Dark Command
1940
Mrs Cantrell: You're no good, Will. William Cantrell: I've killed men for saying less than that! Mrs Cantrell: You've killed a lot of men for saying nothing at all!
William Cantrell: I know what I'm doing, Ma. I'll be running Kansas yet. I'm going clear up to the top. But I'm not going for the climb or the view.
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch: That'll be four and half (dollars) . Two for the tooth, two-and-a-half for the whiskey. You got another swig coming.
Judge Buckner: Come on, Doc! Your job is pulling teeth out of people's mouths, not putting words in 'em. Let him speak for himself!
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch: You knock 'em loose and I'll pull 'em out. Maybe, I'm just saying maybe, you know; if you was more promiscuous with your punching, we might make a little more money. Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: What do you mean - promiscuous? Andrew 'Doc' Grunch: Well, ah, you got strange ideas about justice. You don't want to hit nobody unless they deserve it. Now, that's all right, but we're in business. And business is different!
Mrs Cantrell: You're at the end of the road and the devil is beside ya... waiting.
Miss Mary McCloud: I thought they bred men of flesh and blood in Texas. I was wrong. You're made of granite! Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: No, Mary, just common clay. It bakes kind of hard in Texas.
Andrew 'Doc' Grunch: You know, you could make something of yourself if you tried. Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: Yeah? Andrew 'Doc' Grunch: Yeah. You could run for marshal. Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: Me being a marshal? Are you loco? Andrew 'Doc' Grunch: Well, you could try. It's better for a young fella like you to be working for Uncle Sam than against him. Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: I can't even read or write. You know that! Andrew 'Doc' Grunch: Listen, you don't read or write a man into jail.
Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: Folks, it's true. I don't know much about the law. Ain't had much book learning. But the good Lord gave me a nose for smelling a horse thief a mile off. And what you need in these parts is a marshal that's better at smelling than spelling.
(Cantrell has been defeated by Bob Seton in the election for marshal) William Cantrell: Learning, studying, working like a dog... and what did it get me? The first chance I have to be somebody, I'm beaten out of it by an ignorant cowhand who can't even write his own name! Well, I can write mine... and I'm going to write it across the territory in letters of fire and blood if I have to! I'm going to be somebody in this country! Somebody big!
Miss Mary McCloud: Now, will you please get to the point and tell me what you want? Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: I want to marry you. Miss Mary McCloud: You what? Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: Well, I ain't got no job right now, but I figure to get one. And outside of a snort of hooch now and then, I got no bad habits. Miss Mary McCloud: I'd say asking a perfect stranger to marry you is a very bad habit!
Fletcher 'Fletch' McCloud: Well, I guess Lawrence is burned to the ground. Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: Yeah. Well, we got a saying down in Texas: that it takes a good fire to burn down the weeds... to let the flowers grow.
Angus McCloud: Four killings in a week! It's got to stop! Judge Buckner: Four! Did you say four? That's right, four! Well, we're going to be quite a town, ain't we? I doubt that they have that many in Dodge City. No, I don't think so. Angus McCloud: We aim to compete with any city in size, but not in lawlessness!