Rooster Cogburn

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ROOSTER COGBURN:

It's the law, Pecos.

We want you for train robbery

and murder of the engineer.

Get your hands on top of your heads.

You bastards.

You bastards.

Rooster J. Cogburn, step forward.

Are you Rooster J. Cogburn,

Deputy Marshal for Western Arkansas?

You know I am.

A deputy who shoots

and kills 64 suspects in 8 years,

is breaking the law,

not upholding it.

Let's get this straight, Judge.

Only 60 of them died.

All were shot in the line of duty or

in self defense or attempting to flee.

You have served

this court for almost two lustrums.

You're a strong man

and a brave man, Rooster.

And you have, at times,

executed your duties faithfully.

But all too often you have

acted with excessive zeal and...

What's a lustrum, Judge?

- 5 years. Don't interrupt me.

Pay attention to me.

This is not just a formal reprimand.

Investors go where the law protects

them, not shoots them.

Is that the kind of law

my deputy got yesterday?

I was proud to tell his wife

I shot his killers.

It seems you can't serve

this court without breaking heads

and spraying bullets. The West

has changed but you haven't.

I want your badge. - They don't know

these new-fangled laws out there.

They're still shooting

in the same direction, at me.

Your badge, Cogburn.

You let yourself go. Look at your

belly! You can't even close your coat.

You drink too much.

- I ain't had a drink since breakfast.

And I only wear this coat

in your court.

It was good enough when you needed me.

You've gone to seed, Rooster.

Next case.

Lieutenant, road's out ahead.

Rock slide.

Can we get around it?

- No, sir.

But there's a shallow down river

to take the wagon across.

Column right, ho.

Breed, we can't move nitro

over those logs.

It's just dead wood, sir.

It's easy to move.

Chipley, Grimm, dismount.

Start moving those logs.

Rawlins! Bryant!

Get the ropes. Help him.

The war is over.

The US Cavalry lost again.

Just like I told you.

Give me my money.

Don't you trust me? - Pay up, Hawk,

or try takin' the gold without me.

Don't tempt me.

Any fool can blow nitro.

The last fool who thought that

blowed himself up.

Alright, move. Fast.

We got four days' hard ridin'

and that gold shipment won't wait.

Gone to seed, have I?

Gone to seed!

A man does his job,

defends The Code,

and what does he get?

Disgrace and abuse.

- Judge say, you abuse justice.

I abuse justice? There ain't no

justice in the West no more.

Men with sand in their craw,

pushed aside

by duded-up Yankee lawyers

who won spellin' bees back home.

That ain't St. Louis beer.

- Kansas City.

Well, I don't like it.

Neither does Sterling.

Too sweet, ain't it, General?

Well, give me my jug.

- Judge Parker say lock it up.

Who's payin' the rent here,

him or me?

You can't lock up a man's whiskey.

I'll give you one minute to get my...

Don't shoot.

I'll get it for you.

Don't shoot.

Until you've heard what I say.

You have said enough, Judge.

None of it to my credit nor liking.

May I take a drink

with you and General Sterling?

If you don't mind such seedy company.

Rooster,

you were my best Marshal.

You could be again.

That account is long overdrawn,

Judge.

Old friend,

let's let bygones be bygones.

I have an important assignment

for you. - You seem to forget, Judge.

You hung up my guns, remember?

I am retired, relieved, and rejoicing.

"l painted her, I painted her..."

Chen Lee, turn off the light.

No doubt you've heard

of Hawk's latest outrage.

The Army believe he took the nitro

for another robbery. Time's short.

You know the territory

and the scout that set up the ambush.

Breed?

He run with Hawk now?

He's the best scout I ever had.

Good friend, too.

He never done a wrong thing

till he killed that Wells Fargo agent

and run away with the payroll.

We need a man with grit, Cogburn.

The government'll be mighty grateful.

How grateful?

For the return of the dynamite,

Now, that is information

more to my liking. - I thought so.

I want him alive.

I want him to answer to me, not you.

Then we'll see about your badge.

- I'll charge my retirement rate:

double salary, double expenses.

Can you afford me?

Rates noted and accepted.

A group of my deputies will act as

your posse. But it'll take a while.

Take a while? It'll take a miracle.

Them lily-livered lawbrokers

won't risk their necks, or you

wouldn't be here. - You'll need this.

Do the job,

and it's yours again, permanent.

Well, it goes against my grain.

I'll ride at first light.

Drunken cat.

That's right. In spite of the fact

that you locked up our whiskey.

Tell them deputies

to meet me at Bagby's.

If you can find any.

See who they have to come to

when they got a real job to do?

The old rat killer.

Probably got another lustrum in me.

What is lustrum?

You people come here and we help you.

You won't even learn our language.

Maybe you're right.

Here you are, sweet lady.

How're you doing little darling?

Go ahead. Hurry. As fast as you can.

Wolf. Watch. Go.

They're settlers passin' through.

- I know.

Come, child.

Welcome to Fort Ruby.

I am Reverend George Goodnight

and this is my daughter, Eula.

We offer you

the hospitality of our settlement.

We are God's servants here.

And we must ask you

not to sell ardent spirits or guns

to the Indians.

Civil law and God's law forbid it.

This is the law we go by, Sister.

So don't waste your preachin'

tryin' to convert us.

Please do not strip these people

of their dignity with liquor

and your worldly ways.

We beg you.

This is for your collecting plate.

Now, will you leave us be?

We're gonna camp here,

rest our horses

and take our pleasures,

with no more preachin'

from God's servants.

A brand from the burning.

- What's that you say?

Our work, sir,

is to pluck brands from the burning.

If you don't want to be plucked,

then at least show us courtesy.

I do believe you're better

at cluckin' than at pluckin'.

You're an unpleasant sort of fellow.

I'm the boldest sinner on the

Arkansas River. People remember me.

Only evil can come of your presence.

Temptation is the Devil's spawn.

You callin' the Devil, Mister?

- You do the Devil's work.

I'd shoot a man of the cloth

or a lady. So don't provoke me.

I'm not afraid. I wear God's armor.

I do not fear what man can do to me.

I do not fear a skunk.

I simply do not care for his odor.

I'm warnin' you.

You have ridden the Hoot-Owl Trail

and tasted the fruits of evil.

But justice will

catch up with you to demand payment.

The Lord is my Shepherd,

I shall not want.

He maketh me

to lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths

of righteousness in His name.

Yea, though I walk through

the valley of death, I fear no evil,

for Thou art with me.

I've had enough Sunday school.

Out of my sight, both of you.

Thy rod and thy staff,

they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me

in the presence of mine enemies.

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