Sergeant Rutledge (1960)

Jeffrey Hunter: Lt. Tom Cantrell

Photos 

Quotes 

• Lt. Tom Cantrell : Mary, when I got word at Fort Linton that the Apaches were in this district and that I'd left you alone, I was really...

  Mary Beecher : [severely]  Not alone. Sergeant Rutledge was here. And no officer could have protected a woman more gallantly!

• [On horseback, Lieutenant Cantrell and some of his officers are escorting Mary Beecher to her home. Rutledge, handcuffed and still wounded from gunfire in his side, rides in the front alongside Cantrell] 

  Lt. Tom Cantrell : How's the side holding up, Sergeant?

  1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge : [sardonically]  You know what they say about us, sir. We heal fast.

  Lt. Tom Cantrell : You give me your word you won't try to make an escape, I'll take those irons off you.

  1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge : [Rutledge refuses to look at Cantrell]  I can't do that, sir. 'Cause I ain't going back to stand trial.

  Lt. Tom Cantrell : Well, don't you be a fool, Brax. What if you did get away? Why, this thing would haunt you until you couldn't stand it.

  1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge : You forget, sir. We been haunted a long time. Too much to worry. Yeah, it was all right for Mr. Lincoln to say we were free.

  [Now he turns to look angrily at Cantrell] 

  1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge : But that ain't so! Not yet! Maybe some day, but not yet!

• Lt. Tom Cantrell : [Complaining about the prosecutor's tactics]  A soldier's life is at stake and this man is playing cheap legal tricks!

• [Rutledge enters the court room under guard and presents himself to the President of the Court-Martial] 

  1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge : First Sergeant Braxton Rutledge, C Troop, Ninth United States Cavalry.

  [the spectators erupt into bedlam. Sitting in the front seats, the officers' wives, especially Mrs. Fosgate, have been chattering constantly, and a crowd of men at the back begin shouting that Rutledge should be hanged, and so forth. Fosgate bangs his gavel repeatedly] 

  Lt. Tom Cantrell : Mr. President!

  Col. Otis Fosgate - president of the court-martial : Order!

  Lt. Tom Cantrell : Mr. President! I request this court room be cleared of all spectators. This is not a public show. A soldier's on trial for his life before this court; and, furthermore, by the very nature of the charges alone, this is certainly no place for ladies.

  [the ladies, especially Mrs. Fosgate, don't like that, and they begin chattering and protesting again] 

  Col. Otis Fosgate - president of the court-martial : Request granted.

  [He glares at his wife] 

  Col. Otis Fosgate - president of the court-martial : Dickinson, clear this court room of everyone not directly connected with this case!

  [the crowd, mostly women in hats, resentfully rise and start exiting. Mary Beecher remains in her seat, looking disgruntled] 

  Mrs. Cordelia Fosgate : Otis! Otis, tell this person you don't mean *me*.

  [Dickinson takes her by the shoulder to escort her out] 

  Col. Otis Fosgate - president of the court-martial : Out, Cordelia! Captain Dickinson, escort Mrs. Fosgate and her friends to the door.

  Mrs. Cordelia Fosgate : Otis Fosgate, wait till I get you home!

  [Fosgate clears his throat and glances at the other Court Martial men, who are grinning at him] 

• Lt. Tom Cantrell : [Pleading to Mary]  Rutledge needs all the help he can get.

  Mary Beecher : Whose fault is that? And you of all people defending him.

  Lt. Tom Cantrell : If only you knew the facts.