As also delineated in the script, when deputies Smith and Jones lead the outlaws to jail, in order to maintain control of their small contingent, they fasten the horses together as in a pack train. The simplest method of doing this was by “tailing” them. This means the tail of the lead horse is doubled to form a knot of hair around which the end of the halter rope of the horse behind it is tied. This does not hurt the horse. We see Curry holding the halter of Ribs’s horse and leading it, while Hancock’s horse is “tailed” behind Ribs’s horse.
The trick of standing an egg on its end appears at first very difficult to do and it can be, particularly with a smooth egg. This is because the albumen, or white, of the egg is a very thick liquid in which the yolk sits. Even when the egg is cooked, as the one in the saloon was, because the yolk is usually a bit off-center, it makes the egg difficult to balance. What helps is that, on some eggs, there are tiny bumps in the shell. Those irregularities are enough to help the egg stand, acting as tiny legs. Heyes’s trick of salting his palm before resting the egg in it accomplishes the same end.
When the boys admit to Attorney Brubaker that they only have $8.12 and $12.21 in their pockets, they seem to be forgetting about the $100 each that Sheriff Slocum offered them to return the first two prisoners to Junction City. Did Slocum believe that they would come back to Big Bend to collect it or did he pay them in advance? Huggins himself wondered if he was indulging in “over-think” when he questioned if it mattered that they were paid, or if the judge didn’t consider the reward due them as part of the bail. [11] Either way, Heyes and Curry could have added that sum to their total assets, possibly making them more valued as clients to Brubaker.
Heyes and Curry are reluctant to tell about their amnesty chances and usually settle for “it’s a long story,” when asked about it. In his script notes for Nelson, Roy Huggins noted that “we haven’t been too clear on this point in our series. They’re not free to go around telling people they’ve been promised an amnesty.” Huggins also may have not decided in which states the boys are wanted. In the first version, Judge Hanley waits for extradition papers to come in from Colorado or Wyoming “and which ever one gets in here first, that’s the one we honor.” [12]
Smiler with a Gun
“Did you ever stop to think that shaving might be a lot less painful than tangling with [Danny]?” “Yeah, but I learned to shoot before I could shave.”
Hannibal Heyes, Kid Curry
STORY: JOHN THOMAS JAMES
TELEPLAY: MAX HODGE
DIRECTOR: FERNANDO LAMAS
SHOOTING DATES: JULY 27, 28, 29, 30, AUGUST 2, 3, 1971
ORIGINAL US AIR DATE: OCTOBER 7, 1971
ORIGINAL UK AIR DATE: NOVEMBER 22, 1971
Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry arrive in Stockton just in time for the Fourth of July celebration. Watching the crowd all hurrying off in the same direction, Heyes asks an old man, Seth, what all the excitement is. A fast draw contest is about to start. Curry perks up, but Heyes points out it’s a contest for amateurs. They take up a position on a nearby porch to watch the fun.
The contestants step up and take their turn shooting at plates, most often missing them. The best score is three out of five when tall, smiling Danny Bilson enters the contest. He hits all five plates with a fast draw that impresses Curry.
Heyes and Curry play poker with Seth, Danny, the contest barker and his assistant. Danny is as good at poker as he is with a gun, even drawing to an inside straight and winning. The barker and his assistant leave the game, having lost their commission to Danny. Seth sits back and suggests they stop playing and talk instead. He has been sizing up the others and feels they could get along together. He has a gold mine in the Sangre de Cristo mountains and if they’ll help him work it, they should be able to dig out twenty or thirty thousand dollars. Danny’s skeptical, but when Heyes and Curry show genuine interest, he goes along.
The four men work the mine twelve hours a day, seven days a week. After one month, they’ve got almost $5,000 in gold dust kept in a glass jug. Seth uncorks a bottle of whiskey and takes a deep sniff, but there will be no drinking until they’ve panned $20,000 worth.
The work continues under the hot sun. Danny brings out carts of dirt which Heyes and Curry shovel into the sluice, separating the gold from the mud. Slowly the gold dust in the jug grows to reach $10,000.
The men subsist on a diet of baked beans. Curry is tired of the menu and could go for a nice juicy steak. Seth teases him, saying he took steak off the menu figuring nobody would order it. Danny and Seth chuckle over this joke, but their laughter is interrupted by the ominous warning of an angry rattlesnake. Heyes whispers a warning not to move, but Curry has a different philosophy. In one smooth action, he leaps up, grabs his gun, falls to his belly and shoots the head off the snake. Danny is impressed, wondering if it was a lucky shot or whether Thaddeus is that good with a gun. “Lucky,” Curry replies, but Danny isn’t entirely convinced.
Later Danny takes a break, sipping from a canteen and checking out Curry’s gun. “What’s your expert opinion?” Curry asks, masking his irritation. Danny admires the gun, then theorizes, Smith and Jones? He bets they’re both wanted, but since they’re all partners now, why don’t they tell him who they really are? Heyes maintains their names really are Smith and Jones. The conversation halts when Seth lets out a joyful whoop from inside the mine. They’ve reached $20,000.
That night they break open the bottle of whiskey, drinking and singing and dancing exuberantly. Danny only pretends to participate, holding his thumb over the bottle instead of actually drinking. Finally the party ends when Curry, Heyes and Seth fall over in a drunken stupor.
Heyes awakes with a mighty hangover. He crawls to the coffee pot, finds it empty, steps carefully over Curry and goes outside. He leans against the sluice and stares at the corral. In his befuddled state, it takes a little while, but he finally realizes something is wrong. The horses are gone. He runs back into the mine, checks the box holding the gold — empty. Then he checks the supplies — gone. With yells and a well-placed kick he wakes Seth and Curry and delivers the bad news.
Heyes, Curry and Seth prepare to walk across the desert. They’ll travel by night and carry water in the whiskey jug. Seth can’t believe good-natured Danny would pull such a mean trick, but Heyes figures Danny doesn’t expect to ever see them again or he would have simply shot them in their sleep. The men discuss their chances. Curry says, “A man can make it through a whole lot more than he thinks he can if he’s got just a good enough reason.” And for Curry that reason is revenge.
That night, the men leave the mine and begin the long trek. During the heat of the day they sleep in whatever shade they can find, then struggle to their feet at sunset to continue their journey. On the second night, a sandstorm blows up, making travel even more difficult. Seth is having trouble keeping up, but Heyes and Curry help him along. They take cover between some rocks and wait out another blazing day.
The next night as they get ready to go, Seth becomes disoriented, accusing the boys of stealing his water. Curry gently points out that Seth drank it all. He needs more rest, so they spend the rest of the night where they are.
In the morning Curry discovers Seth is gone. The boys search for their companion and find him dead. They realize he was trying to get far enough away so they couldn’t find him and would leave him behind.
Heyes and Curry travel by day now, stumbling along in silence until they collapse against some rocks to rest. Curry thinks he hears something. He clambers to the other side of the rock and finds a small spring. The water revives them.
In town they clean up. Curry shaves his beard, but leaves his mustache to remind him he’s not the same man who went into the desert with Danny. The desk clerk provides a lead and they begin tracking Danny in every hotel and saloon they come to. Finally they meet Lurene, a hard drinking saloon girl. Danny promised to come back for her and if they’ll promise to tell him she’s still waiting, she’ll tell them where he i
s. Heyes promises, wishing he had a bible to swear on. Lurene likes that and gives them the name of a town — Matherville.
Heyes and Curry arrive in Matherville and find Danny in the saloon with a girl on each arm. Heyes knows they can’t do anything about Seth, so they’ll have to settle for getting the money back from Danny. This doesn’t please Curry.
Danny and the boys talk at a private table. Heyes and Curry will take all the money and won’t tell the sheriff what Danny did. He just laughs. They must be in more trouble with the law than he is. He offers them $500, all the cash he has on hand after buying the saloon and hotel. Heyes and Curry give Danny one week to sell the place and give them their money or they’ll go to the sheriff. Danny leans back and observes they have a real standoff.
In their hotel room, Curry angrily insists they do something. Heyes tries to calm him down. They have to face the fact there’s nothing they can do if Danny calls their bluff.
In the saloon, a young cowboy accuses the blackjack dealer of dealing seconds. With a charming smile, Danny pulls the cowboy away and heads him toward the door, tired of him always accusing someone of cheating if he loses. Over his protests, Danny throws him out into the street. Heyes and Curry walk past just as the cowboy informs Danny he’s coming back to kill him. Danny remarks that Heyes and Curry ought to stick around to protect their investment; if the cowboy kills him they’ll be out $20,000. “Might be worth it,” Curry answers coldly. Danny’s ever-present smile turns a trifle sickly.
The young cowboy, now armed, challenges Danny the next morning. Heyes and Curry watch from their hotel window as the showdown plays out. Danny kills the cowboy. The boys rush to join the crowd forming around the dead man as Danny calmly continues on his way to the saloon.
The week is up. Heyes and Curry meet Danny at his private table, where he hands over the money — all small bills totaling $500. Danny has called their bluff.
Much to Heyes’s alarm, Curry decides to talk to the sheriff, wondering why the lawman didn’t do anything after Danny killed the cowboy. The cowboy threatened Danny, the sheriff explains. In his town, the person who starts a gunfight better lose and since the cowboy lost, that’s the end of it as far as he’s concerned.
Outside Heyes demands to know what Curry’s point was. He himself isn’t quite sure; maybe he was thinking about pushing Danny into a gunfight. Heyes is appalled. “But you’re not thinking that anymore, right?” Curry admits he probably won’t because he’s not sure he’d win.
When Heyes cashes in his chips at the saloon, Danny wonders if he’s leaving town and Heyes acknowledges he knows when to throw in a losing hand. Danny wants to know how Thaddeus feels about losing, but Heyes tells him he’ll have to ask him. On second thought, Heyes urges Danny not to ask him. “The smartest thing for you to do is lay low for a while. We’ll be riding out of here in ten minutes.”
On the street, Danny, ignoring Heyes’s advice, shouts a challenge to Curry, bringing the sheriff out of his office. Danny accuses Curry of leaving in daylight because he’s planning on coming back in the dark. Curry replies his only plan is to leave town. Danny pushes him harder, refusing to let him leave without a fight. The sheriff watches the two men intently. Finally Curry insists he can’t stand there all day and turns to leave. Danny draws and, for the first and last time, he loses. Curry asks the sheriff for confirmation that Danny started it. The sheriff is skeptical, given the timing of the fight, but true to his policy, considers the matter settled.
With Seth’s death avenged, Heyes and Curry ride slowly out of town.
GUEST CAST
WILL GEER — SETH
ROGER DAVIS — DANNY BILSON
BARBARA STUART — LURENE
MILTON FROME — BARKER
LEO GORDON — EBENEZER
HARRY LAUTER — SHERIFF
DICK HAYNES — 2ND BARTENDER
JAMES HOUGHTON — BARKER’S ASSISTANT
COLBY CHESTER — YOUNG COWBOY
Up to this time, Kid Curry has been portrayed as a non-violent gunfighter. He cows his opponents through sheer speed and rarely pulls the trigger. Working on this episode with Ben, Roger Davis realized he “really had something, a charm that was indefinable,” and he complimented Ben on it. “I told him straight out that I thought he would rise very quickly and would become very popular.” [13] However, in this episode Ben’s charm as Curry is not so evident; he not only shoots his opponent, he shoots to kill. Curry’s anger over Seth’s death builds as it appears ever more likely Danny will get away with his crime. The last scene leading up to the final showdown is ambiguous, though. Did Curry truly mean to goad Danny into a gunfight in order to extract his own form of justice? Was Heyes’s warning to Danny really a warning or was it a challenge? In the first draft script, Heyes goes to the saloon to give Danny a message.
HEYES
He told me to tell you he was going to kill you. Oh — not today…but he’s coming back. He doesn’t know when, but the minute he gets in town, he’ll kill you. It may not be pretty, because he’s mad. He may ambush you from a shed, or you might even be sleeping in your bed, but wherever — he’ll probably shoot you from the back because he knows how fast you are on the draw. And…that’s the message. [14]
Danny just laughs, figuring Thaddeus is trying to scare him. Heyes offers his opinion that Thaddeus is deadly serious. This dialogue is more direct than it became in the completed episode but is no less ambiguous. Given their creed and their history of never having killed anyone, Kid Curry would not shoot Danny in the back under cover of darkness. His desire to kill Danny is obvious throughout the episode, though, especially in the first draft script where Seth didn’t die from exhaustion and dehydration, but instead shot himself because the boys wouldn’t go on without him. The only logical response to expect from Danny after he gets this message is a showdown.
Even Heyes is unsure if Curry’s intention was to push Danny into a gunfight. He asks his partner if he knew Danny would challenge him. In the first draft, his answer is:
CURRY
No, I didn’t. I wish he hadn’t in a way. I’d have been just as happy if he spent the next few years of his life scared to death…waiting for me to show up. (beat) But then — when I think about [Seth] — [15]
However, Danny Bilson is a man who always wins. Curry knew Danny would never be satisfied letting them leave town without a decisive victory. Every move Curry made was calculated to make Danny pay for murdering Seth.
Roger remembers the scene in the saloon where Heyes and Curry confront Danny and demand the money. “[Peter] was bored as could be and he didn’t know the lines. He had the script in his lap.” Yet that didn’t affect his performance. Peter, despite being unprepared, still managed to recite the dialogue perfectly and hit the emotional level the scene required, a feat Roger still recalls with some awe. “He was very good in the scene. He was very good.” Because of the work they had done together on The Young Country, Peter also knew what Roger needed from him in order to give his own top performance.
The scene called for Danny Bilson to react to Heyes’s threat with a lighthearted laugh. Roger explains, “He knew in the scene he was gonna go ‘I want that money back!’ But he knew that when he gave it to me in the [close-up] that I would have a much better reaction if he gave it to me sweetly, nicely.” So on camera Peter was menacing. Off camera he fed the lines to Roger in a light, joking tone and ended with a big wink, allowing Roger to react to his silliness and imbue the ever-smiling Danny with an insufferable and provoking good humor. “[Peter] knew that that would take me to the thing…I was in the perfect place.” [16]
The Posse That Wouldn’t Quit
“If you’re going to skin somebody, you just don’t bludgeon in. Ya gotta try a little finesse.”
Kid Curry
STORY: JOHN THOMAS JAMES
TELEPLAY: PAT FIELDER
DIRECTOR: HARRY FALK
SHOOTING DATES: AUGUST 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 1971
ORIGINAL US AIR DATE: OCTOBER
14, 1971
ORIGINAL UK AIR DATE: DECEMBER 6, 1971
Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry spur their horses to top speed, outrunning a posse. Fording a river allows them to recover their breath but after wiping out the horses’ tracks on the far shore, they resume full gallop.
From a vantage point they watch the posse cross the same river and Heyes concludes there must be an Apache tracker in the group. After three days they haven’t been able to lose them. Curry considers that maybe it’s the unlucky number of posse members — thirteen.
From atop a high ridge, the boys spot a lone woman, Belle Jordan, driving a wagon on the road below. Deciding to try a new transportation tack, they yank their saddlebags off the horses and drive them off before skidding down the steep slope. Belle Jordan greets the two strangers. After listening to their sad fib of how they lost their horses from poisoned water, she offers them a ride. Home is still a half day’s ride away.
Curry takes the reins and they approach the Jordan homestead where Jesse Jordan is laid up with a broken leg. He allows that they can stay if they help with chores until Belle returns to town for supplies in two weeks. As the boys unload the wagon, Belle searches out her two young daughters, Beth and Bridget, who have found a hiding spot under the front porch. Belle introduces them to Mr. Joshua Smith and Mr. Thaddeus Jones and insists they act like ladies instead of the wild women she’s afraid they’re turning into.
The first night after supper, Heyes entertains them with a rendition of “Simple Gifts,” accompanying himself on guitar. The Jordans share their dream to take the family back to Denver where Jesse hopes to find a teaching job. Belle fears that the girls are growing up wild, but the small herd they own doesn’t provide much of an income nor the stake they need to start over.
Alias Smith & Jones: The Story of Two Pretty Good Bad Men Page 21