[baby crying]
[children laughing, chattering]
[boy, singsongy] Danny Hawkins's dad was hanged!
[mimicking choking]
[boy] A fight! A fight! Jerry Sykes is fightin' Danny Hawkins!
Jerry's got him down! Jerry's got him down!
[boy, singsongy] Danny Hawkins's dad was hanged!
[children] Danny Hawkins's dad was hanged!
[boy] Attaboy, Jerry.
-[boy 2] Slug him, Jerry. Keep whuppin' him! -[boy 3] Jerry Sykes sure can fight.
Aw, Danny's yellow. He's no better than his old man.
- Come on! Come on! Go on! - We've got a present for ya, Danny.
[singsongy] Danny Hawkins's dad was hanged!
[frogs croaking]
[band: swing]
[man] What do you want, Jerry? I came here to dance.
[Jerry] Yeah? Well, quit dancing with Gilly Johnson.
I told you at that coon hunt three months ago, she's out of your class.
- You've been pestering her ever since. -[Danny] You're drunk.
No wonder Gilly walked away from you on the dance floor.
You're out of line, Hawkins.
You know, you're just about ripe for another beating.
- And I'm about ready to give it to you. - Shut up, Jerry!
[laughing] The killer blood, huh?
Danny, did your old man have time to tell you how it feels
to drop six feet at the end of a rope? flaughs]
[band continues]
'Is-Ofig ends] {applause}
[panting]
Have you had enough?
You had enough?
[mimicking choking]
Let him wise up!
[groans]
Jerry.
Jerry!
[breath quavers]
-[young woman giggles] -[man chuckles]
[twigs snap]
Oh! [laughs] I thought someone was coming.
Come on, sugar. I gotta get back to the band.
[thunderclap]
[straining]
[thunderclap]
-[band: swing] -[people laughing]
-[man] Come on, Billy. -[woman] Come on, Billy.
[man] Attaboy. Here, Billy.
-[man 2] Come on. -[woman] Come on.
-Isn't that pretty, Billy? - Sure is pretty, Billy.
Nice, huh? Take it. Go ahead.
[laughing]
- Come on, Billy. Once more. - Come on, Billy.
- Aw, come on. - Nice compact.
Come on. Here.
- Attaboy. - That's it.
[laughing]
[Danny] Give me that.
[man] What's the matter with you?
[man 2] Who does he think he is?
[woman] Hey, what's the big idea? That's my compact!
Yeah. Come on back here. That's Janie's mirror.
- Cut out the rough stuff. - Lay off him!
Just because he's deaf and dumb and he's got a mind like a baby
don't give you no right to make fun of him.
- Why don't you mind your own business? - Lay off him!
Forget it, George. He looks like he's had enough fights tonight.
[thunderclap]
'Is-Ofig ends] {applause}
How long you been standin' there, Billy?
HOW long?
[band: ballad]
I must be nuts.
Talking to a dummy.
[ballad continues]
Lose your girl, Danny?
Hi, Ken.
How about a game later?
Just the usual. Some of the boys are staying.
The, uh, Brothers Pond Bourbon and Poker Club.
Not me. I can't afford that kind of poker.
♪ It just dawned on me ♪
♪ That there's magic in the moonrise ♪
♪ It just dawned on me ♪
♪ When we found our love at moonrise ♪
♪ A serenade of silver strings ♪
-♪ From dreamy violins ♪ - I'm cutfin' 'm.
♪ Turns winter into summer I
♪ All at once, my life begins ♪
♪ It just dawned on me ♪
You're not very courteous.
♪ That the night is filled with romance ♪
♪ Let's give love a chance ♪
♪ We must never let it pass us by ♪
♪ Two hearts will sing in harmony ♪
-.I' Just like a symphony ♪ - What's come over you?
♪ It just dawned on me... ♪ [continues]
You're not dancing with anyone else tonight, Gilly.
Daniel, I'm a schoolteacher.
I can't afford to fight with you here in front of everybody.
I even stopped dancing with Jerry because he'd been drinking.
Jimmy BifFs got his old man's car outside. You're comin' with us.
I'm certainly not.
Or I'll carry you out.
[thunderclap]
Take it easy, Dan. This stuff is slippery.
Don't be such an old crosspatch, Jimmy.
Golly. You have to go so fast?
My old man will murder me if anything happens to his car.
Danny, please.
What's the matter? You look scared.
I was just thinking about a little boy in one of my classes.
Schoo♪s out now.
- All the kids pick on him. - Yeah?
Give him milk, he breaks the glass.
Hand him a toy, he smashes it.
He gives me a -
- He gives me a lot of trouble. - And you don't like him.
You know how it is with a teacher, Dan.
Even if I hated him, I'd have to hide my feelings and try not to hurt him.
You see, Dan, he's unhappy...
and you just can't hurt a little boy.
Golly, Dan, you're goin' too fast.
If we start skidding, we'll never know what we hit.
Slow down, for gosh sakes.
Stop worryin' about your old man.
I'm not worried about nothin' but us.
Pull her down, will you, Dan?
For gosh sakes!
Be careful, Dan. That underpass is right ahead.
[Jimmy] Look out, Dan! Look out!
[tires screeching]
Gilly.
Sum!
Gilly.
It's all right, Dan.
[congregation singing hymn] ♪ Work, for the n/ght is coming ♪
♪ Work through the sunny noon ♪
♪ Fill brightest hours with labor ♪
♪ Rest comes sure and soon ♪
♪ Give every flying minute ♪
♪ Something to keep in store ♪
[door opens, closes]
Daniel?
- Yes, Aunt Jessie? - It's late.
I was out to Blackwater. It's near time for huntin'.
Did you hear anything from the railroad?
I'll be on layoff for another three weeks.
Why? You worried about your room rent?
Come here, Daniel.
A man needs something to keep him busy,
keep him out of mischief. I -
I guess I don't know very much about boys, Daniel.
Ever since Grandma sent you to me from the hills to go to school, I -
I've tried my best, but... now -
It isn't good for you never to have known your own -
own pa and ma.
Why dOrYt you say it?
About Pa shootin' a man and gettin' hung for it.
That's something I've never talked about.
What are you tryin' to say, Aunt Jessie?
Jimmy BifFs father spoke to me after church tonight.
He said the car last night was your fault.
Yours and that schoolteacher's.
What about her?
Well, if she can't handle young people a little better than that,
why, she wouldn't make a very good schoolteacher.
I know you're not a bad boy, Daniel.
In spite of what happened a long time ago,
there's never been a drop of bad blood in our family.
You couldn't help but be a good boy.
That's what I told Walter Biff.
That's right nice of you, Aunt Jessie.
After this, let's -
Let's talk together a little more often, hmm?
We'll talk.
Kiss me good night, Daniel.
Gilly.
Gilly, I -
- You all right? - I'm all right.
You don't sound very happy.
Should I be?
I called Julie's house this morning. Her mother wouldn't talk to me.
Well, the kids are okay.
Doc says it's just shock.
Everybody's blaming me for the wreck. I'm a schoolteacher and I let it happen.
Anybody can have an accident.
An accident?
Are you always like that when you're drunk?
Like what?
Like -
Like you had nothing but hate in you.
You were scared.
It was as though you wanted to kill yourself, kill all of us.
Gilly...
people should understand each other,
especially... when parties are in love.
In love?
Oh-
You're out of your mind.
What was between you and Jerry Sykes?
I don't think that's any of your business.
The way I figured, you're just a girl from the sticks.
You worked a little harder than anybody else and you went to college.
Now you're lookin' for someone like Jerry.
Jerry's the nicest boy I've ever known. Last night, he asked me to marry him.
- And you said yes. - Of course I said yes.
And because I went home with you, he hasn't called me today.
[woman] Good evening, young folks.
Good evening, Miss Simpkins.
Didn't expect to see you up and about, Daniel.
I'm all right, I reckon.
Try to come to church next Sunday, Daniel.
It'll do you a heap more good than those dances at Brothers Pond.
Good night.
Good night?
- Good night. - Gilly.
Gilly, I - I'm gonna sit on the porch with you for a while.
Last night, I kissed you.
Dan, please go.
Don't touch me.
Don't you see or care? If this goes on, I'll lose my job.
That all you're afraid of?
Dan, let go.
Dan, let go!
Gilly.
[softly] Gilly.
- Dan, what am I going to do? - Gilly.
This is all I want.
And the devil with everything else.
Gilly.
Gilly, it was to make you happy, not to hurt you.
What am I going to tell Jerry?
[flying]
Maybe Jerry's tearin' off a hot riff down there in Richmond,
tryin' to date up some mouse, you know?
Maybe.
Why all the phony jive?
- Heck, I ain't no square, you know. -[chuckles]
Hi, Danny.
- Hi, Elmer. - Hello, Hawkins.
- You all right? - Why not?
Uh, cup of coffee, Elmer.
Doggone. That gasses me.
Wreck like that and not even a scratch.
And to top the brake, Jerry Sykes takes a powder.
Man, the town's real gone, you know?
What about Jerry Sykes?
Ask Ken. He drove his car home after the hop.
Danny don't care.
I bet you'd be happy if he never showed.
Why don't you mind your own business?
-[door opens] -[Elmer] Shh! Stash the yap.
Mornin', Mr. Sykes. What can I do for you?
Where are the papers?
Well, the Dispatch ain't come in yet. Probably be in on the 10:10, you know?
- Say, Williams. - Yes, sir?
Heard anything?
No, sir, Mr. Sykes. I haven't.
[clicks tongue] That Jerry Sykes, he's a natural drag, you know?
They tell me Jerry had a beef with Gilly Saturday night before he beat it.
On account of all that corn liquor he was soaking up.
Yeah?
How was it you was able to latch onto that mouse, Danny?
Maybe she got tired of waitin'.
[sharp whistle]
What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen the kind that folds?
[cash register rings]
Want to go down to Brothers Pond with me, Hawkins?
They're gonna try draggin' the pond.
I reckon not.
“L reckon, I reckon.”
When are you gonna stop talking like a hillbilly, Hawkins?
Aw, he's nothin' but a hincty square.
You gonna dig that county fair, Danny?
I might.
You know, that Jerry Sykes - strictly a sticky-icky.
Remember the time he trimmed you down behind the schoolhouse?
Actin' like 'cause his old man was J.B. Sykes
give him more rights than other guys.
You know, I never did dig that.
Just 'cause your old man was a criminal, that wasn't any reason why -
You talk too much.
Nothin' in the whole town but squares.
Hawkins.
Hello, Sheriff.
Made you jump, huh, fella?
You gotta be careful. Wear your brain out thinkin'.
I was lookin' for Mose Jackson.
Tidewater freight ain't in yet.
Who's the boy?
Jessie Hawkins - her nephew.
Who?
[loud voice] Daniel Hawkins.
Ain't Yankee.
He's from Chinamook.
[loud voice] The mountains.
Tell him to sit down.
You heard him, young fella. Sit down.
Educated fella, that Mose.
Engineer says he can read as good as anybody.
Better.
Read about every book there is, I guess.
That's too many.
[train whistle blows]
[train bell clanging]
Seven minutes late.
[om man] Huh?
[loud voice] Seven minutes late.
They oughta whup that engineer.
[chuckling]
Who's that fella just got off?
Where?
Yonder. Last car.
You blind?
Black suit.
Preacher, undertaker, or detective?
Town don't need any more preachers and undertakers.
And what use would we have for a detective?
-[sheriff] Peculiar animal, ain't he? - Yeah.
Ain't no telephone in there, mister.
Cab driver will be here soon.
Always is when the train comes in.
[train whistle blows]
Talkative cuss, ain't he?
Maybe Uncle Joe was right - a detective.
[train bell clanging]
[train engine chugging, departing]
[train whistle blowing]
- Mr. Chandler? - Yes.
- I'm Mr. Sykes. - How do you do?
[sheriff] Well, I'll be hung for a witch.
Old J.B. Sykes helpin' somebody.
Must be an important guy.
What do you suppose a banker wants a man like that for?
They tell me young Sykes ain't been seen since the dance Saturday.
J.B.'s been askin' around.
You think Jerry's up to something?
- How would I know? - I guess not.
Reckon you wouldn't care what happened to Jerry Sykes,
times he's licked you.
Figures his old man being a banker makes him somebody.
Eh, you'll catch up with him one of these days.
Detective.
There's somethin' to figure.
[Danny] Gilly.
Dan.
You're trembling.
Been waitin' since two o'clock.
But I told you 3:00.
I have to be at school for the spring recital at 5:00, but -
I can meet you after that.
Let's walk.
I know now why Jerry didn't call me on Sunday.
Dan, I'm worried. No one's seen him since the dance, and -
Are you in love with Jerry?
Oh. How could I be?
Danny.
Danny, I don't understand anything.
Why are we meeting in secret places as if -
as if we were hunted?
Why, Dan?
What is it in your eyes that you never say?
It's like being in a long, dark tunnel.
Why do you say that?
The way you look and act and talk, you -
Where will I meet you tonight?
Blackwater.
The old mansion?
Isn't that where Mose lives?
He's out in the back. He'll never know we're there.
Danny, I hate this.
What are we hiding?
You make me feel guilty when I've done nothing.
Danny.
Why don't you tell me I'm - I'm crazy or-or -
or upset or that it -
there's nothing to be afraid of?
That's right.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
Just keep saying it.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
Mose.
[man] Yes?
-[dog whines] - Lookit, Mr. Dog.
No manners, no manners at all.
- Where have you been lately? - Oh, around.
I figured I'd come over and find out when we might go huntin' for coon.
A couple of fellas from the lodge asked me yesterday to take 'em out.
[low whistle]
If the air stays clear, I'll have to take 'em out tomorrow night.
Railroading isn't gonna feed Mr. Dog.
Mr. Dog. Why do you call everything “mister”?
- Here, dog. -Isn't enough dignity in the world.
Come here. I want to show you something.
She did her duty by the dog race.
-[Danny] Daisy Belle. -[puppies whimpering]
Daisy Belle, I'll be doggoned.
- Look what you went and done. -[yawns]
[puppy whimpers]
Oh! [chuckles]
- Who's pappy? - Juniper.
Never saw such a disgusted dog.
Came in and took one look and made a very rapid departure.
Aw, your sad little face.
How do you know it was Juniper?
Always tell when Mr. Dog did something he shouldn't.
Like killin' a chicken.
He acts guilty, guilty as all get-out.
Well, how's he know what's good and what's bad?
Well, someone told him.
So long. So long.
In a philosophical mood, aren't you?
Not particular.
Kind of serious.
Got me a girl.
Ain't you interested?
I guess so.
What are you going to do about it?
Oh, I only met her a few times to talk to.
I think maybe she's afraid.
Afraid?
Because of what happened to your pappy?
I don't know.
What if she's right?
What if there's bad blood in me, Mose,
makes me do bad things?
I don't know what you're talkin' about - bad blood.
Blood is red. It keeps you alive.
It doesn't tell you what you have to do.
Tell ya something, Daniel.
When I was a brakeman,
I found a hobo sleepin' in a boxcar once on my run down from Roanoke.
There was something about the lonesome, cold look on his face
and the way he was lyin' there
that made me throw my coat over him and leave him.
The next I heard was when the sheriff grabbed my dogs to chase him.
It never felt right about the sheriff using the dogs.
It's all right for a dog to chase a coon, but not a man.
Did they - Did they catch him?
He was sent up for 15 years
for makin' love to the constable's daughter when she didn't want any.
Do you think he was bad?
Well, he was - He was guilty.
Sure.
But first he was lonesome.
I think he got 15 years for bein' lonesome,
not from having bad blood.
Yeah, but you get lonesome out here at Blackwater,
with your back to the swamp, don't you, Mose?
But you don't commit no crimes.
Sure, I get lonesome.
A man ought to have a woman.
Friends anyway.
A man ought to live in a world with other folks.
When I came out here, I thought I would be out of the way.
I thought there'd be no one shoving me around.
What I did was resign from the human race.
And I guess that's about the worst crime there is.
Only they don't hang you for it.
Look, what's all this talk about good and bad?
What has that to do with your girl?
You didn't do anything that makes you ashamed?
Oh, nothin'.
Nothin' in particular, I reckon.
[floorboard creaks]
Gilly?
- I thought you'd never get here. - I know.
After you left, I went to Maryville, saw a movie.
I saw it two times.
If I had to listen to one more child recite -
“On the shores of Gitche Gumee.”
Yeah, but at least you're working.
Time goes so slow.
This afternoon, it seemed like all the clocks in Virginia stopped at once.
Then at night, they - they hurry at making up time.
[floorboard creaks]
Night noises.
Old Lizzie Blackwater clearing her throat.
After all, it's her room.
Uh, she - she wants us always to behave properly in her home...
as though she were here to chaperone us.
She don't care, as long as we ain't Yankees.
And so we shall, Miss Lizzie, I promise you.
[Southern accent] Good evenin', Captain Hawkins.
Any brave officer of General Lee's is most welcome at Blackwater.
Gilly, I -
Colonel Calhoun!
I'd admire to dance with you.
Oh, Gilly, stop fooling around.
In five minutes, you're gonna say it's late, you have to be goin' home.
And tomorrow night, I have to be huntin' coon with Mose, and -
My!
You soldiers are so strong.
Aw, Gilly.
Oh, aren't you gonna dance with little ole me?
Gilly, cut it out, will you?
Oh, please, Captain.
Ah-ah! Don't crush the taffeta.
Lovely party, Miss Blackwater.
You're doin' fine, Captain.
I've never seen you like this before, Gilly.
[normal voice] I've never been like this before.
We can't do business that way, Mr. Sykes.
I know you're anxious, but there's only one person that can give us the answer.
- Suppose you don't find him? - Well, we practically always do.
Not a hundred percent, but practically always.
Well, things always look better in the morning, Mr. Sykes.
- Good night. - Good night.
[dogs barking in distance]
Aren't we headin' pretty much to the east?
[Mose] Pretty much.
Well, that's gonna fetch us right smack in Brothers Pond,
through the swamp.
Give those fellows their money's worth. Might even get their feet wet.
There ain't no coon in Brothers Pond.
-[dogs barking] - Shh.
Daisy Belle.
[excited barking]
Sounds like they got something.
Who says there's no coon at Brothers Pond?
[dogs barking louder]
[barking continues]
[dog whimpering]
[dogs whining]
What's eating them dogs? They're restless.
Scent crazy. That's all.
Don't make a noise like that for coon.
We better tell the hunting gentlemen to come along.
We'll take the path past the dance hall.
Uh, aren't - aren't we going back the same way as we came?
Why? We save three miles on the road, and it's easier.
If you gentlemen will please come along. It's nearly two o'clock.
[dogs whining]
[loud whining]
Don't know what's bellyachin' those dogs.
[excited barking]
They've found something, sure as sin.
[dogs howling]
Beat it, Billy!
-[hunter] Anything the matter? -[hunter 2] What's wrong?
You gentlemen had -
You'd better go and see for yourself.
What is it?
They've been lookin' for Jerry Sykes.
Get outta here! [kicks]
[whimpers]
There's no reason to kick the dog.
She didn't kill Jerry Sykes.
Sure you want a gig?
I might have to climb up a stepladder, and I don't want to break my leg for nothin'.
If you got one, I want it.
[ladder clatters]
[bell jingles]
Hello, Sheriff.
Judd's in back.
You sweet on Gilly Johnson, by any chance?
No.
Who's the boy?
Ain't Yankee.
[Judd] That's a darn good knife, Daniel.
Only had two. That's one of 'em.
Sold the other one last spring.
Yeah, sold it to a young fella that -
Why, heck, it was you.
What do you want another one for?
I - I was just lookin'. I-l -
Why, jumpin' Jehoshaphat!
Somethin's wrong.
Jumpin' Jehoshaphat. Will you look at that.
There been another wreck somewhere?
Murder's more like it.
That's what's left of the Sykes boy.
[bell jingling]
[sheriff] Daniel.
You know of anybody had a grudge against Jerry Sykes?
Lots of people didn't like Jerry.
Mm-hmm.
Come on. I'll buy you a soda.
Daniel, a small town's like a stomach, always digestin'.
Eat a green apple. Nothin' happens right away.
But two hours later, you get a bellyache.
Folks talk, Daniel.
Sometimes, the talk adds up.
Shucks, I can catch me a criminal quicker just walkin' down Main Street and listenin'
than I can with a pack of bloodhounds.
Learned a thing or two already this morning, Daniel.
[group laughing]
Know the little man in black got off the 10:10 the other day?
Bank examiner.
Seems young Sykes helped himself to around $2,000
out of Pappy's cash box.
Doggone.
[loud laughter]
That Williams boy, the bandleader -
folks say Jerry Sykes owed him quite a bit of money.
Quite a bit.
What's buzzin', cousin? Everything hot in the slot?
Stash that and dig another. It's only a blip.
- Hey, Elmer. - Be right with you. Clear track four.
- Come on, bub. I gotta blow. - That Ken Williams.
Where does a college boy bandleader latch onto all that lettuce he waves around?
- Hey, Elmer, let's go. - Coming, Mother.
Must be those stud games out at Brothers Pond.
He sure don't make it wavin' those sticks.
Ever play cards in the backroom at Brothers Pond, Daniel?
No. Uh, Ken asked me to a game Saturday night,
but I ain't got that kind of money.
No, I guess you haven't.
Did Williams leave the bandstand anytime during the dance?
Yeah.
There's ten-minute breaks between dances.
Mm-hmm.
Guess I'll have to ask Williams a few questions.
Heck, I promised to take my wife to the fair tonight too.
Sure hate to miss that fair.
Can't be in two places at once.
Yeah, I learned a thing or two this morning, Daniel.
[calliope playing]
The county fair - your own county fair - presents for the first time
the Syrian enchantresses direct from the forests of Lebanon.
The show starts in just a moment. He sells the tickets.
They're only a dime - ten cents, two thick nickels,
a tenth part of a dollar.
And on the inside, they unveil the most artistic, stupendous,
and blood-stirring dance ever seen.
So hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!
Get your tickets and don't shove. Don't crowd.
After all, the show starts inside.
So, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry! It only costs you a dime.
- Don't crowd. Don't shove. Don't push. -|, um -
I don't think the school board would approve my blood being stirred.
[barker] So buy your tickets. One little, teeny, bitsy dime.
Ten cents. Tenth part of a dollar.
And see the greatest show on earth.
The show starts immediately on the inside.
He sells the tickets. It only costs you a dime -
ten cents, two thick nickels, a tenth part of a dollar.
And on the inside, they will unveil the most artistic -
Who's the girl?
...blood-stirring dance ever seen by man.
There you are, folks.
- Ain't Yankee! -[laughing]
A brief glimpse of the secret dance as seen by desert sheikhs.
[laughing]
- I can't get over it. - What?
You and I and - and all these people.
But why not? They can't keep us a secret forever.
Why was I afraid?
Why were we afraid all this time?
- Buy me a spun sugar. - Gilly.
What, Dan?
Just “Gilly.”
It's a nice name.
I'm glad we came... Gilly.
Buy me a spun sugar.
Take your pick. Any one you want.
[child] Me first! Me first! Me first! Me first!
[boy] Yeah, come on. I want the better one.
[children shouting]
Six, please.
Don't crowd, Alfie. You'll all get one.
-[child] I want that one! -[shouting continues]
[barker] All right. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Spin the wheel, win the dolly.
- Would a penny be enough? - Hmm?
Would it?
Oh.
- I was just wondering. - What?
I was wondering who could have hated Jerry enough to kill him.
Folks say it was Ken Williams. Uh, picked him up today.
I know. The sheriff asked me a lot of questions.
Oh, Danny Hawkins. Well. Right lucky I saw you.
Been lookin' all over to tell you somethin' before I forget it.
[clears throat]
Uh-oh. Forgot it.
Oh, no. That knife of yours.
Uh, Billy Scripture was out in back of my store whittlin' with it this evening.
Just because Billy found a knife don't mean it's mine.
Well, it couldn't be anybody else's.
Only had but two of that kind of knife in the first place.
Well, I gotta get over to the jam contest.
Lydia Simpkins is waitin' for me,
and I gotta rescue the sheriff and his wife, Martha.
The sheriff? He ain't here.
Sure is, but he ain't happy about it.
The sheriffs with Williams. They -
Uh-uh. Let Williams off soot-free about an hour ago,
and Martha's fit to be tied.
Says the whole town will think he's off his head.
Course, I got my own ideas about what happened.
Well, I gotta be goin'.
I wish they had that cinnamon bar here this year.
That knife's yours, all right.
Billy must have found it when you was out hunting.
Good night.
[barker] Line up, folks, and try your skill.
Six balls for a quarter. Six balls to try and spill the milk.
What kind of questions did the sheriff ask you?
Oh, he asked about everybody.
[barker] Buy a genuine dancing doll for the mantelpiece.
Asked whether you had ever shown a grudge against Jerry.
If you please, folks, either step up and take a chance,
or, uh, don't block the way for them as would like to, huh?
Hey, you look like you got a pretty good arm there, fella.
Why not take a chance and win the young lady a prize?
Okay, pal. Six balls for a quarter. Here we go!
Take a box of candy home to your mother.
What'd you tell him?
I told him I didn't know you very well.
[barker] One down and five to go.
That's true. I don't.
Did you have a grudge against Jerry?
[barker] Ah, a baseball player, eh?
Let's change the subject. I don't like to talk about Jerry.
Watch the young man prove how easy it is to do it.
- I know. - All right, who'll be next now?
Six balls for a quarter.
Come on, young fella. You got three to go.
Show the folks how easy it is to win a prize for your girl.
Forget it. My arm's sore.
Hey! Hey, wait a minute!
Hey, wait a minute. Your prize! Hey, your box of candy!
You're pushing people, Dan.
Let's get on a ride.
[man] Six, please. Now don't crowd. You'll all get on.
- Can I ride with you, Grandpa? - How old are they?
- How old? - Four and above.
-[man] Come back here. Where are you goin'? -[woman] Clem Otis, it's disgusting.
That's what it is. Releasing that cold-blooded killer.
One of the finest boys in this town has been murdered.
Sure is remarkable how dyin' can make a saint of a man.
Dan.
- Go ahead. Grab a seat. -[bell clangs]
Two, please.
Well! She sure didn't wait long to tie up with another boy.
Martha. Martha.
Who's Gilly Johnson tied up with?
[Martha] For heaven's sake, Clem. With Jessie Hawkins's nephew.
[barker] And on the inside, they will unveil
the most artistic, stupendous, and blood-stirring -
Been thick as fleas ever since Jerry disappeared.
[barker] Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry! It only costs you a dime.
Now, there's somethin' to figure.
[barker] There's plenty of room on the inside for everybody.
So buy your tickets. One little, teeny, bitsy dime -
ten cents, tenth part of a dollar - and see the greatest show on earth.
Dan.
Why do you always get angry so suddenly?
I'm not angry.
[bell clangs]
[calliope: “De Camptown Races”]
Gilly. Look up. It's like you're floatin'.
Gilly?
Gilly.
Dan, you keep trying to tell me something. What?
When the sheriff was talking to me,
he said something about your father
and how Jerry and the others had always used it against you.
Is that why you keep hitting out at people,
trying to get even?
[bell clangs]
Pa had it pretty tough.
After I was born, Ma -
Ma took sick at night.
Doctor said it was too far to come, wasn't serious.
Gave Pa a bottle of pills.
She died the next day.
Pa carried me to Grandma's cabin and came into town.
He shot the doctor.
Shot him dead.
Took three bullets to kill him.
Took 'em three weeks to hang Pa.
[bell clangs]
[calliope continues]
- Let's get out of here. - Dan, wait!
I gotta get Off!
- Dan, wait! - Hey! Let us out of here, will you?
- Dan! - Hold it! I gotta get off!
Dan, what is it?
I'm being followed!
- I gotta get off! - Dan!
[calliope continues, muffled]
[Danny] Gilly?
Gilly.
Get me out of here.
They're looking for Dr. Peabody.
No. No doctor.
Get me out of here.
I'm all right.
Gilly, get me out of here!
All right, darling. I'll try.
♪ Lonesome I
♪ I warned her not to leave me ♪
♪ Warned her not to grieve me ♪
♪ Never to deceive me ♪
Have you been back in the hills to see your grandmammy lately?
Not lately.
Pretty old lady, isn't she?
I'll go see her one of these days.
Mighty peaceful there, up Chinamook way.
I have a feeling for mountains.
♪ Daylight comin' in the morning ♪
♪ Hangman waiting on the stones ♪
♪ Rope hangin' from the gallows ♪
♪ Pit waiting for my bones ♪
- What you singing? - A story, Daniel.
A blues story.
♪ Don't send me flowers ♪
♪ Don 7 send me mail ♪
♪ For where I am gain ' ♪
♪ I won 7 need no bail ♪
♪ Lonesome I
You're sayin' something.
All stories say something.
You're sayin' it to me.
Just talkin'.
Talkin' to Mr. Guitar.
You're talkin' to me, but you won't speak it plain.
♪ Daylight comin' in the morning ♪
♪ Hangman waiting on the stones ♪
[humming]
How long you known?
Since coon hunt night.
How?
I never saw you kick a dog before.
♪ Lonesome I
- You gonna tell? - No.
I figure I'll let you do the telling.
You have to tell someone, Daniel.
You have to,
or else you'll go on killing a dead man over and over,
and you can't do that.
[humming]
I'm sorry I kicked your dog.
[humming]
Where you got the knife?
[shouting] Where you got the knife?
Where's the knife?
[Shwting] Where you got it?
[inarticulate vocalizing]
[gasps]
[labored breathing]
Check the railroad station and the bus stop.
Did George pick up the schoolteacher?
Okay.
I think you've gone plumb crazy on this case, Clem.
Why'd you let Williams go?
You had enough simple facts to convince a jury.
What's a simple fact, Jake?
A man's dead. That's a fact.
The simplest fact there is.
Jake, you're a doctor. You oughta know a lot about folks.
I knew a man once kept accusin' his wife of bein' unfaithful.
After listenin' to him for 12 years, she was.
[chuckles]
Proves he was right.
He was just a little premature.
That's all.
I say the husband was a lot responsible for what his wife did.
Sometimes murder's like love.
It takes two to commit it -
the man who hates and the man who's hated,
the killer and the killed.
Yeah.
All I know is I've got a corpus delicti down there with a hole in his head.
If you went into all the reasons why that rock struck Jerry's head,
you might end up writing the history of the world.
[chuckling] Ah.
You should have been a preacher, Clem...
not a bloodhound.
All I know is that a human bein' and what's made him
is a lot more than you cut out of him at the autopsy table, Jake.
Not when they're dead.
{sighs}
Come in, Miss Johnson.
Sit down.
[sighs]
I've got a problem. I thought maybe you might help me.
Are you in love with Daniel Hawkins?
Yes.
What would you say if I told you Daniel killed Jerry Sykes?
Kill -
I wouldn't believe it.
- Because you wouldn't want to believe it? - No.
Because he's not hard like he pretends.
Because inside, he's gentle and lonely and lost.
Because you won't let him forget for one minute that his father died like a criminal!
Because -
I know all that.
That's why I want him to come back and confess of his own accord.
Daniel Hawkins left town some time last night.
When you used to see him, you must have gone someplace,
someplace special.
Where?
No special place.
What are you trying to get from me, Sheriff?
Why do you want me to help you?
So you can hound him like he's been hounded all his life?
Right now, I can send Daniel to jail for life.
Worse maybe.
Juries might not believe a man who has to be brought back in handcuffs.
I don't want him punished beyond what's right.
He's taken his share already for a long time.
I know Danny.
I knew Jerry.
Jerry's been attackin' and devilin' him ever since they were schoolkids.
Then you think it was self-defense?
Only Daniel Hawkins can tell us what happened.
That's why I want him to come back of his own accord.
Then a jury will believe what he says.
You don't have to stay any longer, Miss Johnson.
Only, if you know where to find the boy,
find him.
Tell him to come back before it's too late,
while he still has time to pay his punishment
and still has most of his life to live like an ordinary human being.
[M 0 s e] ♪ Steamboat whistles on the river ♪
♪ Going down around the bend ♪
♪ Black man waiting in the jailhouse ♪
♪ Waiting for the night to end ♪
-[floorboard creaks] - ♪ Lonesome ♪
Dan.
You forgot to say good-bye.
Why didn't you tell me?
I tried to, but I was afraid.
What if I lost you? What if you wouldn't touch me?
Aw, what have I got to lose anymore?
Why should I be afraid?
Don't you understand? From here on, it's all bad.
Dan.
Dan, don't be afraid.
Billy.
I almost killed Billy -
a guy I've helped and protected all my life.
He didn't even know what it was all about.
If he'd raised his hands, I think I would have killed him.
Aw, get outta here!
You should have sent me away when I might have gone.
It's too late now.
Dan, please don't hurt me anymore.
On, Gilly. Gilly.
Dan, you've got to go back.
Ain't nobody gonna shake me out of a tree like a coon.
- Maybe someday. - Someday won't be soon enough.
Dan, the sheriff knows you're not a killer,
and I know it without even asking.
Gilly, I don't even know what happened.
He came at me with a rock. The next thing I knew, he was lying there.
Go back, Dan.
I ain't clear. I gotta get answers.
But you won't get them this way, maybe not for the rest of your life.
I gotta get answers.
Where will you go?
Maybe Chinamook, to Grandma's.
Ma and Pa are buried there on top of the ridge.
And after that?
I don't know.
What are you thinking?
Only how it will be tomorrow.
Going into a schoolroom,
asking a lot of questions about dead history.
And you.
- And you - - Shh!
[man] Don't make no sense he'd stay here.
Once he got started, he'd keep goin'.
[man 2] Do you think that Mose was tellin' the truth that he hadn't seen him?
The boy was up here a lot.
[Ed] Don't see no windows pried.
I'm goin'. May be too late, but I'm gonna try.
Good-bye, Gilly Johnson.
[door closes]
You ready, Mose?
You're not going to ask me to hunt my friend, are you, Sheriff?
I need you to handle the dogs.
I wish they were dead.
This is no place for a woman. Why don't you go on back to...
[dog barking]
[howling]
[barking continues]
[barking fades]
[dogs whimpering]
[Ed] Ain't no use goin' in there.
He's in the swamp.
[Clem] Come on, fellas. Leash up.
We'll have to circle and pick it up where he comes out.
Your pa never had his picture took till the trial.
Your Aunt Jessie sent these up from town.
You're your father's son, Daniel.
Especially the eyes and the voice.
What kind of voice?
Low, but not weak.
Funny thing.
I never heard Jeb Hawkins raise his voice except when he was happy.
Then you could hear it across mountains.
What's that about Pa?
His voice?
About his being happy.
HS P
Why, he could kick a floor like eight horses
when they had a good fiddler at the dance.
A prime man, Jeb.
A prime man.
Just seein' him the night he came home from his wedding,
back to this cabin he built special.
It was sunup. They'd been dancin' all the time.
When they came in that door,
Jeb looked as if he never needed sleep again in his life,
so fresh he was.
Like sparks out of a pine log.
He was mighty proud of you, Daniel.
Well, I ain't proud of Pa.
He cursed me!
He cursed me all my life!
Can't hold somethin' against a dead person, Daniel.
Well, he held it against me. Held it against me all my life!
All the beatings I took since I was a kid on account of him.
Never could get a job unless there was nobody else left to hire.
Girls walking away from me like I was poison.
“Hello, Hawkins,” they'd say.
Simple, ain't it?
Yet every time they said it, I wanted to change my name!
- Why didn't he think of me? - He did... when it was too late.
Some folks think he done wrong.
Some think he done right.
I think he acted like the man he was, settling a question...
hard and quick.
He loved Betty.
He loved you.
He never did nothin' through hatin' or fearin'.
Leave me be, Grandma.
He paid. He tried to spare you.
He told me to send you away and change your name.
I sent you away, but I didn't change your name.
I was proud of his name.
[dogs barking in distance]
Now I know why you want to hate your pa.
I wondered why you came back after so long...
bleedin', smellin' of swamp
and hatin' your pa.
Take till mornin', I reckon, to pick up your scent past the creek.
Your pa could've gone over the ridge and down the river on a log.
No dogs would follow you there.
You telling me to run away?
No.
A man has to handle himself his own way.
Good night to you, Daniel.
Good night, Grandma.
Your pa found the answer, Daniel.
It was a rock-hard answer, but he found it.
He waited just about where you're sittin' now.
“L think I done right,” he told me.
“If I done wrong, I'm gonna square it.
Maybe they'll leave the boy be,
not make him grow up payin' for what I've done.”
That took a man, Daniel.
A coward blames what he does on other folks.
[dogs barking in distance]
Picked up your trail past the creek.
Better hit the river before they break cover in the meadow.
[dogs barking]
I ain't proud of what you done, Pa.
All the same, I didn't mean what I said last night.
You did the best you could to even things up.
That's what I'm doin' now.
Then maybe we'll both have some peace.
[dogs barking, louder]
[(109 barks]
Daisy Bell!
- Come here, Daisy Bell! -[barks]
Hello, Sheriff.
What made you come back?
Changed my mind.
I thought you would if I held the reins loose.
Only I was afraid you'd got the bit in your teeth.
[footsteps approaching]
Gilly.
You were right about finding the answers.
Aunt Jessie's got them.
And Mose and Grandma.
And you.
It's wonderful to see your face, Dan.
To really see it.
What you doin' there? Leave the boy be.
Let him walk back like a man.
Mr. Dog,
if a man knows how to rejoin the human race...
once he's resigned,
it helps, Mr. Dog.
It helps.