27min | Adventure, Family, Western | TV Episode
Traders Dennis and Jerry try to hide evidence of the death of another trader, accidentally killed by mentally disabled Dennis, who just wanted to hold the deceased man’s pocket watch.
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Writers: Sidney J. Furie, Victor Arthur, Carey Wilber
Stars: Barry Nelson, George Tobias, Tom Harvey
Traders Dennis and Jerry try to hide evidence of the death of another trader, accidentally killed by mentally disabled Dennis, who just wanted to hold the deceased man’s pocket watch.
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Writers: Sidney J. Furie, Victor Arthur, Carey Wilber
Stars: Barry Nelson, George Tobias, Tom Harvey
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Hudson's Bay, the saga of the great Hudson's Bay fur company, and of the brave men who
00:18traveled the untracked wilderness from Labrador to California, from Minnesota to Alaska.
00:28Joining Barry Nelson as Jonathan Banner, Hudson's Bay man.
00:43With George Tobias as Pierre Falcone.
00:59Hearing news of an armed force near the border, I was sent by the Hudson's Bay company to investigate.
01:06I decided to ask these soldiers a few questions.
01:09My companions were a Cree chief named Cavendish and a trapper, Jean-Le-Beth, who took a dim view of my questioning an entire army.
01:23Ah, it's a mosquito.
01:25Keep paddling.
01:26We don't find no soldiers, but we find plenty of mosquitoes.
01:29Cavendish isn't complaining.
01:31If he speak more better English like me, he would complain too.
01:34But he knows...
01:35Hey!
01:39Soldiers!
01:42We better find them before they find us.
02:00I did everything it said in the manual.
02:02What happened?
02:03I missed.
02:04That manual's strictly for officers, not us.
02:07Oh, here's one of them again.
02:25What happened?
02:26I missed again.
02:28Lieutenant!
02:29Hey, Lieutenant, seeing as there's just the three of us in a thousand mile of wilderness...
02:34You're in a tension, Boldy.
02:36Yes, sir.
02:38After reconnoitering the area for the day, I've made up my report.
02:41It reads as follows.
02:43U.S. Expeditionary Force, the Upper Mississippi River, Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike commanding.
02:48Progress this day about 18 miles over partially wooded terrain.
02:52The river here is separated into many small, shallow streams.
02:56But I intend to rediscover the main channel, which I am confident will continue to lead us far northward.
03:05You make anything out of these voices?
03:07We're there.
03:08Let's work closer.
03:09Thanks.
03:11This region appears utterly devoid of human habitation.
03:15Assurably, we are the first white man ever to penetrate this wilderness.
03:19And in fact, we may...
03:22Ah!
03:23Angels!
03:27I've seen us.
03:29Shoot pretty good, too.
03:31You still planning just to ask questions?
03:33Hold your fire, Boldy.
03:35You've probably never seen white men.
03:37Why did they sneak up on us?
03:39Now, you two establish a base of fire.
03:42I'm going to encircle them.
03:43What?
03:47You two cover me.
03:49I'm going to ask those questions.
03:50Ask them nice and pretty.
03:52Please?
04:23Who in the devil are you, sir?
04:40Jonathan Banner of Hudson's Bay.
04:43Well, who are you?
04:46Lieutenant Pike.
04:48Zebulon Pike.
04:49United States Army.
04:50Your service, sir.
04:53Nice to know you, Lieutenant.
04:56Say, Banner, have you been in this territory long?
04:59Just a week or so.
05:01I, uh...
05:02No, no.
05:03I mean you, Hudson's Bay man.
05:05Oh, about 15 years.
05:1015 years!
05:13Something the matter?
05:15What's the matter?
05:17I was sent in command of an expeditionary army.
05:21And when you lead an expedition for five months,
05:25through considerable hardship,
05:27and through what you honestly believe is wild,
05:31unexplored territory,
05:34and then suddenly you find...
05:39Sorry about that, Lieutenant.
05:41Of course, we just trade here.
05:47Can't be helped, I suppose.
05:51Say, where is your expeditionary army?
05:54You're looking at it, friend.
06:02Private Anderson and Private Boldy.
06:06The rest of my command is in the rear.
06:08About four days to the rear.
06:11All seven of them.
06:13Well, this is General LeBoeuf.
06:15This is Cavendish.
06:17Oh!
06:18How?
06:22The great white father in Washington
06:24sends me to smoke the pipe of peace
06:26with his Indian children.
06:33What is this expedition for?
06:37My instructions, sir, from Congress
06:38and my superior officers are as follows.
06:41One, to follow up the Mississippi River to its source.
06:44Oh, well, that...
06:46And two, to establish friendly relations
06:50with the Indian tribes.
06:52And three, to locate that point
06:54where a line drawn due west of Lake of the Woods
06:57intersects the Mississippi River,
06:58which according to the Treaty of 1783
07:01establishes the boundary between the United States and Canada.
07:04And there, sir, to plant the American flag.
07:08Hmm.
07:09Why do you say hmm, Mr. Banner?
07:11Well, you say a line drawn due west from Lake of the Woods.
07:14Yes, the word intersects the Mississippi.
07:16Well, Lake of the Woods, you know,
07:18that's 120 miles farther north.
07:21I'm aware of that, Banner.
07:23Does that make any difference?
07:25It wouldn't, only the Mississippi, you see.
07:28Yes.
07:29Well, the Mississippi starts right here.
07:35What?
07:36I can't help what it says in the treaty, Lieutenant.
07:39Lieutenant.
07:40Lieutenant.
07:42I can't help what it says in the treaty.
07:44There's this lake basin here,
07:46half a hundred muddy little brooks that flow into it.
07:49You can take your pick, but this is where the river starts.
07:53You know, I...
07:55I was afraid of something like this.
07:59Well, I guess it's just one of those days.
08:03Well, Banner,
08:05you lead me to the most northern branch of the Mississippi.
08:08You're standing on it.
08:13Now, the main lake is just behind us,
08:16but this spring here, that feeds the lake,
08:19and I suppose if you wanted to all choose
08:23the absolute northernmost part...
08:26Are you sure this just isn't a puddle, Banner?
08:29No, no, no. It flows off this end, see?
08:32Careful, you'll cause a flood downstream.
08:35Men, these are the mighty headwaters of the Mississippi.
08:40Well, it has to start somewhere, as I reckon.
08:44Don't take it hard, Lieutenant.
08:46No, after all, you still own a good bit of land,
08:48everything south of here.
08:50Sir?
08:51I said the United States owns everything south of here.
08:57Everything south of here, Mr. Banner,
08:59and a good deal north of here.
09:02What?
09:04Mr. Banner, I guess you don't understand the situation.
09:07According to the Treaty of 1783,
09:09which I have already explained,
09:11the United States owns everything
09:14up to a line drawn due west from Lake of the Woods.
09:17Excuse me, Lieutenant,
09:19but you said a line drawn due west from Lake of the Woods
09:21to intercept the Mississippi.
09:24Now, Lake of the Woods is up here.
09:26The top end of the Mississippi is right here.
09:29So, for a line...
09:31A line drawn due west, Mr. Banner.
09:33A line drawn due west, Lieutenant,
09:35just flies off nowhere.
09:37For a line from Lake of the Woods to meet the Mississippi,
09:41it's got to...
09:42Banner, I know you don't mean to be dumb.
09:45That is, I'm just trying to get you to try and understand.
09:48According to that treaty, Lieutenant...
09:50Lieutenant, the treaty is quite clear, Mr. Banner.
09:52It says a line drawn due west from a line out of Lake of the Woods.
09:55This is where the boundary starts.
09:58I am, this moment, standing in Canada.
10:02Mr. Banner, as a military man,
10:04I have witnessed firsthand the horrors of war.
10:07Well, I've seen it a bit myself.
10:09Now, I don't want to cause any bloodshed,
10:11but I must remind you, sir,
10:13you are dealing with members of the United States Army.
10:15Besides the detachment you see here,
10:17I have a strong force of men in reserve,
10:19men skilled in every phase of modern combat.
10:21Sir.
10:22And if...
10:23Sir.
10:24I, too, am a peace-loving man.
10:26But as a representative of the British Empire,
10:28I would call to your attention our valiant allies
10:32and to His Majesty's Indian brothers,
10:35whose loyalty and ferocity...
10:37Hey, don't come meddling in Canada, pal.
10:39I claim this land on behalf of the President
10:41and Congress of the United States.
10:43I claim this land on behalf of His Britannic Majesty,
10:45King George III.
10:46Banner!
10:48We whipped you in 76.
10:51We can do it again.
10:52Look, Pike.
10:53Look, I'm a peace-loving man.
10:55Look, Pike!
10:56Pike!
10:57Oh!
10:58Oh!
10:59Oh!
11:00Oh!
11:01Oh!
11:02Oh!
11:03Do it again, Banner.
11:04All right.
11:05Oh!
11:06Oh!
11:07Oh!
11:08Oh!
11:09Oh!
11:10Oh!
11:11Oh!
11:12Oh!
11:13Oh!
11:14Oh!
11:15Oh!
11:16Oh!
11:17Oh!
11:18Oh!
11:19Oh!
11:20Oh!
11:21Oh!
11:22Oh!
11:23Oh!
11:24Oh!
11:25Oh!
11:26Oh!
11:27Oh!
11:28Oh!
11:29Oh!
11:30Oh!
11:31Oh!
11:32Oh!
11:33Oh!
11:34Oh!
11:35Oh!
11:36Oh!
11:37Oh!
11:38Oh!
11:39It's his turn.
11:40It's his turn.
11:42Stand down, Banner!
11:43We can't get up, Banner!
11:44It's quicksand, don't struggle.
11:47Cavendish!
11:50It's taking us down, Banner.
11:54Stay right there.
11:55I'll get a pole.
11:57There isn't time.
12:03Can you reach me, Pike?
12:33Hey, boy!
12:41Hey, boy!
13:02What happened?
13:08Never mind, Addison. The war's over.
13:11Hey, we got a cabin up above there where you can dry off.
13:16It was a lovely war while that lasted.
13:31Now that the war's over, I feel like my normal self again, except hungry.
13:35Dinner, I could eat a horse, ears high and hooves.
13:38Well, we got plenty of food here.
13:40Your country been a little short on rations, have they?
13:43Yeah, we'll have to live off the land. Hasn't been bad recently, though.
13:46Well, we lost a couple of men a month back.
13:49Hey, what's that?
13:51King George the Third.
13:52Yeah, we use King George to trade with.
13:54The Indians love him.
13:57Salva here?
13:58Sure, yeah, Salva here. Why?
14:00Well, it's American territory.
14:03It's in the treaty.
14:05Yeah, but you can't go around giving out King George medals to United States Indians.
14:09Is that... Are you going to start that again?
14:11Just a second, batter. I've got my duty.
14:13I can't let my personal feelings interfere with things like this.
14:19Well, what is that?
14:20Cards, young. You never played cards before, young?
14:23Cards?
14:24Yeah. See, some of these cards, they have little black spots.
14:27Others have little red spots. And some of these, they have faces.
14:31Hey, look at that little face. Two little faces.
14:36Hey, you turn them up the other way, faces both ways.
14:41Hey, you ever play a little game called United States Poker?
14:47Poker?
14:48Yeah.
14:49You teach?
14:50Sure, I teach. At what we end, eh, huh?
14:54Now, you've a lot of trade goods here, batter.
14:57Oh, yeah, sure. We've got a little of everything here, except tobacco.
15:00Had a canoe upset at the Grand Rapids and lost all the tobacco we had.
15:04Yeah? Pay duty on them?
15:07Duty?
15:08Yeah. Import duty on your trade goods.
15:11You, uh, said you trade South of here.
15:15Well, I tell you, I had the money right in my fist, ready to pay.
15:19But there was nobody there to collect it.
15:22It's no laughing matter, batter.
15:23Who's laughing?
15:25Pervasus.
15:26Eights over trades.
15:28Fours. And how you say, kings high?
15:32Hey, you sure you never played this game before?
15:44Move over, Anderson.
15:45I was the one to join it.
15:48Yeah.
15:50Why, you're welcome, boy.
15:55Now, big enough for you, Zeb?
15:57Batter, I know it seems foolish to you that I worry about boundaries and import duties and things like that,
16:02but someday it will be important.
16:04Someday this land will be settled.
16:06There'll be cities here of a thousand people.
16:09Here?
16:10Oh, Zeb, I hope they'll leave room for my supplies.
16:13Jacks over fours.
16:16Beats me.
16:17Full house.
16:18Full house.
16:24A royal flush.
16:26And he filled it.
16:28Bully!
16:29Anderson!
16:30You're not supposed to gamble with the natives.
16:32For the first time, Lieutenant, I understand why.
16:36Lieutenant, will you look at that meat?
16:38Will you look at that meat?
16:41Elk steak.
16:42Throw it over, I'll eat it raw.
16:45Yeah, there's a wind coming up.
16:47Banner!
16:49Now what?
16:50I didn't notice that before.
16:54The Union Jack.
16:56Please, Lieutenant, no more wars.
16:59Banner, I have to report to Congress.
17:01Now, those King George III medals, I guess I can forget about them.
17:04And the import duty, I'll tell them you promised to be more careful in the future.
17:08But, Banner, how can I tell them that I found a British flag flying in the United States and I just let it fly there?
17:14Is it on your side of the line?
17:17Yeah, but yes it is.
17:18Now, even if I accept your version of the boundary line, which I haven't,
17:21but if I did and we draw the line to the top of that pond,
17:24that flagpole is in the United States.
17:26Well, draw the line down the middle of the pond.
17:28That puts me on the safe side.
17:30No, I'm sorry, Banner, that's not acceptable.
17:33That's your final word, is it?
17:35Well, I've taken my official stand on the subject and that's it.
17:40Couldn't negotiate a bit.
17:41No, we couldn't.
17:42No, we couldn't.
17:43That's my official opinion on it and nothing on earth can make me change.
17:47All right.
17:51Look at that meat.
17:52Will you look at that meat.
17:54Look pretty good to you?
17:55Oh, man, it sure does.
17:58Sure wish you boys could have some.
18:03Hey, what do you mean?
18:05Well, there seems to be this boundary dispute between us two countries
18:09and your commanding officer wants our flag down and all,
18:14and so, well, I figure what I'm now preparing is a meal just for loyal Britishers.
18:21John, I believe this is how you like yours. Is it rare?
18:24Yeah, that's right, with the juice running the twixt.
18:27Lieutenant, we could rush them.
18:29Sure, how would that look on your report?
18:32Oh, don't do boldly. You'll just have to stamp it.
18:35Lieutenant, give him that nasty pond.
18:38Patterson, you don't understand.
18:39Any line we establish now runs from here to Lake of the Woods.
18:42There are thousands of acres at stake.
18:44Speaking of stake, Cavendish, I believe this is how you like yours.
18:48Crisp on the outside and soft within.
18:55Oh, Lieutenant, please.
18:59All right, let me wait here. I'll have a talk with him.
19:04Banner, I may have been a bit hasty.
19:07Perhaps I would consider drawing the line to the middle of that pond.
19:12Oh, well, I've changed my mind.
19:16What?
19:17Well, considering the insult to His Majesty's flag,
19:21I'm now holding out for the bottom of the pond.
19:23Banner, this is an atrocity.
19:25Mr. Delegate, you're in my light.
19:30Don't give in to him, Lieutenant.
19:32I won't.
19:34We'll remember our duty.
19:36Tomorrow we'll get our own food.
19:39Tomorrow.
19:40John, I don't think the three of us can eat all this.
19:43Don't give in to him, Lieutenant.
19:45Don't worry, Bowley. You can trust me.
19:49Banner?
19:51Here comes Yankee Doodle again.
19:53Banner?
19:56Banner, I surrender.
19:58Complete?
19:59We'll draw the line to the bottom of the pond.
20:03No tricks.
20:05My word as an officer.
20:07In that case, I'm pleased to entertain your delegation.
20:10Welcome to Canada.
20:11Welcome to Canada.
20:29That was good. Real good.
20:31Glad you liked it.
20:32Sure did.
20:33Banner, you drive a ruthless bargain, though.
20:37Well, Zamp, I guess in international affairs
20:40you can't be soft-hearted.
20:43Well...
20:44No, sir.
20:46Yeah, I guess you're right.
20:49Henderson, get me my pack.
20:52What do you got there, Zamp?
20:54Tobacco.
20:55Tobacco?
20:56Tobacco? Wait, wait.
20:57I get my pass.
20:58Hey, we haven't had a smoke in a month.
21:00Did I tell you our canoe overturned and we...
21:03Yes.
21:04You told me that, Banner.
21:07Here.
21:08Here.
21:10Here.
21:20Anderson?
21:24I forget how you like it, Bully.
21:26Smoke or chew?
21:27Oh, smoke.
21:28Thank you kindly, Lieutenant.
21:31Well, I always say this.
21:33Nothing rounds off a good meal like a good pipe.
21:41Thank you kindly, Private Anderson.
21:53John, I'd be only too pleased to offer you a bit of tobacco.
21:56Which I may say is Virginia's best black twist.
22:00Fully dried, mature at end.
22:03Mmm.
22:04Rolled, rolled tight.
22:05Oui.
22:06However, dear Mr. Banner there has been so strict
22:09about the matter of that boundary line.
22:11Yes, sir, Banner.
22:12And the great white father in Washington
22:14would be only too pleased to share
22:16the pipe of peace with his Indian children
22:18if they were only his.
22:22John.
22:24Sit down.
22:26How was life, Private Bully?
22:29Full up and down, Lieutenant Pike.
22:31Pike?
22:32For a pipe full of tobacco,
22:34I'm not gonna move that line back to the top of the pond.
22:37You better know that.
22:39All right, Banner.
22:40I'll be merciful.
22:41Suppose we say the middle of the pond.
22:45The middle?
22:46If that's acceptable.
22:52No, by golly.
22:54Not for a pipe full of...
23:03All right, Lieutenant.
23:05All right, Lieutenant.
23:09Lieutenant.
23:13I accept.
23:14The great white father in Washington
23:16leans across to King George and says,
23:18Howl.
23:19Howl.
23:35All right, staff, we're ready.
23:43Mr. Banner, in my capacity as representative
23:45of the United States,
23:46I prepared this letter,
23:48a copy which will go with my report to Congress,
23:51warning you against the further distribution
23:53of King George medals to United States Indians,
23:56drawing to your attention
23:58the establishment of import duties on trade goods,
24:02and cautioning you, sir,
24:04against the building of British forts
24:06on what may turn out to be American soil.
24:11There.
24:14Lieutenant Pike,
24:16as representative of the Hudson's Bay Company,
24:20Britain and Canada,
24:22I've prepared a reply to your letter
24:25in which I agree
24:26to read your letter very carefully.
24:32Guard.
24:35Present arms.
24:39Ready.
24:41Aim.
24:42Fire.
24:43Mark.
25:00Mr. Banner.
25:02Take care of yourself, Zeb.
25:07Guard.
25:09Shoulder arms.
25:14Left turn.
25:17Quick march.
25:25So we stood and watched them march off over the prairie,
25:28that small, ridiculous, brave, and wonderful army.
25:34And then we looked up to where our two flags
25:37flew in friendship, side by side,
25:39and, please God, they always shall.
25:43© BF-WATCH TV 2021
26:13© BF-WATCH TV 2021