Substitute Gun - Recap

Bart rides into the town of Spearhead and Sheriff Coleman takes note of his arrival. The gambler arrives at the stable and meets an old friend, Smiley. Smiley says that he’s heading for Abilene on a “pleasure trip.” After they check their horses, Smiley offers to buy lunch for Bart, but Bart passes and bids him goodbye. Sheriff Coleman watches the two of them talking.



After Bart finishes at the barber shop, he walks down the street to the stable. Smiley sees him from the saloon and goes after him. Bart rides out of town and Smiley rides after him, while Coleman watches him. Outside of town, Bart is riding by when Smiley prepares to shoot him. However, Coleman shoots Smiley from behind. When Bart rides over, he asks the dying Smiley why he tried to kill him. Smiley says that it’s nothing personal and that he had a job to do in Spearhead and couldn’t risk Bart coming back. Bart knows that Smiley is a professional killer, but Smiley refuses to say anything to Coleman. When Bart appeals to him, Smiley says, “Get Blauvelt.” Coleman recognizes the name as belonging to Tom Blauvelt, and tells Bart to come back to town with him.

At the sheriff’s office, Bart explains that he met Smiley briefly at a bar in St. Louis, but has no idea why he was in Spearhead. Coleman tells Bart that he isn’t leaving town quite yet. When the town undertaker, Ezra Gouch, arrives, Coleman tells him to bury Smiley without saying anything to anyone. Once Gouch leaves, Coleman tells Bart that he stops trouble before it starts, and the Spearhead Saloon opened up two months ago. The owner, Clete Spain, owns the saloon, and Coleman figures Blauvelt sent for Smiley to eliminate the competition. The sheriff wants Bart to hire on with Blauvelt as a professional gambler and help him against Clete, because all of Tom’s other gamblers have been run out of town by Clete. Bart is reluctant to take the job, and Coleman suggests that he might have to put Bart in jail for a couple of months to make sure there’s no charges against him. The gambler reluctantly agrees, and Coleman says that Tom has an attractive sister-in-law, Connie Malone.



The next day, Bart goes to the Golden Eagle Saloon. Clete sees him goes in and asks Coleman about him, and the sheriff says he has no idea. The saloon owner figures Bart for a professional gambler, and Coleman just walks away.

Bart meets with Tom and offers himself as a professional gambler. Tom wonders if he can deal a crooked hand, and Bart says he won’t do it for a living. Impressed, Tom offers him the job and Bart accepts. Tom’s wife Greta comes in and he introduces Bart. Once Bart leaves, Greta wonders how well Tom knows him, and worries that Clete will hire Bart away from him.

Down below, Bart bumps into Connie and introduces himself. She tells him to pick up her packages and goes on her way.



That night, Bart starts the job, and Tom complains that he’s been losing money ever since Clete opened up. He vows that he won’t sell out despite all the dirty tricks that Clete has pulled on him. Bart notes that a man is recording numbers at the roulette table. Tom explains that the man is Malcolm Quint, a bank teller who has been checking the wheel for the last three months working out a system. However, Tom assures Bart that Malcolm doesn’t have enough of a salary to win anything.

Connie is dressing for a night at the saloon when Greta comes in and berates her for singing. She tells her sister that she was only coming out for a visit, not to make a living as a saloon singer. When Greta says that their father intended for her to make something of herself, Connie complains that he shouldn’t have died. She then tells Greta that she’s dressing to impress Bart, but Greta figures she’s trying to steal Tom away from her. She boasts that Tom isn’t even interested in Connie. Once Connie leaves, Greta slips out the back and meets with Clete, kissing him.



Connie begins her first song, playfully flirting with the customers as she works the room. Four cowboys come in, and one of them starts flirting with Connie when she finishes. Tom takes offense and attacks them, and a fight breaks out. Bart lends a hand and even Connie deals a few well-placed pools with a stick. The cowboys flee and Tom offers a round of drinks on the house. He thanks Bart for the help and figures that Clete set the whole thing up.

The next day, Clete waits at a nearby lake. Connie finally arrives and says that it’s the last time, and that she wants a man who is willing to be seen her. When she threatens to leave him rather than wait, Clete says that she’ll stay with him because he’s the only man who loves her. He promises that she only has to wait a week or so, and then they can be together. Connie gives in and they kiss.



Connie comes to see Tom and affectionately kisses him on the cheek. Greta sees them and jealously accuses Tom of having feelings for Connie. He insists that he loves Greta and that the kiss doesn’t mean a thing, but she doesn’t believe him. Greta insists that her younger sister has taken every boyfriend she ever had. Tom denies it, and figures that Greta views him as a possession that she no longer wants, but refuses to let anyone else touch it. Furious, Greta storms off.

Malcolm finally finishes taking notes at the roulette table, smiles, and walks out early. When Bart notices, he goes out after the Malcolm and follows him to the back door of the Spearhead Saloon. Bart sneaks up to the window and watches Malcolm show Clete all of his notes.

The next day, Clete goes to a cabin in the woods and meets with Greta. She kisses him, insisting that they have to kill Tom because he plans to leave her for Connie. Clete slaps her and then says that Connie has no intention of going off with Tom. Greta boasts that she’s hired a killer to dispose of Tom: Bart Maverick. Clete doesn’t believe it, and says that he wants to break Tom, not kill him. That will end any relationship between Connie and Tom, and Greta can stay with Clete when her husband is forced to leave town.



That night, Bart goes to see Sheriff Coleman and tells him that Tom isn’t interested in a killer despite Bart’s hints. He believes that Tom is innocent, and that Smiley was saying that he was sent to kill Blauvelt. Bart believes that his job is done, but Coleman still thinks something is going to happen. The gambler suggests that the sheriff come by the Golden Eagle that night to see if something happens.

Connie is singing at the saloon. As she finishes, Clete comes in and walks over to Tom. He wants to bet on roulette and suggests that Tom lift the house limit entirely. Tom agrees and Clete steps over to the wheel to place his bet. Bart works the wheel and Clete places a spread of bets. The first spin pays off and Clete goes again. However, he starts to lose and soon he’s down to his last few chips. Clete loses that last spin and accuses them of rigging the wheel. Bart invites Coleman to inspect the wheel, but Clete storms off. Once he’s gone, Connie expresses her sympathies and Tom wonders who she was supporting. She apologizes and leaves, and Tom confirms that Clete lost $11,000. Bart explains that the wheel developed a pattern, and Malcolm noted the bias. However, Bart took the precaution of putting in a new wheel. Tom thanks him for his efforts and assures Bart that he’s made a friend.



At the Spearhead Saloon, Ezra Gouch pays off his bill to Clete and inadvertently drops his receipt for Smiley’s burial. The undertaker goes outside and runs into Coleman, and tells him that he found out the dead man was Smiley from the bar in St. Louis. Gouch says that Maverick was there the night he hired Smiley, and Coleman tells him to forget it. Clete has overheard the entire conversation. Later, he meets with Greta. He figures that Maverick and Coleman don’t know that she’s the one who hired Smiley, and gives her a note to give to Bart.

Greta approaches Bart and offers to hire him. However, she says that she’s there representing an anonymous third party, and that Bart is to meet the man at the old Morrison place. Bart agrees and Greta leaves, satisfied.

A bartender finds a note for Tom and gives it to him. It says that there’s a man spending time with Greta, and that Tom should go to the old Morrison place to find out who. He goes to confront Greta but finds no sign of her. Angry, Tom puts on his gun belt and starts to leave. Connie notices and tries to get an explanation, but he leaves without a word. She goes to find Greta and finds the discarded note. Greta comes in and says that she knows what the note says. She accuses Connie of taking Tom from her, but doesn’t believe her sister’s denial. Connie finally admits that she’s stayed because she’s fallen in love with Clete. Greta doesn’t believe it and flees the room, sobbing.



Bart goes to Coleman’s office but discovers that he’s out of town until late that night. Connie runs out of the saloon and spots Bart, and asks if he’s seen Tom. They see Tom riding out to the Morrison place, and Connie explains about the note. Bart mounts his horse and rides off after Tom. He catches up to him at the Morrison place and tries to warn him, but Clete steps out and captures both of them at gunpoint. He tells Tom that Greta is at home and then orders them into the house. Clete then explains that he plans to kill Tom, and that Greta is the one who sent for a killer. Bart explains about Smiley, and Clete tells them that he’s going to make it look like they killed each other. Greta comes in and reveals that she knows the truth about Clete and Connie. Tom tells her to leave, but Greta says that she had nothing left. Clete tells her that she never did, and Greta shoots him. Clete shoots and kills her as he falls. Tom goes to his wife’s side, and she apologizes with her dying breath.



Later, Tom puts Connie on the stagecoach. She promises to keep in touch and assures him that she’s fine. As the stagecoach leaves, Tom thanks Bart and asks if he might stay around. Bart figures that he’d just be a reminder of something that Tom would like to forget, and rides out of town.

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