TV-14 | 30min | Western, TV Series | Episode aired 10 February 1958
Wanted outlaw Bill Longley and Jim join forces to retrieve money stolen from Wells Fargo. Another outlaw working with Longley tricks Hardie into having the $5,000 reward available to steal and then steals Longley's girl with the money.
Director: Earl Bellamy
Writers: Martin Berkeley, Clarke Reynolds
Stars: Dale Robertson, Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Holt
Wanted outlaw Bill Longley and Jim join forces to retrieve money stolen from Wells Fargo. Another outlaw working with Longley tricks Hardie into having the $5,000 reward available to steal and then steals Longley's girl with the money.
Director: Earl Bellamy
Writers: Martin Berkeley, Clarke Reynolds
Stars: Dale Robertson, Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Holt
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00I don't like gunslingers. Maybe it's because I know him too well.
00:06And I don't try to understand what makes them tick because by the time I tangle with them, the damage has been long done.
00:13Take Bill Longley. The Rangers called him the most dangerous man in Texas.
00:20He came along during the smoky 70s and soon built for himself a reputation as a walking instrument of death.
00:28The folks with a hankering for excitement tried to prod John Wesley Harden into a shootout with Bill.
00:34But Harden left town suddenly and no one ever found out who was the faster.
00:39One thing about Bill Longley, he never went back on his word.
00:44I found myself fighting side by side with him, even though Wells Fargo had a price on his head.
00:51It all started late one night in the Forks City Wells Fargo office near the Texas border.
01:21Yes.
01:43Which one of you is Milt Jones?
01:45Well, that's me, son. What can I do for you?
01:48Could I speak to you alone?
01:51Well, this is Mr. Hardy from our San Francisco office. We have no secrets.
01:55Jim Hardy. That's right. How are you?
01:58Are you still interested in Bill Longley?
02:00He robbed one of our stagecoaches, didn't he?
02:03A five thousand dollars reward. Is that still on level?
02:08Absolutely.
02:10Now, if I was to bring Bill Longley in, how long would it take me to collect the reward?
02:15You know where he is?
02:17Oh, I might.
02:19Anyone who captured Bill Longley would be the biggest man in Texas.
02:22I'm interested in being a hero. All I want is some money.
02:26How long will it take me to collect it?
02:28Well, we have to get in touch with San Francisco and...
02:31Too long, mister. Your big chance is tonight.
02:37You bring Bill Longley in tonight. The five thousand dollars will be here.
02:42Wait a minute, Jim. I'll take the responsibility.
02:45All right. You wait right here. I'll be back.
02:53What do you make of it?
02:55I don't know. We'll see.
03:13It's Longley, all right.
03:15Hello, Bill.
03:16All right, Longley, get down.
03:26Inside.
03:33Did he give you much trouble?
03:36No.
03:39Did he give you much trouble?
03:41Not after I got the drop on him.
03:43Well, wait till folks hear about this.
03:47Get the sheriff, Jim. We'll have to jail him.
03:50Oh, wait a minute, mister. Wait a minute. You're forgetting something. The reward.
03:53We've got the money. Right here.
03:56Hold it.
03:57What is this?
03:58You fellas are too trustin'. I almost called it off, Jim, and I found out you were gonna be here.
04:01Never figured you'd fall for it. Standing by while I picked up my own reward.
04:05Well, maybe next time it'll be twice as big.
04:09Jim, you're never gonna live this down. Tie him up, Jess.
04:13Guess you won't do that for him. Get out.
04:20Jim!
04:22Jim!
04:34That was like taking candy from a baby.
04:37Boy, that Hardy, he's gonna have a lot of explaining to do.
04:40$5,000.
04:42He'll have to work 100 years to pay that off.
04:45I think I'll get my gun if he'll make it without it.
04:49Put your hands up if you don't want to get plugged.
04:52But don't get ambitious.
04:55All right. The hand over the money.
04:58Are you Hardy hearing all of a sudden?
05:00Look, Bill, I don't want to use this.
05:08All right, Billy. Now step back. Way back.
05:13Hyah!
05:17Why'd you wait until we got out here?
05:19You could have left me at the Fargo office.
05:21I got nothing personal against you, Bill. What I wanted, I got.
05:25Oh, yeah, Marge. I'll keep your date with her.
05:29I don't think you'll really mind, will you?
05:31I'll kill you for this.
05:34Bill, you don't understand. Marge does things to me.
05:37When I'm with her, I feel big as a mountain.
05:40You'll be all right. How do you feel?
05:43Mad. I don't think I've ever been this mad in my life.
05:46Well, you sure don't look it.
05:49You don't look worried about that money.
05:51It'd make you feel better if I jumped up and hollered and made a lot of noise.
05:54I'd be a great lawyer.
05:56I'd be a great lawyer.
05:58I'd be a great lawyer.
06:00I'd be a great lawyer.
06:02I'd be a great lawyer.
06:04I'd be a great lawyer.
06:06I'd be a great lawyer.
06:08It'd make you feel better if I jumped up and hollered and made a lot of noise.
06:10What about it, Sheriff? You're going to put together a posse, aren't you?
06:13Kind of hard at this hour, Jim.
06:15By morning, they'll be in Vinegar Wells.
06:17Take an army to get them out of there.
06:19Besides, if we did catch up with them, they'll have plenty of company.
06:24You don't know what it's like.
06:27I know there are two killers loose in your county and you refuse to help.
06:30Make sure that's in your report, Milt.
06:32Where are you going, Jim?
06:34There's $5,000 that belongs to Wells Fargo.
06:37Now it's in the wrong hands, I'm going to try to get it back.
06:47Marge!
06:55Marge!
06:59Marge.
07:01Where's Bill?
07:04Bill, is he all right?
07:06Don't you worry about Bill, he's all right.
07:08Just had a little business to take care of.
07:10He wants us to meet him at the shack.
07:12Vinegar Wells?
07:14Bill said we were going over the border.
07:16Get married, start a new life.
07:18Now you don't believe that stuff, do you?
07:20Bill wouldn't lie to me.
07:23Well, now, it seems pretty late for Bill Longley to start changing his colors.
07:28I tell you, he wouldn't lie to me.
07:31All right, get your horse.
07:33We better start going before there's some company.
07:35You're not fooling me, Jess.
07:37Bill's all right?
07:39You don't know me very well, Marge.
07:41When you know me better, you'll find out I won't lie to you either.
07:44I won't take good care of you, Marge.
07:47The best.
08:01Come on.
08:32Come on, boy.
08:34Come on.
08:36Here we go.
09:01Come on.
09:22Hold him.
09:24Whoop.
09:32Come on.
09:46The initials on the grip were WL.
09:49It was Bill Longley's.
09:51And I knew something was dead wrong,
09:53for Bill would never take a dozen steps without his handgun.
09:57Still, it might be a trap.
10:00If it was, maybe I'd wish I'd listened to that sheriff.
10:03My head was aching from Jess's gun, but I had to get out of the sun and stretch.
10:10The trees down below looked a million miles away.
10:13Bill's got a gun.
10:15I've got a gun.
10:17I don't like the sound of it.
10:19But I've got to get out of here.
10:21I'm going to get Jess.
10:23I'm going to get Jess.
10:25I'm going to get her.
10:27I'm going to get her.
10:29I'm going to get Jess.
10:31We're a million miles away.
10:41Hold it, Jim.
10:47I'm unarmed.
10:49Might as well throw in with you.
10:50I'm no good to myself this way.
10:57I'm clean, Jim.
10:58I give you my word.
11:00All right.
11:03You must be plenty peeved at me.
11:05Bet on that.
11:07Wells Fargo's out $5,000
11:08and you made me look like a chump.
11:11Yeah, well, I'm out $2,500.
11:14And my girl, maybe.
11:16Oh, that old Jess sure double-crossed me.
11:19I'm beginning to think I'm a bad judge of human nature.
11:23You got any water to spare?
11:26Help yourself.
11:30Come on.
11:45You know, we ought to do something about old Jess.
11:48I'll make you a deal, Jim.
11:50You'll make a deal.
11:52I'm the one that's got the water
11:53and your horse and your gun.
11:57Yeah, but you don't know where Jess is, and I do.
12:01A little while ago, you mentioned something about your girl.
12:05Let's just talk about Jess and the Fargo money.
12:07Seems to me we're talking a lot about everything.
12:11You're in a bind, friend.
12:12I'm gonna call your hand.
12:15I think you're bluffing.
12:17You want that money almost as much as you want me.
12:20And you want Jess,
12:21because every time you take a step,
12:22your head hurts and reminds you of him.
12:25Supposing I got that money for you,
12:27would you turn me loose?
12:31So you could come back and steal it again?
12:33No thanks.
12:35I'm not a complete fool.
12:37All right, I'll give it to you straight.
12:39I sided in with Jess to pick up a quick bankroll.
12:43You see, I, I got a girl.
12:47We want to get married.
12:49Go to Mexico and make a fresh start.
12:52That's gospel, Jim.
12:55You help me find my girl,
12:57and I give you my pledged word.
12:59I'll get over across that border,
13:01and it's the last the Wells Fargo will ever see of me.
13:04And I don't go back on my word.
13:07I believe you.
13:09But I can't help you.
13:11There's always ways of working things out if you want to.
13:15All right, keep talking.
13:17All right, we got the money.
13:19And Marge.
13:21Supposing you take me in.
13:24Maybe you could sweeten the sentence a little bit,
13:27because of my help.
13:30Maybe you could even fix it up
13:31so I wouldn't get but a year or so.
13:34I can't promise you what a judge is gonna do or say.
13:38But I can promise you I'll do what I can to help you.
13:41Is that a deal?
13:45It's a deal.
13:47You know, it's noon,
13:48and I haven't eaten since last night.
13:50Let's do something about it.
13:59Who meets me is how a fellow like yourself.
14:03Smarter than most.
14:04You started off the wrong way.
14:07Believe me, I didn't sit down and plan it.
14:10If I had my way,
14:12I'd be back in Evergreen working a farm.
14:17My father was the only union man in Washington County.
14:24Kids used to call me all kinds of names
14:25because I was a big boy.
14:27I used to walk down the main street at night.
14:31No one smiled or said hello.
14:34They just looked past me and hated me till it hurt.
14:40Then the carpetbaggers come to town.
14:42Things got worse.
14:47I had to kill a Yankee to show where I stood.
14:50I hid out in the hills for a couple of months.
14:53I went down to see my father.
14:55I shot my way out.
14:58And I was on the loose again.
15:01My time's running out, Jim.
15:03If I don't settle down pretty soon,
15:06I'll hang.
15:09Yep, I expect you will.
15:14All right, let's get to work.
15:15So I went on a manhunt with Bill Longley,
15:18as deadly a gun as ever rode in Texas.
15:21I was about to kill him.
15:23As deadly a gun as ever rode in Texas.
15:26I was after Wells Fargo money.
15:29He was after his sweetheart.
15:30And the man who had double-crossed him.
15:32Somewhere along the line, someone was gonna die.
15:37I hope it wouldn't be me.
15:54Ha!
15:57You'd better turn back, Bill,
15:58if you know what's good for you.
16:01It's just heaven.
16:02You must have been worried I'd come.
16:04I'm warning you, Bill!
16:08Jim, give me a gun.
16:14Hey, who's that with you?
16:16Jim Hardy!
16:19Oh, come on.
16:20Jim Hardy, yes.
16:21Hey, who's that with you?
16:23Jim Hardy.
16:24Hardy?
16:27Hey Bill, you don't really care what kind of company you keep, do you?
16:33I'm going to go after him. You keep me covered.
16:51Now let's see how tough you are.
17:06Alright, now where is she?
17:09What makes you think I'm going to tell you that? She's my insurance.
17:13Where's the money?
17:14It's insurance too.
17:17I'm going to turn around, Jess. Let you and Bill talk.
17:21Maybe when I turn around again, you won't be so interested in insurance.
17:25Well...
17:31Alright, come on. I'm tired of fooling with you, man. Where is she?
17:41At the shack.
17:44The money's there too.
17:47I should have killed you that day when I had the chance.
17:50You ain't going to kill nobody.
17:53Shacks and Vinegar Wells.
17:56You can get in alright, Jim, but if they recognize you, you'll never get out alive.
17:59Who else is there?
18:01Pete Morgan, Jed Harris, Lester White.
18:04The others aren't back.
18:07I never heard of any of them.
18:08If they recognize you, you're dead.
18:13And you can't go in there unarmed. They'd know something was wrong.
18:17Maybe you're right.
18:43So we rode into Vinegar Wells.
18:56Hideout and base of operations for every outlaw in the Panhandle.
19:00As Bill said, anyone could ride in.
19:03Riding out was the trick.
19:14Watch yourself, Jess.
19:26Hello, Shell.
19:28Howdy, Bill. Jess.
19:30Lucky to meet a friend of mine, Jim.
19:32Howdy, Jim.
19:34Howdy.
19:35Marge upstairs?
19:36Yep. She ain't been down.
19:39Pining for you, boy.
19:41Well, I'll take care of that, yeah?
19:44Come on, Jim. Let's go upstairs.
19:58Yes?
20:00Open up. I need to meet.
20:06Bill.
20:08Bill.
20:13Oh, I'm sorry.
20:15Honey, this is a friend of mine.
20:17Listen, you get your things together. We're gonna get out of here.
20:19All right.
20:22Where's the money, Jess?
20:25Now, you keep playing game, and I'm gonna march you out and back,
20:29and I'm gonna put a hole in you where it ain't gonna do no good.
20:32Now, what's it gonna be?
20:39This was Bill's chance.
20:41He had a gun. His pals were downstairs.
20:45It must have been an awful temptation.
20:48The money, the girl.
20:51He had only to get the drop on me and take off for the border.
20:55All I could do was wait.
20:57It seemed like a hundred years.
21:08Here you are, Jim.
21:11Thanks.
21:13You about ready, honey?
21:14Yes.
21:15Let's go.
21:24Leaving already?
21:25Well, there's nothing to hold me here now.
21:27Watch him! He's from Wells Fargo!
21:39Let's go.
21:41Is he really from Wells Fargo?
21:43Yeah.
21:44You're not going back with him?
21:46Come on, honey. Let's get out of here.
22:01I knew what Bill Longley was thinking.
22:03And I could read the girl's mind, too.
22:05Behind was freedom.
22:07Ahead lay trial and imprisonment.
22:10Jail for Bill would clip Marge's wings,
22:12and she didn't know if she could take it.
22:18Get out of there!
22:36Is he dead?
22:38Jim?
22:40He's still breathing.
22:43Maybe this was how it was supposed to be.
22:46We could leave for Mexico now, be nothing to worry about.
22:49Bill, this is what we've been waiting for.
22:51We can take his horse with us.
22:53We can take his horse with us.
22:55We can take his horse with us.
22:57We can take his horse with us.
22:59We can take his horse with us.
23:01We can take his horse with us.
23:03We can take his horse with us.
23:06I know he says he's going to try to get you off,
23:08but it isn't up to him.
23:10They could give you life, hang you.
23:14They could.
23:15Bill, you've kept your promise.
23:17You went back to Vinegar Wells.
23:18You helped him get the money.
23:19Now think about yourself.
23:21And me.
23:28You go on over and get that canteen off the horse.
23:32Go on now.
23:33It's all right.
23:49Thank you, Bill.
23:51Don't thank me.
23:53You don't owe me nothing.
23:55I'm just as anxious to get my life cleared up as you are to take me in.
24:02I kept my word, and Bill got off with a light sentence.
24:06But his luck would run out.
24:08Sometime later, on September the 3rd, 1877,
24:12he was tried for murder and found guilty.
24:16There's been a lot of talk about Bill Longley.
24:19Maybe only time can judge him.
24:21But I've got to take them as they come.
24:24In my book, he was a man of honor.
24:26No matter what else he may have been.