn gambler I'd close him down for good, if I caught him using a crooked
01:51deck again.
01:52I was wondering if he remembered.
01:55I'll remind him.
01:56Do that, Brees.
02:15What's happened, Marshal?
02:43Who's this?
02:44Billy Chantry.
02:45Dead.
02:46I know.
02:47I killed him.
02:48I think they blew your safe, Mr. Lomax.
02:49Seemed to be a couple of them.
02:50The other one got away through the alley.
02:51Boys, go take a look.
02:52Billy Chantry.
02:53He's only a youngster.
02:54Tom, you weren't really saying he was mixed up in a safe robbery?
02:55I don't know, man.
02:56I don't know.
02:57I just saw him.
02:58I don't know.
02:59I don't know.
03:00I don't know.
03:01I don't know.
03:02I don't know.
03:03I don't know.
03:04I don't know.
03:05I don't know.
03:06I don't know.
03:07I don't know.
03:08I don't know.
03:09I don't know.
03:10I don't know.
03:11I don't know.
03:12I don't know.
03:15You meet that mayor?
03:16He was on top of me before I saw him.
03:19I don't know where he came from.
03:20I turn quick and....
03:24People have told me lately you were getting too hasty with that gun.
03:27I haven't wanted to believe them, Tom.
03:38What am I going to say to Billy's Pa?
03:45My name's Jim Hardy, special investigator for Wells Fargo.
03:58A telegram from the Fort Worth office ordered me up to look into the robbery at Antioch.
04:05I had my own reasons for being interested in this case.
04:09The name of Tom Ogburn had always held a kind of magic for me.
04:13If this was the marshal who had tamed Ellsworth, Kansas, twenty years ago, I sure wanted to
04:18meet him.
04:20There wasn't any red carpet waiting for me.
04:24I'd never been to Antioch before, though I'd heard the town was booming with talk of a
04:28railroad building in.
04:30I looked up Walt Lomax, the local Wells Fargo man.
04:34I told him who I was and what I'd come for.
04:36I understand they used dynamite.
04:38Yeah, take a look.
04:39Blew the whole window out.
04:43How much did they get off with?
04:44Not quite six thousand.
04:46In shipping time, it would have been a lot more.
04:47Want to have a look around?
04:49No, thanks.
04:50Later.
04:51Right now, I'm interested in meeting your marshal, Ogburn.
04:54Is that the same Tom Ogburn I've heard about?
04:57Ellsworth?
04:58Yeah, it's the same.
05:00That was twenty years ago, but his gun arm never slowed.
05:03Maybe you'd better hurry if you want to see him while he's still marshaled.
05:08What do you mean?
05:09Well, since he killed that chancery youngster, there's been a lot of talk about firing Ogburn.
05:14They say he's not a fit man for the job.
05:16Not after a mistake like that.
05:18And what's your opinion?
05:19Well, I just don't know.
05:22The town council called him into a meeting.
05:24He may have been kicked out by now.
05:28What are the odds of getting into that meeting?
05:30It's up the street at McCloy's, the saloon.
05:32Wait till I lock up, I'll join you.
05:38I'm not going to stand here and beg this council to keep me on.
05:41It was a terrible thing I did.
05:45I took off my gun that night, and I haven't worn it since.
05:52So there's no reason you shouldn't have this.
06:01One thing I will say, in all the years I've worn this, I've never dishonored it.
06:08I never did a single thing that I could rightly be ashamed of.
06:14Tom, I hate to do this, but the council has voted and...
06:20I know.
06:21You got business here, mister?
06:26Hello, Breece.
06:29I didn't know you'd met.
06:31Once or twice too often.
06:32Is he a friend of yours?
06:35Well, I wouldn't exactly say that he was a friend.
06:38I wouldn't exactly want to.
06:39Just a minute.
06:45This is Jim Hardy, special agent for Wells Fargo.
06:49Glad to see you.
06:50I'm Torbison, mayor of Antioch.
06:52How do you do, sir?
06:53Can you give me a minute till we're finished here?
06:55Sure.
06:56Wait!
06:58Are you talking to me?
07:00Webb McCloy, Hardy.
07:01He owns this place.
07:03What can I do for you?
07:07We all heard what you said about Nick Breece.
07:09I'm going to ask you to make it plainer.
07:12He is a friend of mine.
07:14Well, that's your problem.
07:17This concerns the whole meeting.
07:19Nick Breece happens to be our new town marshal.
07:23You never told me.
07:25You never said you meant to pin that badge on him.
07:28That's too bad.
07:29But maybe he's a new style in marshals around here.
07:32Hardy, is there something about him you think this council ought to know?
07:36How do I know what kind of a man you want?
07:39All I know is I had to fire him when he was stock tender for Wells Fargo because I found
07:43him beating a horse today.
07:44That's a lie.
07:45That's a matter of record.
07:47McCloy, did you know anything about this?
07:49Of course not.
07:50I don't see that it matters.
07:52Nick's worked for me for a long time.
07:55I have every reason to believe that he'll make Antioch a good marshal.
07:59Well, an interesting one anyway.
08:02As for you, Ogburn, you haven't said what your plans are.
08:08I don't think I'd try to stay around here very long.
08:12If I didn't know better, McCloy, I'd say that sounded like a threat.
08:16Why should I threaten him?
08:18I was only saying Billy Shantry had a lot of friends.
08:22It might go hard on Ogburn living in the same town with them.
08:26It's not too easy to pull up your roots, McCloy.
08:30I've been here a long time.
08:33My wife's buried in the churchyard.
08:36I think I'll stay.
08:40Suit yourself, Tom.
08:46Have a drink with me.
08:49Thanks, Hardy.
08:52And for taking my part in this,
08:56let me remind you that nobody can tear down in one night
09:00a name that a man spent a lifetime building.
09:04Remember that.
09:09Jet Shantry's headed this way, and he's got a gun.
09:22Hello, Jed.
09:24I was over at Red Rock when I got the news.
09:26Where's my boy? I've come to fetch him home.
09:29He's over at Doc Crowley's.
09:31But Antioch's gonna give him burial, Jed.
09:33The best this town's ever seen.
09:35I spit on this town!
09:37You murdered my boy.
09:39I don't need any help from any of you.
09:41I'm gonna take him home to the ranch.
09:43That's where he's going to be.
09:52I called you friend,
09:54and you try to hide behind a badge.
09:56I'm not hiding behind a badge now.
09:58You're not packing a gun, either.
10:00You think that was gonna save you?
10:02My Billy wasn't carrying a gun when he...
10:04Don't be a fool, Shantry.
10:06You keep out of this!
10:08Jed!
10:10Don't you understand?
10:12What happened that night was an accident.
10:14Look, Jed.
10:16I want you to know what Tom Ogden has done.
10:18He came to me and asked me to make all the arrangements.
10:20He's paying for Billy's funeral out of his own pocket.
10:22I don't need charity.
10:24Least of all from him.
10:26Give him back his money.
10:28I'm going to Doc Crowley's.
10:30I'm getting my boy, and I'm going home.
10:32Please, Jed. Will you listen to me?
10:40Here.
10:50I want to thank you, Hardy.
10:52No telling what might have happened.
10:54It might happen yet.
11:06Find what you want in my cash book?
11:08Just checking an idea.
11:10Did you notice this?
11:12Well, Hardy.
11:14I suppose you're all working on some money.
11:17Well, Hardy.
11:19I suppose you're all working on some good leads already.
11:21One or two.
11:23Fine.
11:25Wouldn't want people to think you were standing around talking politics.
11:27Well, that's the way I work, priest.
11:31I let a man think I'm looking the other way.
11:33And just when he starts to relax,
11:35that's when I grab him.
11:47You really feel your new marshal
11:49is an improvement over the other one?
11:51Well, it's only a temporary appointment.
11:53We'll find the man we want.
11:55I wonder if Webb McCloy
11:57agrees that it's only temporary.
11:59Hardy, I think you've taken
12:01a personal dislike to McCloy.
12:03Try not to let it warp your judgment of this town.
12:05It only takes one worm
12:07to spoil an apple.
12:09Have you ever been to Dodge City?
12:11No, I haven't.
12:13There's a wide open town.
12:16And there are a lot of men like Webb McCloy
12:18that are getting rich off of the trail crews.
12:20The thing goes
12:22from murder on down.
12:24I can't help but believe that that's what's going to happen
12:26to Antioch when the railroad gets here.
12:28This is a good town, Hardy.
12:30We hope to keep it that way.
12:32That's why I hated to let Tom Ogburn go.
12:34But all things considered,
12:36I realize it was a tough decision.
12:38Now I'm worried about Tom.
12:40Jed Chantry's over in that saloon
12:42and he's still got that gun on him.
12:44I'll go look in on him.
12:46See what he's up to.
12:48You watch yourself with him.
12:50Chantry don't like you either, you know.
13:04Get away from me.
13:07Wells Fargo, agent.
13:09You're just working with Tom Ogburn
13:11trying to make it appear my boy had something to do
13:13with that hold-up.
13:15I'm only trying to get the facts.
13:17If you want them safe robbers,
13:19why ain't you out after them?
13:21They'll be a hundred miles away by now.
13:23If they ever left town.
13:25I'm sorry about your boy, Mr. Chantry.
13:27What's more important,
13:29so is Tom Ogburn.
13:31You've got to believe that.
13:33I don't believe it.
13:35You've got to believe that.
13:37If Billy wasn't in on that robbery,
13:39do you know what he was doing in town that night?
13:41I never kept cases on him.
13:43What if he did take a drink now and then?
13:45Or drop a few bucks playing poker
13:47with Keno Riley?
13:49He was a good boy
13:51and he worked hard.
13:53He had a right to his own life.
13:55I don't deny that.
13:57We've been fighting a real battle
13:59for our ranch.
14:01Blackleg got into the herd last fall
14:03and they shoot a lot of them.
14:05I'm sorry. I didn't know.
14:07There just don't seem to be much point
14:09in trying
14:11after this.
14:13Come for your junk, huh?
14:33Good.
14:34Saves me the trouble of throwing it in the street.
14:36Is this your missus?
14:43Not a bad looker.
14:44Give me that.
14:48Don't you raise your voice to me.
14:50You're not wearing this now
14:52and you're through cramping our style in this town.
14:54You know that?
14:56From here on out, Antioch's a wide open town.
15:00You'd listen while I talk to you.
15:04You'd listen.
15:05You'd listen real good.
15:07You're clearing out of Antioch
15:08or you'll really wish you had.
15:11Freeze!
15:38Looks like they'd do just about anything
15:39to get you out of this town.
15:40Yeah.
15:41Does the name Keno Riling mean anything to you?
15:44Well, he's a gambler.
15:45Deals for McCloy.
15:47Well, he was in the saloon this morning.
15:48Maybe you noticed.
15:50No.
15:51What do you know about him?
15:52He's no good.
15:54I warned him what had happened
15:55next time I caught him using a crooked deck.
15:58Why do you want to know?
16:00Chantry tells me his boy
16:01had been losing money to him.
16:03Well, I have seen Billy at Riling's table
16:05one time or another.
16:06Nothing I could say.
16:07The night of the robbery?
16:08No.
16:10No, I remember.
16:12I was looking for Riling
16:13just before it happened.
16:14His table was closed.
16:17And if I wanted to talk to this tin horn,
16:19where would I find him?
16:20He has a room upstairs over Torvison's.
16:23Thanks.
16:35You better put this back on.
16:37We might be needing it.
17:07Come on.
17:38Come on.
18:04Hello, Riling.
18:05Don't touch it.
18:07What are you doing here?
18:08Looking for you.
18:09I thought we might have a little talk.
18:11About what?
18:12Bill Chantry.
18:13That business the other night.
18:14I don't know what I can tell you.
18:15I thought you'd know him.
18:17I heard you were in pretty thick with the boy.
18:19I don't know what gave you that idea.
18:20He played poker at your table every night
18:22and usually lost.
18:24He might have owed you money.
18:25Since his father didn't have any cash,
18:27the boy might have been desperate enough
18:28to do anything.
18:30I'd help you hold up Wells Fargo.
18:32You're out of your head.
18:33You weren't at your table that night.
18:34That makes you the best candidate.
18:36I know it was you or McCloy.
18:37That's a lie.
18:39McCloy had to get rid of Tom Ogburn.
18:41Since you were afraid of his gun,
18:42you tried to label him as a killer.
18:44Don't try to bluff me, Riling.
18:53I can break your skull with this,
18:55if you want me to.
18:56No, don't do it.
18:57Where's the money?
18:59I haven't got it.
19:00I gave it to McCloy.
19:01Let's go.
19:03Where?
19:04I'll get that council back in a meeting.
19:11It all fits.
19:13Billy Chantry was only the bait
19:14that was used to ruin Tom Ogburn
19:16and get his job.
19:18So that McCloy could take over this town
19:20and blow the lid off of it.
19:21The whole thing's a lie, of course.
19:23Is it?
19:27Is it, Riling?
19:31Of course it is.
19:33You use a gun barrel on a man,
19:34you can beat anything out of him.
19:36Can't you give us something
19:37better than this, Hardy?
19:39What about some proof?
19:41There is no proof.
19:43The man would go to any length
19:44to clear that trigger-happy old marshal.
19:47He'd even blacken the memory of a boy
19:49like Billy Chantry.
19:50I'm getting sick of this town
19:51and everybody in it.
19:53All right.
19:54What happened to Billy Chantry
19:55was a terrible thing,
19:56whether he was guilty or not.
19:58But what are you doing to Tom Ogburn?
20:01A man carries a badge for 20 years.
20:03Then he makes one mistake,
20:04if it was a mistake,
20:05and you throw him to the wolves.
20:09You sleep in your beds at night,
20:11feeling safe and comfortable,
20:13knowing all the time
20:14that he's outside,
20:15walking the shadows.
20:17But did any man here ever think
20:18of hiring a deputy to help him
20:21so that he wouldn't have to
20:22watch his back all the time?
20:24No.
20:30That's why Tom Ogburn
20:31carried a hasty gun.
20:33It was the price he had to pay
20:35to buy peace of mind
20:36for the rest of you.
20:37And if killing Billy Chantry
20:38was a mistake,
20:39then the blame lies with the town,
20:41not with him.
20:42I never thought of it that way.
20:46Tom,
20:47maybe we owe you an apology.
20:49Why don't you give him back his badge?
20:51Not that you deserve to have him back.
20:54When the railroad hits Antioch,
20:56you're gonna be begging.
20:57You're going too fast, Hardy.
20:59Nick Breeze is marshal now
21:00and he's gonna stay that way.
21:02Now you wait, McCloy.
21:04Hardy's been trying to tell me
21:05you aim to take over this town.
21:07Could be he was right.
21:09Well, we're just not going to let you.
21:11Chantry,
21:12what do they use dynamite for
21:13in this country?
21:14Why, a number of things.
21:16Nestors use it to blow stumps
21:18so they can plow.
21:20A year ago, I had to do some rock work,
21:22building a collection dam at my place.
21:24But you haven't bought any lately?
21:26Or any blasting caps?
21:28Didn't have no call.
21:30Anyway, I reckon I got
21:31two, three sticks around somewhere.
21:33You better go check.
21:34You might not have.
21:36Hold on a minute.
21:37Billy came to my store not a week ago
21:39and asked for a box of dynamite caps.
21:42He said you were blowing out a dry spring.
21:45That's right.
21:47You'll find it entered in the cash record.
21:49But I never sent Billy in.
21:51Somebody did.
21:54Who do you suppose it was?
21:56Not me, if that's what you're getting at.
21:58What do you mean, not me?
22:00You had the boy over a barrel,
22:01and you know it.
22:03He owed you money
22:04and had to listen to your crooked talk.
22:07I found something in your room
22:08just before you walked in on me.
22:10Maybe you can explain
22:11what a car dealer does
22:12with a blasting cap.
22:18You'd better start explaining
22:19and make it good.
22:20We'll wait for you.
22:22Well, now look, Hardy.
22:24I...
22:30Can anybody else come up
22:31with an explanation?
22:33He can't seem to think of one.
22:36I'm tired of fooling with you.
22:38Now tell me how that boy died.
22:44That beating you took before
22:46will be just a sample.
22:50I shoved him in front of Ogburn's gun.
22:58Does that satisfy everybody?
23:00It certainly does.
23:02But it was McCloy's idea,
23:03all of it.
23:04The money's in his desk
23:05in his office.
23:06I saw him put it there.
23:08Well,
23:09we'll just have a look.
23:10Today you won't.
23:12Get him out,
23:13all of you.
23:15Get the money, Nick.
23:19Now for you, Kino.
23:21Don't, Webb.
23:26Your turn, Hardy.
23:27McCloy.
23:36Hold it.
23:37Drop it.
23:40Move.
23:46Thank you, Tom.
23:48Sometimes it pays to have a hasty gun.
23:53Take over, Marshal.
23:55Right.
23:59Tom.
24:03What I said about you,
24:04I'm sorry.
24:05It wasn't your fault.
24:15They never did make Antioch
24:16a very wide-open town.
24:18When the railroad built in,
24:20the city council got together
24:21and voted Tom Ogburn
24:22the money he needed.
24:24He hired himself
24:25a couple of good
24:26fast-shooting deputies.
24:28They kept the lid down tight.
24:31Like I told Thorveson,
24:33it wasn't carrying the star
24:34that finally got a man.
24:37It was the walking alone.
24:46THE END