The Outlaw Josey Wales

Synopsis: Josey Wales makes his way west after the Civil War, determined to live a useful and helpful life. He joins up with a group of settlers who need the protection that a man as tough and experienced as he is can provide. Unfortunately, the past has a way of catching up with you, and Josey is a wanted man.
Genre: Western
Director(s): Clint Eastwood
Production: Warner Home Video
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
7.9
Metacritic:
69
Rotten Tomatoes:
95%
PG
Year:
1976
135 min
6,569 Views


Get up, girl. Get up!

Whoa!

WOMAN:

Little Josey!

Come on in. Let's get you cleaned up.

Better go.

[HOOFS THUNDERING]

Whoa.

[BIRDS SQUAWKING]

[GUNSHOT]

[GUNFIRE]

LITTLE JOSEY:
Pa! Help!

WOMAN:
Josey!

Josey! No, no!

Josey! No!

Josey!

Josey! No!

Josey! No!

LITTLE JOSEY:

Pa! Pa!

WOMAN:
No!

LITTLE JOSEY:
Pa!

[GUNFIRE]

Ashes to ashes...

...dust to dust...

...the Lord gives...

...the Lord takes away.

[GUNSHOT]

[HORSES WALKING]

The name's Anderson.

Bloody Bill is what they call me.

Redlegs?

You'll find them up in Kansas.

They're with the Union.

And we're going up there

and set things aright.

I'll be coming with you.

[GUNFIRE]

All that a fellow has to do...

...is ride into that Union camp

down there...

...raise his right hand and swear

you'll be loyal to the United States.

Then he can take up his horse again...

...and go home.

They'll give us full amnesty then?

FLETCHER:

Yep.

Everyone else has done it but us.

We're the last of the holdouts.

I'm going in. I've had enough.

Josey?

Better go with them, boy.

You coming with us?

I reckon not, Fletcher.

They'll be coming after you.

Yep.

There's nowhere to go to get away.

I reckon that's true.

Well, good luck.

Put the rifle down too.

-I'll need it for squirrels and such.

-Put it down.

Kind of young, ain't you kid,

to be riding with this rabble?

Who you calling rabble,

you blue scumbelly?

Hell, we showed these boys, anyway.

Lee might have had to surrender,

but we didn't.

-Shut up, kid.

-Yes, sir.

You showed us.

Now get in line...

...before I kick you so hard

you'll wear your ass for a hat.

Here's the man you asked for, sir.

-Fletcher. Good to see you.

-Senator.

Well done.

Thank you.

What the hell is

this Redleg doing here?

You said regular federal authorities

would handle this.

Captain Terrill is the regular

federal authority now.

Captain Terrill is

a bloodthirsty son of a b*tch!

He is a looter and a pillager!

He's the worst enemy those men have!

SENATOR:

The war's over.

Our side won the war.

Now we must busy ourselves

winning the peace.

And, Fletcher, there's an old saying:

To the victors belong the spoils.

And there's another old saying, senator.

Don't piss down my back

and tell me it's raining.

Which side is this man on, senator?

Easy. He brought them all in, didn't he?

-All but one.

-Who's that?

Josey Wales.

Josey Wales.

Captain Terrill, I want you to

currycomb the countryside.

You beat the brush and root out

everything disloyal...

...from a Shanghai rooster

to a Durham cow!

We've got to clean up this country.

Now you take five men and go up there

and get Josey Wales.

[FLETCHER CHUCKLES]

Captain Redlegs Terrill and five men

against Josey Wales?

We stopped those bushwhackers

pretty good during the war.

Fletcher, you go with Captain Terrill.

Bring in this damn

insurrectionist rebel.

Now, here.

Here's the money for bringing

the others...

...and there'll be more for Josey Wales.

I've had enough of your money, senator.

Let Wales be.

Let me be.

I'm finished with you.

[COINS CLUNKING]

All right...

...I want you men to raise

your right hands.

JAMIE:

What for?

So you can pledge loyalty

to the Union.

Hell, pledge loyalty to the Union?

You ought to have us turn around

and bend over.

All raise your right hands

so I can take your oath.

I pledge...

...that I will be loyal to

the United States of America.

I pledge that I will be loyal...

...to the United States of America.

That I will....

Let's see. I will abide by its law...

...that I will never bear arms against it.

MEN:

I will abide by its law...

...that I will never bear arms

against it.

And recognize...

...that it is one nation.

MEN:

And recognize...

...that it is one nation.

-I ain't doing it.

MAN:
Come on, kid.

Let's get this over with, damn it!

But I been thinking.

I think it's them who owes an apology.

And I further swear, that though...

...I be murderous....

Look! That's Josey!

Verminous, lying, Missouri scum!

Damn you, senator!

You promised me those men would be

decently treated.

They were decently treated.

They were decently fed...

...and then they were decently shot.

These men are common outlaws,

nothing more.

Run for it, Fletcher, it's a trap!

Josey, we best be on our way.

-Get moving, boy.

-They're coming after us.

We've got to take to the brush!

-You get going!

-You can't get them all.

-That's a fact.

-How come you're doing this then?

I've got nothing better to do.

Fletcher was in with them.

It was a trap!

Fletcher?

Never would have figured that.

You dumb kid.

Josey, I've got to tell you something.

I'm scared of dying.

Move out!

SENATOR:

You are going after him after all.

Fletcher, I'm giving you a commission.

Hound this Wales to kingdom come.

Hound him, senator?

A man like Wales lives by the feud.

Because of what you did here today,

I've got to kill that man.

Well, he'll have to run for it now.

And hell is where he's headed.

He'll be waiting there for us, senator.

JAMIE:
Don't hold back on account

of me. I can ride.

I ain't holding back on account of you,

you thick-headed grasshopper.

If we ride in the open, there's enough

posses over in South Missouri...

...to start another war.

And if we try riding

instead of thinking...

...well, we'll end up hanging

by a rope by nightfall.

-Where are we headed?

-The Indian Nations.

It's a good place to hole up

and get you healed up.

Then we'll go get Fletcher?

Right, boy.

Then we go back and get Fletcher.

There's some riders

coming up behind us.

Get down here, boy.

Lay across his neck.

Keep him down there.

Can you hear me, boy?

Now if you see me get up,

you stay there, understand?

If you hear shooting

and me headed back north...

...get back on that horse.

He'll get up with you...

...and you head south, now you hear?

JOSEY:

Whoa. Whoa.

You can let him up now, boy.

Let him up!

Get up, goddamn it!

Whupped them again, didn't we?

Whupped them again, boy.

MAN:
Ten years I've been ferrying

Kansas Redlegs...

...Union Cavalry, Missouri guerrillas...

...you name it!

Mad dogs, them guerrillas!

You look sideways at them...

...they kill you!

Hard men to do business with.

You bet!

You know, in my line of work...

...you got to be able either to sing

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic"...

...or "Dixie" with equal enthusiasm...

...depending upon present company.

Can't say as I blame you for that.

Only good business to play it safe.

Thank God they all been disarmed now...

...except for a few of the nastiest ones...

...who they're busy running down.

Where I'm going,

they know how to handle that kind.

SIM:

Where are you headed?

CARPETBAGGER:
I'm going to ply

my wares down in Texas.

Texas, huh?

How much for the ferry ride?

Ten cents.

By coincidence, I happen to have

a bottle of this remarkable elixir...

...I could let you have

for that exact amount.

[SINGING]

I wish I was in the land of cotton

Rate this script:3.0 / 1 vote

Philip Kaufman

Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed fifteen films over a career spanning more than five decades. He has been described as a "maverick" and an "iconoclast," notable for his versatility and independence. He is considered an "auteur", whose films have always expressed his personal vision.His choice of topics has been eclectic and sometimes controversial, having adapted novels with diverse themes and stories. Kaufman's works have included genres such as realism, horror, fantasy, erotica, Westerns, underworld crime, and inner city gangs. Examples are Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), Michael Crichton's Rising Sun (1993), a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), and the erotic writings of Anaïs Nin's Henry & June. His film The Wanderers (1979) has achieved cult status. But his greatest success was Tom Wolfe's true-life The Right Stuff, which received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. According to film historian Annette Insdorf, "no other living American director has so consistently and successfully made movies for adults, tackling sensuality, artistic creation, and manipulation by authorities." Other critics note that Kaufman's films are "strong on mood and atmosphere," with powerful cinematography and a "lyrical, poetic style" to portray different historic periods. His later films have a somewhat European style, but the stories always "stress individualism and integrity, and are clearly American." more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "The Outlaw Josey Wales" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_outlaw_josey_wales_15436>.

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