Kane quotes from High Noon (1952)

Get out of this town this very minute...Don't stop 'til you get to Clarksburg.

I think I ought to stay.

It's no good. I've got to go back, Amy.

Amy

Why?

This is crazy. I haven't even got any guns.

Amy

Then let's go on. Hurry.

No, that's what I've been thinkin'. They're making me run. I've never run from anybody before.

Amy

I don't understand any of this.

Well, I haven't got time to tell ya.

Amy

Then don't go back, Will.

I've got to. That's the whole thing.

I sent a man up five years ago for murder. He was supposed to hang. But up North, they commuted it to life and now he's free. I don't know how. Anyway, it looks like he's coming back.

Amy

I still don't understand.

He was always wild and kind of crazy. He'll probably make trouble.

Amy

But that's no concern of yours, not anymore.

I'm the one who sent him up.

Amy

Well, that was part of your job. That's finished now. They've got a new marshal.

He won't be here until tomorrow. Seems to me I've got to stay. Anyway, I'm the same man with or without this. [He pins his badge on his vest]

Amy

Oh, that isn't so.

I expect he'll come lookin' for me. Three of his old bunch are waiting at the depot.

Amy

That's exactly why we ought to go.

They'll just come after us, four of 'em, and we'd be all alone on the prairie.

Amy

We've got an hour.

What's an hour?...What's a hundred miles? We'd never be able to keep that store, Amy. They'd come after us and we'd have to run again, as long as we live.

Amy

No we wouldn't, not if they didn't know where to find us. Oh Will! Will, I'm begging you, please let's go.

I can't.

Amy

Don't try to be a hero. You don't have to be a hero, not for me.

I'm not trying to be a hero. If you think I like this, you're crazy.

Look Amy, this is my town. I've got friends here. I'll swear in a bunch of special deputies and with a posse behind me, maybe there won't even be any trouble.

Amy

You know there'll be trouble.

Then, it's better to have it here. I'm sorry, honey, I know how you feel about it.

Amy

Do you?

Of course I do. I know it's against your religion and all. Sure I know how you feel.

Amy

But you're doing it just the same. Oh Will, we were married just a few minutes ago. We've got our whole lives ahead of us. Doesn't that mean anything to you?

You know I've only got an hour and I've got lots to do. Stay at the hotel until it's over.

Amy

No, I won't be here when it's over. You're asking me to wait an hour to find out if I'm going to be a wife or a widow. I say it's too long to wait. I won't do it...I mean it. If you won't go with me now, I'll be on that train when it leaves here.

I've got to stay.

You're a judge!

Mettrick

I've been a judge many times in many towns. I hope to live to be a judge again.

Mettrick

This is just a dirty little village in the middle of nowhere. Nothing that happens here is really important. Now get out.

There isn't time.

Harvey

If you'd gone with a new Marshal not due here 'til tomorrow, I'd be in charge around here, right?...If I'm good enough to hold down a job when there's trouble, how come the city fathers didn't trust me with it permanently?

I don't know.

Harvey

Don't ya?

No.

Harvey

That's funny. I figured you carried a lot of weight.

Maybe they didn't ask me. Maybe they figured you were too young.

Harvey

Do you think I'm too young too?

You sure act like it sometimes. Come on.

Harvey

It's very simple, Will. All you've got to do is tell the old boys when they come that I'm the new marshal. And tomorrow, they can tell the other fella they're sorry but the job's filled.

You really mean it, don't ya?

Harvey

Sure.

Well, I can't do it.
'Harvey: Why not?

If you don't know, it's no use me tellin' ya.

Harvey

You mean you won't do it.

Have it your way.

Harvey

All right. The truth is, you probably talked against me from the start. You've been sore about me and Helen Ramirez right along, ain't ya?

You and Helen Ramirez? It so happens I didn't know, and it doesn't mean anything to me one way or the other. You ought to know that.

Harvey

Yeah, you've been washed up for more than a year. You go out and get yourself married, only you can't stand anybody takin' your place there, can ya, especially me?

Amy, you've changed your mind.

Amy

I thought you had changed yours. No, Will, I have my ticket.

What are you looking at? You think I have changed? Well, what do you want? Do you want me to help you? Do you want me to ask Frank to let you go? Do you want me to beg for you? Well, I would not do it. I would not lift a finger for you.

I came to tell ya he was comin'. I should have figured you'd know about it.

I know about it.

I think you ought to get out of town. I might not be able to, well...anything can happen.

I'm not afraid of him.

I know you're not, but you, you know how he is.

I know how he is. Maybe he doesn't know.

He's probably got letters.

Probably. Nothing in life is free. I'm getting out. I'm packing.

That's good.

Un año sin verte. ("One year without seeing you.")

Si, lo s?. ("Yes, I know it.")

Goodbye, Helen.

Kane, if you're smart, you will get out too.

I can't.

I know.

Yes, we all know who Miller is, but we put him away once. And who saved him from hanging? The politicians up North. I say this is their mess. Let them take care of it.

We've been payin' good money right along for a marshal and deputies. Now the first time there's any trouble, we're supposed to take care of it ourselves. Well, what have we been payin' for all this time? I say we're not peace officers. This ain't our job!

I've been sayin' right along, we ought to have more deputies. If we did, we wouldn't be facin' this thing now.

I can't believe I've heard some of the things that have been said here. You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Sure, we paid this man and he was the best marshal this town ever had. It ain't his trouble, it's ours. I tell ya, if we don't do what's right, we're gonna have plenty more trouble. So there ain't but one thing to do now, and you all know what that is.

This whole thing's been handled wrong. Here's those three killers walking the streets bold as brass. Why didn't you arrest 'em, Marshal? Why didn't you put 'em in jail where they ought to be? Then we'd only have Miller to worry about instead of the four of 'em.

I haven't anything to arrest them for, Mr. Trumbull. They haven't done anything. There's no law against them sittin' on a bench at the depot.

What's the matter with you people? Don't you remember when a decent woman couldn't walk down the street in broad daylight? Don't you remember when this wasn't a fit place to bring up a child? How can you sit here and talk and talk and talk like this?

When times getting short, the commandments say, 'Thou shalt not kill,' but we hire men to go out and do it for us. The right and the wrong seem pretty clear here. But if you're asking me to tell my people to go out and kill and maybe get themselves killed, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I'm sorry.

What this town owes Will Kane here it can never pay with money - and don't ever forget it. He's the best marshal we ever had, maybe the best marshal we'll ever have. So if Miller comes back here today, it's our problem, not his. It's our problem because this is our town. We made it with our own hands out of nothing. And if we want to keep it decent, keep it growing, we've got to think mighty clear here today. And we've gotta have the courage to do what we think is right no matter how hard it is. There's gonna be fighting when Kane and Miller meet and somebody's gonna get hurt, that's for sure. Now, people up North are thinking about this town - thinking mighty hard, thinking about sending money down here to put up stores and to build factories. It'll mean a lot to this town, an awful lot. But if they're gonna read about shooting and killing in the streets, what are they gonna think then? I'll tell ya. They're gonna think this is just another wide-open town and everything we worked for will be wiped out. In one day, this town will be set back five years. And I don't think we can let that happen. He [Kane] didn't have to come back here today. But for his sake and the sake of this town, I wish he hadn't. Because if he's not here when Miller comes, my hunch is there won't be any trouble, not one bit. Tomorrow, we'll have a new Marshal and if we can all agree here to offer him our services, I think we can handle anything that comes along. And to me, that makes sense. To me, that's the only way out of this. Will, I think you'd better go while there's still time. It's better for you and it's better for us.

Thanks. [walks out]

Listen, the judge has left town, Harvey's quit, and I'm havin' trouble gettin' deputies.

It figures. It's all happened too sudden. People gotta talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it. Maybe because down deep they don't care. They just don't care.

What should I do?

Get out, Will, get out...You know how I feel about you, but I ain't goin' with ya. Seems like a man with busted knuckles didn't need arthritis too, don't it? Naw, I couldn't do nothin' for ya. You'd be worried about me. You'd get yourself killed worryin' about me. It's too one-sided like it is...It's all for nothin', Will, it's all for nothin'.

Harvey

Ya scared?

I guess so.

Harvey

Sure, it stands to reason. [Harvey saddles a horse]

Seems like all everybody and his brother wants is to get me out of town.

Harvey

Nobody wants to see you get killed. [Kane turns to leave] Hold it, where are you going?

I don't know. Back to the office, I guess.

Harvey

Oh no. You're gettin' on that horse and you're gettin' out. [He grabs Kane] What's the matter with you? You were ready to do it yourself. You said so.

Look, Harv. I thought about it because I was tired. You think about a lot of things when you're tired. But I can't do it.

Harvey

Why?

I don't know.

Harvey

Get on that horse, Will!

Why is it so important to you? You don't care if I live or die.

Harvey

Come on.

Don't shove me, Harv, I'm tired of being shoved.

Time's gettin' pretty short.

It sure is.

When are the other boys gonna get here? We gotta make plans.

The other boys? There aren't any other boys, Herb. It's just you and me.

You're jokin'.

No, I couldn't get anybody.

I don't believe it. This town ain't that low.

I couldn't get anybody.

Then it's just you and me.

I guess so.

You and me against Miller and all the rest of them?

That's right. Do you want out, Herb?

Well, it isn't that I want out, no. You see. Look, I'll tell ya the truth. I didn't figure on anything like this, Will.

Neither did I.

I volunteered. You know I did. You didn't have to come to me. I was ready. Sure, I'm ready now - but this is different, Will. This ain't like what you said it was gonna be. This is just plain committing suicide and for what? Why me? I'm no lawman. I just live here. I got nothin' personal against nobody. I got no stake in this.

I guess not.

There's a limit how much you can ask a man. I got a wife and kids. What about my kids?

Go on home to your kids, Herb.

All right, Kane. Come on out. Come out or your friend here will get it the way Pierce did.

I'll come out. Let her go.

Soon as you walk through that door! Come on...I'll hold my fire...

What do you want?

I found them, all but Mr Henderson.

I found him, thanks.

You're welcome. Marshal, let me fight with you. I ain't afraid.

No.

Please, let me, Marshal!

You're a kid! You're a baby!

I'm sixteen! I can handle a gun, too!

You're fourteen. What do you wanna lie for?

I'm big for my age! Please, Marshal!

Well, you're big for your age, but no, go on, get out of here.