The Tin Star (1957)
Anthony Perkins: Sheriff Ben Owens
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Quotes
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Morg Hickman : A decent man doesn't want to kill, but if you're gonna shoot, you shoot to kill.
Sheriff Ben Owens : How about hittin' them in the arm?
Morg Hickman : That hokey-pokey'll get you killed fast. There're a lot of guys bragging about shooting a gun out of somebody's hand. They're lying. They shot to kill. A wounded man can still kill you.
Sheriff Ben Owens : *You* did it.
Morg Hickman : Huh?
Sheriff Ben Owens : With Bogardus. You hit his gun.
Morg Hickman : That wasn't my fight, that was yours. I could take a chance.
Sheriff Ben Owens : What if you missed?
Morg Hickman : Aw, he'd have killed you, or I'd have had to kill him.
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Sheriff Ben Owens : I wouldn't expect no bounty hunter to appreciate this badge.
Morg Hickman : I wore one a lot longer than you ever will.
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Sheriff Ben Owens : You notice everything, don't you?
Morg Hickman : I notice you're wearing your guns too low.
Sheriff Ben Owens : That's where Sheriff Parker wore his.
Morg Hickman : Parker's dead.
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Morg Hickman : How come they picked you?
Sheriff Ben Owens : I'm only temporary.
Morg Hickman : You're more temporary than you think.
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Morg Hickman : To have confidence, you gotta keep a cool head. Don't take any chances you don't have to; but, wait... and end the fight with one shot.
Sheriff Ben Owens : Wait?
Morg Hickman : It's that time you wait - that split second - that means the difference between missin' a man and killin' him.
Sheriff Ben Owens : I don't wanna kill nobody.
Morg Hickman : Take your guns off.
Sheriff Ben Owens : The law says a man ain't to be shot without his chance to surrender.
Morg Hickman : Or make his fight. As long as you're wearin' that badge, you gotta walk up, tell him to throw 'em up and then watch which way his hands move. If they go up, you got yourself a prisoner. They go down, he's dead... or you are.
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Morg Hickman : How long you had that badge?
Sheriff Ben Owens : Since Sheriff Parker got killed.
Morg Hickman : Nobody else wanted it, huh?
Sheriff Ben Owens : Yeah... Bogardus.
Morg Hickman : He wanted it for a shooting license, huh?
Sheriff Ben Owens : That's how come he didn't get it. Town don't want prisoners brought in dead.
Morg Hickman : Yeah, I know. They only want sheriffs brought in dead.
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[first lines]
Sheriff Ben Owens : Uh, ju-just getting the feel of these guns.
Morg Hickman : Where's the sheriff?
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Sheriff Ben Owens : Is it true what you told me, that you used to be a sheriff like me?
Morg Hickman : Not like you.