The Princess Bride Page #17

WESTLEY:

Then I'm here till I die?

ALBINO:

(working away)

Till they kill you. Yeah.

WESTLEY:

Then why bother curing me?

ALBINO:

The Prince and the Count always

insist on everyone being healthy

before they're broken.

WESTLEY:

So it's to be torture.

The albino nods.

WESTLEY:

I can cope with torture.

The albino shakes his head.

WESTLEY:

You don't believe me?

ALBINO:

You survived the Fire Swamp. You

must be very brave...

(little pause)

... but nobody withstands The

Machine.

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69.

He studies Westley, whose face is almost sad.

CUT TO:

BUTTERCUP:

and her face is sad. Pallid, perhaps ill. She wanders down a

corridor in Florin Castle. As she moves unseeing past an

intersecting corridor:

CUT TO:

PRINCE HUMPERDINCK AND COUNT RUGEN

watching her.

HUMPERDINCK:

She's been like that ever since

the Fire Swamp.

(looks at Rugen)

It's my father's failing health

that's upsetting her.

RUGEN:

(unbelieving)

Of course.

As they move on--

CUT TO:

FLORIN CASTLE - NIGHT

CAMERA HOLDS ON IT while we hear the Grandfather's voice

reading.

GRANDFATHER:

(off-screen)

The King died that very night,

and before the following dawn,

Buttercup and Humperdinck were

married.

CUT TO:

MAIN SQUARE OF FLORIN CASTLE

And if we thought it was packed before, we didn't know how

many more could fit in this courtyard. Humperdinck, Rugen

and the Queen stand high on the balcony.

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70.

GRANDFATHER:

(off-screen)

And at noon, she met her subjects

again. This time as their Queen.

HUMPERDINCK:

My father's final words were...

THE KID:

(off-screen)

-- hold it. Hold it, Grandpa.

And the scene FREEZES, Humperdinck caught in mid-sentence.

CUT TO:

THE KID'S ROOM

The Kid is half sitting now, not strong yet, but clearly

stronger than when we first saw him.

THE KID:

You read that wrong. She doesn't

marry Humperdinck, she marries

Westley. I'm just sure of it.

After all that Westley did for

her, if she does not marry him,

it wouldn't be fair.

GRANDFATHER:

Well, who says life is fair?

Where is that written? Life isn't

always fair.

THE KID:

I'm telling you you're messing up

the story, now get it right!

GRANDFATHER:

Do you want me to go on with this?

THE KID:

Yes.

GRANDFATHER:

All right, then. No more

interruptions.

(starts to read again)

... at noon, she met her subjects

again. This time as their Queen.

And on these words--

CUT TO:

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71.

PRINCE HUMPERDINCK

HUMPERDINCK:

My father's final words were

"love her as I loved her, and

there will be joy." I present to

you your Queen. Queen Buttercup.

And on his words--

CUT TO:

THE CROWD:

and it's gigantic.

CUT TO:

THE ARCHWAY:

we saw before, as Buttercup emerges.

CUT TO:

THE CROWD:

suddenly going to its knees, wave after wave of silent

KNEELING PEOPLE. All of them down.

CUT TO:

BUTTERCUP:

touched as before, but then she seems stunned as we

CUT TO:

THE CROWD:

SOMEONE IS BOOING! The BOOING gets louder as an ANCIENT

WOMAN approaches Buttercup through the crowd, BOOING every

step of the way.

BUTTERCUP:

Why do you do this?

ANCIENT BOOER:

Because you had love in your

hands, and you gave it up.

BUTTERCUP:

(distraught)

But they would have killed

Westley if I hadn't done it.

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72.

ANCIENT BOOER:

Your true love lives and you

marry another --

(to the crowd)

-- True love saved her in the

Fire Swamp, and she treated it

like garbage. And that's what she

is, the Queen of Refuse! So, bow

down to her if you want. Bow to

her. Bow to the Queen of Slime,

the Queen of Filth, the Queen of

Putrescence. Boo! Boo! Rubbish!

Filth! Slime! Muck! Boo! Boo!

She advances on Buttercup now, who is more and more panicked.

CLOSE-UP - THE ANCIENT BOOER

Louder and louder and LOUDER she shrieks vituperation at

Buttercup, reaching out her old hands toward Buttercup's

throat, and Buttercup is as frightened now as Dorothy was

when the Witch went after her in "The Wizard of Oz", and

suddenly,

CUT TO:

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