Vigilante Force (1976)

Jan-Michael Vincent: Ben Arnold

Photos 

Quotes 

• Linda Christopher : [to Ben]  I know he's your brother, but he's not even playing cop anymore. He walks into a place with one thing in mind: Destroy.

  Paul Sinton : It sounds like the war. You know, when some guys go crazy, and start shooting at everything that weren't wearing an American flag.

  Linda Christopher : Are we going to sit back and watch?

  Mayor Bradford : [arriving]  Ben! Oh, Ben! Say, Ben, you got a minute?

  Ben Arnold : [busy servicing tractor]  No.

  Mayor Bradford : Half a minute? By the way, Ben, did you get Aaron to commit to the Grand Marshal offer?

  Ben Arnold : He said he'd think about it.

  Linda Christopher : Maybe he got a better offer.

• Aaron Arnold : You done wonders with the place, Ben.

  Ben Arnold : Yeah. There's a hundred-and-forty acres here. Sharkey stocked seventy-five Arabians here at one time.

  Linda Christopher : Arabians?

  Ben Arnold : Horses.

  Linda Christopher : [feels silly]  Oh.

  Ben Arnold : Before he was killed in the war.

  Linda Christopher : What war?

  Aaron Arnold : My war.

• Ben Arnold : [arrives at Aaron's house to confront him about the cockfight]  Aaron! Aaron!

  Aaron Arnold : [walks outside]  What?

  Ben Arnold : What the hell have you been doing?

  Aaron Arnold : What's the matter, Ben?

  Ben Arnold : What happened to that damn cockfight?

  Aaron Arnold : I closed down an illegal gambling operation.

  Ben Arnold : And you let that casino stay open?

  Aaron Arnold : I told you about that. What is this crap?

  Ben Arnold : What about killing Arno and Majors and taking all those people's money, huh?

  Aaron Arnold : Correction: confiscated evidence.

  Ben Arnold : Aaron, I have friends here who are accusing me of being part of whatever the hell is going on!

  Aaron Arnold : That's some friends. Now, YOU listen to me. I didn't volunteer for this and when you good people hired me to come take care of your garbage, nobody was there telling me how to do the job. Nobody wanted to know. Now, you don't like it? You tell them fine civilians, brother, that it's a little late to get involved.

  Ben Arnold : I'm the one that brought you here, and I'm the one that's gonna run you out.

  Little Dee : [shows up with her musical instruments and luggage]  Can you give me a lift into town, Ben?

  Aaron Arnold : Where the hell you going?

  Little Dee : My sentence here's up.

  Aaron Arnold : Get your ass back in the house.

  Ben Arnold : [Aaron tries to grab Dee, but Ben grabs her and throws her luggage in the flatbed]  Get in the truck.

  Aaron Arnold : We gonna fight over another girl, Ben? You know, it's always been me, against the rest of them, ever since I'd been born, but I thought you was on my side.

  Ben Arnold : I always was.

  [Ben walks towards the truck] 

  Aaron Arnold : And you will be, again.

  Little Dee : [to Aaron, as Ben starts to pull away]  Happy trails.

• Ben Arnold : [stops Aaron from savagely beating a thug]  Hey, that's enough!

  Aaron Arnold : [as Ben walks off]  But it's what I'm here for.

• Shakey Malone : [Shakey arrives at a firing range where Ben, his friends, and Mayor Bradford are at]  I just came from the restaurant. Somebody made a casserole out of my kitchen. Dumped a whole week's supply of groceries all over the floor. Had to be that shakedown pimp. The guy that was trying to sell me protection.

  Ben Arnold : What guy?

  Tom Cousy : [points at a scar on his cheek]  The same ones who gave me this and if we didn't pay, we'd be in more trouble.

  Shakey Malone : I ain't paying! I'll feed the place to the hogs, first!

  Ben Arnold : You talk to Aaron? Tell him about these guys?

  Shakey Malone : Aaron's not here to protect US, Ben! He's here to protect

  [slaps Bradford on the buttocks] 

  Shakey Malone : his honor's ass, not mine!

  Mayor Bradford : Now, Shakey, you know that's not true.

  Shakey Malone : Sure as hell is!

  Ben Arnold : Now, wait a minute. Aaron's here for all of us.

  Freddie Howe : Then, why don't he do something about the shakedowns, Ben?

  Tom Cousy : Or maybe you know something we don't? Maybe you and Aaron...

  Freddie Howe : Go on, say it. Everybody else's been saying it.

  Shakey Malone : [to Ben]  Maybe you're in on it.

  Ben Arnold : In on what?

  [Shakey, Freddie, and Tom depart] 

  Mayor Bradford : Oh, don't pay attention to them, Ben.

  Ben Arnold : You gonna talk to Aaron or is this up to me, too?

  Mayor Bradford : You talk to him, huh?

• Ben Arnold : [Aaron is top of a gasoline tank shooting wildly at Ben's direction]  Aaron, you got to get off that tank!

  Aaron Arnold : The hell you say! I ain't lost the war, yet!

  [Ben is forced to shoot Aaron dead and he falls into the tank, triggering a massive explosion] 

• Linda Christopher : [re Ben's brother Aaron]  He frightens me. Did you ever fight him?

  Ben Arnold : Nah.

  [remembers] 

  Ben Arnold : Yeah, I did once.

  [chuckles] 

  Ben Arnold : Long time ago, over a girl. He was seventeen or eighteen.

  Linda Christopher : Who won?

  Ben Arnold : She did.

  Linda Christopher : [laughs]  Okay, I see. She picked you.

  [looks at him intently] 

  Linda Christopher : Was it Iris?

  Ben Arnold : [nods]  We all ended up friends. It's like she's the only girl around here he ever liked.

  Linda Christopher : Maybe that's why he hates being around here.

  Ben Arnold : He don't hate nothing. Aaron's just got to have a big fuss made over him, or he thinks people don't like him.

  Linda Christopher : A hero.

  [said with some derision] 

  Molly Arnold : [Ben's little daughter comes running up]  Daddy! Daddy! It's finished!

  [candy-striped Uncle Sam suit] 

  Molly Arnold : Just in time for the parade! How do you like it?

  Ben Arnold : You'll steal the parade, darling.

  Molly Arnold : The Tigers are on!

  Ben Arnold : [to Linda]  Wanna watch?

  Linda Christopher : I hate baseball.

  [but Ben's on his way in] 

  Linda Christopher : I hate baseball!

  [but follows] 

  Ben Arnold : You hate parades too?

  Linda Christopher : [they're about to go in]  When is it?

  Ben Arnold : Fourth of July.

• Ben Arnold : [to his friends about the parade shakedown]  We know who's behind the killings and extortions in this town and it's time to do something about it. I know Aaron and if we don't face him down, now, there'll be no stopping him. Aaron knows we'll be marching in that Fourth of July parade. The plan is to leave early, that's our cover. He'll never expect us, if we hit him hard and fast. So, if any of you think his kind of law and order is a price we have to pay for prosperity and decent lives, then stay in your houses and keep the hell out of my way.

• Mayor Bradford : [Ben shows up outside the police station to see Bradford, Aaron, and his deputies]  Ben, we're forming a search posse. It seems Harry Lee's still missing.

  [Ben opens down the tailgate to show Harry's dead body underneath a blanket] 

  Mayor Bradford : Harry. My god. I want his killer.

  Ben Arnold : Well, there's some things you ought to know.

  Mayor Bradford : No, don't tell me.

  [looks at Aaron] 

  Mayor Bradford : Tell him. Aaron, I'm appointing you interim chief of police. I want Lee's killer.

  Ben Arnold : [to Aaron]  Then, we ought to start with you.

  Aaron Arnold : What does that mean?

  Ben Arnold : Little Dee said she saw Lee out at your place, late last night.

  Aaron Arnold : That's right. He was a little concerned about the way we busted up the picnic.

  Ben Arnold : So, you had to kill him?

  Aaron Arnold : [chuckles]  I get it. Did she tell you that before or after I threw her ass out?

  Mayor Bradford : Now, hold it, Ben. Aaron gets the job done.

  Ben Arnold : Like the job he's doing on us? Come on, Bradford, wake up!

  Mayor Bradford : Now, you forget this family squabbling. We got a town to run, a town under attack.

  [to Aaron] 

  Mayor Bradford : Aaron, you're on your own.

  Aaron Arnold : [to Ben]  I like this town. Whoever did this, we'll find out. Hope I can count on you for your help.

• Ben Arnold : [on the porch of Ben's house]  I hear you been talking about me. Why, Ben? I done what I was brought here for.

  Ben Arnold : You screwed up, Aaron. You always do.

  Aaron Arnold : [sits down on the ledge of the porch]  You know why you ain't been killed, don't you?

  Ben Arnold : Yeah. Because we're brothers.

  Aaron Arnold : And that's the only reason. And I got to find a way to do what I'm gonna do in Elk Hills without going through you.

  Ben Arnold : I AM Elk Hills, Aaron, and what you do here depends on what people like me let YOU do.

  Aaron Arnold : You picked a shit town to be in, Hoss, and as for people, they're so full of shit and easy money, they need a squeeze and I'M going to be the squeezer.

  Ben Arnold : Get off my property.

  Aaron Arnold : Stop playing the hero. Shit, Ben, I was going to cut you in, when the time was right.

  Ben Arnold : It's all over for you, Aaron. You always been pushing for the big showdown and now I'm gonna put an end to you.

  Aaron Arnold : And when you do, who the hell are you all going to have to blame, when everything goes wrong?

  Ben Arnold : I'll take the blame. Now, get off my property.

  [Aaron walks off, but turns around] 

  Aaron Arnold : I'm real sorry I didn't make it to Linda's funeral. It's getting to be a bad habit of mine.