The Return of Frank James

Whoa, Dan!

- Pinky! - Yes, sir.

- Come over here. - Yes, sir.

Take him back to the barn. I'm going up to the house.

- Clem oughta be getting in from town. - Yes, sir, Mr. Frank.

- Pinky. - Yes, sir?

Ain't you never gonna learn? What's my name?

Why, uh, Woodson. Mr. Ben Woodson, sir.

Why do you call me Mr. Frank? Ain't it just as easy to say Mr. Ben?

Well, seein' as I been calling you Mr. Frank ever since you were knee-high to nothin'...

ain't no harm in callin' you Mr. Frank when ain't nobody around here, is there?

Except that one day you're gonna forget and bawl out Mr. Frank when folks is around.

Pinky, FrankJames isn't hiding in these hills. He's dead.

Dead? W - Well, you ain't dead.

- You callin' me a liar? - Oh, no, sir. No, sirree, but-

Ain't no buts about it, Pinky. FrankJames is dead and buried and underground.

Yes, sure. Sure he's dead and buried and under the ground and rotted.

- Now remember. - Yes, I'll remember, Mr. Frank.

Jesse - They killed him!

- Jesse dead? - Yeah. Shot through the back when he weren't lookin'.

Ain't no other way they could have gotJesse. They know who done it?

Sure they know. It was them sneakin' cowards, Bob and Charlie Ford.

Bob and Charlie, huh?

Poor Zee and the baby.

Frank, can I go with you?

Go with me?

Well, I know you don't need any help, but-

I reckon I don't, seein' as I ain't aimin' to do anything.

What?

Ain't no more to be said now.

Tell Pinky to rustle up some supper.

Gosh, I was so sure you'd wanna light out after them Fords...

I bought me a gun.

- - Hand it over.

I used my own money.

Hand it over.

You're getting too big for your britches, son.

You got no call to be totin' a gun.

Well, I figured if there was any trouble-

There ain't gonna be no trouble.

Listen, son.

When your father was killed up at Northfield...

I brought you down here hopin' you'd grow up to be a regular hardworkin' man.

So far I got no complaints.

We've been gettin' along fine, you and me...

workin', mindin' our own business.

We bothered nobody. Nobody's bothered us.

Ain't what them Fords done bothered you none?

The courts will take care of the Fords.

- Supposin' they don't? - I'm supposin' they will.

WhateverJesse done, he was murdered, and the law don't hold with murder.

Frank, if nothin' gonna happen to them Fords...

ain't some folks gonna think that...

- well, maybe you're- - Scared?

- Well? - What do you think?

Oh, I know you ain't scared. You ain't scared of anything.

But, gosh, I wish you and me, we could-

Vittles is ready. Sit down, Mr. Frank.

I mean, Mr. Ben. I mean, Mr. Ben.

Mr. Frank is dead. I mean, Mr. Ben, Mr. Frank is dead.

So I mean, Mr. Ben, mmm, Mr. Ben, I mean, Mr. Ben, Mr. Frank is dead.

So, I mean, Mr. Ben. I mean, Mr. Ben. I mean, Mr. Ben, Mr. Frank is dead.

Sinners, sons of Belial...

prepare for the vengeance of the Lord.

The day of reckoning is mighty close.

You'll catch it hip and thigh if you don't get to repentin'. And get to it quick.

Hellfire's awaitin' you. Are you ready to meet your Maker?

I reckon so.

You willing to stand before the judgment seat with a chaw of tobacco in your mouth?

Lost souls, that's what you all are.

Black with sin. Black with iniquity.

The light of the Lord ain't in any of you.

Do you ever think of salvation? Do you ever think of the Kingdom?

No. All you ever think of is your bellies and your cornpone...

and your chitlins and your corn liquor.

Brother, how about a swig of that jug?

- Ain't hard liquor, is it? - No, plain spring water.

Oh.

- Crop all in? - Yeah.

- You from town? - Uh-huh.

- Any news? - Hogs is up two cents.

- Good. - You remember about them Ford boys?

- The fellas that killed JesseJames? - Yeah.

- I "heared" at the telegraph office they're gonna be hanged. - You don't tell me.

Uh-huh. Jury found them guilty of murderin'Jesse.

Don't know why though, bein' as there's a reward out for his killin'.

Revival meetin' at Clinton tomorrow night.

Be there, brother. It's me and the devil and no holds barred.

Giddap!

Law's all right, huh?

"Beatenest" thing I ever did see.

It's like I figured, ain't a jury in western Missouri...

would stand for shooting a friend when he ain't lookin', no matter what he done.

That'll be a lesson to you, son.

What about us going over to that revival meeting tomorrow night?

I think it's safe enough if I sort of stay in the shadows.

I reckon you'd like to see some other folks once in a while.

Oh, I ain't hankerin' to see no other folks.

But let's go fishin' tomorrow, you and me, huh?

Sure, son, sure.

Here it is, Mr. Frank.

Ain't they hangin' 'em?

No, they let them off and give them the reward money.

I knowed that preacher man heared wrong.

It's just like my pappy always said...

"There ain't no law for the poor folks except the end of a gun. "

Hush up.

I was certain sure they wasn't gonna do nothin'.

Did they ever do anything for our kind of folks? No.

McCoy and his railroad stole your farm and killed your mother. What happened? Nothin'.

And that timeJesse give hisself up. Did the law treat him right?

Uh-

Pinky, saddle the horses.

- Yes, sir! - Just my horse.

- Yes, sir. - You ain't goin' nowheres.

Oh, please, Frank. I won't get in the way.

You and Pinky gotta stay here and look after the farm. I won't be gone long.

Oh, Pinky can take care of things. There ain't much to do right now.

The fence has gotta be finished. The stock's gotta be taken care of.

- Anyways, you're too young. - I'm no baby. I'm grown up.

Ain't no use arguin', Clem. The Fords is my affair personal...

and you ain't goin' with me.

Pinky, I'm leavin' Clem in your charge.

- Don't let him get out of your sight. - No, sir.

- See he studies his figurin' and his readin'. - Yes, sir, Mr. Frank.

If you want me for anything important, Major Cobb will know where I am.

- Good-bye, Pinky. Good-bye, son. - Good- bye, sir.

Look after things while I'm gone too.

- Hello, Joe. Hello, Fred. - Hello.

- Didn't know you boys could read. -

Hello, Connie. How's your pa?

Whiskey. What'll it be, boys? Bob Ford's buyin'.

- Have a drink, Major. - I don't drink with rats.

- Watch out, Major. - No danger. The Fords only shoot at backs.

- You tryin' to make trouble? - No, but if I had my way-

You had your way. You and your stinkin' paper...

did everything you could to hang us, didn't ya?

Well, we're free now, and we got the reward money.

- There isn't a thing you can do about it. - Come, come, gentlemen.

Let bygones be bygones. TheJames case is a closed issue.

Not by a gosh-dang sight it ain't.

And it won't be closed tillJesse's brother's paid for every dad-blasted drop of it.

Your hands ain't any too clean either, Runyan.

Mine? What have I done?

As an officer employed by the railroad, naturally I-

Oh, don't pay any attention to the old buzzard. Talk, talk, that's all he can do.

Yeah, that's about all I can do.

But thoseJames boys are mighty peculiar. Mighty peculiar.

Jesse's gone, that's true. Maybe Frank's gone too.

And then again, maybe he ain't.

The boys always had a mighty peculiar way of turning up...

just when you least expected them.

Mighty peculiar.

What are your plans?

I'm going out West to see a friend of mine.

When?

Now.

Now read it back to me, Roy.

"If we're ever gonna have law and order in this part of the country...

"we gotta take vipers like those Fords...

"and that slimy railroad detective Runyan...

and shoot 'em down like dogs. "

Right. Now, paragraph.

"Furthermore, we've got to abolish the pardoning power"-

Better go back and get your supper, Roy.

Yes, sir.

Come in, Frank, come in. Come in!

I knew you'd be along this way soon, but you're a wee bit late.

- Late? Ain't they here? - No. They's gone out of town a few hours ago.

Yeah, yeah, get away from this window.

Now, now, come on. Sit down and tell me all about yourself and your folks.

Here. Here. Have a drink.

- Well, family's all right. They're in Kansas City. - Yeah?

About me? There ain't nothin' to tell.

I've been hiding out down in the Ozarks, farmin'. Heard aboutJesse.

Frank, it was the dirtiest, rottenest, sneakiest that ever was.

Oh, Jesse may have had killin' comin' to him. I ain't denyin' that.

But to be shot in the back by a couple of fellas that was like brothers to you...

with a weapon you give them yourself.

- I know, but about this pardon- - All part of the same piece.

McCoy put the Fords up to the killin', then got 'em the pardon and the reward.

- McCoy, huh? - Yeah.

Got no idea at all where the Fords went to?

None whatever, exceptin' they took the cars west.

What you aimin'to do?

Sure like to meet up with Bob and Charlie.

Old friends of mine, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I know.

Well, I'll be movin' along.

Well, good huntin', Frank.

- I'll let you know where I am. - All right.

- Good night, Major. - Hold on. Hold on, son, hold on.

Wait.

Come on. Come on.

Bye, son.

Roy!

- Yes, sir. - Get out them obituaries of the Fords...

- and set 'em up in type. - Yes, sir.

Giddap! Giddap!

Pinky. What are you doing here?