Wagon Train (TV Series)

The Tom Tuckett Story (1960)

Ben Cooper: Tom Tuckett

Photos 

Quotes 

• Elizabeth : I have no comprehension of the word love. It seems to me a delusion that people grasp and cling to. It has no reality.

  Tom Tuckett : When you find it, it's the only reality.

  Elizabeth : I will never love anybody. I've been brought up without a heart.

• Tom Tuckett : Do you remember the first thing you ever said to me? You told me I was a common little labouring boy with thick boots.

  Elizabeth : Well, I could hardly say anything like that now. Anyway I've learnt better manners.

• Tom Tuckett : Well, she, um, she seemed to like me as a boy

  Elizabeth : Like you? She would destroy all men if she thought she could.

• Nat Burkett : There was a guardian, I think. There had to be a guardian while you were a minor. Was it a lawyer named Pennyworth?

  Tom Tuckett : Yes?

  Nat Burkett : Then, when Pennyworth died, a Mr Miles took over from him.

  Tom Tuckett : You. You?

• Tom Tuckett : If you've looked me up to thank me, it really isn't necessary, and, ah, I'm sure you understand I really can't wish to renew our acquaintance.

  Nat Burkett : [the smile on Nat's face slides downwards and disappears]  You know, Tuck, my boy, that never once occurred to me.

  Tom Tuckett : Look here, I'm sorry, that sounded very rude and harsh. I didn't mean it that way.

  Nat Burkett : Well, maybe it's a disappointing welcome coming so far. You're not to blame.

• Tom Tuckett : So, in parting, I will tell you again the last time. I have loved you long and deeply.

  Elizabeth : I'm sorry, Tuck. I did try to warn you.

  Tom Tuckett : Warn me. Well, why don't you warn the wind to stop blowing, the earth to stop turning. You have a lot to learn about reality yourself, Elizabeth. You can't change what is. My love lives within me. You can't command it to end, no more than you can command it to begin.

  Elizabeth : Then I have no responsibility in the matter.

  Tom Tuckett : None whatsoever.

• Nat Burkett : I won't forget you, Tom.

  Tom Tuckett : I wish you could.

• Elizabeth : Tuck.

  Tom Tuckett : Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth : It's good to see you, Tuck.

  Tom Tuckett : Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth : Oh, is that all you have to say to me after all these years?

• Tom Tuckett : I don't suppose you're going to tell me who made these arrangements.

  Major Seth Adams : Well, they were made by an attorney in St Louis.

  Tom Tuckett : Yes, they're always made by an attorney. Somewhere.

• Tom Tuckett : That was fifteen years ago. It's a long time to get the same frustrating answer.

  Major Seth Adams : Yes, I suppose it is. But you don't seem to have suffered any by it.

• Tom Tuckett : I see, what you made of me.

• Major Seth Adams : It seems to me you're disappointed. I hope you didn't let Nat see what I see.

  Tom Tuckett : Well, how could I help it? How would you like to have a convict look at you and say that he made you, that he owned you.

  Major Seth Adams : Convict? That's a strange word to apply to Nat Burkett.

  Tom Tuckett : Does it? Last time I saw him, he had a ball and chain around his...

  Major Seth Adams : And you were ten years old and you brought him a file. And for that he'll bless you for the rest of his life. And to repay you, he gave you a life far beyond anything you had a right to expect. And because of that you're disappointed, you dislike him, you hate him.

• Nat Burkett : I swam the river and the Caw Indians hid me in their villages. Later on, they passed me from village to village until I ended up with the Ottawas on the other side of the Canadian border.

  Tom Tuckett : I wonder if I'd been in your place if I'd have had your courage.

  Nat Burkett : Thank you, Tuck, my boy. thank you.

• Major Seth Adams : Tuck, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Like I said, a man only begins to live when he discovers the truth about himself.

  Tom Tuckett : My values have been false, even my dreams false. What else is left?

  Major Seth Adams : What's left is up to you. In fact it's the only thong that's been completely left to you. You asked for the truth, you got it. Now, let's see what you can do with it.

• Nat Burkett : A man is a human creature with a divine right to be illogical if he chooses.

  Tom Tuckett : Well, I don't choose.

  Nat Burkett : Love is important, boy. I wish you'd go back and fight for yours.

  Tom Tuckett : No. That door's closed behind me now. Oh, I expect to suffer for a time , but I'm resolved to recover.

• Tom Tuckett : I have the book learning. And you have the knowledge. And You have the wisdom, and courage. I just hope I can measure up to you.

  Nat Burkett : Thank you, son.