Gangs of New York Page #31
He walks to the doors. The Rabbits guarding it don't make a move. He OPENS
it himself and strides out into the street.
CUT TO:
122 EXT./INT. ARMORY DAY
Bill walks alone toward the Native/militia lines.
From inside... from every window ... the Dead Rabbits watch him.
The sun is high, but the street is eerily quiet. There are FARAWAY SOUNDS
of battle, but here there is only the sound of distant, unheard
conversation between Bill, the Militia Commander and some Natives.
Amsterdam WATCHES intently.
The Butcher and the Militia Commander argue, but we still can't hear what
they're saying. There is still no sound...
... until, SUDDENLY, we see the Militia Commander's face. Huge. EYES WIDE
with surprise as we HEAR the thunderclap of a SHOT.
Bill the Butcher has just gutshot the Militia Commander.
As if the shot were a signal, the Natives TURN on the militia. It's
hellish, close-quarter combat. Guns fired inches from enemies who had just
been allies. Knives, swords, bludgeons, kids with dead-rat blackjacks,
women with hob-nailed wooden planks, attacking better-armed but totally
stunned soldiers.
Bill the Butcher falls back toward the Armory, the Natives following him.
Inside the Armory, Amsterdam turns to his own greatly diminished gang.
AMSTERDAM:
Go ahead them, give them cover! Give them some damn cover!
The Rabbits are so stunned to be fighting on the same side as their sworn
enemies that, even with Amsterdam's order, no one makes a move. It's
Amsterdam who FIRES the first shots. And that unleashes a great VOLLEY
from the Armory...
... toward the militia.
The Butcher and the Natives are closer to the Armory now... and the Armory
doors start to open...
... when a MILITIA LIEUTENANT SIGNALS ...
... and MILITIA on the surrounding roofs, waiting for this moment,
suddenly open fire...on the Natives below and on the Rabbits on the roof
of the armory. Many drop in the street and fall from the Armory roof...
... as the Armory doors SWING WIDE to admit the Natives. As they run or
stagger inside, the Rabbits start to close the doors. Some Rabbits are cut
down by the fire from the rooftops. Other Natives never make it to the
doors. And a few are shot...
... when the doors close before they can get through.
CUT TO:
123 INT./EXT. ARMORY DAY
The Dead Rabbits keep firing, but they have sustained grave losses. The
Butcher looks around at the Natives who have made it inside with him: he
has perhaps one-quarter of his original strength.
BILL THE BUTCHER
Well, it seems like between us we got two mobs that might make a gang.
AMSTERDAM:
Whose gang might it be?
BILL THE BUTCHER
Not William Tweed's.
Jimmy Spoils and a crew of Natives PUSH a cannon toward the rear of the
Armory.
AMSTERDAM:
Which way you pointing that?
JIMMY SPOILS:
Any way you say. One direction could let us out, the other will let them
in.
BILL THE BUTCHER
They got to come in if we're going to fight them.
AMSTERDAM:
Who do you want to fight, Bill?
Amsterdam MOTIONS toward the rear wall and Jimmy swings the cannon around.
Everything surrounding them is MOVEMENT and COMMOTION as the remaining
members of both gangs TAKE whatever weapons they can carry from the Armory
stockpile...
... and Jenny steps forward with a torch, LIGHTING the fuse of the
cannon...
... which ROARS and BLOWS a huge hole in the rear wall of the Armory.
AMSTERDAM:
(to Bill the Butcher)
See you in the street.
The gang members RUSH for the opening, carrying whatever they can manage.
Outside, the MILITIA LIEUTENANT hears the cannon blast... sees no damage
to the front of the building... and SIGNALS for a frontal ASSAULT on the
Armory.
HIGH ANGLE FROM ABOVE, CAMERA MOVING as the militia CHARGES ... following
them forward, then moving ahead to the Armory
... SHOOTING straight down inside (no roof or ceiling) as the Gangs HURTLE
through the still-smoldering hole in the wall ...
... and drop twenty feet to an alley below...
... where militia on the roof try to pick them off. As the militia presses
closer from the front, gang defenses start to fall back inside the Armory.
Everyone wants to get through that hole.
Amsterdam, Jenny, Jimmy Spoils and some of the other gang nembers are
carrying TORCHES. Jenny HANDS a torch to the Butcher. Amsterdam MOTIONS
them all toward the back of the Armory.
But he stays behind. Just for a moment. He BENDS over the crumpled body of
Johnny Sirocco, ARRANGES it, folding JOHNNY'S HANDS across his chest.
AMSTERDAM:
You'll have a warrior's funeral anyway, John.
He STANDS and RUNS for the hole in the wall, where Jenny and the others
stand waiting.
He TURNS, takes a last look inside the Armory. The militia is BATTERING
DOWN the front doors. Then he raises his TORCH over his head... and HURLS
it through the air. Jenny and the others do the same.
His single torch BLAZES a path of light across the screen. The others,
JOINING it, make a fiery CONSTELLATION.
CUT TO:
124 EXT. REAR OF ARMORY/STREETS BEHIND ARMORY DAY
As Jenny, Jimmy Spoils, Bill the Butcher and Amsterdam HURTLE through the
hole into the alley below...
... and start to run through the withering GUNFIRE of the militia on the
roof...
... getting away... just barely away.
As Jenny runs, her swag drops and FALLS from under her clothes. She TURNS
to pick it up but Amsterdam PULLS her on....
... and just away from the titanic EXPLOSION of the Armory. The CONCUSSION
throws some of the militia from their perches on the roof. It sends a
fountain of FLAME and RUBBLE high into the sky. It is VOLCANIC in its
brilliance and intensity. The sky turns BLACK with powder, BLAZING ORANGE
with flame.
In the small streets BEHIND THE ARMORY, many gang members are CRUSHED by
debris or burned by FIREBALLS breaking off from the central flame.
The Armory is gone. Much of the surrounding area is gone with it.
On the ground, everything is smoke, flame, dirt, death, confusion, Corpses
everywhere. Gang members and kids running all over, desperate. It looks
like the last day of mankind on earth.
Bill the Butcher HELPS a couple of fallen Natives, then SEES through the
smoke and flame and storm of ash ... Amsterdam.
Coming towards him.
BILL THE BUTCHER
We're finished, all of us.
AMSTERDAM:
But you and me ain't settled.
BILL THE BUTCHER
We got the same now, a full share of nothing. There's nothing to settle.
There's nothing left.
Amsterdam takes a weapon from his pocket, OPENS it for the Butcher to see:
it is the pirate's knife which the Butcher used to kill Priest Vallon.
AMSTERDAM:
Then let's start over.
Bill the Butcher looks tired, sorrowful. He BURIES his face wearily in his
arms. And for a moment we think he has given everything up. Amsterdam
MOVES toward him, through the smoke. The Butcher does not even look at
him. Of all the things he could do, this is the one that Amsterdam could
not anticipate and does not know how to reckon.
AMSTERDAM:
Look at me. Look at me!
But the Butcher will not obey. Amsterdam HESITATES.
And it's at that moment the Butcher LOOKS UP... in a FLASH... a pistol in
his hand, a grin of triumph on his face... and shoots. Amsterdam goes down.
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"Gangs of New York" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 10 Jan. 2025. <https://www.scripts.com/script/gangs_of_new_york_294>.
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