princess bride page8

CUT TO:

THE THIEVES' FOREST - DAY

A lot of hollering is going on. The THIEVES are being rounded up by the BRUTE SQUAD, alarge group of large men. Yellin
stands on a wagon in the midst of all the scuffling.

GRANDFATHER
(off-screen)

The day of the wedding arrived. The Brute Squad had their hands full carrying out Humperdinck's orders.

YELLIN
(to an unpleasant-looking assistant)

Is everybody out?

ASSISTANT BRUTE

Almost. There's a Spaniard giving us some trouble.

YELLIN

Well, you give him some trouble. Move!

And his wagon starts, and as it does,

CUT TO:

INIGO,

drunk as a skunk, sprawled in front of a hovel, a bottle of brandy in one hand, the six-fingered sword in the other. He looks
dreadful. Unshaven, puffy-eyed, gaunt. But the way he brandishes the great sword in front of him would give anyone cause for
worry.

INIGO

I am waiting for you, Vizzini. You told me to go back to the beginning. So I have. This is where I am, and this is
where I'll stay. I will not be moved.

He takes a long pull from his brandy bottle. He stops as the Assistant Brute comes into view.

ASSISTANT BRUTE

Ho there.

INIGO

I do not budge. Keep your "Ho there."

(He waves his sword dangerously)
ASSISTANT BRUTE

But the Prince gave orders --

INIGO

-- So did Vizzini -- when a job went wrong, you went back to the beginning. And this is where we got the job. So
it's the beginning, and I'm staying till Vizzini comes.

ASSISTANT BRUTE
(gesturing off-screen)

You! Brute! Come here.

INIGO

-- I -- am -- waiting -- for -- Vizzini --

VOICE
(off-screen)

You surely are a meanie.

INIGO feels a hand on his back. A huge hand. He compares it to his own smaller hand.

FEZZIK

Hello.

INIGO

It's you.

FEZZIK

True!

And as the Assistant Brute is just about to club Inigo's brains out, FEZZIK lets fly with a stupendous punch.

The Assistant Brute takes the full force of the blow right in the chops. It's like he was shot from a cannon as he careens
backwards out of sight across the street.

There is a pause. Then a crunching sound, as he clearly has come in contact with something hard and immobile.

FEZZIK puts Inigo down.

FEZZIK

You don't look so good.

(after Inigo blasts air in protest)

You don't smell so good either.

INIGO

Perhaps not. I feel fine.

FEZZIK

Yeah?

And so FEZZIK puts Inigo down. That's when Inigo faints, and as he does,

CUT TO:

AN EMPTY ALEHOUSE IN THE THIEVES' QUARTER

Inigo sits slumped in a chair, while FEZZIK spoons him some stew.

GRANDFATHER
(off-screen)

     FEZZIK and Inigo were reunited. And as FEZZIK nursed his inebriated friend back to health, he told Inigo of
     Vizzini's death and the existence of Count Rugen, the six-fingered man. Considering Inigo's lifelong search, he
     handled the news surprisingly well.

And he faints again into his stew.

CUT TO:

TWO LARGE TUBS,

one filled with steaming water, the other with water clearly of an icy nature. Without a word FEZZIK stuffs Inigo's head into the
icy water, then, after a reasonable amount of time, pulls him out, ducks him into the steaming stuff, and, a short time after that,
puts him back in the cold again, then back in the hot --

GRANDFATHER
(off-screen)

FEZZIK took great care in reviving Inigo.

INIGO
(up and going)

That's enough. That's enough! Where is this Rugen so I may kill him?

FEZZIK

He's with the Prince in the Castle. But the castle gate is guarded by thirty men.

INIGO

How many could you handle?

FEZZIK

I don't think more than ten.

INIGO
(doing the math on his fingers)

That leaves twenty for me. At my best, I could never defeat that many.

(he sinks sadly down)

I need Vizzini to plan. I have no gift for strategy.

FEZZIK

But Vizzini's dead.

&n bsp; CUT TO:

THE TWO OF THEM.

Silent and bereft. Then a wild look hits Inigo.

INIGO

No -- not Vizzini -- I need the Man in Black --

FEZZIK

-- what? --

INIGO

-- look, he bested you with strength, your greatness. He bested me with steel. He must have out-thought Vizzini,
and a man who can do that can plan my castle's onslaught any day. Let's go --

FEZZIK

-- where?

INIGO

To find the Man in Black, obviously.

FEZZIK

But you don't know where he is.

INIGO
(he is possessed by demons now)

Don't bother me with trifles; after twenty years, at last, my father's soul will be at peace.

CUT TO:

CLOSE UP - INIGO

INIGO
(big)

There will be blood tonight!!

CUT TO:

PRINCE HUMPERDINCK'S CHAMBERS

-- strewn with maps, etc. Yellin enters, and kneels.

HUMPERDINCK
(sharpening his dagger)

Rise and report.

YELLIN

The Thieves' Forest is emptied. Thirty men guard the castle gate.

HUMPERDINCK

Double it. My Princess must be safe.

YELLIN

The gate has but one key, and I carry that.

He shows the key, dangling from a chain around his neck. Just at that moment, Buttercup enters.

HUMPERDINCK

Ah! My dulcet darling. Tonight we marry. Tomorrow morning, your men will escort us to Florin Channel where
every ship in my armada waits to accompany us on our honeymoon.

BUTTERCUP

Every ship but your four fastest, you mean.

The Prince looks at her blankly for a moment.

BUTTERCUP

Every ship but the four you sent.

HUMPERDINCK

Yes. Yes, of course. Naturally, not those four.

YELLIN
(bows, exits)

Your Majesties.

CUT TO:

BUTTERCUP,

staring at Humperdinck.

BUTTERCUP

You never sent the ships. Don't bother lying. It doesn't matter. Westley will come for me anyway.

HUMPERDINCK
(sharply)

You're a silly girl.

BUTTERCUP

Yes, I am a silly girl, for not having seen sooner that you were nothing but a coward with a heart full of fear.

HUMPERDINCK
(close to erupting; speaks very distinctly)

I-would-not-say-such things-if-I- were-you-

BUTTERCUP

     Why not? You can't hurt me. Westley and I are joined by the bonds of love. And you cannot track that. Not with
     a thousand bloodhounds. And you cannot break it. Not with a thousand swords. And when I say you are a
     coward, that is only because you are the slimiest weakling ever to crawl the earth.

CUT TO:

HUMPERDINCK

jumping at her, yanking her by the hair, starting to pull her along, out of control, his words indistinct.

HUMPERDINCK
IWOULDNOTSAYSUCHTHINGSIFIWEREYOU!

CUT TO:

A CORRIDOR OF THE CASTLE,

as the Prince throws open the door to Buttercup's room, slams it shut, locks it, breaks into a wild run and --

CUT TO:

WESTLEY IN THE MACHINE,

but it's not on. Count Rugen is adding more notes to his book. He looks up as the Prince suddenly comes down the steps,
raging.

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:

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.

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.

INIGO
-- FEZZIK, please --

FEZZIK, gigantic and roaring.

FEZZIK
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)

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.

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.

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)

Westley's only faking, right?

GRANDFATHER

You want me to read this or not?