Slaughterhouse-Five

Synopsis: Using his own terminology, Billy Pilgrim is "unstuck in time", which means he is moving between different points in his life uncontrollably, although he is aware of it at certain of those points as witnessed by the letter to the editor he writes to the Ilium Daily News about his situation. Primarily, he is moving between three general time periods and locations. The first is his stint as a GI during WWII, when, as a pacifist, he was acting as a Chaplain's assistant for his unit. This time is largely as a POW, where he was in Dresden the day of the bombing, spending it with among others an older compassionate GI named Edgar Derby, and a brash loudmouth GI named Paul Lazzaro. The second is his life as an optometrist in Ilium in upstate New York, eventually married to the wealthy and overbearing Valencia Merble, and having two offspring, Robert, who would spend his teen-aged years as a semi-delinquent, and Barbara, who would end up much like her mother. And the third is as an abductee on
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Director(s): George Roy Hill
Production: Universal Pictures
  Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.0
Rotten Tomatoes:
77%
R
Year:
1972
104 min
608 Views


Daddy.

Daddy, are you home?

Maybe he isn't.

Of course he is.

Daddy!

Find him?

Does it look like I found him,

Stanley? Well, I just thought...

Dad!

Daddy.

Don't worry about your father,

Barbara. I'm sure he's all right.

Oh, I don't know.

Honey, I'm sure...

Daddy!

Daddy, are you there?

We shouldn't have

left him alone.

He wanted to come here. Don't

get yourself all upset. Daddy!

Honey. What...

Stanley!

Okay, I'm coming. I'm coming! Daddy!

I told you he should not be left alone.

It's too big for one man in his

condition. He wanted to be left alone.

You always take his side.

Daddy! Dad!

Aaah!

Who are you? Your outfit? Where you going?

I don't know. You don't know? How come?

I just moved up. Let me see your dog tags.

Where are they?

L... I can't find them.

He's a Kraut!

He don't look like one.

I'm not! I'm an American.

Prove it!

Prove it?

Who plays third for the Tigers? The Tigers?

The Detroit Tigers.

Who is it?

I don't know.

Why ask him?

It came into my head.

You guys go on without me.

Where's your weapon?

I don't have one.

Everybody's got one!

I'm a chaplain. Assistant

chaplain. What's your name?

Pilgrim. You know why

this got three sides on it?

Makes a slit that don't

close up. Gee, that's great.

A G.I. Knife makes a slit. Right.

Slit closes up, right? Right.

This makes

a three-sided slit.

It kills you.

What's that?

Chaplain's assistant.

No sh*t! What's your

name? His name's Pilgrim.

You know how to pray?

Start praying!

Where are we, Corp? Belgium, stupid.

You tell Paul Lazzaro where we

are! We're in the middle of Krauts!

You got us here.

Get us out!

"Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be

done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily... "

Just beyond those trees

there's a farmhouse.

Go on without me.

I'll be all right.

I'm gonna

scout that farmhouse.

And if it's clear, I'll fire

my carbine three times spaced.

Got it!

That son of a b*tch

ditches us, I'll kill him.

We could surrender.

What?

We could surrender,

couldn't we?

We'd just

have to stay here...

Me and the corporal and the dago, we're

Americans! We don't surrender! Got that?

He's took off.

That corporal.

He'll get back home

after the war.

He'll be a big hero.

Dames'll be climbin'

all over him.

Couple of years go by, and one day

there's gonna be a knock on his door,

and there'll be this stranger.

"Paul Lazzaro sent me," the stranger

will say and shoot his pecker off.

Stranger will give him a couple of seconds

to think about who Paul Lazzaro is...

and what life's gonna be like

without a pecker,

then he'll shoot him once

in the guts and walk away.

Yes.

Billy, you time tripping again?

I can always tell, you know,

when you've been time tripping.

You were back in the war,

weren't you?

Time travel's a b*tch for you,

isn't it? Particularly the war.

I can't help it.

Why don't we see if old Mother Montana

can't keep you stuck right here for awhile.

How about a little kiss? A little kiss?

- A little ki...

- A what?

A little kiss.

- You f***in' f*ggot!

What's the matter?

You f***in' fairy!

What's the matter, f*ggot?

I was thinkin' of a girl.

He wanted to kiss me.

I was imagining things

and I was...

Krauts!

Stehen Sie auf.

Billy, you're wonderful.

I'm so glad I waited.

I'm glad

we waited too.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have seemed

the same tonight. No, it wouldn't.

It starts the whole marriage off

on the right foot.

Yeah. Yeah.

I know when you were in the war

you must have had experiences.

Well... No, don't tell me

about them! It was wartime.

Anyway, it's different for a man

than for a woman. I understand.

Just so glad we waited.

So am I.

And you know what? I'm gonna

lose weight just for you, Billy.

See.

Before I needed a reason,

and now...

I have one!

Hey, Billy. I think we've

begun the life of a new hero.

How can you tell?

Because I'm a woman.

Huh!

And you know what, Billy? What?

I never thought

anybody would ever marry me.

I did.

Oh, Jesus!

Stay off my feet, will ya?

Oh, walk right, will ya?

Gee, I'm sorry.

You step on his feet again, you son

of a b*tch, and I'll break your ass!

You hear me?

Die blonde Haar.

Bringen Sie Marine.

Over here.

Schnell!

Good. Hold it. Look out here

now. Can you get the sign in?

The sign's in good. Okay, smile.

Looks good.

Hold it.

Big smile now.

Big smile!

Ja! Lacheln.

Lacheln. Lacheln. Ja.

Hey, that's good.

Hold that kiss.

We got it!

All you dog faces

from the 451 st over here.

Fall in here. It's your old

colonel, boys. It's Wild Bob.

Four-fifty-first.

You from the 451 st?

Some of you boys

must be from the 451 st.

I know you, don't I?

What's your name?

Pilgrim, sir. Pilgrim.

Of course! I remember you.

Damn fine rifleman.

Fine rifleman, Pilgrim.

One of the best

in the 451 st.

First in peace,

first in war, and first...

Get your hands off me! An

officer's place is with his men!

My men need me, and I'm stayin' with

'em! Don't worry; it's your old colonel.

Wild Bob is with you.

No formalities. At ease.

By God, Wild Bob's

proud of you.

There are dead Germans all over the

place wishin' to God they'd never...

I'm stayin' with my men.

All right. All right.

God bless you, boys.

Bless you, boys.

By God, boy,

you're a good soldier.

You'll come

through this all right.

And when you get to Cody,

Wyoming, just ask for Wild Bob.

We'll have one hell

of a reunion.

God bless you, boys!

Bless ya, boys!

A fag frolic in Wyoming. I'll be

there, Pilgrim, waitin' for you.

Come on.

This ain't so bad. I been in

a lot worse spots than this.

Troy. Winter of'37.

Cold?

I'll tell you!

Or take the time Watkins and me decked

the yard bull at White River junction.

Had us in the pen

for three weeks in our Skivvies.

Would have had pneumonia

if we hadn't jumped the place.

They took us up to Burlington

to check us out.

Last I heard, Joe

was somewheres on the Alagash.

You try that sometime, pal.

You try that sometime

in February in 1934,

then see

if this is so bad.

There are plenty

of worse places.

Plenty of worse places.

He was at the top ofhis class

in optometry when this happened.

I don't doubt it,

Mrs. Pilgrim.

The doctor says

it's nervous exhaustion.

Oh, I'm sure

that's all it is.

I think it's the war.

That certainly could

have a lot to do with it.

But he had

some awful experiences.

He was in Dresden

when it was bombed.

His closest friend

was killed there.

Oh, dreadful.

Dreadful.

And his father passed on

while Billy was in training.

But I knew God would send

Billy home safe to me.

I prayed every night,

Mr. Rosewater.

Even though we don't

belong to a church.

We're all

in God's hands, dear.

Billy!

Billy, Mama's here.

You can come out now.

He's engaged

to a very rich girl.

Her name's Valencia. Valencia

Merble. Her father's Lionel Merble.

He owns the Ilium School of

Optometry where Billy was going.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

Stephen Geller

Stephen Geller (b. Los Angeles, California) is an American screenwriter and novelist. He wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five, and has worked in the film industry in Hollywood and Europe. Geller recently directed his own independent feature, Mother's Little Helpers. Educated at Dartmouth College and Yale University, Geller moved to Rome, Italy in 1969–79 to work for the Italian producer, Dino De Laurentiis, where he wrote the screenplay for The Valachi Papers, among other films. Rome became his home for the next sixteen years. He worked in the Italian, French, British and independent film industries. He also commuted to LA, and wrote for every major studio during that period. Eventually, in 1986, he returned to Hollywood, working there for a time, but leaving eventually to found screenwriting programs at Arizona State University, and at the Boston University College of Communication. His screenwriting credits, in addition to Slaughterhouse-Five, include Ashanti, The Valachi Papers, and Warburg: A Man of Influence, and "Mother's Little Helpers." In 1997, Geller directed, co-wrote and acted in the play, "Opportunities in Zero Gravity" with his writing partner and wife, Kae Geller. This two actor, seven character play thematically wove monologues around popular cultural mythology, capitalism, and the pursuit of the American Dream. Aside from screenwriting, he has also published eleven novels and a book on screenwriting, has written several plays, and has directed both theater and film. He currently teaches Shakespeare, satire, and the personal essay at Savannah College of Art and Design. His most recent novel is A Warning of Golems. more…

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