The Princess Bride Page #21

HUMPERDINCK:

(at Westley)

You truly love each other, and so

you might have been truly happy.

Not one couple in a century has

that chance, no matter what the

storybooks say. And so I think no

man in a century will suffer as

greatly as you will.

And with that he whirls, turns on The Machine, grabs the

lever and --

CUT TO:

COUNT RUGEN:

calling out --

RUGEN:

Not to fifty!!!

But it's too late as we --

CUT TO:

PRINCE HUMPERDINCK

shoving the lever all the way up and

CUT TO:

WESTLEY'S FACE

And there has never been such pain. The pain grows and grows

and with it now, something else has started

THE DEATH SCREAM. As The Death Scream starts to rise --

CUT TO:

OUTSIDE THE PIT OF DESPAIR

as the SOUND moves along, LOUDER AND LOUDER, and --

CUT TO:

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86.

YELLIN AND HIS SIXTY BRUTES

and they bear it, and a few of the Brutes turn to each other

in fear, and as the scream builds --

CUT TO:

BUTTERCUP IN HER ROOM

and she hears the SOUND, doesn't know what it is, but her

arms involuntarily go around her body to try to control the

trembling, and the scream, still builds and --

CUT TO:

ESTABLISHING SHOT ACROSS THE RIVER

There are many PEOPLE --it is the day of the country's 500th

Anniversary -- but all the People stop as the sound hits

them. A few CHILDREN pale, bolt toward their PARENTS and --

CUT TO:

INIGO AND FEZZIK

trying to make their way through the jammed marketplace,

which suddenly quiets as the fading sound comes through.

INIGO:

(instantly)

FEZZIK, FEZZIK, listen, do you hear? -- That is the sound of

ultimate suffering. My heart made that sound when Rugen

slaughtered my father. The Man in Black makes it now.

FEZZIK:

The Man in Black?

INIGO:

His true love is marrying another

tonight, so who else has cause

for Ultimate Suffering?

(trying to push through)

Excuse me --

It's too crowded.

INIGO:

-- pardon me, it's important --

No one budges and the sound is fading faster.

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87.

INIGO:

-- Fezzik, please --

FEZZIK:

(gigantic and roaring)

Everybody ... MOVE!!

And the Crowd begins to fall away, and he and Inigo start to

track the FADING SOUND.

INIGO:

Thank you.

CUT TO:

A GROVE OF TREES NEAR THE PIT OF DESPAIR

The Albino appears wheeling a barrow. Inigo's sword pushes

at his chest.

INIGO:

Where is the Man in Black?

The Albino shakes his head, says nothing.

INIGO:

You get there from this grove, yes?

Silence.

INIGO:

Fezzik, jog his memory.

And Fezzik crunches the Albino on the top of the head as if

he had a hammer and was driving in a nail. The Albino drops

without a sound.

FEZZIK:

(upset)

I'm sorry, Inigo. I didn't mean

to jog him so hard. Inigo?

CUT TO:

INIGO:

He kneels, the sword held tight between his hands. Eyes

closed, he faces the grove of trees, starts to talk, his

voice low and strange.

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88.

INIGO:

Father, I have failed you for

twenty years. Now our misery can

end. Somewhere ... somewhere

close by is a man who can help us.

I cannot find him alone. I need

you. I need you to guide my sword.

Please.

And now he rises, eyes still closed.

INIGO:

Guide my sword.

CUT TO:

THE GROVE OF TREES

as Inigo, eyes shut tight, walks forward, the great sword

held in his hands.

Fezzik, frightened, follows close behind.

CUT TO:

THE SECRET KNOT:

that reveals the staircase.

CUT TO:

INIGO:

walking blind through the grove of trees. He moves to the

Secret Knot, hesitates, then moves past it.

Then Inigo stops. For a long moment he stands frozen.

Suddenly he whirls, eyes still closed, and the sword strikes

home dead center into a knot and --

Nothing. He has failed.

In utter despair he collapses against the tree. Against a

knot in the tree. Against THE KNOT in the tree. It slides

away, revealing the staircase. FEZZIK and Inigo look at each

other, then start down.

CUT TO:

WESTLEY:

dead by The Machine. FEZZIK leans over him, listening for a

heartbeat. Then he looks at Inigo, shakes his head.

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89.

FEZZIK:

He's dead.

Inigo is in despair. For a moment, he just sags.

INIGO:

(barely able to speak)

It just is not fair.

THE KID:

(off-screen)

-- Grandpa, Grandpa -- wait --

CUT TO:

THE KID'S ROOM

He is terribly excited and looks stronger than we've yet

seen him.

THE KID:

-- wait -- what did FEZZIK mean,

"He's dead?" I mean he didn't

mean dead.

The Grandfather says nothing, just sits there.

THE KID:

Westley's only faking, right?

GRANDFATHER:

You want me to read this or not?

CUT TO:

THE KID:
CLOSE UP

THE KID:

Who gets Humperdinck?

GRANDFATHER:

I don't understand.

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