Reno Smith You're not Sheriff any more. You're so pathetic you just lost a job.
Tied for 2nd most-quoted character in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955): in 11 of its 34 quotes
Most scenes with: Macreedy (5), Liz (2)
Send a wire to Nick Gandi in Los Angeles. Tell him to find out everything he can about John J. Macreedy...Tell him I want to know fast. Don't get too nervous too fast, Hector...you're as jumpy as a stall horse...And while you wait I'll talk to him.
More lines from Reno Smith
1 quote Reno Smith Scenes with Reno Smith
9 scenes Smith I want to apologize for some of the people in town.
They act like they're sittin' on a keg.
Smith A keg...? Of what?
I don't know. Diamonds? Gunpowder?
Smith Oh, it's nothing like that. We're suspicious of strangers is all. Hangover from the old days. The Old West.
I thought the tradition of the Old West was hospitality.
Smith I'm trying to be hospitable, Mr. Macreedy. You going to be around long?
Could be.
I was looking for a man named Komoko.
Smith Komoko, sure, I remember him, Japanese farmer. Never had a chance.
Oh?
Smith He got here in '41, just before Pearl Harbor. Three months later, they shipped him off to a relocation center. Tough.
You don't happen to remember which one they sent him to, do you?
Smith Who knows? Why don't you try writing him? I'd be glad to help you out.
No, I'm afraid you'd be wasting your time. I've already written him but they don't forward my letters. They keep sending them back.
Smith [after Liz provided directions to Macreedy, who gave her $10]
You shouldn't have done that.
I thought it would be better if he went out there and got done with it. What can he find out? I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, Reno, you know that.
Smith This is liable to be the hardest ten dollars you ever earned in your life.
Smith You don't know anything about Komoko, now do you, Tim?
Sheriff
I do not. That's the point.
Smith The point is, what you don't know won't hurt you.
Sheriff
Maybe there's something that I ought to know. Maybe there's something that I ought to ask you before the stranger comes back here and starts breathing down my neck.
Smith Tim! You're just a lost ball in the high weeds. I told you a long time ago, nothing happened for you to worry about.
Sheriff
Thing is, I do worry. Maybe I ain't much else, but I'm sure a worrier. And I'm still the law.
Smith Then do your job, Tim.
Sheriff
What is my job, Mr. Smith? Maybe I'd better find out before Macreedy does it for me.
Smith Macreedy'll do nothing - and neither will you, Tim.
Sheriff
Suppose I decide to try?
Smith That might be dangerous. Tim, you got the body of a hippo but the brain of a rabbit. Now don't overtax it.
Sheriff
[He lowers his eyes and looks away]
Yes, Mr. Smith.
Coley I think Macreedy's a nothin', a nobody...So there's nothin' to worry about...What can he find out? That Komoko...Suppose he finds out.
Smith A nobody like Macreedy can raise a pretty big stink. The point is - who'd miss a nobody like Macreedy if he just, uh, say, disappeared? Who, Coley?...
Why don't we wait?...I mean, maybe he won't find anything. Maybe he'll just go away.
Smith Not Macreedy. I know those maimed guys. Their minds get twisted. They put on hair-shirts and act like martyrs. All of 'em are do-gooders, freaks, troublemakers.
Let's wait and see. There's no danger yet.
Smith No danger, he says. This guy's like a carrier of small pox. Since he's arrived, this town has a fever, an infection, and it's spreading.
Smith Why would a man like you be looking for a lousy Jap farmer?...I believe a man is as big as what'll make him mad. Nobody around here seems big enough to get you mad.
What makes you mad, Mr. Smith?...The Japanese make you mad, don't they?
Smith Well, that's different. After that sneak attack on Pearl Harbor - Bataan
Komoko made you mad.
Smith It's the same thing. Loyal Japanese-Americans, that's a laugh. They're all mad dogs. What about Corregidor, the death march?
What did Komoko have to do with Corregidor?
Smith He was a Jap, wasn't he? Look, Mr. Macreedy, there's a law in this county about shootin' dogs. But when I see a mad dog, I don't wait for him to bite me. I swear, you're beginning to make me mad.
All strangers do.
Smith No they don't. Not all of 'em. Some do when they come around snooping.
Snooping for what?
Smith I don't know. Outsiders coming in looking for something.
Looking for what?
Smith I don't know. Somebody's always looking for something in this part of the West. To the historians, it's the "Old West." To the book writers, it's the "Wild West." To the businessman, it's the "Undeveloped West." They say we're all poor and backward and I guess we are. We don't even have enough water. But to us, this place is our West. And I wish they'd leave us alone.
Leave you alone to do what?
Smith I don't know what you mean.
What happened to Komoko?
Smith He went away, I told you. Shortly after he left, some kids went out there. They got foolin' around and burned his place down. That's how it was. You know how kids are. I don't believe you. There's somethin' buried up there....[He pulls the wildflowers from his pocket] That means a grave. I suppose you knew that. I saw a lot of it, you know, overseas. I figured it wasn't a human grave because it wasn't marked. Kind of a mystery, isn't it?
Coley I'm half-hoss, half-alligator. You mess with me and I'll kick a lung outta ya. Whaddya think of that?
No comment.
Coley You know, talkin' to you is like pullin' teeth. You wear me out. You're a yellow-bellied Jap lover. Am I right or wrong?
You're not only wrong - you're wrong at the top of your voice.
Coley You don't like my voice?
Smith Why ever would he want to do that?
Well, I don't know. Maybe he thinks that if he needles me enough, I might crack. I might even fight back. And then either he or your other ape sittin' over there could beat me to death and cop a plea of self-defense.
Smith I don't think that'll be necessary. You're so scared now you'll probably drown in your own sweat.
Coley No, before that happens, couldn't I pick a fight with you if I tied one hand behind me...?
Wouldn't it have been easier to wait until I turned my back? Or are there too many witnesses present?
Smith You're still in trouble.
You're in trouble. Whatever happens, you're sunk.
Smith You got things a big twisted.
You killed Komoko, Smith, and sooner or later you're gonna go up for it. Not because you killed him, because I think in a town like this, you can get away with it. But because you didn't have guts enough to do it alone. You put your trust in guys like this - and Hector here - not the most dependable of God's creatures. And one of these days, they're gonna catch on that you're playin' 'em for a sap. And then what are ya gonna do? Peel 'em off, one by one? And in the meantime, one of 'em's gonna crack and when they do, you're gonna go down - but hard. 'Cause they got somethin' on ya, Smith. Something to use when the goin' gets tough. And it's gettin' tougher every minute.
Smith Just a few more steps, honey.
Get him. Get him now.
Smith First things first, honey.
Help me up, Smitty.
Smith You were gonna help me, Liz. I still need your help.
I did everything you said.
Smith You two started out in a car and that's the way you're gonna end up. Over a cliff - burning. You can blame Macreedy for that. He said I had too many witnesses.
But why me? Why start with me?
Smith I gotta start with somebody.
