"Can I help you?" "Yes-- couple of your newspapers came into my hands in New Orleans." "They mention a man called Ben Cartwright." "Aye." "Well, is he a rather large man physically, about my age?" "He has two sons." "Three of them." "MAN:" "Three?" "Well, what do you want him for?" "I'm Joe Cartwright." "Your father and I have urgent business together." "Where is he?" "Well, he's out of town right now." "What kind of business?" "Out of town, where?" "Uh, Silver City." "At a reception they're giving in his honor." "Look at this." "A whole newspaper story about him." "We're grooming him for politics." "Fine man that he is, he'll make a fine governor, so he will." "Little Joe here is checking me on the facts of his life." "Be in tomorrow's paper." ""Nevada and Ben Cartwright." "A great future together."" "(crumpling paper)" "Well..." "I don't know about Nevada, but..." "Ben Cartwright has no future." "What did you mean by that?" "When he gets back into town, tell him I'm at the hotel." "Charles LeDuque." "I asked you a question." "All right, let go." "Now, look here..." "All right, now, hold it, Cole." "Hey, no, no..." "We'll smash Ben Cartwright just like we've smashed the story of his life." "(theme song playing)" "Hi, Jack." "Joe Cartwright, how are you?" "What can I do for you?" "Listen, you got a fellow named Charles LeDuque registered here?" "Yeah." "Well, what room is he in?" "He got anything to do with that?" "Yeah, maybe." "218." "All right, thanks." "Hey, Joe." "That's, uh, good news, isn't it?" "I mean, about your father running for governor." "Yeah, it's just fine, Jack." "Yeah?" "All right, where is that man of yours, the one that hit me?" "I'm sorry about that, son." "Why don't you come on in?" "Mr. Cole will be back shortly." "Meanwhile, is there anything I can do for you?" "Yeah." "Yeah, you can tell me who you are and what you want with my father." "Oh, I'd rather spare you that ugly story." "Oh, what ugly story?" "You know, it's really remarkable, the resemblance you bear to your mother." "Oh, just leave my mother out of this." "Ah, that's a little difficult, considering the fact that she and I were... good friends." "You said you had an ugly story." "Couldn't have been about my mother." "You're right." "That story was about the man she married." "You're lying, mister." "All right, take it easy, boy." "You got something to say, say it!" "All right." "You take a message to your father." "Tell him to stay out of politics, because the plans I have for him are liable to interfere." "What kind of plans?" "Inspector Charles LeDuque," "New Orleans Police Department." "Oh, and you came all the way from New Orleans for my father, huh?" "2,000 miles and 20 years." "Oh, well, I don't believe you, mister." "Go tell your father." "See if he believes me." "I'm going to tell him." "I'm going to tell him, then I'll be back for your friend." "And in case you're curious... the charge is murder." "Now I know you're lying." "(gentle classical music playing)" "(chuckles) Oh, Ben." "Whew!" "I must tell you... it's unusual in these parts for a man to be so graceful on the dance floor." "Well, I must tell you, I-I haven't danced in such a long time, but... so lovely a partner would make any man graceful." "Your compliments are as smooth as your dancing." "I'm sure you learned both arts during your stay in New Orleans." "Perhaps." "(giggling)" "Hello, Pa, Alice." "Hello, Adam." "Louise, your father is a most generous host." "Well, it's not every day we can entertain the future governor." "Adam's been telling me about his two brothers." "It's a shame they can't be here tonight." "Well, the Ponderosa demands a great deal of work." "I know." "And you're lucky to have three sons to do it." "Too bad we have to leave tonight." "Pa's got to get around the territory so that people can get better acquainted with him." "I think everyone in Nevada knows Ben Cartwright." "(chuckling)" "Folks, your attention, please." "You all know about the fuss everyone's been kicking up about making Nevada a state." "(crowd murmuring)" "So, it's time we started thinking about our first governor, someone who'll fight with all his heart for the future of Nevada." "My friends..." "I give you an able man... a charitable man... a humble man." "I give you Ben Cartwright of the Ponderosa." "Ben!" "Come on, Ben." "Say something." "I'm, uh..." "I'm deeply grateful." "Well, I, uh..." "I won't make a speech." "(laughter, applause) Oh, no." "Uh, in this country, we, uh... we don't talk much about things." "We..." "We get out and do them." "The things I want, I believe you want also:" "A free country where we can raise our families in safety, under God." "Now, Nevada is not yet a state, but when that great day comes, if you still want me," "I'll try to do everything I can to be of service." "(sighs)" "We'll want you." "Your father's a wonderful man." "He's going to make a splendid governor." "ADAM:" "Well, meet the next governor." "Hey, hooray!" "(chuckling)" "There ain't nothing to celebrate yet." "Not until Nevada becomes a state." "ADAM:" "Technicalities, Pa-- just technicalities." "Put it over there, please, will you?" "Yes, sir." "What's the matter with Joe?" "Pa, you've had a long ride." "Why don't you go on up and get into some fresh clothes." "and we'll have somethin' to eat, and then we'll talk about it later." "Sounds good." "LITTLE JOE:" "Pa?" "What?" "I don't think this can wait." "What?" "There were a couple of strangers in town today." "They came into the Territorial Enterprise." "Made a few remarks about you I didn't like." "Well, I imagine there are quite a few people..." "Well, what kind of remarks?" "Well, first, I better tell you who they are." "They say they're on the New Orleans police force." "One of them is an inspector named LeDuque." "LeDuque?" "Charles LeDuque?" "Then you know him." "Is he at the hotel?" "Yeah." "Saddle my horse." "I'm Ben Cartwright." "Wow." "Come in, Cartwright." "Come in." "Huh." "Been 20 years." "You haven't changed much." "You remember me?" "Yes." "I remember you." "I understand you're a big man in these parts." "They're even thinking of putting you up for political office." "Governor, isn't it?" "I have a lot of good friends." "A lot of friends and three fine sons." "Well..." "I haven't been as fortunate as you have." "Of course, a policeman doesn't have much chance to accumulate family, friends or admiration." "But most people admire an honest man of the law." "Hmm..." "Seems like you have everything and I have nothing." "Of course..." "I have always been handicapped by this unfortunate infirmity." "I'm sorry." "Well, it's... a bullet was responsible." "Hurts, every step." "Yeah, see, the..." "the kneecap is shattered." "Happened 20 years ago." "I was on a murder case, the murder case of Simon LaRoche." "You remember?" "I remember." "You should, because you're going to hang for it." "Mr. LeDuque... that charge against me was dropped 20 years ago." "Was it?" "Yes, it was." "I offered to return to New Orleans a month after I left." "My lawyer wrote, said it was unnecessary since three witnesses had testified that I had shot LaRoche in self-defense." "Hmm." "Well, do you have any, uh... any proof, any, uh, documentary evidence?" "Well... no, I..." "I was to have received a letter from the New Orleans chief of police." "But you don't have that letter." "(chuckling)" "You know, Cartwright, your lawyer gave you some very bad advice." "You are a fugitive from justice." "You are still wanted for the murder of Simon LaRoche." "Mr. LeDuque, that can't be." "No?" "Here's a warrant for your arrest." "Go ahead, look at it." "It's a true warrant." "It's on the right paper, the right signatures, the right language." "What more do you want?" "The right motive." "What's yours?" "You remember a scuffle in the alley the night I came to arrest you?" "We, uh, we had a fight." "I knocked you down." "Do you remember hearing a shot?" "LeDuque, you were after me." "You wanted to kill me." "I wasn't armed;" "I ran." "Yes, you ran." "I followed you." "In the dark, I fell and the bullet entered my leg." "I'm sorry, I didn't know that." "I..." "I didn't look back." "You should have." "Because it gave me a very special interest in your case." "I started following you that night, crawling on my belly." "And I'm gonna continue to follow you until you hang." "I can't hold myself responsible for what happened to you that night." "You're going back to New Orleans with me and stand trial." "This warrant of yours is of no value out here, you know." "You know, if you're innocent," "I think you'd be anxious to go back and clear your name." "My name is clear." "What do you think your name would be worth if people found out about your wife and Simon LaRoche," "Governor Cartwright?" "Cartwright... before I'm through, you're gonna beg me to take you back to New Orleans." "You don't believe that, do you?" "I swear it." "See you, Mr. Cartwright." "That's Ben Cartwright." "Gonna be first Governor of Nevada when she becomes a state." "Hi, hello there, Ben." "Dennis." "How are you now?" "Well, to be perfectly frank, Dennis, uh, not too well." "Aye and I'll wager it's on account of them two, the two strangers." "Ah, you've seen them, have you?" "Wasn't it right in front of me that Little Joe was hit?" "It was you they were looking for." "And by the look of you, it was bad news they brought." "Dennis, I suppose you'll be reporting what happened in Silver City." "Aye, it's right here." "I'd like to, I'd like to put something in next to it." "Aye, just one moment." "Ready now." "To all of my friends in Nevada my deepest appreciation for the way you've honored me." "But, for personal reasons," "I hereby withdraw my name from consideration as a possible candidate for Governor of the State of Nevada." "Here, take a look at that." "So, he's withdrawn his name." "Uh-huh." "Seems like you've already begun to reach him." "Yes, sir, things are beginning to fall right into line." ""But, for personal reasons, I hereby withdraw my name" ""from consideration as a possible candidate for Governor of the State of Nevada."" "But, Pa, there was no reason to withdraw, not yet." "I didn't want to, Adam." "Believe me, I didn't want to." "Why then, Pa?" "You can't just leave your friends out on a limb waiting to be sawed off." "Your friends would've stuck by you." "You mean they'd have been dragged down with me." "In a political campaign, if there's just one weak spot, one breath of scandal, your opponents find it and use it to destroy you." "But Pa, if you were cleared of them charges..." "If." "It would take weeks to get word back from New Orleans." "If I remained a political candidate all that time, our names would be dragged through every pig sty in the state." "Pa, you're not telling us everything." "It's not like you to run out of New Orleans, not without the trial." "The only thing I've ever kept from you, isn't it?" "It's one thing you can still keep if you want to." "No, it's been too long already." "The truth is something that always comes back at you, doesn't it?" "Joe, I've told you a great deal about your mother." "You never really knew her, she was a wonderful woman." "Beautiful, slender, delicate, gentle." "Treated Adam and Hoss like they were her own, hm?" "She was like an angel to everyone that ever came into contact with her." "And then this... this man, this LaRoche," "Simon LaRoche came into our lives." "The man I killed." "Why'd you have to kill him?" "Your mother came from a... from a certain notorious section of New Orleans." "A section the sailors called "The Flats."" "Pa, what difference does it make where she came from?" "No difference, no difference, not to me." "But to a man like LaRoche, it presented an opportunity to cash in on her past by threatening to destroy her reputation." "Threatening her with what?" "He blackmailed her to keep her past a secret." "To keep what secret?" "Joe, I..." "What secret?" "!" "Joseph, I doubt-- To keep what secret?" "!" "What your mother did or did not do before I met her is of no importance." "I loved her and I married her." "'Cause she was a wonderful person." "But your mother was afraid of scandal." "Not for her sake but for mine." "For Hoss' and Adam's." "So, she... she paid LaRoche." "She paid him." "Until I found out about it." "I went to see him, we talked, got into an argument, a fight, he pulled a knife and..." "I killed him." "In self-defense, but I killed him." "I felt I couldn't stand trial because then everything that your mother wanted to forget would have come out." "So it comes out now, 20 years later." "Yes." "That's why I feel that maybe if I go to New Orleans, I can put a stop to it." "There's another way." "Joseph!" "Pa, let me go." "Not in the mood you're in." "Now remember," "LeDuque is doing his duty." "I want you to promise me that you will do no harm to him of any nature." "I want to go out for a while." "I'll go with you, Little Joe." "I'd rather go by myself." "Joe?" "(voice breaking):" "I prom..." "I promise." "* *" "Your friend looks kind of lonely." "Well, hello there, cutie." "Hey, what's your name?" "Dixie." "That's a pretty name." "Say, how'd you like to come over to the hotel tonight and have supper with me?" "Ooh, that would be nice." "Is that all right with you, Inspector?" "Go right ahead." "You look like you could be fun, Mister..." "Mister, um..." "His name is Charles." "Charlie, huh?" "Charlie, betcha I could get you out of that lonesome mood." "I like being alone;" "I have a lot to think of." "Think?" "!" "You're wasting time." "Mister, it's against the law to be alone in Virginia City." "I think I could like you." "Child, if you got to know me, you'd hate me." "Hey, why's he so hard to get to?" "He's got his reasons." "With that leg and all, I feel kinda sorry for him." "Here, have a drink." "What about your friend?" "Friend?" "He's not my friend, he's my boss." "It's my job to look after him." "LeDuque!" "LeDuque, I wanna talk to you." "I don't have anything to say to you." "I said I wanna talk to you, LeDuque." "And I told you I don't have anything to say to you." "Pa told us the whole story." "When you say the whole story," "I figure you mean the part about your mother, too." "I'm warning you, keep my mother's name out of your filthy mouth." "You know, you and I ought to be on the same side." "You just get your father to take that little trip with me and your mother stays an angel." "You know, I gave Pa my word I wouldn't kill you." "But if you drag my mother's name through the dirt, so help me, I will." "You'll have to kill me first." "Well, maybe that'll be the best part." "He's dead." "It was self-defense." "Not the way I saw it." "You saw what happened!" "You just got through doing me the greatest favor of my life, because now I can tell my story under oath, in a courtroom, where everybody can hear." "The whole story about your mother." "You just give me the chance, that trial will be about her, not about you!" "(footsteps approaching)" "Well, you're not gonna get that chance." "MAN:" "Hey, what happened?" "Go on, get the sheriff." "Young Cartwright just shot this man down in cold blood." "BEN:" "Oh, Sheriff." "Evenin'." "Anything wrong?" "I'm afraid so, Ben." "We're lookin' for Little Joe." "Little Joe?" "You ain't gonna like this." "He shot a fella in Virginia City, killed him." "Oh no, Sheriff." "No question about it, Ben." "Where is he?" "Who was it he was supposed to have shot?" "One of them fellas from New Orleans." "Name of Cole." "Oh." "This Inspector LeDuque-- he witnessed it." "He said Little Joe just upped and did it in cold blood." "Oh, Sheriff Brady, you know Little Joe better'n that!" "All I know is he shot a man and run away." "And we gotta find him." "Sheriff... now I know Joe'll be coming home." "Let us bring him into town to ya." "All right, Ben." "Your word's good enough for me." "Come on." "I was hoping I'd find you here." "I thought you'd come." "I..." "I wanted to say good-bye." "Son, you're not going anywhere." "I got no choice." "Well, there's always a choice." "Here it's the choice between running away or facing up to what's happened." "What did happen in town?" "Well, I went to see LeDuque." "In spite of what you promised?" "I promised I wouldn't harm him." "I didn't say I wouldn't see him." "While I was talking to him, Cole came in." "We got into a fight, he drew his gun and I killed him." "(sighs)" "Trouble is the... the sheriff's wondering why you ran away." "Yeah, a lot of choice with Inspector LeDuque the only witness?" "Well, it's your word against his." "People of Virginia City know you and I-I know they trust you." "Pa, that's not the point." "What is the point?" "LeDuque told me what he'd do at the trial." "He said he'd get up in front of that whole town, and tell all those dirty lies... about my mother." "You're running away to... protect your mother's name?" "Is that it?" "Yes, that's it." "Your mother begged me to stand trial in New Orleans, no matter what the consequences to her." "But, Pa, I can't do that." "I made a mistake, Joe." "I can't let you make the same mistake." "Now you come home with me now, and tomorrow morning we'll ride into town together." "Son..." "You've always trusted me." "And running away will ruin your life." "And it won't help her." "Come home." "I'm asking you." "Sheriff..." "I brought you your prisoner." "Thanks, Ben." "What have you got to say?" "Shot him in self-defense." "Cole's gun was in his holster." "That's impossible." "He drew first." "It was there." "Why'd you run away?" "Maybe he figured he'd be framed, like what's happening now." "Now you know better than that, Adam." "He'll get a fair trial." "Gotta lock you up, son." "You boys wait here." "I'll be back in a few minutes." "(knocking on door)" "I saw you riding into town with your son." "If you've come to plead for him, you're wasting your time." "LeDuque... you didn't come to Virginia City for my son." "You came for me." "I rather admire you for bringing him in." "Shows a certain respect for the law." "Respect?" "My son tells me you saw the shooting." "Mm-hmm." "He also tells me you can clear him." "(chuckles)" "Every criminal claims he's innocent." "Don't call my son a criminal." "And let's stop beating around the bush." "You came to Virginia City to close the LaRoche murder case." "Well, I'm gonna give you a chance to do just that." "Are you offering me a deal?" "I'm offering you a deal." "Now, you clear my boy, and I'll go back to New Orleans with you." "Well..." "Well, I don't know, though, you're... you're asking me to perjure myself." "I'm an officer of the law;" "the truth isn't open to whim." "But... uh..." "Now, suppose I do make this... compromise." "Would you return with me unarmed?" "Yes." "And alone." "Just you and me." "On horse." "Yes, I would." "And would you give me your promise, your word, that you'd make no attempt to escape?" "I give you my word." "How long would it take you to get horses and provisions ready?" "An hour." "Make it an hour and a half." "I'll have time to get outfitted." "I'll meet you at the jail and clear your son." "We'll leave directly from there." "And Cartwright... you should feel relieved." "Every criminal always is who finally surrenders himself to justice." "Pa, he's comin'." "Pa, who's comin'?" "Inspector LeDuque." "He's agreed to tell the truth about the shooting." "Tell the truth." "Why?" "I'm going back to New Orleans with him." "Now, I'll be back." "I'll be back soon." "Sheriff." "Inspector." "Ben says you've got something you want to tell me." "Yes." "About the-the death of my associate," "Mr. Tom Cole." "Step over the desk, please." "You see, I was rather dazed by what happened." "And so, I-I rather confused the facts." "Unconfuse 'em." "Well, as I recall now," "Cole was drunk, he drew first." "Joe Cartwright fired in self-defense." "What about the gun in Cole's holster?" "He put it there himself before he died." "Sort of a reflex." "Mister, you really was confused, wasn't ya?" "May be the strange climate." "I rarely bungle the facts like this in New Orleans." "Mister, from now on, stay in New Orleans." "We need you around here like we need the plague." "You belong in that cell instead of Little Joe." "Now, Sheriff, everybody makes mistakes." "Ask Ben Cartwright." "All I want to ask Ben is will he accept my apologies." "Thank you, Sheriff." "Uh... don't let Little Joe out of his cell until I'm well away." "Why not?" "Where you goin'?" "Just do me the favor." "See ya when I get back." "Well, Little Joe will be out pretty soon now." "Pa, I know you told us not to, but how come me and Adam can't ride out about ten miles and intercept you." "A couple outlaws rode up on you, it wouldn't be your fault, would it?" "Forget it, Hoss." "Well, at least we can ride along with you." "He can't object to that." "Oh, he does object." "I said I'd go alone." "Well, now why's that so important?" "What's his motive?" "I don't know." "Anyway, I gave my word." "I'm waiting." "Adam." "I'll get your packhorse, Pa." "You're not a bad cook." "(coyote howls in distance)" "You know, reminds me of something happened recently." "There was a case where a condemned man wanted to cook his own last meal." "Then he didn't have time to eat it." "So I did." "You know, it was very good." "I'm sure it was." "LeDuque, why did you wait 20 years to come after me?" "I'm an officer of the law." "I'm subject to the orders of my superiors." "I just can't believe that your superiors suddenly decided after 20 years that I should be brought back." "Oh, I made that decision myself." "Of course, I had to become an Inspector before I could do so." "The fact that it took 20 years is your fault, not mine." "My fault?" "Yes, I've already told you." "A man with a physical handicap doesn't rise fast in police work." "I told you before, I don't hold myself responsible for that accident." "It was an accident that happened in the line of duty." "Now, when you became a police officer, you must have figured that you'd have to take certain risks." "Well, strangely enough," "I used to use those same arguments with myself." "I knew that my hatred of you might become an obsession." "I wanted to control it." "I wish you'd been successful." "Oh, I was for a while." "But then as I watched inferior men being promoted over my head," "I began to wonder whether I wasn't being too charitable in my thoughts about you." "Is that when you started to think about vengeance instead of justice?" "Well, didn't I have it coming to me, after all the misery you've caused me?" "I don't believe that any man is justified in using a badge to satisfy his personal hatreds." "You're so cold-blooded in your thinking, Cartwright." "No, I've hated men in my time but I've been able to control myself and not allow that hatred to influence my life." "Well, why not?" "You're a rich man, you have sons, you've loved women and been loved by them." "(chuckles)" "Oh, that smashed knee of yours, huh?" "It's really been of help to you, hasn't it?" "What do you mean?" "The way you use it to lean on like a crutch to explain away your personal little failures in your police work, with women and your relations with other people." "Stop it." "Well, face it." "It's not your knee, it's you!" "You stop it or I'll shoot you now!" "Now." "Now it's true, isn't it?" "You never intended to take me all the way back to New Orleans, did you?" "Got it all figured out, haven't you?" "How was it to happen?" "I was to be killed while trying to escape." "Is that it?" "You'd like me to say yes, wouldn't you?" "So you'd be free to break your word." "No..." "I don't intend to break my word." "I don't intend to try to escape." "Because I'm going to get all the way to New Orleans." "Just in case you have any idea of killing me first" "No, no, no." "I don't want to kill you." "Good night." "I'm not gonna sleep tonight, Ben Cartwright." "I'm not gonna sleep any night while you're alive." "It looks like a warm one today." "What are you waiting for?" "Mount up!" "(horse neighing)" "Get away from me!" "You heard me!" "Get away from me, Cartwright!" "I think I'll put a bullet through your leg, so you'll know how it feels." "(gunfire)" "All right, get over." "You have another gun?" "This'll do it." "Ah, they've had enough." "(man speaking native language)" "They weren't after scalps." "They were after horses." "(speaking native language)" "(cocks gun)" "How far is the nearest settlement?" "About... uh, there's a weigh station up ahead." "How far?" "About 20 miles." "20 miles." "Over those hills." "Without horses." "And without water." "Come on." "Stay ahead of me." "(grunts) Wait, wait, wait." "Let's rest a while." "Gotta keep moving." "This sun will kill you." "I can't walk anymore." "Gotta get to water." "Let me help you." "You stay away." "I don't need your help." "Well, now, let me help you..." "I said stay away!" "(cocks rifle)" "Go ahead." "Pull the trigger." "Been waiting 20 years for this." "(muttering)" "Let me get him some water." "Easy, easy." "That's enough." "You brought me in." "Mm-hmm." "Why didn't you leave me out there to die?" "Couldn't let you die out there." "Why not?" "We'd have both been better off." "When's the next stage leave for the East?" "Uh, it's due in sometime tonight." "Where are we going?" "New Orleans." "(wry laugh)" "There's nothing in New Orleans for you." "You have a warrant for my arrest, don't you?" "You were right." "I intended to kill you before we ever got there." "But you can't kill without hate, and now the hate is gone." "Sort of a relief." "This warrant was never any good, was it?" "You were cleared 20 years ago by everybody except me." "That letter the judge sent you, I intercepted it." "Why didn't you leave me out there to die?" "Can you rustle up some food for a couple of hungry men?" "Him, too?" "!" "Well, we come in here together, didn't we?" "You betcha, mister." "Just give me a couple minutes." "Come on, let's wash up." "Gimme a hand."