The Grave - Recap

In an old West town, several men lay in wait to ambush outlaw Pinto Sykes. When they give him a chance to surrender, they quickly gun him down when he goes for his gun. The injured Sykes reaches for his gun but they quickly haul him away to the old jail. he only has a few minutes left to live and they send Johnny Rob to get Pinto's sister, Ione.



Two days later, Conny Miller rides into town Jasen tells him that Pinto died in the street. He goes into the bar where Mothershed boasts that eight of them shot at Pinto, even though only one hits. No one wants to take credit and Johnny Rob wonders if Pinto knows who killed him. They wonder if Conny is disappointed and he admits that he's been trying to hunt him down. Johnny Rob notes that Pinto claimed Conny wasn't searching very hard. Mothershed explains that they complained to the circuit judge about Pinto and hired Conny to hunt him down, but didn't get much results. The circuit judge told them to get a backbone and they held a meeting to gun down Pinto. Afterward, Mothershed explains that Pinto talked to his family and then asked to be buried next to his mother. Then Pinto said that he sent word to Conny where he was but Conny never showed. Pinto vowed that if Conny ever visited his grave, he'd reach up and grab him. Ione Sykes comes in and buys a bottle for herself, and makes sure Conny knows about Pinto's dying vow. She dares him to go to the cemetery and then leaves.



Johnny Rob starts to taunt Conny about being a coward and Conny slaps him down. Johnny Rob backs down and bets $20 that Conny won't go to the graveyard and visit Pinto. Conny takes the bet and the gambler, Steinhart, offers $20 more. Conny covers him as well and offers to match anyone else. They refuse to bet but admit that they'd be afraid and figure he is too, and his gun won't do any job. Steinhart suggests that Conny plant a bowie knife in Pinto's grave to prove that he was there when they check it out in the morning. Conny takes the knife and heads for the graveyard.



As Conny arrives at the graveyard, he sees Ione standing over her brother's grave, the wind blowing her cloak. Drunk, Ione offers him a drink that he refuses, and says that Pinto is waiting for him. She walks away, laughing, and Conny goes up to Pinto's grave. He hears a banging noise and draws his gun, only to discover it's a loose mausoleum door. He approaches Pinto's grave again and plunges the bowie knife into the dirt. He stands up... and then collapses.



The next morning, the townsfolk note that Conny's horse is still there. Ione comes walking down the street carrying a plate that belonged to Pinto that she's going to put on his grave. The men go with her to the grave and find Conny lying dead on the grave. Steinhart points out that Conny's coat is pinned to the ground. He drove the knife into the ground, accidentally pinned down his own coat blowing over the grave, and when he got up he felt the tug and died of a heart attack thinking Pinto had grabbed him. Ione puts the plate on the grave and then points out that the wind was blowing the wrong way.



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