Summary :
Chris has gone on a journey, to spend time with himself. He finds himself falsely accused and incarcerated in a brutal prison where the warden and the local sheriff are running an extortion ring, forcing the families of other illegally imprisoned men to pay money to get them out. The money is going into the pockets of the two lawmen. Chris stands up to the warden and is struggling to keep from having his spirit and his body broken. Meanwhile, thanks to Mary's prodding, Chris's friends have come looking for him. Will they find him before the warden or the prison kill him?
Memorable Scenes :
Scene One - The Town of Jericho
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Chris is in the saloon in Jericho, waiting for the key to his hotel room. A travelling watch salesman is trying to tempt Chris but Chris is not interested. The sheriff arrives and claims the salesman is wanted for armed robbery in another town. The salesman protests his innocence and is threatened. Chris tries to help the man and ends up being knocked out, then under arrest. In a mock trial, he is found guilty and sentenced to 5 years hard labor without parole. He is taken to the nearby prison where, after an attempt to escape, he learns he has lost his name and will be known during his stay at the prison as Inmate 78.
Scene #2 - Saloon in Four Corners
- Back in Four Corners, JD is playing poker with Nathan and Buck and telling them a joke.
JD : A 3-legged dog walks into a saloon, walks right up to the bartender and he says, 'I'm lookin' for the man who shot my paw.'
- Neither Nathan nor Buck is impressed with JD's humor or his ability to tell a joke. Mary enters the saloon, concerned that Chris's 3-day trip has turned into ten days.
Buck : We can't all go riding out every time somebody decides to have a little fun. You'd be looking for me half the time, if that were the case!
- When Mary gets a telegram that Chris boarded his horse in one town and hasn't been seen for two weeks, his friends go looking for him.
Scene #3 - The Prison
- At the prison, Chris learns that the warden and the sheriff are running an extortion ring, arresting innocent men and forcing their families to pay huge sums of money for their release. If the men can't pay, they stay in the prison.
- Three of the prisoners - the Lawless brothers - confront Chris. Chris apparently shot their 18-year old cousin in Dodge City; they think Chris should just have wounded the man, instead of killing him. Chris is stabbed in a fight with the brothers and ends up in the infirmary. During the scuffle, he manages to take the make-shift knife away from one of the men and hides it in his sleeve.
- The sheriff and the warden offer Chris a chance for a re-trial if his family will post the $500 bail.
Sheriff :We're your only chance of ever gettin' out of here.
Chris : You don't want my money. 'Cause if I ever get out of here, I'll come back and I'll take you both down.
Scene #4 - Jericho
- The six have made their way to Jericho, and they stop to ask the deputy if Chris has been in the town.
Vin : We're lookin' for a friend.
Deputy : Well, he must be a very valuable friend, if a whole posse has to look for him.
Josiah : His name's Chris Larabee. You seen or heard of him?
Deputy : Chris. Chris Larabee. He wouldn't be that egg suckin', horse thievin' gutter trash from up Fort Laramie way now, would he?
Vin : (restraining Buck) No, sir, wrong man.
- The six are in the saloon, enjoying a drink and looking for information. JD is trying to tell his joke to Ezra, who is not impressed with the boy's ability to tell a joke either. Josiah and Vin talk to the innkeeper, a woman named Jessie, and ask her if Chris has been there. She says no. When the sheriff shows up to enforce the town policy on guns, they say they will be on their way as soon as they get supplies.
Scene #5 - The Prison
- A prisoner who has been in the infirmary has been dragged out and told to go to work, even though he can't stand up. After the warden hits the man twice, Chris steps in and the warden hits him over the head. He drags himself up and the warden hits him and knocks him down again. He hits him again while he's on the ground and while Chris struggles, the other prisoners start a rhythmic banging with their picks and shovels, encouraging Chris to get up. The warden backs down and sends the first man to the infirmary. He also tells Chris to go and get himself fixed up.
- Chris is back in the infirmary. The doctor gives him a drink and tells him about the other prisoner. When he arrived he was a lot like Chris - strong, proud and stubborn. He stood up to the warden and the other prisoners liked him. Now he's just a shell of a man, broken by the prison and the warden.
Scene #6 - Jericho
- In the general store, Nathan spots Chris's gun in a display case and Buck puts his fist through the glass to get the gun. When the six confront Jessie again about Chris, Buck pretends he is going to attack the woman and she tells Josiah that some drunks showed up in town and forced her to take Chris's gun, which she sold to the general store.
Scene #7 - The Prison
- When Chris returns to the yard, everyone is happy to see him and the three brothers are waiting for him. He apologizes for killing their cousin.
Chris : You're right. I should have winged your cousin. I was a different man then.
- The sheriff comes to the warden because he's worried that "Vin Tanner and his bunch" aren't going away. The warden recognized Vin's name, and found a wanted poster with Vin's name and picture on it. He has plans and he says Chris's friends can have him back - in a box.
Scene #8 - Jericho
- After searching the town, the six decide they are going to force the deputy to tell them where Chris is.
Ezra : Y'all are worse than General Sherman on a Georgia plantation.
Buck : What?
Ezra : If I may, allow me to interview the deputy.
Buck : Why you?
Ezra : Don't take this the wrong way, but you gentlemen occasionally lack the essential skills of tact and diplomacy.
Buck : What are you sayin'?
Josiah : I think he's sayin' we're rude.
Ezra : Rude? No, rude would be a definite improvement. I'm saying you scare people and perhaps terrorizing them won't buy you any answers this time.
Vin : Whatta you got in mind?
Ezra : Well, I believe a little subtlety is in order.
- Ezra plies the deputy with liquor until he tells him everything there is to know about the prison and about Chris. JD finally finds someone who appreciates his joke but then the deputy passes out and falls over. Vin punches Ezra in the arm.
Vin : You call this subtle?
- The sheriff shows up with some men from town to arrest Vin. Vin ignores the threat and tells the sheriff that the deputy has told them all about what's happening at the prison. Vin challenges the sheriff to a gun fight and all six men pull their guns "on the count of three". The men with the sheriff back down and run away, and the intimidated sheriff surrenders his gun. They ride out to the prison and get inside, but the sheriff shouts a warning to the guards and a gun fight begins.
Scene #9 - The Prison
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Chris has been placed in an underground cage and the warden drops a rattle snake in to finish him off. Chris manages to grab the snake and throws it out at the warden, who is bitten by the snake. Chris is able to get the keys out of the warden's pocket and frees himself. The sheriff has taken all the money out of the safe and wants to make sure Chris is dead. But Chris is out of the cage and he stabs the sheriff.
Scene #10 - Prison Yard
- The next day, Josiah reads the prison log and all of the illegally imprisoned men are set free. The Seven ride out and Chris tips his hat to the brothers on his way out of the gate.
Trivia :
- Don Swayze (Gage Lawless) is the brother of Patrick Swayze
- Ron Perlman and Cliff de Young (Sheriff) appeared together in an episode
of Beauty and the Beast entitled "Dark Spirit" which aired November 27, 1987.
- Cliff de Young was also in "Andersonville" with Andrew Kavovit
