The Man from Snowy River

No matter which way I figure it,

naught and naught still equals naught.

How about we get Bess in foal?

Pick up some more brood mares?

What with?

If we're going to keep this place,

we're going to have to get a job,

out of the High Country.

Down on the flats?

Yeah.

Wouldn't be too bad,

we could hire out as a team.

Not as cooks.

Watch it.

Must be your music.

Alright, I'll see to it.

Hey, Bessie.

Whoa, Bessie.

Bess, whoa!

Steady, girl.

Whoa...Bessy!

Steady, girl.

Whoa, there, girl.

I reckon the dingo set her off.

Not wild dogs...

..wild horses.

The old thoroughbred's mob.

It's years since

he's been this side of the ranges.

You're not going to shoot him?!

He's only going to cause us grief.

Run off our horses.

He's done it before.

But Dad.

There are some good horses there now.

They'd be worth a far bit.

Caught and broken, they might.

Well...we could do it.

Keep some for breeding, then we

wouldn't have to go and hire out.

Hold on. That horse has been running

free since the day you were born.

Craftiest animal I've ever seen.

Who better than a crafty mountain man to catch him.

You've got your mother's way

about you, haven't you?

We could build a holding hard,

up on the flats spur and drive them in.

No, I don't think so.

We'll yard them on Kelly's Track.

Come on! Get up!

Come on.

Whoa, there. Good boy.

Come on. Get up!

Good boy.

Looks like we're building a fort,

not a holding yard.

When we drop this across the track,

they'll never get out.

Bess!

Jim, the gelding!

Dad!

Are you OK?

I should've put a bullet in that stallion.

I'll get you down to Spurs' place.

Here...

The gelding's broken his leg.

We'll have to put him down.

Where's Bess?

She ran off with the brumbies.

Oh, Spur's not going to be

too happy about that.

..we had a lot of dreams.

A lot of good times, too.

NOOO!

``United in death,'' the minister said.

Superstition.

It's a nice thought, Spur.

It's a great comfort to widows and fools.

There's more to life than death, Jim.

Well, that's it, lad.

You can't stay up here.

But...this is my place now.

I own it!

Owning it's got nothing to do with it.

It's who can make a go of it up here

that counts.

I can look after myself!

Maybe.

What gives you the right to say...

LOOK!

You go down to the low country

and earn the right to live up here,

just like your father did.

Come.

They blame me for this.

It's a hard country.

It makes for hard men.

Whoa!

Come on.

I'll get the fire going.

Spur's wallaby stew!

Mmm. Spoken of

in hushed and reverent tones.

Dad was talking the other day of you

taking the harmonium up the mountain.

Uh, your mother's music box.

Your father and me

brought that up the mountain

with never a scratch on it.

She gave me this seat. Mmm.

Whoo! Figured I could use it more.

Mmm. How's that mare Bess?

See ran off with a brumby...

the old thoroughbreds mob.

Mmm.

The big black.

Yeah.

I remember that animal.

I'll get her back.

Sure.

You'll walk in

and pluck her out of a thousand

square miles of wilderness.

I will, Spur.

Sure.

I'll run down that mob

and fetch her back.

Sure, and on foot too!

Come on!

I've no notion of his breeding,

but he's a mountain horse...

and a good one.

He's yours!

I can't pay you for him!

He's not for sale.

Now, hold on, Spur...

Don't argue.

A man without a horse,

is like a man without a leg.

Thank you, Spur.

Now I'll get the mare back.

Forget the mare, you duffer.

Don't throw effort after foolishness.

For you, sir,

I could get down to two guineas.

Good luck with the colt.

Very kind of you.

Good luck.

Thank you.

Tell you what...two pounds!

I've got other things on my mind today.

Damn Yankee.

Who is that?

Harrison. Picking up his colt.

They say it's worth 1,000.

A colt worth 1,000?

HARRISON:
Mr Paterson!

Ah!

Listen, I'm sorry

about this blasted circus.

Oh, anything to get me away

from the city...

..especially when it's to bring you

the finest colt in the colony.

Well, he should be, for the price.

Old Regret. The last colt she foaled.

Mmm.

Irreplaceable.

Let go, mate.

Let bloody go!

Whoa, now.

Are you alright, Jessica?

If I needed your help, `MATE',

I would've asked for it.

Come on, easy now. Whoa.

Whoa.

BOY:
You're it!

Well, I think we're all indebted

to young Mr...

Craig. Jim Craig.

Andrew Paterson.

And that was Mr Harrison

and his charming daughter, Jessica.

Mmm. `Charming'.

All aboard!

Are you a stock agent?

No, as a matter of fact,

I'm a lawyer. You?

I've just arrived in town.

Well, thanks again, Jim.

If ever we can return the favour,

let us know.

I'm looking for work, sir.

These are hard times, Jim.

I know that,

but I've got a place to keep up.

Mmm.

I've lived on the land.

I can do anything.

And I've got a good stock horse.

Have you?

In that case,

we'd better try and find you work, then.

I'll give you a letter.

I know it's sitting

under your skirt somewhere.

You damned old trollop.

20 years you seduce a man

with a speck of gold dust.

Then you tempt him

with a trace of colour.

Nothing but a harlot.

Just like a woman -

has to have the last word.

How'd you find this place?

I tracked you.

You silly old galah.

You leave a trail

like a one-legged seed drill.

Damn you, Clancy.

Always sneaking around.

No noise.

I heard noise.

I heard voices.

Uh-huh! Sure sign of old age

when you start hearing things.

You and your partner

still searching for El Dorado, then?

Silent partner now.

Henry Craig's dead.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

Yeah, just when

good colour was showing too.

You've been saying that

for near 20 years.

You know, the only way to shut that

mouth is with some food. Come on.

You've been offering me food

for 20 years too.

All I ever get's wallaby stew.

Bandicoot...

HARRISON:
Mountain boy.

That's right, sir.

Curly!

Cut the heifer out.

I'll give you a try.

Usual wages and keep.

Make yourself known to the foreman.

Thank you, sir.

SPUR:
Mmm. Tasty, huh?

In a toxic, festering sort of way.

You should advertise this stuff

in the `Bulletin'.

``The new miracle cure for appetite.''

To think I was going to leave you

a share of the mine.

Thanks, mate, but I have

my own rainbows to chase.

Yeah, Clancy's vision splendid.

You still obsessed

with those sunlit plains, huh?

At least I get to see the sun

and the stars.

It's better than blundering around

in a black hole,

looking for something that isn't there.

Isn't there?! Now, you wait right here.

I'll show you.

``Blundering around'' in the dark, am I?

Well, wait till you see this.

Come here!

Take a look at this.

Huh?

Now, that's the kind of colour

I've been getting lately.

Hmm?

It's not much to show for 20 years.

You must've dug a trench from

California to southern Australia.

Thats much better then anything

I saw there in 49.

Now, I put a drive straight through

for 30 chains.

I go down, sink a shaft and we're

smack on top of the richest vein.

Who's `we', Spur?

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