["\nIn late summer 1945, guests are gathered for the wedding reception of Don Vito

Corleone's daughter Connie (Talia Shire) and Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo). Vito
(Marlon Brando), the head of the Corleone Mafia family, is known to friends and
associates as \"Godfather.\" He and Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), the Corleone family
lawyer, are hearing requests for favors because, according to Italian
tradition, \"no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day.\" One
of the men who asks the Don for a favor is Amerigo Bonasera, a successful mortician
and acquaintance of the Don, whose daughter was brutally beaten by two young men
because she refused their advances; the men received minimal punishment from the
presiding judge. The Don is disappointed in Bonasera, who'd avoided most contact
with the Don due to Corleone's nefarious business dealings. The Don's wife is
godmother to Bonasera's shamed daughter, a relationship the Don uses to extract new
loyalty from the undertaker. The Don agrees to have his men punish the young men
responsible (in a non-lethal manner) in return for future service if
necessary.Meanwhile, the Don's youngest son Michael (Al Pacino), a decorated US
Marine hero returning from World War II service, arrives at the wedding and tells
his girlfriend Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) anecdotes about his family, informing her
about his father's criminal life; he reassures her that he is different from his
family and doesn't plan to join them in their criminal dealings. The wedding scene
serves as critical exposition for the remainder of the film, as Michael introduces
the main characters to Kay. Fredo (John Cazale), Michael's next older brother, is a
bit dim-witted and quite drunk by the time he finds Michael at the party. Santino,
who is nicknamed Sonny (James Caan), the Don's eldest child and next in line to
become Don upon his father's retirement, is married but he is a hot-tempered
philanderer who sneaks into a bedroom to have sex with one of Connie's bridesmaids,
Lucy Mancini (Jeannie Linero). Tom Hagen is not related to the family by blood but
is considered one of the Don's sons because he was homeless when he befriended
Sonny in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan and the Don took him in and saw
to Tom's upbringing and education. Now a talented attorney, Tom is being groomed
for the important position of consigliere (counselor) to the Don, despite his non-
Sicilian heritage.Also among the guests at the celebration is the famous singer
Johnny Fontane (Al Martino), Corleone's godson, who has come from Hollywood to
petition Vito's help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging
career. Jack Woltz (John Marley), the head of the studio, denies Fontane the part
(a character much like Johnny himself), which will make him an even bigger star,
but Don Corleone explains to Johnny: \"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't
refuse.\" The Don also receives congratulatory salutations from Luca Brasi, a
terrifying enforcer in the criminal underworld, and fills a request from the baker
who made Connie's wedding cake who wishes for his nephew Enzo to become an American
citizen.After the wedding, Hagen is dispatched to Los Angeles to meet with Woltz,
but Woltz angrily tells him that he will never cast Fontane in the role. Woltz
holds a grudge because Fontane seduced and \"ruined\" a starlet who Woltz had been
grooming for stardom and with whom he had a sexual relationship. Woltz is persuaded
to give Johnny the role, however, when he wakes up early the next morning and feels
something wet in his bed. He pulls back the sheets and finds himself in a pool of
blood; he screams in horror when he discovers the severed head of his prized
$600,000 stud horse, Khartoum, in the bed with him. (A deleted scene from the film
implies that Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana), Vito's top \"button man\" or hitman, is
responsible.)Upon Hagen's return, the family meets with Virgil \"The Turk\"
Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), who is being backed by the rival Tattaglia family. He asks
Don Corleone for financing as well as political and legal protection for importing
and distributing heroin. Despite the huge profit to be made, Vito Corleone refuses,
explaining that his political influence would be jeopardized by a move into the
narcotics trade -- the judges and politicians he's allied himself with over the
course of several decades would renounce their friendships with him if he were to
enter the drug trade. The Don's eldest son, Sonny, who had earlier urged the family
to enter the narcotics trade, breaks rank during the meeting and begins to question
Sollozzo's assurances as to the Corleone Family's investment being guaranteed by
the Tattaglia Family. His father, angry at Sonny's dissension in a non-family
member's presence, silences Sonny with a single look and privately rebukes him
later. Don Corleone then dispatches Luca Brasi to infiltrate Sollozzo's
organization and report back with information. During the meeting, while Brasi is
bent over to allow Bruno Tattaglia to light his cigarette, he is stabbed in the
hand by Sollozzo, and is subsequently garroted by an assassin.Soon after his
meeting with Sollozzo, Don Corleone is gunned down in an assassination attempt just
outside his office, and it is not immediately known whether he has survived. Fredo
Corleone had been assigned driving and protection duty for his father when Paulie
Gatto, the Don's usual bodyguard, had called in sick. Fredo proves to be
ineffectual, fumbling with his gun and unable to shoot back. When Sonny hears about
the Don being shot and Paulie's absence, he orders Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano)
to find Paulie and bring him to the Don's house.Sollozzo abducts Tom Hagen and
persuades him to offer Sonny the deal previously offered to his father. When Tom is
released, Sollozzo gets word that the Don has survived the attempt on his life. He
angrily tells Tom to persuade Sonny to accept his offer.Enraged, Sonny refuses to
consider it and issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglias: turn over Sollozzo or face a
lengthy, bloody and costly (for both sides) gang war. They refuse, and instead send
Sonny \"a Sicilian message,\" in the form of two fresh fish wrapped in Luca Brasi's
bullet-proof vest, telling the Corleones that Luca Brasi \"sleeps with the
fishes.\"Clemenza later takes Paulie and one of the family's hitmen, Rocco Lampone,
for a drive into Manhattan. Sonny wants to \"go to the mattresses\" -- set up beds
in apartments for Corleone button men to operate out of in the event that the crime
war breaks out. On their way back from Manhattan, Clemenza has Paulie stop the car
in a remote area so he can urinate. Rocco shoots Paulie dead; he and Clemenza leave
Paulie and the car behind.Michael, whom the other Mafia families consider
a \"civilian\" and not involved in mob business, visits his father at a small
private hospital. He is shocked to find that no one is guarding him -- a nurse
tells him that the men were interfering with hospital policy and were told to leave
by the police about 10 minutes before Mike's arrival. Realizing that his father is
again being set up to be killed, he calls Sonny for help, moves his father to
another room, and goes outside to watch the entrance. Michael enlists help from
Enzo the baker (Gabriele Torrei), who has come to the hospital to pay his respects.
Together, they bluff away Sollozzo's men as they drive by. Police cars soon appear
bringing the corrupt Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), who viciously punches
Michael in the cheek and breaks his jaw when Michael insinuates that Sollozzo paid
McCluskey to set up his father. Just then, Hagen arrives with \"private
detectives\" licensed to carry guns to protect Don Corleone, and he takes the
injured Michael home. Sonny responds by having Bruno Tattaglia (Tony Giorgio), the
eldest son and underboss of Don Phillip Tattaglia (Victor Rendina), killed (off-
camera).Following the attempt on the Don's life at the hospital, Sollozzo requests
a meeting with the Corleones, which Captain McCluskey will attend as Sollozzo's
bodyguard. When Michael volunteers to kill both men during the meeting, Sonny and
the other senior Family members are amused; however, Michael convinces them that he
is serious and that killing Sollozzo and McCluskey is in the family's
interest: \"It's not personal. It's strictly business.\" Because Michael is
considered a civilian, he won't be regarded as a suspicious ambassador for the
Corleones. Although police officers are usually off limits for hits, Michael argues
that since McCluskey is corrupt and has illegal dealings with Sollozzo, he is fair
game. Michael also implies that newspaper reporters that the Corleones have on
their payroll would delight in publishing stories about a corrupt police
captain.Michael meets with Clemenza, one of his father's caporegimes (captains),
who prepares a small pistol for him, covering the trigger and grip with tape to
prevent any fingerprint evidence. He instructs Michael about the proper way to
perform the assassination and tells him to leave the gun behind. He also tells
Michael that the family were all very proud of Michael for becoming a war hero
during his service in the Marines. Clemenza shows great confidence that Michael can
perform the job and tells him it will all go smoothly. The plan is to have the
Corleone's informers find out the location of the meeting and plant the revolver
before Michael, Sollozzo and McCluskey arrive.Before the meeting in a small Italian
restaurant, McCluskey frisks Michael for weapons and finds him clean. After a few
minutes where Michael and Sollozzo converse in Italian, Michael excuses himself to
go to the bathroom, where he retrieves the planted revolver. Returning to the
table, he fatally shoots Sollozzo, then McCluskey. Michael is sent to hide in
Sicily while the Corleone family prepares for all-out
warfare with the Five Families (who are united against the Corleones) as well as a
general clampdown on the mob by the police and government authorities. When the don
returns home from the hospital, he is distraught to learn that it was Michael who
killed Sollozzo and McCluskey.Meanwhile, Connie and Carlo's marriage is
disintegrating. They argue publicly over Carlo's suspected infidelity and his
possessive behavior toward Connie. By Italian tradition, nobody, not even a high-
ranking Mafia don, can intervene in a married couple's personal disputes, even if
they involve infidelity, money, or domestic abuse. One day, Sonny sees a bruise on
Connie's face and she tells him that Carlo hit her after she asked him if he was
having an affair. Sonny tracks down and severely beats Carlo in the middle of a
crowded street for brutalizing the pregnant Connie, and threatens to kill Carlo if
he ever abuses Connie again. An angry Carlo responds by plotting with Tattaglia and
Don Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte), the Corleones' chief rivals, to have Sonny
killed.Later, Carlo has one of his mistresses phone his house, knowing that Connie
will answer. The woman asks Connie to tell Carlo not to meet her tonight. The very
pregnant and distraught Connie throws a tantrum, throwing the plates with their
dinner around the kitchen and then breaking everything in the dining; he takes
advantage of the altercation to beat Connie in order to lure Sonny out in the open
and away from the Corleone compound. When Connie phones the compound to tell Sonny
that Carlo has beaten her again, the enraged Sonny drives off (alone and
unescorted) to fulfill his threat against Carlo. On the way to Connie and Carlo's
house, Sonny is ambushed at a toll booth on the Long Island Causeway and violently
shot to death by several carloads of hitmen wielding Thompson sub-machine guns.Tom
Hagen relays the news of Sonny's massacre to the Don, who calls in the favor from
Bonasera to personally handle the embalming of Sonny's body. Rather than seek
revenge for Sonny's killing, Don Corleone meets with the heads of the Five Families
to negotiate a cease-fire. Not only is the conflict draining all their assets and
threatening their survival, but ending it is the only way that Michael can return
home safely. Reversing his previous decision, Vito agrees that the Corleone family
will provide political protection for Tattaglia's traffic in heroin, as long as it
is controlled and not sold to children. At the meeting, Don Corleone deduces that
Don Barzini, not Tattaglia, was ultimately behind the start of the mob war and
Sonny's death, despite showing early signs of senility.In Sicily, Michael patiently
waits out his exile, protected by Don Tommasino (Corrado Gaipa), an old family
friend. Michael aimlessly wanders the countryside, accompanied by his ever-present
bodyguards, Calo (Franco Citti) and Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti). In a small village,
Michael meets and falls in love with Apollonia Vitelli (Simonetta Stefanelli), the
beautiful young daughter of a bar owner. They court and marry in the traditional
Sicilian fashion, but soon Michael's presence becomes known to Corleone enemies. As
the couple is about to be moved to a safer location, Apollonia is killed as a
result of a rigged car (originally intended for Michael) exploding on ignition;
Michael, who saw the car explodes, spots Fabrizio hurriedly leaving the grounds
seconds before the explosion, implicating him in the assassination plot. (In a
deleted scene, Fabrizio is found years later and killed.)With his safety
guaranteed, Michael returns home. More than a year later, in 1950, he reunites with
his former girlfriend Kay after a total of four years of separation -- three in
Italy and one in America. He tells her he wants them to be married. Although Kay is
hurt that he waited so long to contact her, she accepts his proposal. With Don Vito
semi-retired, Sonny dead, and middle brother Fredo considered incapable of running
the family business, Michael is now in charge; he promises Kay he will make the
family business completely legitimate within five years.Two years later, Clemenza
and Salvatore Tessio (Abe Vigoda), complain that they are being pushed around by
the Barzini Family and ask permission to strike back, but Michael denies the
request. He plans to move the family operations to Nevada and after that, Clemenza
and Tessio may break away to form their own families in the New York area. Michael
further promises Connie's husband, Carlo, that he will be his right hand man in
Nevada (Carlo had grown up there), unaware of his part in Sonny's assassination.
Tom Hagen has been removed as consigliere and is now merely the family's lawyer,
with Vito serving as consigliere. Privately, Hagen inquires about his change in
status, and also questions Michael about a new regime of \"soldiers\" secretly
being built under Rocco Lampone (Tom Rosqui). Don Vito explains to Hagen that
Michael is acting on his advice.Another year or so later, Michael travels to Las
Vegas and meets with Moe Greene (Alex Rocco), a rich and shrewd casino boss looking
to expand his business dealings. After the Don's attempted assassination, Fredo had
been sent to Las Vegas to learn about the casino business from Greene. Michael
arrogantly offers to buy out Greene but is rudely rebuffed. Greene believes the
Corleones are weak and that he can secure a better deal from Barzini. As Moe and
Michael heatedly negotiate, Fredo sides with Moe. Afterward, Michael warns Fredo to
never again \"take sides with anyone against the family.\"Michael returns home. In
a private moment, Vito explains his expectation that the Family's enemies will
attempt to murder Michael by using a trusted associate to arrange a meeting as a
pretext for assassination. Vito also reveals that he had never really intended a
life of crime for Michael, hoping that his youngest son would hold legitimate power
as a senator or governor. Some months later, Vito collapses and dies while playing
with his young grandson Anthony (Anthony Gounaris) in his tomato garden. At the
burial, Tessio conveys a proposal for a meeting with Barzini, which identifies
Tessio as the traitor that Vito was expecting.Kay asks Michael if he'll agree to be
godfather to Connie and Carlo's newborn son. Michael agrees and seizes the
opportunity to eliminate competition from the other five families while also using
the baptism as an alibi. The murders occur simultaneously during the ceremony:Don
Stracci (Don Costello) is gunned down along with his bodyguard in a hotel elevator
by a shotgun-wielding Clemenza.Moe Greene is killed while having a massage, shot
through the eye by an unidentified assassin.Don Cuneo (Rudy Bond) is trapped in a
revolving door at the St. Regis Hotel and shot dead by soldier Willi Cicci (Joe
Spinell).Don Tattaglia is assassinated in bed, along with a prostitute, by Rocco
Lampone and an unknown associate.Don Barzini is killed on the steps of his office
building along with his bodyguard and driver, shot by Al Neri (Richard Bright),
disguised in his old police uniform.After the baptism, Tessio believes he and Hagen
are on their way to the meeting between Michael and Barzini that he has arranged.
Instead, he is surrounded by Willi Cicci and other button men as Hagen steps away.
Realizing that Michael has uncovered his betrayal, Tessio tells Hagen that he
always respected Michael, and that his disloyalty \"was only business.\" He asks if
Tom can get him off for \"old times' sake,\" but Tom says he cannot. Tessio is
driven away and never seen again (it is implied that Cicci shoots and kills Tessio
with his own gun after he disarms him prior to entering the car).Meanwhile, Michael
confronts Carlo about Sonny's murder and forces him to admit his role in setting up
the ambush, having been approached by Barzini himself. (The hitmen who killed Sonny
were the core members of Barzini's personal bodyguard.) Michael assures Carlo he
will not be killed, but his punishment is exclusion from all family business. He
hands Carlo a plane ticket to exile in Las Vegas. However, when Carlo gets into a
car headed for the airport, he is immediately garroted to death by Clemenza, on
Michael's orders.Later, a hysterical Connie confronts Michael at the Corleone
compound as movers carry away the furniture in preparation for the family move to
Nevada. She accuses him of murdering Carlo in retribution for Carlo's brutal
treatment of her and for Carlo's suspected involvement in Sonny's murder. After
Connie is removed from the house, Kay questions Michael about Connie's accusation,
but he refuses to answer, reminding her to never ask him about his business or what
he does for a living. She insists, and Michael outright lies, reassuring his wife
that he played no role in Carlo's death. Kay believes him and is relieved. The film
ends with Clemenza and new caporegimes Rocco Lampone and Al Neri arriving and
paying their respects to Michael. Clemenza kisses Michael's hand and greets him
as \"Don Corleone.\" As Kay watches, the office door is closed.\n", "\nIn 1947,
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker in Maine, is convicted of murdering his wife
and her lover, a golf pro. Since the state of Maine has no death penalty, he is
given two consecutive life sentences and sent to the notoriously harsh Shawshank
Prison. Andy keeps claiming his innocence, but his cold and calculating demeanor
leads everyone to believe he did it.Meanwhile, Ellis Boyd Redding (Morgan Freeman),
known as Red is being interviewed for parole after having spent 20 years at
Shawshank for murder. Despite his best efforts and behavior, Red's parole is
rejected which doesn't phase him all that much. Red is then introduced as the local
smuggler who can get inmates anything they want within reason. An alarm goes off
alerting all prisoners of new arrivals. Red and his friends bet on whichever
new fish will have a nervous break down during his first night in prison. Red
places a huge bet on Andy.During the first night, an overweight newly arrived
inmate, nicknamed ''fat ass', breaks down and cries hysterically allowing Heywood
(William Sadler) to win the bet. However, the celebration is short lived when the
chief guard, Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown), savagely beats up the fat man for not
keeping quiet when he is asked to. Meanwhile, Andy remains steadfast and composed.
The next morning, the inmates learn that ''fat ass'' died in the infirmary because
the prison doctor had been out for the night. Andy inquires about the man's name
only to get put down by Heywood.About a month later, Andy approaches Red having
heard of his talents for finding things. He asks Red to find him a rock hammer, an
instrument he claims is necessary for his hobby of rock collecting and sculpting.
Red asks a few questions about his intentions which Andy laughs off. Red agrees to
place the order and also warns Andy about ''the sisters'', a group of prisoners who
sexually assaults other prisoners, most importantly their leader, Boggs (Mark
Rolston) who has a crush on Andy. Though other prisoners consider Andy \"a really
cold fish,\" Red sees something in Andy, and likes him from the start. Red thinks
Andy intends to use the hammer to engineer an escape in the future but when he
finally sees the tool's actual size, he understands why Andy laughed and laughs
too, putting aside the thought that Andy could ever use it to dig his way out of
prison.During the first two years of his incarceration, Andy spends most of his
time working in the prison laundry or fighting off Boggs and the Sisters. Though he
persistently resists and fights them every time, Andy is beaten and raped on a
regular basis but keeps quiet about it.When a work detail for tarring the roof of
one of the prison's buildings is announced, Red pulls some strings to get Andy and
a few of their mutual friends assigned to the job, giving everyone a break from the
usual. During the job Andy overhears Hadley complaining about having to pay taxes
for an upcoming inheritance. Drawing from his expertise as a banker, Andy lets
Hadley know how he can shelter his money from the IRS by turning it into a one-time
gift for his wife. He then offers to assist Hadley in filling out the paperwork in
exchange for some cold beers for his fellow inmates while on the tarring job.
Hadley first threatens to throw Andy off the roof, but eventually agrees and do
provide the working inmates with cold beers before the job is finished. Red remarks
that Andy may have engineered the privilege to build favor with the prison guards
as much as with his fellow inmates, but he also thinks Andy did it simply to \"feel
normal again.\"While watching a movie, Andy approaches Red with another unusual
demand and asks for the actress Rita Hayworth. Red is surprised by the demand but
agrees to place the order. As he exits the theater, Andy once more encounters the
Sisters. Although he is able to talk his way out of being raped, he is brutally
beaten within an inch of his life, putting him in the infirmary for a month. Boggs
spends a week in solitary for the beating. When he comes out, he finds Hadley and
his men waiting in his cell. They beat him so badly that he's left unable to walk
or eat solid food for the rest of his life and is transferred to a prison hospital
upstate. The Sisters move on and never bother Andy again. When Andy gets out of the
infirmary, he finds a bunch of rocks for him to sculpt and a giant poster of Rita
Hayworth in his cell; presents from Red and his friends.Warden Samuel Norton (Bob
Gunton) hears about how Andy helped Hadley and uses a surprise cell inspection to
size Andy up. He finds Andy reading his copy of the Holy Bible and they talk about
their favorite verses while the guards are turning the cell upside down looking for
illegal possessions. Satisfied with their encounter, the warden leaves and almost
forget to give Andy his Bible back. He then encourages Andy to keep reading the
Bible saying that ''Salvation lays within''.Andy is later advised that he will now
work in the prison library with aging inmate Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore). The
reason for his transfer is made obvious when a prison guard shows up asking Andy
for financial advising. Andy sets-up a makeshift desk and starts working, providing
financial advising to most prison guards and helping them with their income tax
returns. Andy also sees an opportunity to expand the prison library; he starts by
asking the Maine state senate for funds. He writes letters every week. His
financial support practice is so appreciated that even guards from other prisons,
when they visit for inter-prison baseball matches, seek Andy's financial expertise.
Even the warden himself has Andy preparing his tax returns.Not long afterwards,
Brooks snaps and threatens to kill Heywood in order to avoid being paroled. Andy is
able to talk him down. When his friends discuss Brooks 'behavior, Red sympathizes
with Brooks having obviously become \"institutionalized,\" after spending 50 years
at Shawshank. He has become essentially conditioned to be a prisoner for the rest
of his life and is unable to adapt to the outside world. Red remarks: \"These walls
are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you
get so you depend on them.\" Brooks is paroled and goes to live in a halfway house.
He is also given a job at a supermarket which he hates. Finding it impossible to
adjust to life outside the prison, he eventually commits suicide, leaving the
message \"Brooks was here\" carved on a wooden beam .After six years of writing
letters, Andy receives $200 from the state for the library, along with a collection
of old books and phonograph records. Though the state Senate thinks this will be
enough to get Andy to halt his letter-writing campaign, he is undaunted and
redoubles his efforts.When the donations of old books and records arrive at the
warden's office, Andy finds a copy of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro among the
records. He locks the guard assigned to the warden's office in the bathroom and
plays the record over the prison's PA system. The entire prison is soon captivated
by the music. Red remarks that the voices of these women made everyone feel free,
if only for a brief moment. Outside the office, Norton appears furious at the act
of defiance, and orders Andy to turn off the record player. Andy responds by
turning up the volume. The warden orders Hadley to break into the office and Andy
is sent immediately to solitary confinement for two weeks. When he gets out, he
tells his friends that the stretch was the \"easiest time\" he ever did in the hole
because he spent it with Mozart's Figaro stuck in his head for comfort. When the
other prisoners tell him how unlikely that is, he talks about the power that hope
can have in prison and that hope can sustain them. Red strongly disagrees with
Andy, claiming that hope is a dangerous thing in a place like Shawshank and tells
Andy he should get used to living without it. Andy implies that this is exactly
what Brooks did and Red leaves the table angry.Not long after, Red has a new parole
hearing and realizes he's been in prison for 30 years now. He uses the exact same
words he used ten years earlier only with no enthusiasm at all. His parole is
rejected again. Andy gives him an harmonica to commemorate his 30 years which Red
replies by offering Andy a giant poster of Marilyn Monroe to commemorate his 10
years.About 4 years after the Mozart incident, the state senate finally comes to
the conclusion that they won't get rid of Andy with just another check. So they
allow him a budget of 500$ a year to build his library. Andy uses it wisely and
makes deals with book clubs and charities to create the best prison library in the
state and names it after Brooks. With the enlarged library and more materials, Andy
begins to mentor inmates who want to receive their high school diplomas so they can
get a decent job once they're out.Meanwhile, Warden Norton profits from Andy's
knowledge and devises a scheme whereby he puts prison inmates to work on public
projects which he wins by outbidding other contractors (prisoners are cheap labor).
Occasionally, he allows other contractors to score projects as long as the bribe is
good enough. Andy launders the money by setting up several accounts in several
banks, along with several investments, using the fake identity of Randall Stephens,
a man who only exist on papers, created by Andy himself through his knowledge of
the system and mail ordered forms. Randall Stephens officially has a birth
certificate, social security number and driving license. Should anyone ever
investigate about the scheme; they will chase a man who only exists on paper. Andy
shares the details with Red, noting that he had to \"go to prison to learn how to
be a crook.\"In 1965, a young prisoner named Tommy (Gil Bellows) comes to Shawshank
to serve time for breaking and entering. Tommy is easy going, charismatic, and
popular among the other inmates. When Tommy explains that he's been going in and
out of prison ever since he was 13 years old, Andy suggests that Tommy should
consider another line of work besides theft because he seems to be not so good at
it. The suggestion really gets to Tommy and he asks Andy to help him work on
earning his high school equivalency diploma. Though Tommy is a good student, he is
still frustrated when he takes the exam itself, crumpling it up and tossing it in
the trash. Andy retrieves it and sends it in anyway. Tommy asks Red about Andy's
case which Red explains. Upon hearing the story, Tommy is visibly upset. He then
tells Andy and Red the story of a former cellmate from another prison who boasted
about killing a man who was a pro golfer at the country club
he worked at, along with his lover. The woman's husband, a banker, had gone to
prison for those murders.With this new information, Andy, full of hope, meets with
the warden, expecting Norton to help him get a new trial with Tommy as a witness.
The reaction from Norton is completely contrary to what Andy hoped for. When Andy
says emphatically that he would never reveal the money laundering schemes he set up
for Norton over the years, the warden becomes furious and orders him to solitary
for a month. The inmates discuss the sentence mentioning it is the longest time in
solitary that they've ever heard of. They also realize that Andy may truly be
innocent after all and has spent almost 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't
commit.Tommy receives a letter from the board of education announcing that he has
passed the exam and now owns a high school diploma. A guard pass the news to Andy
in his solitary cell which makes him smile a little.Later on, Tommy is escorted
outside at night to have a private meeting with the warden. The warden asks him if
the story he told Andy is true and if he would be willing to testify on Andy's
behalf. Tommy enthusiastically agrees. The warden smiles at him before nodding to
Hadley to shoot him dead.When the warden visits Andy in solitary, he tells him that
Tommy tried to escape and that Hadley had no choice but to shoot him. Andy doesn't
buy that story and tells Norton that ''everything'' stops and that he's not going
to work for him anymore. The warden threatens Andy to shut down the library, burn
all the books, and move Andy to a much different cell in a much different part of
the prison with the most hardened criminals should he stop working for him. He then
leaves and orders Andy to another month in solitary to think about things.When Andy
finally comes out of solitary, he and Red have a conversation where Andy talks
about his wife and how much he loved her and feels responsible for her death even
though he didn't pulled the trigger. He then talks about his projects should he
ever get out of prison. He talks about Zihuatanejo, a beach town on the Pacific
coast of Mexico where he'd like to live for the rest of his life and manage a hotel
there. He then asks Red if he'd join him to which Red says no and that he believes
he is too far gone like Brooks. He then criticizes Andy for allowing hope to mess
with his mind like that and that it will only destroy him. Andy agrees and is about
to leave when he asks Red if he knows the Buxton, Maine area. He then tells Red
about a very specific hay field where there is a large oak tree at the end of a
stone wall. He then asks Red to promise him that, should he ever get paroled, he
will seek that oak tree and retrieve something that was hidden amongst the stones
but refuses to say what it is. Red promises but is worried about his friend's state
of mind. His worries are heightened further when he learns that Andy has asked
Haywood for a 6 foot rope. Red believes Andy may have finally reached his breaking
point and is about to commit suicide. Meanwhile, Norton asks Andy to shine his
shoes for him and put his suit in for dry-cleaning before retiring for the night.
Andy returns to his cell and the guards turn the lights off for the night. Red
remarks that it was the longest night of his life.The following morning, Andy has
not answered the morning call and is not standing in front of his cell like every
morning. The guard yells at Andy for putting him late and walks to his cell
expecting to find a seriously sick or dead Andy. At the same time, Norton becomes
alarmed when he finds Andy's shoes in his shoe box instead of his own. The alarm
then goes off announcing a missing inmate. Norton rushes to Andy's cell and demands
an explanation. Hadley brings in Red, but Red insists he knows nothing of Andy's
plans. Becoming increasingly hostile and paranoid, Norton starts throwing Andy's
sculpted rocks around the cell. When he throws one at Andy's poster of Raquel Welch
(in the spot previously occupied by Marilyn Monroe, and before that by Rita
Hayworth), the rock punches through and into the wall. Norton tears the poster from
the wall revealing a tunnel just wide enough for a man to crawl into.Many years
ago, not long after receiving his rock hammer, Andy innocently tried to carve his
name on his cell wall when a chunk of it came off. Andy, being a fan of Geology,
realized that the material the wall was made off of could make it possible for him
to dig a hole in case he ever needed to escape. Andy first ordered the giant poster
of Rita Hayworth to hide the hole. He then spent years digging at night with his
rock hammer and hiding the dirt from his job into his pockets which he would then
empty in the courtyard during his morning walks. When Tommy was killed, Andy
decided it was time to go.During the previous night's thunderstorm, Andy wore
Norton's clothes underneath his own to his cell, catching a lucky break when no one
notices Norton's shiny black shoes on his feet, including Red. He packed many of
his belongings, some papers and Norton's clothes into a plastic bag which he tied
to himself with the rope he'd asked for, and escaped through his hole. The tunnel
he'd excavated led him to a space between two walls of the prison where he found a
sewer main line. Using a rock, he hit the sewer line in time with the lightning
strikes and eventually broke it open. After crawling through 500 yards of the raw
sewage contained in the pipe, Andy emerged in a brook outside the walls. A search
team later found his prison clothes, a bar of soap and a very worn out rock
hammer.While the warden and Red are discovering Andy's genius escape, Andy walks
into the Maine National Bank in Portland, where he had put Norton's money. Using
his assumed identity as Randall Stephens, and with all the necessary documentation,
he closes the account and walks out with a cashier's check. Before he leaves, he
asks them to drop a package in the mail. He continues his visitations to nearly a
dozen other local banks, ending up with some $370,000. The package contains Warden
Norton's accounting books, which are delivered straight to the Portland Daily Bugle
newspaper along with Andy's written confessions and testimony.Not long after, the
police storm Shawshank Prison. Hadley is arrested for murder; Red says he was taken
away \"crying like a little girl.\" Warden Norton finally opens his safe, which he
hadn't touched since Andy escaped, and instead of his books, he finds the Bible he
had given Andy with a note to the warden saying that he was right, \"salvation did
lay within\". Norton then opens it to the book of Exodus and finds that the pages
had all been cut out in the shape of Andy's rock hammer. Norton walks back to his
desk as the police pound on his door, takes out a small revolver and shoots himself
in the head. Red remarks that he wondered if the warden thought, right before
pulling the trigger, how \"Andy could ever have gotten the best of him.\"Shortly
after, Red receives a postcard from Fort Hancock, Texas, with nothing written on
it. Red takes it as a sign that Andy made it into Mexico to freedom. Red and his
buddies kill time talking about Andy's exploits (with a few embellishments), but
Red falls into a sort of depression from missing his friend.At Red's next parole
hearing in 1967, he talks to the parole board about how \"rehabilitated\" is just a
made-up word invented to justify their job. He then explains how much he regrets
his actions of the past, not because he's in jail but because he knows how wrong it
was. He then closes by saying that he has to live with that for the rest of his
life and ask the board to stop wasting his time and leave him alone. His parole is
finally granted. He goes to live and work at the same places that Brooks did, even
seeing Brooks 'message carved into the wooden beam. He frequently walks by a pawn
shop which has several guns in the window. At times he contemplates trying to get
back into prison feeling that he has no life outside of prison where he has spent
most of his adult life, but he remembers the promise he made to Andy. He then
reveals that he was not looking at the guns but at the compasses behind the guns
and he bought one.Red follows Andy's instructions, hitchhiking to Buxton and
finding the stone wall Andy described. Just as Andy said, there is a large black
stone. Underneath is a small box containing a large sum of cash and instructions to
come find him in Zihuatanejo although he doesn't name the city just in case. He
also says he needs somebody \"who can get things\" for a \"project\" of his. Red
suddenly understands all the power of hope and feels exhilarated by the feelings
inside of him.After carving a new message in the wooden beam which reads: \"Brooks
was here, so was Red\", Red violates parole and leaves the halfway house,
unconcerned since no one is likely to do an extensive manhunt for \"an old crook
like [him].\" He takes a bus to Fort Hancock, where he crosses into Mexico. The two
friends are finally reunited on a beach of the Pacific coast, just like Andy had
been hoping for.\n", "\nThe relocation of Polish Jews from surrounding areas to
Krakow begins in late 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, when the
German Army defeats the Polish Army in three weeks. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson),
a successful businessman, arrives from Czechoslovakia in hopes of using the
abundant cheap labour force of Jews to manufacture enamelware for the German
military. Schindler, an opportunistic member of the Nazi party, lavishes bribes
upon the army and SS officials in charge of procurement. Sponsored by the military,
Schindler acquires a factory for the production of army mess kits and cooking
paraphernalia. Not knowing much about how to properly run such an enterprise, he
gains a contact in Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), a functionary
in the local Judenrat (Jewish Council) who has contacts with the now-underground
Jewish business community in the ghetto. They loan him the money for the factory in
return for a small share of products produced (for trade on the black market).
Opening the factory, Schindler pleases the Nazis and enjoys his new-found wealth
and status as \"Herr Direktor,\" while Stern handles all administration. Stern
suggests Schindler hire Jews instead of Poles because they cost less (the Jews
themselves get nothing; the wages are paid to the Reich). Workers in Schindler's
factory are allowed outside the ghetto, and Stern falsifies documents to ensure
that as many people as possible are deemed \"essential\" by the Nazi bureaucracy,
which saves them from being transported to concentration camps, or even being
killed.Amon G\u00f6th (Ralph Fiennes) arrives in Krakow to initiate construction of
a labor camp nearby, Pasz\u00f3w. The SS soon liquidates the Krakow ghetto, sending
in hundreds of troops to empty the cramped rooms and shoot anyone who protests, is
uncooperative, elderly, or infirmed, or for no reason at all. Schindler watches the
massacre from the hills overlooking the area, and is profoundly affected. He
nevertheless is careful to befriend G\u00f6th and, through Stern's attention to
bribery, he continues to enjoy the SS's support and protection. The camp is built
outside the city at Pasz\u00f3w. During this time, Schindler bribes G\u00f6th into
allowing him to build a sub-camp for his workers, with the motive of keeping them
safe from the depredations of the guards. Eventually, an order arrives from Berlin
commanding G\u00f6th to exhume and destroy all bodies of those killed in the Krakow
ghetto, dismantle Pasz\u00f3w, and to ship the remaining Jews to Auschwitz.
Schindler prevails upon G\u00f6th to let him keep \"his\" workers so that he can
move them to a factory in his old home of Zwittau-Brinnlitz, in Moravia -- away
from the \"final solution\" now fully under way in occupied Poland. G\u00f6th
acquiesces, charging a certain amount for each worker. Schindler and Stern assemble
a list of workers that should keep them off the trains to Auschwitz.\"Schindler's
List\" comprises these \"skilled\" inmates, and for many of those in Pasz\u00f3w,
being included means the difference between life and death. Schindler also plays a
game of high card draw for one worker in particular, Helen Hirsch, who'd been
serving as G\u00f6th's housekeeper and had been a victim of his continual abuse. G\
u00f6th is reluctant, hoping to run away with her but knowing that such an action
would result in his death as well as hers. He also floats the idea of simply
executing her but finally decides to play Schindler for Helen's life. Helen is
among those who board the train to Brinnlitz. All of the men on Schindler's list
arrive safely at the new site, with the exception to the train carrying the women
and the children, which is accidentally redirected to Auschwitz. There, the women
are directed to what they believe is a gas chamber; after a harrowing experience
where their hair is crudely cut off and they are forced to strip, they see only
water falling from the showers. The day after, the women are shown waiting in line
for work. In the meantime, Schindler had rushed immediately to Auschwitz to solve
the problem and to get the women out of Auschwitz; to this end he bribes the camp
commander, Rudolf H\u00f6ss (Hans-Michael Rehberg), with a cache of diamonds so
that he is able to spare all the women and the children. However, a last problem
arises just when all the women are boarding the train because several SS officers
attempt to hold some children back and prevent them from leaving. Schindler, there
to personally oversee the boarding, steps in and is successful in obtaining from
the officers the release of the children. Once the Schindler women arrive in
Zwittau-Brinnlitz, Schindler institutes firm controls on the Nazi guards assigned
to the factory; summary executions are forbidden, abuse of the workers is as well
and the Nazi guards are not allowed on the factory floor. Schindler also permits
the Jews to observe the Sabbath, and spends much of his fortune acquired in Poland
bribing Nazi officials. In his home town, he surprises his wife while she's in
church during mass, and tells her that she is the only woman in his life (despite
having been shown previously to be a womanizer). She goes with him to the factory
to assist him. He runs out of money just as the German army surrenders, ending the
war in Europe.As a German Nazi and self-described \"profiteer of slave labor,\"
Schindler must flee the oncoming Soviet Red Army. After dismissing the Nazi guards
to return to their families, he packs a car in the night, and bids farewell to his
workers. They give him a letter explaining he is not a criminal to them, together
with a ring engraved with the Talmudic quotation, \"He who saves the life of one
man, saves the world entire.\" Schindler is touched but deeply distraught, feeling
he could've done more to save many more lives. He leaves with his wife during the
night, dressed in Polish prisoner clothes, posing as refugees. The Schindler Jews,
having slept outside the factory gates through the night, are awakened by sunlight
the next morning. A Soviet dragoon arrives and announces to the Jews that they have
been liberated by the Red Army. The Jews walk to a nearby town in search of food. A
title card informs us that Schindler was declared a \"righteous person\" by the Yad
Vashem of Jerusalem, and himself planted a tree on the Avenue of the Righteous in
Israel, which still grows to this day. The fate of G\u00f6th is also shown; he was
captured near the German town of Bad Tolz and taken back to Pasz\u00f3w where,
defiant to the end and announcing his allegiance to Hitler, is hanged for crimes
against humanity.As the surviving Schindler Jews walk abreast, the frame changes to
another of the Schindler Jews in the present day (in color) at the grave of Oskar
Schindler in Israel. The film ends with a procession of now-aged Jews who worked in
Schindler's factory, each of whom reverently sets a stone on his grave. The actors
portraying the major characters walk hand-in-hand with the people they portrayed,
also placing stones on Schindler's grave as they pass. Actor Ben Kingsley escorts
the late Itzhak Stern's wife and Caroline Goodall escorts Schindler's wife in her
wheelchair. The audience learns that the survivors and descendants of the
approximately 1,100 Jews sheltered by Schindler now number over 6,000. The Jewish
population of Poland, once numbering in the millions, was at the time of the film's
release approximately 4,000. In the final scene, a man (Neeson himself, though his
face is not visible) places a pair of roses on the grave, and stands
contemplatively over it.\n", "\nThe film opens in 1964, where an older and fatter
Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) practices his stand-up comic routine before his debut
at a comedy nightclub. A flashback shifts to his boxing career in 1941 against his
opponent, Jimmy Reeves, in the infamous Cleveland bout. Losing the fight by a fixed
result causes a fight to break out at the end of the match. Jake's brother Joey
LaMotta (Joe Pesci) is not only a sparring partner to him but also responsible for
organizing his fights.Joey discusses a potential shot for the title with one of his
mob connections, Salvy Batts (Frank Vincent), on the way to his brother's house in
their neighborhood in the Bronx. When they are finally settled in the house, Jake
admits that he does not have much faith in his own abilities. Accompanied by his
brother to the local open-air swimming pool, a restless Jake spots a 15-year-old
girl named Vickie (Cathy Moriarty) at the edge of the pool. Although he has to be
reminded by his brother he is already married, the opportunity to invite her out
for the day very soon comes true when Joey gives in.Jake has two fights with Sugar
Ray Robinson, set two years apart, and Jake loses the second when the judges rule
in favor of Sugar Ray because he was leaving the sport temporarily for conscription
in the United States Army. This does not deter Jake from winning six straight
fights, but as his fears grow about his wife, Vickie, having feelings for other
men, particularly Tony Janiro, the opponent for his forthcoming fight, he is keen
enough to show off his sexual jealously when he beats him in front of the local Mob
boss, Tommy Como (Nicholas Colosanto) and Vickie. The recent triumph over Janiro is
touted as a major boost for the belt as Joey discusses this with journalists,
though Joey is briefly distracted by seeing Vickie approach a table with Salvy and
his crew. Joey has a word with Vickie, who says she is giving up on his brother.
Blaming Salvy, Joey viciously attacks him in a fight that spills outside of the
club. When Tommy Como hears that the two of them rose fists in a public place, he
orders them to apologize and tells Joey that he means business. At the swimming
pool, Joey tells Jake that if he really wants a shot, he will have to take a dive
first. In the fight against Billy Fox, Jake does not even bother to put up a fight.
Jake is suspended from the board on suspicion of throwing the fight, though he
realizes the error of his judgment when it is too late. This does little to harm
his career, when he finally wins the title against Marcel Cerdan at the open air
Briggs Stadium.Three years pass and Jake asks his brother if he fought with Salvy
at the Copca because of Vickie. Jake then asks if Joey had an affair with his wife.
Joey refuses to answer and decides to leave. Jake decides to find the truth for
himself, interrogating his wife about the affair when she sarcastically states that
she had sex with the entire neighborhood (including his brother, Salvy, and Tommy
Como) and \"sucked his brothers cock\"
after he knocks down the bathroom door where his wife is briefly hiding from him.
Running straight towards his brother's house, he starts a fight with Joey.
Defending his championship belt against Laurent Dauthuille, he makes a call to his
brother after the fight, but when Joey assumes Salvy is on the other end, Jake says
nothing. This drags Jake down to when he eventually loses to Sugar Ray Robinson on
their final (very violent) encounter, letting Sugar Ray land several hard blows on
him as punishment for what he did.A couple of years later, in the middle of a photo
shoot, Jake LaMotta surrounded by his wife and children, tells the journalists he
is officially retired and that he has bought a new property. After staying all
night at his new nightclub in Miami, Vickie tells him she wants a divorce (which
she has been planning since his retirement). Arrested for introducing under-age
girls (posing as 21-year-olds) to men, he serves a jail sentence after failing to
raise the bribe money by taking the jewels out of his championship belt instead of
selling the belt itself. In his jail cell, Jake brutally pounds the walls whilst
sorrowfully questioning his misfortune, as he sits alone crying in despair.
Returning to New York City after serving his sentence, he meets up with his
estranged brother Joey in a garage parking lot where they share a nervous hug.Going
back to the beginning sequence, Jake refers to the \"I coulda' have been a
contender\" scene from On the Waterfront complaining that his brother should have
been there for him but is also keen enough to give himself some slack. Darting
across the room at the information of the crowded auditorium by the stage hand, the
camera remains pivoted on the mirror as LaMotta chants \"I'm the boss\" whilst
shadow boxing. The film ends on an ambiguous note with a Biblical quote: \"All I
know is this: Once I was blind, and now I can see.\" -symbolizing that even men
like LaMotta can be redeemed.\n", "\nIn the early years of World War II, December
1941, the Moroccan coastal city of Casablanca attracts people from all over the
world, particularly Nazi-occupied Europe. Many are transients trying to get out of
Europe; a few are just trying to make a buck. Most of them -- gamblers and
refugees, Nazis, resistance fighters, and plain old crooks -- find their way to
Rick's Caf\u00e9 Am\u00e9ricain, a swank nightclub owned by American expatriate
Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart). Though we learn later that Rick once harbored enough
idealism to put himself at risk to fight fascism, he's now embittered and cynical,
professing to be neutral and detached: \"I stick my neck out for nobody.\"Ugarte
(Peter Lorre) comes to Rick's with letters of transit he obtained by killing two
German couriers. The papers allow the bearer to travel freely around German-
controlled Europe, including to neutral Lisbon, Portugal; from Lisbon, it's
relatively easy to get to the United States. They are almost priceless to any of
the refugees stranded in Casablanca. Ugarte plans to make his fortune by selling
them to the highest bidder, who is due to arrive at the club later that night.
However, before the exchange can take place, Ugarte is arrested by the police under
the command of Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains). A corrupt Vichy official,
Renault accommodates the Nazis. Unknown to Renault and the Nazis, Ugarte had left
the letters with Rick for safekeeping, because \"...somehow, just because you
despise me, you're the only one I trust.\"Through Renault, Rick is introduced to
the small company of Nazi officers who oversee Casablanca. Among them is Major
Strasser (Conrad Veidt), whom has come to Casablanca for an inspection of his staff
and who makes no effort to hide his suspicion of Rick. Strasser goes so far as to
ask Rick if he can imagine the German war effort reaching the shores of the United
States, even New York City. Rick gravely warns him that \"there are certain
sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.\"Soon the
reason for Rick's bitterness re-enters his life. Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) arrives
with her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) to purchase the letters. Laszlo is a
renowned Czech Resistance leader who has escaped from a Nazi concentration camp.
The letters are their only way to escape to America to continue his work. At the
time Ilsa first met and fell in love with Rick in Paris, she believed her husband
had been killed. When she discovered that he was still alive, she left Rick
abruptly without explanation and returned to Laszlo, leaving Rick feeling betrayed.
After the club closes, Ilsa returns to try to explain, but Rick is drunk and
bitterly refuses to listen.At different times Rick and Ilsa torment themselves by
asking the club's piano player, Sam (Dooley Wilson), to play As Time Goes By, a
song they loved when they were together in Paris. (The famous line \"Play it again,
Sam,\" which refers to this song, doesn't actually appear in the movie -- Ilsa says
\"Play it, Sam,\" and later, Rick orders \"Play it!\") While Sam plays the song,
Rick reminisces about his affair with Ilsa in Paris. Though she seems happy to be
with Rick, her mood near the end of their time together is cautious because she has
learned her husband may not be dead. When the Nazis begin to close in on Paris, she
receives word that Victor is indeed alive in another part of Europe. She and Rick
had been planning to take a train to Southern France to escape the German Army's
assault; however, on the platform Rick receives a handwritten letter from her. She
writes that she can't explain why she's leaving him but she loves him. Rick and Sam
leave without her.The next night, Laszlo, suspecting that Rick has the letters,
speaks with him privately about obtaining them. They're interrupted when a group of
Nazi officers, led by Major Strasser, commandeer Sam's piano and begin to
sing \"Die Wacht am Rhein\" (The Watch on the Rhine), a German patriotic song.
Infuriated, Laszlo orders the house band to play \"La Marseillaise\" in honor of
Occupied France. The band leader looks to Rick for guidance; he nods. Laszlo starts
singing, alone at first, then long-suppressed patriotic fervor grips the crowd and
everyone joins in, drowning out the Germans. In retaliation, Strasser orders
Renault to close the club.Later that night, Ilsa confronts Rick in the deserted
cafe. He refuses to give her the documents, even when threatened with a gun. She is
unable to shoot, confessing that she still loves him. Rick decides to help Laszlo,
leading her to believe that she will stay behind when Laszlo leaves.Laszlo is
jailed on a minor charge. Rick convinces Renault to release Laszlo, promising to
set him up for a much more serious crime: possession of the letters of transit.
However, Rick double crosses Renault, forcing him at gunpoint to assist in the
escape. At the last moment, Rick makes Ilsa get on the plane to Lisbon with her
husband, telling her that she would regret it if she stayed: \"Maybe not today.
Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.\"Major Strasser drives
up, tipped off by Renault, but Rick shoots him when he tries to intervene. When his
men arrive, Renault informs them that Strasser is dead and covers for Rick by
sharply ordering them to \"round up the usual suspects.\" He then recommends that
they both leave Casablanca. Renault, suggesting they join the Resistance, walks
into the fog with Rick who says \"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a
beautiful friendship.\"\n", "\nIt's 1941, and newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane
(Orson Welles, who also directed and co-wrote the script) is dead. The opening
shots show Xanadu, Kane's vast, elaborate, and now unkempt estate in Florida.
Interspersed with segments of his newsreel obituary are scenes from his life and
death. Most puzzling are his last moments: clutching a snowglobe, he mutters the
word \"rosebud.\" Kane, whose life was news and whose newspapers not only reported
but formed public opinion, was central to his time, a larger-than-life figure. The
newsreel editor feels that until they know who or what Rosebud is they won't have
the whole story on Kane. He assigns a reporter called Thompson (William Alland) to
investigate Rosebud.Thompson digs into Kane's life and hears a lot of stories, but
none of them reveal the meaning of Rosebud. The reporter sees Susan Alexander Kane
(Dorothy Comingore), the tycoon's ex-wife; she's drunk and won't speak to him. Then
he reads the unpublished memoirs of Mr. Thatcher (George Coulouris), Kane's early
financial adviser and childhood guardian, who later became a prime target of the
Kane newspapers' trust-busting attacks. In one of many flashbacks, the Thatcher
memoir shows Kane's mother signing guardianship of the boy and his fortune over to
Thatcher, despite his father's objections. When Charles objected violently to being
sent away with Thatcher, Kane Sr. remarked, \"what the kid needs is a good
thrashing.\" Mrs. Kane responded, \"That's why he's going to be brought up where
you can't get at him.\" (Some present-day fans of the film interpret this to mean
that Mr. Kane was abusive. 1940s audiences were more likely to have believed that
Mrs. Kane was over-protective and that if Charles had been allowed to grow up
enjoying the love and discipline of his parents, his life would have turned out
better.)Years later, as he was about to get control of his business affairs, Kane's
interest in newspapers was piqued when he noticed that he owned the struggling New
York Daily Inquirer. Don't sell it, he famously wrote to Thatcher: \"I think it
would be fun to run a newspaper\" -- a statement that exasperates Thatcher greatly.
That exasperation grows even more when Kane's paper starts attacking Thatcher's
traction interests as corrupt and they suffer as a result. Thatcher confronted Kane
at the Inquirer
to talk him out attacking businesses that Kane himself owns considerable stock in
as well as throwing so much money away on low-class journalism such as instigating
the Spanish-American War. However, Kane defiantly told Thatcher that he wanted to
use journalism to protect the interests of ordinary people from the likes of
Thatcher and intended to use his personal resources to keep the newspaper running
at an annual million dollar loss for 60 years if necessary. The scene shifts to an
office at a time considerably sooner than 60 years later in which Kane's bankrupted
media empire is placed under the control of Thatcher. Thatcher even-handedly noted
that while Kane would still be richer than him, his former ward never made
significant investments with his money, but instead squandered much of it in buying
things. Kane ruefully speculated that if he not been so rich, he might have become
a great man to become everything Thatcher hates.Next, Thompson interviews Bernstein
(Everett Sloane), the general manager of Kane's newspaper empire. In further
flashbacks, Bernstein recalls how he, Kane, and Kane's college friend Jedediah
Leland (Joseph Cotten) took over the stuffy, unprofitable Inquirer and transformed
it into a money-maker, eventually hiring the staff of the rival New York
Chronicle.At Bernstein's urging, Thompson seeks out Leland, who recounts the story
of Kane's first marriage (to Emily Norton, Ruth Warrick) and makes some negative
comments about his one-time friend's character. (\"Charlie was never brutal, he
just did brutal things.\" \"He married for love -- that's why he did everything.
That's why he went into politics. It seems we weren't enough. He wanted all the
voters to love him, too. All he really wanted out of life was love. That's
Charlie's story -- it's the story of how he lost it. You see, he just didn't have
any to give.\" \"He never believed in anything except Charlie Kane.\")Leland goes
on to describe Kane's second marriage, to Susan Alexander. Kane started seeing her
while he was still married to Emily, during his campaign for governor. He ran on an
anti-corruption platform, promising to investigate and bring down his opponent,
political boss Jim Gettys (Ray Collins). Gettys found out about Susan and
threatened to tell the press unless Kane withdrew from the race. Kane refused, the
story came out, and he lost the election along with his first marriage. In the
immediate aftermath of that defeat, Leland, drunkenly incensed at Kane humiliating
his family and then treating the public's political rejection of him as if they
were his serfs, ask to be transferred to the Chicago newspaper to get away from
him. He married Susan (who the non-Kane newspapers describe disparagingly as
'a \"singer\"') soon after his divorce from Emily was final.Although her singing
talent was modest, Kane was ambitious on his wife's behalf. He paid for voice
lessons, built an opera house in Chicago (\"Cost: three million dollars!\" the
obituary reel notes), and financed an elaborate production for her debut. (The work
Susan stars in is identified as Salammbo in the newspaper coverage, but it's a
fictionalized version -- the music was written specially for Citizen Kane.) At the
opening night performance, which was poorly received by the audience to the point
where Kane is quickly left alone applauding his wife's performance. Kane arrived at
the offices of the Chicago Inquirer to find Leland drunk again and passed out over
his typewriter, his cheek resting on his unfinished -- and very negative -- review
of Susan's performance. Kane finished the review in the same negative vein and ran
it in all his papers, but fired Leland. Susan wanted to quit, but Kane insisted she
keep performing until a suicide attempt convinced him she needed to give up
singing. (By this time Thompson is interviewing Susan herself.)The couple moved to
Florida and Kane went to work on Xanadu (\"Cost: no man knows\"), where most of the
remaining scenes are set. Kane's 49,000-acre \"private pleasure ground,\"
ostensibly built for Susan, includes a man-made mountain, a golf course, vast
gardens, a zoo, and, of course, a mansion. In a huge, echoing, and nearly empty
stone hall, Susan did jigsaw puzzles and longed to be in New York. Kane declined to
leave Xanadu, but did arrange an event he called a picnic, involving an overnight
stay in the Everglades, a large animal spit-roasted over a fire, richly furnished
tents, musicians, and many guests. In their tent, Susan accused him of trying to
buy love, despite never loving anyone but himself, and of never giving her anything
that mattered; he slapped her. Shortly thereafter she left him. She almost wavered
in her resolve to go when he begged her not to, saying she'd have everything her
own way. However, he then turned the emphasis back on himself, saying \"you can't
do this to me.\" At that, Susan angrily realized the inherent selfishness behind
that statement and defiantly walked out on him.From the Kanes' butler Raymond (Paul
Stewart), Thompson hears how Kane trashed Susan's room after she left but stopped
when he came across the snowglobe (which we recognize from the deathbed scene). As
Kane pocketed the snowglobe, Raymond heard him say \"rosebud.\" Raymond has no idea
what it means. However, he tells Thompson that he was in the room to hear Kane
say \"rosebud\" again just before he died.In Xanadu's big stone hall, the reporters
are getting ready to leave. The place is jammed with packing crates full of art and
household goods, some valuable, some not. (There's a shot of all the crates that's
a clear ancestor of the warehouse shot at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.)
Thompson explains to the other reporters that he never found the meaning of
Rosebud, but that it doesn't matter. \"I don't think it explains anything. I don't
think any word explains a man's life.\"The camera pans across the crates and finds
the sled that Kane played with in the scene where his parents turned him over to
Thatcher; the word Rosebud is stenciled on it. In the final scene, men are tossing
trash into an incinerator. Raymond says, \"Throw that junk in, too,\" and in goes
the sled Rosebud, probably the only thing that always stayed with Kane.\"He was a
man who got everything and then again lost everything, Rosebud must've been
something he lost or something he wanted but never got\". The flames consume it. In
an exterior shot, the camera pulls back from the smoking chimney to the chain-link
fence with the \"No trespassing\" sign with which the movie opened, and then to
Xanadu's \"K\" gate.\n", "\nThe film opens in Tara, a cotton plantation owned by
the proud Gerald O'Hara (Thomas Mitchell), a self-made man of Irish descent, in the
Confederate state of Georgia near Atlanta. The date is April 1861. He and his wife,
Ellen (Barbara O'Neil), have three beautiful daughters; Suellen (Evelyn Keyes),
Carreen (Ann Rutherford), and the headstrong 16-year-old Scarlett (Vivien Leigh).
Scarlett spends her days having fun, tormenting the household servants, and
flirting, especially with twins Brent and Stuart Tarleton (Fred Crane, George
Reeves). The brothers anticipate the next ball and hope Scarlett will choose one of
them to attend the ball. The Tarletons speculate the impending war between the
North and the South due to the recent attack on Fort Sumter. Scarlett finds the
latter topic boring and is certain that there will be no war. She runs off to meet
her father who is riding home through the fields. He returns home with some
news.Neighbor John Wilkes (Howard Hickman) hosts a barbecue party at his Twelve
Oaks plantation. Scarlett pines for Wilkes' son, Ashley (Leslie Howard), a lanky,
soft-spoken young man of refined bearing, though he doesn't reciprocate her
feelings. While she prepares for the party her servant, Mammy (Hattie McDaniel),
walks in with a large tray of food meant for Scarlett to eat so she won't eat at
the picnic. Scarlett refuses to eat and also insists on wearing her favorite dress
with a plunging neckline, hoping to attract attention from the single men (beaux)
at the party. Mammy is more willful than Scarlett and finally gets her to comply,
though Scarlett wins the fight over what dress she will wear.At the picnic Scarlett
flirts shamelessly with other beaux despite her willful obsession for Ashley. All
the young women go inside for an afternoon nap while the men meet in the parlor for
cigars and brandy. Most of them boast of how the South will surely win the war but
one gentleman, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), a visitor from Charleston, South
Carolina, disagrees. He states that the South cannot win a protracted war purely
through the exhibition of pride and notes how the North is better equipped and
industrially superior, able to produce weapons of war quickly. Charles Hamilton
(Rand Brooks) is offended by Rhett's opinion and openly tells him so, even going so
far as to suggest a duel. Rhett, knowing full well that he's a much better shot
than Charles and that this argument is not worth his life, leaves. Charles brands
Rhett a coward but Ashley assures him that Rhett would have killed him in the
duel.While the other girls are sleeping, Scarlett slips away from the nap room to
speak to Ashley in the parlor. She declares her love for him but Ashley tells her
that he intends to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland),
Charles' sister. Scarlett is infuriated and berates Ashley for making her think he
was in love with her. She maintains that Melanie is too fair and can't compete with
Scarlett's looks, despite the fact that Melanie is admired for her kindness and
altruism. Ashley then walks out of the parlor. In her anger, Scarlett throws a vase
at the wall, breaking it to pieces. Rhett Butler suddenly pops up from the couch
where he'd been resting and jokingly asks whether the war has begun. Scarlett is
outraged
and defends Ashley when Rhett mocks him. When Scarlett leaves, Rhett laughs to
himself: Scarlett has announced that she would hate Ashley forever, but she still
defends him.The start of the war is finally announced and all the young gentlemen
rush to enlist. Charles Hamilton is betrothed to Ashley's sister, India (Alicia
Rhett) but, when Scarlett flirts with him to get a rise out of Ashley, he proposes
to her instead. Still angry at Ashley for rejecting her, Scarlett agrees. They
quickly marry before Charles leaves for the front lines. Scarlett offers herself to
Ashley but he denies her again, kissing her lightly on the cheek. Just a few months
later, news comes of Charles' death from illness while stationed at the
front.Wishing for her widowed daughter to cheer up (though Scarlett is sullen for
the wrong reasons), Ellen suggests that she go to Atlanta to live with Melanie and
her Aunt Pittypat (Laura Hope Crews). Scarlett agrees to go, but only because it
will give her the chance to see Ashley again. Mammy, believes this decision is not
in Scarlett's best interest and tells her so.In 1862, Scarlett attends a fund
raising ball for the Confederate Army in Atlanta where she, as a recent widow, is
not supposed to enjoy herself and must remain off to the side wearing a black gown.
She dances surreptitiously behind the counter of her charity stall, receiving looks
of disapproval as the people around her whisper rumors of her supposed mourning.
Rhett Butler is also in attendance, now known as an arms smuggler to benefit the
Southern cause despite his cynical attitude towards the war's aims. His motivation
is simply to make a profit and his skills in smuggling allowed him to obtain the
ball decorations and make it past Southern blockades. Melanie, by now having
married Ashley, offers her wedding ring as a war contribution, a generous move that
Scarlett feels obliged to follow. This incites Rhett to sarcastically praise her
consideration. An auction is then held for the men to bid on a dance with a girl of
their choosing. Rhett wins the auction and chooses Scarlett, causing consternation
in the crowd because of Scarlett's position as a widow. However, she accepts
Rhett's invitation to dance and, while they do, Rhett tells her that he someday
wants to hear her say that she loves him. Scarlett confidently proclaims that will
never happen as long as she lives.Another year later, Christmas of 1863 arrives and
Ashley returns home from the war front on furlough. Still in love with him,
Scarlett once again attempts to woo him but with no success. Just before Ashley's
departure day, Scarlett manages to see him alone and gives him a present, tearfully
confessing that she only married Charles to hurt him. Ashley makes Scarlett promise
to take care of Melanie before they share one passionate kiss. Ashley leaves once
more to rejoin the war effort.Eight months pass, during which the war drags on and
the situation in the South worsens. Food becomes scarce and nearly every family has
lost loved ones to battle. Scarlett and Melanie, now pregnant with Ashley's child,
volunteer as nurses caring for wounded soldiers in nearby Atlanta. Scarlett
despises her new role, doubled upon her responsibilities as the sole person to
manage Aunt Pittypat's home since Pittypat is incompetent and Melanie grows weaker
due to her difficult pregnancy. Scarlett faces the harsh realities of war as she
listens to a dying soldier (Cliff Edwards) reminisce about his brother Jeff and
witnesses another (Eric Linden) suffer a leg amputation without anesthetic. The
useless Aunt Pittypat leaves the city, finding the noise of artillery annoying, and
renders Scarlett to care for the weakened Melanie with no one but the house
servant, Prissy (Butterfly McQueen), to help.When Melanie goes into labor,
Scarlett, intent on keeping her promise to Ashley, employs the help of Dr. Meade
(Harry Davenport) who had previously been watching Melanie's progress. However, he
is unable to leave the train station where he is tending to hundreds of wounded and
dying Confederate soldiers. When Prissy, who had claimed to know all there is to
childbirth, admits that she knows nothing, Scarlett takes control, fueled by her
anger. Though Melanie's labor is long and complicated, she eventually gives birth
to a son (Patrick Curtis) but is left severely weak.Scarlett sends Prissy to find
the one man who can get them all safely out of Atlanta before the approaching Union
troops take siege: Rhett Butler. Prissy finds him enjoying himself at a local
brothel run by Belle Watling (Ona Munson). Though Rhett mocks Prissy, he agrees to
assist Scarlett who insists on returning home to Tara. Rhett steals a horse and
cart and fetches Scarlett, Melanie, her baby, and Prissy, taking them through
Atlanta as the city burns in wake of the Union advance. They fight off some looters
who try to steal their horse. Once safely outside the city, Rhett leaves them to
continue to Tara alone, telling Scarlett that he going to enlist in the Confederate
army because he believes only in lost causes 'when they are really lost'. Scarlett
begs him not to go and he professes his love for her, claiming to have never loved
anyone else so fiercely. Scarlett rebuffs his advances but he kisses her, paying
for it with a slap across the face. Rhett gives her his pistol and walks off,
leaving Scarlett in tears.The women continue on their journey to Tara alone,
traveling mostly by night to avoid enemy Federal troops. When Melanie can no longer
lactate for the baby, they resolve to milk a stray cow for sustenance. They pass
the Wilkes' plantation which has befallen the same fate as many others, having
burned to the ground. Melanie tries to stand but collapses upon seeing the scorched
crosses marking the graves of her entire family. Under moonlight and just as their
horse dies of exhaustion, they arrive at Tara to find it still standing but
derelict, having been used as headquarters for Northern troops. The fields are
untended and the grounds have been pillaged but Scarlett finds that her father, her
sisters, and two of their house servants, Mammy and Pork (Oscar Polk), remain, the
rest of the servants/slaves having either run away or forced into the Union army.
Scarlett discovers that her mother recently passed away from typhoid fever, leaving
her already disturbed father practically insane. With barely any food, no livestock
to speak of, and no money, Scarlett wanders into the fields to clear her head. She
pulls a dried up carrot out of the ground to bite into it, only to throw up
immediately afterwards. Resolving not to give up, she stands defiantly,
saying, \"As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again!\"IntermissionMonths
pass and the war enters its final stages. General Sherman marches his Northern
armies through Georgia in his so-called 'March to the Sea', leaving a wide swath of
destruction in his path. Scarlett and her sisters have been forced to make the best
of things, performing manual labor themselves to keep Tara running and in repair.
Melanie remains weakened from childbirth and is reduced to spending most of her
time in bed. At a moment when Scarlett is scolding her for getting out of bed
again, wishing to help, a renegade Union soldier (Paul Hurst) enters the home. He
claims that he's simply looking for valuables to move on with but, when he
threatens Scarlett, she takes the gun that Rhett gave her and shoots him in the
face. The Union soldier falls dead down the staircase. Melanie is a witness, having
crawled out of bed with Ashley's saber. She promises not to tell the others what
happened while Scarlett searches the soldier, finding legitimate cash and other
valuables. They dispose of the body and explain to Scarlett's father and sisters
that her gun had accidentally discharged. Scarlett uses Melanie's nightgown to wrap
the dead soldier's bloody head up and drags the body off, planning to bury it in
the orchard.Some months later, in spring of 1865, the war is finally over.
Confederate soldiers amble back home in the wake of General Lee's surrender. One of
them, Frank Kennedy (Carroll Nye), arrives at Tara and, having long been in love
with Suellen, asks Scarlett's permission to marry her. Tara soon becomes a haven
for passing soldiers who are given food and rest, mostly at the behest of Melanie,
much to the dismay of Scarlett, who reminds her that their supplies are already
meager enough. One soldier (Phillip Trent) gives Melanie the news that Ashley is
still alive but is a prisoner at a Yankee camp. Soon enough another few months
later, Ashley arrives at Tara and Melanie rushes to embrace him. Scarlett is
tempted to do the same but is held back by Mammy; she has no rights to him. To her
torment, Ashley stays at Tara with Melanie and his son (Ricky Holt).During the
first year-and-a-half of Reconstruction, high taxes are imposed on the Southern
plantations by Northern carpetbaggers, much to Scarlett's dismay. Terrified that
she will lose Tara, she seeks comfort from Ashley though Mammy doesn't believe
anything good will come of it. Scarlett begs Ashley to come away with her to Mexico
where they can start anew. He kisses her and admits that he loves her and admires
her courage but simply can't leave Melanie and his son behind. Ashley reminds
Scarlett that she still has Tara which she should love more than him and thrusts
some of its red dirt into her hand. He tells her that the Southern civilization is
and its way of life with slavery is gone forever and that he intends to move to New
York City with his family to work as a banker. Scarlett throws a tantrum and, when
the commotion attracts Melanie's attention, she naively suggests that she and
Ashley remain in Tara to help Scarlett. Dejected, Ashley gives in.Jonas Wilkerson
(Victor Jory), former overseer of Tara, now prosperous due to collaboration with
the carpetbaggers,
offers to buy Tara from Scarlett. Though the tax has risen to nearly $300, Tara
rejects the offer and humiliates Jonas by throwing a clump of dirt in his face. As
he leaves, Scarlett's father, his mind all but completely lost, chases him down on
his horse, attempting to upbraid him. However, the horse falls while attempting to
jump over a fence and O'Hara is killed in the fall.After burying her father,
Scarlett again seeks the help of the only man she knows who possesses enough wealth
to help her: Rhett Butler. Despite holding a Captain's rank, Rhett is being held in
the city jail in Atlanta by Union forces who are threatening to hang him unless he
hands over his Confederate gold. Prior to the war, Rhett had moved all his wealth
to banks in London where it would be safe. Conditions in the jail, however, are
hardly bleak: Rhett plays cards, gambles and drinks with Union soldiers, tells them
stories about his life as a blockade runner, and he even receives female
visitations. Scarlett decides to dress up for the occasion and enlists Mammy to
create a new dress for her out of the curtains hanging at Tara. Mammy accompanies
Scarlett to Atlanta to keep her out of trouble. Posing as one of
Rhett's \"sisters\", Scarlett is allowed to visit with Rhett privately at the city
jail and attempts to present herself with an air of elegance, claiming that life at
Tara is like paradise. Rhett, however, sees through the deception when he notices
her roughened hands from working the fields. Despite her anger, she continues to
beg for money and even offers to be his mistress. Rhett dismisses her and informs
her that if he'd tried to use his own funds to help her, the Union would come down
on him immediately. On her way out, Scarlett passes Belle Watling waiting for a
visit. Noticing how well-dressed she is, Scarlett figures that she knows how to get
the money.While walking through town, Mammy and Scarlett come across Frank Kennedy,
now a successful businessman selling hardware and wood for which the city is being
rebuilt. Frank claims to be saving all his money to marry Suellen and bring her to
the city. Sensing an opportunity, Scarlett tells Frank that Suellen has married
another man and presents herself open to Frank, despite Mammy's disapproving looks.
Arriving back at Tara, Suellen is heartbroken and sullen, having just learned that
Scarlett hastily married Frank and that he has paid off Tara's debts. She scolds
Scarlett for having been married twice already and relents that she seems to be
destined as a spinster.Throughout that year (1866), Frank's hardware and lumber
store flourishes under Scarlett's management. She refuses credit to her poor
neighbors and makes lucrative deals with Northern businessmen. They expand further,
buying a sawmill to expand Frank's smaller interest in the lumber industry, and
Tara starts to regain part of its former splendor. Scarlett hires hungry convicts
who are exploited by a cruel, former prison overseer (John Wray). Ashley expresses
his discomfort at the thought of the convicts being abused, starved and used as
slave labor but Scarlett is determined to allow it.One day, Scarlett comes across
Rhett Butler, who is now free and very wealthy. He laughs, saying that she could
have married him and become rich if she had waited. She brushes him off and leaves
alone for the sawmill. Rhett points out that the shantytown on the way to the
sawmill is full of dangerous criminals and Army deserters but Scarlett shows him
that she carries the pistol he'd given her during the war.On the way to the
sawmill, two men attack Scarlett from behind and overpower her before she can use
her gun. Panicked, Scarlett faints. The men appear to be on the verge of raping her
when Big Sam (Everett Brown), a former slave at Tara, saves her by beating up the
two men who flee. News of the event spreads quickly through the town. That evening,
Frank drops Scarlett and Mammy off at the Wilkes' home while he and Ashley go out
to a \"political meeting.\" The women sense that something is afoot and Melanie
reads aloud from the book 'David Copperfield' in an attempt to relieve the tension.
Rhett appears some time later and tells the women that the men have formed a
vigilante group to punish the attackers but that the Union army has been tipped off
and those at the meeting are now in danger. Melanie tells Rhett where they are
meeting, considering him trustworthy despite Scarlett's advice to the contrary and
Suellen's belief that he's a Yankee spy. Rhett says he will do what he can.Several
hours later, Rhett appears back at the home with Ashley and Dr. Meade, with a squad
of Union soldiers right behind them. The three men seem to be completely drunk and
Rhett tells the Yankee captain, Tom (Ward Bond) that they have just spent the
evening at the bordello establishment of Belle Watling, who should confirm their
story. The women, including Scarlett, are shocked and embarrassed, but the Yankee
captain believes the explanation and departs after apologizing for their intrusion,
after Rhett reminds Tom he is also a frequenter of Belle's bordello as well. Once
the Union troops leave, Rhett drops the curtain and instantly sobers (having just
pretended to be drunk), revealing there was a skirmish in the shantytown. Ashley is
wounded, having been shot in the shoulder but the two men who attacked Scarlett are
now dead, along with several others. More worried about Ashley, Scarlett neglects
to inquire about her own husband, Frank. Rhett finally mentions that he was killed
in the skirmish and is still there, lying dead in the road.Some days later, Melanie
meets with Belle Watling and thanks her for helping their men stay out of trouble
by backing up their false alibi. Belle says that she has a son studying up North
and helped the men because of Melanie rather than Scarlett. Belle cautions Melanie
about speaking to her in public from now on as it would damage Melanie's reputation
but Melanie persists that she would be happy to speak to Belle anytime.A few days
later Rhett visits the now twice-widowed Scarlett. He realizes that she has been
drinking heavily despite her attempts to cover up the smell with cologne. She tells
Rhett that she will never love him because she's in love with another man, but she
will marry him because of his money. Rhett says that they are two of a kind;
partners in crime, and he marries her anyway. Rhett and Scarlett have a luxurious
honeymoon in New Orleans and return to Tara so that Scarlett can use her new riches
to restore its full glory. Rhett also buys a large mansion in Atlanta where they
will live on a regular basis. In time they have a child whom Rhett confidently
names Bonnie Blue Butler after Melanie remarks (newborn: Kelly Griffin, 2 year-old:
Phyllis Douglas) on her brilliant blue eyes.After her daughter's birth, Scarlett
becomes depressed over her waning youth and her unrequited love for Ashley. She
informs Rhett that she wants no more children and will no longer sleep with him.
Furious, Rhett threatens her with divorce and storms out to find consolation at
Belle Watling's. Although he has grounds for divorce, Rhett continues with the sham
marriage in order to keep up social appearances for Bonnie's sake. Bonnie becomes a
sort of substitute for Scarlett in Rhett's eyes. Over the next few years, Rhett
dotes on the child, spoiling her and giving her the best of everything, including a
pony and riding lessons and making sure she's accepted socially throughout Atlanta
by the best classes of people.In 1871, India Wilkes and Mrs. Meade (Leona Roberts)
discover Scarlett hugging Ashley at the hardware store. Although the hug was rather
innocent, Scarlett knows that rumors will fly. That night is Ashley's birthday
party and Rhett, who has heard the gossip, forces Scarlett to go in a daring red
taffeta dress which would be considered very inappropriate for the occasion.
Melanie is the only person who welcomes Scarlett. Back at the Atlanta mansion,
Scarlett finds Rhett completely drunk. They have an angry confrontation and, after
he drunkenly threatens to kill her to make her forget Ashley, this time, Rhett
refuses to take no for an answer. He carries Scarlett off to the bedroom. The next
morning, Scarlett seems deliriously happy. When Rhett arrives to apologize and
propose a divorce, her good mood vanishes. Rhett promises to take care of Scarlett
financially but insists on taking Bonnie away with him. Scarlett rejects his offer,
as it would be a disgrace. Rhett then leaves on an extended trip to London and
still takes Bonnie with him.In London some months later, five-year-old Bonnie
(Cammie King Conlon) has nightmares and can't sleep in the dark. Her stuffy English
nurse (Lillian Kemble-Cooper) believes that the ordeal will build the child's
character but Rhett dismisses her and lets Bonnie sleep with a candlelight on. The
homesick Bonnie begs to return to her mother. When Rhett and Bonnie return to
Atlanta, Scarlett tells him that she's pregnant again. Rhett reacts coldly and
Scarlett ups the ante by saying she wishes the baby were not his, to which Rhett
retorts, \"Maybe you'll have an accident.\" Scarlett takes a sudden blind swing at
Rhett who dodges it. Scarlett falls down the stairs and loses her baby.Later, at
the behest of Melanie who has become pregnant again, Rhett makes an effort to be
kind to Scarlett. Sitting on the back terrace of their Atlanta mansion, Rhett and
Scarlett discuss the possibility of Scarlett giving up the lumber business to
devote herself to her husband and child. A reconciliation begins to seem possible
when, at that moment, Bonnie insists stubbornly on jumping a fence with her pony
after she raised the bar. Scarlett remembers her father's death and has a
premonition of disaster. Her worst fears come true as the pony refuses to jump and
fatally throws Bonnie over the fence. Rhett is devastated
by Bonnie's death and refuses to release the child's body for burial for several
days despite Scarlett's wishes. Rhett locks himself in his room with the body after
shooting the pony, refusing to allow anyone in, including Scarlett who can only
bang on the door screaming at him.Melanie arrives at the mansion and is led
upstairs by Mammy, who tearfully relays the past few days events: Rhett refuses to
talk to anyone and vengefully shot the pony after the accident. Melanie manages to
allow Rhett to come out of the room and allow undertakers to take away Bonnie's
dead body. Melanie, overwrought with emotion, collapses and goes into labor. Upon a
doctor's examination following the birth, he determines that Melanie is dying from
internal bleeding. In a final meeting with Scarlett, Melanie asks her to look after
Ashley. When Melanie dies, Ashley is left a broken man and he tells Scarlett that
Melanie was always his true love, a devastating revelation to Scarlett, who then
realizes that he never really loved Ashley and can only wish that he had been
clearer about his own feelings for her. Rhett, witness to the scene, stalks off to
his and Scarlett's home.Scarlett returns to the mansion seeking Rhett. Having seen
Scarlett with Ashley at Melanie's house, Rhett tells her that she will never stop
loving Ashley and so he is leaving her, for good, to start a new life back in his
hometown of Charleston. As Rhett begins to pack his suitcase to leave, Scarlett
insists that she now realizes that she loves Rhett and never truly loved Ashley but
Rhett maintains that any chance of saving their marriage died with Bonnie, and that
he's tolerated Scarlett's drama long enough. As he prepares to walk out the door,
Scarlett begs him one last time, asking what will happen to her if he leaves.
Indifferent, Rhett replies, \"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.\" and strides
out of the house into the evening fog.Scarlett collapses on the stairs in anguish.
She pulls back from despair only when she thinks of the other great love of her
life, Tara, through a series of reminiscences in voice-over . Scarlett is
determined to return to Tara, make a new start, and try to somehow get Rhett back,
saying to herself, \"After all, tomorrow is another day!\"In the final shot, we see
Scarlett silhouetted against Tara as the sun sets over the hill, having arrived
back at her childhood home and now facing an unknown, but new, future.\n", "\
nDorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is an orphaned teenager who lives with her Auntie Em
(Clara Blandick) and Uncle Henry (Charley Grapewin) on a Kansas farm in the early
1900s. She daydreams about going \"over the rainbow\" after Miss Gulch (Margaret
Hamilton), a nasty neighbor, hits Dorothy's dog Toto (Terry) on the back with a
rake, causing Toto to bite her. Miss Gulch shows up with an order to take Toto to
the sheriff to be euthanized, but Toto jumps out of the basket on the back of Miss
Gulch's bicycle and runs back to Dorothy. Fearing that Miss Gulch, who does not
know that Toto has escaped, will return, Dorothy takes the dog and runs away from
home. She meets an itinerant phony fortune teller, Professor Marvel (Frank Morgan),
who immediately guesses that Dorothy has run away. Pretending to tell her fortune
and wishing to reunite Dorothy with her aunt, he tells her that Auntie Em has
fallen ill from worry over her.Dorothy immediately returns home with Toto, only to
find a tornado approaching. Unable to reach her family in their storm cellar,
Dorothy enters the house, is knocked unconscious by a loose window, and apparently
begins to dream. Along with her house and Toto, she's swept from her sepia-toned
world to the magical, beautiful, dangerous and technicolor land of Oz. The tornado
drops Dorothy's house on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. The witch ruled
the Land of the Munchkins, little people who think at first that Dorothy herself
must be a witch. The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton again), who is the
sister of the dead witch, threatens Dorothy. But Glinda (Billie Burke), the Good
Witch of the North, gives Dorothy the dead witch's enchanted Ruby Slippers, and the
slippers protect her. Glinda advises that if Dorothy wants to go home to Kansas,
she should seek the aid of the Wizard of Oz, who lives in the Emerald City. To get
there, Dorothy sets off down the Yellow Brick Road.Before she's followed the road
very far, Dorothy meets a talking scarecrow whose dearest wish is to have a brain.
Hoping that the wizard can help him, the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) joins Dorothy on
her journey. They come upon the Tin Woodman (Jack Haley), who was caught in the
rain and is so rusty he can't move. When they oil his joints so he can walk and
talk again, he confesses that he longs for a heart; he too joins Dorothy. As they
walk through a dense forest, they encounter the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), who
wishes for courage and joins the quest in the hope that the wizard will give him
some. Dorothy's three friends resemble the three farmhands who work for Dorothy's
aunt and uncle back in Kansas.On the way to the Emerald City, Dorothy and her
friends are hindered and menaced by the Wicked Witch of the West. She incites trees
to throw apples at them, then tries to set the scarecrow on fire. Within sight of
the city, the witch conjures up a field of poppies that cause Dorothy, Toto, and
the lion to fall asleep. Glinda saves them by making it snow, which counteracts the
effects of the poppies.The four travelers marvel at the wonders they find in the
Emerald City and take time to freshen up: Dorothy, Toto and the Lion have their
hair done, the Tin Woodman gets polished, and the scarecrow receives an infusion of
fresh straw stuffing. As they emerge looking clean and spiffy, the Wicked Witch
appears on her broomstick and skywrites \"Surrender Dorothy\" above the city. The
friends are frustrated at their reception by the \"great and powerful\" Wizard of
Oz (Frank Morgan again) -- at first he won't receive them at all. When they finally
see him (the doorkeeper lets them in because he had an Aunt Em himself), the Wizard
declines to help them until they bring him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of
the West. Daunted but determined, they set off again.The witch sends winged monkeys
to attack Dorothy's party before they reach her castle; the monkeys snatch Dorothy
and Toto and scatter the others. When the witch finds that the Ruby Slippers can't
be taken against Dorothy's will as long as the girl is alive, she turns her
hourglass and threatens that Dorothy will die when it runs out. Meanwhile, Toto has
escaped and run for help. Dressed as guardsmen, the Lion, the Tin Man, and the
Scarecrow sneak into the castle and free Dorothy. They're discovered before they
can escape, however, and the witch and her guards corner them and set the Scarecrow
on fire. Dorothy douses him with a pail of water, splashing the witch by accident.
The water causes the witch to disintegrate (\"I'm melting!\"). The guards are happy
to let Dorothy have the witch's broomstick, and Dorothy and her friends return to
the Emerald City.The wizard isn't pleased to see them again. He blusters until Toto
pulls aside a curtain in the corner of the audience chamber to reveal an old man
who resembles Professor Marvel pulling levers and speaking into a microphone -- the
so-called wizard, as the Scarecrow says, is a humbug. He's abashed and apologetic,
but quickly finds ways to help Dorothy's friends: a diploma for the Scarecrow, a
medal of valor for the Lion, and a testimonial heart-shaped watch for the Tin Man.
Then he reveals that he's from Kansas himself and came to Oz in a hot-air balloon,
in which he proposes to take Dorothy home.The wizard appoints the Scarecrow, Tin
Man, and Lion rulers of Oz in his absence. Just as the balloon is about to take off
Toto runs after a cat and Dorothy follows him. Unable to stop, the wizard leaves
without Dorothy. But Glinda appears and explains that Dorothy has always had the
power to get home; Glinda didn't tell her before because Dorothy wouldn't have
believed it. Bidding her friends a tearful good-bye, Dorothy taps her heels
together three times, repeats \"There's no place like home,\" and the Ruby Slippers
take her and Toto back to Kansas.Dorothy wakes up in her own bed with Auntie Em and
Uncle Henry fussing over her. Professor Marvel and the farmhands Hunk (Ray Bolger
again), Hickory (Jack Haley again), and Zeke (Bert Lahr again) stop by to see how
she's doing. She raises indulgent laughter when she tells them about Oz, but she's
so happy to be home she doesn't mind that they don't believe her. Miss Gulch is
never mentioned again.\n", "\nIn 1963 Oregon, Randle Patrick McMurphy (Nicholson),
a criminal who has been sentenced to a fairly short prison term, decides to have
himself declared insane so he'll be transferred to a mental institution, where he
expects to serve the rest of his term free of prison labor and in (comparative)
comfort and luxury.His ward in the mental institution is run by an unyielding
tyrant, Nurse Ratched (Fletcher), who has cowed the patients (most of whom
are \"voluntary\" or there by choice) into dejected institutionalized submission.
McMurphy becomes ensnared in a number of power games with Nurse Ratched for the
hearts and minds of the patients. All the time, however, the question is just how
sane any of the players in the ward actually are and whether they really belong
there.Throughout his stay at the hospital, McMurphy forms friendships with his
fellow patients but the bonds are deepest with two in particular: Billy Bibbit
(Dourif), a suicidal, stuttering manchild whom Ratched has humiliated and dominated
into a quivering mess; and \"Chief\" Bromden (Sampson), a 6'5\" muscular Native
American who has schizophrenia. Recognized by the patients in the ward as deaf, and
unable to speak, they ignore him
but also respect him for his enormous size. In the former, McMurphy sees a younger
brother figure whom he wants to teach to have fun, while the latter is his only
real confidant, as they both understand what it is like to be treated into
submission.McMurphy initially insults Chief when he enters the ward, but attempts
to use his size as an advantage (for example, in playing basketball, for which his
height is favorable). When Mac sees how submissive the patients are under Ratched's
tyrannical control, he resolves to antagonize her and undermine her authority as
much as possible. At a counseling session, McMurphy proposes that the ward's work
schedule be altered so that the patients can watch the World Series on television.
When the 1st meeting comes to a halt under Ratched's authority, Mac takes wagers on
whether he can lift the ward's marble water-treatment control panel and throw it
through a window to escape and watch the Series at a bar. He naturally fails, but
puts forth an extreme effort.The next discussion over changing the work detail
quickly becomes a battle of wills when Ratched announces that a majority vote will
be acceptable. However, Ratched, upon realizing that the vote may go McMurphy's
way, deftly alters the rules, stating that votes must be taken from the Chronic and
Vegetable patients . When the vote doesn't favor McMurphy, he begins to imagine the
game is on TV and rallies most of the other patients behind him, causing a major
ruckus.McMurphy leads the patients in a basketball game against the ward's
orderlies. Chief Bromden proves to be an effective player, scoring several baskets.
While the orderlies claim that the patients are cheating, McMurphy ignores their
objections. While the patients later relax in the hospital pool, Mac finds out,
from an orderly, that he won't be released at the end of his prison sentence, but
will remain in the hospital for as long as the board and Ratched deem
necessary.Another counseling session ensues and McMurphy, very upset at the
orderly's revelation, finds out that he's been listed as a \"committed\" patient
and will only be released when Ratched permits it, a highly unlikely scenario.
Murphy also discovers that many of the patients in the ward are there voluntarily:
they can leave any time they wish but due to Ratched's dominance, they are afraid
to take the chance. McMurphy seems particularly upset that a young man like Billy
remains on the ward voluntarily when he could be free and maybe enjoying his
youth.The session quickly erupts in violence however, when the subject of Ratched's
cigarette rationing is addressed by an upset patient named Charlie Cheswick. Nearly
all the patients who play cards have lost money to McMurphy after he introduces
them to Blackjack, prompting Ratched to ration their cigarettes. When Taber is
burned by a lit cigarette and reacts loudly and violently and is dragged away,
Ratched tries to restore order. Charlie suddenly becomes confrontational as well
and a fight breaks out with the orderlies and Mac, Bromden (who'd pulled one of the
orderlies off Mac) and Cheswick are sent to a detention area where electro-
convulsive therapy is conducted on disruptive patients. Cheswick is sent first to
undergo ECT, while McMurphy and Chief wait on the bench. In the few moments they
have alone, McMurphy offers Chief a piece of gum, and Chief verbally thanks him. A
surprised McMurphy realizes that Chief can speak and hear him and has feigned his
illness the whole time. McMurphy resolves to allow Chief in on his escape plan
because of his hidden wisdom. Ending this scene, a more defiant McMurphy emerges
from the detention area to an awaiting Nurse Ratched. Mac appears submissive,
claiming he'll happily join the group again.Closer to Christmas McMurphy, fed up
with Ratched's oppressive methods, sneaks into the nurse's station and calls his
girlfriend, Candy, to bring booze and assist in his escape. She brings a
girlfriend, and both enter the ward when McMurphy convinces the ward's night
attendant, Mr. Turkle, to open one of the ward's secured windows. The patients
drink heavily, while Billy flirts with McMurphy's girlfriend. The party becomes
very loud, drawing the attention of Turkle's supervisor. Turkle hides them all in
Ratched's office until he's able to convince the supervisor that only Candy is
hiding in the office.The party goes on. Later in the evening, when McMurphy and the
Chief plan to finally leave, Billy, upset at Mac's departure, hints to Mac that he
wants a date with Candy. Billy and Candy are given a private room and Mac boosts
Billy's confidence & allows him to have sex with her. McMurphy, however, while
waiting (believing the encounter will be quick), falls asleep with the rest of the
patients.Nurse Ratched and the orderlies arrive in the morning to discover the
patients asleep and hung over and the ward and her office trashed. Though clearly
upset and angry, she calmly commands the orderlies to lock the open window, escort
Candy's friend out of the hospital and conduct a head count. When they discover
that one patient, Billy, is missing, Ratched demands the others to reveal his
whereabouts. Billy is discovered with Candy, who is immediately led out of the
hospital.Ratched demands that Billy tell him who allowed him to have sex with
Candy. Billy, his stutter noticeably gone, tells her that McMurphy did, and that
the rest of the ward encouraged him. A passively angry Ratched then threatens to
tell Billy's mother, citing her long-time friendship with her. Billy's stutter
returns very quickly and, very upset, begs Ratched not to tell his mother. When she
explains that he should have thought of the consequences, he breaks down into tears
and is dragged away to Dr. Spivey's office, screaming. McMurphy, still in
possession of Turkle's keys, unlocks one of the windows and is about to escape when
Ratched's nurse assistant, Miss Pilbro, screams loudly.McMurphy and everyone else
rush to Spivey's office where Billy had been led to. Having been left alone
momentarily, he commited suicide, using a jagged piece of glass to slit his throat.
After McMurphy sees what the ward has done to his friend and hears Ratched's orders
for everyone to remain calm and return to their routine, he explodes into a violent
rage, strangling Nurse Ratched until she is near death. She survives, but McMurphy
is knocked unconscious by one of the orderlies and taken off the ward.Rumors float
around the ward of McMurphy's fate. Some believe he'd escaped, others seem to know
he was lobotomized. Late one night, McMurphy is quietly returned to his bed by
orderlies. The Chief sneaks over to Mac's bed and finds him unresponsive; he also
sees two scars on Mac's forehead, indicating that he'd been lobotomized. Unwilling
to leave McMurphy behind, the Chief suffocates his vegetable-like friend with a
pillow. He lifts the heavy marble hydrotherapy fountain that Mac was unable to
before and, hurling it through a barred window, escapes to Canada.\n", "\nIn 1935,
T. E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) is killed in a motorcycle accident. At his memorial
service at St Paul's Cathedral, a reporter tries to gain insights into this
remarkable, enigmatic man from those who knew him, with little success.During the
First World War, Lawrence is a misfit British Army lieutenant stationed in Cairo,
notable for his insolence and knowledge. Over the objections of General Murray
(Donald Wolfit), he is sent by Mr. Dryden (Claude Rains) of the Arab Bureau to
assess the prospects of Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness) in his revolt against the
Turks.On the journey, his Bedouin guide is killed by Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) for
drinking from a well without permission. Lawrence later meets Colonel Brighton
(Anthony Quayle), who orders him to keep quiet, make his assessment of Faisal's
camp, and leave. Lawrence promptly ignores Brighton's commands when he meets
Faisal. His knowledge and outspokenness pique the Prince's interest.Brighton
advises Faisal to retreat to Yenbo after a major defeat, but Lawrence proposes a
daring surprise attack on Aqaba which, if successful, would provide a port from
which the British could offload much-needed supplies. While strongly fortified
against a naval assault, the town is lightly defended on the landward side. He
convinces Faisal to provide fifty men, led by a sceptical Sherif Ali. Two teenage
orphans, Daud (John Dimech) and Farraj (Michel Ray), attach themselves to Lawrence
as his servants.They cross the Nefud Desert, considered impassable even by the
Bedouins, travelling day and night on the last stage to reach water. Gasim (I. S.
Johar) succumbs to fatigue and falls off his camel unnoticed during the night. The
rest make it to an oasis, but Lawrence turns back for the lost man. Sherif Ali, won
over, burns Lawrence's British uniform and gives him Arab robes to wear.Lawrence
persuades Auda abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn), the leader of the powerful local Howeitat
tribe, to turn against the Turks. Lawrence's plan is almost derailed when one of
Ali's men kills one of Auda's because of a blood feud. Since Howeitat retaliation
would shatter the fragile alliance, Lawrence declares that he will execute the
murderer himself. Stunned to discover that the culprit is Gasim, he shoots him
anyway. The next morning, the intact alliance overruns the Turkish
garrison.Lawrence heads to Cairo to inform Dryden and the new commander, General
Allenby (Jack Hawkins), of his victory. During the crossing of the Sinai Desert,
Daud dies when he stumbles into quicksand. Lawrence is promoted to major and given
arms and money to support the Arabs. He is deeply disturbed, confessing that he
enjoyed executing Gasim, but Allenby brushes aside his qualms. He asks Allenby
whether there is any basis for the Arabs' suspicions that the British have designs
on Arabia. Pressed, the general states they have no such
designs.INTERMISSIONLawrence
launches a guerrilla war, blowing up trains and harassing the Turks at every turn.
American war correspondent Jackson Bentley (Arthur Kennedy) publicises his
exploits, making him world famous. On one raid, Farraj is badly injured. Unwilling
to leave him to be tortured, Lawrence is forced to shoot him before fleeing.When
Lawrence scouts the enemy-held city of Daraa with Ali, he is taken, along with
several Arab residents, to the Turkish Bey (Jos\u00e9 Ferrer). Lawrence is
stripped, ogled and prodded. For striking out at the Bey, he is severely flogged,
then thrown out into the street. Lawrence is so traumatised by the experience that
he abandons all of his exploits, going from having proclaimed himself a god, to
insisting he is merely a man. He attempts to return to the British forces and swear
off the desert, but he never fits in there. In Jerusalem, Allenby urges him to
support his \"big push\" on Damascus, but Lawrence is a changed, tormented man,
unwilling to return. After Allenby insists that Lawrence has a destiny, he finally
relents. Lawrence naively believes that the warriors will come for him rather than
for money.He recruits an army, mainly killers, mercenaries, and cutthroats
motivated by money, rather than the Arab cause. They sight a column of retreating
Turkish soldiers who have just slaughtered the people of the village of Tafas. One
of Lawrence's men from the village demands, \"No prisoners!\" When Lawrence
hesitates, the man charges the Turks alone and is killed. Lawrence takes up the
dead man's cry, resulting in a massacre in which Lawrence himself participates with
relish. Afterward, he realises the horrible consequences of what he has done.His
men then take Damascus ahead of Allenby's forces. The Arabs set up a council to
administer the city, but they are desert tribesmen, ill-suited for such a task. The
various tribes argue among themselves and in spite of Lawrence's insistence, cannot
unite against the English, who in the end take the city back under their
bureaucracy. Unable to maintain the utilities and bickering constantly with each
other, they soon abandon most of the city to the British. Promoted to colonel and
immediately ordered home, his usefulness at an end to both Faisal and the British
diplomats, a dejected Lawrence is driven away in a staff car.\n", "\nA woman's face
gives way to a kaleidoscope of credits, signaling the start of Alfred Hitchcock's
Vertigo to Bernard Hermann's haunting score.A criminal climbs up the rungs of the
ladder to the rooftop on a dark San Francisco night. John \"Scottie\" Ferguson
(James Stewart), a detective, and a police officer are hot on his trail. They chase
him across the top of buildings. The thief jumps between two buildings, making it
across. The police officer follows, but Scottie can't get his footing. He slips.
Scottie hangs on to the gutter as his fear of heights kicks in. The police officer
tries to help him and asks for his his hand, but the officer slips and falls to his
death. Scottie witnesses this as he clutches the gutter.Months after the incident,
Scottie reclines in the home of Marjorie \"Midge\" Wood (Barbara Bel Geddes), a
painter and fashion illustrator. She is concerned about Scottie's plans now that he
is back in shape. He has retired from the police force due to his acrophobia , and
does not want to be a desk jockey. Midge and Scottie used to be engaged back in
college, but it was broken off. Scottie blithely waves their engagement off as a
flight of fancy, ended by Midge, but it's clear from Midge's expression that
Scottie was more likely the unwilling party and that Midge still holds a torch for
him. She urges him to take a vacation. \"Don't be so motherly\", responds Scottie.
They discuss an old college buddy, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), who wants to meet
with Scottie. Scottie attempts to gradually get over his fear of heights by using a
step stool. He is able to handle the first two steps, but when he reaches the top,
he looks out the window down into the street below and panics. He collapses in
Midge's arms.\nScottie meets Gavin, who is in the shipping business. Gavin married
into the business, and he wants Scottie to tail his wife. He does not suspect
infidelity, but hints that his wife has been possessed by something. She's become
distant and distracted and has taken to roaming the city and surrounding area. The
no-nonsense Scottie initially dismisses the supernatural undertones of Gavin's
worries, but is nevertheless intrigued. Gavin invites Scottie to observe him and
his wife at Ernie's Restaurant the following night. Ernie's Restaurant is a lavish,
upscale eatery, plush and scarlet. Scottie first spots Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak)
who is stunning, with platinum blonde hair, a black dress and a green shawl. He is
mesmerized by her.The next morning, he stalks her outside her house. She wears a
simple gray suit with white gloves, as she gets into her green automobile. Scottie
follows her through the streets of San Francisco, as she visits a flower shop and
purchases a small bouquet. He then trails her to the Mission Dolores, where she
goes through the chapel to the cemetery, finally stopping to stand at a grave. As
she exits, Scottie notes the headstone, which reads \"Carlotta Valdes born:
December 3 1831 died: March 5 1857.\" He then tracks her to the Palace of the
Legions of Honour, an art museum. Madeleine sits, staring at a portrait for hours.
Scottie notices that the bouquet she purchased is just like the one in the
painting. Also, her hair is done exactly like the woman in the painting. Scottie
discovers from the curator that the painting is titled \"Portrait of Carlotta\" and
he is given a catalog of the paintings. Finally, he follows her to the McKittrick
Hotel, where Scottie observes Madeleine in a second story window. Scottie enters
the old hotel and asks the manager (Ellen Corby), who the occupant of the room is.
She hesitates to tell him, until Scottie reveals his badge. The manager reveals
that the woman's name is Carlotta Valdes, but that Miss Valdes has not been in the
room all day. Scottie finds this impossible, and goes up to the room, which is
indeed empty. He looks down the street to discover that her car is gone.Scottie
returns to Midge's home where he asks her for a local historian expert. She tells
him of San Francisco historian Pop Liebel (Konstantin Shayne), who owns the Argosy
Book Shop. She and Scottie pay Pop a visit and Scottie asks the man about the
McKittrick hotel. Pop tells Scottie that the hotel was originally a house built by
a rich man for his mistress, Carlotta Valdes, and they had a child. However, the
rich man eventually discarded Carlotta, keeping their child to raise with his
childless wife. Carlotta went from depressed to insane, and finally took her own
life.On the drive home, Midge and Scottie talk about the portrait; he shows her the
catalog picture. The resemblance is uncanny. Another conversation with Gavin
reveals that Madeleine had started to wear Carlotta's jewelry, particularly a ruby
pendant shown in the painting. Madeleine's great-grandmother was Carlotta Valdes, a
fact that Madeleine does not know. Gavin only knows this fact because Madeleine's
mother told him.Scottie follows Madeleine the next day to the Palace of the
Legions, where she gazes at the portrait. Then he follows her to Fort Point near
the Golden Gate Bridge. Madeleine strolls by the shore, throwing petals into the
bay, until without warning, she jumps in. Scottie dives after her. She is alive but
unconscious, and he takes her back to his apartment.Madeleine wakes up at Scottie's
apartment, perplexed and alarmed to find herself naked in a strange man's bed.
Scottie hands her a red bathrobe and explains that he rescued her from drowning.
Madeleine maintains that she must have fainted and fallen. He questions her, \"Has
this ever happened to you before?\" Gavin calls, concerned about the whereabouts of
his wife. Scottie reassures him that Madeleine is at his apartment. Gavin informs
Scottie that Madeleine is twenty-six - the same age at which Carlotta Valdes
committed suicide. Scottie hears the door close, and realizes that Madeleine has
left. As Madeleine drives away from Scottie's house, Midge arrives just in time to
have a misunderstanding. She believes that Scottie and Madeleine are in a
relationship.The next morning, Scottie trails Madeleine through the streets of San
Francisco, only to find that Madeleine has been looking for Scottie's house.
Scottie catches her leaving a thank you letter for saving her. She did not know the
address, but followed the Coit Tower. Scottie, now smitten with Madeleine, insists
that they wander together, because they are both alone.They arrive at Big Basin
Redwoods State Park, where they admire the ancient redwoods. As they view a cross-
section of a tree with the approximate dates of historical events, Madeleine goes
into a trance, seemingly becoming Carlotta, recounting the dates of her birth and
death. Madeleine wanders deeper into the woods, and Scottie follows her. He
confronts her about her jump into the bay, and tries to bring Madeleine back. By
the shore, Madeleine begins to reveal fragments of her vague memories: an empty
grave with no name, waiting for her; an empty room in which she sits alone; and
finally a tower, bell, and garden in Spain. Madeleine admits she is not crazy; she
does not want to die. They drive to the beach and kiss as the waves crash onto the
rocks. Scottie promises he will never leave her.Scottie arrives at Midge's place
upon having received a note from Midge inquiring as to his whereabouts. Midge
mischievously reveals a new picture she's been painting-- a portrait of herself as
Carlotta Valdes. Scottie is not amused by the gag. Distressed, he leaves
immediately. Midge ruins the painting, upset by the depth of his feeling for
Madeleine and her
own misguided attempt to make light of it, which has distanced them
further.Madeleine returns to Scottie's house, where she tells him of an awful
dream, with a tower, a bell, and a village. As she describes the location in
detail, Scottie finishes her descriptions. \"You've been there!\" he exclaims.
Scottie is talking about the San Juan Bautista, a mission that has been converted
into a museum. They drive to the mission.When they arrive at the mission, they
enter the livery stable, where Scottie tries to dismiss the dreams logically. He
points out certain objects that are real. They kiss. Madeleine explains she must do
something. She asks him if he believes she loves him. He replies yes. \"And if you
lose me, then you'll know I, I loved you. And I wanted to go on loving you,'' she
says. She starts to go to the church, when Scottie realizes she is going to the
bell tower. Scottie chases her into the chapel, and sees her run up the stairs. He
follows her, but as he looks down, his vertigo sets in, paralyzing him. He cannot
follow her up to the top of the bell tower. He watches, helpless, in fear and
horror as Madeleine's body plunges to the tiles below. Scottie staggers out of the
mission, sun blinding his eyes, dumbfounded.At the a judicial hearing concerning
Madeleine's death, the judge is particularly cruel to Scottie; he insults him for
letting his weakness get in the way of saving Madeleine. The court rules the
incident a suicide. Gavin comforts Scottie, while telling him that, with the loss
of his wife, he can no longer stay in San Francisco. Gavin sets off for
Europe.Scottie has trouble sleeping. Blue and purple flashes signal his nightmare,
as an animated bouquet unravels. He dreams of seeing Carlotta Valdes at the
hearing, with special emphasis on the ruby necklace. Scottie walks into the
cemetery where there is an open grave. Scottie falls into the grave, which has
become precipitous, then his body lands next to Madeleine's on the tiles of the
mission. He wakes up in a cold sweat.Midge arrives to care for Scottie in a
psychiatric ward. She tries to comfort him, \"mother's here.\" Scottie will not
speak, he is in a daze. The doctor believes that Scottie will be incapacitated for
a year due to stress and anxiety from his depression and guilt.Several months
later, upon his eventual release from the hospital, Scottie remains in the grip of
an obsession. He visits the old Elster home, and spots the green car. In the
distance, a woman in gray suit is getting in it. Unfortunately for him, it is not
Madeleine; it is an older neighbor who bought the car from Gavin. At Ernie's he
spots a woman in a green evening dress, but again, it is not Madeleine. He even
sees Madeleine at the Palace of the Legions, but once again, it is not her. While
looking at a bouquet at a flower shop, he sees a striking brunette in a green dress
who resembles Madeleine. He follows her to the Hotel Empire, and sees her through
the fifth floor window.When Scottie knocks on the door, the woman is concerned that
he is a creep. He reassures her he just wants to talk. He interrogates her rather
aggressively, and she shows him proof that she is Judy Barton from Salina, Kansas.
Judy realizes that Scottie's heart is broken for his former flame, and she takes
pity on him. She agrees to go for dinner with him later at Ernie's.After Scottie
leaves, flashbacks reveal Judy's memories. She was Madeleine, running up the steps
of the bell tower. At the top, Gavin Elster was there, holding the body of the real
Madeleine Elster, dressed in exactly the same outfit as Judy. It was the real
Madeleine's body that was thrown off the bell tower, with Judy letting out the
scream. Judy even keeps the gray suit that she wore as Madeleine Elster hidden in
the back of her closet. She begins to write a letter to Scottie, explaining that
she was Gavin's accomplice in the murder of his wife. She had pretended to be
Madeleine to fool Scottie, and use him as a witness to lend credence to the idea
that Madeleine was mentally unstable. Gavin had known about his vertigo, and knew
that Scottie would never make it to the top of the bell tower. Judy reconsiders
this letter, and tears it up, deciding she wants to be with Scottie rather than run
away.That night, Scottie mistakes another patron for Madeleine at Ernie's. He
escorts Judy home, her apartment flooded with the green neon light of the Hotel
Empire sign. He's overwhelmed by his yearning for Madeleine, a woman lost to him,
although through Judy he is able to capture the ghost of Madeleine's presence. They
agree to meet the next morning and go out with Judy having to make some excuse to
her employer.They engage in a series of dates, with Scottie becoming happier with
the relationship. However, little by little, he begins to make Judy over in the
image of Madeleine. He searches obsessively for the gray suit and white gloves that
Madeleine used to wear and even convinces Judy to bleach her hair. Although Judy
begs him to love her for herself, she is so in love with Scottie that she allows
him to change her into Madeleine.After undergoing an extensive makeover, Judy
returns to an anxiously awaiting Scottie. Scottie won't brook the slightest
deviation from his recreation of Madeleine, and insists that Judy pin her now
platinum blonde hair up exactly the way Madeleine wore hers, which she does,
completing the transformation. In a dreamlike state, with the green glow all around
them, they embrace and kiss. The room turns into the livery stable from the
Mission, Scottie's last kiss with Madeleine, and then back to the apartment.
Scottie has finally managed to turn back time and resurrect Madeleine from the
dead.A couple of nights later, the two decide to go out to Ernie's. Judy dresses
up, and puts on the same ruby pendant depicted in the portrait of Carlotta. Scottie
realizes that something is amiss. He suddenly becomes distant. He suggests they not
go to Ernie's and go south down the coast and continues driving past the redwood
forest. He tells her he has one final thing to do. Judy is torn between her love
for Scottie and the fear and guilt she feels over having colluded with Gavin
Elster. They arrive at the mission, where Scottie forces Judy to re-enact
Madeleine's last moments; their final kiss, Madeleine's parting words. He
relentlessly pushes Judy up the stairs of the mission tower, discovering in the
process that his vertigo is not as limiting as it was. He reveals to Judy that her
putting on the necklace that belonged to Carlotta is what gave her away.As he
reaches the top of the bell tower, he puts the whole puzzle together. He finally
realizes that Judy was the counterfeit all along. He never knew the real Madeleine
Elster. He was being set up as Gavin Elster's witness in the murder of Elster's
wife. He pulls Judy to the top of the tower, where she protests. Judy pleads that
she has fallen in love with Scottie. They kiss. The sudden appearance of a women in
the shadows, however, startles Judy, who steps backwards and plummets to her death
off the ledge. A nun steps into the light and in the final shot, as the nun tolls
the death bell, a devastated Scottie stands frozen in despair, having now lost the
same woman twice, and this time... forever.\n", "\nIn a Phoenix hotel room on a
Friday afternoon, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and her out-of-town lover Sam Loomis
(John Gavin) end a stolen lunchtime interlude with yet another disagreement about
their future. Marion wants to marry Sam, but debts inherited from his father and
his own alimony payments do not leave him enough money to support her as he would
like. As they have done so often before on Sam's business trips to Phoenix, they
part leaving their future uncertain.Marion returns to the real estate office where
she works as a secretary, arriving just ahead of her boss Mr. Lowery (Vaughn
Taylor) and his client Cassidy (Frank Albertson) who buys a house from Lowery with
$40,000 in cash. Lowery tells Marion to put the money in the safe deposit box at
the bank until Monday. Pleading a headache, Marion asks to take the rest of the day
off after her errand to the bank.But Marion doesn't go to the bank. On the spur of
the moment, she decides to keep the money, packs a suitcase, and starts driving out
of town, only to be spotted by her boss at an intersection where he gives her a
suspicious look. Worried that she has been found out already, she still proceeds
out of town on her way to Fairvale, California, where Sam lives. All the while she
keeps looking behind her, fearful that she's being followed. She drives well into
the night and parks alongside the road to sleep.In the morning, a highway patrolman
(Mort Mills) stops to investigate her stopped car, and awakens her. Startled and
nervous, she arouses the patrolman's suspicions. He looks at her license and
registration, taking note of the plate number. He allows her to go on, but follows
her for a while, which intensifies Marion's agitation.Realizing that her car can
easily give her away, Marion decides to trade it in for a different car. She stops
in at a used car lot, hurriedly pays the salesman (John Anderson) $700 cash for a
likely substitute, and completes the deal as the same highway patrolman watches
from across the street. Nervous, she drives away and continues toward Fairvale.As
night falls on this second day, with her fears of pursuit crowding in around her,
she drives into a rainstorm. Unable to see the road clearly, she spots the lighted
sign of the Bates Motel, and decides to take a room for the night. As there are no
other cars there, and no one in the motel office, she honks her horn upon seeing a
light on in the house behind the motel, and a silhouette in the window. Someone
dashes down the path to greet her, and he introduces himself as Norman Bates
(Anthony Perkins). He is soft-spoken and shy young man who
tells Marion that he lives in the large house with his mother. He comments that
the motel seldom has guests anymore since the new interstate bypassed the local
highway, and Marion realizes that she probably took a wrong turn in the storm.
Still nervous about being tracked by the police, Marion registers under a false
name, and Norman checks her into Cabin 1 just next to the office. When she asks
about food, Marion learns that Fairvale is only fifteen miles away.Norman offers to
share his supper with her so she doesn't have to go out again in the rain, and he
goes back to the house. She begins unpacking, taking time to wrap the money inside
a newspaper which she sets aside on the bed table. Then she overhears a shouted
argument between Norman and his mother coming from the house. Mother Bates seems to
have a low opinion of young women, and doesn't want Norman associating with them.
Norman returns to the motel with sandwiches and milk and invites Marion to join him
in the parlor just behind the check-in desk.Marion is taken aback by the stuffed
birds that fill the parlor, a product of his taxidermy hobby. In their conversation
over sandwiches, Norman talks about being trapped. Just as Marion presently feels
trapped by her recent hasty decision, Norman is more permanently trapped in his co-
existence with his mother and her madness. But as Norman observes, \"we all go a
little mad sometimes.\" Taking Norman's situation as a cautionary tale, Marion
decides to return to Phoenix to make amends, and try to pull herself out of the
trap she's gotten herself into before it's too late.When Marion goes back to her
room, Norman takes down a picture from the wall and looks through a peephole where
he can watch Marion changing. With a new burst of intensity, Norman hurries up the
hill and goes into the house.In her room, Marion sits in her robe and calculates
some figures, working out how she can repay the $700 she has already spent. Then
she tears up the paper containing the figures and flushes the pieces down the
toilet. With newfound peace of mind, she slips out of her robe and slippers, and
steps into the tub to enjoy a cleansing shower.Unseen behind her, the bathroom door
opens. A figure approaches and pulls back the shower curtain. It is the shadowy
figure of an old woman wielding a large kitchen knife. Marion screams. The blade
lifts high into the air, and then strikes, and strikes again and again. Marion
cannot escape the slicing blows of the knife. The savage attack continues, and then
her killer leaves. Marion sinks down, reaching for the shower curtain which rips
under her weight, and she falls over the edge of the tub. The shower continues to
run over her as her blood flows down the tub drain, her lifeless eyes fixed in a
final hopeless stare.From the house, Norman's voice yells out in shock, \"Mother!
Oh, God! Mother! Blood! Blood!\" He comes running down the hill and into Marion's
cabin to find the aftermath of Mother's knife attack. He quickly cleans up the
murder scene. He wraps Marion's body in the shower curtain and places her in the
trunk of her car, and gathers her belongings into the trunk as well. At the last
moment he spots the newspaper on the bed table and tosses it into the trunk, not
knowing that it contains the stolen money. He drives to a swamp near the motel,
where he pushes the car in and watches it slowly disappear into the dark bog.One
week later, Sam Loomis is sitting in the back office of his hardware store in
Fairvale, writing a note to Marion. He has changed his mind, and if it's not too
late he wants to marry her right away even if his finances are limited right now.
Marion's sister, Lila Crane (Vera Miles), comes into the store and asks if Marion
is there. Sam tells her she isn't. A private investigator named Arbogast (Martin
Balsam) also enters the store and asks for Marion's whereabouts. His interest is in
recovering the stolen $40,000, which Lila knew about, but Sam did not. Arbogast is
convinced that Marion is somewhere in this town close to her boyfriend, so he sets
out on a search of hotels and boarding houses around Fairvale to track her
down.When Arbogast gets to the Bates Motel, Norman tells him he hasn't seen Marion,
and that there haven't been any guests in weeks. But Arbogast manages to look at
the register and sees the false signature in Marion's handwriting. Caught in his
lie that here hadn't been any recent guests, Norman admits to remembering her now,
and says she stayed that Saturday night and left early on Sunday morning. Arbogast
spots Mother's silhouette sitting at the window of the house and asks to see her,
but Norman refuses, saying that his mother is an invalid and shouldn't be
disturbed. When Norman lets slip his Mother's impressions of Marion, Arbogast
becomes determined to talk to her, but Norman insists that he leave.Arbogast phones
Sam and Lila to tell them that Marion had registered the previous Saturday night at
the Bates Motel in Cabin 1, and that he means to sneak back and talk to Mrs. Bates
regardless of Norman's objections. When he gets back to the motel, Arbogast looks
into the office and the parlor briefly to see if Norman is there, and spots the
motel safe which is standing open. Then he heads up to the house and goes inside.
Sensing that no one is downstairs, he starts up the stairs. As he nears the top of
the landing, Mother Bates emerges from the bedroom and stabs him. He stumbles
backwards down the stairs and falls to the floor, where he is set upon and stabbed
yet again.At the hardware store, Lila and Sam have been waiting for Arbogast, who
was supposed to return hours ago. Sam tells Lila to stay behind while he goes out
to the motel. When he gets there, he calls out but no one answers. Norman, standing
by the swamp after having just disposed of the investigator's remains, hears Sam
call out for Arbogast.Sam returns to the store, having seen no one at the motel or
the house. No Arbogast, no Bates, \"only a sick old lady unable or unwilling to
answer the door.\" Sam suggests they go see Sheriff Chambers (John McIntire) to
report the missing Arbogast. At the sheriff's house, Chambers and his wife (Lurene
Tuttle) listen to Sam and Lila tell their story. At their urging, Chambers phones
the motel and talks to Norman, who says that the detective had been there but had
left. When Lila presses Chambers about the mother, Chambers tells them that
Norman's mother has been dead and buried for the past ten years, having poisoned
her lover and herself in the only murder-suicide in Fairvale's living memory. But
Sam and Lila insist that there is an old woman out there, and that Arbogast had
told them that Norman wouldn't let Arbogast see his mother because she was too ill.
That makes the sheriff wonder, if Norman's mother is up there at the motel, then
who is buried in that grave in Green Lawn Cemetery?Back at the motel, Norman is
worried about all the people who have been snooping around. After the phone call
from Sheriff Chambers, Norman goes up to his house and voices his concerns which
leads to another unseen argument with Mother in which he tells her she should hide
in the fruit cellar for a few days. She refuses. Norman says he will pick her up
and carry her downstairs. She berates him, but in spite of Mother's protests to be
put down, Norman carries his mother down the stairs.The next morning, Sunday
morning, Lila and Sam meet Sheriff and Mrs. Chambers coming out of church. The
sheriff has already been to the motel before church services. He didn't see
anything strange and suggests that the detective probably just moved on to pursue a
lead without telling them. He offers to help Lila report a missing person and a
theft, and let the law find her sister. Unsatisfied, Lila and Sam decide to go out
to the motel for themselves. Their plan is to register as husband and wife and
check into a cabin. Then they will search the place more thoroughly.Norman assigns
them to Cabin 10, and Sam insists on signing the register. As he pays and asks
Norman for a receipt, Lila takes the key and goes ahead toward their cabin. On the
way she checks that the door to Cabin 1 is unlocked. After a brief stop in cabin 10
to talk matters over, and after they are sure Norman is not nearby, Sam and Lila
enter Cabin 1 to search for clues. Sam notices that the shower curtain is missing
and Lila finds a scrap of paper with something subtracted from $40,000, suggesting
that Norman possibly knew about the money. Lila wants to talk to the woman in the
house because she might have told Arbogast something. She wants Sam to distract
Norman while she goes to the house. Sam tries to dissuade her, but she insists she
can handle a sick old woman.Sam finds Norman in the office and engages him in
conversation, while Lila circles around behind the motel to the house. She enters
and looks through all the rooms upstairs. She goes into Mother's bedroom, filled
with furnishings and clothes from the Victorian era but strangely preserved as if
new. The outline of a woman's body is deeply impressed into the old mattress. She
looks into Norman's bedroom, another room frozen in time containing the toys and
small bed of a child.Meanwhile, Sam has been trying to get Norman to talk about
money, looking for some indication that Norman has the stolen cash. Norman begins
to grow agitated. When Sam mentions Norman's mother, Norman realizes that his other
guest may be snooping around at the house. Sam tries to keep Norman from leaving,
and they struggle. Norman knocks Sam over the head, and Sam falls dazed to the
floor.Lila is just coming down the stairs when she sees Norman running toward the
front door. She ducks around behind the stairs and partway down the cellar steps to
avoid him. Norman heads upstairs. Lila starts to come back up, when she notices the
cellar door at the bottom of the steps. This is a room she
hasn't examined yet, and she risks the opportunity to look into it.Walking through
a storage room and into the barren fruit cellar beyond it, she sees an old woman
sitting in a chair facing the far wall. She whispers, \"Mrs. Bates.\" But the woman
doesn't respond. She taps the woman on the shoulder. The chair swivels around to
reveal the desiccated remains of an old woman's corpse, her face contorted into a
near-skeletal grin and seemingly staring out of eyeless sockets.Lila screams and
turns away, and her flinching reaction sets the bare hanging light bulb to
swinging. At that moment, the living semblance of an old woman enters at the door
wielding a large knife, blocking the only escape route from the cellar. In the next
moment, Sam's timely arrival saves Lila, as he subdues the would-be assailant from
behind. The \"woman's\" wig falls away to reveal Norman Bates dressed in the guise
of his mother.That evening, Lila, Sam, and Sheriff Chambers are among a bewildered
group of interested persons who sit in an office in the County Court House, waiting
to hear from a psychiatrist who has been called in to examine Norman. The
psychiatrist (Simon Oakland) enters to tell them he has gotten the whole story, but
not from \"Norman.\" He got it from Norman's \"Mother.\" As a
personality, \"Norman\" no longer exists. The other half, the \"Mother\" half of
Norman's mind has completely taken over.The psychiatrist goes on to explain that
after the death of Norman's father, Norman came to depend on the undivided
attention of his mother. But when she took a lover, Norman felt as if he had been
replaced. His jealousy could not stand to share her. So he poisoned both his mother
and her lover. Consumed with guilt over his crime, he stole his mother's corpse and
treated it to preserve it as best he could.To further the illusion that his mother
was still alive, he began to divide his mind with his mother-- to think and speak
for her. He walked around wearing her clothes and a woman's wig. At times he could
be both personalities and carry on both sides of conversations. Other times,
the \"Mother\" half, the dominant half, took over completely. \"He was never all
'Norman,' but he was often only 'Mother.'\"Norman's \"Mother\" personality was
pathologically jealous of Norman. When Norman met Marion, he felt a strong
attraction to her. That attraction set off the jealous \"Mother,\" and it
was \"Mother\" who killed Marion-- and most likely, other women before her.In a
locked and guarded room, the physical shell of Norman Bates sits unmoving
as \"Mother\"'s voice dominates his mind. She wants to prove to the world how
harmless she is by sitting completely still. A fly crawls on Norman's hand and he
doesn't swat at it, simply smirks as the voice of Mother's personality gloats that
everyone must see that she wouldn't even harm a fly.In a final image, a tow chain
begins pulling Marion's car out of the bog.END OF FILM\n\n", "\nThe Godfather Part
II presents two parallel storylines. One involves Mafia chief Michael Corleone in
1958/1959 after the events of the first movie; the other is a series of flashbacks
following his father, Vito Corleone from 1917 to 1925, from his youth in Sicily
(1901) to the founding of the Corleone family in New York.The film begins in 1901,
in the town of Corleone, Sicily, at the funeral of young Vito's father, Antonio
Andolini, who has been murdered for an insult to the local Mafia lord, Don Ciccio.
During the procession, Vito's older brother is murdered because he swore revenge on
the Don. Vito's mother goes to Ciccio to beg for mercy, but he refuses, knowing
that nine-year-old Vito will seek revenge later in life. The mother takes Ciccio
hostage at knifepoint, allowing her son to escape, and Ciccio's men kill her. They
search the town for the boy, but he is aided in his escape by the townspeople. Vito
finds his way by ship to New York, and at Ellis Island an immigration agent chooses
Vito's hometown of Corleone as his surname, and he is registered as \"Vito
Corleone\".In 1958 in a scene similar to the opening of the first film, Michael
Corleone (Al Pacino), Godfather of the Corleone family, deals with various business
and family problems during an elaborate party at his Lake Tahoe, Nevada compound to
celebrate his son's First Communion. In his office, Michael meets with corrupt
Nevada Senator Pat Geary (G. D. Spradlin) to discuss the price of the gaming
licenses for the hotel/casinos the Family is buying. Geary, who has obvious
contempt for Michael and other Italian businessmen who are moving into his state to
take advantage of gambling opportunities, promises to make Michael's acquisition of
his gaming license a difficult process. Michael ends his conversation with Geary
when he refuses to pay the outrageous fee Geary demands, telling the senator he'll
get nothing.Michael also deals with his self-indulgent younger sister Connie (Talia
Shire), who, although recently divorced from her second husband, is planning to
marry a man named Merl Johnson (Troy Donahue) with no obvious means of support and
of whom Michael disapproves. He also talks with Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese), the
right hand man of Jewish gangster Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), who is supporting
Michael's move into the gambling industry. Belatedly, Michael deals with
Frank \"Five Angels\" Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo), a business associate who took
over Corleone caporegime Peter Clemenza's territory in New York City after his
death, and now has problems with the Rosato Brothers, who are backed by Roth.
Pentangeli leaves abruptly, after telling Michael \"your father did business with
Hyman Roth, your father respected Hyman Roth, but your father never trusted Hyman
Roth.\"Later that night, Michael barely escapes an assassination attempt when his
wife Kay (Diane Keaton) notices the bedroom window drapes are inexplicably open,
which allows two unseen hitmen to spray the bedroom with bullets. The two hitman
are found dead having been killed by a \"mole\" within the compound. Afterwards,
Michael tells his lawyer and associate Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) that the hit was
made with the help of someone close, and that he must leave, entrusting all his
power to Hagen to protect his family.Flashback: In 1917 New York City, the adult
Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) works in a grocery store in the Lower East side with
his friend Genco Abbandando. The neighborhood is controlled by a member of
the \"The Black Hand,\" Don Fanucci (Gastone Moschin), who extorts protection
payments from local businesses. One night, Vito's neighbor Clemenza (Bruno Kirby)
asks him to hide a stash of guns for him, and later, to repay the favor, takes him
to a fancy apartment where they commit their first felony together, stealing an
elegant rug.The film flash-forwards to Michael's time. Michael meets with poushal
Hyman Roth in Miami, Florida who tells Michael that he believes Frank Pentangeli
was responsible for the assassination attempt, and that Pentangeli will pay for it.
Traveling to Brooklyn, Michael lets Pentangeli know that Roth was actually behind
it, and that Michael has a plan to deal with Roth, but he needs Frankie to
cooperate with the Rosato Brothers in order to put Roth off guard.While sleeping,
Fredo gets a phone call in the middle of the night from Johnny Ola, Hyman Roth's
right hand man, revealing that Fredo is the traitor in the family. Johnny Ola
conspires with Fredo, telling him that Frank Pentangeli is going to make peace with
the Rosato Brothers. Johnny Ola asks Fredo information about the meeting between
these two parties, and whether or not Pentangeli will be alone. Fredo disagrees to
cooperate and tells Johnny Ola to never call him again.When Pentangeli goes to meet
with the Rosatos at a local bar, he is told \"Michael Corleone says hello,\" as he
is attacked from behind but the attempted murder is accidentally interrupted by a
policeman. Pentangeli is left for dead, and his bodyguard, Willi Cicci (Joe
Spinell), is struck by a car while shooting at the Rosatos as they drive away.Back
in Nevada, Tom Hagen is called to a brothel in Carson City run by Michael's older
brother Fredo (John Cazale), where Senator Geary is implicated in the death of a
prostitute, and Tom offers to take care of the problem in return for \"friendship\"
between the Senator and the Corleone family.Meanwhile, Michael meets Roth in
Havana, Cuba, in late 1958, at the time when dictator Fulgencio Batista is
soliciting American investment, and communist guerrillas are trying to bring down
the government. At a birthday party for Roth, Michael mentions that there is a
possibility that the rebels might win, making their business dealings in Cuba
problematic. Earlier that day, Michael had witnessed a communist rebel kill a
Havana policemen by detonating a grenade that also killed the rebel himself. The
comment prompts Roth to remark, privately, that Michael has not delivered the two
million dollars to firm their partnership.Fredo, carrying the promised money,
arrives in Havana and meets Michael. Michael mentions Hyman Roth and Johnny Ola to
him, but Fredo says he has never met them. Michael confides to his brother that it
was Roth who tried to kill him, and that he plans to try again. Michael assures
Fredo that he has already made his move, and that \"Hyman Roth will never see the
New Year.\"Instead of turning over the money to Roth, Michael asks him who gave the
order to have Frank Pentangeli killed. Roth avoids the question, instead speaking
angrily of the murder of his old friend, Moe Greene, which Michael had orchestrated
(as depicted at the end of the first film).Michael has asked Fredo, who knows
Havana well, to show Senator Geary and other important officials and businessmen a
good time, during which Fredo pretends to not recognize Johnny Ola. Soon after, at
a sex show, Fredo comments loudly that Johnny
Ola told him about the place, contradicting what he told Michael twice earlier,
that he didn't know Roth or Ola. Michael now realizes that the traitor is his own
brother, and dispatches his bodyguard to deal with Roth.Johnny Ola is strangled,
but Roth, in a delicate state because of his heart condition, is taken to a
hospital, where Michael's enforcer is shot trying to kill him. At Batista's New
Year's Eve party, at the stroke of midnight, Michael grasps Fredo tightly by the
head and kisses him: \"I know it was you Fredo; you broke my heart.\" When
guerrillas attack, the guests flee, but Fredo refuses to go with Michael, despite
Michael's pleas that Fredo is still his brother and that it's the only way
out.Flashback (1917): Don Fanucci of the Black Hand is now aware of the partnership
between Vito, Clemenza and Sal Tessio (John Aprea), and wants his share of their
profits every week. Clemenza and Tessio agree to pay, but Vito is reluctant and
asks his friends to leave everything in his hands so Fanucci will accept less and
indeed, Vito manages to get Fanucci to take only one sixth of what he demanded
($100 out of $600). Immediately afterward, during the neighborhood festa, Vito
murders Fanucci in the hallway outside his apartment and then rejoins his wife and
three children on the stoops outside his tenement. Vito tells the infant Michael
that his father loves him very much.In January 1959, Nevada, Michael returns to his
snow-covered Lake Tahoe compound after fleeing Cuba, where Tom Hagen tells him that
Roth escaped from Cuba after suffering a stroke and is recovering in Miami, that
Michael's bodyguard is dead, and that Fredo is probably hiding in New York. Hagen
also informs Michael that Kay had a miscarriage while he was away. Michael is
distraught at the news and furiously demands to know the sex of the child, but Tom
is unable to tell him.Flashback (1920): with Fanucci dead and with no one else to
take over the Black Hand, Vito earns the respect of the neighborhood and begins to
intercede in local disputes, operating out of the storefront of his Genco Pura
Olive Oil Company (named after his friend Genco Abbandando) which he manages as
well as give out \"favors\" to others in the community such as a local young woman
threatened with eviction. Vito intimidates her landlord into letting her stay for a
few extra weeks... rent free.In Washington, D.C. of 1959, a Senate committee, of
which Senator Geary is a member, is conducting an investigation into the Corleone
family. They question disaffected \"soldier\" Willi Cicci about his role as a
button man in the Family, but he cannot implicate Michael, because he never
received any direct orders from him. When Michael appears before the committee,
Senator Geary makes a big show of supporting Italian-Americans and then excuses
himself from the proceedings. During questioning, Michael denies all criminal
allegations against him, from the murder of Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey back in
1946 (in the first Godfather movie), and to his business status of operating
several gambling casinos in Nevada. Michael makes a statement challenging the
committee to produce a witness to corroborate the charges against him. The hearing
ends with the Chairman promising a witness who will do exactly that.Frank
Pentangeli, who survived the attack by the Rosato Brothers, has made a deal with
the FBI, and will testify against Michael. Tom Hagen and Michael discuss the
problem, observing that Roth's strategy to destroy Michael is well planned.
Michael's brother Fredo has been found and persuaded to return to Nevada, and in a
private meeting he explains to Michael his betrayal: upset about being passed over
to head the family in favor of Michael, he wants respect and his due. He helped
Roth thinking there would be something in it for him, but he swears he didn't know
they wanted to kill Michael. He also tells Michael that the Senate Committee's
chief counsel is Roth's man. Michael then tells Fredo: \"You're nothing to me now.
Not a brother, not a friend, nothing\", and privately instructs soldier and button
man Al Neri (Richard Bright) that nothing is to happen to Fredo while their mother
is still alive.At the hearing in which Frank Pentangeli is to testify, Michael
arrives accompanied by Pentangeli's brother, brought from Sicily, and whose
presence causes Frank to recant his previous statements about Michael. When
Pentangeli is pressed, he claims that he just told the FBI what they wanted to
hear. With no witness to testify against Michael, the committee adjourns, with
Hagen, acting as Michael's lawyer, loudly demanding an apology.At a hotel room
afterwards, Kay tries to leave Michael, taking their children with her. Michael at
first tries to mollify her, but loses his temper and hits her violently when she
reveals to him that her recent \"miscarriage\" was actually an abortion to avoid
providing another child into Michael's criminal inheritance. She also tells him
that the baby was a boy, further infuriating Michael.Flashback (1925): While
visiting Sicily for a family vacation for the first time in over 20 years, Vito
Corleone is introduced to the elderly 90-year-old Don Ciccio as the man who imports
their olive oil to America, and who wants his blessing. When Ciccio asks Vito who
his father was, Vito says, \"My father's name is Antonio Andolini, and this is for
you!\", cutting the old man's stomach open with a knife, avenging the death of his
father, mother, and brother. As they make their escape from Ciccio's compound and
his men, Don Tomasello is shot in the leg by one of Ciccio's bodyguards, giving him
a permanent limp.In April 1959, Carmella Corleone (Morgana King), Vito's widow and
the mother of his children, dies, and the whole Corleone family is reunited for her
funeral. Michael still shuns Fredo, who is miserable, but relents when Connie
implores him to. Michael and Fredo embrace, but at the same time Michael signals to
his capo that Fredo's protection from harm, in effect while their mother lived, has
now run out.Michael, Tom Hagen, and Rocco Lampone discuss their final dealings with
Hyman Roth, who has been unsuccessfully seeking asylum from various countries, and
was even refused entry to Israel as a returned Jew. Michael rejects Hagen's advice
that the Corleone family's position is secure, and killing Roth and the Rosato
brothers for revenge is an unnecessary risk. Later, Hagen pays a visit to the
imprisoned Frank Pentangeli on a military base and suggests that he take his own
life, in the manner of unsuccessful ancient Roman conspirators who, in return, were
promised that their families would be taken care of after their suicide.With the
connivance of Connie, Kay visits her children, but cannot bear to leave them and
stays too long. When Michael arrives, he coldly closes the door in her face.The
movie reaches its climax in a montage of assassinations and death, reminiscent of
the end of Part One:As he arrives at an airport to be taken into custody, Hyman
Roth is killed by Rocco Lampone, disguised as a journalist, who himself is
immediately shot dead by Roth's bodyguards.On the military base, Frank Pentangeli
is found dead, having followed Hagen's instructions and committed suicide in his
bathtub.Fredo is murdered by Al Neri while they are fishing on Lake Tahoe - while
Fredo is saying a Hail Mary to help catch a fish.The penultimate scene takes place
in 1941, and the Corleone family is preparing a surprise birthday party for their
father Vito. Sonny (James Caan) introduces Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo), Connie's
future husband and betrayer of Sonny, to his family. They all talk about the recent
attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, and Michael shocks everybody by announcing
that he has just enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Sonny ridicules
Michael's choice, and Tom Hagen mentions how his father has great expectations for
Michael. Fredo is the only one who supports his brother's decision. Sal Tessio
comes in with the cake for the party, and when Vito arrives, all but Michael leave
the room to greet him.The final shot in the film is Michael sitting by himself at
Lake Tahoe, in silent contemplation.\n", "\nTerry Malloy (Marlon Brando) once
dreamed of being a great prize fighter, but now works at the docks of Johnny
Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) , the corrupt boss of the longshoremen's union. He witnesses
a murder by a couple of Johnny's thugs, but won't betray Friendly, who is both his
brother's (Rod Steiger) boss and a long-time friend of his family.What he sees at
the docks repulses Terry. In an economically depressed environment in which many
are out of work, more gather by the docks each morning hoping to secure work for
that day than can be hired, placing Johnny Friendly and his forces in a position to
exploit them. Those who complain of the working conditions or wages one day don't
work the next day, or are placed in harm's way. Consequently, most tolerate being
abused.After befriending both the sister (Eva Marie Saint) of the murdered man and
the local priest (Karle Malden), Terry gradually becomes a man of deeper morality,
and starts to speak of acts against Friendly, who will soon go on trial. Terry
finds his breaking point when his brother is murdered by Friendly's thugs, and
causes him to entertain thoughts of testifying against Friendly. Still, he
struggles to find the courage to do so, until the priest persuades him to.Once he
betrays Friendly, Terry is without the work that always came his way when he and
his brother were trusted and valued associates. Still, he confronts Friendly by the
docks and when all the dock workers are witness to the brutal beating of Terry by
Friendly, they refuse to work unless Terry is also allowed to work. This is the
catalyst for a new tone of understanding between the workers and the dock
bosses.Terry had neither wanted nor intended to
be a hero, but, as a man of principle, he had become not only a hero, but a symbol
of the workers' intolerance of exploitation by the dock
bosses.===================================Terry Malloy, a former boxer, works as a
stevedore on the urban waterfront near New York City. When the story opens, he's
leaving the office/shack of Johnny Friendly, the head of the local dockworker's
union. Johnny tells Terry \"You take it from here, Slugger.\" Terry goes to the
tenement of Joey Doyle, another dock worker and calls him out, saying that he
recovered one of Joey's carrier pigeons. Joey cautiously accepts and tells Terry to
meet him on the roof of the tenement. Terry looks up and sees two shady men waiting
on the roof.Terry goes to Friendly's bar and stands outside with his brother,
Charley and two of Friendly's enforcers, Truck and Tillio. Charley asks him if
Doyle went to the roof -- referring to him as \"The Pigeon\" -- and Terry tells him
he did. A moment later, a scream is heard and Joey falls from the roof. Though
everyone seems to accept that Joey simply slipped and fell, everyone also knows
that he was murdered on orders from Friendly because Doyle had planned to testify
to the Waterfront Crime Commission about unsafe and unfair working conditions in
Friendly's local union. Terry himself seems upset that a nice kid like Joey, who
was well-liked in the neighborhood, would be killed by Johnny's men when he
believed they would simply intimidate him into forgetting about his testimony.
Truck and Tillio laugh over Doyle's death, calling him a \"canary\" (slang for an
informant who would betray the union.)In the bar, Terry is still upset. One of
Friendly's cronies, Skins, drops by with money for Johnny from a payoff and, when
the money is counted, he comes up short. Johnny viciously searches the man and
comes up with the missing money and forcibly throws the man out. When he sees that
Terry is upset, he begins to lecture him on how violence is necessary to enforce
his rules and keep everyone in line. Johnny also admits to ordering Doyle's murder.
For setting Doyle up, Johnny tells his foreman, Big Mac, to give Terry a cushy job
during the next day's shift at his pier.Out in the alley where Joey was thrown off
the roof his sister, Edie, and Father Barry, the local Catholic priest, look over
the body of Joey. Edie angrily pleads with other people in the neighborhood about
why Joey, well-liked by his friends and the local kids, would be murdered. Everyone
knows, but none of them want to say anything. Edie also becomes angry with Father
Barry, saying he doesn't know about the violence in the area because he's too busy
with running his church to actually visit the waterfront.The next day, the
dockworkers gather at Johnny Friendly's pier. Big Mac runs a shape-up system where
tags are given to selected men to work the ship. Edie is there, with Father Barry,
who tells her that she was right; he has come down to see just how bad the
situation is. Edie's father, the elderly and cranky Pop Doyle, also shows up
because he needs to earn money for his son's funeral. He also gives his dead son's
coat to another worker, Tim \"Kayo\" Dugan, who accepts it.While waiting for his
name to be called, Terry is approached by two officials from the Waterfront Crime
Commission. One of them recognizes Terry from his boxing days and asks him if he'll
testify to the commission about Joey's murder and about Johnny and his associates.
Terry flatly refuses. The other man tells Terry they'll subpoena him if
necessary.Mac calls out the names of men who get regular work, and Terry is among
them. The remaining tags are passed out at Mac's discretion; when the men who
aren't chosen become angry with him, Mac throws the tags behind them and a minor
riot breaks out. Pop is pushed out of the crowd by the younger men. When Edie tries
to grab a tag for her father, Terry grabs it first and won't give it to Edie. When
one of the other men points out to Terry that she's Joey's sister, he gives her the
tag. Edie gives it to her father; Pop admonishes Father Barry for letting Edie
witness the riot. The other men are disheartened and Barry tells them that no union
would ever let what just occurred happen. The men explain how a \"trigger local\"
works: anyone who gets out of line is either ostracized or eliminated by Johnny and
his goons. They also explain that meetings among union members are impossible since
Johnny has spies working everywhere. Barry suggests they all meet in the basement
of his church.In the ship's hold, Terry is loafing on a pile of sacks when his
brother, Charley \"The Gent\", Johnny's right-hand man, finds him and gives him a
small job to do. Johnny wants Terry to be a spy during the meeting Father Barry
called that night at the church. Terry is reluctant but Charley reminds him that he
and Johnny have done a lot of favors for Terry. Terry agrees to go.At the church
that night, Barry calls the meeting to order, noting that attendance is very low.
He explains to the men what they already know: working conditions are bad and their
union is powerless as long as it's run by Friendly's gang. Barry also suggests that
if they can talk openly about why Joey Doyle was murdered then they'll make
progress. Edie asks Joey's best friend, Jimmy, to say something, but he turns her
down. Barry tells them that they only way they'll be able to make better lives for
themselves is to stand up to Johnny. One of the tougher men in the crowd, Kayo
Dugan, tells Barry that the rule is everyone is \"D&D\" or \"deaf and dumb\" about
Johnny. Dugan also notices that Terry is sitting in one of the back pews and
recognizes him as Charley's brother & a spy. Despite his attempts at coaching,
Barry is unable to convince the men. As Barry's fellow priest calls the meeting to
an end with a prayer, a window is suddenly smashed in and the rattling of pounding
clubs is heard outside: Johnny's men have surrounded the church. Anyone who tries
to escape is severely beaten. Terry takes Edie out of the church safely. Dugan,
while trying to escape, is beaten bloody by Johnny's goons but is rescued by Father
Barry. Barry angrily asks Dugan if he still wants to remain D&D and seems to get
through to Dugan. Dugan promises to testify as long as he has Barry's support.
Dugan also warns Barry that Johnny's goons won't hesitate to lean on a priest as
well. Barry says he'll stay with Dugan \"Right down the line.\"In the park in front
of the church, Terry sees that Edie gets out of the area safely. While they talk, a
homeless man confronts them, asking for money. The man recognizes both Terry and
Edie. When he begins to talk about Joey's death and how Terry set him up, Terry
yells at him to leave. The man does.When she gets home, Edie finds her father
packing her things. Edie, a student at an upstate Catholic college, had been
visiting her family. Pop tells her that she should leave the neighborhood because
of the violence she's seen so far. He also tells her he knows she was with Terry
Malloy and how Terry is connected to Johnny Friendly. Edie refuses to leave, driven
by her need to know why her brother was killed.On the roof of his building, Terry
tends to his flock of carrier pigeons. Terry talks to a couple of kids from the
neighborhood, one of them is Tommy, who helps Terry with his coop, and sees Edie
over at Joey's coop. Terry goes to her and they talk for a while, about how pigeons
are victims of predatory birds in the city, mostly hawks. Terry offers to take Edie
out for a drink at a local bar and she accepts. While they talk, she tells Terry of
her interest in solving Joey's murder. Terry warns her stop snooping around too
much because it could be dangerous. They dance for a while at a wedding being held
in the bar when one of Johnny's men, Barney, tells him that Johnny wants to meet
with him. Terry tells him he'll go when he's ready to. Terry also runs into one of
the Crime Commission agents who hands him a subpoena. Terry is still steadfast and
tears up the papers, refusing to \"eat cheese\" (like a rat would and become an
informer).Later, Terry walks home and is stopped by Johnny and Charlie. Johnny asks
Terry about the church meeting and Terry tells him it was run by Father Barry and
that very little was discussed that could threaten Johnny's position. Johnny
counters, telling Terry that Dugan had gone to the crime commission and gave a
sworn statement about the illicit operations and corruption of Johnny's union.
Johnny suggests that they use their \"muscle\" to eliminate Dugan. Johnny also
feels that Terry didn't do his job fully and tells him he won't have his cushy job
in the yard anymore, that he's going back to work in the \"hole\", the cargo hold
of ships where the hard labor is performed. Charlie also admonishes Terry about his
budding relationship with Edie Doyle, saying it's \"unhealthy\" for him to be
dating the sister of the man they killed.The next day Terry is working alongside
Dugan in the ship's hold, unloading crates of Irish whiskey. Terry feels the need
to warn Kayo about Johnny's intentions but Kayo ignores him. As one of the pallets
loaded with crates is hoisted out, the crane operator drops it on Kayo, killing him
in what looks like an accident. Later, after Kayo's body has been uncovered, Father
Barry gives a stirring speech to the entire workforce, telling them that Johnny and
his men are using them for cheap labor and killing them when they choose to stand
up for their rights. Johnny's men begin to throw rotten fruit and cans at Barry,
who calmly continues to talk. One of the men, Tillio, is about to throw something
when Terry stops him and punches him out. One of the men gives Joey's jacket back
to Edie (she later gives it to Terry). Kayo's body is hoisted out of the hold, with
Barry and Pop Doyle riding the pallet.Terry, whose conscience has been bothering
him, meets with Father Barry. He tells Barry he may just testify to the Crime
Commission but he doesn't want to implicate his brother or his friends. He also
tells the priest that he set Joey Doyle up to be killed. Barry tells Terry that his
loyalty to Charlie and Johnny is misplaced and that Johnny and Charley are merely
using him, as they have all of Terry's life. He also tells Terry that a good step
to take would be to tell Edie what he did. Edie had been coming to see Barry
herself and Barry convinces Terry to tell her. Terry meets her and tells her, while
a ship's whistle blows, making what he tells her inaudible. Edie is horrified and
runs away.Terry later checks on his pigeons on his roof. He sees one of the men
from the Crime Commission who approached him on the docks. Terry asks the advice of
one of the boys who hangs out with him on the roof about testifying; the boy tells
him it's not a good idea to get involved, especially since Terry founded the gang
the kid is now a member of. The officer tries to talk to Terry and is mostly
unsuccessful until he mentions the fight Terry had boxed in years before involving
another man named Wilson. Terry is suddenly quite chatty with the man, hinting that
he'd thrown the fight so that Charlie, Johnny and their friends could win a huge
purse by betting on Wilson. Terry tells the officer straight out that he could have
beaten Wilson easily and talks about his technique. Though we don't hear the rest
of the conversation, it is strongly hinted that Terry may testify against Johnny.At
Johnny's office, one of Johnny's spies reports that he'd seen Terry talking to the
agent. Charlie tries to defend Terry, saying that Edie has Terry's emotional state
mixed up. Johnny is unfazed however and orders Charlie to talk to his brother. If
Terry won't \"dummy up\" then Charlie will take him to one of Johnny's hit men,
Jerry G. Charlie is shocked and tries to reason with Johnny, who refuses to listen.
Deeply troubled, Charlie leaves Johnny's office to find Terry.Charlie picks up
Terry in a taxicab and they two have a lengthy conversation where Charlie asks
Terry about his subpoena and if he plans to rat out Johnny in court. Terry still
seems undecided and Charlie reminds him about all the favors he and Johnny have
done for him over the years and even offers Terry a cushy job at another pier
Johnny will be opening soon. When Terry seems more likely to testify, Charlie tells
Terry to make up his mind before they arrive at Jerry G's place. Terry is stunned
that his own brother would suggest that he'll be turned over to a hit man, Charlie
pulls out a pistol and tells Terry to take the job he was offered. Charlie suddenly
comes to his senses and breaks down. He recounts how Terry was once a potentially
great athlete and says that Terry's manager was responsible for ruining whatever
career he might have had as a boxer. Terry counters, saying that Charlie was
responsible for his downfall, betting on Wilson all those years ago and destroying
whatever shot Terry might have had at a prestigious boxing title and a promising
career in the sport. Charlie realizes how badly he's treated his brother over the
years and gives Terry the gun, telling him \"you're gonna need it.\" He orders the
driver to pull over and let Terry out. The driver, one of Johnny's spies, suddenly
pulls into Jerry G's place nearby, where Johnny is waiting.Terry goes to Edie and
Pop's apartment. Edie refuses to open the door for him and Terry breaks in, telling
her she loves him. She tells him to leave and he grabs her and kisses her, Edie
showing little resistance. A voice calls to Terry from the alley below, telling him
his brother is there and wants to see him. Terry rushes down to the alley and
begins to walk toward the voice. Edie follows, stopping momentarily to talk to one
of her neighbors, who mentions that her own son was killed when he went looking for
a man who was calling him into the alley. While Edie runs to Terry, a truck starts
up and rushes toward them both; Terry breaks the window of a nearby door and they
jump out of the way. Terry looks at the truck as it speeds off and sees his brother
hanging by a longshoreman's hook piercing his coat. There are several bullet holes
in his chest. Terry, his arm bleeding from the broken glass, hauls his brother
down, and distraughtly tells Edie to get Father Barry and stay with Charlie until
he arrives.Terry goes immediately to Friendly's bar and holds everyone hostage at
gunpoint. Tillio shows up and Terry orders him to stay as well. Father Barry shows
up; Terry remains defensive with the pistol while Barry tells him to give it up.
Terry tells Barry to \"go to Hell\" and Barry hits him in the face and Terry's
hostages escape. Terry begins shouting about how the situation isn't Barry's
concern and Barry tells him that shooting Johnny would be useless since the law
would favor Johnny. Barry tells Terry that the best thing he can do to avenge his
brother's murder is to testify in court and strip Johnny of his power. He also
tells Terry to get rid of the gun unless he's too cowardly. He gives Terry a beer;
Terry takes a sip and throws the pistol at a picture of Johnny with an important-
looking city official, shattering it.At the waterfront crime hearings, Terry
testifies about Joey's murder. He's grilled at length about not only being the last
person to see Joey alive but also about how Johnny Friendly had angrily said that
it was necessary to have Joey killed to protect his interests in the union. In
another office, a man watches the hearings on TV and hears Terry's testimony. He
orders the TV shut off and tells his assistant that he won't accept any calls from
Johnny Friendly. Terry finishes on the stand and, as he walks past Johnny, who's
been called to the stand. Johnny mutters threats and becomes furious and attacks
Terry, finally calming down.Terry goes home, followed by two cops. He tells them to
stop following him and they scoff. He passes a friend on the stairs, who refuses to
talk to him. In his apartment, Edie is waiting. Terry talks about losing his
friends because he testified and Edie asks if they are \"real\" friends to him
anyway. Terry goes up to the roof and finds that Tommy has killed all of his
pigeons. Edie suggests that they leave the waterfront and go to a farm out west
where they'll be left alone. Terry notices a ship coming in to Johnny's pier and,
grabbing his hook and donning Joey's jacket, goes to the pier.At the pier, Terry
receives a cold welcome from his former friends. He stands there while Big Mac
calls the workers in. Mac passes Terry over for a job and when Terry suggests they
need more men, Mac hires the first homeless man standing in the area. Terry becomes
enraged and marches down to the gangplank leading to John Friendly's office. He
throws his hook at the door and Johnny emerges. Knowing that attacking Terry in
public would get him into deeper trouble, he tells Terry to get lost. Terry begins
to berate Johnny openly, telling him he's proud that he testified against Johnny,
especially for killing anyone who crossed him. Johnny goads Terry into charging him
and the two begin to fight. When it becomes obvious that Johnny will lose, he calls
his goons in to help and they viciously beat Terry. Father Barry and Edie arrive on
the scene just as Johnny orders his thugs to stop. The owner of the ship that
arrived demands to know when the men will begin unloading the cargo and Johnny
begins to muscle his way through the crowd, ordering the onlookers to begin
working. When he reaches Pop Doyle, he grabs him. Pop pushes Johnny off the
gangplank and into the water; the crowd cheers. A few of the men find Terry and see
how badly he's been beaten. Barry encourages Terry to get up and walk to the pier
to go to work (he also tells Terry that Johnny is taking bets that he won't make
it); if he does, the other men will follow him and oust Johnny as their leader.
Terry walks up to the pier, stumbling and falling, Father Barry following behind to
make sure nobody helps him while he walks. He reaches the pier entrance and the
ship's owner calls the rest of the men to work while Johnny continues to yell empty
threats. They enter and the door rolls shut behind them.\n", "\nThe film opens with
the camera tracking down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California as police cars
begin racing down it. The lifeless body of a young man, Joe Gillis (Holden) floats
in the swimming pool of a palatial mansion. As the police begin converging on the
house Joe's voice narrates, in flashback style, the events leading up to his own
murder.Six months earlier, Joe was down on his luck, unable to find work as a
screenwriter, having only made a few undistinguished films in his short career.
Broke and on the verge of having his car repossessed, with no other options except
a low-paying newspaper job in Ohio, Joe tries to persuade Paramount Pictures
producer Sheldrake (Clark) to buy his most recent script, but fails after script
reader Betty Schaefer (Olson) gives Sheldrake a harsh critique of the script in her
summation. Joe then tries unsuccessfully to borrow money from his friends. Fleeing
from repossession men in his car, one of Joe's tires blows out in front of a large
and seemingly deserted mansion on Sunset. Hiding the car in the garage, he sets out
to explore the decaying house, when a woman inside calls to him. Mistaken for the
undertaker to a recently deceased pet chimpanzee, he is ushered in by the
mysterious butler, Max Von Mayerling (Von Stroheim). Meeting the woman who owns the
house, he recognizes her as long-forgotten silent-film star Norma Desmond
(Swanson). When she learns that he is a writer, she invites him in and asks for his
opinion on an immense script she has written for a film about Salome that she hopes
will revive her faded acting career. Although Joe
finds the script awful, he flatters Norma into hiring him as an editor.Joe is put
up in her guest room. The next morning he objects when he sees that Max has moved
his belongings to the mansion on Norma's orders, and that she has paid his overdue
rent. Though he hates being dependent on her, he accepts the situation and begins
living at the mansion, first in a room over the garage, then in the mansion itself.
As he works on Norma's script, he comes to see how unaware she is of how her fame
has died. She refuses to hear any criticism of her work, and makes him watch her
old films in the evenings. Although she still receives fan mail, Joe later learns
that Max feeds into Norma's fantasy by sending the letters himself. He explains
that Norma's state of mind is fragile, and she has attempted suicide in the
past.Over the next few weeks, Norma lavishes attention on Joe and buys him
expensive clothing, including a tuxedo for a private New Year's Eve party attended
only by the two of them. Horrified to learn that she has fallen in love with him,
he tries to let her down gently, but she slaps him and retreats to her room. Joe,
thinking his time with her is over, escapes to a party at his friend, assistant
director Artie Green's (Webb) house, where he meets Betty Schaefer again. While
still unimpressed with most of his work, she believes a scene in one of his scripts
has potential. Joe half-agrees to work on it with her, and calls the house on
Sunset to tell Max he is leaving. However, when Max informs him that Norma has
attempted suicide with Joe's razor blade, Joe leaves the party and returns to the
mansion, where he apologizes to Norma and makes love to her.After a while, Norma
considers her script complete, and sends it to Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount and
waits for his answer. Not long afterwards, calls from Paramount asking for Norma
begin to arrive. They come from an executive named Gordon Cole, and Norma
petulantly refuses to speak to anyone other than DeMille himself. Eventually, she
has Max drive her and Joe to the studio in her 1929 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A, a
rare vintage luxury car. While DeMille entertains Norma, many of the older guards,
technicians and extras on the set recognize her and welcome her back. Joe and Max,
meanwhile, learn that Cole had called because the studio wants to rent her car and
has no interest in her script (DeMille tells an assistant in private that the
script is awful). Max insists that they hide these facts from her. He later
confesses to Joe that he was once a respected film director who discovered Norma as
a girl, and was also her first husband, and that he now remains as her servant
because he cannot bear to leave her.While Norma undergoes a rigorous series of
beauty treatments to prepare for her comeback, Joe has secretly begun to work with
Betty on a screenplay. Though she is now engaged to Artie, she falls in love with
him. Although he likes her, Joe is dismayed at the triangle in which he is now
caught. When Norma discovers the script with Betty's name on it, she phones Betty
and insinuates what sort of man Joe really is. Joe, hearing her, invites Betty to
the mansion to see for herself. When she arrives, he coldly terminates their
relationship by letting her believe that he is a gigolo and prefers to live off
Norma. After Betty leaves the mansion in tears, Joe begins packing, having decided
to return to Ohio. He bluntly informs Norma of the truththat there will be no
comeback, her fan letters come from Max, and she is forgotten. He ignores Norma's
threats to shoot herself, and in a fit of passion she shoots him as he leaves,
leaving him dead in the pool.The scene returns to the opening. Still narrating, Joe
expresses fear over how Norma will be unable to cope with the disgrace, and the
discovery of how forgotten she truly is. By the time the police arrive, however,
she has completely broken with reality and slipped into a delusional state of mind,
thinking the news cameras are set up for a film shoot. To help the police coax her
down the stairs, Max plays along with her hallucination that she is on the set of
her new film. He verbally sets up the scene for her, and yells \"Action!\"; Norma
dramatically descends her grand staircase. Joe, in voiceover, remarks that life has
decided to spare her the pain of that discovery, and that \"The dream she had clung
to so desperately had enfolded her.\" Norma makes a short speech at how happy she
is to be back making a film, and delivers the film's most famous line: \"All right,
Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.\"\n", "\nThe film begins with a feather
falling to the feet of Forrest Gump who is sitting at a bus stop in Savannah,
Georgia. Forrest picks up the feather and puts it in the book Curious George, then
tells the story of his life to a woman seated next to him. The listeners at the bus
stop change regularly throughout his narration, each showing a different attitude
ranging from disbelief and indifference to rapt veneration.On his first day of
school, he meets a girl named Jenny, whose life is followed in parallel to
Forrest's at times. Having discarded his leg braces, his ability to run at
lightning speed gets him into college on a football scholarship. After his college
graduation, he enlists in the army and is sent to Vietnam, where he makes fast
friends with a black man named Bubba, who convinces Forrest to go into the
shrimping business with him when the war is over. Later while on patrol, Forrest's
platoon is attacked. Though Forrest rescues many of the men, Bubba is killed in
action. Forrest is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism.While
Forrest is in recovery for a bullet shot to his \"butt-tox\", he discovers his
uncanny ability for ping-pong, eventually gaining popularity and rising to
celebrity status, later playing ping-pong competitively against Chinese teams. At
an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. Forrest reunites with Jenny, who has been
living a hippie counterculture lifestyle.Returning home, Forrest endorses a company
that makes ping-pong paddles, earning himself $25,000, which he uses to buy a
shrimping boat, fulfilling his promise to Bubba. His commanding officer from
Vietnam, Lieutenant Dan, joins him. Though initially Forrest has little success,
after finding his boat the only surviving boat in the area after Hurricane Carmen,
he begins to pull in huge amounts of shrimp and uses it to buy an entire fleet of
shrimp boats. Lt. Dan invests the money in Apple Computer and Forrest is
financially secure for the rest of his life. He returns home to see his mother's
last days.One day, Jenny returns to visit Forrest and he proposes marriage to her.
She declines, though feels obliged to prove her love to him by sleeping with him.
She leaves early the next morning. On a whim, Forrest elects to go for a run.
Seemingly capriciously, he decides to keep running across the country several
times, over some three and a half years, becoming famous.In present-day, Forrest
reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because he received a letter from Jenny
who, having seen him run on television, asks him to visit her. Once he is reunited
with Jenny, Forrest discovers she has a young son, of whom Forrest is the father.
Jenny tells Forrest she is suffering from a virus (probably HIV, though this is
never definitively stated). Together the three move back to Greenbow, Alabama.
Jenny and Forrest finally marry. The wedding is attended by Lt. Dan, who now has
prosthetic legs and a fiancee. Jenny dies soon afterward.The film ends with father
and son waiting for the school bus on little Forrest's first day of school. Opening
the book his son is taking to school, the white feather from the beginning of the
movie is seen to fall from within the pages. As the bus pulls away, the white
feather is caught on a breeze and drifts skyward.\n", "\nThe widowed, retired
Austrian naval officer, Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) has made his
Austrian home one of overly restrictive and harshly enforced discipline, one that,
most unintentionally, causes his seven children to be underfed when it comes to joy
and love. Being a nun living in a convent is similarly restrictive and unfulfilling
for Maria (Julie Andrews), who breaks rules to try to change it. The reverend
mother (Peggy Wood) decides that Maria, who is not cutting it as a nun, should
leave and take on a job as governess at the nearby Von Trapp household in
Salzburg.Through music and various outings, Maria gives the children a taste of a
more fulfilling, joyous, life than they have ever known, and they come to love her
very dearly. The Captain grows closer to his children, too, coming to understand
the value and beauty of the freedoms that Maria has given them. Ironically, the
freedom of all Austrians to live their lives to the fullest is in danger, for it is
1938, and Germany is marching into Austria. The Captain is a patriot, passionate
about the fulfilling life that Austria has always offered its citizens.In his
personal life, the Captain is having a romance with a wealthy, cultivated, and
lovely Baroness (Eleanor Parker), but he is becoming more and more captivated by
Maria, and is falling in love with her, and she, too, feels growing affection for
him. She is a nun, however, and unschooled in dealing with the situaiton.
Frightened by the developments, Maria runs back to the convent, where the reverend
mother convinces her that she must face, rather than run from, the situation,
causing Maria to return to the Captain's home. It seems, though, that she is too
late, learning that the Captain and the Baroness have become engaged.The Captain,
who had surely concluded that he could never have Maria for a wife, confides to the
Baroness that he loves Maria, but the Baroness admits she had sensed it long ago,
and the engagement is called off. The Captain and Maria marry,
but an ugly situation befronts them upon return from their honeymoon -- the
Captain has been summoned, in a telegram, by the Third Reich to serve in its
navy.Due to the Captain 's unwillingness to serve the Third Reich, the Captain and
Maria resolve to leave Austria, and, after escaping the pursuit of some Nazi
officers, they set out, with the children, for the mountains of Switzerland on
foot.\n", "\nIn a New York City courthouse, an eighteen-year-old boy from a slum is
on trial for allegedly stabbing his father to death. Final closing arguments having
been presented, a visibly bored judge instructs the jury to decide whether the boy
is guilty of murder. If there is any reasonable doubt of his guilt they are to
return a verdict of not guilty. The judge further informs them that a guilty
verdict will be accompanied by a mandatory death sentence.The jury retires to a
private room, where the jurors spend a short while getting acquainted before they
begin deliberating. It is immediately apparent that the jurors have already decided
that the boy is guilty, and that they plan to return their verdict without taking
time for discussion with the sole exception of Juror 8 (Henry Fonda), who is the
only \"not guilty\" vote in a preliminary tally. He explains that there is too much
at stake for him to go along with the verdict without at least talking about it
first. His vote annoys the other jurors, especially Juror 7 (Jack Warden), who has
tickets to a baseball game that evening; and Juror 10 (Ed Begley Sr.), who believes
that people from slum backgrounds are liars, wild, and dangerous.The rest of the
film's focus is the jury's difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict. While
several of the jurors harbor personal prejudices, Juror 8 maintains that the
evidence presented in the case is circumstantial, and that the boy deserves a fair
deliberation. He calls into question the accuracy and reliability of the only two
witnesses to the murder, the \"rarity\" of the murder weapon (a common switchblade,
of which he has an identical copy), and the overall questionable circumstances. He
further argues that he cannot in good conscience vote \"guilty\" when he feels
there is reasonable doubt of the boy's guilt.Having argued several points and
gotten no favorable response from the others, Juror 8 reluctantly agrees that he
has only succeeded in hanging the jury. Instead, he requests another vote, this
time by secret ballot. He proposes that he will abstain from voting, and if the
other 11 jurors are still unanimous in a guilty vote, then he will acquiesce to
their decision. The secret ballot is held, and a new \"not guilty\" vote appears.
This earns intense criticism from Juror 3 (Lee J. Cobb), who blatantly accuses
Juror 5 (Jack Klugman) who had grown up in a slum of switching out of sympathy
toward slum children. However, Juror 9 (Joseph Sweeney) reveals that he himself
changed his vote, feeling that Juror 8's points deserve further discussion.Juror 8
presents a convincing argument that one of the witnesses, an elderly man who
claimed to have heard the boy yell \"I'm going to kill you\" shortly before the
murder took place, could not have heard the voices as clearly as he had testified
due to an elevated train passing by at the time; as well as stating that \"I'm
going to kill you,\" is often said by people who do not literally mean it. Juror 5
changes his vote to \"not guilty\". Soon afterward, Juror 11 (George Voskovec)
questions whether it is reasonable to suppose the defendant would have fled the
scene, having cleaned the knife of fingerprints but leaving it behind, and then
come back three hours later to retrieve it (having been left in his father's
chest). Juror 11 then changes his vote.Juror 8 then mentions the man's second
claim: upon hearing the father's body hit the floor, he had run to the door of his
apartment and seen the defendant running out of the building from his front door in
15 seconds. Jurors 5, 6 and 8 question whether this is true, as the witness in
question had had a stroke, limiting his ability to walk. Upon the end of an
experiment, the jury finds that the witness would not have made it to the door in
enough time to actually see the killer running out. Juror 8 concludes that, judging
from what he claims to have heard earlier, the witness must have merely assumed it
was the defendant running. Juror 3, growing more irritated throughout the process,
explodes in a rant: \"He's got to burn! He's slipping through our fingers!\" Juror
8 takes him to task, calling him a \"self-appointed public avenger\" and a sadist,
saying he wants the defendant to die because of personal desire rather than the
facts. Juror 3 shouts \"I'll kill him!\" and starts lunging at Juror 8, but is
restrained by Jurors 5 and 7. Juror 8 calmly retorts, \"You don't really mean
you'll kill me, do you?\", proving his previous point.Jurors 2 (John Fiedler) and 6
(Edward Binns) also decide to vote \"not guilty\", tying the vote at 6-6. Soon
after, a rainstorm hits the city, apparently postponing the baseball game for which
Juror 7 has tickets, thus allowing him to relax and pay attention with that
schedule pressure relieved.Juror 4 (E.G. Marshall) continues to state that he does
not believe the boy's alibi, which was being at the movies with a few friends at
the time of the murder, because the boy could not remember what movie he had seen
when questioned by police shortly after the murder. Juror 8 explains that being
under emotional stress can make you forget certain things, and tests how well Juror
4 can remember the events of previous days. Juror 4 remembers, with some
difficulty, the events of the previous five days, and Juror 8 points out that he
had not been under emotional stress at that time, thus there was no reason to think
the boy should be able to remember the particulars of the movie that he claimed to
have seen.Juror 2 calls into question the prosecution's claim that the accused, who
was 5'7\" tall, was able to inflict the downward stab wound found on his father,
who was 6'2\". Jurors 3 and 8 conduct an experiment to see if it's possible for a
shorter person to stab downward into a taller person. The experiment proves the
possibility, but Juror 5 then explains that he had grown up amidst knife fights in
his neighborhood, and shows, through demonstrating the correct use of a
switchblade, that no one so much shorter than his opponent would have held a
switchblade in such a way as to stab downward, as the grip would have been too
awkward and the act of changing hands too time-consuming. Rather, someone that much
shorter than his opponent would stab underhanded at an upwards angle. This
revelation augments the certainty of several of the jurors in their belief that the
defendant is not guilty.Increasingly impatient, Juror 7 changes his vote just so
that the deliberation may end, which earns him the ire of Jurors 3 and 11, both on
opposite sides of the discussion. Juror 11, an immigrant who has repeatedly
displayed strong patriotic pride, presses Juror 7 hard about using his vote
frivolously, and eventually Juror 7 admits that he now truly believes the defendant
is not guilty.The next jurors to change their votes are Jurors 12 (Robert Webber)
and the Jury Foreman (Martin Balsam), making the vote 9-3 and leaving only three
dissenters: Jurors 3, 4 and 10. Outraged at how the proceedings have gone, Juror 10
goes into a rage on why people from the slums cannot be trusted, of how they are
little better than animals who gleefully kill each other off for fun. His speech
offends Juror 5, who turns his back to him, and one by one the rest of the jurors
start turning away from him. Confused and disturbed by this reaction to his
diatribe, Juror 10 continues in a steadily fading voice and manner, slowing to a
stop with \"Listen to me. Listen...\" Juror 4, the only man still facing him,
tersely responds, \"I have. Now sit down and don't open your mouth again.\" As
Juror 10 moves to sit in a corner by himself, Juror 8 speaks quietly about the
evils of prejudice, and the other jurors slowly resume their seats.When those
remaining in favor of a guilty vote are pressed as to why they still maintain that
there is no reasonable doubt, Juror 4 states his belief that despite all the other
evidence that has been called into question, the fact remains that the woman who
saw the murder from her bedroom window across the street (through the passing
train) still stands as solid evidence. After he points this out, Juror 12 changes
his vote back to \"guilty\", making the vote 8-4.Then Juror 9, after seeing Juror 4
rub his nose (which is being irritated by his eye glasses), realizes that, like
Juror 4, the woman who allegedly saw the murder had impressions in the sides of her
nose which she rubbed, indicating that she wore glasses, but did not wear them to
court out of vanity. Juror 8 cannily asks Juror 4 if he wears his eyeglasses to
sleep, and Juror 4 admits that he does not wear them nobody does. Juror 8 explains
that there was thus no logical reason to expect that the witness happened to be
wearing her glasses while trying to sleep, and he points out that on her own
evidence the attack happened so swiftly that she would not have had time to put
them on. After he points this out, Jurors 12, 10 and 4 all change their vote
to \"not guilty\".At this point, the only remaining juror with a guilty vote is
Juror 3. Juror 3 gives a long and increasingly tortured string of arguments, ending
with, \"Rotten kids, you work your life out!\" This builds on a more emotionally
ambivalent earlier revelation that his relationship with his own son is deeply
strained, and his anger over this fact is the main reason that he wants the
defendant to be guilty. Juror 3 finally loses his temper and tears up a photo of
himself and his son, then suddenly breaks down crying and changes his
vote to \"not guilty\", making the vote unanimous.As the jurors leave the room,
Juror 8 helps the distraught Juror 3 with his coat in a show of compassion. The
film ends when the friendly Jurors 8 (Mr. Davis) and 9 (Mr. McCardle) exchange
names, and all of the jurors descend the courthouse steps to return to their
individual lives... never to see each other again.(Note: there is no indication nor
is the question ever answered if the teenage boy really is guilty or not; instead
the film makes it clear that this is outside of the question if the jurors cannot
be certain that he is guilty, if there is any reasonable doubt, they must acquit
him.)\n", "\nA fight set to music between an American gang, the Jets, and a rival
gang, the Sharks, who have moved into the Jets' territory from Puerto Rico. We are
introduced to the leader of the Jets, Riff (Russ Tamblyn), and the leader of the
Sharks, Bernardo (George Chakiris). The Sharks start the fight when they jump Baby
John, one of the most developed characters.\nThe police arrive, led by Lieutenant
Schrank (Simon Oakland) and Officer Krumpke (William Bramley), and demands that the
gang disperse.When they are alone, the Jets begin to discuss what they will do
about the Sharks. Riff declares that they will end the conflict on their terms by
challenging the Sharks to one last all out fight, or \"rumble\". they deliver the
challenge to the Sharks at the dance being held that night at the local gym, which
is considered neutral territory. Action (Tony Mordente) asks to be Riff's
lieutenant for the challenge and council, but the Jets leader insists on using Tony
(Richard Beymer), Riff's best friend, and co-founder of the Jets. Tony has since
begun to drift away from the gang, and the Jets think he doesn't belong any more.
Riff tells them firmly that once you're a Jet, you stay a Jet and reassures them of
their invincibility before going off to find his friend (\"Jet Song\"). Riff meets
Tony, who now has a job at a local store run by a man named Doc (Ned Glass), and
tries to persuade him to come to the dance at the gym that night. Having no real
interest in the Jets' conflict with the Sharks, Tony initially refuses and tries to
explain to Riff that lately he expects something very important will be coming into
his life, but later reconsiders out of loyalty, when he thinks about what might
happen there (\"Something's Coming\").We are then introduced to Bernardo's sister,
Maria (Natalie Wood). She is complaining to Bernardo's feisty ladyfriend, Anita
(Rita Moreno), that she never gets to do anything exciting. Bernardo arrives and
takes her to the dance, where she meets some friends, Rosalia and Consuelo.
Bernardo meets up with his friends. The Jets meet, and a dance montage takes place
(\"Dance At The Gym\"). Glad Hand (John Astin), the chaperon at the dance, tries to
make the gangs mix with a get-together dance, but when he is not looking, the boys
swap back to their original partners.In the midst of all the excitement, Tony and
Maria see each other, and immediately fall in love. They begin to dance, but are
interrupted by Bernardo, who angrily orders Maria home, and tells Tony to stay away
from his sister. Tony leaves in a happy daze (\"Maria\") while Riff invites
Bernardo to the \"war council\", for which they agree to meet at Doc's Candy
Store.Back at the Sharks' tenement building, Anita defends Maria's right to dance
with whom she pleases, as do the other girls, but Bernardo will not listen. A
bitter argument ensues, in which it emerges that the girls love their life in
America while the boys hate it (\"America\").Tony visits Maria at her tenement
block, mirroring the balcony scene in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and they
confirm their love (\"Tonight\"). They arrange to meet the next day at Madame
Lucia's bridal shop, when Maria has finished her work. The same night, after the
dance, the Jets and Sharks meet to decide where their planned rumble will take
place. Before the Sharks arrive, the Jets, accompanied by Anybodys (Susan Oakes), a
tomboy who desperately wants to be one of them, are visited by Officer Krupke, who
warns them not to cause trouble on his beat. When he leaves, they lampoon him,
along with judges, psychiatrists and social workers (\"Gee, Officer Krupke\"). Tony
bursts in while the Jets and Sharks are in conference, and demands that they have a
fair fist fight instead of a rumble. Riff agrees, and Bernardo reluctantly
accepts.The next day, Maria and her friends are working at the bridal shop, and
Maria is in an unusually happy mood. The other girls wonder what has come over her,
and Maria explains (\"I Feel Pretty\"). Tony arrives. Everyone except Maria and
Anita has left. Anita likes the couple, but is clearly afraid of what might happen
if Bernardo knows they are seeing each other. She demands that Maria be home soon,
then goes home to pretty herself up -- she and Bernardo have arranged to have a
little quality time after the Rumble. Maria demands that Tony stop the fight
altogether, but before Tony leaves, they pretend that the bridal clothes in the
shop are for them, and imagine their engagement and wedding (\"One Hand, One
Heart\").Next is a musical montage showing everyone's respective feelings. The Jets
and Sharks are ready in case the fight becomes a rumble after all, Tony and Maria
are looking forward to seeing each other that night, and Anita is getting ready for
her date with Bernardo (\"Quintet\").The fight, which is between Bernardo and Ice
(Tucker Smith), Riff's second in command, is about to begin when Tony appears. When
Tony tries to stop the fight, Bernardo attacks him. When Tony does not retaliate,
the Sharks mock him. Unable to stand by and watch while his best friend is mocked
and humiliated, Riff punches Bernardo, trying to defend Tony, and the two gang
leaders draw their switchblades (\"The Rumble\"). Tony tries to stop Riff, but Ice
and Tiger hold him back. In the midst of the fight, Bernardo kills Riff. Before the
stunned members of both gangs can react, Tony, enraged at the murder of his best
friend, picks up Riff's blade and stabs Bernardo, killing him instantly. This sets
off a free-for-all amidst the gang members. As police sirens start blaring in the
distance, everybody takes off, leaving behind the bodies of Riff and
Bernardo.Blissfully unaware of what has happened, Maria is waiting for Tony on the
tenement roof. She is still in a gay mood, and dances around the roof, until
another Shark, Chino (Jose De Vega), who loves her, appears, worn out from the
fight. Without thinking, Maria demands to know what has happened to Tony, betraying
her feelings. Angered, Chino tells Maria that Tony killed her brother, then leaves.
Tony arrives as Maria prays that Bernardo is not dead; realizing that it's true,
Maria lashes out at Tony, who can only tell her what happened, and asks her to
forgive him before he goes to the police. Maria finds that in spite of everything,
she still loves Tony and begs him to stay with her. They reaffirm their love
(\"Somewhere\").Ice has taken over as leader of the Jets. He tells them they will
have their revenge on the Sharks, but must do it carefully (\"Cool\"). Anybodys
appears from infiltrating the Sharks' turf and warns the Jets that Chino is now
after Tony with a gun. The Jets scatter out to find Tony, including Anybodys, whose
deed officially makes her a Jet.Back at the flat, Tony and Maria are sleeping
together. Anita arrives. Maria and Tony make whispered arrangements to meet at
Doc's and run away together. Anita comes in, sees Tony running away (and being
informed of Chino by Anybodys), and chides Maria for loving him (\"A Boy Like
That\"). Maria will not listen, and Anita looks as though she has to restrain
herself from hitting her. But Maria's heartfelt love (\"I Have A Love\") wins over
Anita, for she remembers she felt the same way about Bernardo. Anita then tells
Maria about Chino searching for Tony with a gun.Lieutenant Schrank arrives and
questions Maria about the events leading up to the Rumble. He knows about the
argument, and Maria lies that the boy she danced with was another Puerto Rican. She
sends Anita to Doc's on the pretense that she is sending her to fetch a medicine
for her headache -- she asks Anita to say she has been detained, explaining she
would have gone herself otherwise. Anita's real purpose is to tell Tony (who has
now taken refuge in the cellar of Doc's drugstore) that Maria is detained from
meeting him.But when Anita enters Doc's, the Jets maul her, simulating a gang rape.
In black anger, Anita delivers the wrong message -- she says Maria is dead, shot by
Chino for loving Tony. When Doc breaks the news to Tony, he leaves the shop in
despair. Tony then runs through the streets shouting for Chino and begging him to
kill him too.Wandering onto the playground, he sees Maria, at first thinking that
it is only in his mind, then realizing it really is her, but as they run towards
each other, Chino appears out of nowhere and shoots Tony. As the Jets and Sharks
appear, Maria and Tony reaffirm their love (\"Somewhere\"), but Tony dies in her
arms. Maria takes the gun from Chino and accuses everybody in sight of the deaths
of Tony, Bernardo, and Riff. The police and gang members arrive. When they see Tony
dead, some of the Jets lift him, and the Sharks join them, while Chino is taken
away by the police. As in Romeo and Juliet, tragedy has brought the feuding between
the two gangs to an end.Romeo and Juliet equivalentsTony=Romeo, Maria=Juliet,
Bernardo=Tybalt, Riff=Mercutio, Doc=Friar Lawrence, Chino=Paris, Anita=Nurse,\n",
"\nNote: Italicized paragraphs describe scenes added for the film's 1997 special
edition and updated for its DVD release.An opening title card reads:'A long time
ago in a galaxy far, far away...'It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships,
striking from a hidden
base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the
battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon,
the DeathStar, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire
planet. Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher)
races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her
people and restore freedom to the galaxy.'Following the opening crawl, the frame
moves down in the star field and we see a pitched battle between two starships in
orbit around the desert planet of Tatooine. A small Rebel blockade runner, the
Tantive IV, is being pursued by a mammoth Imperial star destroyer, the Devastator.
Inside, protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and utility droid R2-D2 (Kenny
Baker) are tossed about as their ship endures a barrage of laser bolts, and \"3PO\"
concludes that escaping capture will be impossible. The Rebel ship is so heavily
damaged that its main power reactor must be shut down. It is caught in the Imperial
destroyer's tractor beam, pulled into the hold of the larger ship, and boarded by
stormtroopers from the Empire's 501st Legion.A huge firefight ensues in the
corridors of the Rebel ship, with many Rebel soldiers being lost in the battle.
When the smoke clears, Darth Vader (David Prowse; voice: James Earl Jones), a man
dressed in a black cape, black armor, and a black helmet that obscures all his
features, briefly surveys the damage before interrogating the ship's captain,
Antillies, who claims that the ship is on a diplomatic mission to the planet
Alderaan. Vader perceives that he is lying, noting that a consular ship would have
an ambassador on board. (In actuality there is a diplomat aboard - Princess Leia
Organa - but she is hiding from Vader, the second-ranking man in the Empire, which
tends to support Vader's thesis that somebody on this ship is up to something.)
Upon learning that \"the plans\" were not downloaded into the ship's computer,
Vader strangles the captain. He then tells the troops to search the entire ship and
to bring all the passengers to him - alive.C-3PO and R2-D2 manage to escape damage
from the firefight. R2-D2 meets up with Princess Leia, who loads him with the
stolen plans and records a holographic message for the small droid to take to the
planet's surface. R2-D2 and C-3PO get away from the ship aboard an escape pod and
go to the planet below; Imperial troops choose not to destroy the pod, as their
scans detect no living organism on board, and presume it ejected due to a
malfunction. Moments later the princess is stunned by Imperial troops and taken to
Vader. He tells her that the Rebels have stolen some secret Imperial plans and
transmitted them to her ship. She feigns ignorance and protests to Vader that she
is a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to the planet Alderaan,
but Vader doesn't believe her and orders her taken away. Vader's adjutant aide,
Commander Jir (Al Lampert), insists that holding her captive is dangerous; news of
her captivity would generate sympathy for the rebellion against the Empire. Vader
instructs Jir to deceive the Senate and permanently erase any trace of Leia's
whereabouts by faking her [accidental] death. Upon being notified by another
officer that an empty escape pod was jettisoned during the firefight, he concludes
that the Princess hid the stolen plans in the pod.C-3PO and R2-D2 land on the
desert planet; R2-D2 mentions a mission to deliver some plans, but C-3PO is more
concerned with staying in one piece long enough to find civilization. The two split
up, and both are eventually captured by a group of diminutive scavengers called
Jawas. The Jawas are junk traders, and R2-D2 and C-3PO are their newest assets.
Meanwhile, a unit of Imperial Sandtroopers find the crashed pod and discover droid
parts and tracks leading away from the crash site.The Jawas travel to the Great
Chott Salt Flat settlement to sell droids and equipment to local homesteaders,
eventually arriving at the homestead of Owen Lars (Phil Brown), a moisture farmer.
The farmer purchases C-3PO for his translation skills, as he is fluent in six
million forms of communication, but initially decides to buy a cheaper utility
droid, R5-D4, which breaks down almost immediately after purchase. Eager to deflect
accusations of selling shoddy merchandise, the Jawas offer R2 as a replacement.
Owen accepts and tells his young 18-year-old nephew, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill),
to clean them up and put them to work. Luke had plans to meet some friends in the
nearby town of Anchorhead, but his plans are put aside for work. During the
cleanup, Luke stumbles across a short clip of the message stored in R2 by Princess
Leia. The message is for someone named 'Obi-Wan Kenobi', and is a desperate plea
for help. R2 insists that the message is simply a malfunction (\"old data\"), but
Luke insists on hearing the complete message, intrigued by Leia's beauty. R2 then
states that if Luke removes his restraining bolt, he might be able to play the rest
of the message. Luke removes the bolt, but R2 doesn't play the message and claims
not to know what Luke is talking about. Luke is called away for dinner (forgetting
to replace the bolt, which will keep R2 within the boundaries of the moisture farm)
and asks C-3PO to finish cleaning R2.During dinner, Luke tells his aunt and uncle
that the droids may belong to someone called Obi-Wan Kenobi. This news greatly
disturbs Uncle Owen, but he won't say why. Luke asks if Obi-Wan is possibly related
to a hermit named Ben Kenobi who lives several miles away in the Dune Sea area, a
vast terrain of sand and rocky canyons. Owen claims that Ben is \"just a crazy old
man,\" and that Obi-Wan is dead; Owen makes a comment which seems to indicate that
Obi-Wan Kenobi knew Luke's long-deceased father, Anakin, but when Luke presses Owen
for details, his uncle quickly changes the subject and instructs Luke to erase the
droids' memories the next morning. Luke - who hopes to leave home for training at a
nearby Imperial Military Academy to become a space pilot - leaves the room angrily
to return to cleaning the droids. Luke's Aunt Beru (Shelagh Fraser) tells Owen that
Luke is too much like his father to remain with them, but Owen holds out hope that
Luke's desire for adventure will subside - and expresses a fear that Luke is too
much like his father... suggesting that Owen may know something of Anakin's
terrible past.After dinner, Luke discovers that R2-D2 has escaped to find Obi-Wan
Kenobi. Luke tells 3PO that it's too late to look for R2 because of the dangerous
Sand People (also called Tusken Raiders) in the area, and that they will set out
first thing in the morning to go look for him (hopefully before Owen discovers that
due to Luke's negligence, his newest investment has disappeared).The following
morning, Luke and 3PO set out in Luke's landspeeder to find R2. They locate him on
the scanner and catch up with him. As soon as they find him, R2 informs them that
his own scanner is picking up several creatures closing in on them. Luke fears the
Sand People have found them, and confirms it using a set of minoculars. One
ambushes them, hitting Luke over the head and knocking him unconscious. C-3PO goes
tumbling down the side of a sand dune. R2 runs and hides.After stealing some parts
off of Luke's speeder, the Sand People are frightened away by the sound of a
vicious beast. The sound comes from a mysterious hooded figure. The figure checks
on Luke and takes his hood off to reveal his features. He is an old, bearded man,
who gently touches Luke's forehead. Luke quickly comes to and recognizes the man as
Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness). Luke tells the man that his droid claims to belong to
an Obi-Wan Kenobi. This knowledge startles the old man, who reveals (with a look of
ancient mystery on his face) that he is Obi-Wan Kenobi but that he hasn't gone by
that name in many years. After rescuing C-3PO, they go to Obi-Wan's home to discuss
the matter.At Obi-Wan's home, Luke learns that Obi-Wan knew Anakin and that they
were both Jedi Knights of the Old Republic and veterans of the talked about 'Clones
Wars'. Luke had been told by his uncle that his father was a navigator on a spice
freighter; Owen had been trying to protect Luke from the truth about his father, or
perhaps simply trying to keep him safe. (Note: it's not clear that Owen knows the
truth about Luke's father, other than that he was killed in a dangerous line of
duty). Obi-Wan then produces Anakin's lightsaber, an energy sword which was the
chosen weapon of the Jedi Knights; he seems to have kept it safe for some time. He
gives the weapon to Luke, saying that Anakin wanted him to have it when he was old
enough, but Owen would have none of it. Obi-Wan explains that a Jedi receives his
power from the Force, an energy field that is created by all living beings
that \"surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.\" But there is
also a Dark Side to the Force, which draws power from negative emotions and baser
impulses. A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was once a pupil of Obi-Wan, was
seduced by this Dark Side. Vader betrayed and murdered Anakin, then became the Dark
Lord of the Sith, the most feared enforcer of the Emperor. In this capacity, he
proceeded to hunt down his former comrades, and the Jedi Order is now all but
extinct.At this point Obi-Wan has R2 play Princess Leia's complete message. The
princess reminds Obi-Wan of his past service to her father in the Clone Wars, and
conveys his plea to assist in the Rebellion against the Empire. She senses that her
mission to bring Obi-Wan to Alderaan has failed, and tells Obi-Wan that she has
embedded information crucial to the rebellion in R2's memory banks. She asks Obi-
Wan to deliver the droid to her father on Alderaan so that the information
can be retrieved, and repeats her plea that he is now her \"only hope.\"Obi-Wan
cannot hope to undertake such a mission alone due to his advanced age, so he tells
Luke that he should learn the ways of the Force and accompany him to Alderaan. Luke
is adamant that he can't go, and that he must stay on Tatooine and help his uncle.
Obi-Wan counters that the Rebellion needs Luke's help, and that the young woman in
the message needs Luke's help (though she has not mentioned any personal request
for help). They decide to go to the city of Anchorhead so that Obi-Wan can book a
transport to Mos Eisely space port.Meanwhile, the Devastator has docked at the
Death Star, a gargantuan space station resembling a small moon. Vader rendezvous
with Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin (Peter Cushing), the high ranking governor of the
Imperial Outland Regions, and they enter a conference room where they meet the
station's Command Triumvirate leaders in a high level conference: Admiral Antonio
Motti (Richard LeParmentier), High General Cassio Tagge (Don Henderson), and Chief
Officer Mordramin Bast (Leslie Schofield) among other Imperial officers. As the
Triumvirs argue about the best way to exploit their newest \"technological
terror,\" Tarkin tells them that the Emperor has decided to dissolve the Imperial
Senate; giving full control of the Galaxy's star systems to each of the regional
governors under him and use the Death Star to intimidate all of the Empire's star
systems into submission, suggesting that fear of force is preferable to its actual
use. Admiral Motti is extremely confident in the new space station, calling it 'the
ultimate power in the universe.' However, General Tagge is adamant that the Death
Star is not invincible, and that the Rebels will figure this out if they have a
chance to read its schematics. Vader tells them that the ability to destroy a
planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force. Motti callously mocks
Vader's Jedi heritage, noting that the Force has not helped him recover the stolen
schematics or pinpoint the Rebellion's headquarters. Angered, Vader uses the Force
to strangle Motti, until Tarkin orders him to stand down. The commanders decide to
focus on interrogating Leia until she gives up the location of the Rebel
Headquarters. They will then use the Death Star to destroy it, killing two birds
with one stone.As Luke and his companions travel to Anchorhead, they find the Jawa
sandcrawler, completely destroyed with all the Jawas slaughtered; although they
appear to be victims of the Sand People, Obi-Wan recognizes signs which indicate an
attack by Imperial stormtroopers. Luke realizes that the only reason Imperial
troops would kill Jawas is because they are looking for the droids which escaped
the battle, and he races home, over Obi-Wan's objections that he is likely
endangering his own life, hoping to warn Owen and Beru.However, Luke is too late.
The Imperials have apparently come and gone, burned the homestead, and killed his
aunt and uncle. Luke returns to Obi-Wan (who has used the opportunity afforded by
Luke's trip to accord the massacred Jawas some measure of dignity), saying that
with no reason to remain, he wants to go with him to Alderaan. More importantly, he
declares his wish to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like his father
once was.Luke, Obi-Wan and the two droids now travel to Mos Eisley, the spaceport
and capital city of Tatooine. Before entering the city, Obi-Wan warns Luke and the
droids that Mos Eisley is a hotbed of crime and near-lawlessness. Luke assures Obi-
Wan that he knows how to handle himself in a fight. Upon entering the spaceport
they are approached by Imperial troops at a roadblock asking questions about the
two droids they have with them. Obi-Wan appears to induce a trance-like state in
the lead guard, persuading him that these are not the droids they are looking for.
When Luke is puzzled by the ease of their passage, Obi-Wan explains that the Force
can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.At the Mos Eisley Cantina, Luke gets
into a scuffle with two criminals, a deformed human named Dr. Evazan and his alien
companion Ponda Baba, who threaten to kill him. When one of the creatures pulls a
gun on Kenobi, the old Jedi Knight defends himself with his lightsaber - slashing
off the creature's gun arm before it can shoot. Moments later they meet smuggler
Han Solo (Harrison Ford), captain of the Millennium Falcon, and his first mate,
Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), a 7-foot-tall, 200-year-old Wookiee. Upon learning that
Obi-Wan and Luke are trying to avoid Imperial capture, Captain Solo gives his price
as 10,000 credits for the trip. Luke balks at that price, stating that they could
almost buy their own ship for that, but Han is dubious that they could fly it
themselves. Obi-Wan tells Solo that they will pay him 2,000 credits now and 15,000
more once they reach Alderaan. Han agrees.After Luke and Obi-Wan leave, Han tells
Chewbacca that 17,000 credits could really save his neck. As Chewbacca leaves to
make pre-flight preparations, Han hangs back to take care of their bar tab, and is
stopped by Greedo (Maria De Aragon and Paul Blake), a bounty hunter working for
feared crimelord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, aka: Jabba the Hutt. Apparently some time
earlier, Jabba had hired Han to transport a shipment of glitterstim spice (an
illegal narcotic), but Han had to dump the shipment due to an unexpected Imperial
boarding. As Greedo points a blaster pistol at Solo and forces him toward a
secluded section of the bar, Han insists that he has the 8,000 credits he needs to
cover the loss. Greedo suggests that Solo give it to him as a bribe not to turn him
over to Jabba, forcing Han to admit that he doesn't actually have the money yet.
Realizing that Greedo will either turn him over to Jabba or kill him for the bounty
that Jabba has placed on him, Solo quietly removes his heavy pistol under the
table, and when Greedo admits that he would just as soon see him dead as alive,
Solo pre-emptively fires and kills him. On his way out, Han throws the bartender a
few coins, apologizing for \"the mess\" he left.At the docking bay, Han is
confronted by Jabba the Hutt and several other associates. Jabba expresses
frustration over Greedo's death, and reminds Han of the nature of their business;
he cannot \"make any exceptions\" of those who fail or cross him, lest he appear
weak. Han insists that he will soon have enough money to pay off his debt, with
interest, he just needs more time. Jabba reluctantly agrees, but warns Han that
this is his last chance.Luke sells his landspeeder to raise money for their initial
payment to Captain Solo. They head to the docking bay where the Millennium Falcon
is being prepared for flight. Luke is somewhat perturbed to discover that the
Falcon is a 60-year-old, run-down YT-1300 freighter, but Han assures him that he
has made extensive modifications to ensure that she can run rings around any modern
capital ship. Meanwhile, Imperial troops believe they are hot on the trail of the
two droids when a local informant tells them the whereabouts of the fugitives after
recognizing Luke and Obi-Wan.No sooner do Luke, Obi-Wan and the droids board the
Millennium Falcon than the Imperial troops come running into the docking bay,
hoping to arrest Luke and Obi-Wan and capture the droids. The troops fire at Solo
and the Falcon, but the ship manages to escape. Once they clear the planet, they
are immediately pursued by two huge Imperial star destroyers. Solo remarks that his
passengers must be of particular interest to the Empire. They jump to light speed,
escaping the Imperial ships.Princess Leia has been tortured by the Imperials and
undergone a mind probe in an effort to extract the location of the Rebels' home
base. They have found nothing. Tarkin, Vader, and Motti shift tactics, threatening
to destroy the Princess's home planet of Alderaan if she won't reveal the Rebels'
location. She reluctantly tells them that the Rebel base is on the planet
Dantooine. Tarkin then orders his officers to proceed with Alderaan's destruction,
noting that Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration of the Death
Star's power. Alderaan is destroyed by a single blast from the Death Star's
enormously powerful laser blaster while Leia is forced to watch.On board the
Millennium Falcon, Obi-Wan is training Luke in the ways of the Force when he is
greatly disturbed by a tremor in the Force. He feels that millions of people have
died in an instant amidst great suffering, though he doesn't know how. He decides
to meditate on this further as Luke continues an exercise in allowing the Force to
guide his reflexes. Han is not impressed, and explains that he does not believe in
the Force. Luke, however, manages to use his lightsaber to deflect four laser bolts
in a row from a remote droid - all while wearing a helmet which covers his
eyes.Back on the Death Star, Tarkin and Vader receive a report that there once was
indeed a Rebel base on Dantooine but it has long since been abandoned. Outraged at
Leia's successful trickery, Tarkin orders her scheduled for execution.Luke realizes
that he is learning how to sense the Force. One of the Falcon's signals informs
them that they are approaching Alderaan, but upon exiting light speed, they find
the Millennium Falcon is in an asteroid field instead of Alderaan's orbit. Han
confirms that they are in the right location but that the planet is missing; Obi-
Wan quietly states that the planet has been destroyed by the Empire, but Solo
laughingly insists that all the Empire's ships combined wouldn't have enough
firepower to destroy a planet. Moments later they are overflown by an Imperial Twin
Ion Engine (TIE) snubfighter. Obi-Wan concludes it is too small for long range
flight, so there must be an Imperial base or ship nearby. As they chase after the
fighter
to keep it from notifying the Empire of their location, they see the fighter
heading toward a small moon - the Death Star. They are caught in the Death Star's
tractor beam and, helpless to resist, are pulled aboard the station into a docking
bay. Obi-Wan tells them that neither fighting or surrender are viable choices, but
a third option is available to them.Imperial troops board the Falcon, but its crew
are hiding in smuggling compartments below the floor. Vader orders scanning
equipment to be brought aboard to look for life signs. While standing near the
Falcon, he senses a presence he has not felt for some time. Vader leaves the
hangar, pursued by the frustrating sense he is overlooking something of great
importance.When a scanning teams boards the Falcon to set up their equipment, Luke
and Solo manages to overpower them and lures the two guarding stormtroopers just
outside on board as well to kill them both and steal their armor uniforms. The
helmets conceal their identity and allow them to infiltrate a troop command center
outside the docking port. Inside the command center, R2 plugs into the station
computer system and discovers the location of the tractor beam generator. Obi-Wan
sets out to shut down the generator so that the ship can leave. Luke wants to
accompany him, but Obi-Wan orders Luke to stay, noting that Luke's destiny now
splits paths from his own. Perhaps sensing that this is the last time he will see
Luke in this reality, he tells Luke, \"The Force will be with you... always.\"After
Obi-Wan leaves, R2 discovers that the princess is being held prisoner on board the
station. Luke suddenly takes the initiative, sparing no effort to convince Solo and
Chewbacca to assist him in what is surely going to be a very risky rescue. Han,
initially scared for his own neck, eventually agrees, but only after Luke suggests
that a great monetary reward would surely follow her rescue. Luke and Han take
Chewbacca \"captive\" and assume their trooper identities in order to infiltrate
the prison block. In the prison block, the officer in command becomes suspicious of
their arrival since he was not notified about any prisoner transfer. As a result,
Luke and Han's escorted \"prisoner\" escapes and a firefight erupts between the
Imperials and Luke, Han, and Chewbacca. They manage to take out all the Imperials,
but set off an alarm in the process. A squad of troops are sent to investigate. Han
and Luke know they have only moments to find the princess's cell and escape.They
find the princess, but the arriving troops cut off the only escape route. Leia
shoots a hole in a garbage chute and tells everyone to dive in. They escape the
Imperials, only to find themselves trapped in a large garbage compactor. To make
matters worse, the compactor also houses a large, serpent-like creature - the
dianoga - which yanks Luke under the murky, stagnant water in the compactor, almost
drowning him. The creature inexplicably lets Luke go, but just as they catch their
breath, the compactor activates and the walls begin to move in, threatening to
crush Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca. Luke calls 3PO on the communicator and orders
him to have R2 shut down all garbage compactors in the detention level. R2 complies
just in time to save them and then open their compactor's door to let them
out.Meanwhile, Vader informs Tarkin that he senses through the Force that Kenobi is
aboard the station. Tarkin is doubtful, but the discussion is soon interrupted by
an emergency report: Princess Leia has escaped! Vader tells a shocked and
bewildered Tarkin the true explanation for Leia's impossible escape - \"Obi-Wan is
here. The Force is with him.\" Sensing that Obi-Wan wishes a final showdown, Vader
sets off to find him. Unbeknownst to anyone, Kenobi has deactivated the tractor
beam generator.After their escape from the compactor, Luke and Han dispose of their
stormtrooper armor, but keep the troopers' utility belts and weapons. On their way
back to the ship they're cut off by more troops. They are split up, with Han and
Chewbacca fighting together and Luke and Leia running on their own.After being
cornered between a great air shaft and a group of troopers, Luke shoots a blast
door's controls with his blaster, locking the troops on the other side of the door.
Unfortunately, the blast also destroys the controls that extend the bridge across
the air shaft. After a gunfight with stormtroopers on the other side of the shaft,
Luke uses a cable and grappling hook from his freshly confiscated Imperial utility
belt to swing himself and Leia safely across the gorge.Obi-Wan, on his way back to
the Falcon, encounters Vader. They exchange barbed comments. Vader boasts to his
former master that he is so much more experienced and powerful than he was the last
time they met that the tables have now turned, with Vader the more powerful of the
two. Obi-Wan replies that Vader's turn to evil has made him oblivious to the
Force's true power. A ferocious lightsaber duel ensues.Luke, Leia, Han and
Chewbacca meet at the entrance to the docking bay. The lightsaber duel on the other
side of the bay distracts the troops guarding the ship, allowing the four of them,
along with R2 and 3PO, to sneak across to board the Falcon. As Kenobi and Vader
continue to fight, Kenobi informs Vader that if Vader strikes him down, he shall
become even more powerful, beyond what Vader could possibly imagine. Kenobi, seeing
that the four heroes and two droids are safely boarding the Falcon, takes one last
look from his comrade's son to the man who betrayed him, and smilingly withdraws
his saber, allowing Vader to slice through him. His body instantly disappears.
Vader is stunned and confused by this, as he determines that no one is in Kenobi's
now-empty cloak on the floor.Luke, appalled by the sight of his mentor being struck
down by Vader, lets out a shout of horror, alerting all of the troops to their
presence. Another firefight immediately erupts, and they barely make it aboard the
ship with their lives. Luke stays behind, attempting to shoot every Imperial
soldier in the hangar, despite his friends urging him to join them on the ship so
they can escape. Finally, he relents, hearing Obi-Wan's voice telling him to run,
as Vader catches a glimpse of him through a rapidly closing set of blast doors.
When the Falcon flies out of the docking bay, the Imperials are unable to activate
the tractor beam, thanks to Kenobi.Having blasted their way out of the station's
defense range, they are confronted by four Imperial TIE fighters. Luke and Han man
two large gun turrets on the top and bottom of the Falcon and manage to destroy all
four ships. Han starts to boast to Leia about his amazing abilities during her
rescue. She insists that the Empire let them escape in order to track them to the
Rebel base. Han is doubtful of that as she explains to Han that R2 is carrying the
technical readouts to the Death Star. She has high hopes that when the data is
analyzed, a weakness can be found in the station.Back aboard the station, Leia's
fears are confirmed as Vader and Tarkin discuss their plan to track the Falcon to
the hidden Rebel base. The Falcon makes it to the base, located on the fourth moon
of the gas giant Yavin Prime. After R2's data is analyzed, it is determined that
the Death Star does indeed have a weakness that can be exploited; a small (two
meters) exhaust port not protected by any shielding, through which a well-placed
proton torpedo could reach the main reactor and destroy the station. The port is
situated in a narrow trench protected by General ARea Defense Integration Anti-
spacecraft Network (GARDIAN) turbo-lasers. The Rebel commander, General Dodonna
(Alex McCrindle), theorizes that since the GARDIAN array is designed to repel large
scale assaults from capital ships, it could easily be outmaneuvered by smaller and
faster snubfighters. A plan is devised in which a squadron of Y-Wing assault
bombers (Gold Squadron, led by Captain Jon \"Dutch\" Vander (Angus MacInnes)), will
skim the trench. A second squadron (Red Squadron, commanded by Captain Garven Dreis
(Drewe Henley)), comprised of the faster, more maneuverable X-Wing snubfighters,
will attempt to draw enemy fire away from the bombers. Luke will be flying one of
the X-Wings, under the call sign Red Five. Fellow pilot Wedge Antilles (Denis
Lawson) is skeptical about succeeding, but Luke is confident that the task can be
accomplished, noting that he used to shoot at animal targets on Tatooine which were
not much bigger than two meters.The Rebels set out to attack the Death Star just as
the station enters the Yavin system. The Death Star will have to orbit to Yavin's
far side in order to have a shot at the moon on which the base is located. The
approximately 30 Rebel fighters have less than 30 minutes to fly to the station and
destroy it.As Luke heads to the hanger, he is reunited with Biggs Darklighter
(Garrick Hagon), who used to fly with Luke on Tatooine. Biggs congratulates Luke on
finally making it off Tatooine and tells him that the coming battle will be just
like old times.Having apparently collected the balance of his 17,000 credits
payment for delivering the plans to the Rebellion (plus some unspecified reward for
helping Leia escape from the Death Star), Han refuses to join the fight, stating
that his reward will be useless if he is killed, and that he would rather take his
money and go pay off his debts. Luke is disappointed, but boards his fighter and
takes off, right after R2 is loaded into the rear of the fighter to provide
technical assistance. Upon departure, he hears what sounds like Obi-Wan's voice
speaking to him, saying \"The Force will be with you.\" He quickly dismisses
it.Both squadrons approach the Death Star and Wedge Antilles briefly marvels at its
size before Captain Dreis cuts off the idle chatter and orders the squadrons
to attack speed. Red Squadron initiates a strafing run on the station's surface to
divert attention from the bombers, and Luke makes a run that detonates a mammoth
fire within part of the Death Star - a fire so large his own ship suffers minor
burns. When Vader is informed that the GARDIAN turbo-lasers are having trouble
targeting the small rebel ships, he orders fighters led by Black Squadron, his
personal elite TIE fighter squadron, to engage the X-Wings individually. In short
order, six TIE fighters join the battle, soon followed by others, and Red Squadron
scrambles to keep them away from the trenches. Dreis warns a wingman of an
attacking TIE fighter but the X-Wing is immediately shot down before Biggs himself
comes under attack; Luke swings behind the attacker and shoots him down.Vader
notices Dutch and his Y-Wing group breaking away from the primary attack. He
assigns two Black Squadron pilots, Mauler and Backstabber, to escort him as he
boards a TIE Advanced x1 fighter to engage the bombers himself. Before this command
group launches, the sky battle rages on and Luke himself comes under attack; Wedge
rescues him by shooting into the belligerent TIE fighter literally nose to nose,
just as Dutch and Gold Squadron commence the attack into the trenches.Vader and his
two wingmen easily outmaneuver the Y-Wings, methodically dispatching them one by
one; first pilot Tyree is killed, as Dutch begins to panic despite angry urging by
his surviving wingman. Dutch is then killed and the surviving Gold Squadron ship
aborts his run before he himself is destroyed.With Gold Squadron effectively wiped
out, Dreis orders the surviving X-Wing pilots to start a second attack run down the
trench. As they approach the exhaust port, Dreis turns on his targeting computer as
two other ships cover his tail from enemy fire. The escorting ships are destroyed,
but they buy enough time for Dreis to take a shot at the exhaust port. His shot
misses and merely impacts on the surface. Moments later he loses an engine to
Vader's gunnery and his fighter spirals into the surface of the station.Now
nominally in charge of Red Squadron, Luke decides that it is his responsibility to
try to destroy the port. R2 is preoccupied trying to keep the ship running, despite
all of the damage they are sustaining. With Biggs and Wedge flying his wing, they
start down the trench. Moments later, they are pursued by Vader and his wingmen,
who partially disable Wedge's ship. Luke tells Wedge to disengage, seeing that he
can't be of any help in a crippled ship. Vader allows Wedge to withdraw, ordering
his men to continue to pursue the two ships in the trench. Vader fires again,
hitting Biggs' ship and destroying it. Luke is grieved by the loss of his friend,
but presses on.As Luke gets closer to his target, he hears the voice of Obi-Wan,
telling him to \"use the Force\" and rely on his instincts more than the technology
in his ship. Heeding that advice, Luke switches off his targeting computer and
continues flying down the trench. When asked by Mission Control why he switched off
the computer, Luke responds that nothing is wrong.Meanwhile, the Death Star has
completed its run around Yavin and is cleared to fire on the Rebel moon. The
countdown for the firing sequence begins. Bast tells Tarkin that he has analyzed
the attack and concludes there is a real threat to the station. Tarkin scoffs at
evacuation and insists the Empire will prevail. He remains on the station while
some of the Imperial officers and troops evacuate as a precaution.As Luke draws on
the power of the Force to help him hit his target, Vader senses the strength of the
Force in his prey. He takes a shot, which misses the ship but hits R2-D2. Just as
he locks on to Luke's ship to finish him off, Backstabber's ship explodes
unexpectedly. Out of nowhere appears the Millennium Falcon, which has just
destroyed the Imperial fighter - diving vertically towards Vader and the remaining
wingman. This sudden turn of events distracts Mauler; he loses control of his ship
and crashes into Vader's. Mauler's ship ricochets into the trench wall, destroying
it, and sends Vader's ship spinning out of control, up and away from the Death
Star.Han informs Luke that he is all clear to fire. Luke, having drawn upon the
power of the Force, releases his proton torpedoes, which enter the exhaust port
perfectly on target. Luke, the Falcon and a few other fighters race away from the
Death Star just as the Death Star prepares to fire on the moon. Only seconds before
the station fires, it explodes into a huge fireball, sending millions of fragments
into space. Tarkin, Motti, Tagge, and most of the senior Imperial staff are killed.
With that triumph, Kenobi reminds Luke that the Force will be with him,
always.Vader, having been thrown into space during his collision with the wingman,
is now apparently the only one to have escaped the station's destruction. He
eventually manages to regain control of his wildly gyrating fighter, and when he
finally stabilizes, he flies off to meet the Imperial Fleet as the Rebels head home
to their base. When they reach the base, Luke is clearly delighted that Han
returned to help him. Leia is thrilled to see both of her friends alive. And
everyone is ecstatic that the Death Star has been destroyed. Their celebration is
briefly interrupted as R2 is pulled from Luke's ship. He is heavily damaged from
Vader's gunfire and does not respond to C-3PO. The golden robot is terribly
concerned, but Luke and two mechanics assure him that R2 is repairable and will be
fine.Later, an awards ceremony is held in a huge hall. Hundreds of Rebel soldiers,
officers, and pilots are present. A door at the rear of the hall opens to reveal
Luke, Han, and Chewbacca. They walk down the aisle to where Leia awaits, along with
several Rebel leaders and dignitaries.Also present are a freshly polished C-3PO and
a freshly overhauled and looking better-than-new R2-D2. Upon reaching the front of
the great hall, Luke and Han are awarded medals for bravery by a smiling Princess
Leia. The hall erupts into thunderous applause.\n", "\nTo Richard Strauss' tone
poem \"Thus Spake Zarathustra,\" the title sequence shows the sun rising behind the
Earth, which is behind the moon.The Dawn of ManIn a sere African landscape, a group
of ape-like hominids and some tapirs compete for the meagre green plants. A leopard
attacks an ape. While one group of apes is drinking at a waterhole, another group
approaches; the two groups scream at each other and one party is driven off. At
night the apes huddle in fear among the rocks. In the morning a tall, thin,
rectangular black monolith stands among the rocks. The apes are excited but touch
the object and calm down. (Soundtrack: Gy\u00f6rgy Ligeti's \"Requiem.\")An ape
(Daniel Richter) lifts a femur bone from a skeletal pile and realizes it makes a
fine weapon. (Soundtrack: \"Thus Spake Zarathustra\" again.) The ape realizes that
it can destroy other bones with the club. Three turning points in evolution happen
simultaneously: proto-humans learn to kill with weapons, to hunt using weapons and
eat meat, and to walk upright. Club-carrying apes approach the group that drove
them away from their waterhole. The club-carriers bludgeon the other group's alpha
male to death and chase off the rest. The victorious alpha male throws his club and
it spins into the air.TMA-1, or the Monolith on the Moon(No title card introduces
this section of the film)The spinning bone segues to spaceships above Earth. A Pan-
Am space shuttle approaches a large spinning space station, its revolutions
mirroring those of the ape's spinning bone. As a single passenger dozes in his
seat, a flight attendant with Velcro shoes recovers his floating pen. The shuttle
pilots carefully match rotation and steer the shuttle into the station's central
docking bay. (Soundtrack: Johann Strauss' Blue Danube waltz.)Dr. Heywood Floyd
(William Sylvester) meets an old friend in the arrivals lounge. They go through a
voiceprint security check in which Floyd identifies his destination: the moon. The
men chat; Dr. Floyd has a connecting flight in one hour. Floyd calls home from a
video payphone booth and talks to his young daughter (Vivian Kubrick), whose
birthday is the next day. He's sorry he'll miss her party but asks her what sort of
present she wants; she asks for a bush-baby. The cost of the call is $1.70.In the
Hilton lounge, Floyd stops to chat with some Russian scientists on their way back
to Earth. When Floyd mentions he is going to Clavius, the Russians say no one has
had contact with Clavius for 10 days and there are rumors of an epidemic. Floyd
says he cannot discuss the matter and goes on his way.A smaller spaceship
approaches the moon. A flight attendant serves food trays that consist of many
compartments of liquid nourishment labeled with pictures -- carrots, peas, and so
on. Floyd sips his meal, talks briefly with one of the flight officers, then
contemplates the long list of instructions for the zero-G toilet. He watches the
moon approach. The craft lands in a domed landing pad then descends underground to
the main complex, once again to Johann Strauss' stately Viennese waltz.Floyd is
introduced to a group of people in a conference room. He congratulates them on
their discovery. He tries to explain the need for secrecy and the epidemic cover
story. Floyd has come to get more facts and write a report for \"the Council.\"A
shuttle skims over the lunar landscape. Inside, Floyd and two scientists enjoy
sandwiches and review the findings. A magnetic object was found and excavated.
They're not sure what it is, only that it was deliberately buried four million
years ago.At the dig site, a tall, thin, black rectangular monolith -- identical to
the one the apes encountered -- is examined by six people in spacesuits.
(Soundtrack: Gy\u00f6rgy Ligeti's
\"Requiem\" again.) As they pose for a photo the object emits a loud, high-pitched
noise and the astronauts grab their heads in pain.Jupiter Mission 18 Months LaterA
long narrow spacecraft moves through space, its parabolic antennae pointing
backwards. In the crew compartment, Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) jogs around the
artificial gravity wheel. Along the narrow corridor formed by the edge of the
wheel, he runs past work stations, communications equipment, and five large,
coffin-like life support chambers with glass covers. Two are unoccupied and three
hold white, sarcophagus-shaped pods containing hibernating members of the
crew.Frank is joined by Commander Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea). The two men have a
meal and watch a BBC news video from earlier that day. The news report is about
them and their ship, the Discovery, 80 million miles from Earth. The report
mentions the three astronauts who are in hibernation to save air and food; they
will be needed at the destination for a survey. The sixth member of the crew is the
HAL9000 computer, which can talk and mimic the human brain. The newscaster
interviews Dave and Frank together and then speaks to Hal (Douglas Rain), who
states he is foolproof and incapable of error.Frank catches some UV rays on a
tanning bed and watches a video birthday greeting from his parents. Hal also wishes
Frank a happy birthday. Frank and Hal play chess -- Hal wins. Dave sketches and
shows his artwork to Hal. The computer expresses some concern about the mission and
secrecy. Hal then announces there is a problem with the AE-35 unit and it will fail
with 100% certainty within 72 hours. Dave and Frank discuss the problem with
Mission Control; they need to \"go EVA\" (outside the ship -- extra-vehicular
activity) to replace the unit. Dave goes out in a spherical EVA pod to the
parabolic dish antennae in the center of the long ship. He leaves the pod and swaps
out the black box from a service panel.Later the two astronauts scan the removed
AE-35 unit but can't find any defects. Hal suggests putting it back in service to
let it fail. Mission Control believes Hal has made an error because their HAL9000
unit, a twin to the one aboard Discovery, finds no flaw in the AE-35. Hal says that
similar problems in the past have always proved not to be his fault (\"It can only
be attributable to human error\") and denies any chance of computer error. Dave and
Frank go to a pod to have a private chat under the ruse of looking at a
communications problem.Dave turns off all the pod's communications switches and the
two men share their worries about Hal. If the AE-35 unit doesn't fail as predicted,
the astronauts decide to disable Hal's higher functions without disturbing the
automatic ship control functions, which Dave says will be tricky to do. Dave also
wonders how Hal will react, because no 9000 unit has ever been disconnected before.
Hal can see the men through the pod's window and reads their lips.This time Frank
goes out in the EVA pod. As Frank approaches the dish assembly the pod sneaks up
behind him. Suddenly Frank is spinning off into space fumbling for his air hose,
which is disconnected, and the pod is drifting in the other direction. As Frank
tumbles away, his voluntary movements slow and stop. Dave goes to the pod bay as
Hal says he doesn't know what happened. Dave uses a pod to recover Frank's body.
While he's away, a computer malfunction alert goes off and the life signs of the
three hibernating astronauts flat-line. A display reads \"Life functions
terminated.\" Hal refuses to open the pod bay doors for Dave, explaining that he
knows Dave is planning to disconnect him because he was able to read Frank and
Dave's lips when they discussed it. He says the mission is too important to allow
humans to jeopardize it. Dave says he'll return to the ship through the airlock;
Hal replies that Dave will find that difficult without his helmet -- which, indeed,
Dave forgot in his hurry to go after Frank. Hal ends the conversation.Dave releases
Frank's body and maneuvers the pod to the emergency airlock hatch. He uses the
pod's arms to open the door, then lines up the pod's hatch with the opening. Dave
holds his breath and jumps over to the ship, where he's tossed around by escaping
air before he's able to close the hatch. Now in a helmet, Dave goes to the computer
room and climbs into an access compartment. Hal pleads for himself as Dave pulls
crystals from the memory center. Hal's voice gets lower and slower as he
sings \"Daisy Bell\" (Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do, I'm half crazy all for
the love of you), and fades out as he is completely shut down. (Hal's performance
is a nod to a speech synthesis project at Bell Laboratories in which an IBM 704 was
programmed to sing the same song.) Suddenly a video screen comes on and plays a
recording of Dr. Floyd explaining the secret purpose of the mission: \"This is a
prerecorded briefing made prior to your departure and which for security reasons of
the highest importance has been known on board during the mission only by your
HAL9000 computer. Now that you are in Jupiter's space and the entire crew is
revived it can be told to you. Eighteen months ago, the first evidence of
intelligent life off the Earth was discovered. It was buried 40 feet below the
lunar surface near the crater Tycho. Except for a single very powerful radio
emission aimed at Jupiter, the four-million-year-old black monolith has remained
completely inert. Its origin and purpose are still a total mystery.\"Jupiter and
Beyond the InfiniteClose to Jupiter, another black monolith floats among the many
moons. We hear Gy\u00f6rgy Ligeti's \"Requiem\" once again. Bowman leaves the
Discovery in another EVA pod. As the monolith and moons align, a psychedelic light
show begins and the pod enters a wormhole to the music of Ligeti's \"Atmosph\
u00e8res.\" Dave sees a series of oddly-colored landscapes as if he was flying over
them. The pod ends up somewhere in time and space in a bedroom with a luminous
white floor and furniture in the style of Louis XVI. Dave gets out, now a trembling
grey-haired man. Next door in a similarly styled bathroom, Dave looks at himself in
a mirror. Back in the bedroom someone is sitting at a table eating. It's Dave
again, now much older and dressed in a dark velour robe. Old Dave has a drink of
wine; the glass falls to the floor and breaks. Another man lies sleeping on the
bed. It is a still older Dave, who stirs and raises an arm. The black monolith
appears in the center of the room. Dave is transformed into a fetus in a sac.
Floating in space, the large open-eyed fetus -- the Star Child -- gazes at the
nearby Earth. Soundtrack: \"Thus Spake Zarathustra.\"\n", "\nIn a forested area
overlooking a sprawling suburban neighborhood, an alien spacecraft has landed. The
creatures aboard have come to observe and collect specimens. One of them wanders
some distance away, when strange lights and sounds cause him to hide. The group of
men are led by one who has a jingling set of keys attached to a belt loop. Scared,
the creature takes of running, with the men in pursuit. The creature attempts to
get back to his spaceship, but it leaves without him. Eventually, it makes its way
down an embankment into the suburban housing development below.In one house, a
young boy named Elliot is sent out to pick up a pizza being delivered for his
brother Michael and his friends. Elliot is about to return inside when a strange
noise in the backyard catches his ears. Elliot traces the noise to a gardening shed
in the backyard. Elliot throws a baseball into the shed, and is scared when
something in the shed throws it back out. Elliot rushes inside to tell everyone,
and they all come out to investigate, but find nothing in the shed, except for some
strange prints, which Michael assumes must belong to some type of coyote from the
nearby woods.Later that evening, Elliot hears some noise outside in the backyard,
and goes outside. He encounters a strange creature that scares the both of them.
The creature quickly leaves the backyard and through a nearby gate that leads into
the woods.The next day, Elliot goes out on his bike to the forest, taking a bag of
Reese Pieces with him, hoping to find the creature he saw. He soon sees the man
with the keys on his belt loop, and quickly leaves the forested area.That evening,
Elliot gets into an argument with his family, when it seems that no one will
believe him. Elliot claims that his Dad would believe him. As their Mother has just
been through a messy divorce, this causes her feelings to be hurt, with Michael
angrily chastising his brother for being cruel.Later that evening, Elliot stays
outside, where this time, the creature comes right up to him, and returns some of
the Reeses Pieces that were in the forest. Elliot then lures the creature into the
house and up to his room. When he finally sees the creature in full, it is a
strange brown-colored being that is like nothing he's ever seen before. The
creature has a gentle nature and seems as curious about Elliott as the boy is about
it.Elliot fakes having a fever the next day to stay home from school. During the
day, he acclimates himself to the creature, and tells him his name, as well as
shows him different things around the house. Later that evening, Elliot shows the
creature to Michael and their younger sister Gertie, who both promise not to tell
anyone about him.They soon surmise that this thing must in some way be an alien,
and get him to try and explain where he's from. Instead, the creature displays its
powers, which cause several spheres to levitate and rotate like the planets in the
solar system. Gertie also gives the alien a potted plant with dying flowers, which
the alien revives, bringing them into full bloom.Elliot has the creature hide in
his closet the next day, as everyone heads off to school.
While everyone is away, the alien gets out and into the fridge, raiding the food
and drinking several beers, before watching TV. Unknown to Elliot, the alien has
formed a mental bond with him, and these feelings carry on over to his science
class, where Elliot finds himself setting loose a number of frogs for a dissection
project and causing chaos. Elliott also feels a surge of emotion that prompts him
to kiss a blonde girl in his class.After Elliot returns home that evening, he finds
that Gertie has helped teach the alien to talk, and Elliot then decides to name the
alien E.T. E.T. then attempts to explain that he intends to build a machine to
communicate with his home planet, so they can come to get him.Later that evening,
Elliot and Michael go through the garage looking for items to use. Michael notes
that E.T. doesn't look so good, to which Elliot explains that \"they are fine.\"
Unknown to the two of them, a van monitoring outside has picked up their
conversation.On Halloween, Elliot and Michael dress E.T. up in a sheet, passing him
off to their mother as Gertie dressed up as a ghost. Gertie has already left with
Elliot's bicycle, and gone to a specific point above the suburban area. Once the
three meet her there, Gertie trades places with E.T., as both Elliot and E.T. head
off to assemble and activate the communications machine he has assembled. As they
travel through the forest, with E.T. perched in a basket on the handlebars,
Elliott's bike suddenly starts racing down a steep hill toward a cliff. Elliott
panics, thinking they'll die, but the bike flies safely over the precipice, the
little alien having used an unknown ability to make the bike take off and land
safely. E.T assembles and activates his crude machine and it begins to send a
signal out into space. Elliott is exhausted and falls asleep, with the alien
watching over him.Elliot wakes up the next day in the woods, with no sign of E.T.
He returns home where his Mother has been afraid something had happened to him.
Elliot pleads with Michael to find E.T. Michael first goes to the forest, but
eventually finds E.T., pale pink in color and barely breathing near a storm
drain.Getting him home, Michael and the others show E.T. to their mother. E.T. has
taken on a pasty white look, and is shallowly breathing. Elliot explains that both
he and E.T. are sick and perhaps dying. Their mother panics and demands they leave
E.T. and get out of the house immediately, but they are soon set upon by persons in
space suits, and then government men who quickly seal off the house and set up a
medical unit to examine and help Elliot and E.T.It is here that the man with the
keys on his belt loop (who we will call \"Keys\") returns to the picture. Keys
explains to Elliot that they have found the machine in the forest, and wants to
know how to save E.T. Keys tells Elliott that he's had the same kind of childlike
wonder about alien beings and that finding E.T. is a lifelong dream come true.
Elliot weakly explains that E.T. needs to go home, but as they talk, E.T. soon
detaches himself from Elliot, and finally succumbs to the illness, leaving Elliott
to recover. Michael realizes this when the plants E.T. had revived begin to wilt
and die.The medical team attempts to revive E.T., but he eventually dies. Before
they take E.T. away, Keys allows Elliot some time alone with E.T.. Elliot then
explains that E.T. must be dead, because he can't feel anything anymore. Elliot
then tells E.T. that he loves him, and turns away. As he does so, he sees the
flowers that were dying before are returning to life. Elliot goes back to the
container where E.T. is, and finds him alive, and explains that his planet's people
will be returning to get him. Elliot manages to hide the fact that E.T. is alive,
and then hatches a plan with Michael to get him to the forest.Michael has his
friends take Elliot's bike and theirs to a playground at the top of a nearby hill.
Meanwhile, Michael and Elliot steal the van with E.T.'s container, and make their
way to the playground. Meeting Michael's friends there, they then take E.T. and
head for the forest. The government agents then give chase. As they race away, they
see a roadblock ahead, armed agents waiting around the cars. Just as it seems
they'll all be captured, E.T. levitates all the kids' bikes and they fly off toward
the woods.As they land, and night settles, E.T.'s ship lands. Elliot's mother and
Gertie show up shortly afterward, and Gertie and Michael say their goodbyes, before
it's Elliot's turn. E.T. asks Elliot to come with him, but Elliot says he has to
stay. E.T. gives his new friend a hug, and then lights his finger and points it at
Elliot's head, telling Elliot that he'll \"be right here.\"Gertie gives E.T. the
plant she initially gave him, and he goes into the enormous ship, which soon lifts
off leaving a rainbow behind, as everyone stares off into the sky.\n", "\nPromising
FBI Academy student Clarice Starling is pulled from her training at the FBI
Training Facility at Quantico, Virginia by Jack Crawford of the FBI's Behavioral
Science Unit, who tasks her with presenting a VICAP questionnaire to the notorious
Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant forensic psychiatrist and incarcerated
cannibalistic serial murderer. After learning the assignment relates to the pursuit
of vicious serial killer Buffalo Bill, Starling travels to the Baltimore State
Hospital for the Criminally Insane and is led by Dr. Frederick Chilton to Hannibal
Lecter, a sophisticated, cultured man restrained behind thick glass panels and
windowless stone walls. Although initially pleasant and courteous, Lecter grows
impatient with Starling's attempts at \"dissecting\" him and viciously rebuffs her.
As Starling departs, another patient flings fresh semen onto her face, enraging
Lecter who calls Starling back and offers a riddle containing information about a
former patient. The solved riddle leads to a rent-a-storage lot where the severed
head of Benjamin Raspail is found. Starling returns to Lecter, who links Raspail to
Buffalo Bill and who offers to help profile Buffalo Bill if he is transferred to a
facility far from the venomous, careerist Dr. Chilton.Hours and miles away, Buffalo
Bill abducts Catherine Martin, the daughter of United States Senator Ruth Martin.
Starling is pulled from Quantico and accompanies Crawford to West Virginia, where
the body of Bill's most recently-discovered victim resides. In the plane taking
them to the town, Crawford asks Starling what she sees in the file on Buffalo Bill.
She says that Bill is a male, definitely white and that he's getting better at his
work since he's \"developed a taste for it\". At the coroner's office, Starling
helps perform the autopsy and extracts the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawkmoth
from the victim's throat. When the victim is turned over for further examination,
they find that two large, diamond-shaped strips of flesh have been flayed from her
body. Having already spoken to Lecter about how Bill flays his victims, this detail
is recorded by Starling.At Quantico, as news of Catherine Martin's abduction sweeps
the country, Crawford authorizes Starling to offer Hannibal Lecter a fake deal
promising a prison transfer if he provides information that helps profile Buffalo
Bill and rescue Catherine Martin. Instead, Lecter begins a game of \"quid pro quo\"
with Starling, offering comprehensive clues and insights about Buffalo Bill in
exchange for events from Starling's traumatic childhood. Unaware to both Starling
and Lecter, Dr. Frederick Chilton tapes the conversation and after revealing
Starling's deal as a sham, offers to transfer Lecter in exchange for a deal of his
own making, one that will make Chilton out as a hero for identifying and tracking
down Buffalo Bill. Lecter agrees and following a flight to Tennessee reveals
Buffalo Bill's real name, physical description and past address to Senator Martin
and her entourage of FBI agents and Justice Department officials. He also insults
Martin openly, asking about her breastfeeding of her daughter. Martin orders Lecter
back to Baltimore when he spills Buffalo Bill's identity information.As the manhunt
begins, Starling travels to Lecter's special cell in a local Tennessee courthouse,
where she confronts him about the false information he gave the Senator. Lecter
refuses Starling's pleas and demands she finish her story surrounding her worst
childhood memory. After recounting her arrival at a relative's farm, the horror of
discovering their lamb slaughterhouse and her fruitless attempts at rescuing the
lambs -- they screamed as they were being slaughtered, a memory that has haunted
Starling her whole life -- Lecter rebuffs her, leaving her with her case file
before she is escorted out of the building by security guards. As she reaches for
the file, he touches one of her fingers.Later that evening, Lecter escapes from his
cell, his two minders distracted by having to move his sketches and tricking them
into approaching him too closely. The local police storm the floor, discovering one
guard barely alive and the other disemboweled and strung up on the bars of Lecter's
cage like an angel. Paramedics transport the survivor to an ambulance and speed off
while a SWAT team searches the building for Lecter. As the team discover a body on
top of the elevator car, the survivor in the ambulance peels off his own face,
revealing Lecter in disguise, who kills the paramedics and escapes to the
airport.After being notified of Lecter's escape, Starling pores over her case file,
analyzing Lecter's annotations before realizing that the first victim, Frederica
Bimmel, knew Bill in real life before he killed her. Starling travels to Bimmel's
hometown and discovers that Bimmel was a tailor and has dresses with templates
identical to the patches of skin removed from Buffalo Bill's victims. Realizing
that Buffalo Bill is a tailor fashioning a \"woman suit\" of real skin, she
telephones Crawford, who is already on the way to make an arrest, having cross-
referenced Lecter's notes with Johns Hopkins Hospital and finding a man named Jame
Gumb. Crawford instructs Starling to continue interviewing Bimmel's friends while
he leads a SWAT team to Gumb's business address in Calumet City, Illinois.
Starling's interviews lead to the house of \"Jack Gordon,\" whom Starling soon
realizes is actually Gumb, and draws her weapon just as Gumb disappears into his
basement. Starling pursues him in the basement, which consists of several rooms,
discovering a screaming Catherine Martin in the dry well. The lights in the
basement suddenly go out, leaving her in complete darkness. Gumb stalks Starling in
the dark with night vision goggles and prepares to shoot her when Starling, hearing
the clicks of his drawing back the hammer on his revolver, swivels around and
shoots Gumb dead.Days later at the FBI Academy graduation party, Starling receives
a phone call from Hannibal Lecter, now in the Bahamas. As Lecter assures Starling
he has no plans to pursue her, he excuses himself from the phone call, remarking
that he's \"having an old friend for dinner\" before hanging up and following Dr
Chilton through the streets of the village.\n", "\nSet in 1937 Los Angeles, a
private investigator named Jake \"J.J.\" Gittes (Nicholson) is hired to spy on
Hollis Mulwray, the chief engineer for the city's water department. The woman
hiring Gittes claims to be Evelyn Mulwray, Hollis' wife. For unknown reasons,
Mulwray spends considerable time looking at dry riverbeds and water outlets.
Mulwray is photographed while having a heated argument with an elderly man on the
street. Gittes photographs Mulwray from a roof top when he kisses a young blonde,
and the photo is published in the newspaper the next day, causing a scandal. After
the story is published, Gittes is visited by the real Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray, who
threatens to sue him for defamation.Gittes uncovers information that despite a
serious drought and an expensive proposal to build a new dam, the Water and Power
Department is dumping fresh water into the ocean at night. The dam project is
opposed by Mulwray himself, who cites a potential disaster because of weak
geological formations in the rock where the dam is to be constructed -- Mulwray had
previously supported the building of another dam that had failed due to similar
geological conditions. When he addresses a public hearing on the project, which
Gittes attends, Mulwray is ridiculed by several farmers, one of whom leads a flock
of sheep into the room, who want the reservoir and water the dam will provide.
Gittes also meets with Mulwray's successor, Yelburton, who tells Jake that the
Dept. of Water has been diverting some of the water supply to farmers in the San
Fernando Valley because of the drought. He says specifically that there's always
some run-off into various smaller waterways and drain channels.Jake goes to
Mulwray's mansion to speak to him but is only able to talk to Evelyn Mulwray. While
he waits for her, Mulwray's Japanese gardener cleans a small decorative pond,
pulling out a clump of grass and tossing it aside. He casually says \"bad for the
glass\" in broken English, a comment that Jake dismisses. Jake notices a shiny
object in the pool and tries to retrieve it, stopping when Evelyn appears. She
tells him that Mulwray usually takes afternoon walks at a reservoir and that he
should look for him there.Gittes goes to find Mulwray at the reservoir -- bluffing
his way past the checkpoint with one of Yelburton's business cards -- but instead
finds the police and firemen hauling Mulwray's body out of the reservoir. They
believe Mulwray died from drowning. Gittes used to work with the lead investigator,
Lt. Lou Escobar. When the police interview Evelyn Mulwray about her husband's
death, they assume she hired Gittes, and Gittes corroborates the lie for her. She
thanks him and hires him to investigate what happened to her husband. Later, at the
county coroner's department, Gittes learns from the coroner that Mulwray's lungs
were filled with salt water, although he had been found in a freshwater reservoir.
Gittes also learns that a local drunk was found dead from drowning in a dry
riverbed that Mulwray had been inspecting.Later that night Gittes climbs the secure
fence around the reservoir and, after he is shot at by an unseen shooter, is nearly
drowned when the culvert he is hiding in has a sudden rush of fast-moving water.
Two water department security thugs detain him; a large man named Claude Mulvihill
and a short thug (a cameo by Roman Polanski), who slashes Jake's nose for being
a \"very nosy fella.\" They threaten to cut off the rest of his nose if he comes
snooping around again. Gittes, forced to wear a large and ridiculous bandage,
receives a call from Ida Sessions, the woman who originally impersonated Evelyn
Mulwray. She admits she was hired to trick Gittes, but refuses to come to his
office. She tells him to read that day's obituaries, saying he'll find \"one of
those people\". At the water department, Gittes sees photographs of the elderly man
Mulwray quarreled with a few days before his death; the man is Noah Cross (John
Huston), Evelyn Mulwray's father. He used to own the water utility in partnership
with Mulwray, but Cross ended his association with the department when the partners
sold it to the city, as Mulwray had long desired. He speaks briefly with Yelburton
again and tells him that he suspects Mulwray was murdered. Yelburton is incredulous
and Jake tells him he doesn't want to see Yelburton accused or charged with the
crime but wants to nail the people behind it.Cross invites Jake to lunch at his
home and hires Jake to find the blond girl Mulwray had been seeing, saying that she
might know what happened to him and that he'd like to comfort her if he can. Cross
hints that Jake might be sleeping with Evelyn in addition to gouging her in his
investigation of Mulwray's murder but relents when he sees Jake's resolve.Gittes
goes to the Hall of Records and looks in a large plat book of the valley. He learns
that a considerable portion of the valley has been bought up in the past few months
by a few new land owners who have purchased large tracts of land. When the
attendant in the room refuses to let Jake borrow the book, Jake surreptitiously
tears the column out of the book and pockets it.Acting on another tip from
Sessions, Gittes begins to unravel an intricate scandal involving LA's fresh water
supply. Gittes first travels to an orange farm to talk with the owner about how his
land is being irrigated. As he drives around he is shot at by the farmer and a few
of his farmhands and crashes his car into a tree. Jake is dragged from his car,
beaten and searched. The farmer explains that the Department of Water & Power has
been harassing him by sending agents to run him off his land and poison the water
in his wells, suspecting that Jake might be one of them. While he tries to show the
farmer documentation of his investigation, the farmhands claim that Mulwray is
responsible for harassment of late and attack Jake. When Jake tries to fight back,
he's knocked unconscious. He wakes up to find that the farmer and his wife have
called Evelyn, who has come to the farm.While they drive back to LA, Jake explains
the scandal to her: her father and his partners have been forcing farmers in the
rural areas surrounding the city off their land so they can buy it cheap, after
which a newly-built (and controversial) dam and water system would start
redirecting much of L.A.'s water supply to that land, dramatically increasing its
real estate potential and value.Since Cross wants no record of such transactions,
he has partnered with a retirement home community, using the identities of the
eldest residents within (one of whom is mentioned in the obituary column): they
would legally, but unknowingly, own the land. Jake, having matched one of the
obituary names to one of the names in the list he stole from the plat book, has
Evelyn drive him to the retirement home where they pose as a married couple trying
to find a place for Jake's father to live. The host tells them they can tour the
facility. They come across an activities board with the names of the people from
the plat book. Jake talks to a group of women working on a quilt. One of the pieces
of fabric they've sewn into the quilt is a small flag bearing the emblem of the
Albacore Club, the yacht club owned by Noah Cross. Jake is confronted by the host
who has figured out Jake's ruse. The man takes him out to the lobby where Mulvihill
is waiting. Jake tells Evelyn to bring the car around and then severely beats
Mulvihill and barely escapes when the short thug who slashed his nose shows up.Back
at Evelyn's house, Gittes and Evelyn share a romantic interlude. As they lie on the
bed afterward, Evelyn asks Jake about his past as a cop. He tells her he worked in
Chinatown and was responsible for a woman \"being hurt\", possibly killed because
of his actions. The phone rings and Evelyn has a cryptic conversation with someone,
then informs Jake that she has to leave for a little while. She gravely asks him to
trust her and wait for her to return.Gittes takes Mulwray's car and follows Evelyn
to a middle-class house and sees Mulwray's girlfriend crying. He confronts Evelyn
as she leaves, who claims the young woman is her sister, who was distraught because
she had just learned about Mulwray's death in the newspaper. Later that night, Jake
receives a call at home from a detective named Loach, Escobar's partner, telling
him to meet him at a specific address. When he gets there he finds that Ida
Sessions is murdered and Escobar and Loach are waiting for him. When Jake asks how
they knew to call him Escobar shows
Jake his phone number written near the phone. Escobar also points out that he
knows the coroner's report proves that salt water was found in Mulwray's lungs even
though the body was found in a freshwater reservoir, a fact that Jake had
discovered earlier but withheld. He demands that Jake turn over any incriminating
photos that may reveal Mulwray's murderer's identity. Escobar's chief suspect is
Evelyn herself.Under pressure from Escobar threatening to revoke his PI's license,
Jake returns to Evelyn's mansion looking for her. Evelyn's Japanese gardener is
working in the backyard and drops a minor comment about \"salt water being bad for
the *grass*\". The man's accent had masked over the actual word he was using to
describe the problem when he'd said \"bad for the glass.\" Jake has the man fish
out the shiny object he'd noticed in the pool before: it's a pair of
eyeglasses.Gittes confronts Evelyn at the small house where she'd been keeping the
young girl. Evelyn reveals that the blond girl, Katherine, is both her sister and
her daughter, born from an incestuous relationship she had with her father years
before. Gittes asks Evelyn if her father raped her and she shakes her head no. It
remains unclear whether the act was consensual or not. It is apparent also that
Evelyn resents her father for taking advantage of her in a relationship considered
unnatural. Gittes then chooses to help Evelyn escape. Evelyn also states that the
eyeglasses Jake found in her back yard pond could not have been her husband's
because they are bifocals. Gittes arranges for the two women to flee to Mexico on a
fishing boat owned by another of Jake's clients and instructs Evelyn to meet him at
her butler's address in Chinatown.Evelyn leaves, and Cross arrives with Mulvihill
under the pretext that Gittes has found the girl; however, Gittes confronts Cross
with the accusation of murder and the glasses. Cross had Mulwray drowned in the
saltwater pond at his own house and lost his own glasses in the pond during the
act. Jake asks Cross about the water scandal; Cross blithely tells him that he
plans to create a community in the desert with an abundant fresh water supply. The
real estate revenues from the sales of the land will generate many millions of
dollars for him. Cross considers the plan a way of buying the future, essentially
insuring that his family will reap the benefits from such a deal for many years.
When Jake pointedly asks Cross about the relationship with his daughter, Cross
confidently says \"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time
and the right place, they're capable of anything\". Cross then orders Mulvihill to
seize the glasses, the only physical evidence Jake has and forces Gittes to take
him to Evelyn's butler's address in Chinatown. When Gittes arrives at Evelyn's
hiding place in Chinatown, the police are already there and arrest Gittes on
conspiracy and withholding evidence. Jake vainly tries to explain Cross' plan to
Escobar, who won't listen.Evelyn appears with her daughter, trying to drive away in
her car. When Cross approaches Katherine, demanding custody of her, Evelyn pushes
him back, shoots him in the arm with a small pistol and starts her car. As Evelyn
is driving away, the police open fire and Evelyn is shot and killed. Cross clutches
the hysterical Katherine, taking her out of the car, as a devastated Gittes is
comforted by his associates, who urge him to walk away: \"Forget it, Jake. It's
Chinatown.\"The plot is based in part on real events that formed the California
Water Wars, in which William Mulholland acted on behalf of Los Angeles interests to
secure water rights in the Owens Valley.\n", "\nIn the middle of World War II, two
prisoners of war are burying a corpse in the graveyard of a Japanese POW camp in
southern Burma. One, American Navy Commander Shears (William Holden), is revealed
to routinely bribe guards to ensure he is put on the sick list, which allows him to
avoid hard labour.A large contingent of British prisoners under the leadership of
Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) arrives, defiantly whistling the Colonel Bogey
March as they march in. Because they were ordered by their superiors to surrender,
Nicholson states that they should be obedient and cooperative prisoners. The
Japanese camp commander, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), addresses them, informing
them of his rules. He insists that all prisoners, regardless of rank, will work on
the construction of a bridge over the Kwai River as part of a railroad that will
link all Burma.The next morning, when Saito orders everyone, including officers, to
work, Nicholson commands his officers to stand fast. He points out that the Geneva
Conventions state that captured officers are exempt from manual labour. Saito is
infuriated and backhands Nicholson in the face, but the latter refuses to back
down, even after Saito has a machine gun set up threatening to shoot all the
officers. Saito is dissuaded from shooting by Major Clipton (James Donald), a
British medical officer prisoner, citing an inquiry and scandal should Saito carry
through with the murder of officers. Instead, the Japanese commander leaves
Nicholson and his officers standing in the intense heat. As the day wears on, one
of them collapses from heat stroke, but Nicholson and the rest are still standing
defiantly at attention when the prisoners return from the day's work. After Colonel
Nicholson is beaten in Saito's quarters, the British officers are sent into a
punishment cage and Nicholson into his own box for solitary confinement.When
Clipton requests to be allowed to check the officers, Saito agrees on the condition
that Clipton persuade Nicholson to change his mind. Nicholson, however, refuses to
budge, saying \"if we give in now there'll be no end to it.\" In the meantime,
construction of the railroad bridge falls far behind schedule, due in part to
many \"accidents\" purposely arranged by the British prisoners.Saito has a
deadline; if he should fail to meet it, it would bring him great shame and oblige
him to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). Saito reluctantly releases Nicholson,
telling him that he has proclaimed an \"amnesty\" to commemorate the anniversary of
Japan's great victory in the Russo-Japanese War, using it as an excuse to exempt
the officers from work. Upon their release, Nicholson and his officers proudly walk
through a jubilant reception. Saito for his part breaks down in tears in
private.Having recovered from his ordeal physically, but not mentally broken,
Nicholson sets off on an inspection of the bridge and is shocked to find
disorganization, shirking and outright sabotage on the construction site. He
decides that he will build a better bridge than the Japanese soldiers. He orders
Captain Reeves (Peter Williams) and Major Hughes (John Boxer) to come up with
designs for a proper bridge, despite its military value to the Japanese. He wants
to demonstrate to his captors what he considers superior British ingenuity and to
also keep his men busy, which he feels would be better for morale than sitting
around doing nothing in prison.Meanwhile, three men, one of them the American
Shears, attempt to escape. Two are killed; Shears is shot, falls into the river and
is swept downstream. After many days in the jungle, he stumbles into a Siamese
village, whose residents help him recover and get back to safety. He's given food,
water and an outrigger boat to make his way down the river. Shears runs out of
water during the trip and is forced to drink the water from the river, which makes
him ill. However, he makes it to the mouth of the river and is picked up by British
forces and shipped to a British hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka (at the time,
Ceylon). While recuperating, he dallies with a lovely nurse (Ann Sears).Major
Warden (Jack Hawkins), a member of the British Special Forces, asks to speak with
him. He informs Shears that he is leading a small group of commandos on a mission
to destroy the Kwai bridge. He asks Shears to volunteer, since he knows the area.
Shears refuses, finally admitting that he is not Commander Shears at all, but a
Navy enlisted man. Shears recounts that he and a Navy Commander survived the
sinking of their ship, but the Commander was subsequently killed by a Japanese
patrol. \"Shears\" switched dog tags with the dead officer, hoping to get
preferential treatment in captivity. It didn't work, but then he had no choice but
to continue the impersonation. Warden tells him that the military already knew
about it. To avoid bad publicity, the U.S. Navy loans him to the British. Warden
offers him a deal: in exchange for his services, he will be given the \"simulated
rank\" of major on the mission and avoid being charged with impersonating an
officer, an offense punishable by death. Thus, Shears reluctantly \"volunteers\"
with the understanding that should he survive, he'll get to keep his officer
status. They are to be joined by Lieutenant Joyce (Geoffrey Horne), a young eager
officer with no combat experience who insists that he won't fold under pressure
should he have to kill someone on the mission, and a fourth officer.Back in the
camp, Nicholson explains to the Japanese through engineering principles that
they've selected a poor site for the bridge. Finally convinced, the original bridge
is abandoned and construction of a whole new bridge is commenced 400 yards
downriver. Clipton watches in bewilderment as Nicholson maniacally drives his men
to complete the project by the deadline. Ironically, he even volunteers his junior
officers to assist with the physical labor, something he had refused to consider
earlier in the standoff with Saito - provided that the Japanese officers are
willing to pitch in as well.Meanwhile, the commandos parachute in. The fourth
officer dies due to a bad landing. The rest make their way to the river, assisted
by
native Burmese women porters and their village chief, Yai (M.R.B. Chakrabandhu).
The commandos come upon a Japanese patrol whom they try to kill without firing
shots, but Joyce freezes when confronted by one in the jungle. Warden jumps in
front of him and kills the Japanese soldier, but gets shot in the foot as a
consequence. This slows him down, but Shears refuses to leave him behind and the
trio make their way to the bridge with the Burmese helpers.As the prison camp
celebrates the completion of the bridge on time with a party for all, Shears and
Joyce wire explosives to it under cover of darkness. The next day, a Japanese train
full of soldiers and important officials is scheduled to be the first to use the
bridge; Warden wants to blow it up just as the train passes over, accomplishing two
missions at once.As dawn approaches, the trio notice with horror that the river has
receded and the wires and explosives that were hidden the night before are now
exposed. Nicholson proudly walks up and down his bridge making a final inspection,
and notices the wires. The train can be heard approaching. Nicholson and Saito
frantically hurry down to the riverbank, pulling up and following the wire towards
Joyce who is waiting by the detonator. When they get too close, Joyce breaks cover
and stabs Saito to death. Nicholson yells for help and then tries to stop Joyce
(who cannot bring himself to kill Nicholson) from getting to the detonator. A
firefight erupts as Warden fires upon the approaching Japanese soldiers; Yai is
killed in the gunfight. When Joyce is hit, Shears swims across the river to finish
the job, but he too is shot just before he reaches Nicholson.Recognizing Shears,
Nicholson suddenly comes to his senses and exclaims, \"What have I done?\" Warden
desperately turns the mortar fire in their direction, killing Shears in the blast
and mortally wounding Nicholson. The colonel stumbles over to the detonator plunger
and falls on it with his dying breath, just in time to blow up the bridge and send
the train hurtling into the river.Warden, feeling guilty for killing Shears and
Nicholson in the face of shocked stares from the Burmese women, pleads, \"I had to
do it! They might have been taken alive! It was the only thing to do!\" Meanwhile,
Major Clipton, the British medical officer who has witnessed all the carnage unfold
from his vantage point on the hill, shakes his head incredulously, \"Madness! ...
Madness!\".\n", "\nDon Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a popular silent film star with
humble roots as a singer, dancer and stunt man. Don barely tolerates his vapid,
shallow leading lady, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), who has convinced herself that the
fake romance their studio concocted and publicized is real.One day, to escape from
overenthusiastic fans, Don jumps into a passing car driven by Kathy Selden (Debbie
Reynolds). She drops him off, but not before claiming to be a stage actress and
sneering at his undignified accomplishments as a cinema actor. Later, at a party,
the head of Don's studio, R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell), shows a short
demonstration of a talking picture, but his guests are unimpressed. Don runs into
Kathy again at the party. To his amusement and her embarrassment, he discovers that
Kathy is only a chorus girl, part of the entertainment. Furious, she throws a pie
at him, only to hit Lina right in the face. Later, Don makes up with Kathy and they
begin falling in love.After the first talking picture, The Jazz Singer, proves to
be a smash hit, R.F. decides he has no choice but to convert the new Lockwood and
Lamont film, The Dueling Cavalier, into a talkie. The production is beset with
difficulties (most, if not all, taken from real life), by far the worst being
Lina's comically grating voice. A test screening is a disaster. In one scene, for
instance, Don repeats \"I love you\" to Lina over and over, to the audience's
derisive laughter (a reference to a scene by John Gilbert in his first
talkie[2]).Don's best friend, Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor), comes up with the idea
to overdub Lina's voice with Kathy's and they persuade R.F. to turn The Dueling
Cavalier into a musical called The Dancing Cavalier. When Lina finds out that Kathy
is dubbing her voice, she is furious and does everything possible to sabotage the
romance between Don and Kathy. She is even more irate when she discovers that Kathy
will receive screen credit and a big publicity campaign, so she blackmails R.F.
into withholding credit, and, later, demands that Kathy (a contract player)
continue to do so in the future.The premiere of The Dueling Cavalier is a
tremendous success. When the audience clamors for Lina to sing live, Don, Cosmo and
R.F. improvise and get Lina to lip-synch while Kathy sings into a second microphone
while hidden behind the curtain. Unbeknownst to Lina, as she starts \"singing\",
Don, Cosmo and R.F. gleefully open the curtain behind her, revealing the deception
Lina flees in embarrassment. When Kathy tries to run away as well, Don has her
stopped and introduces the audience to \"the real star of the film\".Dan and Kathy
start singing a love song. Final cue of they both kissing in front of a huge
billboard advertising the film \"Singin' in the Rain\" with Don Lockwood and Kathy
Selden.\n", "\nThis movie is about a divine intervention by a guardian angel, to
help a man in distress. It opens with a fanciful depiction of angels in heaven
discussing a problem that has come up. They are receiving prayers from mortals,
like \"Please, God, something's the matter with Daddy\". George Bailey (James
Stewart) is about to kill himself, and they need to send an angel down to Earth to
stop him. They select Clarence (Henry Travers), a somewhat down-on-his-luck angel
who hasn't earned his wings yet, but who they decide is right for the job. The
senior angels promise that Clarence will get his wings if he succeeds. The bulk of
the movie is a replaying of George's life, by the senior angels and for Clarence's
benefit, so that Clarence will understand George.George Bailey was a young man,
living in a small update New York town, but with big dreams. From an early age, he
wanted to get away from Bedford Falls, travel the world, and accomplish big
things--planning cities and building huge airfields, skyscrapers, and bridges. The
first incident that Clarence sees is that, at age 12, George saved his younger
brother Harry's (Todd Karns) life in an accident while playing on an ice-covered
pond. George lost the hearing in his left ear due to being in the icy water.
Shortly after that, while working part-time in Mr. Gower's (H.B. Warner) drug
store, he prevents a mistake in a prescription from fatally poisoning someone.
Angry at the neglected delivery, Gower, drunk in the sorrow at the recent death of
his son, beats George until the boy explains the situation. Upon testing the
medicine and realizing the boy had averted a horrible mistake, Gower is profoundly
remorseful and grateful to George, who vows to keep the error to himself. The two
little girls in George's life at that point are Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) and Violet
Bick (Gloria Grahame), who seem to be competing for his notice.George's father
(Samuel S. Hinds), with a small staff including Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell), run
a small Building and Loan company that finances mortgages for the people of Bedford
Falls. They face a difficult battle with the evil, avaricious, and wealthy Henry
Potter (Lionel Barrymore). The wheelchair-bound Mr. Potter is on the board of
directors of the Building and Loan, holds much of its assets, along with almost
everything else in town, charges people exorbitant rent on his own apartments, and
would like to put Bailey's company out of business.George wants to begin his
adventures after going to college. While he has enormous respect for his father and
what he is doing to help people, he definitely does not want to follow in his
father's footsteps at the Building and Loan. But one thing after another thwarts
his plans.George went to work at the Building and Loan for a few years after
graduating from high school, with the expectation that Harry would take this over
when he graduated, and George would go on a European tour and then go to college.
But his father has a fatal stroke, and George has to take over the B&L for a few
months, giving up the European tour. Then Potter attempts to liquidate the B&L, the
only thing that can stop it is for George himself to take it over. So he gives up
college, and gives his college money to Harry. The plan at that point was that,
after Harry graduates, he will take over the B&L, and George will go to college.
But Harry returns from college having married Ruth Dakin, and Ruth's father has
offered him a job in upstate New York. Although Harry vows to turn it down for
George's sake, George cannot bear to cost his brother the opportunity, so he has no
choice but to stay with the B&L.George marries Mary Hatch after a difficult
introduction--he mistakenly thinks Mary is in love with his lifelong rival Sam
Wainwright (Frank Albertson). They are about to go on their honeymoon with $2000
they have saved up. But a banking crisis occurs. Potter has taken over the bank
that guarantees the B&L's loans, and has called in the loans. The customers are in
a panic and are tempted to go over to Potter's bank. The only way George can save
the situation is to provide for the customers' needs out of his honeymoon money.
Their friends Ernie (Frank Faylen) the cabbie and Bert (Ward Bond) the policeman
arrange for them to have a cut-rate honeymoon at their house. They serenade the
newlyweds from outside in the rain.The B&L continues to provide affordable housing
for the people of Bedford Falls, creating a whole subdivision \"Bailey Park\". This
includes the home of Mr. Martini (William Edmunds), the local tavern keeper, and
his family. Sam Wainwright and
his wife come by to offer that George and Mary take a vacation with them in
Florida, but they can't get away even for that.Potter is disturbed that George's
B&L is taking customers away from his own apartment business, and attempts to bribe
George into working for him instead, offering a huge salary and extensive travel.
Tempting as that is, George is repelled by everything Potter stands for, and
declines.So George stays with his wife and four children in Bedford Falls, never
getting to leave. World War II comes and goes, and Harry serves (George is exempt
because of his ear) and heroically saves an entire transport ship by shooting down
two attacking airplanes. He is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor at a
ceremony in Washington.On the morning before Christmas, the day that Bedford Falls
will have a huge celebration for Harry, a bank examiner arrives to conduct a
routine audit. The same day, Uncle Billy goes to the bank for a routine deposit of
$8,000 in cash. Potter happens by, and Billy proudly points out the newspaper with
the news about Harry. He accidentally folds the newspaper with the cash envelope in
it, and Potter takes it back. Billy then realizes that he has lost the money.
Potter, now in another room, sees this, and sneaks out.Billy arrives at the B&L,
where George, generous as always, is giving Violet some of his own money for her to
travel to New York City and start a new life. When Billy tells George about the
loss, there is an uproar. George and Billy search everywhere that the money could
possibly have been left. George shouts at Billy that this means bankruptcy, scandal
and prison, and that he, George, isn't the one who will go to prison.George goes
home in an incredibly foul mood, where his family are preparing for a Christmas
party that evening. George is extremely bitter and nasty, and verbally abuses
everyone, saying at one point \"Why do we have to have all these kids?\" The whole
family are alarmed at his behavior. He learns that their youngest daughter \"Zuzu\"
(Karolyn Grimes) is in bed with a cold. She apparently caught it walking home from
school, having not buttoned her coat because she didn't want to harm a rose that
she had been given. George goes up to see her. While handling the rose, some petals
fall off. George puts them in his watch pocket.Zuzu's teacher, Mrs. Welch, phones
to ask about Zuzu. George gives her a brutal tongue-lashing over her carelessness.
When Mr. Welch gets on the line, George abuses and threatens him. Then George
starts kicking and throwing things. The children are in tears. George refuses to
talk about what's wrong or what is bothering him and storms out of the house. Mary
phones Uncle Billy to find out what's wrong. The children ask whether they should
pray for their father, and Mary says yes.While word spreads of the calamity, George
goes to see Mr. Potter to beg for a loan of $8,000. Mr. Potter is completely
unsympathetic and sarcastic. He suggests that George has been cooking the books,
playing the market with company money, or perhaps paying off a woman, pointing out
that he is known to have been giving money to Violet Bick. Potter asks about
collateral. All George has is a $15,000 life insurance policy, but with only $500
equity. Mr. Potter says \"You're worth more dead than alive.\"George goes to Mr.
Martini's tavern and starts drinking, and then praying for divine guidance. His
friends, including the kind and gentle bartender Nick (Sheldon Leonard), notice and
try to help. Mr. Martini mentions George's name out loud, and Mr. Welch (Stanley
Andrews), the husband of the teacher that George insulted for no reason over the
telephone earlier, sitting nearby, hears it. He punches George, causing a bloody
lip. George leaves, though his friends urge him to stay and rest. George drives his
car toward a bridge. Because of the snowy weather, he accidentally drives it into a
tree. The homeowner comes out and upbraids him for harming the tree. George just
keeps walking, out onto the bridge, to kill himself.Just as George is about to jump
into the frigid river and drown, Clarence comes down to Earth; his moment has come.
He knows George well enough to know that if he, Clarence, jumps into the river,
George will rescue him. He does so, and George jumps in and rescues him as
predicted. They go to the toll-taker's shack to dry their clothes. Clarence
explains all--that he is an angel, \"Clarence Odbody, Angel second class\", sent to
save George from committing suicide. To George's astonishment, Clarence knows the
whole story of his life. George is disbelieving and cynical about the whole thing,
mentioning that it is not surprising that he got only a second-class angel, one
without wings. He resists Clarence's entreaties, believing that he must have
consumed tainted liquor. He finally says \"I wish I'd never been born.\" Clarence
formulates his plan, and, after a little prayerful communication with the senior
angels, says \"You've got your wish. You've never been born.\"Things change
immediately. In the alternate universe it isn't snowing. George notices that he can
hear through his left ear, and his lip isn't bleeding. Clarence points out that
many things will be different now.As George and Clarence walk back toward town,
they pass the tree that George had hit with his car. The car is gone, and there is
no gash in the tree. The homeowner stops by, and George asks about the car and the
damage to the tree. The homeowner knows nothing about this. He says \"You had me
worried. One of the oldest trees in Pottersville.\" George is confused, and tries
to correct the man, but the man angrily tells George that the town is called
Pottersville. George and Clarence walk off.They continue into town. Martini's
tavern has become a sleazy dive, and Mr. Martini is nowhere to be found. It is now
owned by the bartender Nick, but who is now very nasty and insulting. George and
Clarence sit down at the bar. Clarence's polite speech and demeanor immediately
displease Nick. George knows Nick, but Nick does not know George. When a cash
register rings, Clarence points out that, whenever that happens, it means an angel
has earned his wings. An elderly Mr. Gower, now a homeless derelict, comes in, and
Nick tells him to leave. George speaks to Mr. Gower, but Mr. Gower doesn't
recognize him. When George asks about the guy, Nick says that Mr. Gower spent 20
years in prison for poisoning some child in a manslaughter charge, and that if this
stranger knows Mr. Gower, he must be a convict also. Nick has George and Clarence
thrown out of the tavern, and then derisively makes the cash register ring, saying
that he is giving out angel wings.In front of the tavern, George is seriously
disturbed by what is going on when he sees the sign for 'Nick's' in place of
Martini's name. Clarence explains once again that George doesn't exist from that
wish he made that he was never born. George brings up the issue that if he was
never born and is alive and interacting with people... then who is he? Clarence
replies that George is a person with no identity in this alternate reality. George
checks his pockets for his wallet, other identification, or his life insurance
policy. Clarence points out that they do not exist. Finally, George checks his
watch pocket. Clarence says \"They're not there either.\"\n\"What?\" George asks.\
n\"Zuzu's petals. You've been given a great gift, George. The chance to see what
the world would be like without you.\"Continuing to be in denial of what is going
on, George continues to walk downtown without Clarence. Bedford Falls has become
Pottersville, and it is a dreary, brutish, and perverse place, full of bars and
sleazy nightclubs. The movie theater, the Emporium department store, and the B&L,
are long gone. Police are everywhere, dealing with disorders. George sees the
police arrest Violet and take her away from a brothel which is the former B&L. He
hails Ernie's taxi cab and asks to be taken home. Ernie has no idea who he is or
where he lives. He gives Ernie the address, and Ernie tells him that that is an
abandoned house, but he will take him there anyway. When George asks Ernie about
his life, Ernie tells George that his wife left him three years ago, and that he
now lives alone in a place called Potter's Field. He visually signals for Bert the
policeman to follow them. As George searches the house calling out for his family,
Clarence appears. Bert attempts to arrest them, but Clarence intervenes and then
vanishes, allowing George to escape.George then goes to his mother's house, which
has become a broken-down boarding house called \"Ma Bailey's Boarding House\". She
opens the front door, but she does not recognize him and tells him to leave. George
mentions Uncle Billy, and she says that he has been in an insane asylum since the
B&L went out of business many years ago.Still in denial of what is happening,
George then goes with Clarence to Martini's house in Bailey Park. There is no such
place--it is a wasteland with a cemetery. Clarence points out the grave of Harry
Bailey. Clarence says \"Your brother Harry Bailey broke through the ice and was
drowned at the age of nine.\"\"That's a lie! Harry Bailey went to war. He got the
Congressional Medal of Honor. He saved the lives of every man on that transport.\"
says George.\"Every man on that transport died. Harry wasn't there to save them,
because you weren't there to save Harry. You see, George, you really had a
wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?\"George
then asks to see Mary. Clarence says that she never married, and works at the
library. George goes there. She doesn't recognize him. He tries to embrace her; she
screams and runs into a nightclub. He runs after her, but is confronted by a crowd
made of many he knows, but they of course have no recognition of this wild man they
have never
met before in this reality. Finally aware of what is happening, George calls out
for Clarence as the police intervene. George slugs Bert and runs away. Bert shoots
at him but misses, then pursues in his squad car.George runs to the bridge where he
had been about to jump, and calls out \"Help me Clarence, please! Please! I want to
live again!\" He piteously calls to God bring him back.With that plea, the
alternate universe suddenly ends. It's snowing once again. Bert arrives in his
police car, and calls out to George that he's been looking for him, since seeing
his car plowed into the tree. He also points out that George's lip is bleeding.
George is delighted to hear this, and to know that Bert knows him. He checks his
watch pocket; the rose petals are there!George is ecstatic. He runs into town,
which is once again Bedford Falls, and has all its familiar institutions, which he
greets with unbounded joy. He even wishes Mr. Potter a Merry Christmas, who
sarcastically wishes him a Happy New Year in jail considering the authorities are
waiting for him at home. George arrives home, knowing that he will likely be
arrested for bank fraud. The officials are there, ready to arrest him. However,
George stuns them by his delight at his arrest warrant, especially since his
children are there also, and all have a joyful reunion.Mary comes home, along with
many people led by Uncle Billy. Contrary to Mr. Potter's claim that they would hate
him for losing their money, it turned out that when word got around that George was
in financial trouble, the townspeople that he had been so generous to had
contributed whatever they could provide. Dozens of people arrive, with a whole
laundry basket full of money, jewelry, and other valuables. A telegram arrives from
Sam Wainwright in Europe, saying that he had been contacted by Mr. Gower about the
situation, and would advance up to $25,000 to cover the debt on the B&L. At this,
the Bank Examiner, both moved by this show of public support and knowing that the
financial deficit will be compensated, moves up to contribute and the attending
police officer tears up the arrest warrant with a smile. Suddenly, Harry arrives
from New York, having immediately left his award banquet upon hearing that his
brother needed his support, and toasts \"To my big brother George. The richest man
in town.\"In the last scene, as the whole crowd sings \"Hark the Herald Angels
Sing\" and then \"Auld Lang Syn\" George finds a copy of the 'The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer' with a brief handwritten note on the inner pages in his inside coat pocket.
It reads, \"Dear George. Remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for
the wings! Love, Clarence.\" When Mary asks who Clarence is, George, well aware she
would never believe the whole story, just says it is a Christmas present from a
very dear friend. At that moment, a bell on the Christmas tree rings. Zuzu
says \"Look, daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets his
wings.\" George says \"That's right. That's right.\" And, glancing
heavenward, \"Attaboy, Clarence.\"\n", "\nAt the Burpelson U.S. Air Force Base
somewhere in the continental USA, the eccentric Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper
(Sterling Hayden) orders the 34 nuclear-armed B-52's of the 843rd Bomb Wing past
their failsafe points where they normally hold awaiting possible orders to proceed
and into Soviet airspace. He also tells the personnel on the base that the US and
the USSR have entered into a \"shooting war\".In the \"War Room\" at The Pentagon,
Air Force General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) briefs President Merkin Muffley
(Peter Sellers) about the attack that General Ripper ordered. Although a nuclear
attack should require Presidential authority to be initiated, Ripper used \"Plan
R\", an emergency war plan enabling a senior officer to launch a retaliation strike
against the Soviets if everyone in the normal chain of command, including the
President, has been killed during a sneak attack. Plan R was intended to discourage
the Soviets from launching a decapitation strike against the President in
Washington to disrupt U.S. command and control and stop an American nuclear
counterattack. Turgidson tries to convince Muffley to take advantage of the
situation to eliminate the Soviets as a threat by launching a full-scale attack.
Turgidson believes that the United States is in a superior strategic position, and
a first strike against the Soviet Union would destroy 90% of their missiles before
they could retaliate, resulting in a victory for the U.S. with \"acceptable\"
American casualties of \"no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops... depending on
the breaks\". He is rebuked when Muffley instead admits the Soviet Ambassador
(Peter Bull) to the War Room, contacts Soviet Premier Dmitri Kissoff on the
hotline, and insists on giving the Soviets all the information necessary to shoot
down the American planes before they can carry out their strikes.Group Captain
Lionel Mandrake (also played by Peter Sellers), an RAF exchange officer serving as
General Ripper's executive officer, realizes that there has been no attack on the
U.S. when he turns on a radio and hears pop music instead of Civil Defense alerts.
When Mandrake reveals this to Ripper, and Ripper refuses to recall the wing,
Mandrake announces that he will issue the recall on his own authority, but only
Ripper knows the three-letter code necessary for recalling the bombers and locks
the two of them in his office. Mandrake tries to convince Ripper to give up the
three letter code. The psychotic Ripper refuses and rambles on that the Communists
have a plan to \"sap and impurify\" the \"precious bodily fluids\" of the American
people with fluoridated water, a theory that occurred to him during sexual
intercourse, and which he believed to be the cause of his post-coital fatigue.Over
the phone, an unseen and drunken Kissoff reveals to the Soviet Ambassador that
their country has installed an active \"Doomsday Device\" which will automatically
destroy all human and animal life on Earth if a nuclear attack were to hit the
Soviet Union. The Doomsday Device is operated by a network of computers and has
been conceived as the ultimate deterrent: as a safeguard, it cannot be deactivated,
or it will set itself off, because its hardware and programs have been configured
in such a way that an attempt at its deactivation would be recognized as sabotage.
The doomsday weapon is described as based on \"cobalt-thorium-G\" [this was
inspired by the real idea of a cobalt bomb, conceived by nuclear pioneer Leo
Szilard, founder of Council for a Livable World]. According to the Soviet
ambassador, life on Earth's surface will be extinct in ten months and was made as a
low cost alternative to the bomb-race.The President now calls upon Dr. Strangelove
(a.k.a. Merkw\u00fcrdigeliebe), a former Nazi and strategy expert (Sellers in his
third role). The wheelchair-bound Strangelove is a type of \"mad scientist\", whose
eccentricities include a severe case of alien hand syndrome, so that his right
hand, clad in an ominous black leather glove, occasionally attempts to strangle
Strangelove or make the Nazi salute (no one in the room acts if this is unsusual).
Strangelove also slips in addressing the President, as either \"Mein President\" or
even \"Mein F\u00fchrer\".Strangelove explains the principles behind the Doomsday
Device, which he says is \"simple to understand... credible and convincing\". He
also points out that a Doomsday Device kept secret has no value as a deterrent; the
Soviet Ambassador admits that his government had installed it a few days before
they were going to announce it publicly to the world, because Kissoff \"loves
surprises\".U.S. Army paratroopers sent by the President arrive at Burpelson to
arrest General Ripper. Because Ripper has warned his men that the enemy might
attack disguised as American soldiers, the base's security forces, and Ripper
himself with a .50 caliber M1919 Browning machine gun kept in his golf bag, open
fire on them. After a fierce firefight the Army forces win the battle and gain
access to the base, and Ripper, fearing torture to extract the recall code commits
suicide. Colonel \"Bat\" Guano (Keenan Wynn) shoots his way into Ripper's office,
but suspects that Mandrake, whose uniform he does not recognize, is leading a
mutiny of \"deviated preverts\" and proceeds to arrest him. Mandrake convinces
Guano that he has to call the President to tell him the recall code, which he has
deduced from Ripper's desk blotter doodles to be based on the initials for the
phrases peace on earth and purity of essence. Since office phone connections had
been knocked out by the fighting at the base, Mandrake is forced to use a pay phone
to try to contact the President. Not having the correct change to place a long-
distance call to the Pentagon, Mandrake persuades Guano to shoot a Coca-Cola
vending machine to get the change out of it, and eventually is able to forward the
likely code combinations to Strategic Air Command.The correct recall code, \"OPE\",
is issued to the planes, and those that have not been shot down return to base
except for one. Its radio and fuel tanks were damaged by a Soviet anti-aircraft
missile, with the result that the plane is neither able to receive the recall code
nor to reach its primary or secondary target where, at the urging of the U.S.
President, the Soviets have concentrated all available defenses. On the crew's own
initiative, and losing fuel, the plane proceeds to fly at low level under radar to
a closer target of opportunity.As they start their bomb run, the damaged B-52's
bomb bay doors will not open, and aircraft commander Major T. J. \"King\" Kong
(Slim Pickens) goes down to the bomb bay to open them himself. He succeeds just as
the plane reaches its target, and one of the nuclear bombs falls, with Kong
still sitting on it. He straddles the bomb and rides it to the ground like a rodeo
cowboy, whooping and hollering and waving his cowboy hat. The bomb explodes,
triggering the Doomsday Machine.Back in the War Room, Dr. Strangelove recommends to
the President that a select group of about 200,000 or more people be relocated into
a deep mine shaft, where the nuclear fallout cannot reach them, so that the U.S.
can be repopulated afterwards. Because of space limitations, Strangelove suggests a
gender ratio of \"ten females to each male\", with the women selected for their
sexual characteristics, and the men selected on the basis of their physical
strength, intellectual capabilities, and importance in business and government.
General Turgidson rants that the Soviets will likely create an even better bunker
than the U.S., and argues that America \"must not allow a mine shaft gap\".
Meanwhile, the Soviet Ambassador retreats to a corner of the War Room and starts
taking pictures with a spy camera disguised as a pocket watch.A visibly excited Dr.
Strangelove bolts out of his wheelchair, shouting \"Mein F\u00fchrer, I can
walk!\". Abruptly, the film ends with a barrage of nuclear explosions, accompanied
by Vera Lynn's famous World War II song \"We'll Meet Again\".\n", "\nJoe, a
saxophonist and Jerry, a bassist, are two working-class musicians, playing in a
Chicago speakeasy band in February, 1929. Though they have steady work, they still
owe money to many of their friends and several of the girls in the chorus line.
However, Joe, the optimist, isn't worried since the gig they have seems to be
stable. Joe does flirt briefly with the idea of taking all the money he and Jerry
have and betting it on a greyhound race but the plan is soon discarded.Fortune
changes a few minutes later when a police officer, Mulligan, working on a hot tip
from a mob informant, Toothpick Charlie, leads a raid on the place for illegal
liquor sales. The speakeasy itself belongs to Chicago's most notorious mob boss,
Spats Colombo. Joe and Jerry barely escape the raid. Jobless, they try to figure
out a plan to earn money; Joe suggests they hock their overcoats and bet the money
on a long shot at the dog racing track. Joe's plan fails miserably and the guys are
more broke than ever during a bitterly cold Chicago winter.Joe and Jerry go to the
offices of their talent agents, whom have no work for them. They go to the last
one, Sig Poliakoff's, where Joe talks to the receptionist, Nellie, whom he has been
dating. She tells him that Poliakoff has openings for a sax player and bass player
in a band that will be traveling to Florida. In Sig's office, Sig is on the phone
frantically trying to find replacement musicians for Sweet Sue, the band's leader,
and her assistant, Beinstock. Sue's band is all-female and she has a strict \"NO
MEN\" policy; Sue's frustrated because one of her players got pregnant and another
ran off to get engaged. Jerry and Joe, not knowing Sue is looking for women, burst
into Sig's office and ask for the gig. Poliakoff informs them that they're the
wrong gender, but he does have a gig in Urbana, Illinois, for one night. Joe and
Jerry accept and con Nellie into loaning them her car to drive to the gig.Joe and
Jerry go to the garage where Nellie's car awaits. The garage happens to belong to
Toothpick Charlie and a group of shady-looking men are playing cards in the corner.
While the mechanic fills the car with gas, a large limo rolls into the garage and
several gang members, armed with shotguns and Thompson machine guns get out. Joe
and Jerry hide behind Nellie's car while everyone else is lined up against the
wall. The gangsters who burst into the place work for Spats Colombo, who steps from
the limo. He has come to Charlie's garage seeking revenge for the bust at his
speakeasy. He gives the command and his men slaughter everyone against the wall (a
reference to the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre perpetrated by Al Capone).
The gas nozzle in Nellie's car suddenly pops out when the tank is full and clatters
on the ground, drawing the attention of Spats' men, who see Joe and Jerry. Spats
orders them to be killed too, while at the same time, Charlie, still alive, tries
to reach a nearby phone. Spats grabs a Thompson and brutally finishes Charlie off,
temporarily forgetting Joe and Jerry, who escape. One of Spats' goons shoots at
them but only succeeds in hitting Jerry's bass. Joe and Jerry, now on the run, call
Poliakoff's office, planning to fool their agent into thinking they're the women
musicians needed for Sweet Sue's band.Joe and Jerry, dressed as women, arrive at
the train station. They use false names; Joe becomes Josephine and Jerry becomes
Daphne (he'd originally agreed to be Geraldine, but tells Joe he never liked the
name). They meet Sue and Beinstock and fool them effectively enough to be hired.
They also spot the band's singer and ukulele player, the attractive and blond Sugar
Kowalczyk, who goes by \"Sugar Kane.\" Both men are instantly attracted to her,
especially Joe.During a band practice on the train Sugar drops a flask of bourbon;
alcohol is strictly forbidden by Sue. Beinstock reminds Sugar that he warned her
not to hide liquor, however, Jerry tells them it's his flask and covers for Sugar.
Later that night, Sugar sneaks into Jerry's berth to thank Daphne for covering for
her. Jerry suggests that they both share a drink of whiskey, which Jerry steals
from Joe's suitcase in the berth below his. The other women in the band quickly
discover Jerry and Sugar and assume they're having a party. Joe and Sugar go to the
ladies' room to prepare some ice and during their conversation, Sugar tells Joe
that she's had bad luck with romance and men and that she has a soft-spot for
saxophone players. Joe is floored but keeps his composure and they share a drink
together. In his berth, Jerry finds that the other girls are becoming a bit too
physical and, afraid they'll find out his true identity, pulls the emergency cord,
stopping the train. All the girls spill out of his berth and the party grinds to
halt, Sweet Sue flustered by the whole ordeal.The train arrives in Florida and the
band is taken to their hotel. Joe leaves Jerry to carry all their luggage and as
Jerry climbs the steps to the entrance, he loses a shoe. A rich man, Osgood
Fielding III places it back on her feet and proceeds with improper advances toward
Jerry's alter ego. Jerry slaps Osgood after he gropes him in the elevator. In their
room, Jerry tells Joe they should leave the band and go further into hiding. Joe
tells him they should stay in disguise since Colombo's gang would never look for
them in an all-woman band. Joe is also attracted to Sugar, though he doesn't sight
that as a reason for staying, and has his own plans to woo her. Sugar shows up and
invites the two to the beach; Jerry joins her but Joe declines. After they leave,
Joe takes out a suitcase he'd stolen from Beinstock (along with the man's glasses)
and dresses up in a fashionable sailor's outfit. Joe goes down to the beach and
sits in a chair, reading the Wall Street Journal. He attracts the attention of
Sugar and presents himself as an heir to the Shell Oil Corporation. Sugar begins to
flirt with him, however, he remains aloof, telling her he's waiting for a signal
from his yacht offshore. Jerry happens by and almost instantly recognizes Joe. He
convinces Sugar to go back to his and Joe's hotel room to expose him as an
impostor. Joe beats them back there and they find him in the tub, covered with
bubbles and posing as Josephine. Sugar tells Josephine that she's probably met a
millionaire and she leaves. When she does, Jerry launches into a tirade about
faking an identity on the beach and that Joe is trying to take advantage of Sugar.
A furious Joe responds by rising slowly out of the tub, still in his Shell Oil Jr.
outfit, and plops his wet wig down on Jerry's head. Jerry receives a ship-to-shore
call from Osgood: Osgood wants to invite Daphne to have dinner with him aboard his
yacht. Joe takes charge of the invitation and tells Jerry to persuade Osgood to
take him to a dinner and dancing club instead of the yacht. Joe will go to the
yacht as Shell Oil Jr. with Sugar.That night, while Joe & Jerry play with the band
at dinner, Jerry receives a giant bouquet of flowers from Osgood. When the gig
ends, Joe rushes back to his room and assumes the disguise, while Jerry and Osgood
go to the restaurant. Joe arrives at the dock just before Sugar and takes her to
the yacht on Osgood's boat. While the two have drinks and eat, Joe again acts aloof
towards Sugar, trying to persuade her to kiss him. At first he acts as though he
has a psychological block that prevents him from enjoying their romantic evening,
but Sugar eventually turns him on. On the shore, Osgood and Jerry dance the tango
at a nearby roadhouse all night, Jerry seemingly enjoying the date.Sugar and Joe
return to the mainland near dawn, apparently in love. He bids farewell to Sugar and
climbs up to his room where Jerry is lying on one of the beds. Jerry tells Joe he's
engaged; when Joe asks \"who's the lucky girl?\" Jerry says he is himself because
Osgood proposed to Daphne. The two have a brief debate where Jerry reveals his plan
to marry Osgood and tell him the truth right after the ceremony. He plans to extort
a large settlement out of Osgood and live on the alimony checks he believes he'll
receive. Joe convinces Jerry that he's committing fraud and will be caught. Jerry
realizes his plan will fail and shows Joe the pricey diamond bracelet Osgood gave
to him as an engagement gift, saying he'll return it. Joe suggests they keep it,
perhaps thinking they can hock it for cash.In the hotel lobby, Spats Colombo and
his goons arrive for a convention of \"Friends of Italian Opera\", cover for a
meeting of organized crime gangsters. The organization
and meeting are being led by Little Bonaparte, the most powerful gangster there.
Bonaparte already has a rivalry with Spats, which has been exacerbated by Spats'
murder of Toothpick Charlie, who was a good friend of Bonaparte. Jerry and Joe, in
the lobby, spot Spats and his crew and immediately get into the elevator to return
to their room. Just as the doors are about to close, Spats and his men enter the
elevator; Jerry and Joe's disguises work on them and they make it to their
room.They pack hurriedly and Joe wants to take care of one last detail: Sugar. He
calls her and once again uses his Shell Oil Jr. voice, telling her that he has to
leave suddenly. His parents have told him to marry a woman who is the daughter of
another millionaire with a large empire. As a final gesture, Joe leaves a bouquet
of flowers outside Sugar's room with Osgood's diamond bracelet (the gift to Jerry)
hidden inside. Sugar is devastated but accepts the gift.Jerry and Joe climb out the
window to avoid running into the gangsters again. However, their path takes them
right past Spats' balcony and they're spotted. Spats grabs the bass Jerry left
behind and sees the bullet holes from when the two escaped in Chicago. Spats and
his men chase them through the hotel but lose them. At one point, Jerry and Joe
disguise themselves as a bellhop and a man in a wheelchair and duck into a banquet
room, the same room all the gangsters will be eating dinner in. While they hide
under the huge table, a pair of shoes with spats on them slides under the table.
The two sit still and wait.Little Bonaparte begins the meeting with a lengthy
criticism of Spats himself, admonishing him for the assassination on Valentine's
Day and for sloppily letting Jerry and Joe escape. Bonaparte seems to forgive
Spats' indiscretion and lightens the mood by announcing they will celebrate Spats'
birthday. Spats points out that his birthday isn't for a few months but Bonaparte
insists they still have a large cake for Spats. After the cake is brought in and
lights dimmed, the entire room sings to Spats and a gangster pops up out of the
cake and shoots Spats and his crew with a Thompson. Jerry and Joe burst out from
under the table and run out of the room. Just as Little Bonaparte orders his men to
catch them, Chicago cop Mulligan walks in and demands to know what happened.
Bonaparte avoids the question and Mulligan promises to start a federal
investigation.Jerry and Joe retreat to their room, fixing their disguises once
again. They overhear a gangster saying that they've got all the standard escape
routes covered. Joe realizes that they can escape on Osgood's yacht and tells Jerry
to call the millionaire and accept his marriage proposal. Before they leave, Joe
wanders into the dining and dancing hall of the hotel and sees Sugar singing \"I'm
Through With Love\". Moved, Joe approaches her and kisses her. Sugar realizes who
Josephine really is and leaves the band, following Joe and Jerry to Osgood's
speedboat. They all board it and head for the yacht. Joe tries to tells Sugar that
he's a cad who took advantage of her and that he's a sax player who will only treat
her badly. Sugar doesn't care and kisses him anyway. Jerry begins to tell Osgood
that he's equally as treacherous, that he smokes, has been living with another man
(Joe), and can't have children, however Osgood doesn't care. Jerry, frustrated,
finally pulls off his wig and tells Osgood he's actually a man. Osgood
replies, \"Well, nobody's perfect.\"\n", "\nJudah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) is a
wealthy merchant living in Judea at the time of Christ. Under the influence of the
oppressive Roman Empire, the land seethes with talk of revolt, and Caesar has sent
more soldiers to quell the potential uprising. The new Tribune Messala (Stephen
Boyd) once lived in Judea as a boy, and longs to rekindle his old friendship with
Judah, but when they meet it is obvious that Messala has been changed by the years
he has been away, fighting the enemies of the Empire. He is harsh and calculating,
driven by ambition, and eager to prove himself to Caesar. Asking Judah for help in
rounding up the local dissenters, they argue, and when Judah refuses to betray his
own people Messala declares that they must be either friends or enemies, and leaves
in anger.A few days later the Romans parade through the city in a show of force and
to announce the arrival of the new governor of Judea. As they pass the house of
Hur, Judah's sister, Tirzah (Cathy O'Donnell), leans out over the balcony for a
better look. She dislodges a few roof tiles which fall near the new governor as he
rides by, panicking his horse and throwing him off. Messala seizes an opportunity
to frame the Hur family for an attempted assassination. Arresting Judah, his sister
and mother, he throws them all into prison. Judah learns that he is to be condemned
without trial or hearing, and flies into a desperate rage. Breaking free from his
jailers, Judah smashes his way into Messala's chamber, demanding to know why he has
done this evil deed. Messala calmly explains that by condemning an old friend
without hesitation, he will show the rest of Judea that he is to be feared. \"I
asked for your help Judah,\" says Messala, \"and now you've given it to me.\" He
dismisses Judah to the death of a slave in the galleys, and leaves the mother and
sister to rot in prison.Chained to a group of criminals, Judah is marched through
the desert. Barely alive, they pass though a village called Nazareth, where a
compassionate young man gives him water. Gazing into his eyes, Judah is filled with
wonder, and receives the life-giving gift of a simple drink. When an angry Roman
guard barks the young man rises and the guard stares into his face, perceiving
something there that, perhaps for the first time in his life, forces the Roman to
back down. Judah is marched away with the other condemned men, but continues to
gaze back at the man who saved his life.Three years pass. Judah rows his life away
in the galleys, his latest confinement is aboard a war armada. When the new
admiral, Quintas Arrius (Jack Hawkins) comes aboard, he puts all the slaves to a
test of endurance, looking for any with enough spirit to defy him. In the galley,
he looks over his rowers, telling the guards to change one of them, seeing another
who bears the scars of many whippings for insolence and finally Judah. He suddenly
lashes Judah, seeing the anger and hate in his eyes but also the control not to
attack the man. Later that night, during Judah's resting period, he is ordered to
Arrius' quarters, finding him asleep. Arrius suddenly awakes, noting that Judah
could have easily killed him. The two talk for a bit, Arrius mentioning that he
owns some of the finest gladiator schools in the empire. Judah refuses and returns
to the ship's hold.Soon the fleet engages the Macedonian armada in battle and in
the mayhem, Arrius' ship is rammed. Shortly before the battle had begun, Arrius had
ordered that Judah be unshackled. Arrius himself is cast overboard only to be saved
by Judah. The two spend a few days floating at sea on a piece of flotsam, Arrius
prevented from killing himself and bound by Judah. Finding his fleet victorious, he
returns in triumph to Rome with Judah at his side and after a time adopts him as a
son. A rich and influential man once again, Judah's thoughts return to Judea and
the vengeance he has sworn on Messala.Along the road to Judea, Judah meets a Arab
sheikh and an old wise man named Balthasar, one of those who followed the star of
Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth. Balthasar now seeks Christ grown into a
man, and befriends Judah, sensing the goodness of his soul, but also the hatred for
an old enemy. Finding that Judah is skilled in chariot racing, Sheikh Ilderim
coaches Judah to ride his team of white horses in the upcoming race against Messala
and his notorious blacks. Judah accepts and prepares to meet Messala in the arena.
The sheikh meets with the lords of Rome, Messala included, and gets them to agree
to four to one odds. When he learns of Judah's return, Messala is astonished, but
quickly begins to plot again. In the arena, many fortunes can change. Judah meets
with Messala, demanding to know where his mother and sister are. Messala claims not
to know and Judah harshly tells him to find them and arrange for their release.When
Judah arrives at the circus for the race, he spots Messala, who has equipped the
wheels of his chariot with spinning, gouging blades. Entering the arena in a
grandiose procession, the contestants line up and await the signal from the
governor, Pontius Pilate. He drops a white cloth, and the race is on. In this
spectacular contest many other teams crash, and Judah and Messala collide time and
again, striving for the lead. Messala's spinning blades prove useful against
several of his opponents, ripping their chariots and wheels to splinters. When
Messala, consumed by his desire to defeat Judah, crashes his chariot into another,
yanking off one of his wheels, he is thrown out and dragged behind the stampeding
horses of the racer behind him, then thrown out to the rear, landing in a heap in
the sand. Judah rides to a glorious victory, and the shattered body of Messala is
carried away.Messala is bound to a table by Roman surgeons, who tell him they have
to amputate his legs. He refuses to let them start until Judah comes, wanting to
face his old friend whole. As his life ebbs, Messala confronts Judah one last time,
and tells him that his mother and sister are not dead as was thought, but alive,
condemned to lowest cell block of the Roman prison. As they both have endured
solitary confinement since their arrest, they both have contracted leprosy. They
were freed and sent to a nearby leper colony to live out their final days. Cackling
at his final victory over Judah, Messala gasps his last. \"The game
goes on Judah!\" he hisses as he dies. A stunned Judah goes forth, his victory
hollow, the vengeance he'd sought meaningless.Seeking release from his hatred,
Judah walks through the city, encountering Balthasar again, who has now found the
living Christ he was seeking. Begging him to come and hear the words of Jesus, he
tries to help Judah and ease his pain, but to no avail. Judah cannot live with the
thought of his beloved mother and sister suffering in the valley of the lepers, and
seeks them out. Tenderly carrying them into the city, he finds it empty, as
everyone has gone to the trial of Jesus. Hiding in the shadows, they all witness
the suffering of Christ as he is led to his crucifixion. As Jesus passes, Judah
recognises him as the young man who'd saved his life with a simple drink of water
in the desert. Amazed, he pushes through the guards, and as Jesus falls, Judah
carries a gourd of water to him and helps him to drink. Gazing in wonder once more
into his eyes, Judah is touched by Christ.At the site of the Crucifixion, Judah and
Balthasar weep at the cruelty, and watch as the sky turns dark. Judah's mother and
sister take shelter in a nearby cave, and cry out in terror as the Earth trembles,
and lightning slashes the sky. A flash of light reveals their leprosy had been
healed, a miracle they do not understand, but for which they thank God. Judah
returns to his home, finding his family healed and restored to him, and finding
also that the sacrifice of Christ has taken the hatred out of his heart and saved
his soul.\n", "\nThe story opens in Saigon, South Vietname late in 1969. U.S. Army
Captain and special operations veteran Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen), has
returned to Saigon on another combat tour during the Vietnam War, casually
admitting that he is unable to rejoin society in the USA and that his marriage has
broken up. He drinks heavily, chain-smokes and hallucinates alone in his room,
becoming very upset and injuring himself when he breaks a large mirror.One day two
military policemen arrive at Williard's Saigon apartment and after cleaning him up,
escort him to an officers trailer where military intelligence officers Lt. General
R. Corman (G. D. Spradlin) and Colonel Lucas (Harrison Ford) approach him with a
top-secret assignment to follow the Nung River into the remote jungle, find rogue
Special Forces Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) and \"terminate his command
with extreme prejudice\". Kurtz apparently went insane and now commands his own
Montagnard troops inside neutral Cambodia. They play a recording of Kurtz' voice,
captured by Army intelligence where Kurtz rambles about the destruction of the war
and a snail crawling on the edge of a straight razor.Willard is flown to Cam Ram
Bay and joins a Navy PBR commanded by \"Chief\" (Albert Hall) and crewmen Lance
(Sam Bottoms), \"Chef\" (Frederic Forrest) and \"Mr. Clean\" (Laurence Fishburne).
Williard narrates that the crew are mostly young soldiers; Clean is only 17 and
from the South Bronx, Lance is a famous surfer from California and Chef is a chef
from New Orleans. The Chief is an experienced sailor who mentions that he'd
previously brought another special operations soldier into the jungles of Vietnam
on a similar mission and heard that the man committed suicide. As they travel down
the coast to the mouth of the Nung River, Willard's voiceover reveals that hearing
Kurtz' voice triggered a fascination with Kurtz himself.They rendezvous with
reckless Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall), a commander of an attack
helicopter squadron, the infamous 1st of the 9th Air Cav (Cavalry), who initially
scoffs at them. Kilgore befriends Lance, both being keen surfers, and agrees to
escort them through the Viet Cong-filled coastal mouth of the Nung River due to the
surfing conditions there.The next morning, Kilgore launches a brutal helicopter
assault on the Viet Cong village amid air and napalm strikes on the locals and
'Ride of the Valkyries' playing over the helicopter loudspeakers, the beach is
taken and Kilgore orders others to surf it amid enemy fire. While Kilgore
nostalgically regales about a previous strike, Willard gathers his men to the PBR,
transported via helicopter, and begins the journey upriver.During the long journey
that occupies the bulk of the story, Willard sifts further through the Kurtz
dossier, learning that he was a model officer and possible future general. Back in
1964 after returning from a tour of duty in South Vietnam, the 38-year-old Kurtz
had eschewed the promotion, applying several times for Airborne training and had
sent a report to his superiors about the war that was deemed classified. In other
voice-over narration by Williard, Kurtz returned to South Vietnam in 1966 as a
member of the Special Forces for another combat tour, which his fighting methods
drew criticism from his superior officers. By the late summer of 1968, Kurtz'
combat patrols were coming under frequent ambush which ended in November 1968 after
Kurtz ordered his men to summary execute four high ranking South Vietnamese
Intelligence officials who he suspected were double agents for the Viet Cong.
Despite the fact that the four executed Vietnamese were indeed revealed double
agents, the US Army charged Kurtz with murder for taking matters into his own hands
instead of going through proper channels which resulted in Kurtz and his Special
Forces/South Vietnamese army fleeing into Cambodia.One evening, Willard accompanies
Chef into the jungle to pick mangoes when they encounter a tiger. But they both
make it back to the boat safely and continue on. Williard sees the tiger encounter
and Chef's near-hysterical panic as a stern reminder of the rule to never leave the
boat.Another evening or two later, the crew visit a supply depot USO show featuring
Playboy Playmates which goes awry when the servicemen attempt to assault the
Playmates which the R&R to a quick end.Some time later, the crew inspect a civilian
sampan for weapons, but the strung-out Mr. Clean panics and opens fire, prompting
Lance to open fire on the innocent Vietnamese family as well. Amid the supplies on
the boat, Chef finds a puppy. Lance harshly takes it from Chef and keeps it as a
pet. When Chef finds one young woman alive, Willard coldly shoots her to prevent
any further delay of his mission. Tension arises between Chief and Willard from
this moment on as Willard believes himself to be in command of the PBR, while Chief
prioritizes other objectives over Willard's secret mission.Another night later, the
crew reaches the chaos of the Do Lung bridge under attack. Willard learns from a
courier that the missing commanding officer, Captain Colby (Scott Glenn), was sent
on an earlier mission to kill Kurtz. Willard also sees the lost side of the war:
burned-out, stoned soldiers fighting a battle they are losing to keep the bridge
open. As the PBR crew leave, the bridge is once again destroyed by enemy
shellfire.Lance and Chef are continually under the influence of drugs. Lance in
particular smears his face with camouflage paint and becomes withdrawn. The next
day the boat is fired upon by an unseen enemy in the trees, killing Mr. Clean and
making Chief even more hostile toward Willard.Another day or two later, the PBR is
ambushed again, this time by Montagnard warriors as they cross the border into
Cambodia, they return fire despite Willard's objections that the arrows fired on
them aren't lethal. Chief is impaled with a spear and tries to kill Willard by
trying to pull him onto the spearhead before dying.Afterward, Willard confides in
the two surviving crew members, Chef and Lance, about the mission and they
reluctantly agree to continue upriver, where they find the banks littered with
mutilated bodies. Arriving at Kurtz's outpost at last, Willard takes Lance with him
to the village, leaving Chef behind with orders to call an airstrike on the village
if they do not return.In the camp, the soldiers are met by an American freelance
photographer (Dennis Hopper), who manically praises Kurtz's genius. As they
proceed, Willard and Lance see corpses and severed heads scattered about the temple
that serves as Kurtz's living quarters and encounter Colby, who seems catatonic.
Willard is bound and brought before Kurtz in the darkened temple, where Kurtz
derides him as an \"errand boy\". Meanwhile, Chef prepares to call in the airstrike
but is kidnapped. Later imprisoned, Willard screams helplessly as Kurtz drops
Chef's severed head into his lap.After some time, Willard is released and given the
freedom of the compound. In another monologue sequence, the shadowy Kurtz lectures
him on his theories of war, humanity and civilization while praising the
ruthlessness and dedication of the Viet Cong: Kurtz had reached his breaking point
some years before when he'd led a mission to inoculate the children of a small
village for polio. Soon after completing that mission, Kurtz' unit was called back
by one of the villagers where he found that the Viet Cong had come and hacked off
every child's arm that had been injected with the vaccine. Kurtz morbidly admires
the vicious dedication of the Viet Cong and the will they had to foil the efforts
of his unit to help the villagers. Kurtz believed that if he'd had a large legion
of men who would go to such extremes that he could end the war itself. Near the end
of their time together, Kurtz discusses his son and asks that Willard tell his son
everything about him in the event of his death.That night, as the villagers
ceremonially slaughter a water buffalo, Willard enters Kurtz's chamber as Kurtz is
making a tape recording, and attacks him with a machete. Lying mortally wounded on
the ground, Kurtz whispers his final words \"The horror ... the horror ...\" before
dying. Willard discovers substantial typed work of Kurtz's writings (scrawled
with \"Drop the bomb
Exterminate them all!\") and takes it with him before exiting. Willard descends
the stairs from Kurtz's chamber and drops his weapon. The villagers do likewise and
allow Willard to take Lance by the hand and lead him to the boat. The two of them
ride away in the PBR downstream to find help and safety as the Army tries to reach
them on the short-wave radio. Willard turns off the radio. As Willard drives the
boat away into the dark of the night jungle and in the pouring rain, the last words
of Kurtz's \"the horror... the horror...\" echo in his mind.\n", "\nThe story
begins in 1823 as the elderly Antonio Salieri attempts suicide by slitting his
throat while loudly begging forgiveness for having killed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
in 1791. Placed in a lunatic asylum for the action, Salieri is visited by a young
priest who seeks to take his confession. Salieri is sullen and uninterested but
eventually warms to the priest and launches into a long \"confession\" about his
relationship with Mozart.Salieri's story goes on through the night and into the
next day. He reminisces about his youth, particularly about his devotion to God and
his love for music and how he pledges to God to remain celibate as a sacrifice if
he can somehow devote his life to music. He describes how his father's plans for
him were to go into commerce, but suggests that the sudden death of his father, who
choked to death during a meal, was \"a miracle\" that allowed him to pursue a
career in music. In his narrative, he is suddenly an adult joining the 18th century
cultural elite in Vienna, the \"city of musicians\". Salieri begins his career as a
devout, God-fearing man who believes his success and talent as a composer are God's
rewards for his piety. He is content as the court composer for Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II.Mozart arrives in Vienna with his patron, Count Hieronymus von Colloredo,
the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. Salieri secretly observes Mozart at the
Archbishop's palace, but they are not properly introduced. Salieri sees that
offstage, Mozart is irreverent and lewd. He also first recognizes the immense
talent displayed in the adult works of Mozart. In 1781, when Mozart meets the
Emperor, Salieri presents Mozart with a \"March of Welcome\", which he toiled to
create. After hearing the march only once, Mozart plays it from memory, critiques
it, and effortlessly improvises a variation, transforming Salieri's \"trifle\" into
the \"Non pi\u00f9 andrai\" march from his 1786 opera \"The Marriage of
Figaro\".Salieri reels at the notion of God speaking through the childish, snappish
Mozart: nevertheless, he regards his music as miraculous. Gradually, Salieri's
faith is shaken. He believes that God, through Mozart's genius, is cruelly laughing
at Salieri's own musical mediocrity. Salieri's struggles with God are intercut with
scenes showing Mozart's own trials and tribulations with life in Vienna: pride at
the initial reception of his music; anger and disbelief over his subsequent
treatment by the Italians of the Emperor's court; happiness with his wife Constanze
and his son Karl; and grief at the death of his father Leopold. Mozart becomes more
desperate as the family's expenses increase and his commissions decrease. When
Salieri learns of Mozart's financial straits, he sees his chance to avenge himself,
using \"God's Beloved\" (the literal meaning of \"Amadeus\") as the
instrument.Salieri hatches a complex plot to gain ultimate victory over Mozart and
God. He disguises himself in a black mask and costume similar to one he saw Leopold
wear at a party, and commissions Mozart to write a requiem mass, giving him a down
payment and the promise of an enormous sum upon completion. Mozart begins to write
the piece, the Requiem Mass in D minor, unaware of the true identity of his
mysterious patron and oblivious of his murderous intentions. Glossing over any
details of how he might commit the murder, Salieri dwells on the anticipation of
the admiration of his peers and the court, when they applaud the magnificent
Requiem, and he claims to be the music's composer. Only Salieri and God would know
the truth that Mozart wrote his own requiem mass, and that God could only watch
while Salieri finally receives the fame and renown he deserves.Mozart's financial
situation worsens and the composing demands of the Requiem and \"The Magic Flute\"
drive him to the point of exhaustion as he alternates work between the two pieces.
Constanze leaves him and takes their son with her. His health worsens and he
collapses during the premiere performance of \"The Magic Flute\". Salieri takes the
stricken Mozart home and convinces him to work on the Requiem. Mozart dictates
while Salieri transcribes through the night. When Constanze returns in the morning,
she orders Salieri to leave. Constanze locks the manuscript away despite Salieri's
objections, but as she goes to wake her husband, Mozart has died. The Requiem is
left unfinished, and Salieri is left powerless as Mozart's body is hauled out of
Vienna for burial in a pauper's mass grave during a rainstorm.The film ends as
Salieri finishes recounting his story to the visibly shaken young priest. Salieri
concludes that God killed Mozart rather than allow Salieri to share in even an
ounce of his glory, and that he is consigned to be the \"patron saint of
mediocrity\". Salieri mockingly absolves the priest of his own mediocrity and
blesses his fellow patients as he is taken away in his wheelchair. The last sound
heard before the closing credits roll is Mozart's high-pitched laughter.\n", "\nIn
the opening scene, a flashback, two hobbits, Sm\u00e9agol (Andy Serkis) and his
friend D\u00e9agol (Thomas Robins), are fishing the River Anduin near the Gladden
Fields in the North of Middle Earth. D\u00e9agol is dragged into the river by a
powerful catch and discovers the One Ring glinting in the river bed. He collects it
and climbs out of the water. Sm\u00e9agol sees him fondling it and as they both
succumb to the Ring's power they begin to quarrel. Sm\u00e9agol demands the Ring,
saying that it's his birthday and it should be his present. The squabble turns into
a fight; Sm\u00e9agol strangles his friend with his bare hands and pries the Ring
from D\u00e9agol's clenched fist. Sm\u00e9agol is ostracized from his community and
driven away. Suffering terribly from loneliness and shame, Sm\u00e9agol takes
solace in his love for the Ring, which slowly tortures his mind. He takes solitary
refuge in caves beneath the mountains, where under the influence of the Ring he
lives to a very great age. He dwindles into a hunched, furtive, slinking creature
known by the unpleasant noise he makes in his throat -- \"Gollum.\"In the present,
on the outskirts of Mordor, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are resting in
an alcove. Sam awakes and sees that his master has not slept. The days are growing
darker the closer they get to Minas Morgul and Mordor. Gollum arrives and urges
them to move on.Away in the west, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando
Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Th\u00e9oden (Bernard
Hill), and \u00c9omer (Karl Urban) ride through the forest of Fangorn to Isengard,
where they meet Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) feasting among the
wreckage. They find Treebeard at the tower of Orthanc in the center of Isengard,
where Saruman (Christopher Lee) has been trapped. Gandalf opposes Gimli's call to
kill Saruman, saying that the wizard has no power anymore and will pose no further
threat. Saruman shows himself to them. Gandalf shatters Saruman's staff, robbing
him of his power. Grima (Brad Dourif), who is still with him, stabs him with a
knife. Legolas shoots Grima with an arrow, but Saruman falls to his death, landing
on the spikes of a large waterwheel. As they are talking, Pippin sees Saruman's
palant\u00edr amongst the flotsam and is entranced by it, but Gandalf quickly takes
it from him and hides in under his cloak.The group rides to Edoras, where King Th\
u00e9oden has prepared a large banquet to 'hail the victorious dead' of the Battle
of the Hornburg. There \u00c9owyn (Miranda Otto) shows affection for Aragorn which
Th\u00e9oden notices; he tells her that he is happy for her, Aragorn being an
honorable man and the architect of the victory at Helm's Deep. Gandalf expresses to
Aragorn his concerns over the quest. Aragorn tells him to trust in what his heart
tells him, that Frodo is still alive.Gollum awakes in the night as Frodo and Sam
are sleeping and goes off to one side to murmur to himself. His evil half senses
some doubt in Sm\u00e9agol and insists that if he can murder once (like he murdered
D\u00e9agol for the ring) he can do it again. Gollum then begins leading Sm\
u00e9agol through their plan, to deliver the hobbits into the clutches of Shelob in
Cirith Ungol, after which the Ring can be reclaimed. Sam hears the conversation and
beats Gollum for his treachery. Frodo intervenes, saying that as their guide Gollum
is necessary for their quest. Sam glowers as Gollum flashes him an evil smile while
Frodo's back is turned.That same night back in Edoras, Pippin's curiosity gets the
better of him; relieving a sleeping Gandalf of the palant\u00edr, he looks into it.
Pippin sees a vision of a white tree in a stone courtyard set ablaze, but in doing
so he is caught by Sauron and submitted to mental torture and questioning. Aragorn
tries to rescue him, briefly exposing himself to Sauron. Pippin recovers from his
ordeal and it is discovered that he did not tell Sauron anything of the Ring's
whereabouts. From Pippin's vision of the White Tree, Gandalf deduces that Sauron is
now moving to attack the great Gondorian city of Minas Tirith and he rides off to
send warning, taking Pippin with him, lest his urge to look into the palant\u00edr
(left now in Aragorn's keeping) return again.Leaving Rivendell
on her way to the Undying Lands, Arwen (Liv Tyler) has a vision of Eldarion
(Sadwyn Brophy), the son she will have with Aragorn. She realises that her father
lied to her when he said she and Aragorn had no future together. She returns to
Rivendell and convinces Elrond (Hugo Weaving) that having forsaken the life of the
Eldar, she cannot leave Aragorn now. She tells her father that as foretold, the
time to reforge Narsil has come. Narsil, the sword of Elendil, is the birthright of
the true heir of Isildur, the man who used the sword to cut the One Ring from
Sauron's hand.Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith, City of Kings, that was
built out of the rock of Mindolluin. There Pippin recognises the White Tree as they
go to find the Steward Denethor (John Noble). They approach him as he mourns over
Boromir (Sean Bean), his son. Pippin swears loyalty to him in recompense for
Boromir's sacrifice. Denethor seems to be caught up in his grief and has not taken
measures to fortify the city against the threat of Sauron.Meanwhile, Frodo, Sam,
and Gollum arrive at Minas Morgul. Wary of the enemy, they locate the Winding Stair
(leading to the pass of Cirith Ungol) that lies hidden in the cliffs surrounding
the accursed city. Just at that moment, the doors of the city open and the Witch-
king of Angmar, leader of the Nazg\u00fbl, dispatches his immense Orc army from his
lair, heralding the start of the war. The outpouring of the army is witnessed by
Gandalf and Pippin as a flash of lightning shoots up at the opening of the doors.
At the urging of Gandalf, Pippin lights the first of the beacon signals to Edoras,
alerting Th\u00e9oden, Aragorn and the rest of the Rohirrim to muster at Dunharrow
and thence to Minas Tirith. As they leave Edoras, Aragorn notices that \u00c9owyn
saddles up with them and that she is girt with a sword, but she insists that she
rides only to see them off and that the men have found their captain in Aragorn.The
Morgul army crosses Anduin at Osgiliath in makeshift boats and engages the
Gondorian contingent (lead by Boromir's brother Faramir (David Wenham)) in battle.
The orcs prove too strong and drive the Gondorians out of Osgiliath; Faramir and
his few surviving men retreat to Minas Tirith, pursued by the Nazg\u00fbl. Gandalf,
riding out to meet the retreating men, wards them off, saving Faramir. Upon his
arrival, Faramir (who met Frodo, Sam, and Gollum in Ithilien just before they
headed for the mountain pass into Mordor) tells Gandalf of the dangerous route
Gollum is taking Frodo and Sam on, convincing Gandalf of Gollum's treachery. The
hobbits, lead by Gollum, are struggling to climb the extremely steep stairs. Gollum
reaches out and empathises with Frodo, saying that he understands his pain. Gollum
also poisons Frodo against Sam, saying that Sam will try and take the Ring from
Frodo.In the captured Osgiliath, the Witch-king orders his captain to \"send forth
all legions\" and annihilate the population of Minas Tirith, saying that he himself
will \"break\" the wizard Gandalf. Denethor, ill-pleased by Faramir's failed
defence of Osgiliath, manipulates him into taking a doomed ride to reclaim the
city. Gollum continues to play the hobbits against each other, this time by blaming
Sam for eating their food provisions. Frodo, in his deluded state, is suspicious of
Sam and orders him back home when Sam, trying to be helpful, offers to carry the
Ring, thereby fulfilling Gollum's cunning prediction. Faramir rides head-long into
the arrows of the encamped orcs as Pippin sings for Denethor who unconcernedly eats
his noon meal. Faramir's attack fails and Faramir is dragged back by his horse in a
death-like coma.At the weapon-take at Dunharrow, a hooded figure slowly rides on a
white horse along the winding road to the encampment in the hills. The figure
reveals himself to Aragorn as Elrond. He presents Aragorn with his birthright --
the newly reforged sword Narsil, now named Anduril, Flame of the West. He urges
Aragorn to use this sword to recall the Dead Men of Dunharrow and use their
allegiance to the heir of Isildur (i.e. Aragorn) to stop the attack of the
Corsairs' ships, which are already sailing from the south. Aragorn accepts this
counsel and rides off that very night into the Dimholt, along with Legolas and
Gimli. As he is preparing to go, a tearful \u00c9owyn comes to Aragorn and begs him
not to go, declaring her love for him, but Aragorn, knowing now that Arwen has
refused the promise of Valinor, likewise refuses \u00c9owyn's love. The next
morning, Th\u00e9oden rides off to war with six thousand riders, unaware that \
u00c9owyn and Merry, who were both told to remain behind by the King, are part of
his army.The Morgul forces, composed mostly of Orcs, begin the siege of Minas
Tirith by catapulting the heads of captured prisoners over the walls. Denethor sees
his son Faramir and believes him to be dead; he also beholds the might of the
forces marshaled against him and at this he loses hope and his mind, ordering the
Gondorians to abandon their positions. Gandalf, however, steps in and incapacitates
Denethor, assuming control of the defense. A skirmish between Gondorian trebuchets
and Mordor's catapults ensues until the Witch-king and the other Ringwraiths on
their Fell Beasts attack, destroying the trebuchets and sewing terror among the
defenders.Away in Cirith Ungol, Gollum betrays Frodo to the giant spider-creature
Shelob, but Sam returns to fight her off. Sam believes Frodo is dead, but when Orcs
from the Tower of Cirith Ungol come and investigate, Sam overhears that Frodo has
only been paralysed by Shelob's stinger.In Minas Tirith, Denethor, stricken mad
with grief at having spent both his sons, prepares a funeral pyre for himself and
the unconscious Faramir. Denethor is unaware that Faramir is not dead and the pyre
will burn him alive. Gandalf and Pippin arrive in the Hallows and manage to save
Faramir, but Denethor is thrown onto the pyre and as he burns to death, he turns
and sees his son stirring awake from his injuries and exhaustion. Down in the city,
the battle goes ill with the Gondorians, as the huge battering ram Grond shatters
the gates of the city and trolls pour in. As the defenders retreat to the upper
levels of the city, the orcs crawl through the streets of the lower levels,
looting, burning and massacring the men of Gondor. But suddenly in the midst of the
chaos a lone horn penetrates the air and all turn to the west and see the army of
Rohan arrive at last, to the rising of the sun. The Rohirrim charge into the Orcs
with great effect. However their joy is cut short by the arrival of the forces of
Harad and the immense elephants, the M\u00fbmakil. The Witch-king descends on Th\
u00e9oden, killing Snowmane his horse and fatally wounding the King. Seemingly in
the nick of time, the Corsairs' ships arrive to help the stranded Orcs, but it is
Aragorn who jumps off the lead ship, followed by an army of the dead. They
completely destroy the Orcs and M\u00fbmakil, while \u00c9owyn and Merry kill the
Witch-king. Th\u00e9oden dies of his wounds and Aragorn holds the Dead Army's oath
fulfilled, releasing them from their curse so that they may rest in peace.Sam
rescues Frodo from Cirith Ungol, which is mostly empty following a fight between
the two factions of the Tower's Orc garrison over Frodo's valuable mithril shirt.
They begin the long trek across Mordor to Mount Doom. Gandalf realizes that ten
thousand Orcs stand between Cirith Ungol and Mount Doom, which will prevent Frodo
from reaching his destination. Aragorn proposes they lead the remaining soldiers to
the Black Gate to draw the Orcs away from Frodo's path, as well as distract the Eye
of Sauron. Sam carries Frodo up to Mount Doom, but Gollum arrives and attacks them,
just as the Battle of the Morannon begins. At the Crack of Doom, Frodo, instead of
dropping the Ring into the fire, succumbs to its power and puts it on, disappearing
from sight. The act alerts Sauron, who sends the Ringwraiths racing towards Mount
Doom. Gollum renders Sam unconscious then attacks Frodo, seizing his ring finger
and biting it off. As Gollum rejoices at finally having reclaimed his Precious,
Frodo, still under the sway of the Ring's attraction, charges at Gollum. After a
brief struggle, they both fall over the edge of the precipice. Gollum falls into
the fire with the Ring, while Frodo barely hangs on with his strength failing. Sam
rescues Frodo as the Ring finally sinks into the lava and is destroyed. Sauron's
Eye screams as his essence fades before the tower of Barad-d\u00fbr collapses and
then explodes, forever banishing his power. The Orcs, Ringwraiths and the remaining
forces of Sauron are consumed in the ensuing shockwave as the earth collapses under
their feet; the Black Gate and Mordor are both shaken apart. Frodo and Sam become
stranded when the entire top of Mount Doom is blown off in a large eruption. They
voice their regrets at not being able to see the Shire again amidst the torrents of
lava and the destruction of Barad-dur. With the destruction of the Nazgul, Gandalf
is able to call upon the Eagles to carry the hobbits to safety. They awake in Minas
Tirith, reuniting with the other members of the fellowship, all of them but Boromir
having survived the War of the Ring.In Minas Tirith, Aragorn is crowned King of the
West, heralding the new age of peace, and marries Arwen. Here is when everybody
kneels down in homage to the little hobbits. The hobbits return to the Shire, where
Sam marries Rosie Cotton (Sarah McLeod). Frodo, having finished writing his entry
in the Red Book of Westmarch, is still suffering from the effects of the wounds he
received from the Ringwraiths at Weathertop and from Shelob. Realizing that he will
never have peace in Middle Earth, he decides to go with Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond, and
Galadriel to the Grey Havens and sail
to Valinor, the Undying Lands. Before embarking at the havens, Frodo passes the
Red Book to Sam to record the years of his life to come. Then the last ship to
leave Middle Earth sets off, pulling slowly away from the shore and passing along
the Straight Road into the Uttermost West. Pippin and Merry take their leave and
Sam is left staring into the golden sunset. In the last scene, Sam walks back up
the lane to Bag End, where he is greeted by his wife Rosie, and his children.
Surrounded by his family and with the rest of his life ahead of him, Sam sighs and
says \"Well, I'm back.\" He goes inside and shuts the door as the screen fades to
black.\n", "\nShouting \"Roma victor!\" as his forces attack, General Maximus
Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) leads his Roman legions to victory against
Germanic barbarians in the year 180 A.D., ending a prolonged war and earning the
esteem of elderly Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). The emperor's son
Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) and daughter Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) have been summoned
to join the campaign because Marcus Aurelius is about to name his successor.
Commodus, confident he'll be chosen, is friendly to Maximus, calling
him \"brother.\" Lucilla and Maximus apparently had a romantic involvement at some
time in the past; Commodus is concerned that it will trouble her to see him again.
(Lucilla has since married, had a son, and been widowed.) Marcus tells Lucilla he
asked her to come because her brother, who's very fond of her, will soon need her
more than ever.Marcus appoints the morally-upstanding Maximus as his successor,
with the understanding that Maximus will eventually restore the Roman Republic by
returning power to the senate. Maximus, longing to go home to his wife and son,
tries to decline the honor, but Marcus Aurelius insists that not wanting the job
makes Maximus the best man for it. At the end of a wrenching interview in which
Commodus accuses his father of not recognizing his virtues and never loving him,
Commodus confesses that all he ever wanted was his father's love and approval --
and then he smothers him.Declaring himself emperor, Commodus asks Maximus for his
loyalty, which Maximus, realizing Commodus' involvement in Marcus Aurelius's death,
refuses. Commodus orders Maximus arrested and executed and dispatches Praetorian
guards to murder Maximus's wife (Giannina Facio) and young son (Giorgio Cantarini).
Maximus narrowly escapes his execution and races home only to discover his family's
charred and crucified bodies in the smoldering ruins of his villa. After burying
his wife and son, a grieving Maximus succumbs to exhaustion and collapses on their
graves.Slave traders find Maximus and take him to Zucchabar, a rugged province in
North Africa, where he is purchased by Proximo (Oliver Reed), the head of a
gladiator school. Distraught and nihilistic over the death of his family and
betrayal by his empire, Maximus initially refuses to fight, but as he defends
himself in the arena his formidable combat skills lead to a rise in popularity with
the audience. As he trains and fights further, Maximus befriends Hagen (Ralf
Moeller), a Germanic barbarian, and Juba (Djimon Hounsou), a Numidian hunter. Juba
becomes a close friend and confidant of the grieving Maximus, and the two speak
frequently of the afterlife and Maximus' eventual reunification with his family.In
Rome, Commodus reopens the gladiatorial games to commemorate his father's death,
declaring 150 days of celebration in a bid to win the affections of the Roman
populace. Proximo's company of gladiators is hired to participate. Proximo tells
Maximus that his abilities as a fighter won't be enough in Rome; he needs to win
the affections of the audience. Maximus at first doesn't like the idea of playing
to the crowd, but Proximo explains that it might save his life, revealing that he
himself used to be a gladiator, and after gaining popularity was freed by the
Emperor Marcus Aurelius -- he shows Maximus the wooden sword he received at the
time. Maximus is incredulous at first (\"You knew Marcus Aurelius?\"), but then
realizes this strategy might get him close enough to Commodus to get his revenge.
In a recreation of the Battle of Zama (incorrectly named the Battle of Carthage) at
the Colosseum, Maximus leads Proximo's gladiators to decisive victory against a
more powerful force, much to the amazement of the crowd. Commodus descends into the
arena to meet the victors and is stunned to discover that the leader of Proximo's
gladiators is Maximus. The emperor, unable to kill Maximus because of the crowd's
roaring approval for him, gives the thumbs-up sign allowing Maximus to live and
sulks out of the arena.As the games continue, Commodus pits Maximus against Tigris
of Gaul (Sven-Ole Thorsen), Rome's only undefeated gladiator, in an arena
surrounded by chained tigers with handlers instructed to target Maximus. Following
an intense battle, Maximus narrowly defeats Tigris and awaits Commodus's decision
to kill or spare Tigris. Though Commodus votes for death (thumb down), Maximus
spares Tigris, deliberately insulting the emperor and garnering the audience's
approval. With his bitter enemy now known as \"Maximus the Merciful,\" Commodus
becomes more frustrated at his inability to kill Maximus or stop his ascending
popularity while Commodus's own popularity shrinks.Following the fight, Maximus
meets his former servant Cicero (Tommy Flanagan), who reveals that Maximus's army
remains loyal to him. They are camped at the port of Ostia. Lucilla, increasingly
fearful of her brother's instability and incestuous desires, forms a plot with
Maximus and Senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) to reunite Maximus with his army and
overthrow Commodus. Commodus, however, learns of his sister's betrayal from her
young son Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark) and forces her to reveal the plot by
threatening the boy. Praetorian guards immediately storm Proximo's gladiator
barracks, battling the gladiators while Maximus escapes. Hagen and Proximo are
killed in the siege while Juba and the survivors are imprisoned. Maximus escapes to
the city walls only to be ambushed by a cohort of Praetorian guards who use Cicero
as bait, killing him as soon as Maximus comes out in the open.Concluding that
legends born in the Colosseum must die there, Commodus personally challenges
Maximus to a duel in front of a roaring audience. Acknowledging that Maximus's
skill exceeds his own, Commodus deliberately stabs Maximus with a stiletto,
puncturing his lung, and has the wound concealed beneath the gladiator's armor. In
the arena, the two exchange blows before Maximus rips the sword from Commodus'
hands. Commodus requests a sword from his guards, but they refuse to lend him their
weapons. Maximus drops his own sword, but Commodus pulls a hidden stiletto and
renews his attack. Maximus then beats Commodus into submission and kills him with
his own stiletto.As Commodus collapses in the now-silent Colosseum, a dying Maximus
sees his wife and son in the afterlife. He reaches for them, but is pulled back to
reality by the Praetorian prefect Quintus (Tomas Arana), who asks for instructions.
Maximus orders the release of Proximo's gladiators and Senator Gracchus, whom he
reinstates and instructs to lead the restoration of power to the senate: as Marcus
Aurelius intended, Rome will be a republic again. Maximus collapses and Lucilla
rushes to his side. After being reassured that her son is safe and Commodus is
dead, Maximus dies and wanders into the afterlife to his home and family in the
distance. Senator Gracchus and Proximo's gladiators carry his body out of the
Colosseum. That night, a newly-freed Juba buries Maximus' two small statues of his
wife and son in the Colosseum (in the patch of Maximus' blood), and says that he
too will eventually join them, \"but not yet.\"\n\n", "\nIn 1996, treasure hunter
Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) and his team aboard the research vessel Keldysh search
the wreck of RMS Titanic for a necklace with a rare diamond, the Heart of the
Ocean. They recover a safe containing a drawing of a young woman wearing only the
necklace. It is dated April 14, 1912, the day the ship struck the iceberg. Rose
Dawson Calvert (Gloria Stuart), claiming to be the person in the drawing, visits
Lovett and tells of her experiences aboard the ship.\nIn 1912 Southampton, 17-year-
old first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), her fianc\u00e9 Cal
Hockley (Billy Zane), and her mother Ruth (Frances Fisher) board the Titanic. Also
boarding the ship at Southampton are Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a down-on-
his-luck sketch artist, and his Italian friend Fabrizio (Danny Nucci). Young Rose,
angry and distraught that her mother has apparently arranged the marriage,
considers committing suicide by jumping from the stern; Jack manages to pull her
back over the rail after she loses her footing & nearly falls into the propellers.
Discovered with Jack, Rose tells Cal that she was peering over the edge and Jack
saved her from falling. Cal is indifferent, but when Rose indicates some
recognition is due, he offers Jack a small amount of money. After Rose asks whether
saving her life meant so little, he invites Jack to dine with them in first class
the following night, along with several prominent first-class passengers -
including the Countess of Rothes, Archibald Gracie (Bernard Fox), Thomas Andrews
(Victor Garber), Molly Brown (Kathy Bates), and John Jacob Astor (Eric Braeden) &
his wife. Jack and Rose develop a tentative friendship, though Cal and Ruth are
wary of him. Following dinner, Rose secretly joins Jack at a party in third class.
During the party Cal's butler, Spicer Lovejoy (David Warner) stealthily sneaks down
the third class staircase to spy on her.\nAfter a very tense breakfast the
following morning, in which Cal shows an inclination towards violence,
Rose becomes even more apprehensive about her upcoming marriage. Ruth emphasizes
that Rose's marriage will resolve the DeWitt Bukaters' financial problems. After
spotting Rose, Cal and Ruth out on the Boat Deck, Jack stealthily sneaks back into
First Class and tries to warn Rose about what she may be facing. Rose rebuffs
Jack's advances, but later realizes that she prefers him over Cal. After meeting on
the bow at sunset, Rose takes Jack to her state room and displays Cal's engagement
present: the Heart of the Ocean. At her request, Jack sketches Rose posing nude
wearing it. Meanwhile, in the First-Class Smoking Room, Cal's butler informs him
that none of the stewards have seen Rose at all that night. Cal orders the butler
to find her. Rose & Jack manage to evade Cal's bodyguard and have sex in an
automobile inside the cargo hold. They later visit the forward well deck, and while
on it, the lookouts spot an iceberg directly in the ship's path. Orders are given
to turn the ship hard a-starboard and run the engines full astern, but the ship
takes too long to make the turn and the starboard side scrapes along the iceberg,
causing substantial damage to the watertight compartments, including the cargo hold
where Jack & Rose had been having sex in the automobile. Jack & Rose witness the
collision with the iceberg and overhear the officers and designer discussing its
seriousness.\nOn the bridge, builder Thomas Andrews, Captain Smith (Bernard Hill),
the ship's officers and White Star Line Managing Director Bruce Ismay (Jonathan
Hyde) discuss the damage. The water has reached 14 feet above the keel in 10
minutes and has flooded 5 watertight compartments. Mr. Andrews warns that because
of a design flaw, the water will spill over the tops of the bulkheads at E Deck,
and this will cause the ship to sink. He gives an hour, two at most, for the ship
to remain afloat.\nCal discovers Jack's sketch of Rose and a mocking note from her
in his safe along with the necklace. When Jack and Rose attempt to tell Cal of the
collision, he has his butler slip the necklace into Jack's pocket and accuses him
of theft. He is arrested, taken to the Master-at-arms' office, and handcuffed to a
pipe. Cal puts the necklace in his own coat pocket.\nWith the ship sinking, Rose is
desperate to free Jack. She flees Cal and her mother, who has boarded a lifeboat,
and rescues him. They return to the boat deck, where Cal and Jack encourage her to
board a lifeboat; Cal claims he can get himself and Jack off safely. After Rose
boards one, Cal tells Jack the arrangement is only for himself. As her boat lowers,
Rose decides that she cannot leave Jack and jumps back on board. Jack confronts
her, angrily at first, but his angers soon turns to affection and they share a
series of kisses at the bottom of the Grand Staircase. Cal, seeing this, takes his
butler's pistol and chases Rose and Jack into the flooding first class dining
saloon. After using up his ammunition, Cal realizes he gave his coat and
consequently the necklace to Rose. Jack & Rose are forced to flee below decks to
escape Cal, and narrowly escape drowning themselves. They become trapped behind a
locked gate, but Jack manages to free them just as the rising water reaches their
heads.\nOut on the Boat Deck, Cal decides to make his own escape. He reminds the
First Officer of the arrangement made earlier, but the officer angrily turns on Cal
and refuses to allow him boarding. When he spots a lost child hiding behind a
winch, he takes the child and is subsequently allowed into a collapsible lifeboat
by Chief Officer Wilde. As Cal and others board the collapsible, the water surges
into the bridge & wheelhouse, drowning Captain E.J. Smith and causing Cal's boat to
start floating off the deck. By now the stern is staring to rise out of the water
and the remaining passengers are running farther & farther aft.\nAfter braving
several obstacles, Jack and Rose return to the boat deck. All the lifeboats have
departed and passengers are falling to their deaths as the stern rises out of the
water. Water now crashes through the huge dome over the Grand Staircase, drowning
those passengers trapped inside. Jack & Rose reach the very stern - where they had
first met - and take up positions on it by climbing over the rail, next to Chief
Baker Charles Joughin. The ship breaks in half, causing the stern to crash down
into the water and killing Lovejoy, the butler. As the bow breaks off it pulls the
stern back into the air, leaving it sitting there for a minute. Jack and Rose ride
it into the ocean as it fills with water and then plunges to the bottom. As Jack &
Rose let go of the stern, the Titanic disappears into the darkness below them, and
they both swim to the surface to find themselves in a massive mob of passengers and
crew. Within minutes, Rose & Jack find a piece of paneling from the Grand
Staircase, and he helps her onto the wooden panel only buoyant enough for one
person. Holding the edge, he assures her that she will die an old woman, warm in
her bed. He dies of hypothermia but she is saved when Fifth Officer Lowe & some
crewmen return to try to find survivors.\nWith Rose hiding from Cal en route, the
RMS Carpathia takes the survivors to New York. There she gives her name as Rose
Dawson. She later learns that Cal committed suicide after losing everything in the
1929 Wall Street Crash.\nLovett abandons his search after hearing Rose's story.
Alone on the stern of the Keldysh, Rose takes out the Heart of the Ocean - in her
possession all along - and drops it into the sea over the wreck site. While she is
seemingly asleep in her bed, photos on her dresser depict a life of freedom and
adventure, partly inspired by Jack. A young Rose returns to the ship - at first, a
gloomy wreck on the bottom - but as Rose reaches the Promenade Deck the ship begins
to glow with light. As she enters the Grand Staircase she is greeted by those who
perished on the ship - including the Titanic's band, First Officer Murdoch, Thomas
Andrews, Jack's friends Fabrizio & Tommy Ryan, and standing at the clock is Jack
himself. He extends a hand and they reunite, to the happy cheers of the perished
passengers & crew.\n", "\nIn 1941 Hawaii, Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery
Clift) is transferred from the Bugle Corps at Fort Shafter (giving up his corporal
stripes) to a rifle outfit, Company \"G,\" at Schofield Barracks on the Hawaiian
island of Oahu. When Captain Dana \"Dynamite\" Holmes (Philip Ober) learns of his
reputation as a talented boxer, he recommends that Prewitt join the regimental
boxing club that he heads, and promises that Prewitt will be promoted to corporal
or even sergeant, if he helps win the boxing trophy on December 15. For reasons
unknown to the regiment Prewitt adamantly refuses. Holmes retaliates by making army
life as miserable as possible for Prewitt hoping he will agree to box.Unable to
break Prewitt, Holmes orders First Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster) to
prepare court martial papers. Warden, however, knowing of Holmes' unfair treatment
and realizing Prewitt is a thirty-year soldier (career soldier), suggests that he
try to entice Prewitt to change his mind by doubling up on company punishment. The
other non-commissioned officers assist in the conspiracy with brutal hazing
rituals. Prewitt is supported only by his friend, Private Angelo Maggio (Frank
Sinatra).Meanwhile, behind his commander's back, Warden begins an affair with
Holmes' neglected wife Karen (Deborah Kerr). Sergeant Maylon Stark (George Reeves)
has told Warden of Karen's many affairs with other soldiers at Fort Bliss,
including his own. As their relationship develops, Warden asks Karen about her
numerous affairs to test her sincerity with him. Karen relates that Holmes had been
unfaithful to her most of their marriage. She lost a baby when Holmes came back
from one affair drunk, and unable to assist her to the hospital. She then affirms
her genuine love for Warden.Prewitt and Maggio spend their liberty time at the New
Congress Club, a gentleman's club in downtown Honululu where Prewitt meets, and
falls for, Lorene (Donna Reed), a local dancer and call girl. Prewitt confides to
Lorene the reason he refuses to box for the company is that he blinded a close
friend while sparring. Maggio encounters Sergeant 'Fatso' Judson (Ernest Borgnine),
a crass and racist sergeant at the club. When Maggio complains that Judson's piano
playing is interfering with his dancing, the two nearly come to blows. Maggio is
told that Judson is the Sergeant of the Guard at the stockade.Later, at a tavern
called \"Choy's,\" located near the base, Judson sees Maggio holding a photograph
of his family. Judson makes an inappropriate comment to Prewitt about Maggio's
sister causing Maggio to smash a bar stool on Judson's head. Judson pulls a
switchblade on Maggio, but Warden, sitting in a corner, intervenes to save Maggio
by telling Judson that killing Maggio would \"create two weeks of paperwork\" for
him. When the brutal Judson advances on Warden with the knife, Warden breaks a beer
bottle in two and uses the jagged edge as a weapon. Judson retreats, throws down
his knife and goes to the bar for a drink. However, he warns Maggio that sooner or
later Maggio would end up in the stockade and he would be there waiting for him.A
few days later, Karen tells Warden that if he became an officer, she could divorce
Holmes and they could return to the States and marry. Warden is not keen on the
idea because of his dislike of officers, but agrees to consider the matter.Prewitt
manages a weekend pass, courtesy of Warden, and goes to meet Lorene who is too busy
at the club to talk. However, she meets him later at a bar for a drink. He tells
Lorene he loves the Army, and shows Lorene his prized possession, a bugle
mouthpiece. He tells her, \"I played taps last Armistice Day at Arlington
National Cemetery. The President was there.\" Maggio then walks in drunk and in
uniform, explaining that he was assigned to for guard duty that night, but deserted
his post. Lorene encourages Prewitt to take Maggio back to the base. While Prewitt
is calling for a taxi, Military Police arrive and arrest Maggio, and he is
sentenced to six months in the stockade for desertion.Matters come to a head for
Prewitt when Sergeant Galovitch picks a fight with Prewitt while on yard detail,
and the two come to blows. At first, Galovitch repeatedly pummels Prewitt, who
initially refuses to fight back, and then resorts to using only body blows. But as
Galovitch and others watching continue taunting him, he begins boxing, hitting
Galovitch in the face and nearly managing to knock him out before Holmes finally
steps in and stops the fight. When Galovitch falsely accuses Prewitt of
insubordination, Holmes is about to punish Prewitt again until the man in charge of
the detail says that it was Galovitch, not Prewitt, who was spoiling for the fight.
Instead of punishing Galovitch, Holmes abruptly lets him off the hook and disperses
the crowd. The entire incident is witnessed by the base commander, who orders an
investigation by the Inspector General. When Holmes' true intentions are revealed,
the general orders a court-martial. When Holmes begs for an alternative, the
commanding officer's aide suggests that Holmes resign his commission \"for the good
of the service\" and leave the Army, which the general accepts with dispatch.
Holmes' replacement, Captain Ross, orders that Sergeant Galovitch be demoted to
private and put in charge of the latrine.One evening, a few weeks later, Maggio
manages to escape from the stockade and find Prewitt. He tells of the abuse he
endured by Judson, then dies in Prewitt's arms. The next morning, Prewitt plays
taps as tears stream down his cheeks. Seeking revenge, Prewitt tracks down Judson
in town and invites him into a back alley to talk, then attacks him. The two fight
with switchblades, Prewitt using the very same switchblade Judson had pulled on
Maggio earlier. Prewitt kills Judson, but not before sustaining a serious stomach
wound. Prewitt goes into hiding at Lorene's apartment. Despite Prewitt's AWOL
status, his platoon sergeant carries him \"present\" for three days at Warden's
direction. Lorene, whose real name is Alma, tends to Prewitt's wounds.On December
7, 1941, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Enemy planes also attack nearby Wheeler
Air Base as well as the barracks. Warden leads several of his men in battle by
climbing to the roofs of the barracks and returns fire against strafing Japanese
fighter planes, shooting down at least one of them.That evening, Prewitt, still
weak from his unhealed wound, finds out about the attack over the radio, and
attempts to return to camp under cover of darkness, despite protests from Lorene to
wait until daylight. During the walk back to the barracks, Prewitt is spotted by
several jittery sentries. He attempts to run instead of identifying himself and
gets shot dead while running across a golf course. Warden arrives on the scene a
few minutes later and identifies the body, laments Prewitt's stubbornness and
states the irony that because of the attack, the December 15, 1941 boxing
tournament is cancelled.Holmes' resignation results in Karen having to return to
the States with him. When she finds out that Warden failed to apply for officer
status, she realizes they will never be together.At the end, Lorene/Alma and Karen
meet for the first and only time on a ship leaving for the mainland. Karen then
tosses two leis into the water. She tells Alma, \"If the leis go to shore, a person
will return to Hawaii. If the leis float out to sea, a person will never return.\"
Alma says she will never return, telling Karen that her fianc\u00e9 was an Army Air
Corps pilot killed in a B-17 during the attack, \"he was awarded the Silver Star,
they sent it to his mother. She wrote me. She wanted me to have it. They are very
fine people, Southern people. He was named after a general. Robert E. Lee
Prewitt.\" Karen recognizes Prewitt's name from conversations with Warden and is
aware that Alma is lying about Prewitt's death, but she says nothing. Lorene holds
Prewitt's treasured bugle mouth piece.\n\n", "\nAn American flag back-lighted by
the afternoon sun gently flaps in the breeze. The camera pulls back to reveal the
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial on the English Channel in the north of
France. An elderly man (Harrison Young) approaches the cemetery and walks among the
rows of gravestones, which are mostly marble crosses, with an occasional Star of
David marking the grave of a Jewish soldier. He is accompanied by his wife, his
daughter and her husband, and three teenage granddaughters. He searches the crosses
and stops at a specific one, where he falls to his knees, crying. His family walks
up behind him and tries to comforts him. The camera slowly zooms in on his face,
stopping at an extreme close up of his eyes.June 6, 1944, Omaha Beach, Dog Green
Sector:On the choppy waters of the English Channel, American Ranger soldiers are
headed to Omaha Beach in landing vehicles. The captain of one unit, John H. Miller
(Tom Hanks), tells his men to, upon landing, \"clear the murder holes\" and check
their rifles for sand and water when they exit the boats. Miller's right hand
shakes nervously.The moment the landing ramp at the front of the boat opens, a
number of men are immediately struck down by machine gun fire from concrete German
bunkers and machine-gun nests built into the cliffs overlooking the beach. To avoid
the machine gun fire, other men jump over the gunwales of the landing boats and
into the surf. Some drown under the weight of their heavy gear, others are hit by
enemy fire underwater. Upon gaining the beach, many take refuge behind the wooden
landing craft obstacles and the thin flanks of the steel tank obstacles blocking
approaches to the beach, which offer almost no protection from incoming fire and
mortar rounds.As Miller crawls up the sand, a mortar shell hits nearby and the
blast temporarily stuns him, knocking his helmet off. Miller's is stunned and his
hearing is reduced to a dull, muddled noise. He watches as men around him are hit
by bullets or the blast of mortar rounds, or are simply too scared to move. One
private looks Miller in the eye and asks him what to do. Miller's hearing slowly
returns and he orders his sergeant, Mike Horvath (Tom Sizemore) to move his men up
the beach and out of the line of enemy fire. As Miller staggers up the beach, he
drags a wounded man. The man is hit by a mortar blast and is killed; Miller
suddenly discovers that he's been dragging less than half the man's dismembered
remains. The German barrage kills most of the US Army troops and leaves twice as
many wounded; many of the wounded are eviscerated or missing limbs and slowly bleed
to death on the beach, despite the efforts of medics to treat them.Whomever is left
in Miller's platoon assembles at a sandbar that provides very little cover from the
German bombardment. Miller orders his men to use \"bangalore\" explosives to clear
out the barbed wire and mines behind the sandbar for their advance. The men make it
to the nearest concrete bunker where a machine gun nest on a nearby cliff keeps
them from moving further. After sending a few of his men into the fire zone where
they're cut down immediately, Miller has his sniper, Pvt. Daniel Jackson (Barry
Pepper), run into the fire zone and take out the men in the machine gun nest with
two precise shots. Jackson's efforts are successful and Miller moves his men behind
the bunker where a soldier with a flamethrower sets the bunker ablaze. On the
beach, one soldier yells to the others to let the German soldiers burn to death as
they jump out of the bunker.Miller's men engage other German soldiers in the
trenches behind the bunker, quickly creating an exit route from Omaha for the rest
of the battalion. Miller also watches as a few men mercilessly execute a few
surrendering German and Czech soldiers. Pvt. Adrian Caparzo (Vin Diesel) finds a
Hitler Youth knife which he gives to his friend, Pvt. Stanley Mellish (Adam
Goldberg) (a Jew); Mellish begins to sob. Horvath collects a handful of dirt in a
small metal can marked \"France\" and puts it into his haversack alongside cans
marked \"Italy\" and \"Africa\". Horvath comments to Miller that the beach commands
\"quite a view\"; it is covered with the bodies of thousands of dead and wounded
American soldiers. On the backpack of one of them is the name \"S. Ryan\".At the
War Department in the United States, rows of secretaries are typing death notices
to be sent to the families of the men killed in various battles around the world.
One of the women typing discovers three letters for three men from the same family.
The three men are all brothers from the Ryan family of Iowa and their mother will
receive all three letters at the same time. The fourth and youngest son of Mrs.
Ryan, James Francis, is part of the 101st Airborne Division, dropped into Normandy
ahead of the beach invasion and his whereabouts are unknown. The letters are
brought to the attention of General George Marshall (Harve Presnell) who, after
reading a poignant letter sent by Abraham Lincoln to a family under similar
circumstances during the Civil War, orders his officers to find James and have him
brought home immediately.Back in Normandy, three days after D-Day, Miller meets
with his commanding officer and reports on a difficult mission that cost the lives
of many of his men. Lieutenant Colonel Anderson (Dennis Farina) gives him new
orders; Miller is tasked with taking a squad into Normandy to find Pvt. James
Francis Ryan and bring him back. Miller gathers what men he can and finds Corporal
Timothy E. Upham (Jeremy Davies)
in the camp press box to accompany the squad as a translator - Upham speaks fluent
French and German, to replace his previous interpreter. The squad sets out in the
French countryside. Upham tries to talk to Mellish and Caparzo but, because he's
the \"new guy\" in the squad, finds them unfriendly and even insulting, despite his
higher rank. The squad's medic, Irwin Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), asks Upham about a
book he plans to write about the bonds of friendship among soldiers (which Mellish
immediately mocks). Richard Reiben (Edward Burns), a hotheaded private from
Brooklyn, questions the mission, wanting to know if the effort to find Ryan is
worth the lives of men who should be fighting more important battles to liberate
France and Europe. Miller himself is also skeptical about the mission but
understands that his current orders are more important and encourages his squad to
discuss the mission.The squad arrives in a small French village where Army units
are currently at a standstill with the German forces they're fighting. Miller asks
the nearest sergeant if Ryan is among his unit, but he's not. In an attempt to get
information from the Army unit on the other side of town, they send a runner across
the battlefield. The runner is cut down almost immediately. They cross the town via
some side roads and come across a French family trying to escape their bombed home,
but are trapped in the crossfire. The father insists the squad take his young
daughter to safety; Miller refuses but Caparzo steps out from cover to take her,
against orders. He is shot in the chest by a sniper and falls, still alive, caught
in the open. The squad takes cover, unable to pull Caparzo to safety. Jackson
quickly identifies the town's bell tower as the sniper's likely shooting position.
He finds a nearby pile of rubble that he uses for cover to take out the sniper. As
the sniper looks for another target among the squad, he sees Jackson a moment too
late, and is shot through his own scope. Caparzo dies, having bled to death. Miller
looks down on his body and harshly tells his men that this is why they follow
orders and \"don't take children.\" Wade retrieves a blood-stained letter from the
body that Caparzo had been writing to his father.In another part of the village,
the squad and the other soldiers sit down inside a bombed building to rest. A
sergeant sends one of his men to find their CO. When the sergeant sits down, he
knocks over a weakened brick wall that reveals a squad of German soldiers inside
the building. A standoff ensues, with both sides aiming their weapons at each
other, and both demanding the other put down their guns. The impasse is
unexpectedly ended when the Germans are cut down by machine-gun fire from the
unit's Captain (Ted Danson) and the soldier sent to find him.Miller asks the
captain if he has a Pvt. James F. Ryan in his unit. The captain confirms that he
does, and Ryan (Nathan Fillion) is brought to Miller who tells him his brothers are
dead. The man breaks down and asks how they died and Miller tells him they were
killed in combat. Ryan is incredulous, telling Miller that his brothers are still
in grade school. Miller confirms the man's full name, and learns that he is
James \"Frederick\" Ryan from Minnesota; Miller, exasperated, tells Ryan he's sure
his brothers are just fine. From another private being treated for a leg wound,
also from the 101st, the squad learns that the Airborne's rallying point is nearby
and that Ryan may have gone there.The squad spends a few hours resting in a church.
Wade rewrites the blood-stained letter Caparzo wanted to send to his father.
Horvath and Miller talk about how many men Miller has lost under his command.
Miller accepts that men die in combat for the greater good. Cpl. Upham talks to the
captain about a betting pool the men have going where they try to guess Miller's
occupation before the war began. Upham and Miller come to a humorous silent
agreement that when the pool is big enough, Miller will tell him the answer.The
squad arrives at a rally point near a wrecked troop glider. The rally point is
filled with dozens of wounded GIs. Sitting among the men is the pilot of the glider
who tells them he doesn't know where to find Pvt. Ryan. The pilot's glider went
down after being towed because steel plates had been welded to its underside to
protect a general he was transporting, making the glider too heavy to fly. The
glider crashed, killing the general. The squad reflects on the efforts to protect
only a single man. The pilot gives Miller a bag full of dog tags taken from dead
soldiers. Miller has his men go through them looking for Ryan. They do so rather
callously while men from Army Airborne units march by. Wade walks over and starts
snatching up the tags, muttering that his comrades are acting rather coldly in
front of the passing Airborne soldiers. Miller concludes that Ryan isn't among them
and in a minor fit of desperation, beings to question the passing soldiers, asking
if any of them know Ryan. He gets lucky with one man who is from Ryan's unit and
has lost his hearing from a grenade blast, so he yells his answers. The man tells
him that Ryan was assigned to a mixed unit that's guarding a bridge across the
Merderet River in the nearby village of Ramelle. Miller determines that the bridge
is of vital importance to the Army and the Germans because it will allow either to
drive their tank units across the water.The squad sets out again. They spot two
dead GIs in a field and confirm that none of them are Ryan. Miller and Horvath spot
a machine gun nest near a partially destroyed radar dish. Though it would be
easier, as Reiben suggests, to keep their distance from the machine gun and slip
quietly around it, Miller resolves to take out the German's position so that the
next Allied unit will not be surprised and killed. The squad is opposed to the
plan, but he won't relent, and gives them their assignments. Upham is instructed to
stay behind with their gear. The squad attacks the machine gun emplacement, while
Upham watches through one of Jackson's rifle scopes. When the skirmish is over, the
men yell frantically for Upham to bring their gear. When Upham reaches them, he
sees that Wade has been shot several times in the lower chest and is rapidly
bleeding to death. The men frantically try to save his life but Wade dies, saying
he wants to go home. One of the Germans (Joerg Stadler) is captured alive and in
retribution, the squad rushes around him, beating him. Miller is undecided how to
dispose of the German POW, and orders that he dig graves for Wade and the two GIs
they saw in the field. When Upham protests that prisoners aren't to be treated like
slaves, Miller coldly orders Upham to help the German. As the German digs the
graves, Miller sits off to one side where he cries, his right hand shaking again.
He slowly recovers his composure and returns to the squad.Miller's squad wants to
kill the remaining German, excepting Upham, who has mildly befriended the German
while he dug the graves. The German begs for his life, insisting he loves America,
saying \"Fuck Hitler!!\". The men are unmoved and prepare their weapons to kill him
when Miller intervenes. He blindfolds the German and, to the astonishment of the
squad, lets the man walk off, directing Upham to tell him to surrender to the next
Allied unit. Reiben in particular is offended by Miller's compassion and threatens
to desert, saying that their mission has gotten two of their comrades killed.
Horvath orders Reiben to fall into formation and threatens to shoot him. The entire
squad begins to argue heatedly and Miller suddenly asks Upham the total of the pool
on him. Miller reveals that he's an English composition teacher in a small
Pennsylvania town. The men stop arguing, completely astonished. Miller says the war
has changed him and he's not sure if his wife will recognize him and if he'll be
able to resume his former life when he returns home. He reasons that if finding and
bringing Ryan back ensures that he'll be able to get home sooner, then it's his job
to complete the mission. The squad finishes burying Wade and the other GIs
together.The exhausted squad approaches Ramelle. While crossing a field, they spot
a German half-track. Miller orders everyone to take cover while the vehicle passes.
The half-track is suddenly hit by bazooka fire. Miller's squad is momentarily
confused, uncertain who is firing, but moves in and kills Germans as they attempt
to escape the destroyed vehicle. A small group of American soldiers emerge from
their positions in the field and identify themselves as paratroopers from various
Airborne units. One of them identifies himself as Pvt James Ryan (Matt Damon) .In
the ruins of the village of Ramelle, Miller's squad learns that Ryan and his
comrades are guarding one of two remaining bridges across the Merderet River. Their
commanding officer had been killed a few days before. Miller tells Ryan that his
three brothers are dead and that he's been given a ticket home. Ryan is devastated
by the news of his family but refuses to leave, saying that it's his duty to stay
with his unit and defend the bridge until relief arrives. Ryan says his mother
would understand his desire to remain at the bridge with the \"only brothers [he]
has left.\" Miller can't change Ryan's mind. Miller and Horvath reflect on Ryan's
refusal and they decide to stay and help the unit defend the bridge.The half-track
they destroyed was part of a German probe to investigate the forces guarding the
bridge so the unit knows the Germans will mount a large assault. Miller inventories
their few remaining weapons and supplies and outlines a plan to lure German tanks
on the main street of Ramelle, where the rubble from destroyed buildings creates a
narrow choke point that will channel the armor and German troops into a bottleneck
and
allow their unit to flank the Germans. Their plan includes Reiben riding out on a
German half-track motorcycle to lure the German unit into the bottleneck. Miller
suggests they improvise \"sticky bombs,\" socks stuffed with Composition B
explosives and coated with grease. They'll use the sticky bombs to blast the treads
off one of the tanks, turning it into a roadblock. Upham is given the job of
running ammunition to the two Browning machine gun positions manned by Mellish and
101st paratrooper Parker (Demetri Goritsas). Jackson and Parker take position in
the church tower to provide sniper cover and for Parker to stand as a lookout,
reporting on the German approach.The men wait for the Germans to arrive, listening
to \"Tous es Partout\" by Edith Piaf, while Upham interprets -- his new comrades
seem more accepting of him and listen intently while he translates, even joking him
and recounting their own personal stories. Ryan tells Miller that he can remember
his brothers but he can't see their faces. Miller suggests he \"think of a
context\", something they've all done together. Miller tells Ryan when he wants to
remember his wife, he thinks of her trimming rosebushes. Ryan tells the story of
how he and his brothers nearly burned down the barn on their farm when they snuck
up on their oldest brother, Danny, while he was trying to have sex with a local
girl in the hayloft. James laughs and stops when he realizes that the incident was
the last time they were all together, over two years ago, before any of them had
gone to basic training. When Ryan asks Miller to tell him about his wife and the
rosebushes, Miller politely refuses, saying that memory is for him alone.The squad
feels the ground beginning to rumble, indicating that the German column has
arrived. Jackson signals from the church tower that there are two Panzer tanks
(which turn out to be Marder III self-propelled guns) and two Tiger I heavy tanks.
There are also at least 50 German troops. Miller orders everyone to their positions
and Reiben rides out to act as \"the rabbit\" to lure the Germans into town. One of
the Tiger tanks proceeds down the main street, and one of the soldiers attempts to
plant a sticky bomb on the tank. He waits too long and the bomb blows up, killing
him. The German troops following the tank are cut down by the soldiers and by mines
planted along the sides. Two men plant the Comp B bombs on the wheels of the Tiger,
blasting it's tread apart, eventually bringing it to a halt. When they advance on
the tank to take out it's crew, they are fired upon by a small German squad with a
20 millimeter flak cannon that brutally takes out several more men.Ryan and
Miller's squads open fire and shift positions several times during the battle.
Though they take the Germans by surprise, several of the men are killed. Jackson is
discovered in his perch and is hit by tank fire. Mellish and Corporal Henderson
(Maximilian Martini) man a .30 caliber machine gun to cut off any flanking action
by the Germans. Henderson is killed and then Mellish is attacked by a German
soldier (Mac Steinmeier) who overpowers him in hand-to-hand combat, slowly driving
a bayonet into Mellish's chest. Immediately outside the room on the stairs, Cpl.
Upham sits, frozen with terror, unable to move to rescue Mellish.The German soldier
kills Mellish and marches out, indifferent to the terrified Upham. Reiben is able
to flank the 20mm cannon and takes out its operators. Sgt. Horvath is wounded
during this time when he and another soldier corner each other. They each chuck
helmets at each other, then shoot each other with their pistols. The German soldier
here is killed and Horvath is injured. He grabs Upham and retreats when Miller
orders everyone to cross the bridge to their \"Alamo\" position, where they'll make
their last stand. The surviving 60-ton Tiger tank follows, unstoppable despite
Horvath shooting several bazooka rockets at it. Horvath is shot in the chest as he
pulls back and dies a few minutes later. Miller prepares to destroy the bridge when
a shell from the Tiger hits the building behind him, blowing the detonator out of
his hands. He staggers across the bridge to retrieve it and is shot in the chest by
the same German soldier (Joerg Stadler) he'd set free at the radar station. Upham
witnesses the shooting while hiding behind a pile of rubble.Miller falls, unable to
continue. He draws his .45 pistol and begins to shoot vainly at the Tiger tank,
which has begun to cross the bridge. After a few shots, the tank impossibly
explodes. A small squadron of P-51 Mustang fighters suddenly zoom into view, having
bombed the tank and several enemy targets. Reiben and Ryan rush to Miller's side
and call for a medic. Upham, still on the other side of the bridge, is undetected
by the enemy squad. He reveals himself and takes the entire squad prisoner. The man
who shot Miller recognizes Upham and calls him by name. After a moment's
hesitation, Upham fires his weapon for the first time, killing the man. The
soldier's body thumps to the ground and Upham sharply orders the rest of the
prisoners to disperse.As Miller lays dying, Ryan tells him that the Mustangs
are \"tank busters.\" Miller calls them \"Angels on our shoulders.\" He beckons
Ryan closer and with his dying breath, tells him \"Earn this... earn it.\" In a
voiceover, General George Marshall's voice reads a letter to Ryan's mother,
informing her that her son is returning home. He quotes a passage from Lincoln's
letter about the cost of war.Ryan stands looking at Miller's body. The camera
focuses on Ryan's young face as it morphs into Ryan in the present. He is standing
at Captain Miller's grave. He tells Miller that he hopes he's lived up to Miller's
wish and been worthy of all that Miller and his men did for him. He asks his wife
to tell him that he's led a good life and that he's a good man. The elder Ryan
(Harrison Young) salutes Miller's grave. An American flag back-lighted by the
afternoon sun gently flaps in the breeze.\n", "\nWilliam Munny (Clint Eastwood) is
a widower with two young children. He was once a very vicious gunfighter, but after
marrying, gave up gunfighting, drinking, and most other vices. His wife died of
smallpox in 1878, but he continues to try to eke out a living with his children on
their hog farm, and to try to be the kind of man he believes his late wife would
want him to be. It is now 1880.The town of Big Whiskey, Wyoming is ruled rather
arbitrarily by a sheriff named Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman). Two cowboys,
Davey (Rob Campbell) and Mike (David Mucci) are spending their leave at a brothel
owned by Skinny Dubois (Anthony James). One of the women, Delilah, makes an
offhanded comment that Mike perceives as an insult, so he attacks her with a knife,
scarring her face. Skinny and the de facto madam, Strawberry Alice (Frances Fisher)
hold them until Little Bill can arrive. The women want Davey and Mike to hang, but
Little Bill decides that since they did not murder Delilah, they should be horse-
whipped instead. However, Skinny is more concerned with potential loss of business
due to Delilah's disfigurement. So Little Bill decrees that instead of being
horsewhipped, the men will have to give Skinny some horses. This outrages the women
even more, and afterward they meet privately and pool all their resources to offer
a reward to anyone who will kill the two attackers.We meet Munny on his farm trying
to deal with some sick hogs. It quickly becomes clear that he is not a very good
hog farmer, as he repeatedly falls in the mud when trying to grab a hog. In the
midst of this he has a visitor, a young man calling himself the Scofield Kid (Jaimz
Woolvett), who knows Munny by reputation and would like his help in killing Davey
and Mike in return for half the reward money. Munny makes it clear that he is not
interested because, since marrying his late wife, he doesn't do the things he used
to do anymore. But after the Kid leaves, Munny goes back to his bumbling attempts
at tending hogs, and begins to have second thoughts. He sets a can on a tree stump
and begins firing at it with his pistol, without hitting it. Finally he goes in the
house and gets his shotgun, and blows the can away on the first shot.Back in Big
Whiskey, Davey and Mike show up with the horses for Skinny. The women throw stones
and horse manure at them. Mike has never shown any remorse at any point, but Davey
seems genuinely sorry about what happened to Delilah. He pointedly tells Skinny
that one of the horses is not for him, and then offers it to Delilah. The women
only throw more manure.Realizing that he will need help in the tracking down the
wayward cowboys, Munny decides to contact his former partner, Ned Logan (Morgan
Freeman). He says goodbye to his kids, telling them if they need anything to see
Ned's common law wife, Sally Two Trees. After several bumbling and unsuccessful
attempts to mount his horse, he finally mounts successfully and rides to Ned's.
Sally, apparently recognizing that whatever Munny has in mind cannot end well, just
glares at him without speaking the entire time he is there. If looks could kill,
not only Munny and Ned but the entire movie audience would be dead by the end of
the scene. But as it is, the two men ride off in pursuit of the Kid. Eventually
they catch him, and soon discern that he is severely nearsighted and can't see a
target more than 50 yards away.The first to arrive in Big Whiskey in pursuit of the
reward is a gray-haired Englishman known as English Bob (Richard Harris). We first
meet him traveling on a train with his biographer, named Beauchamp (Saul Rubinek).
President Garfield has just been shot (which, of course, occurred in 1881, meaning
that some months have passed since the original attack on Delilah), and Bob is
lecturing his fellow-passengers on the benefits of monarchy over democracy
(despite the Russian Tsar also being assassinated earlier that same year). He and
Beauchamp arrive in Big Whiskey, where Little Bill catches him concealing a gun. He
brutally beats and kicks Bob until he is nearly unconscious, then throws both him
and Beauchamp in jail. At the jail, Little Bill debunks many of the stories Bob has
told Beauchamp about his exploits. Soon Beauchamp is out of his cell and working as
Little Bill's biographer rather than Bob's. Little Bill finally puts Bob on a train
out of town. Munny and his companions see the train carrying English Bob go by as
they approach town.A torrential downpour begins, and by the time the Munny party
reaches town, Munny is sick with fever. Arriving at the saloon, Ned and the Kid go
upstairs to engage the services of the prostitutes, but Munny doesn't do that sort
of thing anymore and remains downstairs. Little Bill sizes Munny up as an out-of-
towner after the reward money, and beats and kicks him in a similar way to what he
did to English Bob, has him thrown out into the street, and sends his deputies
upstairs after Ned and the Kid. Ned and the Kid escape through a window, manage to
get Munny onto his horse, and ride out of town, where Ned nurses Munny back to
health with the help of some of the prostitutes.By the time Munny has regained his
health, the rain has stopped but there is snow on the ground. In the next scene the
snow is gone, meaning some time has been elapsing as Munny's partners have scouted
out their targets. In that next scene, we see Davey with a group of cowboys chasing
a calf. A shot rings out, hitting Davey's horse, which falls over, breaking the
man's leg and pinning him to the ground. Ned fired the shot, but now he can't bring
himself to finish the man off, and the Kid can't see that far, so Munny fires
several shots and finally hits him. As Davey lies dying, he complains of being
thirsty. Munny calls out to the other cowboys to give the man a drink, and promises
not to shoot. They do, and Munny is true to his word.Ned has had enough of killing
and leaves his companions to return home, but is captured by Little Bill's men, and
we see him being interrogated by Little Bill. Men are also assigned to protect
Mike. Munny and the Kid wait outside the house where Mike and his guards are holed
up. When Mike comes out to use the outhouse, the Kid waits until he is finished and
then shoots him. But the Kid can't deal with the fact that he has killed a man (he
has boasted repeatedly of having killed five men, but now admits that this was his
first), and resolves to never kill again, telling Munny, \"I'm not like you.\"
Munny has him drink some whiskey, but it doesn't help.One of the prostitutes brings
the reward money and informs them that Ned has been killed, after revealing Munny's
identity. Munny sends the Kid home with the reward money, telling him to leave his
and Ned's shares with his children and take the rest and use it to buy some good
spectacles. He then rides toward town, drinking whiskey from a bottle as he goes.
Outside the saloon, he sees Ned's body upright in an open casket, with a sign
saying that this is what happens to assassins in this town.Munny enters the saloon,
where most of the townsmen have gathered. He asks who owns the establishment, and
when Skinny identifies himself, Munny tells the men near him to move away, and then
shoots him. Little Bill calls him a coward for shooting an unarmed man, but Munny
replies, \"He should have armed himself, if he's going to decorate his saloon with
my friend.\" He then tells those near Little Bill to move away. His shotgun
misfires, but he throws it at Little Bill, draws his pistol and shoots him, and
shoots several other men attempting to draw guns on him; some of them get shots off
before Munny kills them, but none hit him.He then tells everyone who doesn't want
to be killed to leave, and all who are able to leave do so. He goes to the bar and
helps himself to more whiskey. Beauchamp was not able to leave because of a body
lying on top of him. Munny has him give him a rifle lying nearby, which he loads.
Beauchamp tries to engage him in conversation about gunfighting, but Munny's
response frightens him into leaving as well. Little Bill turns out to still be
alive, but Munny hears him cock his pistol, and steps on his hand before he can get
a shot off.As Munny aims his rife at Little Bill, the latter complains that he
doesn't deserve this. Munny replies, \"'Deserves' has nothing to do with it.\"
Little Bill then says, \"I'll see you in hell, William Munny.\" Munny simply
replies, \"Yeah,\" and shoots him. As he walks to the saloon door, one of the men
he shot previously moans in pain, and he shoots him again.At the door, he announces
that he is coming out, that he will kill anyone he sees, and if anyone shoots at
him, he will kill not only the shooter but his wife and all his friends and burn
his house down. He walks to his horse, and no one shoots. He mounts his horse and
as he rides past Ned's body, he announces that if they don't bury Ned right, or if
they harm the prostitutes in any way, he'll come back and kill every man in the
town.As the closing credits roll, we learn that Munny subsequently moved with his
children to San Francisco, where he \"prospered in dry goods.\"\n", "\nIn the
spring of 1936 an exploration party penetrates thick jungle on the South American
continent. When the group's leader stops to examine map fragments, another of the
group pulls a gun. The leader, hearing the click as the turncoat cocks the pistol's
hammer, pulls out a bullwhip and disarms the man, sending him fleeing back through
the jungle. The man who expertly wields the bullwhip is Dr. Henry \"Indiana\"
Jones, Jr. (Harrison Ford), an archaeologist with a reputation for heavy-handed
field work that takes him around the globe in search of ancient treasures.Indy and
his remaining companion, Sapito (Alfred Molina), enter a dank and oppressively vast
cave, where a competitor of his, Forrestal, disappeared. Inside the cave are
several traps rigged by the ancient people who hid a small, valuable statue there
-- one of the traps is found to have impaled Forrestal. Jones finds the antechamber
where the statue sits atop a pedestal and is protected by an elaborate system of
pressure-sensitive stones that release deadly darts from the surrounding walls.
Jones avoids the booby-trapped stones and makes it to the idol. He very deftly
replaces the idol with a bag of sand, judging the weight of the treasure by sight.
However, the weight is not precise, the pedestal sinks and the chamber begins to
collapse. Jones runs, narrowly avoiding the darts. When he arrives at a bottomless
pit he & Sapito had crossed earlier using Jones' bullwhip, Sapito crosses safely
but refuses to give Jones his whip unless he gives him the idol. Indy throws him
the idol but Sapito drops the whip and runs off. Jones manages to jump across and
pull himself up and escape under the stone door that closes. He finds Sapito dead,
killed by the same trap that killed Forrestal. Jones retrieves the idol and must
once again flee while a large boulder rushes toward him. He leaps out of the cave's
entrance just as the boulder hits, sealing it.Seemingly safe, Indy is cornered by
the Hovitos, the local tribe, who are led by Dr. Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman), an
arrogant French archaeologist who is a longtime rival and enemy of Indy's. Indy
hands Belloq his pistol and the idol. When Belloq raises the idol and the Hovitos
bow, Indy flees and is rescued by Jock (Fred Sorenson), flying a seaplane, though
Indy, an admitted ophidiophobe, isn't pleased to find Jock's pet snake Reggie in
the cockpit with him.Back stateside, Indy teaches an archaeology class and is still
upset over the loss of the statue, which he surmises Belloq is taking to Marrakesh
to sell on the black market. Indy has found pieces he feels will pay for a trip to
Marrakesh to find Belloq, but Indy's friend Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) dashes
that hope by informing him that two Army Intelligence officers want to talk to him
about Abner Ravenwood, his former teacher, who was his friend until Indy broke up
with his daughter, Marion (Karen Allen).The Army officers are concerned because
they've intercepted a German cable concerning a mammoth archaeological dig in the
Egyptian desert not far from Cairo. When they read the cable, Indy and Marcus
realize the Nazis have discovered Tanis, an ancient city long since buried in a
gigantic sandstorm in 980 B.C. and the possible burial site of the Ark of the
Covenant. The Ark was built by ancient Hebrews to hold the stone tablets on which
Moses inscribed the Ten Commandments. Indy quickly explains to them the need for an
object mentioned in the communique, the headpiece to the Staff of Ra, which will
reveal the location of the Ark at the Nazi excavation. The Army men are impressed
by Indy's and Marcus' knowledge of the Ark but Indy tells them the man most
qualified is Ravenwood, who has been living somewhere in Asia for several years.
When Indy shows the agents a picture of the Ark, it depicts it using unimaginable
destructive power. Marcus also says very gravely that any army that carries the Ark
into battle is invincible.Indy flies to Nepal (followed by a Nazi agent, Toht
(Ronald Lacey)) to speak to Marion Ravenwood, who runs a restaurant and bar (and
who can outdrink anyone) because he needs the headpiece to the Staff of Ra. Marion,
still bitter over their breakup, nonetheless accepts when Indy offers her $3,000
and the promise of more when they return stateside. She is cryptic about the
headpiece, and after Indy leaves she reveals that she'd been wearing the headpiece
on a chain around her neck. She looks it over thoughtfully and places it on a small
wooden sculpture on the table.Toht and several Sherpa heavies enter the bar and
hold Marion hostage, with
Toht ready to torture her for the headpiece. Indy returns and a firefight erupts
during which the fireplace is dislodged and the building begins burning down. Toht
finds the headpiece but when he grabs it he's badly burned -- leaving an image of
one side of the headpiece branded on his hand. He jumps out a window, trying to
cool his hand in the snow. Outside the burning tavern, Marion tells Indy that she's
his partner in the venture until he can pay her.The two fly to Egypt to see Indy's
pal, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), one of the country's most successful excavators,
who is working on the Nazi site and who reveals that the Nazis are aided by a
French archaeologist (Belloq). Thought the dig has uncovered much of Tanis, Indy
knows that they'll never find the Ark's location without the headpiece. Sallah says
he knows a man who can read the ancient inscriptions that give the precise
measurements of the staff.Later, while shopping at a Cairo bazaar, Indy and Marion
are attacked by sword-wielding Arabs working for Nazi agents. Indy fights them off
but in the confusion Marion is trapped in a large basket and taken by two of the
terrorists. The effort to track her down is held up by a man brandishing a sword in
intimidating fashion. The swordsman is casually shot down in short order by a
thoroughly unimpressed Indy. Soon Indy spots a basket carried to a truck filled
with explosives and is fired on by a submachine-gun-wielding assailant. His Nazi
commander orders the Arabs to take off, but Indy shoots them and the truck crashes,
exploding and destroying the basket.Disconsolate over losing Marion, Indy drowns
his sorrows in alcohol at a nearby tavern but is met by more Nazi agents who escort
him to a table where he finds Belloq, who gleefully talks about finding the Ark.
Indy, no longer caring whether he lives or dies, reaches for his sidearm as Arabs
inside pull rifles -- only to see Sallah's large brood of children rush in,
surround Indy and escort him out.Sallah takes Indy to see the shaman who is reading
the headpiece's inscriptions after both men have learned that Belloq and his
Wehrmacht aide, Colonel Dietrich (Wolf Kahler), have obtained a copy of the
headpiece. (Neither man is aware that it is a duplicate traced from Toht's burned
hand.) The shaman reveals two critical facts: first, that the headpiece gives the
precise height of the Staff of Ra, and second, that the staff the Nazis used was
too long -- so their excavation is over a mile away from the Ark's actual burial
site, which is known as the Well of Souls.Infiltrating the mammoth site, Indy is
lowered into an underground map room containing a precisely detailed miniature of
the city. Using the Ra headpiece, he identifies the precise location of the Well of
Souls. Sneaking further around the gigantic camp, Indy is shocked to find Marion,
alive but bound and gagged. Indy starts to free her, but when she reveals that the
Nazis keep asking about him and what he knows, he realizes he can't cut her loose
without revealing his presence to the Nazis.Late that afternoon Indy and Sallah
sneak a digging party of their own to the actual location of the Well of Souls.
Late into the night they finally reveal the roof of the chamber, and to Indy's
horror it is filled with dangerous snakes. Indy clears an area of snakes with
burning torches, then lowers himself into the chamber and burns many of the snakes
alive with flaming gasoline. Sallah follows and the two eventually find the
gigantic stone chest containing the Ark. They remove it and place it into a crate.
Just after Sallah hoists himself out, the rope is dropped into the hole and Belloq
appears with Dietrich. Belloq brags about again stealing Indy's find and how he'll
seal him in the chamber to die. Before the roof is closed up, Toht throws Marion
into the chamber, over Belloq's protests.While Marion and Indy fight off the
snakes, Indy notices a wall with holes that snakes are crawling through. He climbs
a mammoth statue and with all his might breaks it from its foundation and it
crashes through the wall. The two find an opening to the surface, and discover the
airfield at the excavation camp, where a Nazi flying wing is waiting to fly the Ark
out. The two sneak up to the plane, but Indy is attacked by a mechanic and a
prolonged fight ensues that is joined by a burly German soldier who pummels Indy
before being punched backward and shredded to bits by the plane's propeller. Marion
seizes one of the plane's machine guns and opens fire on Nazi soldiers, in the
process setting a fuel dump aflame. The fire destroys the area and the plane
explodes, but Indy and Marion escape.Dietrich orders his men to transport the Ark
by truck to Cairo. When Sallah finds Indy and Marion, he is overjoyed they're alive
and tells them of Dietrich's plan. Indy takes a horse and pursues the convoy,
seizing the truck containing the Ark and surviving a brutal chase and fight with
Nazi soldiers to drive the Ark to safety. In the melee, Indy forces Dietrich and
Belloq's car off the road, delaying their pursuit.He and Marion board a tramp
steamer that will take them to a safer location, but a Nazi submarine captures the
ship. The ship's captain tells Belloq and Dietrich to take the Ark and leave Marion
behind for their own amusement, Dietrich takes Marion aboard the sub with the Ark
anyway. Indy suddenly appears as the sub leaves and boards it while the ship's crew
cheer him on. The sub crosses the Mediterranean Sea and arrives at a small island
in the Aegean that houses a German naval yard. Indy sees Marion being escorted off
the sub and knocks out a sentry, stealing his uniform. Belloq, Dietrich, Toht and
Marion all march inland. When they enter a canyon, Indy holds them all at bay with
a German rocket launcher, threatening to destroy the Ark. Belloq calls Indy's
bluff, knowing Indy wants to know what the Ark contains as much as anyone. Indy
finds he can't carry out his threat, and is seized.At an elaborate ceremony atop
the mountain, Indy and Marion, tied to a pole, can only watch as the Ark is opened,
but it contains nothing but sand, the remains of the stone tablets. No sooner is it
opened, however, than its spirits suddenly appear. Indy, remembering an ancient
code that requires people to close their eyes and not look at the now-freed
spirits, yells for Marion to do the same. The two withstand the mayhem that ensues
as the energy of the Ark surges forth and its spirits attack the now-terrified
Nazis, killing the entire contingent. Toht and Dietrich's faces melt as they scream
in horror. Belloq himself explodes. The energy mass surges high into the night sky,
carrying every corpse toward the heavens, before returning to the Ark and resealing
it, leaving Indy and Marion drained but freed.Weeks later Indy and Marcus feud with
the Army officers over the whereabouts of the Ark, Indy angry that the Army has no
idea what it has in the Ark -- though it appears they in fact do understand what
they have.However, the Ark is sealed in a wooden crate, stamped with a government
serial number and simply wheeled into a large warehouse containing thousands of
similar-looking crates.\n", "\nPhiladelphia Pennsylvania, home to the number one
underdog fighter, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stalone). The date is November 25, 1975,
Rocky is fighting Spider Rico in a prize fight at a local church arena. The fight
goes smooth through the first couple of rounds. Before beginning the next round,
Rocky and Spider get up from their corners after receiving advice from their
corner-men and the fight continues. After a couple of punches, Spider grabs a hold
of Rocky and headbutts him in the face. The crowd goes restless on Spider. Rocky,
after recovering from the hit, goes after Spider and finishes him off. The bell
rings signaling the end of the fight and Rocky is pronounced the winner. Rocky and
Spider both leave the ring and head back to the locker room. One woman loser in the
arena audience shouts at Rocky \"you're a bum!\" as he leaves the ring. In the
locker room, Rocky and Spider get their prize money for the fight in which Spider
Rico gets $17.80 after taxes and gym expenses, Rocky's winning prize is $40.50
after taxes and expenses. Rocky approaches and finds Spider lying on a bed where he
tells Rocky that he was \"lucky\".Rocky walks home in the cold seedy night through
the trash-strewn streets of Frankford Avenue in the crime-ridden Kensington
neighborhood after the fight and arrives home to a small one-room apartment on a
side street to feed his pet turtles, Cuff and Link. He grabs a can of the turtle
food and recites himself a line regarding the item into the mirror. He then looks
at a picture of himself from his youth and then grabs some ice from the freezer and
puts it on the cut that Spider gave him and lies down on his bed.The next morning,
Rocky visits the local pet shop where Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire) works and talks
about the turtle food that he bought. Adrian, being shy and quiet, doesn't respond
to Rocky even after he tells her a joke about the food. Her boss (Jane Maria
Robbins) commands her to clean out the cat cages and she walks away not paying
attention to Rocky.Rocky is walking down at the docks with a stick in his hand
whistling, and out to collect money for his boss Gazzo, a local loan shark. He
finds a man riding a forklift and when the man sees Rocky, he drives away. Rocky
chases him on foot when the man runs from the forklift and Rocky catches up to him
demanding Gazzo's money totaling $200 or he'll have to break one of the guy's
thumbs. He tells Rocky that he doesn't have enough money but offers him his coat
and around $130. Rocky takes the money, but refuses to punish the deadbeat guy and
instead gives him a warning.A little later, Tony Gazzo (Joe Spinell) and his
driver/bodyguard Buddy (Joe Sorbello), pick up Rocky on a bridge near the docks
and Rocky tells him about the man and gives Gazzo what money the deadbeat had on
him. Gazzo gives Rocky $20 for his collection assignment and tells him about more
collection jobs in the coming days for Gazzo's other clients. The thug, Buddy, lets
out a comment about Rocky's face as he and Gazzo get out of the car to talk in
private. On the street, the calm but still angry Gazzo asks Rocky why he didn't
break the man's thumb like he asked and Rocky tries to defend himself but Gazzo
doesn't believe him. Gazzo sternly reprimands Rocky to do what he tells him to do
from now on because it is bad for Gazzo's reputation in the neighborhood. Gazzo
leaves Rocky by the side of the road and gets back in his car. Buddy further
insults Rocky by calling him a \"meat-bag\" before driving away and Rocky angrily
shouts: \"I shoulda broke YOUR thumbs!.\"Later that day, Rocky goes to Mickey's Gym
only to find out that his locker has been rented out to new-comer Dipper Brown, and
that his stuff is now hanging on a hook on \"Skid-Row\". Mike the janitor tells
Rocky about it and tells him where Mickey is. Rocky sees Mick (Burgess Meredith), a
76-year-old elderly and temperamental former lightweight boxer, now a trainer,
working with Dipper. Rocky goes to ask about the locker and Mick admits that Dipper
is an up-and-comer and Rocky is nothing. Echoing what the woman heckler told Rocky
the previous night, Mickey calls Rocky a \"bum\". Angry and dejected, Rocky leaves
the gym.Rocky goes back to see Adrian at the pet store which is about to close for
the night. Rocky asks her if she wants to go to see a basketball game, but she
refuses the invitation. He then asks to walk her home and she again turns him down.
He warns her about the people walking the streets at night and suggests that she
take a taxi home.Rocky then goes to the Lucky 7 Tavern for a beer or two where he
sees his best friend and Adrian's older brother, Paulie (Burt Young), cursing up a
storm in the restroom after the mirror has been broken. Rocky tells him about
Adrian and he shouts at Rocky that she's a loser and can't take care of herself.
Paulie asks Rocky if he would like to take Adrian out on a date since she seldom
leaves their house, and Rocky agrees. Paulie takes his beer and leaves. Rocky
remains sitting at the bar drinking his own beer and watches TV and sees that the
heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) is on TV.
Rocky and the bartender talk about him until Rocky leaves.On his way home, Rocky
notices a group of teenage kids standing on the corner drinking and smoking
cigarettes and sees that one of them is Marie (Jodi Letizia), an underage teen girl
he knows. He pulls her out of the group and walks her home. On the way, he tells
her about respect and the kind of people that she should be hanging out with. After
reaching her house, she calls Rocky \"Creepo\" and he heads back home.The next day
in New York City, Apollo Creed and his trainer Tony are meeting with Miles Jergens
(Thayer David), a fight promoter, discussing the possible fighters for him to match
in the biggest fighting event set to take place on New Year's Day. When it looks
like there are no possible fighters, Apollo has a epiphany: he'll take on a small
time underdog fighter, giving him a shot at the title. Everyone agrees with the
idea and the plan is set in motion.Meanwhile, Rocky is dropped off at his house by
Gazzo and Buddy after his latest collection job, and they talk about Adrian. Rocky
wonders how they knew about him and Adrian. Gazzo mildly replies: \"I hear
things\". Buddy further insults Rocky by calling Adrian a retard and how retards
like the zoo and Rocky attempts to lunge at him, but Gazzo separates them. He gives
Rocky $50 for his date with Adrian. Before leaving, Buddy tells Rocky to take
Adrian to the zoo and speeds off.At Apollo's office, he and Tony are looking
through a book of local club fighters of Philadelphia and they come across Rocky
who seems to be the perfect fighter. Apollo takes a liking to his nickname, \"The
Italian Stallion.\"That same evening, on the night of Thanksgiving, Rocky and
Paulie are walking home and Paulie keeps imploring Rocky to get him a job with
Gazzo as a collector, because he hates his current job at a meat packing factory.
They reach Paulie's house where Adrian is making Thanksgiving dinner. She comes out
of the kitchen to greet Paulie but doesn't realize Rocky is with him. Rocky says
'hello' and she walks back into the kitchen. Paulie goes to talk to her and she
runs into her bedroom embarrassed. Paulie gets her out and tells to go out with
Rocky for the night, but Adrian claims that it's Thanksgiving and she's cooking a
turkey. Paulie goes to the kitchen and grabs the turkey out of the oven and throws
it out the back door. Adriana begins to cry and Paulie yells at her to go out.
Rocky tells him to forget the date but Paulie instructs him to go talk to her.
Rocky walks over to her door and talks to her through the door but doesn't get any
feedback. He asks her if she wants to go out with him and have a good time and she
opens the door all dressed up ready to go.On Paulie's advice, Rocky and Adrian head
for the local ice rink. They look around and see that it's empty and the
maintenance man (George Memmoli) tells them that the rink is closed for the night.
Rocky bribes him $10 and they have the rink for themselves for 10 minutes. Adrian's
skating as Rocky is running along side her telling her about the fights he's been
in and how it's special to him.After their date, Rocky and Adrian go back to his
apartment where she is hesitant about going inside. Rocky implores her that its
okay and she follows behind him. Inside his apartment, Adrian feels uncomfortable
admitting that she's never been in a man's apartment before. Rocky admits he
doesn't feel comfortable neither and he's kind of nervous too. She wants to leave
but Rocky stops her, trying to cheer her up giving her compliments. He tells her
that she wants to kiss her and he does and the two end up kissing in his corner by
the door.The next day, Rocky heads for Mickey's Gym and Mick tells him that
Jergens' office called, possibly asking for sparring partners. Rocky says the same
thing to himself and a frustrated Mick yells at him. Rocky asks why after all this
time Mick's been giving him the cold shoulder, but Mick refuses to reply. Rocky
demands to know and Mick yells at him across the gym that Rocky had the talent and
the heart to be a great fighter but instead became a \"leg-breaker\" for the local
loan shark and bookie Tony Gazzo. Rocky defends his occupation and that it's a
living, but Mick retorts that it's a waste of life and he again calls Rocky \"a
bum\".Rocky goes to see Jergens and tells him that he is willing to help out with
the sparring training with Creed and tells him that he'd give it his all. Jergens
then offers Rocky a proposition into fighting with Creed on on New Year's Day,
however, Rocky declines. Jergens tells Rocky that it was him that Creed chose to
fight and that its a once in a lifetime shot to win the heavyweight boxing title.
Rocky takes a minute to consider it.Back at Paulie's house, Rocky, Adrian, and
Paulie watch a TV interview with Apollo and Rocky about the upcoming fight and they
see that Apollo's been taunting Rocky through the whole session. Paulie tells Rocky
that he should break his legs and that he should be able to win the fight. Rocky
says that the taunts don't bother him. Adrian tells Paulie has a good chance of
winning. Paulie gets up and storms out of the room cursing loudly. Rocky gets ready
to leave and Adrian follows him outside. Before leaving, Rocky admits to Adrian
that the stuff said on TV actually hurt him inside.The following evening, Rocky
meets with Gazzo outside Pat's Steakhouse grill where they get some steak
sandwiches to eat and to talk about Rocky being chosen to fight Apollo. Gazzo gives
Rocky $500 for training expenses and wishes him the best.A few hours later, Mick,
having heard about Rocky's shot at the title goes to see Rocky at his apartment and
he begins telling him about his old days as a featherweight fighter during the
1930s and all the injuries he endured. He tells Rocky that he wants to become a
manager for him. Rocky tells him that he asked for help years ago but Mick turned
him down. A defeated Mick gets ready to leave as Rocky is sitting in his bathroom.
After Mick leaves, Rocky starts shouting to Mick about his asking to help him. Mick
is half-way up the street and Rocky runs up to him and apologizes to him.Early the
next morning, Rocky gets up at 4:00 a.m. and prepares for a morning run. He drinks
a half-dozen raw eggs. Rocky starts his run through the Philly streets and at the
end, attempts to run up the stairs of the Philadelphia Art Museum but can't reach
it all the way because he's out of shape and out of breath.Later, Rocky goes to see
Paulie at the meat processing plant where he works. They talk about Adrian, with
Paulie, speaking derogatorily, asks if Rocky is sleeping with his sister. Rocky
becomes annoyed to the point where he admits the truth about why he can't talk to
Gazzo about giving Paulie a job working for him: Paulie talks too much. Rocky says
he's ready to leave because of the cold and the smell of the meat factory, a
frustrated Paulie begins hitting a huge side of beef hanging from the ceiling,
taunting Rocky. Rocky steps over and beings throwing punches into the meat,
breaking the ribs. Paulie jokes at Rocky saying if he did that to Apollo Creed he'd
be put in jail for murder. Rocky takes the meat that Paulie's prepared him for the
week and leaves.At Paulie's apartment, Adrian cares to Rocky's cut up hands from
hitting the meat. She begins to get intimate with him but he keeps backing her off,
telling her that there's no \"foolin' around\" during training. Adrian
near upset gets up and goes to the kitchen, Rocky gets up and follows her and
apologizes and they embrace.Rocky begins training with Mick and Mike the janitor at
the gym. Two girls walk in and ask for Rocky's autograph, Mick dismisses them
harshly and tells Rock that \"women weaken legs\" and to lay off \"the pet shop
dame\": Adrian. Rocky tells him that he really likes her, and Mick shouts back at
Rocky telling him to let her train him for women are a distraction to his training.
Rocky takes a second and agrees with Mick and will not fool around anymore.A few
days later, Rocky is jogging back to his apartment building where Adrian is waiting
on the steps with a surprise for him. She has purchased and given Rocky Butkus, the
big Bulldog Mastiff from the pet shop. Rocky begins jogging around with Butkus days
later. One day, Rocky and Butkus run to Paulie's workplace to find a TV news van in
the back. Rocky finds Paulie and he tells Rocky that he needs publicity but Rocky,
now mad, wanted privacy. Rocky and Paulie go inside and meet with the news reporter
and they ask Rocky for a demonstration on how he trains with the meat. He begins to
jab at the meat as the news camera looks onto him. Tony, Apollo's trainer, is
watching the interview and sees that Rocky means business.On Christmas Eve, Paulie
is walking home, clearly drunk. Rocky and Adrian are already there watching a
Christmas movie on TV. They start talking about Paulie about what he did with the
publicity stint back at the slaughterhouse. A drunken Paulie, overhearing the
conversation, enters the room and threatens the both of them to leave his house.
When they refuse to leave, Paulie grabs a baseball bat and threatens Rocky that
he'll break both his arms. He begins swinging at a lamp and then breaks the end
table next to Rocky and Adrian. Paulie begins ranting that he never done anything
wrong to Rocky and he even let him go out with his sister. Paulie then admits the
truth about why he hates Adrian so much and then begins smashing more things with
the bat. Paulie shouts at Adrian that she owes him, but Adrian yells back saying
that it is she who takes care of Paulie. Another insulting remark by Paulie about
Adrian sends her running to her room crying. Rocky angrily grabs Paulie ready to
punch him, but he quickly realizes that Paulie is too drunk and weak. Rocky lets go
of Paulie and walks into Adrian's room to comfort her. She asks Rocky if he'd like
a roommate and that she is moving out of Paulie's house.A couple of days later,
Rocky is at the gym training again with Mick and Mike. After the session, Mick
introduces Rocky to their cut-man Al Silvani. Rocky gets out of the ring as Mick
and Al talk, and he begins hitting a heavy bag. Paulie walks in and offers Rocky an
advertising job for him. Rocky tells him if he can make money off his name, do
it.The famous montage of the movie starts with Rocky running around Philadelphia,
then in the gym, hitting a speed-bag, doing push-ups and sit-ups. Then in the meat
factory as Rocky hits the meat once more. Rocky then runs up the stairs of the Art
Museum and this time, he is able to make it all the way to the top.The next night,
Rocky and Adrian are in bed at his apartment but Rocky can't sleep, he gets out of
bed, puts his coat on and walks to the Spectrum arena. Rocky stands in the center
of the ring and looks around to see that the place is well decorated and ready for
the fight. Jergens shows up and Rocky tells him how the stripes on his shorts are
wrong in the giant painting of him but Jergens dismisses it, saying he believes
Rocky is going to give the world an incredible show. Rocky goes back home as Adrian
slowly awakes as Rocky lays down on the bed upset. He tells her that he won't be
able to beat Apollo and how no one has ever gone the distance with him before.New
Years Day, 1976. On the night of the fight, Rocky and Apollo are both getting
prepared. When Rocky gets the cue that it's time, he leaves Adrian down at the
locker room as she wishes him good luck. Rocky starts making his way towards the
ring as some of the crowd cheers for him. Among the court-side crowd is Paulie with
a call-girl, as well as Gazzo with another woman at his side. When he reaches the
ring. Rocky, Mick and Mike watch as Apollo comes out dressed like George Washington
as a dedication to the American Bicentennial. He reaches the ring and dons an Uncle
Sam hat. Both fighters receive instructions and rules for the fight. They return to
their corners and wait for the bell. The fight begins and Apollo begins throwing
punches at Rocky but most of them miss. Apollo apparently isn't taking the fight
seriously as he begins to throw a hay-maker at Rocky but he dodges it and swings at
Apollo knocking him down. The crowd goes wild and Apollo gets back up and the fight
continues with the two of them throwing punches at each other and dodging most of
them.As the rounds progress, both Rocky and Apollo become increasingly cut-up and
bruised. Rocky's right eye is so swollen he can't open it. Apollo is getting tired
and hurt badly with Rocky throwing punches to the body. At Round 14, Apollo finally
knocks Rocky down and Mick instructs him to stay down until the count is up. Adrian
comes out of the locker room and watches the ring and believes in Rocky and hopes
he'll get up. Rocky gets back up and Apollo, dancing around the ring, sees with
distress that Rocky is standing and wants more. Apollo, now exhausted, throws a
punch a Rocky, but Rocky ducks and jabs him twice in his right chest breaking his
ribs. The bell rings signaling the end of the round and the fighters are brought
back to their corners. Rocky claims he can't see anything and tells Mick to cut him
in order to open his eye.The bell for the 15th and final round rings, and Rocky and
Apollo take their time until Apollo tags Rocky in the face. Rocky moves in as
Apollo is now protecting the right side of his ribs. More punches to the faces
occur on both of them until Rocky gets the last 10 seconds of the round and beats
Apollo senseless and pinning him to the ropes. By this time, the whole crowd is
cheering Rocky on by chanting his name over and over. The bell rings signaling the
end of the fight. Apollo tells Rocky that there won't be a rematch and Rocky
responds that he doesn't want one. The ring is stormed by reporters and both the
fighters managers. A reporter asks Rocky questions about the fight as Rocky shouts
for Adrian. While Adrian makes her way to the ring, Jergens announces that the
fight came out to be a draw and it was a split decision on who won. Apollo is
allowed to retain his status at the heavyweight champion and technically wins by
default. A blinded Rocky doesn't seem to hear, or be bothered by, the result of the
fight as he continues to shout for Adrian.Adrian makes it to ringside to see Paulie
being restrained from entering the ring. Adrian sneaks in and runs to Rocky, the
two embrace and declare their love for each other.\n", "\nElia Kazan,who directed
the Broadway play on which the black and white film is based, invited Marlon
Brando, the male lead, and Kim Hunter and Karl Malden, his supporting cast, to
repeat their Broadway triumphs in the film remake.Brando plays Stanley, a poor boy
who grew up tainted by ethnic slurs, made financially stable by the fortunes of the
second world war. He does well as a blue collar travelling salesman, moves to New
Orleans and marries Stella (Hunter), daughter of an Aristocratic MIssissippi family
anxious to escape the war;s invitable destruction of her family's land, wealth,
property and social status. Stanley has never met his sister-in-law Blanche, the
female lead of the play ,Vivien Leigh in the movie remake. Blanche arranges a visit
to see her sister in New Orleans and shows up on Stanley's doorstop obviously
annoyed that there is neither a guest bedroom for herself nor a master bedroom for
her sister and brother-in-law, in their cramped, dingy apartment in a bustling
quarter of the city. The tensions of wartime emergency cohabitation of family
members somehow forced to move in with each other in tight, cramped quarters
because of the fortunes of war are noted when it is obvious that Blanche and
Stanley immediately get on each others' nerves, especially when Blanche, who passes
herself off as the only Aristocrat in her new neighborhood, is the only one in her
new neighborhood who actually resorts to tough bar language and ethnic slurs in
passing conversation. This becomes no ordinary domestic quarrel when their tensions
escalate beyond a war of words to hurtful, spiteful deeds and then to climatic
physical violence. Hollywood icons Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh are given close,
tight photography in their lengthy scenes of escalating conflict, played with such
deep insight and such technical brilliance that the audience is given pause, from
moment to moment. to decide whether one really has a point and the other should
really be apprehended by the authorities. Stanley first wants to know why Blanche
seems to be planning to stay for life and what happened to his wife's claim on the
family fortune, land, property and social status. Blanche wants Stanley to give up
his weekly card game and his weekly bowling tournament with his friends including
Mitch (Malden), to stay at home always sweating in his dirtied work clothes because
he will have no place to wash and change with a lady in his house, sitting silent
like a statue, until he decides it is time to just turn his paycheck over to Stella
and move out so Blanche can rule the roost.\nWhen Blanche attracts the attention of
lonely Mitch who sees the remnants of her Aristocratic upbringing, Stanley
investigates, through a friend travelling in Mississippi, why his emotionally
disturbed, alcoholic, child molesting sister-in-law was fired from her job and
kicked out of her boarding house.
A telling interlude has Stanley striking Stella for interfering with his treatment
of Blanche. She escapes to the upstairs apartment of her landlady (Peg Hillias),
but is so dependent upon Stanley that she returns to him when he goes into the yard
and calls for her to come back. Things do not go well for Blanche when Stella goes
to the hospital to give birth to her child just after a teenage boy accuses her of
making improper advances when he came to her door to collect money for Stanley's
periodical subscription and Mitch dumps her. There is surrealistic moment, to be
individually sorted out by each viewer, when Blanche insists she is going to cut up
Stanley's face with the jagged edges of a broken liquor bottle and then insists he
is going to rape her. The play and the movie cuts from the blackout to a scene some
time later when Stella is putting her baby to sleep in the front yard, Stanley is
having his card game over, and authorities arrive from the local mental institution
to put Blanche away for life.The landlady calls Stella to the bathroom, where
Blanche is soaking up her cares in another hot water tub and wants the ladies to
dress her in her faded, fake finery so a nonexistent gentleman friend can escort
her on a nonexistent world cruise. Stella, Mitch and the landlady seem in agreement
that Blanche is an innocent flower ravaged by wartime whom Stanley destroyed with
his crude bullying.\n", "\nTracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) is a wealthy Main Line
Philadelphia socialite who divorced C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), a member of her
social set, because he did not measure up to her exacting standards. (He was an
alcoholic, and her lack of faith in him exacerbated his condition.) She is about to
marry nouveau riche \"man of the people\" George Kittredge (John Howard); the
wedding and its preparations form the backdrop for much of the movie.Spy magazine
publisher Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell) is eager to cover the wedding, and he enlists
Dexter, his former employee, to introduce reporter Macaulay \"Mike\" Connor (James
Stewart) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) as friends of the family so they
can report on the wedding. Tracy is not fooled but reluctantly agrees to let them
stay--after Dexter explains that Kidd has an innuendo-laden article about Tracy's
father, Seth (John Halliday), who, Tracy believes, is having an affair with a
dancer. Though Seth is separated from Tracy's mother Margaret (Mary Nash) and Tracy
harbors great resentment against him, she wants to protect her family's
reputation.Dexter is welcomed back with open arms by Margaret and Dinah (Virginia
Weidler), Tracy's teenage sister--much to Tracy's annoyance. In addition, Tracy
gradually discovers that Mike has admirable qualities. Thus, as the wedding nears,
Tracy finds herself torn between her fianc\u00e9, her ex-husband, and the
reporter.The night before the wedding, Tracy gets drunk for only the second time in
her life and takes an innocent swim with Mike. When George sees Mike carrying an
intoxicated Tracy into the house afterward, he thinks the worst. The next day, he
tells her that he was shocked and feels entitled to an explanation before going
ahead with the wedding. Tracy takes exception to his lack of faith in her and
breaks off the engagement. Then she realizes that all the guests have arrived and
are waiting for the ceremony to begin. Mike volunteers to marry her (much to Liz's
distress), but Tracy graciously declines. At this point, Dexter makes his bid for
her hand, which she accepts.(From Wikipedia)\n", "\nThe titles appear as a young
child babbles while picking through childhood mementos found in a cigar box.An
adult woman is recalling formative events of her childhood in the small Alabama
town of Macomb, that was \"a tired old town even in 1932\" when she \"first knew
it.\" They had recently been told they \"had nothing to fear but fear itself,\"
which refers to FDR's inaugural address of March 1933. She was six years old that
summer.Jean Louise \"Scout\" Finch (Mary Badham), wearing bib overalls and her hair
in bangs, greets Walter Cunningham, a farmer who is dropping off some hickory nuts.
She summons her father Atticus (Gregory Peck) to thank him. When Mr. Cunningham
leaves, Atticus explains that he is embarrassed to have to pay for \"some legal
work\" in this way.Their cook Calpurnia (Estelle Evans) wants Scout's older brother
Jem (Phillip Alford) to come in for breakfast, but he is sulking in his treehouse
because Atticus says he is \"too old to play football for the Methodists.\" Miss
Maudie (Rosemary Murphy) across the street assures them that he is respected as a
very skilled lawyer.In the collard patch of their neighbor they discover a boy a
little older than Scout. He is Dill (John Mosna), staying with his Aunt Stephanie
for the summer. They tell him about the neighbor two houses away they have never
seen. Jem describes him as a homicidal maniac of frightening appearance. Dill's
Aunt Stephanie (Alice Ghostly) adds to the story.At 5:00 o'clock they walk to meet
Atticus, returning home, and pass by elderly Mrs. Dubose, who rails at them from
her porch. Atticus handles her with his customary grace and sensitivity.That
evening, Atticus listens to Scout read aloud. When she asks about Boo Radley,
Atticus reminds her that he has told them \"to leave those poor people alone.\"
They reminisce about her mother, who died when Scout was two and Jem was six. Judge
Taylor (Paul Fix) comes to ask Atticus to defend in a problematic case involving a
man named Tom Robinson. He is relieved and grateful when Atticus agrees to.The next
day, Dill dares Jem to go up to the Radley's porch. Jem can't avoid it when Scout,
rolling in a loose tire, ends up at the foot of their steps. Dill suggests they all
go to the courthouse to see where Boo Radley had been locked up. They end up
looking in to the preliminary hearing concerning Tom Robinson. Tom is a black man
who has been accused of raping and beating a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Bob
Ewell (James Anderson), the girl's father, confronts Atticus in the hallway. He
tells Atticus he is concerned that \"people are saying you believed Tom Robinson's
story agin ourn.\" He becomes quite hostile, but Atticus remains calm, and cold.At
night, Dill prompts Jem to look in a back window of the Radley house. The shadow of
a man in a baggy shirt looms over Jem, and the shadow of his hand reaches out to
touch Jem. When Jem cowers in fright, the man quietly withdraws. The children flee.
Jem's overalls get caught in the chickenwire fence, and he has to leave them. Dill
is called home, and he says, \"See you next summer.\" When Jem goes back to get his
pants, Scout hears a gunshot, but Jem returns safely. They go around to the street
to find the neighbors in an uproar because Mr. Radley had fired to frighten \"a
prowler.\" Atticus calmly says the excitement is over.On her first day of school,
Scout feels very awkward wearing a dress. She has a rough first day, and gets in a
fight with young Walter Cunningham, Jr. Jem breaks up the fight and invites Walter
to have lunch at their house. Jem learns that Walter has his own gun, and hunts
rabbits and squirrels with his dad for food. Atticus tells of getting his first
gun, when his father told him it was \"sin to shoot a mockingbird,\" because it
does no harm, but only sings. Scout is appalled when Walter drowns his plate in
syrup, but Calpurnia gives her a lecture on hospitality. That evening, when she
complains about school, Atticus teaches her about empathy and compromise.Jem spots
a rabid dog wandering down their street, approaching their house. Calpurnia takes
the children inside and calls Atticus, who shows up with the local sheriff, Heck
Tate (Frank Overton). Tate has a hunting rifle but doesn't believe he can make the
shot. He asks Atticus to shoot the dog; Atticus is reluctant but takes up the rifle
when Tate insists. After removing his glasses, Atticus shoots the dog dead with one
shot, much to the astonishment of Jem. Tate starts to tell Jem and Scout that
Atticus is the best shot in the county but Atticus stops him and leaves with the
sheriff.Both children ask to go with Atticus when he visits Tom Robinson's wife,
Helen. Waiting in the car, Scout falls asleep, but Jem is frightened when drunken
Bob Ewell lurches against the window, and calls Atticus \"nigger lover.\" Atticus
reassures Jem, \"He's all bluff,\" and says that he wished he could keep the ugly
things in this world away from them, but knows that is not possible. When he drives
Calpurnia home, Jem waits nervously, listening to the spooky night sounds.Scout
continues to have fights at school, because people denigrate Atticus for defending
a Negro. He explains that he has to defend Tom Robinson, or he could not hold his
head up in town. He tells her she must not fight, no matter what people say.In a
hole in a tree in front of the Radley's, the children find two carved figures that
look just like them. Mr. Radley appears and cements up the hole. That night, Jem
shows Scout a cigar box filled with all sorts of little gifts that he had found in
the tree. He tells her how the night he went back to get his \"britches\" he had
found them \"folded across the fence.\"When summer comes, Dill returns, and Tom
Robinson's trial is due to start soon. He has spent the year in the Abbotsville
jail, because the Sheriff thought he would be safer there. Now he is back at the
town jail, and Heck Tate expects trouble. Atticus takes a reading light, and
leaves. Jem wants to check on him, and he and Scout and Dill walk downtown. Atticus
is reading in a chair on the jail porch. Suddenly, numerous cars arrive, and men
with rifles approach. The children push their way forward. Jem refuses when Atticus
tells them to go home. There is an impasse, until Scout recognizes Mr. Cunningham,
and politely and in and empathetic
tone, speaks to him about the legal work Atticus is doing for him. Something in
Scout's tone makes Cunningham look ashamed and he gets the mob to leave with
him.Next morning, crowds arrive to attend the trial, and the children go down to
the courthouse. They are able to find a place with Rev. Sykes (Bill Walker) in the
gallery, with all the black people who have turned out for the trial.In the
Sheriff's testimony Atticus establishes that Mayella Ewell (Collin Wilcox) was
badly beaten on the right side of her face and had finger marks all around her
neck.Bob Ewell testifies that he returned from one of his fields to hear Mayella
screaming, and that he saw who did it. Ewell gets up to leave and Atticus has to
tell him to remain for his questions. He asks why no doctor was called, and gets
Ewell to write his name. The judge points out that this shows he is left handed.
Ewell feels tricked.Mayella testifies that she asked Tom to \"bust up\" a
chifforobe (a piece of furniture like a wardrobe) in the yard, and that when she
went in to get him a nickel he followed her and attacked her. Atticus asks her if
her father got riled when he drank, and asks if he had ever beaten her. Mayella is
extremely uncomfortable, and her testimony is inconsistent. When Tom (Brock Peters)
stands to be identified, Atticus asks him to catch a small drinking glass he tosses
to him. Atticus tells Tom to try catching it with his left hand, to which Tom
replies he can't; his left arm is crippled because he caught in a cotton gin when
he was twelve. When he asks Mayella how Tom could have done what she claims, she
breaks down and rails at Atticus and the jury, saying she wants the man guilty of
beating her punished. She then refuses to say anymore and is taken back to her
father.The prosecutor rests, and Atticus calls Tom Robinson to the stand. Tom is
dignified and articulate, but increasingly uncomfortable. He testifies that he
busted up a chifforobe for Mayella \"way last spring . . . way over a year ago,\"
and refused the nickel she offered. After that he did lots of favors that she asked
him to do, until one day she got him in the house and grabbed him and told him to
kiss her. Bob Ewell \"cussed at her from the window\" and said he \"was gonna kill
her.\"In cross examination, the prosecutor (William Windom) gets Tom to admit he is
\"strong enough to choke the breath out of a woman and sling her to the floor.\" He
scoffs at Tom's helpfulness and says: \"You felt sorry for her? A white
woman?\"After the prosecutor has spoken his closing argument, Atticus is allowed to
give his. Atticus points out the lack of evidence, the fact that no doctor examined
Mayella and that Mayella was beaten by someone left handed. He says that he has
pity for Mayella, \"a victim of cruel poverty and ignorance,\" but cannot let her
put a man's life at stake to cover her guilt at breaking the social code.In the
gallery, Jem watches the proceedings, mesmerized. He asks the Reverend how long the
jury has been out deciding the verdict. The Reverend tells them it's been nearly
two hours when the jury returns, bringing back a verdict of guilty. The judge
dismisses them and leaves, slamming his door. Atticus tells Tom that he had told
Helen they would \"probably lose this one.\"All the white people leave the court.
The blacks in the gallery watch Atticus gather his papers. Gradually, they all
stand out of respect. Rev. Sykes says, \"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your fathers
passin'.\"Back at home, Miss Maudie tells a disconsolate Jem that his father is one
of those \"men in this world who are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us.\"
Sheriff Tate arrives and talks with Atticus, who then reports that Tom has been
killed. A deputy had shot at him and had \"missed his aim\" when Tom \"broke loose
and ran . . . like a crazy man.\" He says that on appeal they would have had \"more
than a good chance.\"Jem insists on accompanying Atticus to go tell Tom's family.
Bob Ewell arrives and spits at Atticus, who calmly wipes his face and leaves.In
October, Scout wears a ham costume in a school pageant; she is dressed as a large
ham. She wears it walking home with Jem after dark because she couldn't find her
overalls after the performance was over. In a small grove they often walk through
as a shortcut, they are attacked by an unseen assailant. Jem yells loudly and is
thrown to the ground, unconscious. The attacker grabs Scout. Another man in a baggy
shirt arrives and there is a struggle with their attacker. Scout cannot see well
from inside her costume, but she hears a loud grunt and sees the man in the baggy
shirt carrying Jem to their house. Scout wriggles out of her ham costume and gets
home finding Jem is unconscious, with a badly broken arm. Atticus runs out of the
house yelling for Scout and she runs into his arms sobbing and babbling about what
happened.After a doctor has come to take care of Jem, Sheriff Tate investigates the
scene where the kids were attacked and reports that Bob Ewell has been killed
with \"a kitchen knife.\" He asks Scout to tell him what happened. She only has
limited detail but says she was saved from Ewell by a man she couldn't see very
well. Just then, Scout sees the man who rescued them behind Jem's door, and
realizes it is Boo Radley (Robert Duvall). He recoils slightly when Atticus gently
pulls the door away from him, allowing Scout to see his face. She takes him by the
hand, and invites him to \"say goodnight to Jem.\" When he hesitates to touch Jem,
she reassures him that he \"can pet him,\" since he is asleep. Boo strokes Jem's
head gently.Scout and Boo go out to their front porch, sitting quietly while
Atticus discusses the incident with Tate. Atticus, thinking Jem wielded the knife,
begins to consider a case of self defense involving Jem, when the sheriff corrects
him. He says decisively: \"Bob Ewell fell on his knife.\" He implies that Boo must
have killed Bob Ewell. He says he feels Boo did a civic duty \"to do his utmost to
prevent a crime from being committed,\" and that to \"drag him into the limelight\"
would be \"a sin.\" Scout agrees-- that it would be like shooting a
mockingbird.Atticus shakes Boo's hand, and says, \"Thank you, Arthur, for my
children.\" Scout walks Boo back to his front door.\n", "\nJerry Mulligan (Gene
Kelly) is an exuberant American expatriate in Paris trying to make a reputation as
a painter. His friend Adam (Oscar Levant) is a struggling concert pianist who is a
long time associate of a French singer, Henri Baurel (Georges Gu\u00e9tary). A
lonely society woman, Milo Roberts (Nina Foch) takes Jerry under her wing and
supports him, but is interested in Jerry more than his art. Jerry remains oblivious
to her feelings, and falls in love with Lise (Leslie Caron), a French girl he meets
at a restaurant. Lise loves him as well, but she is already in a relationship with
Henri, whom she feels indebted to for having saved her family during World War
II.At a raucous masked ball, with everyone in black-and-white costumes, Milo learns
that Jerry is not interested in her, Jerry learns that Lise is in love with him,
but is marrying Henri the next day, and Henri overhears their conversation. When
Henri drives Lise away, Jerry daydreams about being with her all over Paris, his
reverie broken by a car horn, the sound of Henri bringing Lise back to him.\n", "\
nAt the end of World War II, Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), Al Stevenson (Fredric
March) and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) return home to Boone City. Fred was a
decorated captain in the Army Air Forces in Europe, Al a sergeant in the Army who
saw action in the Pacific, and Homer a sailor who served on an aircraft carrier in
the Pacific. Homer's ship was sunk, killing many of his fellow sailors; his arms
were burned off below the elbow and he now uses metal hook prostheses. The three
men share first a plane trip then a cab ride and become friends.Although he rose to
the rank of captain, Fred was an unskilled soda jerk before the war, while the
older Al was a bank executive. Homer was a star athlete engaged to be married to
the girl next door, Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell). Aware of how uncomfortable his hooks
make people, Homer begins to pull away from Wilma and his family. He feels
comfortable only when he is with Al and Fred or hanging out with his Uncle Butch
(Hoagy Carmichael), who owns a comfortable tavern. Fred is married to Marie
(Virginia Mayo) but can't find her when he returns home, as she has begun to work
nights at one of Boone City's night clubs.Al struggles to readjust to family life.
His wife, Milly (Myrna Loy) and daughter, Peggy (Theresa Wright), do their best to
make him comfortable, but he develops a drinking problem. On his first night home,
he insists they go out drinking. At Butch's, they run into Fred and Homer, who has
come there to get away from Wilma. Al and Fred get extremely drunk. When Fred
passes out in front of Marie's apartment building, Peggy and Milly take him home
with them. The next morning, Peggy drives Fred to Marie's building. On the way,
they struggle with the fact they are attracted to one another.Al is promoted at the
bank. He is now in charge of approving loans to servicemen under the GI Bill. He
believes in taking risks on the servicemen even if they don't have any collaterol
for loans. Although the director of the bank gently upbraids him in private, he
applauds Al's slightly drunken public speech that providing the servicemen loans is
tantamount to investing in the country's future. Al knows the bank will continue to
question his loan approvals.Fred and Marie initially do well upon his return, when
he still has money he earned in the Air Force. But when it runs out, he is forced
to return to his job as a soda jerk. This angers Marie, who wants to be married to
a dashing, successful, rich military man. Peggy visits Fred at the drug store, and
they
have lunch together. Afterwards, they kiss. That night, Peggy phones Marie and
asks her and Fred out on a double date with a man she is uninterested in. Peggy
despises the way Marie speaks of Fred and resolves to break up their marriage. When
she tells this to Al and Milly, they tell her that all marriages struggle and that
she should leave Fred and Marie alone. The next day, Al orders Fred to never see
Peggy again. Fred calls Peggy to break things off, devestating her.Homer continues
to isolate himself. Late one night, Wilma comes over and tells him that her parents
want her to break off their engagement, though she doesn't want to. He takes her to
his room to show her how difficult life will be with him: removing his prostheses,
he shows her that he is unable to button his pajamas or even open a door. Tenderly,
Wilma buttons his pajamas and tells him that she loves him and will never leave
him. Homer finally accepts that people will accept him.Fred is fired from his job
when he punches out a man who had told Homer that he and anyone else who died in
the war were suckers who fought on the wrong side. Marie takes up with a successful
serviceman and announces her intention of divorcing Fred. Disillusioned, Fred
decides to leave town for good, leaving behind the medals and citations he won
during the war. While waiting for an Army transport plane out of town, he
reminisces inside a decommissioned bomber like the one he flew over Europe. When
the foreman of the company dismantling the planes tells him the metal will be used
to build new houses, Fred talks him into a job.Fred is best man at Homer's wedding
to Wilma. He sees Fred for the first time since being ordered to leave Peggy alone.
After the ceremony, Fred and Peggy embrace. He tells her that life with him will be
hard as he doesn't have much money. She smiles and kisses him.\n", "\nHenry Higgins
(Rex Harrison), an arrogant, irascible professor of phonetics, boasts to a new
acquaintance, Colonel Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White), that he can teach any woman
to speak so \"properly\" that he could pass her off as a duchess. The person whom
he is shown thus teaching is one Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), a young woman
with a horrendous Cockney accent who is selling flowers on the street. After
overhearing this, Eliza finds her way to the professor's house and offers to pay
for speech lessons, so that she can work in a flower shop. Pickering is intrigued
and wagers that Higgins cannot back up his claim; Higgins takes Eliza on free of
charge as a challenge to his skills.Eliza's father, Alfred P. Doolittle (Stanley
Holloway), a dustman, arrives three days later, ostensibly to protect his
daughter's virtue, but in reality simply to extract some money from Higgins, and is
bought off with \u00a35. Higgins is impressed by the man's genuineness, natural
gift for language and especially his brazen lack of morals (Doolittle
explains, \"Can't afford 'em!\").Eliza goes through many forms of speech training,
such as speaking with marbles in her mouth and trying to recite the sentence \"In
Hertford, Hereford, Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen\" without dropping the
'h', and to say \"The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain\" rather than \"The
rine in spine sties minely in the pline\". At first, she makes no progress (due to
Higgins's harsh approach to teaching), but just as she, Higgins, and Pickering are
exhausted and about to give up, Higgins softens his attitude and gives an eloquent
speech about the beauty and history behind the English language. Eliza tries one
more time and finally \"gets it\"; she instantly begins to speak with an impeccable
upper class accent.Higgins takes her on her first public appearance to Ascot
Racecourse, where she makes a good impression with her stilted, but genteel
manners, only to shock everyone by a sudden and vulgar lapse into Cockney; \"C'mon
Dover, move your bloomin' arse!\". Higgins, who dislikes the pretentiousness of the
upper class, partly conceals a grin behind his hand, as if to say \"I wish I had
said that!\"The bet is won when Eliza successfully poses as a mysterious lady of
patently noble rank at an embassy ball, despite the unexpected presence of a
Hungarian phonetics expert trained by Higgins. Higgins's callous treatment of Eliza
afterwards, especially his indifference to her future prospects, leads her to walk
out on him, leaving him mystified by her ingratitude. When she is gone however, he
comes to the horrified realization that he has \"grown accustomed to her face.\"
Putting aside his resentment about the intrusion on his life and toward women in
general, Higgins finds Eliza the next day and attempts to talk her into coming back
to him. During a testy exchange, Higgins's ego gets the better of him, and his
former student rejects him.Higgins makes his way home, stubbornly predicting that
Eliza will be ruined without him and come crawling back. However, his bravado
collapses and he is reduced to playing old phonograph recordings of her voice
lessons. To Higgins' great delight, Eliza chooses that moment to return to him.\n",
"\n\"A bit of the old ultra-violence.\"The story takes place in London in a
dystopian future. \"Our humble narrator\" Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) and his
droogs, Georgie (James Marcus), Dim (Warren Clarke), and Pete (Michael Tarn), are
seated in the Korova Milk Bar stoned on milk laced with narcotics.Shortly, the gang
leaves the Korova for a night of ultra-violence. They encounter a wino (Paul
Farrell) in an underpass, and beat him with their truncheons. Later, they arrive at
a derelict theater. On the stage, another gang, led by a rival named Billy Boy,
prepare to rape a voluptuous girl. Instead, the two gangs battle it out-- Alex and
his two droogs are victorious.The trio next head out into the dark countryside
looking for action. Alex pilots their stolen Durango 95 sports car. After
playing \"hogs of the road,\" wherein they drive on the wrong side of the road and
run a number of other motorists off into ditches and over embankments, Alex
suggests making a \"surprise visit.\" They stop at a lonely country house that
displays a backlighted sign that simply reads \"Home.\" Alex tricks his way into
the house by claiming to be the victim of a car accident. They beat the homeowner,
a writer named Frank Alexander (Patrick Magee), and gang rape his wife (Adrienne
Corri) while Alex croons \"Singin' in the Rain.\"When they've finished having fun,
the gang returns to the Korova. An opera singer seated at an adjacent table sings
the chorus from Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Listening to the woman, Alex is ecstatic
-- \"I felt all the malenky little hairs on my plott standing endwise\"-- but Dim
ruins the mood when he makes a farting noise. Alex hits him in the crotch with his
truncheon. Henceforth, Dim is resentful but Alex dismisses him.Alex arrives at his
apartment just before dawn. Climbing into bed, he fantasizes scenes of violence
while listening to Beethoven's 9th Symphony.In the morning, Alex's mother (Sheila
Raynor) tries to wake Alex for school, but he feigns illness. At the breakfast
table she discusses the situation with his father (Philip Stone). Alex's parents
seem foolish and impotent. When Alex later awakens and wanders about the apartment
in his underwear he encounters his probation officer, Mr. Deltoid (Aubrey Morris),
in his parent's bedroom. The officer lectures Alex about his school truancy and
threatens him with jail.After Deltoid leaves, Alex begins another busy day. He
picks up two girls at a local shopping mall record store and brings them home. In a
sped-up sequence backed by the \"William Tell Overture,\" he has sex with both of
them.Later that day, he encounters his droogs in his apartment house lobby. They
ominously tell him that they've been \"talking.\" They feel that Alex has been
bullying them, especially Dim, and they suggest that Alex has been taking more than
his fair share of the spoils from their robberies. Georgie proposes an idea to make
lots more money. He wants to rob a rich lady who owns a health farm in the country.
Alex perceives Georgie's independent thinking as a threat, but wanting to appear
democratic, he goes along with it. As the three droogs walk along a river bank
outside the apartment block, Alex attacks. He throws first Georgie and then Dim
into the fountain. When Alex offers to help pull Dim out of the water, he slashes
the back of Dim's outstretched hand with a hidden dagger. They all retire to the
Duke of York, a restaurant. Having re-established his dominance of the group, Alex
reconsiders Georgie's idea.Arriving at the health farm that evening, the droogs try
the same trick they'd used at Alexander's house previously: pretending that one of
them has been injured in a traffic accident. However, the proprietress (Miriam
Karlin) is suspicious and calls the police, telling them that she'd heard the news
reports about the writer and his wife being victimized in the same manner. When the
boys aren't let into the house, Alex climbs up a drainpipe, enters a second floor
window, and confronts the homeowner. They fight, the woman defending herself with a
bust of Beethoven, until Alex bludgeons her with a huge plastic phallus sculpture.
As police sirens are heard in the distance, Alex runs out the front door. It is
there and then that his droogs take their revenge. Dim smashes Alex in the face
with a milk bottle and the droogs flee. As Alex writhes and screams on the ground,
the police arrive.Alex is arrested. At the police station, an uncooperative and
belligerent Alex is questioned by several constables. When an overzealous beat
constable presses his thumb against Alex's broken nose, Alex kicks the officer in
the groin. The other officers then beat Alex until Deltoid shows up. Deltoid tells
Alex that unfortunately for him, the proprietress of the health
farm has died, making Alex a murderer. He spits in Alex's face and tells him how
disappointed he is. Alex laughs it off, but is soon headed for prison.PrisonAlex
gets sentenced to fourteen years in prison. He deposits his possessions with Chief
Officer Barnes (Michael Bates), undresses, and undergoes a cavity search. After
answering several questions about his health and personal well-being, Alex is given
prison garb. He's now prisoner number 655321.Two years later, Alex is shown
scheming to get favors by feigning piety. He helps the prison chaplain (Godfrey
Quigley) with his service and he studies the Bible. But rather than reflecting on
the redemptive power of the Lord, Alex visualizes himself torturing Jesus at the
crucifixion, killing people in battle, and laying about with concubines in an Old
Testament setting.Alex tells the chaplain that he's heard of a new treatment, the
so-called \"Ludovico Technique,\" that helps criminals get out of prison. The
chaplain says that it's experimental and that he's not sure it's right for Alex.
But Alex, eager to finagle a short-cut to freedom, vies to be selected for the
experiment. When the government's Interior Minister (Anthony Sharp) visits the
prison, Alex makes a show of himself. The minister picks Alex as a perfect Ludovico
subject. Alex is taken before the prison governor (Michael Gover) who tells the boy
that, although he'd rather punish him, the political party currently in power
have \"new, ridiculous ideas\" about criminal reform, so Alex will shortly be
released.The Ludovico TechniqueChief Officer Barnes then transports Alex to the
Ludovico Centre. Alex is given a room and is interviewed by Dr. Branom (Madge
Ryan). She promises him that he'll be fine, then gives him an injection.In his
first day of treatment Alex appears in an auditorium in a straight jacket. His head
is strapped to the back of a restraining chair so that he can neither turn his head
nor look away. An eye doctor installs clamps on his eyelids that forcibly keep
Alex's eyes open. Then, while the doctor constantly drops eye wash into Alex's
grotesquely clamped eyes, Alex is subjected to two violent films. The first shows
explicit scenes of a severe beating, the second, a gang rape. Halfway through the
first film Alex begins to feel sick. By the end of the second, Alex is shouting for
something into which to vomit. At the rear of the auditorium, Dr. Brodsky (Carl
Duering) explains to observers that the drug administered to Alex causes a form of
paralysis with deep feelings of terror and helplessness. Following the screening,
Dr. Branom assures Alex that his feeling of sickness is a sign that he's getting
better.On the following day Alex is back in the auditorium, this time for two
shows: morning and afternoon. While viewing scenes of Nazis during World War II,
Alex begins screaming in earnest. The background music is none other than
Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Alex screams that he shouldn't be made to feel sick while
listening to such beautiful music. Brodsky loudly apologizes, saying that it can't
be helped while quietly he speculates to nearby staff that perhaps this is
the \"punishment element.\"Two weeks later, presumably after twelve more
treatments, Alex is paraded before a group of dignitaries by the Interior Minister.
Alex is there for demonstration purposes. He is first confronted by an angry
Irishman (John Clive) who throws him to the ground and forces Alex to lick his
boot. Next he's approached by a statuesque platinum blonde (Virginia Wetherell)
clad only in panties. Alex collapses in a fit of nausea when he tries to touch her
breasts. The Interior Minister proclaims a new era in law enforcement and social
justice, but the prison chaplain exclaims that the procedure has debased Alex's
human nature by taking away his ability to choose good over evil. The Interior
Minister counter claims that the only thing that matters is results.Welcome
HomeAlex returns home to find his parents plus a stranger (Clive Francis) sitting
in the living room reading newspaper accounts of his release. Alex tries to make
awkward small talk. When he hints about moving back home, his father tells him that
Joe, their new lodger, has already paid the next month's rent. Alex is upset but
Joe, who has ingratiated himself with Alex's parents, pushes the situation by
castigating Alex for the things he did before going to prison and for breaking his
parents' hearts. Before Alex can hit Joe, his psychological conditioning kicks in,
leaving him dry heaving, to the dismay and disgust of Joe and Alex's parents. When
he has recovered, Alex storms out.Alex later stares at the Thames river below a
bridge, presumably contemplating suicide. He's approached by a bum seeking spare
change. Alex fishes some cash from his pocket and hands it over. Taking a closer
look, the bum recognizes Alex as the same malchick who beat him under the bridge
two years earlier. Alex looks at the bum in horror and tries to escape, but is
trapped in the very same underpass by the bum and his elderly compatriots. They hit
and kick Alex as he cowers on the ground, disabled by his conditioning. Two
constables show up to break up the fight. To Alex's further horror, his rescuers
turn out to be Dim and Georgie, his former droogs, who are now constables.
Demonstrating that police training hasn't altered their basic violent natures, they
handcuff Alex, drive him out of town. Out in the woods, Dim pushes Alex' head into
a cattle trough filled with filthy water, and Georgie beats him with his baton.
They then remove the cuffs and leave him battered and gasping. With thoughts of
home echoing in his head, Alex staggers to the first house he can find. It displays
a welcoming, backlighted sign that reads \"Home.\"At home, Frank Alexander sits at
his typewriter, now in the wheelchair that he's used ever since he was severely
beaten two years earlier. Julian (David Prowse), his muscular attendant, answers
the doorbell. As Julian opens the door, Alex collapses into the entryway. Julian
carries him into the house.When confronted by a concerned Mr. Alexander, Alex
realizes he's at the very same residence in which, two years earlier, he and his
former partners in crime gang-raped Alexander's wife. He relaxes, however, when he
realizes that Mr. Alexander couldn't possibly recognize him due to the fact that
Alex and his droogies wore masks back in those days. Mr. Alexander, who knows Alex
only as the subject of the Ludovico treatment, invites the lad to have a bath and
some supper.As Alex soaks in the bath, Mr. Alexander calls a friend with whom he
discusses the political repercussions of Alex's Ludovico conditioning. He believes
that the government has a totalitarian agenda, as exemplified by its willingness to
rob its citizens of their free will. As he finishes the conversation, Alexander
arranges a visit with the person on the other end, stating, \"He'll be here,\"
before he hangs up the phone.Mr. Alexander sits in his wheelchair relishing a
fantasy of using Alex as a political pawn when he becomes aware of singing coming
from the bathroom. In his bath, Alex has struck up a bright rendition of \"Singin'
in the Rain.\" Mr. Alexander's face twists in agony and rage as he thinks back to
the night of the home invasion that left him crippled and realizes just who Alex
is.Later, at the dinner table, an obviously distraught Mr. Alexander encourages
Alex to eat and drink. Flanked by the apoplectic Mr. Alexander and the burly
Julian, Alex eats a plate of spaghetti while Mr. Alexander plies Alex with red
wine. As he eats, Alex grows increasingly fearful, wondering if the hostile-looking
old man knows his real identity. Suddenly Mr. Alexander brings up the subject of
his wife's rape and subsequent death. He believes that, though she officially died
of pneumonia, it was her broken spirit that killed her. She was, according to Mr.
Alexander, a victim of the modern age, just as Alex is a victim of the modern age.
He tells Alex that two friends are expected and that they will help the boy.A
minute later, man named Dolin (John Savident) and a woman (Margaret Tyzack) enter.
They question Alex about the Ludovico treatment and whether it is true that, in
addition to conditioning him against sex and violence, it has also made him
incapable of listening to music. Alex replies that he only feels a foreboding sense
of extreme depression when he hears Beethoven's Ninth Symphony specifically-- at
which point he passes out, face down, into the plate of spaghetti. He has been
drugged by the wine. Dolin congratulates Mr. Alexander who then asks Julian to
bring the car around to the front. The conspirators have plans for Alex that will
embarrass the government.Alex awakens the next morning in a small, second floor
bedroom in an unknown country house. The room is flooded with the strains of
Beethoven's 9th Symphony blasted from a stereo in the room below. As Mr. Alexander
beams with satisfaction, Alex is driven to suicide. He leaps from the second floor
window to the stone patio below.CuredSome time later, Alex wakes up in a hospital
in a full-body cast, having survived his suicide attempt. Newspaper clippings
reveal that the government is being vilified for inhuman experimentation. The
Interior Minister is being subjected to especially fierce attack. Alex's parents
visit, apologizing for not taking him back and promising him his old room when he
is released from the hospital.Next, Alex is visited by Doctor Taylor (Pauline
Taylor), a psychiatrist. He tells her he had strange dreams of other scientists
messing around in his head. She says she's unable to interpret his dreams and then
cheerfully shows Alex a series of cartoons having sexual or violent connotations.
Alex is to supply the captions. He pleases Dr. Taylor by indicating through his
descriptions of the cartoons that sex and violence are
the foremost interests on his mind.Once the Ludovico Treatment has been
successfully reversed, the Interior Minister visits Alex. As the aristocratic
Minister spoon-feeds dinner to the juvenile thug, he assures Alex that he wants to
be his friend. With oily smoothness the Minister apologizes for what his government
has done. He promises Alex a good job on a good salary, provided that Alex helps
the government. He assures the lad that the subversive writer, Frank Alexander, who
had threatened him, has been put away. Alex milks the meeting for all it's worth.As
a symbol of their understanding, the Minister calls for his assistants. They sweep
in with flowers and a massive stereo system blasting Beethoven's 9th Symphony,
followed by a troop of reporters and photographers. Alex poses with his new friend,
the Interior Minister, aka \"Fred,\" as cameras flash and Beethoven's 9th Symphony
reaches its choral climax. Alex's eyes roll back into his head as he fantasizes
about an orgy in the snow with a gorgeous blonde, to the applause of Victorian
ladies and gentlemen.Alex is heard in voiceover: \"I was cured, all right.\"\n", "\
n\tA high ranking Russian General has arrived at an industrial project office. It
is night and this man is there on personal business: He is looking for his niece.
Somehow, in the past decade, he has managed to find her, or at least someone who
appears to be the daughter of his half brother\n.\nThe would-be niece is skeptical,
and afraid. General Yevgraf Zhivago tells her the details of the life of his half
brother as he knows it. This is the movie.Yuri Zhivago is a boy, only 8 years old,
when his mother dies, somewhere in central Asia, not far from Mongolia. Yuri is
adopted by very close friends of his mother, the Gromykos, an upper class family
with a home in Moscow and a country estate near the Ural Mountains. The Gromykos
have a daughter, Tonya, who is the same age as Yuri.Yuri, now a young man, becomes
a doctor, preferring to see \"life\" in General Practice rather than be a
researcher. He is also an accomplished and published poet. Late one winter evening,
a lonely group of socialist demonstrators is slaughtered by a Czar Cavalry Unit.
Yuri witnesses the entire event from his balcony and attempts to care for the
wounded. He is forced back into his home by the soldiers. He is shaken by the
event.The following winter, at a music recital, Yuri's mentor is summoned to treat
a woman who has attempted suicide, possibly by drinking Iodine. Yuri accompanies
his mentor and sees \"life\" first hand. It is at this woman's home where he first
sees Lara, the daughter of the woman. He is smitten. Shortly thereafter, at a
Christmas party, the engagement announcement of Yuri and Tonya is interrupted by
Lara shooting Komarovsky, Lara's sometime lover and companion. Komarovsky is only
slightly wounded and Lara is escorted out of the party by her fianc\u00e9,
Pasha.World War I erupts and Yuri is posted to a field unit far to southwest near
Ukraine. Lara is a volunteer nurse in the same area. Her husband (Pasha),
disappears during a battle, and is presumed dead. As the summer of 1917 ends, the
October Russian Revolution occurs, changing the entire political landscape. World
War I for the Russians had begun to wind down the previous summer, ending in the
winter. Yuri and Lara, having worked together in an old country estate converted to
a hospital, are the last to leave the now empty facility. They are clearly in love
with each other, but have managed to keep their passions suppressed.Yuri returns to
his Moscow home to find his step-mother deceased, and his home (his step father's
home) occupied by 13 additional families. The Bolsheviks are now in full control of
the large cities, and collectivization has begun. But Moscow is in trouble; with
virtually no food supplies or heating fuel (wood), the impending Russian winter
will be deadly. One night, Yuri decides to steal some fence boards that can be
burned. He is observed by Yevgraf (now a policeman and party official) and is
followed home. Yevgraf knows this man is his half brother and rather than arrest
Yuri, the two connect for the first time. But the works of Yuri Zhivago, the
published poet, has fallen out of favor with the authorities putting the lives of
Yuri, his wife Tonya, his son Shasha, and his step-father Alexander, in danger.
Yevgraf arranges all the necessary travel papers and the family of 4 departs Moscow
eastbound in a crowed boxcar. Their destination is Yuriatin, the small town near
the family's country estate at Varykino.Enroute, the train stops due to civil war
activity in the area. Yuri wanders away from his train, only to stumble into the
military train of a communist general. The general turns out to be the husband of
Lara, Pasha. But Pasha has taken on a new name, People's Commander Strelnikov. He
has become a renegade, and uses his army to fight the remaining White Russians
however he can. Strelnikov and Zhivago discover they have seen each other before,
at the party where Komarovsky was shot. Suspicions that Yuri is an assassin or spy
are determined to be groundless and Strelnikov uncharacteristically releases Yuri.
Yuri and family reach their distant estate.It is early spring. The main house has
been sealed by the local communist authorities, but the gardener's cottage remains
available. The family gets the vegetable garden back in shape, and settles in for
what is expected to be a multi-year stay. The family thrives, and remains in the
cottage, living almost invisibly. That summer, the czar and his family are
executed. The family remains in the cottage through the winter.Finally, the next
summer, Yuri takes the short trip into Yuriatin. Lara has lived in Yuriatin for
about a year, having returned there in search of her husband, Pasha (Strelnikov).
Yuri and Lara meet in the local library, and an affair between the two begins. But
Yuri cannot live with the conflict of the affair. His pregnant wife loves him
deeply, and so does Lara. Yuri rides into Yuriatin to break off the affair.On the
way home, Yuri is kidnapped by a Red Partisan unit and is drafted to be their
medical officer. A year and a half later, in the dead of winter, Yuri wanders away
from the Red Guard Unit, deserting. Yuri makes his way back to Yuriatin,
discovering that his family has left Varykino for Moscow. He goes to the only other
place he knows, Lara's small apartment. Starving and nearly dead, Lara brings him
back to health. Lara gives Yuri a letter from Tonya, addressed to him care of Lara.
The letter is dated 6 months earlier. Tonya had known of Yuri's affair, and Tonya
and Lara had met. Yuri's family has escaped back to Moscow, and is being deported
from Russia. Shortly thereafter, Komarovsky unexpectedly appears at Lara's
apartment. He brings news that Lara's husband Strelnikov is \"gone\", Yuri is
considered a deserter, and their days are numbered. Komarovsky offers help by way
of transportation to the far east of Russia, Vladavastok, from which they can go
anywhere in the world. Lara and Yuri refuse the offer, but know Komarovsky is
right, their days are numbered.Lara and Yuri move themselves to Varykino, and
occupy a small portion of the main house. They stay there through most of the
remaining winter. Again, Komarovsky finds them and tells them that Strelnikov has
been arrested just 5 miles from Varykino. Lara and Yuri must now move quickly to
survive. They accept Komarovsky's offer of protection and transportation to
Manchuria, and leave Varykino immediately. But Yuri remains behind, ostensibly to
bring his own sledge to the train station. Lara and Komarovsky wait for Yuri on the
train at the Yuriatin train station, but Yuri does not arrive. The train leaves,
and Lara announces to Komarovsky that she is pregnant with Yuri's child.Eight years
pass. Yuri is found in Moscow by Yevgraf, in poor health, malnourished and jobless.
Yevgraf arranges for Yuri to get his old job back at the hospital and sees him off
at the street car stop on his first day. On the ride, Yuri thinks he sees Lara
walking in the direction of the street car. He attempts to get off the car,
succeeds and collapses in the street. He dies of a heart attack.At the memorial,
huge numbers of people pay their respects, much to Yevgraf's amazement. One of
those people is Lara, and Lara is searching for her daughter Tonya, lost somewhere
near Mongolia during the far east civil war. Yevgraf and Lara search Moscow's
orphanages, but Tonya is not found. Speaking of Lara, Yevgraf narrates: \"One day
she went away and didn't come back. She died or vanished somewhere in one of the
labor camps; a nameless number on a list that was after-wards...mislaid. That was
quite common in those days.\"The story his been told, and the scene returns to the
project office. Although Tonya, now a young woman of about 18, wants to believe who
were her parents, but only if the fact is true. Morning has come, and Yevgraf makes
a final request, that Tonya think about establishing with Yevgraf a family
relationship. Neither have any relatives, and Tonya promises to think about
it.Tonya and Yevgraf part on what promises to be a beautiful day.\n", "\nThree
years after the end of the Civil War, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) rides onto the
Texas farm owned by his brother, Aaron (Walter Coy). Aaron is a little wary of
Ethan, who has not been seen since the surrender of the Confederate Army, but his
children -- Lucy, Ben and Debbie -- are all overjoyed to see him. So is Martha
(Dorothy Jordan), Aaron's wife; she and Ethan clearly are in love though they
cannot act on it. Aaron and Martha's adopted quarter Cherokee son Martin arrives
for dinner. He greets Ethan but Ethan is very unhappy in his presence despite the
fact that he is the one who found him abandoned as an infant. Martin and everybody
else can see Ethan's dislike for him. As
the night draws in,Martin sits outside on the porch feeling distant from the
family in Ethan's presence. He goes to off to bed as do the other kids, and Aaron
and Martha soon discover that Ethan is in possession of newly minted Northern
money. Aaron agrees to hide the money for Ethan and tells him he is free to stay as
long as he likes. Ethan knows his welcome is tenuous, however, and after everyone
else goes to bed, sits alone on the porch.The next morning, the Reverend Captain
Samuel Clayton (Ward Bond), the area's minister and captain of the Texas Rangers,
comes with a posse to the farm. Someone has run off Lars Jorgensen's (John Qualen)
cattle. Clayton deputizes Aaron and Martin to join the Rangers' posse. Ethan tells
Aaron he is not to go but instead to stay close to home in case the cattle rustling
was in fact a diversionary ploy by aggressive Native Americans. Clayton is glad to
see his former compatriot in the Confederate Army but also mentions that Ethan
matches the description of a lot of wanted criminals. Ethan agrees to go with the
Rangers to search for the cattle but refuses to swear an oath to the state of
Texas, believing that his oath to the Confederacy is sufficient.They ride off and
follow the trail and it isn't long before Marty tries to share his concerns about
what they are following with Ethan, but Ethan is dismissive because of Marty's
biracial heritage. After several hours of riding, the posse finds Jorgensen's
cattle slaughtered in the desert. They realize that a band of Comanche Indians have
lured them away from their farms. Because Jorgensen's farm is closest, most of the
posse rides there. Ethan, Marty and the slightly demented Mose Harper (Hank Worden)
decide to ride for Aaron's farm. But Marty wants to ride off straight away and
Ethan knows that the horses won't make it. They need resting for a while. Martin
doesn't care and angrily rides off anyway. As dusk sets in,Aaron becomes suspicious
at his farm as he hears noises in the distance.Fully aware of what Mose was saying
about the Comanches, he and Martha try to stay calm in front of the kids while
Aaron picks up a shotgun to pretend he's going to do some hens.Martha starts to
close the windows and put out the lights.Lucy realises what is going on and starts
to scream in terror.Martha slaps her and tries to calm her and comfort her. They
get Debbie out of the window so that she can go off to safety while they prepare
for the inevitable.Debbie runs off and sits by an headstone. A shadow looms over
her. it is the chief of the tribe, Scar. He blows his horn to call his tribe. Early
in the morning,Ethan and Mose ride along and see Martin stood wanting a ride from
them. His horse has failed to make the journey but Ethan rides along passed him and
Mose follows. Ethan sees that the ranch is burned down and rides down to try to
find any survivors from the attack.Aaron, Martha and Ben have been slaughtered, and
Lucy and Debbie are missing.As the funeral takes place and the people sing an hymn,
Ethan becomes frustrated and just what's to get on with taking revenge. He tells
Clayton to cut the prayer short so that they can go searching for Debbie and Lucy.
They find a partially buried Indian corpse,who has died apparently from from been
wounded during the attack. Ethan shoots the warrior's eyes out to further mutilate
the corpse and prevent it from reaching the afterlife. Soon Ethan finds the
Comanches setting up camp near a river 20 miles away from where the rest of the
posse are.He returns to them and tells them they'll wait until nightfall and attack
them. Clayton doesn't think it's a good idea because it could result in Lucy and
Debbie been killed. Instead they slowly sneak in but find that they are gone.As
they travel along the desert,the Comanches try to get the posse into a trap. They
manage to make it to the other side of the river and fend them off in a gun
battle,which results in one of them been wounded. As the Comnahces try to collect
their dead and injured members,Ethan tries to shoot more of them but Clayton stops
him. Full of rage, Ethan angrily tells them that he's going on alone to pursue
them.Marty and Lucy's boyfriend Brad Jorgensen (Harry Carey, Jr.) want to join
him.Ethan agrees on the condition that he's in charge.The three of them separate
from the rest of them,who return home with the wounded member of the group.Soon
Brad the Indians encampment one night, he believes he sees Lucy's distinctive
dress. Ethan tells him that he found Lucy's defiled corpse in a canyon when the
three men had split up to follow different trails. Insane with rage, Brad rides
wildly into the Indian camp on his own.Marty tries to stop him but Ethan grabs him
to prevent him following.Gunshots are heard in the distance and Brad is soon
killed.Ethan and Marty continue on their search but as winter sets in, they lose
their trail. They return to the Jorgensens' ranch. Marty has a tenuous romantic
relationship with the Jorgensens' daughter, Laurie (Vera Miles). Mrs. Jorgensen
gives Ethan a letter from a trader named Futterman who says he might have
information about Debbie. Ethan arranges for Marty to stay with the Jorgensens but
Marty wants to go with him. However in the morning, he discovers that Ethan has
taken off on his own. Fearing that Ethan will kill Debbie if he finds her, he still
takes off after him much to Laurie's displeasure.At Futterman's trading post he
tells them that he purchased a swatch of calico print dress from an Indian band led
by a war chief named Scar. Marty recognises it as Debbie's. Futterman tells them
that she was taken by Scar,the chief of the Nawyecka tribe.Ethan pays Futterman
part of the reward. He tells him he'll get the rest when and if they find
Debbie.Futterman asks them if they want to stay the night but Ethan refuses. He
knows Futterman is after his money.Later that night, Futterman and two accomplices
follow Ethan and Marty for the rest of the money. But Ethan knows what they are up
to. He leaves Marty by the camp fire to sleep while he goes to hide with a
rifle,ready to take the men out. He shoots all three men in the back and retrieves
his money from the dead body.Marty is angry that Ethan just left him for bait but
Ethan just calmly tells him to get ready to move on.By now, the search for Debbie
has continued for a year or more. Marty writes a letter to Laurie detailing his and
Ethan's attempts to find Debbie.Charlie McCory delivers the letter and she reads it
out loud to the family and narrates the next part of their journey.Ethan and Marty
have traveled out of Texas into Colorado and parts north. Laurie is outraged to
learn that Marty accidentally acquired an Indian bride, Look (Beulah Archuletta)
while trying to trade for blankets with a different band of Comanche. Marty tried
to drive her away but Ethan finds the situation amusing. When Look learned they
were tracking Scar, she abandoned them in the night. They later found her in a
Comanche camp that had been slaughtered by the American calvary. Marty and Ethan
visited a local fort where white women who had been with the Comanche are, having
been rescued by the cavalry. Ethan and Martin tell them that they are looking for a
girl who was taken and will be around the age of 14 now. They are taken to three
girls of that age,who appear to be deranged from their experiences but none of them
are Debbie. One of the girls snatches Debbie's doll from Marty's hands and as she
rocks with it back and forth, Ethan looks her horrified,thinking of what Debbie
will be like if they find her.Laurie finshes reading the letter by telling everyone
that Ethan and Marty are heading for the new territory. Laurie swears she will give
up on Marty, which delights Charlie, who begins to serenade her.Five years later,
Ethan and Marty are in New Mexico territory, where they find Mose in a cantina. He
has met Figueroa, a merchant who trades with Scar's tribe. Figueroa takes them to
meet Scar (Henry Brandon). Scar and Ethan are both annoyed to learn each speaks the
other's language. In Scar's tent, Ethan and Marty see Debbie (Natalie Wood), now a
teenager. They return to their own camp by a creek. Marty asks Ethan if Scar wants
to kill them.Ethan reckons so and explains that the only reason he has let them
escape with their lives for now is because of the Comanche code of honour. In the
distance Debbie comes running down the sand dune to Marty. He begs her to try and
remember him. She says she does but the Comanche are her people now and they must
leave her. Ethan pulls out his gun and orders Marty to move away from her so that
he can kill her but Marty blocks him. Just then, Scar's warriors attack and Ethan
is wounded by a poisoned arrow. He and Marty ride off with the Indians in
pursuit.They take cover in a cave and fend them off with their pistols.Ethan rests
up,while Marty tends to him. Later,Ethan gives him a letter to read. He wants Marty
to take all his possessions should he die but Marty isn't happy about it,as
Debbie's his next of kin. But Ethan just considers her an indian now and not a
relation.Marty refuses to accept it and tells him he hopes he dies.A while later,
they return to the Jorgensens just as Laurie and Charlie are about to be married.
They are just about to enter the house when Lars tries to stop them and tells them
they are wanted for Futterson's death.He tells them to hide but Ethan walks in
anyway to greet everyone.His return is met with silence. Marty is upset to find out
that Laurie was going to marry someone else and shocked when he finds out it's
Charlie.They end up having a fight and although neither man wins, the wedding is
called off. Just as Clayton is about to arrest Ethan and Marty, a young calvary
officer called Lt.Greenhill (Patrick Wayne) arrives with Mose who had been captured
by Scar's tribe but managed to escape once they came close to the Jorgensens'
farm. Clayton organizes his Rangers again and, with Ethan and Marty, they ride out
to confront Scar.Ethan wants to charge into Scar's camp, hoping that Scar will kill
Debbie so he doesn't have to. Marty persuades Clayton (who is in charge) to let him
sneak into camp and rescue Debbie before the charge. When he does so, he has to
keep her from screaming for help. Scar enters the tent but Marty beats him to the
draw, killing him. Clayton, Ethan and the Rangers charge into the camp, killing or
scattering the Comanche. Ethan finds Scar's body and scalps it.As he rides out of
the tent holding the scalp, he sees Debbie in the distance.Fearing for her life she
runs away and Ethan rides after her.Knocking Marty aside, he pursues near a cave.
As she cowers, he reaches down and picks her up. Cradling her in his arms, he says,
\"Let's go home, Debbie.\"Ethan and Marty take Debbie back to the Jorgensens'
ranch, where Lars, Mrs. Jorgensen, and Mose (sitting on the porch on a rocking
chair) are waiting. They take her inside, followed by Marty and Laurie. Ethan
stands outside, then turns and walks away as the door closes on him.\n", "\nThe
story opens at a beach party on Amity Island, somewhere on the coast of New
England. Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie), a beautiful blonde, catches the eye of
partygoer Tom Cassidy (Jonathan Filley) and leads him away from the group to go
skinny-dipping with her in the ocean. Tom, quite drunk, passes out on the beach
before he can even undress, but Chrissy, undeterred, strips down and dives into the
surf.As Chrissy swims further from the shoreline, she pauses to tread water.
Ominous music plays as an unseen creature notices Chrissy's paddling legs from
beneath the water's surface and begins to approach her. Chrissy is quickly attacked
by the creature, who grabs hold of her leg and violently drags her from side-to-
side in the water. Clinging to a buoy, she is dragged away. Her screams for help go
unheard, and eerie silence follows her submergence.The surrounding community of
Amity is preparing for the upcoming Independence Day weekend, their most
financially beneficial period of the year. The community depends on tourism as a
major source of economic support and waits eagerly for each summer to arrive when
herds of mainlanders come to savor Amity's shores. Martin Brody (Roy Scheider),
Amity's Chief of Police, receives a call at home regarding Chrissie Watkins'
disappearance. Following the report made by Tom Cassidy that she was last seen off
the coast, Brody goes to the beach with his deputy Jeff Hendricks (Jeffrey Kramer)
to search for clues. Hendricks soon stumbles upon the segmented remains of
Chrissie, washed up on the shore and being feasted upon by crabs.Back at the police
station, Brody receives a call from the coroner (Robert Nevin) , who determines
that Chrissie Watkins was the victim of a shark attack. Fearing for the safety of
Amity's many swimmers, Brody immediately prepares to close the beaches until
further investigations can be made. His intentions are quickly noticed by Mayor
Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) who, fearing for the income loss that would result
from closing the beach at such a pivotal point in the summer, attempts to convince
Brody that a shark attack is too hasty a conclusion, and pressures Brody and the
coroner to change the Chrissie's official cause of death to being cut up by a boat
propeller. Brody remains dedicated to the safety of Amity's citizens and tourists,
regardless of the financial toll the town might endure. However, Vaughn prevents
him from closing the beaches just yet.Over the next few days, ferryloads of
tourists arrive on Amity's shores. The beaches are crowded each day, and Brody is
extremely anxious that there will be another attack. As Brody and his wife Ellen
(Lorraine Gary) sit in the sand, Brody intently scans the shoreline for any sign of
trouble. A ways down the beach, young Alex Kintner (Jeffrey Voorhees) asks his
mother for permission to go swimming. Though Mrs. Kintner (Lee Fierro) notes that
her son's fingers are starting to \"prune\" from the time he has already spent in
the water that day, she allows him ten more minutes. Alex and his yellow raft enter
the ocean one last time before Alex is attacked by what is unmistakably an enormous
shark. The other swimmers panic and rush out of the water, while the bloodied and
shredded remains of Alex Kintner's raft wash up in the surf. Mrs. Kintner calls out
desperately for her son, only to find the mangled rubber raft belonging to her son,
with blood.With dozens of witnesses to Alex Kintner's gruesome death, the presence
of a shark in Amity waters is certain and Brody is finally permitted to close the
beaches. Alex's grieving mother issues a $3000 reward to anyone who can catch the
shark that killed her son, and a town meeting is held to discuss the official shark
problem. While Brody explains that the police department is expanding their efforts
to keep the beaches safe and bringing in a shark expert from the Oceanographic
Institute to assist them, most of the assembled townspeople are simply angry about
the beaches being closed, although Mayor Vaughn assures them it will only be for 24
hours. The chatter is quelled by Sam Quint (Robert Shaw), an eccentric and
roughened local fisherman who guarantees the capture and slaughter of the offending
shark for the price of $10,000. Though his offer is not accepted at that point,
Quint seems confident that the job will fall to him eventually.With Mrs. Kintner's
reward made public, scores of amateur shark hunters crowd Amity's docks, coming
from all over the Northeast. Two local men make a clumsy attempt to lure the shark
with a pork roast, which results in one of them nearly being the shark's third
victim. Arriving at the same time as the horde of overconfident fishermen is Matt
Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), the shark expert from the Oceanographic Institute hired
by the Amity police. After meeting with Brody, Hooper is allowed to view the
remains of Chrissie Watkins, which the coroner brings out in a container much
smaller than Chrissie's size would suggest. Hooper, visibly shaken after examining
the mangled body parts, assures Brody and the examiner that this was definitely no
boat propeller and that a shark was in fact responsible. Out on the ocean, the
would-be shark hunters make a mess of the surf, dumping large amounts of chum into
the water and even using firecrackers to lure the shark out.The town breathes a
sigh of relief when the corpse of a large tiger shark is hung on the docks, having
been caught by some of the contending fishermen. Brody is initially elated,
believing the nightmare to be over, until Hooper examines the mouth of the beast
and determines that its bite radius did not match the wounds on Chrissie Watkins'
remains, and therefore was likely not the shark they were seeking. Hooper, assuring
that it's the only way to be sure, requests to cut the shark open to search for any
bodily remains it might've eaten recently given it's slow digestive system. Brody
feels it's the only way to confirm it, but Vaughn does not want to do it right away
and especially does not want any witness of it, believing they'll see the body of
Alex Kintner fall out.The crowd falls silent as Mrs. Kintner arrives, clad in black
and choking back tears, presumably returning from her son's funeral. She approaches
Brody and slaps him across the face, furiously accusing him of keeping the beaches
open despite having prior knowledge that there was a man-eating shark in the water.
She makes clear her belief that Brody was largely responsible for Alex's death. The
encounter is depressing to Brody, despite Vaughn telling Brody otherwise, saying
her accusations are false.As Brody attempts to unwind at home, Hooper visits the
house to share his thoughts on the shark situation, as he, along with Ellen, join
Martin at the dinner table. The Chief has been drinking heavily after his encounter
with Mrs. Kintner. When Ellen asks about his background, Hooper explains his
lifelong fascination with the creatures, before admitting his feeling that the
shark that was captured was not the one terrorizing their community.Hooper
theorizes that the creature in the local waters may be a \"rogue shark,\" and will
likely remain until its food source is entirely gone. Brody and Hooper decide to
examine the stomach contents of the tiger shark themselves. Sneaking onto the dock
where it's being kept, Hooper slices it open, only to find some half-eaten fish, a
bunch of tin cans, and a Louisiana license plate, leading Hooper to theorize that
the shark made it's way up the Atlantic coast from the Gulf of Mexico. With no
human remains found in the shark, Hooper is proven right that this is not the shark
that caused the attacks and that the shark is still out there.Hooper convinces
Brody to continue their investigation out on the water. Using sonar equipment,
Hooper locates a large object a good distance away from the shoreline. Brody
recognizes it as the boat of Ben Gardner (Craig Kingsbury), a local fisherman.
Hooper decides to investigate the half-submerged craft, despite Brody's protests,
and dons his scuba gear before entering the water. Hooper discovers a large hole in
the hull of the boat, and finds an enormous tooth embedded in the side. While
examining the tooth, he recognizes it belonging to a Great White. Hooper is
suddenly horrified to see the corpse of Ben Gardner floating out of the hull, one
of his eyes missing. Hooper drops the tooth and his flashlight and rushes to the
surface.Brody and Hooper make yet another attempt to reason with Mayor Vaughn,
hoping their discoveries from the previous night will make a difference. Vaughn,
however, still stubbornly ignores their words and states that even with the
evidence of Ben Gardner's ravaged boat, there is no proof that a shark is
responsible.
Hooper explains that he pulled a shark tooth \"the size of a shot glass\" out of
the hull of Gardner's boat, but Vaughn merely dismisses him once again since Hooper
cannot produce the tooth he dropped in the water. The Mayor tries to turn Brody's
attention to a large billboard of a happy woman surfing on the shores of Amity that
has been vandalized: a large shark fin has been spray-painted behind her. Vaughn
wants the hooligans responsible found by Brody. Hooper then grows impatient and
tells him that Independence Day weekend won't work out if he doesn't do something
about the shark. Hooper also tells the Mayor look at the defaced billboard,
pointing out that the proportions of the fin are correct. The Mayor coldly
dismisses Hooper again, saying he only wants to gain fame from the incident.\nBrody
tries to reason with Vaughn, believing that they can reserve the tourism for
August, but Vaughn scoffs. Though he allows Brody and Hooper to take any action
necessary to keep the beaches safe, he still orders them to keep them
open.Independence Day weekend finally arrives along with plenty of tourists, but
the beachgoers are made uneasy by the numerous police boats patrolling the water
for the shark. Vaughn is concerned that no one is swimming, and asks a personal
friend in attendance to enter the water, along with his wife and grandchildren, to
put everyone's minds at ease. The man and his family reluctantly and warily obey,
and others begin to relax and follow suit.Remaining on the beach, Brody is aiding
with shark patrol. When Brody's elder son Michael (Chris Rebello) wishes to take
his new sailboat out into the water with some of his friends, Brody asks him to
take it into the adjacent estuary just to be safe. While complaining that \"the
pond is for old ladies,\" Michael reluctantly agrees. In the meantime, a dorsal fin
appears among the swimmers in the main water, and panic ensues. The crowd scrambles
back onto the beach, only to learn that the \"shark\" was merely a cardboard fin
used by two boys in snorkel gear playing a prank.The beachgoers begin to relax, but
a young woman overlooking the water sees the unmistakable form of a huge shark
making its way into the estuary, where Michael and his friend are sailing. The
woman's cry is first dismissed as another prank, but when Ellen reminds her husband
that their son is in the pond, Brody goes to investigate. Michael and his friend
are approached by a man in a rowboat (Ted Grossman), presumably the friend's
father, who is instructing them on their knotting techniques, when both vessels are
suddenly capsized by the shark. All three of the startled sailors surface, and
Michael watches in paralyzed horror as the man fails to reach his rowboat before
the shark attacks him and rips him apart.Michael and his friend are brought safely
to shore, though Michael is taken to the hospital to be treated for shock. Brody
confronts Vaughn once again and puts his foot down, demanding that real action must
be taken to deal with the shark. Vaughn, for once, is vulnerable and shaken,
realizing that his own children were on the beach that day as well. He finally
relents and gives Brody full permission to do all that is necessary to stop the
shark, signing the paperwork to hire Quint.Though Quint desires to take on the
mission alone, Brody insists that he and Hooper will go as well. There is instant
tension between Quint and Hooper, with Quint seeing Hooper as a \"naive college
boy\" with no real shark-hunting experience, and Hooper seeing Quint as
a \"reckless thrill-seeker\" with a bullish, working-class attitude. Though Hooper
proves himself a perfectly capable sailor, the tension remains as the three men
embark on their voyage in Quint's boat, the \"Orca.\"Once out to sea, the men set
about attracting the shark by ladling chum off the stern of the boat. Quint
attaches a line of piano wire to a sturdy rod secured against a specially-designed
fishing chair on the deck. After hours of waiting, the wire goes taut and Quint
believes the shark has finally shown up. The shark swims under the boat until the
piano wire snaps, proving the immense strength of the beast they are up against.
Hooper is not as convinced, thinking Quint might have hooked a much smaller fish.
Quint rebuffs him, telling Hooper not to challenge his vast experience.As the
voyage presses on with no further sign of the shark, Brody grumpily ladles more
chum off the back of the boat, while Quint continues to show his disdain for
Hooper. Without warning, the massive head of a Great White shark emerges from the
water for a moment, and we get our first good look at the size of the fish. Brody
is stunned and alerts Quint. Hooper notices the shark beginning to circle the boat,
and Quint rushes out for a look. He estimates the shark is 25 feet long, and weighs
three tons. After barking a few orders to Brody and Hooper, Quint begins to fire
harpoons tied to plastic barrels, intended to both slow the shark down and act as
visible tracking devices. Though Quint manages to hit the shark with three
harpoons, the barrels have no effect and the shark easily pulls them underwater.
Just in time, Hooper manages to attach a technological tracking device to the beast
before it disappears again.That night, the men have dinner and drinks below deck
and Hooper surprisingly begins to bond with Quint as they compare scars from their
experiences with various sea creatures. Brody notices that Quint has had a tattoo
removed. The mood suddenly darkens as Quint admits that the former tattoo
represented the US Navy cruiser \"USS Indianapolis\", a ship whose history Hooper
recognizes immediately. Quint, aboard that ship in World War II when it was sunk by
torpedoes from a Japanese submarine during the closing days of the war in July
1945, had witnessed the deaths of roughly 800 men over five days, many of whom were
eaten by sharks as they struggled helplessly in the water. Quint's eerie retelling
of the disaster confirms how his hatred for sharks began, and reveals his guilt at
being one of the mere 316 sailors who survived the sinking of the cruiser. After
the solemnity of Quint's story, the three men sing a rowdy sea shanty to lighten
the mood, but are interrupted by the returning shark violently bumping the boat,
causing it to begin leaking. Quint rushes on deck and fires a Garand M1 rifle at
the three telltale barrels, but the shark escapes once again.The next day, the men
attempt to repair the boat, with limited success. Seawater has contaminated the
diesel fuel, and the thick clouds of black smoke belching from the ship's exhaust
pipe are a sign of engine damage. When the shark returns, Quint, waiting and ready,
instructs Hooper to grab the barrels with a hook and secure them to the stern.
Hooper succeeds, and Quint attempts to drag the shark by powering the boat to full
throttle, but the shark uses its immense strength to pull the boat in the opposite
direction, nearly capsizing it and causing further structural damage before Quint
cuts the ropes attached to the boat. The shark breaks free from the barrels and
submerges again. Quint demonstrates the extent of his mad vengeance against sharks
by destroying the radio which Brody was attempting to use to call for help. The
shark begins to chase the boat, and Quint steers back toward land at full speed,
dismissing Hooper's protests that he is overtaxing the already damaged engine. When
the engine inevitably fails, the three men are trapped on a sinking boat with no
means of propulsion and no radio. Quint offers life jackets to the other men,
though he takes none for himself.Running out of options, Hooper resorts to putting
on his scuba gear and having Quint and Brody lower him into the water inside a
shark cage, his aim being to inject the shark with poison using a harpoon syringe.
Quint points out that the needle is too small to pierce the shark's hide but Hooper
believes he can inject the beast in the mouth. The cage proves to be no match for
the shark, who attacks Hooper with such ferocity that he drops the harpoon and is
forced to hide in a reef while his cage is being destroyed. Brody and Quint haul up
the remains of the shark cage, sans Hooper, and assume him to be dead. They barely
have time to react before the shark leaps from the water like a breaching whale and
lands most of its body on the sinking stern of the boat. Quint and Brody hang on to
the cabin for dear life as the boat is upended, the shark's gaping mouth at the
bottom of the drop. Quint ultimately loses his grip and, despite Brody's endeavors
to pull him to safety, slides into the mouth of the shark and is devoured. The
shark, with Quint's corpse in its mouth, slides back into the water.Horrified, and
believing himself to be the only survivor of this seemingly doomed mission, Brody
hastily enters the cabin of the rapidly sinking boat and finds one of Hooper's
pressurized air tanks. The shark smashes through the side of the boat, mere feet
away from Brody, whose attempts to drive it off by beating it with the tank result
in the tank becoming lodged in the shark's mouth before the beast swims away
again.With little more than the boat's mast above water now, Brody climbs to the
top of the mast with a rifle in his hand. Now possessing some of Quint's courage
and madness, Brody begins to fire at the approaching shark, hoping to hit the air
tank in its mouth. At last, Brody hits his mark. The tank explodes, taking the
shark's head with it, and Brody laughs maniacally as blood and shark flesh rain
down around him into the sea.Moments later, Hooper finally surfaces, alive and
well. The two men celebrate the end of their adventure with a weak chuckle before
assembling a makeshift raft and paddling back to Amity's shore.\n", "\nAgainst a
backdrop of the Stars and Stripes, General George S. Patton (George C. Scott)
addresses his troops
on the eve of battle. His uniform is impeccable, his medals uncountable, and his
ramrod demeanor unassailable. As he speaks to the men about to embark on their
first great adventure, his manner runs the gamut from stern, to jovial, amused,
profane and reverent. To Patton, it is obvious that war is the greatest expression
of the human condition.North Africa, 1942: In their first encounter with Rommel's
Africa Corps, the Americans are badly beaten. In the post-battle assessment, Gen.
Omar Bradley (Karl Malden) decides what's needed is the best tank commander they've
got. Patton answers the call and arrives amid wailing sirens and a cloud of dust.
He's also early and catches most of the soldiers off guard, a mistake they quickly
learn not to make again. Believing the casual attitude displayed by the troops to
be the primary source of their defeat, he quickly begins to set things to rights.
Patton's belief in himself is unshakable, and there's only one way to get things
done-his way. Quickly establishing discipline and routine, he commands his men with
an iron fist. He also has great respect for the Germans he's up against, and has
studied the tactics of Rommel in the field.In Berlin, the Germans are also
assessing Patton. His reputation is considerable, and they study his idiosyncracies
looking for a clue to the man's character. They note he is a romantic, reads the
Bible daily, swears like a stableboy, and believes in reincarnation. Rommel, when
asked what he intends to do about Patton, simply replies \"I will attack and
annihilate him.....before he does the same to me.\"Soon the Germans move against
the American positions in Tunisia, and Patton watches in fascination from his
command post in the hills nearby. Anticipating Rommel's plan, he routs the Germans,
and gives the Americans their first victory, further inflating his ego. North
Africa now has two prima donnas; Patton, and the equally egotistical British
commander, Field Marshal Montgomery (Michael Bates). Naturally, they come to
dislike each other intensely, and as the African campaign draws to a close, plans
are made for the invasion of Italy. Patton wines and dines the appropriate
officals, and pitches his own plan to invade through Sicily. Montgomery has other
plans, and when Monty's are adopted over his own, Patton, outraged, vows to outdo
the Field Marshal at all costs.Sicily is invaded, and Montgomery's troops fight
their way up the East coast against heavy German resistance. Patton is assigned the
support role of guarding Montomery's flank, but soon adopts another plan and begins
to push across the island, taking the long way around. First taking Palermo, then
pushing East to Messina, he races Montgomery to the finish line, pushing his men to
the breaking point and creating dissension among his commanders. They do not wish
to sacrifice more American casualties to Patton's ego.Soon, Montgomery and the
British forces march into the liberated city of Messina amid the cheering populace.
Flags wave and the pipers play as they march triumphantly into the town square;
Monty has done it. He's driven the Germans out of Sicily and beaten Patton to the
punch. Abruptly, the pipers falter, and fall silent. Monty quickly marches to the
fore to investigate, and finds Patton, his tanks and troops neatly arrayed behind
him, standing there silently with an insufferable smile on his lips. He'd arrived
hours ago, and was waiting only to greet his old rival.As the Italian campaign
continues, Patton becomes more controversial. During a routine inspection of
wounded men in a field hospital, he encounters a shell-shocked soldier crying in a
corner and becomes enraged with what he perceives as a display of cowardice.
Slapping the soldier, he rages at him and orders him sent back to the front. This
outburst gets Patton the first serious setback he's ever experienced. A rebuke from
his commander and an order to apologize to all concerned quickly follow, a bitter
pill indeed for the general. Forced to swallow his pride, he stands before the
assembled troops and tersely gives his explanation, then turns on his heel and
marches away.The war grinds on. Patton is called to England prior to D-Day, and
believes he will be commanding the invasion, but finds that his big mouth and
bigger ego have gotten him into too much trouble. He's become a liability to the
fragile alliance Eisenhower is trying to hold together to fight the Germans, so
Patton's orders are to shut up and stay out of trouble. Chafing at what may be his
last chance to be in a great battle, he'll do anything to get back in the game.
Arriving in France days after the invasion, he meets with General Bradley again,
who puts Patton on probation and gives him a chance to redeem himself. Grateful for
the opportunity, Patton quickly shows the rest of the world what he can do, chasing
the Germans clear across France, and gaining more ground in less time than any
other allied outfit.Christmas approaches, and the Germans mount a final major
counter-attack at the Battle of the Bulge. Caught off guard, the American troops
are trapped and surrounded, and only a miracle can save them. Patton vows to
provide one. Marching his men north at breakneck speed, he amazingly arrives in
time and relieves the trapped Americans, grabbing the limelight once more. Now it's
on to Germany, and as the war winds down, Patton becomes despondent at the
impending cessation of hostilities. All too soon, Patton's mouth gets him in
trouble again as he first snubs the Russians, and then compares the defeated Nazis
to other political parties in the U.S. Another uproar ensues, and Eisenhower is
forced to relieve Patton once again.Having proved himself one of the greatest
military commanders of WWII, he now faces a future and a world that no longer need
him. Recalling history, he ruminates: \"For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors
returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. The
conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before
him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode
the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and
whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.\"\n\n", "\nWyoming, c.
1900s. Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford), the
leaders of the famous Hole in the Wall Gang, are planning another bank robbery. As
they return to their hideout in Hole-in-the-Wall, they find out that the gang has
selected a new leader, Harvey Logan. He challenges Butch to a knife fight, which
Butch wins, using a ruse. Logan had the idea to rob the Union Pacific Flyer train
instead of banks. He wanted to rob it twice, the idea being that the return would
be considered safe and therefore more money might be involved. Butch takes this
idea as his own.The first robbery goes very well and the Marshal of the next town
can't manage to raise a posse. Butch and Sundance listen to his attempts, enjoying
themselves. Sundance's lover, Etta Place (Katherine Ross), is introduced. But
obviously both men vie for her attention as she also goes bike-riding with Butch, a
dialogue-free part of the film, accompanied by \"Raindrops Keep Falling on My
Head.\"The second robbery goes wrong. Not only does Butch use too much dynamite to
blow the safe, but also a second train arrives, which is carrying a posse of six
heavily armed men on horseback that has been specially outfitted to hunt down Butch
and Sundance. The gang flees, but the entire posse follows Butch and Sundance. They
try hiding in a brothel in a nearby town that night, but are betrayed. When they
discover that the posse is continuing to follow their trail, they try riding double
on a single horse in the hope that the posse will split up, but that fails. They
then arrive in a nearby town and try to arrange an amnesty with the help of a
friendly sheriff (Jeff Corey) of Carbon County. But the sheriff tells them they
have no chance of getting one, and that they will be hunted down until they are
killed by the posse.Still on the run the next day, they muse about the identities
of their pursuers. They fixate on Lord Baltimore, a famous Indian tracker, and Joe
Lefors, a tough, renowned lawman, identifiable by his white skimmer hat (which the
lead posse member is wearing). After climbing some mountains, they suddenly find
themselves trapped on the edge of a canyon. With their unseen pursuers on their
tail, they decide to jump into the river far below, even though Sundance can't swim
and would prefer to fight.Later that day, they arrive at Etta's house and learn
from the local newspapers all about the posse and the identities of their pursuers
and that they have been paid to stay together until they kill Butch and the Kid.
They decide that it's time to leave the country: destination Bolivia!After a
montage of showing Butch, Sundance and Etta on their travels to New York, they
arrive in a small Bolivian village at the end of the world. Sundance already
resents their choice. Their first attempted bank robbery fails before it gets off
the ground, since they are unable to speak or understand Spanish. Etta teaches them
the words they need. The following robbery is clumsily executed, as Butch still
needs his crib sheet. At each succeeding robbery they appear to improve, until they
are sought by the authorities all over Bolivia.However their confidence drops one
evening, as Butch, Sundance and Etta are having dinner at a fancy restaurant in a
nearby town, when they see a man wearing a white straw hat standing on the other
side of the street talking to a few men. Fearing that Lefors is once again after
them, Butch suggests going straight, so as not to attract Lefors' attention.They
get their first honest job as payroll guards in a mine, directed by an American
named Garris
(Strother Martin). However, on their first working day, they are attacked by
highwaymen. Garris is killed and Butch and Sundance are forced to kill the Bolivian
robbers. Ironically, Butch had never killed a man in his entire criminal career,
but while they are attempting to go straight, he is forced to kill the bandits.
Since they seem unable to escape violence, regardless of their occupation, they
decide to return to robbery. That evening, Etta decides to leave them as she senses
that their days are numbered and she doesn't want to watch them die.A few days
later, Butch and Sundance attack a payroll mule train in the jungle, taking the
money and the mule. When they arrive in the nearest town, San Vicente, a stable boy
recognizes the brand on the mule's backside and alerts the local police. While
Butch and Sundance are eating at a local eatery, the police arrive and a climactic
gun battle begins.The two of them manage to find shelter in an empty house, but
they're soon low on ammunition. Butch makes a run to the mule to fetch the rest of
the ammunition while Sundance covers him, shooting several Bolivian policemen. But
even the \"fastest gun in the West\" cannot match the twenty or more Bolivian
policemen at once. Butch manages to retrieve the ammunition and runs back to the
house, but they are both wounded. While tending to their wounds in the house, about
100 soldiers of the Bolivian cavalry arrive and surround the place, eager to get at
the notorious 'Bandidos Yanquis'.The wounded pair discuss where they will be going
next, realizing that their time is up (Butch suggests Australia, where at least
they speak English). They dash out of the house in a futile attempt to get to their
horses. The image freezes and slowly turns to a sepia tone tintype while a voice is
heard ordering: \"Fuego!\" (Fire), followed by the sound of hundreds of rifles
being fired in three consecutive volleys....\n", "\nFred Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart)
and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt) are down on their luck in Mexico and are both victims of
a swindle in which workers are hired but not paid by a notoriously corrupt local
businessman (Barton MacLane). Intrigued in the local pub by the stories of Howard
(Walter Huston), an old burnt-out gold prospector keen on finding business partners
to go prospecting, they cannot join him because they don't have enough money. When
Dobbs makes a small score in a local lottery, that changes, and they hook up with
Howard and set off for the hills.They find land on which much gold can be mined,
and they split the gold equally, with each hiding and tending to his individual
share. One day, Curtin sees a gila monster (a venomous lizard) and resolves to kill
it, but it hides under a rock. Curtin will have to lift the rock to shoot it, but
when Dobbs, whose gold, coincidentally, is hidden under this same rock, sees Curtin
lifting it, even after seeing the gila monster, he fears that his goods will soon
be stolen by one of the others. When another man named Cody (Bruce Bennett) finds
them and insists on becoming their partners in prospecting, they resolve to shoot
him. Before they do so, however, a group of bandits led by Gold Hat (Alfonso
Bedoya) finds them and the bandits try to barter for some of their weapons, but
these weapons are indispensable to the men and they refuse to do business. This
results in exchange of gunfire, and Cody, who helps to defend the men, is killed.
The bandits are ultimately scared away, and gold prospecting continues until they
have mined enough gold to be prosperous for the remainder of their lives.All that
remains is to take their gold back to the city where they can sell it, but this
will require an arduous trip through the desert. Early in the trip, Howard, a man
known to be skilled in the ways of medicine, is forced by some primitive local
people to return with them to treat an ill child, and has little choice but to
trust Dobbs and Curtin to hold his share of the goods until he returns to them.
Curtin has every intention of doing this, but Dobbs remains suspicious of Curtin,
believing that Curtin will kill him the very moment he goes to sleep. Troubled by
this, he tries to murder Curtin, and soon holds all the goods, but he must now make
a long trip through the desert alone.Unfortunately for Dobbs, he encounters Gold
Hat on his trip, and Gold Hat, who recognizes him, murders him and takes his goods.
Gold Hat returns to the city to sell the goods, but once it is determined that he
has stolen the goods he holds, he is executed by firing squad. When it turns out
that Curtin has survived, and when Howard returns, it soon becomes clear that their
fortune is missing, and they share an unexpected laugh, appreciating that, despite
their bad luck, they were far more prosperous than Dobbs and Gold Hat.Life, Curtin
and Howard understood, would go on, and their unbroken spirit made them symbols of
resolve in the face of adversity.\n", "\nThe film tells the story of three men who
pursue, often at the expense of others, information about the location of a buried
treasure of coins. The first character introduced in the movie is Tuco Benedicto
Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez (the Ugly) - called Tuco - (Eli Wallach), who has a
bounty on his head for numerous crimes. Tuco has a partnership with Blondie (The
Good, played by Clint Eastwood) in which the latter turns him in for the reward
money which the two then split after Blondie saves Tuco from hanging at the last
moment. Meanwhile, a third character called Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef, playing the
Bad) has learned of a hidden trunk of gold owned by a Confederate soldier named
Bill Carson. He sets off to find the gold.Soon, Blondie grows tired of his
relationship with Tuco, and leaves Tuco in the desert with no water. Tuco survives
and is intent on exacting revenge on his former partner. He finds Blondie, and
turns the tables by planning to abandon him in the desert. However, before Tuco can
complete his torture in the New Mexico desert, a runaway stagecoach full of dead
and dying Confederate soldiers appears. Bill Carson, the man with knowledge of the
whereabouts of the gold, dying from thirst, persuades Tuco to get him a drink by
disclosing the name of the graveyard where the loot is located. As Tuco goes for
the water, Carson dies, but not before revealing the name on the grave to
Blondie.Dressed in the uniforms of the dead soldiers, Tuco takes Blondie, near
death, to a local Catholic mission run by his brother, a priest. While Blondie
recovers, Tuco and his brother (Luigi Pistilli) confront each other about the
mistakes each has made in life. After leaving the mission, the two, still
impersonating Confederate soldiers are captured and taken to a Union prison camp.
Angel Eyes has followed the trail of Bill Carson to the prison camp and is posing
as a Union Sergeant.Angel Eyes and his colleague Wallace beat and torture Tuco
until he reveals the location of the cemetery. When Angel Eyes learns that only
Blondie knows the name, he changes tactics. He proposes a partnership, and
accompanied by five or six other killers, they leave to find the coins. Tuco
escapes while being transported from the camp by train, in the process killing
Wallace. At the nearest town, Tuco encounters a bounty hunter (Al Mulock) he had
wounded at the beginning of the film, who seeks his revenge. As Tuco shoots the
bounty hunter, Blondie, who is in the same town with Angel Eyes, recognizes the
sound of Tuco's gun, seeks him out, and he and Tuco resume their old partnership.
Together they kill Angel Eyes' gunmen along the main street, but Angel Eyes himself
escapes.Tuco and Blondie stumble on a battle between the Union and the
Confederates, fighting for a bridge of questionable strategic value. Since the
cemetery is on the other side of the bridge, they decide to destroy it and force
the soldiers go somewhere else to fight. While they are setting up the dynamite,
Tuco reveals that the cemetery is called Sad Hill and Blondie reveals that the
coins are buried in a grave marked by the name of Arch Stanton (Adam S.
Gottbetter).On the other side of the river Tuco deserts Blondie by horseback and
finally enters the nearby graveyard.Tuco frantically searches around the graveyard
for the grave of Arch Stanton. Eventually Tuco finds it, but before he can begin
digging he's held at gunpoint by Blondie, who in turn is held at gunpoint by Angel
Eyes, who has finally caught up to both of them. However, Blondie reveals that Arch
Stanton's grave contains only a decomposing corpse.Blondie then leads the three of
them into an empty patch of land in the middle of the cemetery. He writes the name
of the real grave under a stone which he places in the center.At the conclusion of
a three-way shootout, Blondie shoots Angel Eyes and Tuco finds his gun empty,
having been unloaded the previous night by Blondie. Blondie then reveals that the
real location of the coins is a grave marked \"Unknown\" right next to Arch
Stanton. Tuco digs up the loot from the grave only to find himself once again
staring down the barrel of Blondie's gun, who now holds a noose in his hand. After
placing Tuco into the noose, fastening it to a nearby tree and making Tuco stand on
the unstable wooden cross of one of the graves, Blondie takes half the coins and
rides away while Tuco cries for help. In a dramatic twist, Blondie turns around to
shoot the rope above Tuco's head, as he used to do in their times of partnership,
freeing him one last time before riding off as Tuco screams in rage.\n", "\nC. C.
Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is a lonely office drone for an insurance company in New York
City. Four different company managers take turns commandeering Baxter's apartment,
which is located on West 67th Street on the Upper West Side, for their various
extramarital liaisons. Unhappy with the situation, but unwilling to challenge them
directly, he juggles
their conflicting demands while hoping to catch the eye of fetching elevator
operator Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). Meanwhile the neighbors in the apartment
building assume Baxter is a \"good time Charlie\" who brings home a different
drunken woman every night. Baxter accepts their criticism rather than reveal the
truth.The four managers write glowing reports about Baxter a little too glowing, so
personnel director Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) suspects something illicit behind
the praise. Sheldrake lets Baxter's promotion go unchallenged on condition that he
be allowed to use the apartment as well, starting that night. Sheldrake gives
Baxter two tickets to The Music Man to ensure his absence. Delighted about his
promotion, Baxter asks Kubelik to meet him at the theatre. She agrees and it is
revealed to the audience that she is Sheldrake's girlfriend, intending to break off
their affair that night but is instead charmed by Sheldrake to the apartment.
Baxter is disappointed at being stood up, but is willing to forgive Kubelik.At an
office party on Christmas Eve, Baxter discovers the relationship between Sheldrake
and Kubelik, though he conceals this realization, while Kubelik learns from
Sheldrake's secretary that she is merely the latest female employee to be his
mistress, the secretary herself having filled that role several years earlier. At
the apartment, Kubelik confronts Sheldrake with this information and while he
maintains that he genuinely loves her, he leaves to return to his family.
Meanwhile, a depressed Baxter picks up a woman in a local bar and, upon returning
the apartment, is astounded to find Kubelik in his bed, fully clothed and overdosed
on Baxter's sleeping pills.Baxter sends his bar pickup home and enlists the help of
his neighbour, a physician, in reviving Kubelik without notifying the authorities.
The doctor makes various assumptions about Kubelik and Baxter, which Baxter
concedes without revealing Sheldrake's involvement. Baxter later telephones
Sheldrake and informs him of the situation, and while Sheldrake professes gratitude
for Baxter's quiet handling of the matter, he avoids any further involvement.
Kubelik recuperates in Baxter's apartment under his care for two days, during which
he tries to entertain and distract her from any possible suicidal afterthoughts,
talking her into playing numerous hands of gin rummy, though she is largely
uninterested.Baxter and Kubelik's absence from work is noted and commented on, with
Baxter's former \"customers\" assuming that Baxter and Kubelik were having an
affair. Kubelik's taxi-driver brother-in-law comes looking for her and two of the
customers cheerfully direct him to Baxter's apartment, partly out of spite since he
has been denying them access since his arrangement with Sheldrake. The brother-in-
law also assumes the worst of Baxter and punches him several times.Sheldrake,
angered at his secretary for sharing the truth with Kubelik, fires her. She
retaliates by telling his wife about his infidelities, leading to the breakup of
the marriage. Sheldrake moves into a room at his athletic club and continues to
string Kubelik along while he enjoys his newfound bachelorhood. Baxter finally
takes a stand when Sheldrake demands the apartment for another liaison with Kubelik
on New Year's Eve, which results in Baxter quitting the firm. When Kubelik hears of
this from Sheldrake, she realizes that Baxter is the man who truly loves her and
abandons him, running to the apartment. Baxter, in the midst of packing to move
out, is bewildered by her appearance and her insistence on resuming their earlier
game of gin rummy. When he declares his love for her, her reply is the now-famous
final line of the movie: \"Shut up and deal.\"\n", "\nChris Taylor (Charlie Sheen)
is a young American who has abandoned a privileged life at a university to enlist
in the infantry, volunteering for combat duty in Vietnam. The year is September
1967. Upon arrival in Da Nang, South Vietnam, he sees dead soldiers of American
soldiers in body bags being loaded into his plane. Taylor and the other recruits
pass by a group of soldiers also departing on the plane who laugh at the \"new
guys\", but more distressing to Taylor is the shell-shocked state of a departing
soldier with the \"thousand-yard stare.\" Taylor and several other replacements
have been assigned to Bravo Company, 25th Infantry division, \"somewhere near the
Cambodian border.\" The platoon goes out on patrol in the trackless and
inhospitable jungle dealing with mud, thick bushes, snakes and ants. Worn down by
the exhausting work and living conditions of patrolling, Taylor's enthusiasm for
the war wanes quickly and he develops an admiration for the more experienced
soldiers, despite their reluctance to extend their friendship.One day, another new
arrival, platoon commander Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses) discusses the plans for a
patrol later that night with the platoon sergeants: the compassionate Sergeant
Elias (Willem Dafoe), harsh but hard core Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger),
cowardly, sycophantic \"lifer\" Sergeant Red O'Neil (John C. McGinley), and drug
addict Sergeant Warren (Tony Todd). Barnes and Elias argue over whether to send the
new men out on a patrol that is likely to be ambushed. O'Neil insists that the new
troops go out instead of several men under him who are nearly finished with their
tours of duty. Barnes agrees, only on the condition that O'Neil goes out as
well.That night, North Vietnamese soldiers set upon Taylor's sleeping unit. Gardner
(Bob Orwig), a fellow new recruit, is killed, and another soldier, Tex (David
Neidorf), is maimed. Despite having passed the watch duty to Junior (Reggie
Johnson), a more experienced but consistently irresponsible soldier who fell
asleep, Taylor is blamed for the casualties (O'Neil is also to blame, having thrown
the grenade that maimed Tex). Immediately after the fighting, Taylor discovers a
light wound to his neck, and he is sent to the field hospital for treatment.A few
days later, Taylor returns to his unit from the hospital and, through a soldier
named King (Keith David), gains acceptance from the \"heads\", a tight-knit group
led by Elias that socializes, dances, and takes drugs in a private bunker. Next
door in another bunker, Barnes leads the more traditional members of the unit whom
drink beer, play cards and don't smoke opium. Taylor becomes a more seasoned
soldier as the patrols continue and soon no longer stands out among the
others.During one patrol on New Years Day, January 1, 1968, the platoon finds what
appears to be an abandoned bunker. Elias explores a series of tunnels connected to
the bunker. Two members of the platoon, Sandy (J. Adam Glover) and Sal (Richard
Edson) are killed when they stumble upon a booby trap attached to a box of
documents. Shortly after, a soldier named Manny Washington (Corkey Ford) goes
missing. His mutilated body is found tied to a post close by. The platoon is
infuriated by the senseless death of their comrade and are ordered to report to a
nearby village of South Vietnamese citizens.The platoon reaches the village, where
a food and weapons cache is discovered. The other soldiers explore the village. In
one house, Taylor discovers a mute and mentally challenged teenage boy and his
mother hiding in a hole beneath the floor. Taylor harasses and taunts the retarded
boy by shooting his rifle at his feet, but stops himself short of killing the boy.
However, Bunny (Kevin Dillon) takes over and beats the boy to death with his gun,
even though Sgt. O'Neil orders them to leave the hut. While questioning the village
chief, Barnes loses his patience and senselessly kills the man's wife despite his
denials that they are aiding the Viet Cong. Barnes is about to murder the man's
young daughter to force him to tell them to where the enemy is when Sergeant Elias
arrives at the scene and starts a fistfight with Barnes. Lieutenant Wolfe, passive
during the shooting of the wife, eventually ends the fight, and relays orders from
his own superior officer to burn the village. As the men leave, a group of four
soldiers, including Bunny and Junior, drag a young Vietnamese girl into the bushes
with the intention of raping her. Taylor comes upon them and stops the group from
raping the girl. His comrades ridicule him for stopping them.Upon returning to
base, Elias reports Barnes' actions to Captain Harris (Dale Dye), who cannot afford
to remove Barnes due to a lack of personnel. However, Harris threatens to court
martial Barnes if there is evidence that he murdered an unarmed civilian. O'Neil
and Bunny, nervous about the possibility of an investigation, speak to Barnes and
Bunny suggests \"fragging\" Elias. A narrating Taylor speaks of this as \"a civil
war in the platoon. Half with Elias, half with Barnes.\" Taylor talks with Elias
one night and Elias tells him that the United States is due for a loss in war
because they'd been mostly successful in past wars. He also confesses that he's
disillusioned with America's mission in Southeast Asia, that he used to believe it
was winnable even a few years ago, but knows now that it's not.On their next
patrol, the platoon is ambushed and pinned down in a firefight by unseen enemy
soldiers. Flash (Basile Achara) is killed and Sergeant Warren and Private Lerner
(Johnny Depp) are badly injured in the resulting skirmish. Lieutenant Wolfe calls
in wrong coordinates for artillery support, resulting in the deaths of Fu Sheng
(Steve Barredo), Morehouse (Kevin Eshelman), and Tubbs (Andrew B. Clark) and the
severe wounding of Ace (Terry McIlvain). Big Harold (Forest Whitaker) has his leg
blown off by a trip-wired booby trap while trying to escape the artillery barrage.
Elias, with Taylor, Rhah (Francesco Quinn), and Crawford (Chris Pedersen), go to
intercept flanking enemy troops. Though Lt. Wolfe is commanding
officer, Barnes takes command. He orders the rest of the platoon to retreat to be
airlifted from the area, and goes back into the jungle to find Elias' group. After
sending Taylor, Rhah, and Crawford (who has been shot in the lung) back, Barnes
finds Elias. The two stare at each other for a few moments and then Barnes fires
three rounds into Elias' chest and leaves him for dead. Barnes runs into Taylor and
tells him that Elias is dead and that he'd seen his body nearby. Barnes orders
Taylor back to the landing zone. After they take off, the men see a severely
wounded Elias emerge from the jungle, running from a large group of NVA soldiers.
He dies after being shot several more times by the NVA while the American
helicopters futilely attempt to provide him cover overhead. As they fly from the
area, Chris takes a long look at Barnes' hardened face.At the base, Taylor tries to
talk his dwindling group of six \"heads\" into killing Barnes in retaliation,
claiming that when he'd met Barnes in the forest after shooting Elias, that the
look on Barnes' face told him the truth. While King agrees, Doc Gomez (Paul
Sanchez) believes they should wait for \"military justice\" to decide Barnes' fate.
Rhah reminds Taylor how much he admired Barnes when he first arrived, and that
Barnes isn't meant to die, noting that on several previous occasions Barnes has
sustained wounds that ought to have proved mortal: \"the only thing that can kill
Barnes, is Barnes.\" Barnes then appears, very drunk with a bottle of bourbon,
having overheard Taylor calling for his murder. He enters the room, daring them to
kill him. No one takes up the offer but as Barnes leaves, Taylor attacks him.
Barnes quickly gets the upper hand, pins Taylor down and holds a knife to his face.
Rhah urges him not to do it, telling Barnes he'll be court-martialed and
imprisoned, and he leaves after slashing Taylor under the eye.A few days later, the
platoon is sent back to the ambush area in order to build and maintain heavy
defensive positions against a potential attack. Rhah is promoted to Sergeant,
commanding the remains of Elias' squad. The platoon is so severely weakened,
though, that there are numerous gaps in their defense. When this fact is pointed
out to him, Lt. Wolfe only replies that he doesn't \"give a fuck\" any more. The
troops try to prepare for the incoming battle, during which they know the majority
of them will die. Just hours before nightfall, King is allowed to go home as his
tour of duty has come to an end. O'Neil tries to use Elias' R&R days for himself in
order to escape the impending battle (in which he believes he will die). When he
asks Barnes for permission, Barnes refuses, saying, \"Everybody gotta die some
time, Red.\" Junior tries to escape the battle by spraying mosquito repellent onto
his feet and passing it off as trench foot, a ploy that Barnes recognizes right
away. Bunny states that he feels no remorse for the murders he has committed,
saying that he enjoys Vietnam, and goes on to proclaim himself to be \"Audie
Murphy\", a famous and highly decorated World War II hero.Francis (Corey Glover),
one of the last few remaining \"heads\", is assigned to the same foxhole as Taylor.
That night a large attack occurs and the American defensive perimeter is broken and
the camp overrun by hundreds of attacking North Vietnamese troops. Taylor and
Francis take on and cut down several attacking enemy troops until they both pause
when they hear signal whistles from the unseen NVA sergeants ordering their men to
cease fire. Hearing a Vietnamese voice over a bullhorn and understanding that the
NVA are ordering RPGs up to the line to blow up the foxhole they are in, Taylor
grabs Francis and both of them crawl out of the foxhole seconds before it's hit by
an RPG. Taylor and Francis then attack and kill several enemy soldiers that overrun
their destroyed foxhole until Taylor loses it during the fight and charges off into
the carnage, shooting one enemy soldier after another.Meanwhile, the NVA attack
against the base continues relentlessly. The command bunker is destroyed by a NVA
suicide bomber (Oliver Stone makes a cameo as the doomed battalion commander inside
the bunker). During the massed North Vietnamese Army attack, many members of the
platoon are killed, including Lt. Wolfe, Parker (Peter Hicks), Doc, Bunny, and
Junior when their foxholes are overrun. The cowardly O'Neil survives only by hiding
himself under a dead body. The desperate company commander, Captain Harris, orders
the Air Force pilots to \"expend all remaining\" inside his perimeter. During the
chaos, Barnes and Taylor come face-to-face. As a crazed Barnes is about to beat
Taylor with a shovel, the two are knocked unconscious by the last-ditch American
napalm attack.A wounded Taylor regains consciousness the next morning with a
serious wound to his lower abdomen caused by Barnes striking him with the sharpened
edge of the shovel earlier from the night before. Taylor soon finds Barnes, who is
also wounded after being shot in both legs during the battle. Taylor takes an AK-47
rifle from a dead enemy soldier and aims it at Barnes, who lays helpless on the
ground. Nonetheless, Barnes feels at first not threatened, and he dismissively
orders Taylor to call a medic. When Taylor does not comply, but instead continues
to aim his weapon, Barnes (deranged to the last) dares him to pull the trigger by
saying: \"Do it!\" Taylor shoots Barnes three times in the chest, killing him.
Taylor then drops his rifle, collapses, and awaits medical attention.Interestingly,
although not in the script, Taylor is seen on the verge of pulling the pin of a
grenade that he found, only to drop it as reinforcements come to Taylor. (Charlie
Sheen thought that Taylor would be committing suicide after killing Barnes. Oliver
Stone thought that the mistake was good so he decided to keep it in the
film.)Francis emerges from his foxhole and stabs himself in the thigh with a
bayonet in order to be evacuated as a casualty. O'Neil is found by other Americans,
and Harris (much to O'Neil's distress) gives him command of the platoon. As he is
loaded onto the helicopter, Taylor is reminded by Francis that because they have
been wounded twice, they can go home. Back at the bombed-out command post, hundreds
of NVA bodies are being dumped into mass graves. After bidding farewell to Rhah,
Francis, Tony Hoyt (Ivan Kane) and Ebenhoch (Mark Ebenhoch) (his last surviving
friends in the platoon; the other survivors are Rodriguez (Chris Castillejo),
Huffmeister (Robert Galotti), and O'Neil), Taylor boards his helicopter. The
helicopter flies away and Taylor weeps as he stares down at the destruction, while
he (from a future perspective) narrates that he will forever be in Vietnam, with
Barnes and Elias battling for what Rhah called \"possession of his soul\", and that
he believes he and other veterans must rebuild themselves, and find goodness and
purpose in their lives.\n", "\nThe movie opens with outlaws Jack Colby (Lee Van
Cleef), Ben Miller (Sheb Wooley), and Jim Pierce (Robert Wilke) meeting up on
horseback and riding into the small town of Hadleyville on a Sunday morning. As
church bells ring out, the townspeople eye the notorious gang warily. Meanwhile,
Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) and pacifist Quaker Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly) are
getting married at the Justice of the Peace office. The three outlaws ride through
town and settle in outside the train depot to await the noon arrival of gang leader
Frank Miller.Marshal Kane and his radiant bride are congratulated by the town mayor
(Thomas Mitchell) and the retired Marshal (Lon Chaney, Jr.), and Kane reluctantly
hangs up his star per his wife's wishes. Just then a telegram arrives announcing
the pardon of Frank Miller, who Kane had arrested and sent to prison for murder
years earlier. The station master declares that Miller is coming on the noon train.
Along with the arrival of the other three outlaws, it is obvious that the Miller
gang is reuniting to come after Kane and the judge who sentenced Miller. Kane and
Amy are quickly hustled out of town in hopes of avoiding bloodshed. Once out on the
open road, Kane suddenly turns his buckboard around and tells a bewildered Amy that
he can't run from his past. Besides, the new Marshal won't arrive until the
following day and the town will be defenseless. Back in town, the world-weary judge
who sentenced Miller to prison is packing up his office and getting out of town. He
advises Kane to do the same.Kane's hot-headed young deputy, Harvey Pell (Lloyd
Bridges), who was passed over for the Marshal's job, presses Kane to turn over the
reins to him and get out of town. Kane declines. Complicating things is the fact
that Deputy Pell has taken up with saloon owner Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado), a
former lover of both Kane and Frank Miller. With Miller coming back, Helen Ramirez
decides to sell the saloon and leave town. Determined not to be a widow, Amy Fowler
also buys a ticket on the departing noon train.At the train depot, Ben Miller grows
impatient and rides in to pay a visit to the town saloon, where he is welcomed like
a returning hero. As Miller leaves, he runs straight into Kane and they exchange
glares. Kane enters the unfriendly confines of the saloon to ask for volunteers and
overhears the surly bartender speculating he will soon be shot dead. An angry Kane
knocks him to the floor. The jeering saloon patrons rebuff Kane and he leaves empty
handed. Kane then pays a visit to the packed church and interrupts the sermon to
ask for help. A heated debate erupts among the parishioners, and a lesson in civics
follows as a few brave citizens stand up for Kane and the rest find excuses to
avoid conflict. The realization that he may be fighting alone begins to dawn on
Kane. A visit to the retired and cynical former Marshal only produces another
rejection.Meanwhile,
Amy drops in on a surprised Helen Ramirez, searching for an answer to Kane's
stubborn refusal to leave. Amy thinks her husband is staying because of Ramirez.
Ramirez sets her straight. Tired and stressed, Kane goes to the livery stable and
thinks about saddling his horse and leaving. Deputy Pell sees him and follows him
in, pressuring him to leave. When Kane resists, Harvey slugs him. A desperate
fistfight ensues, which Kane wins. Kane goes to the barber's office to clean up and
hears the undertaker building a coffin.Back at the Marshal's office, the one man
who has volunteered to stand with Kane backs out when he discovers they will be
alone. After the man leaves, Kane makes out his will and leaves it in a desk
drawer. The clock ticks down the last seconds before noon. Suddenly, the shrill
whistle of the approaching train sounds. The three outlaws lace up their gunbelts
as the train nears. In a heartwrenching scene, Kane steps out onto the street just
as Amy and Helen Ramirez drive by on their way to the station. Amy looks away, but
Helen doesn't. Just as the two women arrive at the station, Frank Miller steps off
the train, makes eye contact with Helen, and turns away to strap on a gun belt. In
an iconic scene, the camera goes wide to reveal Marshal Kane all alone on the
deserted streets.The Miller gang walks into town, where Kane is waiting. Kane
catches a break when foolish Ben Miller smashes a shop window to steal a hat. Kane
circles behind the gang on their blind side and calls out. When they whirl around,
Kane drops Ben Miller. Amy hears the gunshot as the train pulls out and jumps off.
She runs into town to find Ben Miller dead in the street. Kane is soon caught in a
crossfire and takes refuge in the hayloft of the livery stable. Colby rushes the
stable, only to be gunned down by Kane. The remaining two outlaws set fire to the
stables and prepare to shoot Kane as he is smoked out. Kane drives the frantic
horses out, concealing himself Indian-style in the midst of the fleeing horses. He
escapes, but not without getting shot off his horse. The wounded Kane holes up in a
small store as Miller and Pierce pour shots Into the building. Pierce stops to
reload in front of the Marshal's office across the street and is suddenly shot in
the back at close range. As he collapses, Amy is revealed behind the shattered
window, gun in hand. Frank Miller realizes what has happened and takes Amy hostage,
using her as a shield to approach Kane's position. Miller calls Kane out,
threatening to kill Amy unless he shows himself. Kane lowers his gun and steps out.
Knowing that Miller is about to kill her husband, Amy spins around and claws
Miller's face as he throws her down. Marshal Kane quickly takes aim and kills
Miller. As the townspeople flood into the street, Kane's wagon is driven up so the
couple can resume their wedding journey. Will Kane surveys the ungrateful
townspeople scornfully and drops his tin star into the dust.\n", "\nIn 1280, King
Edward \"Longshanks\" invades and conquers Scotland following the death of
Alexander III of Scotland, who left no heir to the throne. Young William Wallace
witnesses Longshanks' treachery, survives the deaths of his father and brother, and
is taken abroad on a pilgrimage throughout Europe by his paternal Uncle Argyle,
where he is educated. Years later, Longshanks grants his noblemen land and
privileges in Scotland, including Prima Nocte. Meanwhile, a grown Wallace returns
to Scotland and falls in love with his childhood friend Murron MacClannough, and
the two marry in secret. Wallace rescues Murron from being raped by English
soldiers, but as she fights off their second attempt, Murron is captured and
publicly executed. In retribution, Wallace leads his clan to slaughter the English
garrison in his hometown and send the occupying garrison at Lanark back to
England.Longshanks orders his son Prince Edward to stop Wallace by any means
necessary. Wallace rebels against the English, and as his legend spreads, hundreds
of Scots from the surrounding clans join him. Wallace leads his army to victory at
the Battle of Stirling Bridge and then destroys the city of York, killing
Longshanks' nephew and sending his severed head to the king. Wallace seeks the
assistance of Robert the Bruce, the son of nobleman Robert the Elder and a
contender for the Scottish crown. Robert is dominated by his father, who wishes to
secure the throne for his son by submitting to the English. Worried by the threat
of the rebellion, Longshanks sends his son's wife Isabella of France to try to
negotiate with Wallace as a distraction for the landing of another invasion force
in Scotland.After meeting him in person, Isabella becomes enamored of Wallace.
Warned of the coming invasion by Isabella, Wallace implores the Scottish nobility
to take immediate action to counter the threat and take back the country. Leading
the English army himself, Longshanks confronts the Scots at Falkirk where noblemen
Lochlan and Mornay, having been bribed by Longshanks, betray Wallace, causing the
Scots to lose the battle. As Wallace charges toward the departing Longshanks on
horseback, he is intercepted by one of the king's lancers, who turns out to be
Robert the Bruce, but filled with remorse, Bruce gets Wallace to safety before the
English can capture him. Wallace kills Lochlan and Mornay for their betrayal, and
wages a guerrilla war against the English for the next seven years, assisted by
Isabella, with whom he eventually has an affair. Robert sets up a meeting with
Wallace in Edinburgh, but Robert's father has conspired with other nobles to
capture and hand over Wallace to the English. Learning of his treachery, Robert
disowns his father. Isabella exacts revenge on the now terminally ill Longshanks by
telling him that his bloodline will be destroyed upon his death as she is now
pregnant with Wallace's child.In London, Wallace is brought before an English
magistrate, tried for high treason, and condemned to public torture and beheading.
Even whilst being hanged, drawn and quartered, Wallace refuses to submit to the
king. As cries for mercy come from the watching crowd deeply moved by the
Scotsman's valor, the magistrate offers him one final chance, asking him only to
utter the word, \"Mercy\", and be granted a quick death. Wallace instead
shouts, \"Freedom!\", and the judge orders his death. Moments before being
decapitated, Wallace sees a vision of Murron in the crowd, smiling at him.In 1314,
Robert, now Scotland's king, leads a Scottish army before a ceremonial line of
English troops on the fields of Bannockburn, where he is to formally accept English
rule. As he begins to ride toward the English, he stops and invokes Wallace's
memory, imploring his men to fight with him as they did with Wallace. Robert then
leads his army into battle against the stunned English, winning the Scots their
freedom.\n", "\nDuring a US Civil War battle in Tennessee, Union Army Officer
Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) learns that his injured leg is to be
amputated. Seeing the plight of fellow soldiers with amputated legs, Dunbar refuses
amputation and steals a nearby horse. He attempts suicide by riding a horse across
the line of fire, between the opposing Union and Confederate positions, who have
been in a stalemate for days. His action has the unexpected effect of rallying his
comrades, who storm the distracted Confederates and win the battle. After the
ensuing battle, an experienced general's surgeon saves Dunbar's leg. The commanding
officer recognizes Dunbar as a hero and gives him Cisco, the horse who carried him
in battle, and offers Dunbar his choice of posting.Dunbar, anxious to see the
American frontier before it disappears due to mass settlement from the East,
requests transfer west. After meeting with Major Fambrough (Maury Chaykin), who has
slipped into delusions of grandeur (apparently believing he is a king and Dunbar a
medieval knight), he is paired with a drayage teamster named Timmons (Robert
Pastorelli), who conveys Dunbar to his post. Immediately after Dunbar meets leaves
with Timmons, Fambrough commits suicide with his pistol.After a scenic journey,
Dunbar and Timmons arrive with fresh supplies at the desolate Fort Sedgwick,
finding it deserted except for a lone wolf that Dunbar later befriends and dubs Two
Socks, because of the coloring of its front legs. Dunbar, while waiting for
reinforcements to arrive, sets about bringing order the deserted post, left in
complete disarray by its previous occupants. Meanwhile, Timmons, while returning to
their point of departure, is ambushed by Pawnee Indians and scalped. Timmons' death
and the suicide of the major who sent them there prevents Union officers from
knowing of Dunbar's assignment to the post, effectively isolating Dunbar. Dunbar
remains unaware of the full situation and its implications. He notes in his journal
how strange it is that no more soldiers join him at the post.Dunbar initially
encounters Sioux neighbors when the tribe's medicine man, Kicking Bird (Graham
Greene), happens upon the fort while Dunbar bathes out of sight, and, assuming it
abandoned, attempts to capture Cisco. After a naked Dunbar scares off Kicking Bird,
he is confronted by an aggressive warrior named Wind in His Hair (Rodney A. Grant),
who declares that he is not scared of the white man. Wind in His Hair and his
compatriots' attempt to capture Cisco ends in failure when the horse throws off his
would-be thief. Eventually, Dunbar establishes a rapport with Kicking Bird, but the
language barrier frustrates them. Believing that he should take the initiative in
establishing communication with the tribe, Dunbar dresses himself in his Army
uniform and rides out to meet them. On the way, Dunbar interrupts the suicide
attempt of Stands With A Fist (Mary McDonnell), a white woman captured by the tribe
as a child
and recently widowed. Eventually Kicking Bird and Wind in His Hair visit Dunbar at
the fort and realize that the lieutenant wants to know where to find herds of
buffalo, the first word that they share. Dunbar finds himself drawn to the
lifestyle and customs of the tribe, and becomes a hero among the Sioux and accepted
as an honorary member of the tribe after he helps them locate a migrating herd of
buffalo, which they depend upon as a source of food, material, and clothing.Dunbar
further helps defend the settlement against a Pawnee raiding party, providing the
Sioux warriors with surplus rifles and ammunition which he'd buried near the fort.
He eventually is accepted as a full member of the tribe. After members of the tribe
witness him playing with Two Socks, he is named Sugm\u00e1nitu Taka Ob'wahi
(\"Dances with Wolves\"; ugm\u00e1nitu Taka means large coyote, the Lakota word for
wolf). Dunbar falls in love with Stands With A Fist, a relationship forbidden by
the recent death of her husband in battle but consummated in secret. The two
eventually win the approval of Kicking Bird, who takes on the role of her father,
and marry. Dunbar subsequently spends more time living with the tribe than manning
his post at Fort Sedgwick. Wind In His Hair, his last rival, acknowledges him as a
friend.Dunbar's idyll ends when he tells Kicking Bird that white men will continue
to invade their land in \"numbers like the stars.\" They tell Chief Ten Bears
(Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman), who shows them a Conquistador's helmet that had been
in his family for generations. The chief decides it is time to move the village to
its winter camp. As the packing finishes, Dunbar realizes that his journal, left
behind at the deserted fort, is a blueprint for finding the tribe, revealing that
he knows far too much about their ways. Wearing Indian clothing, he returns to Fort
Sedgwick to retrieve the journal but finds it is has suddenly been occupied by
newly arrived Army troops. They see Dunbar and initially assuming he is an Indian,
kill his horse Cisco and capture Dunbar.When they recognize Dunbar as a white man,
they treat him as a deserter, punishable by death. Dunbar tells Lt. Elgin (Charles
Rocket) (whom Dunbar met earlier in Maj. Fambrough's office) that he has a journal
containing his orders for his posting to Fort Sedgwick. Spivey (Tony Pierce), one
of the first soldiers to arrive at the fort, denies the existence of the journal,
which he had found and has in his pocket. After further beating, Dunbar declares in
the Lakota language that his name is Dances With Wolves. Army officers and a few
troops set off to deliver Dunbar to Fort Hayes for execution. When they happen upon
Two Socks, they shoot at the wolf, who refuses to leave Dunbar. Despite his
attempts to intervene, Two Socks is fatally wounded, Dunbar is hit in the head
again and the convoy moves off.Soon after, Wind In His Hair and other warriors from
the tribe attack the column of men, rescuing Dunbar. Smiles A Lot (Nathan Lee
Chasing His Horse) retrieves Dunbar's journal floating in a stream. After returning
to the winter camp, Dunbar realizes that as a deserter and fugitive, he will
continue to draw the unwelcome attention of the Army and endanger the welfare of
the tribe if he stays with the Sioux. Under the protests of his Sioux friends,
Dunbar decides that he must leave the tribe, saying he must speak to those who
would listen. His wife decides to accompany him.As Dances With Wolves and Stands
With A Fist leave the camp, Wind In His Hair cries out that Dances with Wolves will
always be his friend, a remembrance of their first confrontation. Shortly
afterward, a column of cavalry and Pawnee army scouts arrive to find their former
camp site empty.\n", "\nThe story begins on Isla Nublar, a small island 120 miles
off the coast of Costa Rica. A large group of construction workers and animal
handlers offload a large container, the creature within unseen. During the process,
the animal attempts to escape, an act which leads to a mass panic, and the death of
one of the workers.The story jumps forward to an Amber mine in the Dominican
Republic, where we learn that miners extracting amber are involved with a genetic-
engineering company called InGen. We also learn that the death of the worker seen
earlier has raised serious concerns about the safety of the island, according to
Donald Gennaro, an InGen representative, and that the owner of the island is now
seeking top scientific experts in the field to help endorse the park. While he
speaks to the man in charge of the mine, Juanito, his crew finds a large chunk of
amber with a preserved mosquito inside.At a paleontological excavation in Montana
we are introduced to Dr. Alan Grant, and his assistant Ellie Sattler, as they
slowly uncover the fossilized remains of a Velociraptor, perhaps nature's most
lethal and cunning predator to date, a beautiful specimen evolved to kill. Part of
Grant's research experiments with a new radiological device that shoots a probe
into the dirt which bounces an image of an uncovered raptor skeleton back to a
computer screen. Grant is hesitant about the new technology but seems fascinated
with the image it produces without having to dig. He is also a follower of a long-
held theory among paleontologists that dinosaurs evolved more from birds than
reptiles. One of his assistants has brought along his son, who scoffs at the image
on the screen, unimpressed with the fact that it looks like a dead turkey. Grant
tells the kid a story about how velociraptors would hunt their prey with fast
coordinated attacks. The boy is horrified when Grant explains that after their prey
is brought down, velociraptors would often eat their prey alive.The dig is cut
short by the sudden appearance of Grant and Sattler's main sponsor, the elderly and
eccentric billionaire, John Hammond. He invites them over to endorse his latest
project, a remote island resort, where he claims that their \"unique biological
attractions\" are \"guaranteed to drive children out their minds!\" Alan and Ellie
are reluctant to leave their dig but Hammond entices them by offering to fund their
work for three more years.Grant and Sattler are accompanied by two other characters
-- the equally eccentric chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm, and the lawyer, Donald
Gennaro, who represents Hammond's investors. As they arrive by helicopter, they are
treated to a unique spectacle of living, breathing dinosaurs. Just the sight of
these mighty beasts, a towering Brachiosaurus accompanied by a herd of
Parasaurolophus, is enough to leave the stunned visitors breathless, save for
Gennaro's offhand comment: \"we're gonna make a fortune off this place...\".Later,
as they arrive at the island's central resort and control facility, the visitors
are given a brief tour of the process that created the animals. InGen has succeeded
in cloning animals from simple strands of DNA salvaged from mosquitoes that fed on
dinosaur blood, and were preserved for millions of years inside fossilized amber.
The group is shown the egg-incubation room, just in time to witness the birth of a
baby Velociraptor, a sight that deeply disturbs Grant. He asks to see where the
adults are housed.The special containment facility seen in the introduction, a
fortress of electrified fences and dense foliage, all that separates the humans
from the most dangerous creature on the island. Grant is witness to the daily
feeding of the animals: a cow is lowered into the pit, only to be stripped clean
within moments. The visitors (and the audience) is spared the gruesome sight of the
carnage by a thick covering of jungle foliage...The group prepares to experience
the theme park's central attraction, in which visitors embark on a safari-like tour
of the park, on special electrified Ford Explorers. Grant, Sattler, Malcolm and
Gennaro are accompanied by Hammond's two grand children: Lex and her little brother
Tim. As the group heads off, Hammond settles into the main control room where his
two computer experts, Arnold and Nedry, manage the complex infrastructure of the
park.The tour is largely un-eventful: the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Dilophosaurus -two
extremely dangerous carnivores- refuse to reveal themselves to the eager tourists.
A sick triceratops is also encountered, tended to by the park veterinarians, whom
Sattler leaves the group to help out with. An approaching tropical storm forces the
tour to be cut short, as most of the staff leave by ship for the mainland.In the
meantime, we learn the true colors of Nedry - he has been hired to steal dinosaur
embryos for InGen's rival corporation, BioSyn. In order to steal the embryos, he
shuts down security systems throughout the park, but this also causes the tour's
electric cars to break down, and the electrified fences shut down, thus releasing
the dinosaurs from containment.In the film's most thrilling sequence, a T-Rex
escapes its enclosure and proceeds to wreck the tour vehicles. Gennaro is eaten,
Malcolm is critically injured, but Grant manages to escape with the terrified
children. In the meantime, a lost and confused Nedry, trying to hand over the
stolen embryos to his contact, encounters a venom-spitting Dilophosaurus, and
justice is dealt.Sattler and the Park Warden Muldoon arrive in a jeep at the site
of the T-Rex attack to find the injured Malcolm and the remains of Gennarro, but
everyone else has disappeared. The T-Rex returns to give chase to the jeep down the
road in an exciting car chase of an action sequence, but the humans eventually
manage to escape.Grant and the kids spend the night sheltering up a tree, and wake
up to find a Brachiosaurus grazing nearby. Lex is initially frightened, but Grant
reassures her (and the audience) that Brachiosaurs are peaceful herbivores, and
that dinosaurs aren't monsters, they're just animals. Once more, we are given the
opportunity
to appreciate the beauty and majesty of these magnificent creatures.With Malcolm
injured and park systems still offline, Arnold is forced to take drastic action and
reset the system-an act that has the unintended consequences of freeing the vicious
velociraptors from their enclosure. Arnold, Muldoon and Sattler attempt to restore
power, only to have Arnold and Muldoon outsmarted and killed by the cunning
creatures. Only Sattler manages to narrowly avoid getting killed.After witnessing a
stampede of ostrich-like dinosaurs known as Gallimimus, Grant and the kids make it
back to the main resort complex, only to find it abandoned. Grant leaves the kids
in the main dining area, and tries to search for other survivors. In the meantime,
Lex and Tim are cornered by a pair of raptors inside the main kitchen. In one of
the most terrifying scenes in the entire film, the raptors stalk through the dark
kitchen, searching for the kids. Eventually, Lex and Tim manage to lure one of the
raptors into the freezer and lock it in, but the other raptor chases them out of
the kitchen.Meeting up in the control room, Grant, Sattler, and the kids attempt to
restore power and communications to the park, but are trapped in by the same
raptor. In the nick of time, the security systems and phone lines are brought back
online. Nevertheless, the raptors manage to break into the control room and gives
chase to our heroes throughout the entire building.Eventually, our heroes are
cornered by the last two raptors inside the main atrium. Just as all hope is lost,
the T-Rex come crashing in and attacks the raptors, buying enough time for the
small group of humans to escape.As the humans evacuate the island by helicopter,
the T-Rex gives a final victory roar behind a falling banner proclaiming: \"When
Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth\". The ending scene is quite powerful and epic, and
perfectly captures the spirit of the film in portraying dinosaurs as some of the
most magnificent creatures to ever walk the Earth...\n", "\nFather Lancaster Merrin
(Max Von Sydow) is an elderly Catholic priest on an archeological dig in Iraq.
Merrin has a sense of foreboding and encounters a number of strange omens,
including the unearthing of a series of confusing items, a near miss with a runaway
horse drawn carriage, and a clock that stops ticking in mid-stroke. Finally, Merrin
discovers a statue of a bizarre demonic figure; although the film does not mention
it, it is a representation of a demonic figure known as Pazuzu.Back in the United
States, in Washington D.C.'s upscale Georgetown neighborhood, a successful actress
named Chris McNeil (Ellen Burstyn) begins experiencing strange phenomena. Chris
lives with her twelve-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair), her personal assistant
Sharon (Kitty Wynn), and two housekeepers. Regan's father is estranged for reasons
unknown. There are mysterious, unexplained sounds in the attic of the house, which
Chris attributes to rats. Regan slowly begins to exhibit strange behavior,
undergoing behavioral changes much like depression and anxiety. She turns up in
Chris's bed one night, complaining that her own bed was \"shaking\".Chris is
working on a new movie in Georgetown with a director known as Burke Dennings (Jack
MacGowran). While filming a scene one day, she notices a young Catholic priest
watching her; his name is Damien Karras (Jason Miller). Father Karras has a
background in psychology and counsels parishoners at a nearby church; Chris also
notices him while walking home from the shoot one day.Karras is a thoughtful,
conflicted man. He discusses his vocation with a superior and asks to be
transferred because he feels he is losing his faith. He also has an elderly mother
who lives alone in a slum in New York; he visits her and is reminded of how lonely
her life is, and he feels guilty that she has to live in such poor surroundings.The
strange occurrences in the McNeil house begin to increase. Regan reveals that she
has been playing with a Ouija board and claims that she has the ability to
communicate with a spiritual entity all by herself. A nearby Catholic church is
desecrated, a statue of the Virgin Mary painted crudely and adorned with conical
clay additions made to resemble breasts and a penis. Regan also works with clay and
paint, making small animal sculptures.Meanwhile, Father Karras's mother falls ill
and, due to a lack of funds, she is placed in a very shabby hospital and resigned
to a ward full of mental patients. Father Karras is distraught when he visits her
and she seems to blame him for her situation. Later, she passes away under these
conditions, adding to his sorrow.Chris has an elaborate party at her home with a
number of affluent guests. One of her guests is another Jesuit named Father Dyer
(Rev. William O'Malley), and Chris asks him about Karras, having noticed him and
referring to him as \"intense\". She finds that Karras and Dyer are good friends.
During the party, Regan appears happy and social, but she reappears after being
sent to bed, dressed in her nightgown and urinates on the carpet in front of the
guests while making an ominous statement to a prominent astronaut (\"You're gonna
die up there\"). After the guests leave, Chris bathes Regan and puts her to bed,
but is startled by a loud sound from Regan's bedroom. She rushes back down the hall
and discovers Regan's bed shaking violently, rising up off the floor with Regan on
it. Chris jumps on the bed and it still levitates.Chris subjects Regan to a series
of medical tests to discover what the problem is. The doctors are unable to
discover anything, despite putting Regan through some grueling, painful procedures.
The best they can come up with is that Regan may have a lesion on her brain, but
ultimately they are frustrated when nothing appears on her brain scan. At Chris's
house, Regan suffers what appears to be a seizure, and two doctors visit to assist.
They find her rising and falling up and down on the bed in a way that seems
impossible for a human being. When they try to sedate her, she hurls them across
the room with abnormal strength, speaking to them in what seems to be a male voice:
\"Keep away! The sow is mine!\" Eventually they sedate her.Out of options, they
advise Chris to search for a psychiatrist, but they also reluctantly discuss
another possibility: they mention the phenomenon of demonic possession and the rite
of exorcism. While they seem to hold professional contempt for it, they do admit
that it has been known to solve problems such as what Regan is going through. Chris
is skeptical, having no real religious affiliation of her own.The situation worsens
when Chris is out one evening; she returns to find the house deserted except for
Regan, who is alone in her bedroom and appears to be in deep sleep. The bedroom is
freezing cold, the window standing wide open, and she is uncovered. Sharon returns
and Chris is furious with her for leaving Regan unattended, but Sharon explains
that she left Regan in the care of Burke, who was visiting the house, while she
went to the pharmacy to get Regan's medication. Burke's absence is unexplained
until the doorbell rings and an associate of Chris's breaks the news that Burke has
just died on the steps outside Chris's house.Shortly after this, Chris is visited
by a kindly detective named Kinderman (Lee J. Cobb), who seems suspicious of
Burke's death. He questions Chris about the events of that evening, and Chris is
nervous, hesitant to tell him about Regan's problem. While he is visiting, he
notices a few small animal figures that Regan has crafted; they are similar in
style to the desecration of the statue in the church. Kinderman leaves and
immediately a violent disturbance comes from Regan's bedroom. Chris hears a deep
male voice bellowing at Regan to \"do it\", and Regan screaming in protest. In the
bedroom, Chris finds Regan plunging a crucifix violently into her vagina. When
Chris tries to stop her, Regan assaults her with impossible strength, and furniture
around the room starts to move on its own. As Chris watches in horror, her
daughter's head turns completely around backwards, and she speaks to Chris in
Burke's voice, saying to her \"Do you know what she did? Your cunting daughter??\"
Chris then realizes that Regan is responsible for Burke's death.Desperate, Chris
arranges to meet with Father Karras, and when she mentions the notion of exorcism,
Karras is almost amused. He tells her that exorcism is nearly unheard of, and that
he doesn't know anybody who has ever performed one. Chris is distraught and
convinces him to meet with Regan anyway. Karras is shocked by the girl's
appearance; she is tied to the headboard of her bed, her face misshapen and covered
in lesions, her voice deep and gravelly. Regan announces that she's the devil, and
toys with Karras in a number of ways, seeming to make a drawer next to the bed open
all by itself, then speaking to Karras in a number of languages. She also conjures
up the voice of a subway vagrant that Karras has encountered alone earlier. Karras
remains unconvinced, and when Regan claims \"Your mother's in here with us\",
Karras asks her what his mother's maiden name is. Unable to answer, Regan vomits
spectacularly all over him.Chris cleans Karras's sweater and discusses Regan with
him. Karras is still not convinced that Regan is possessed, especially because
Regan says she's \"the devil\", and he recommends psychiatric care for her. Chris
pleads with him to help her obtain an exorcism, swearing that the \"thing\" in the
bed upstairs is not her daughter.While Karras thinks it over, he is approached by
Kinderman, who questions him about the fact that the desecration of the church
could be connected to Burke's death; what he was unable to tell Chris was that
Burke's body was found with his head turned completely around backwards, and the
police department considers
it a homicide. Kinderman knows that Karras suspects something unusual about the
McNeil house, but his confidentiality as a priest prevents him from discussing it
with Kinderman.Karras visits Regan again and records their conversation, during
which he sprinkles Regan with water. He tells her it is holy water and she begins
to writhe in pain, seemingly going into a trance and speaking in a strange
language. Later he tells Chris that it will be difficult to make a case with the
Bishop for possession; the water he sprinkled on Regan was simply tap water, and
was not blessed. The Bishop, and Karras himself, would consider Regan to be
mentally ill and not possessed. Chris confides in Karras and tells him that Regan
was the one who killed Burke Dennings. Later, Karras uses his tape recordings of
Regan's seemingly incomprehensible babble to discover that she is really speaking
backwards, in English. A phone call from Sharon interrupts him; she summons him to
the house to see Regan, not wanting Chris to see that's happening: as they look at
Regan's unconscious body, the words \"help me\" begin to materialize on her
stomach, rising up in her skin like scar tissue.Karras reluctantly agrees to try
and get an exorcism for Regan, although he seems to have more in common with the
doctors who recommended it as a form of shock therapy. The church calls in Father
Merrin to perform the exorcism, with Karras assisting. Merrin has performed
exorcisms in the past, including a difficult one that \"nearly killed him\",
according to the Bishop. When Merrin arrives at the McNeil house, Regan bellows his
name from upstairs, as if she knows him, and she makes strange animal sounds. He
warns Karras about conversing with the demon, and reminds him that the demon will
mix lies with the truth to confuse and attack them.When they enter Regan's bedroom,
she immediately begins with a string of obscenities. Merrin and Karras recite the
ritual of exorcism and Regan manifests strange phenomena such as levitation,
telekinesis, an abnormally long tongue, and strange vomiting. She constantly curses
the priests and emits evil laughter and verbal abuse. Regan begins to talk to
Karras in the voice of his mother, and he starts to break down. Merrin sends him
away; when he returns, he finds Merrin dead on the floor, the victim of a heart
attack. Regan cackles gleefully, infuriating Karras, who grabs her and shouts at
the demon, \"Come into me! Take me!\" The transference works almost immediately;
Karras begins to transform and Regan returns to her normal self. Before Karras can
harm her, his \"normal\" personality breaks through for a split second and he
commits suicide, hurling himself out Regan's window. Just as Burke did, he tumbles
down the stairs outside Regan's window and lays dying in the street below. By
chance, Father Dyer happens upon the scene and administers the last rites to his
friend.In a brief epilogue, we see Chris and Regan as they prepare to leave the
house in Georgetown. They are visited by Father Dyer. Chris speaks with him
privately and tells him that Regan doesn't remember anything about the possession
or the exorcism. Regan then appears and greets him cheerfully, transfixed by Father
Dyer's white collar. Before they leave, she suddenly hugs Father Dyer and kisses
him. As Chris pulls away in their car, she orders the driver to stop for a moment
and gives Father Dyer the religious medallion that belonged to Father Karras; in
their struggle, Regan had torn it from his body and it was in her bedroom all
along.\n", "\n\"The Pianist\" begins in Warsaw, Poland in September, 1939, at the
outbreak of the Second World War, first introducing Wladyslaw (Wladek) Szpilman,
who works as a pianist for the local radio. The Polish Army has been defeated in
three weeks by the German Army and Szpilman's radio station is bombed while he
plays live on the air. While evacuating the building he finds a friend of his who
introduces him to his sister, Dorota. Szpilman is immediately attracted to
her.Wladyslaw returns home to find his parents and his brother and two sisters,
packing to leave Poland. The family discusses the possibility of fleeing Poland
successfully and they decide to stay. That night, they listen to the BBC and hear
that Britain and France have declared war on Germany. The family celebrates,
believing the war will end quickly once the Allies are able to engage
Germany.Conditions for Jews in Warsaw quickly deteriorate. Wladek meets with
Dorota, who accompanies him around Warsaw to learn of the injustice Jewish people
have to face under the new Nazi regime. Businesses that were once friendly to them
now won't allow their patronage. Wladek's father is harshly forbidden to walk on
the sidewalk in the city by two German officers; when he begins to protest, one of
the men hits him in the face. The family soon has to move to the Jewish ghetto
established by Nazi rule. The Holocaust is starting, and the family, though well-
to-do before the war, is reduced to subsistence level, although they are still
better off than many of their fellow Jews in the overcrowded, starving,
pestilential ghetto.Wladyslaw takes a job playing piano at a restaurant in the
ghetto, turning down an offer from a family friend to work for the Jewish Police,
and the family survives, but living conditions in the ghetto continue to worsen and
scores of Jews die every day from disease, starvation, and random acts of violence
by German soldiers. One night the family sees the SS march into a house across the
street and arrest a family. The eldest man is unable to stand when ordered because
he is confined to a wheelchair and the SS officers throw him over the balcony to
his death. The other family members are gunned down in the street and run over by
the SS truck if they survived.By 1942, the aged father must apply for working
papers through a friend of Wladek's, so that he can take a job in a German
clothier. However, the day comes when the family is selected to be shipped to their
deaths at the Treblinka concentration camp. Henryk and Halina are selected and
taken away and the rest of the family is sent to the Umschlagplatz to wait for
transport. They are later reunited. As the family sits under the blazing sun with
hundreds of other Jews waiting for the trains, the father uses the family's last 20
zlotys to buy a piece of candy from a boy (who apparently isn't aware of his own
impending doom). Each family member eats a tiny morsel of candy, their last meal
together.As they are going to the trains, Wladyslaw is suddenly yanked from the
lines by Itzak Heller, a Jewish man working as a police guard. Wladyslaw watches
the rest of his family board the train, never to be seen again. He hides for a few
days in the cafe he played piano in with his old boss there. He later blends in
with the ten percent or so of the Jews that the Nazis kept alive in the ghetto to
use for slave labor, tearing down the brick walls separating the ghetto and
rebuilding apartment houses for new, non-Jewish residents. He is put to work, under
grueling, abusive conditions, building a wall. He thinks he sees an old friend
Janina Godlewska (a singer), but she passes quickly. He learns that some of the
Jews are planning an uprising, and helps them by smuggling guns into the ghetto.
While carrying bricks, he drops a load of them, is viciously whipped by an SS
officer and is given a new job supplying the workers with building supplies. He
also helps smuggle guns in potato sacks -- the weapons will be given to the
resistance fighters on the other side of the wall for the uprising. At one point,
he is almost caught by a German officer, who suspects that Wladek is hiding
something in a sack of beans. After this close call, he decides he must escape and
take his chances in the larger city. With the help of friend, Majorek (who was the
friend that got his father working papers a few years before), he escapes and finds
Janina and her husband.They take Wladyslaw to his caretaker Gebczynski (a man with
the Polish resistance), who hides him for one night. The next day Gebczynski takes
him to a vacant apartment near the ghetto wall, where he can live indefinitely on
smuggled food; he must be silent however, since several non-Jews also live in the
building and believe the apartment is empty. There, Wladek watches part of the
Jewish Ghetto Uprising of April-May 1943, for which he helped smuggle the weapons,
and watches weeks later as the uprising is finally crushed and its participants
killed. Later, Gebczynski wants to move Wladek as the Nazis have found the weapons
of the Polish resistance, forcing Gebczynski to be on the run also. Gebczynski says
it's only a matter of time before the Nazis find the apartment Wladek is hiding in.
Wladek decides to stay put, feeling safer where he is. His friend gives him an
address to go to in case of an emergency, and leaves, gravely warning Wladek not to
be caught alive by the Nazis. Wladyslaw remains in the apartment a few more months
until he has an accident, breaking some dishes. The noise has blown his cover, and
he has to scurry out of the building, being chased by an angry German woman who
suspects him of being Jewish.Wladek goes to the emergency address he was given,
where he surprisingly meets Dorota, who is now married, pregnant, and her brother
dead. Dorota and her husband hide Wladek in another vacant apartment, where there
is a piano, but his new caretaker, Szalas, is very slack about smuggling in food,
and Wladyslaw once more faces starvation, and at one point almost dies of jaundice.
Dorota and her husband visit him, finding him gravely ill. They report that Szalas
had been collecting money from generous and unwitting donors and had pocketed it
all, leaving Wladek to die in isolation.Wladek recovers in time to see the larger
1944 Warsaw Uprising, in which the Poles tried to retake
control of their city. Soon the Germans start attacking the building and he has to
flee. The Poles had expected the advancing Soviet Red Army to help them, but the
Russians did not come, instead allowing the Germans to put down the revolt, and
drive the entire remaining population of Warsaw out of the city. Wladyslaw hides in
the abandoned hospital that had been across the street from his second hideout. The
Germans had by then decided to burn Warsaw to ashes, so Wladyslaw flees the
hospital and jumps back over the wall into the ghetto, now an abandoned, desolate
wasteland of bricks and rubble.He stays there, rummaging through burned-out
buildings to find something to eat, and continues to hide, until one night a Nazi
officer, Captain Wilm Hosenfeld, finds him. To prove to Hosenfeld that he is a
pianist, he plays a somber and brief rendition of Chopin's \"Ballade in G Minor\",
the first time he has played since he worked in the Jewish ghetto years
before.Hosenfeld, moved by Szpilman's playing, helps him survive, allowing him to
continue hiding in the attic even after the house is established as the Captain's
headquarters. Hosenfeld eventually abandons the house with his staff when the
Russian army draws closer to Warsaw. Hosenfeld gives Wladek a final parcel of food
and his overcoat. He asks Wladek his surname, which sounds exactly
like \"spielmann\", the German word for pianist. Hosenfeld promises to listen for
Wladek on the radio. Hosenfeld also tells him that he only needs to survive for a
few more days; the Russian army will liberate Warsaw soon. Shortly afterward,
Wladyslaw sees Polish partisans, and, overcome with joy, goes outside to meet his
countrymen. Seeing his coat given to him by Hosenfeld, they think he is a German
and try to kill him, before he can convince them he is Polish.In the Spring, newly
freed Poles walk past an improvised Russian prisoner of war camp, and Hosenfeld is
among the prisoners. The Poles hurl insults at the Germans through the fence, but
when Hosenfeld hears that one of the Poles is a musician, he goes to the fence and
tells him that he helped Wladyslaw, and asks him to ask Wladyslaw to return the
favor, before a Russian soldier throws him back down on the ground. The Polish
musician does indeed bring Wladyslaw back to the site to petition the Russians, but
they have departed without a trace by the time he gets there. Wladyslaw is unable
to help Hosenfeld, but he returns to playing piano for the radio station.Closing
title cards tell us that Hosenfeld died in a Soviet gulag in 1952. Wladyslaw lived
to be an old man, dying in Poland in 2000 at the age of 88. The cards are intercut
with footage of Wladek triumphantly playing Chopin's Grand Polonaise Brilliante in
concert.\n", "\nThe film opens with three men driving in their car late at night on
a highway. In the car are Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro) and
Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). Jimmy and Tommy are asleep when Henry hears a loud
thumping noise. Trying to figure out the source of the sound, Henry suddenly
realizes they need to stop and check the trunk. When they open it, we see a beaten
man wrapped in several bloody tablecloths. An enraged Tommy stabs the man several
times with a kitchen knife and Jimmy shoots him four times with a revolver. Henry
slams the trunk lid shut and we hear a voiceover (Henry) say \"As far back as I can
remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.\"We now go back several decades, to see
the events that will lead up to this scene.In the 1950s, young Henry Hill idolizes
the Lucchese crime family gangsters in his blue-collar, predominantly Italian
neighborhood in East New York, Brooklyn, and in 1955 quits school and goes to work
for them. The local mob capo, Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino) (based on the actual
Lucchese mobster Paul Vario) and Paulie's close associate Jimmy Conway (De Niro)
(based on Jimmy Burke) help cultivate Henry's criminal career.Henry is teamed up
with the young Tommy and the two sell cartons of cigarettes, given to them by
Jimmy, to employees of a local factory, a crossing guard and some cops. While
selling them, two detectives show up and confiscate the money and the load,
arresting Henry. Tommy slinks away to tell Tuddy, Paulie's brother. Henry goes to
court and is given a slap on the wrist. Jimmy gives him a substantial reward for
his silence (Jimmy calls it a \"graduation gift\") and tells him he did well
despite \"getting pinched\": Henry revealed no names to the police and learned the
two most important things in their line of work: \"Never rat on your friends and
always keep your mouth shut.\" The rest of the gang greets Henry with joyful
acceptance.As adults, Henry and Tommy (Joe Pesci) conspire with Conway to steal
much of the billions of dollars of cargo passing through John F. Kennedy
International Airport. They help out in a key heist, stealing over half a million
dollars from the Air France cargo terminal. The robbery helps Henry gain more of
Paulie's trust, to whom Henry gives a sizable cut of the haul. However, because
Henry is half-Irish, he knows he can never become a \"made man\", a full-fledged
member of the crime family. Nor can Jimmy Conway, who is also Irish.Over the years,
Henry's friends become increasingly daring and dangerous. Conway loves hijacking
trucks, and Tommy has an explosive temper and a psychotic need to prove himself
through violence. At one point, he humiliates an innocent and unarmed young
waiter \"Spider\" (Michael Imperioli), asking Spider to dance \u00e0 la The
Oklahoma Kid, then shooting him in the foot. A few nights later, when Spider stands
up to an extremely intoxicated Tommy, Tommy (egged on by Jimmy) suddenly draws his
gun and shoots Spider in the chest, killing him instantly. Jimmy is angry with
Tommy for shooting Spider but Tommy is completely indifferent, callously asking
where he can find a shovel to bury the dead man.Henry also meets and falls in love
with Karen (Lorraine Bracco), a no-nonsense young Jewish woman; they go to the
Copacabana club two to three times a week (and the site of a famous continuous
Steadicam shot). Karen feels uneasy with her boyfriend's career, but is
also \"turned on\" by it, especially when Henry viciously pistol whips her neighbor
for trying to force himself on her and Henry gives her the bloody pistol to hide.
Henry and Karen eventually marry (which involves convincing Karen's parents that
Henry is half-Jewish).In June 1970, Tommy (aided by Jimmy Conway) brutally murders
Billy Batts (Frank Vincent), a made man in the competing Gambino crime family, over
a simple insult Batts throws at Tommy. The murder is a major offense that could get
them all killed by the Gambinos if discovered. After stopping at Tommy's mother's
place for a late-night meal (and also to pick up a shovel), Henry, Conway and
DeVito bury Batts' corpse in an abandoned field, bringing us back to the car trunk
scene from the start of the movie. When they discover six months later that the
land has been sold, they are forced to exhume, move, and rebury the badly
decomposed body, a task that makes Henry physically sick and that Tommy and Jimmy
consider another simple chore.Henry's marriage deteriorates when Karen finds he has
a mistress, Janice Rossi (Gina Mastrogiacomo). Karen confronts a sleeping Henry
with a gun as he wakes up. As soon as she lowers the gun, Henry subdues her and
screams that he has enough on his mind having to worry about being \"whacked on the
street\" without waking up with a gun in the face. Henry is visited at Janice's
apartment by Jimmy and Paulie, who tell him that his philandering is bad for
business. Paulie promises that he'll convince Karen that Henry is worth taking back
and that Henry will return to his home in a few days. In the meantime, Henry will
go with Jimmy to Florida to find a deadbeat who owes Paulie money.After beating and
dangling the debt-ridden Florida gambler over a lion cage at the Lowry Park Zoo in
Tampa, Henry and Jimmy are caught and sent to prison for four years because the
guy's sister was a typist for the FBI. There, Henry deals drugs to the other
prisoners to keep afloat and to support his family, and, when he returns to them,
he has a lucrative drug connection in Pittsburgh. Paulie warns Henry against
dealing drugs, since mob bosses can get hefty prison sentences if their men are
running drugs behind their back.Henry ignores Paulie's order and involves Tommy and
Jimmy (as well as Karen and his new mistress, Sandy (Debi Mazar) in an elaborate
cocaine smuggling operation. About the same time, December 1978, Jimmy Conway and
friends plan and successfully carry out a record $6,000,000 offscreen heist from
the Lufthansa cargo terminal at JFK Airport. Soon after the heist, Jimmy grows
increasingly paranoid when some of his associates foolishly flaunt their gains in
plain sight, possibly drawing police attention, and begins having them murdered.
Worse, after promising to welcome Tommy into the Lucchese family as a \"made man,\"
the elder members of the family coldly shoot him in the head in retaliation for
Billy Batts' death and his reckless behavior. The murder upsets Henry and
especially Jimmy, who are both expected to simply accept it and move on.In an
extended, virtuoso sequence titled \"Sunday, May 11th, 1980,\" all of the different
paths of Henry's complicated Mafia career collide: he must coordinate a major
cocaine shipment; bring a small cache of pistols to Jimmy (he refuses to take them
off Henry's hands); cook a large meal for his family; placate his mistress Sandy,
who processes the cocaine he sells; cope with his clueless babysitter/drug courier,
Lois; avoid federal authorities who, unknown to him, have had him under
surveillance for several months; and satisfy his sleazy drug connection customers,
all the while a nervous wreck from lack of sleep and snorting too
much of his own product.Lois demands that Henry take her home so she can get her
lucky hat, which she won't fly without. Henry and Lois are arrested by the police
as he backs out of his driveway. When Henry and Lois are booked, along with Sandy,
the police bring in loads of coke-encrusted equipment from Sandy's apartment. Karen
bails her husband out of jail, after destroying all of the cocaine that was hidden
in the house and getting her mother to put their house up as collateral for bail
money. Henry and his family are left penniless and the couple break down together
when Karen admits she destroyed the $60,000 in coke Henry had been planning to ship
when he was busted.After Henry's arrest, Paulie and the rest of the mob abandon
him. Henry meets a final time with Paulie who chastises him for lying about his
drug dealing. Paulie gives him a few thousand dollars and turns his back on him.
Karen meets with Jimmy to tell him that Henry has sobered up and also that Henry
hasn't been revealing any vital information about Jimmy or his other mob
compatriots. Before Karen leaves, Jimmy tells her to take a look at some stolen
dresses in one of his shopfronts. Karen becomes scared when she sees two shady-
looking workers. Jimmy's message to Karen and Henry is clear: they can be
ignominiously eliminated if they talk about their connections.Convinced that he and
his family are marked for death, Henry decides to become an informant for the FBI.
He and his family enter the federal Witness Protection Program, disappearing into
anonymity to save their lives, but not before he testifies against Paulie and Jimmy
in court. He is now an \"average nobody\" and tells us \"I get to live the rest of
my life like a schnook.\" The movie's quick final shot is of Tommy firing a pistol
directly into the camera, a tribute to the final shot of The Great Train Robbery,
hinting that Henry will never fully leave a life of crime.The film closes with a
few title cards (over Sid Vicious's version of \"My Way\") showing what became of
Hill, Paulie Cicero (Vario) and Jimmy Conway (Burke). Henry's marriage to Karen
ended in separation with her getting custody of their children, and Paulie and
Conway will spend practically the rest of their lives in prison. Paulie died in in
prison in 1988. Conway's title card explains that he was eligible for parole in
2004, though he died of lung cancer in 1996 while still incarcerated.\n", "\nIn the
Western Pennsylvania foundry town of Clairton, during the late 1960s, Russian-
American steel workers Michael (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage), Nick
(Christopher Walken), Stanley (John Cazale), John (George Dzundza), and Axel (Chuck
Aspegren) are preparing for two rites of passage: the marriage of one and military
service for three of them.They work together, hang out in a local bar and enjoy
weekends deer hunting. But their placid life is soon to be changed after three
enlist in the airborne infantry and go to Vietnam. Before they go, Steven marries
the pregnant Angela, with whom he has not had sex, and their wedding party is also
the men's farewell party. The hall is decorated with the boy's high school pictures
and lots of American flags.Nick's girlfriend, Linda, makes breakfast for her father
while wearing a bridesmaid's dress. Her father, an abusive and hallucinating
alcoholic, is upstairs and alone, having an alcoholic attack and has trashed his
room. Linda brings him his breakfast and he hits her a couple of times leaving a
bruise on her face. She leaves for the wedding and takes her belongings to Nick's
where she asks to stay for a while. Mike is upset and walks out when Linda shows
up.At the Russian wedding reception, there is lots of drinking, ethnic dancing and
wedding rituals. This is a very long scene and sets up the relationships and
foreshadows some of what is to come. Mike spends a lot of the time at the bar
drinking and watching Linda from afar. During the final ceremony of drinking from a
dual wine cup, the convention is the couple will have a good life if they don't
spill any wine but the camera catches some drips on the bride's dress. Nick
proposes to Linda after she catches the bouquet and she accepts. The bride and
groom leave the party in Mike's decorated Cadillac and Mike chases after them
stripping himself naked as he runs, winding up with Nick in a basketball court.
Nick makes Mike promise to bring him back to Clairton if something happens.The
morning after, with the car still decorated from the wedding, the men drive into
the mountains to go deer hunting. Mike takes hunting very seriously, having
expressed his one shot theory to Nick previously, and gives Stan a cold shoulder
when Stan wants to borrow socks and then can't find his hunting boots. He asks Mike
for his extra pair and Mike refuses, having grown tired of Stan's lack of
preparedness on previous trips. Frustrated, Stan pulls out a small handgun he
carries and Nick breaks up the confrontation. The next morning, Mike and Nick go
out into the woods and hunt (to Rachmaninoff's dramatic piece \"Praise the Name of
the Lord\"). Mike has told Nick he is the only one of the group he will hunt with,
having no respect for the others. Mike stalks and shoots a deer, bringing it down
in a single shot.The troupe returns to Clairton and they go straight to John's bar.
John plays a somber piece on the piano and the men sit mostly silent, contemplating
their last night together as a group.The story shifts to a mountainous region of
Vietnam where a small village is a battleground. Michael is there, lying
unconscious among some dead. A North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldier walks into the
village. He finds a small group of survivors, women and children, hiding in a
hidden bunker. He casually arms a grenade, tosses it in and walks off as it
explodes. Moments later he sees a woman, badly injured, carrying a baby. The
soldier mercilessly shoots her. Mike springs up and blasts the soldier with a
flamethrower. As Mike walks around shooting any surviving NVA soldiers, a unit of
helicopters arrive and drop troops, among them are Nick and Steve. Mike, with a
thousand-yard stare, doesn't seem to recognize them at first when incoming mortar
shells from the NVA begin to hit the fields around the village. In the distance,a
string of NVA are approaching.The three are captured and held prisoner in a crude
riverside camp along with other US Army and ARVN prisoners. For entertainment, the
guards force their prisoners to play Russian roulette and gamble on the outcome.
Steven is suffering a mental breakdown and is chosen first. He pulls the trigger
but the gun is aimed above his head, grazing him with the bullet. Though their
captors laugh, he is punished by incarceration to a rat-infested partially
submerged cage. Believing that the experience has broken Steven, Mike considers
abandoning him in his planned escape attempt. Nick angrily rejects Mike's
idea.Mike, convinces the guards to let him go head-to-head with Nick in the next
round, after devising a plan to escape that requires three bullets in the pistol
and shares his plan with Nick. Mike tells him to go after the closest gun when Mike
makes his move. Mike successfully convinces their captors use three bullets in the
cylinder. Mike raises the gun to his head and at the last minute pushes the rifles
pointed at him aside while turning the gun on his captors. Mike and Nick grab their
captors' AK-47s and kill them all before freeing Steve.The three escape the camp by
floating downriver on a tree. An American helicopter patrolling the river attempts
to rescue them, but only Nick is able to get inside and the other two hang from the
landing gear. The weakened Steven falls into the river. Mike jumps in after him,
and helps him to the riverbank. Steven yells that he can't feel or move his legs.
Mike carries him on his back to a steam of refugees and convinces the South
Vietnamese troops to take Steve on their jeep while he joins the bands of refugees
fleeing the conflict.The mentally-devastated Nick recuperates in a military
hospital in Saigon, where the psychologist concludes he is not fit to remain there.
After he's released, he tries to call Linda in Clairton but hangs up before the
call is connected. He wanders aimlessly in the red light district. Nick encounters
Juli\u00e9n Grinda (Pierre Segui), a champagne-drinking Frenchman outside a
gambling den where men play Russian roulette for money. Grinda entices Nick to go
in. Unbeknownst to Nick, Mike is in the crowd, as a spectator. Nick interrupts the
match, puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger and then leaves in a hurry
with the Frenchman. Mike follows but can't catch them as they drive away and Nick
throws the money the Frenchman offers him into the street.Returning to Clairton
Mike avoids a welcome celebration and shows up to meet Linda alone. Nick is still
missing. Mike finds out that Steve is alive and has returned from Vietnam and
visits Angela, Steve's wife, to find out where he is. She is stuck in bed and non-
communicative but writes down a number for him. It is the number for Steven's
veteran's rehabilitation clinic.Michael reunites with Steven, who has lost both his
legs and the use of an arm plus psychological damage. Steven reveals that someone
in Saigon has been mailing large amounts of cash and carved elephants to him. Mike
suspects the money is from Nick, who may still be alive and earning the money from
Russian roulette gambling. Mike takes Steven home over Steven's protests.The boys
go hunting and Mike hunts alone but can't go through with shooting the deer. He has
another confrontation with Stan in the hunting cabin after Stan gets mad and aims
his pistol at one of them. Mike takes his pistol and throws it away.Mike goes back
to Saigon just before its fall in 1975 to find Nick. With the help of the Grinda,
he finds Nick in a crowded roulette
club, but Nick has no recollection of Mike or his home in Pennsylvania. Make tries
to buy Nick from the gamblers. Mike and Nick end up pitted against each other in an
attempt on Mike' part to help Nick remember who he is. Mike's attempts to jog his
memory and persuade him to come home are unsuccessful and he notices track marks on
Nick's arm, suggesting his minders are forcing him to use heroin to turn him into a
mindless roulette player. Mike and Nick go through a few rounds of roulette until
Nick raises the gun to his head and kills himself.The film ends with Nick's funeral
back in America and his friends' response to it. Everyone's there, and even Angela
and Steven seem to be on the mend. At the wake in the bar they all mournfully
sing \"God bless America\", and toast Nick.\"CAVATINA\" by Stanley Myers is played
(on guitar by John Williams) as the credits roll.\n", "\n\nIt looks like we don't
have a Synopsis for this title yet. Be the first to contribute! Just click
the \"Edit page\" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Synopsis
submission guide.\n\n", "\nIn the middle of the Great Depression, Clyde Barrow and
Bonnie Parker meet when Clyde tries to steal Bonnie's mother's car. Bonnie, who is
bored by her job as a waitress, is intrigued with Clyde, and decides to take up
with him and become his partner in crime. They do some holdups, but their amateur
efforts, while exciting, are not very lucrative.The duo's crime spree shifts into
high gear once they hook up with a dim-witted gas station attendant, C.W. Moss. The
three are joined by Clyde's brother, Buck and his wife, Blanche, a preacher's
daughter. Soon a long-simmering feud between Bonnie and Blanche begins; the once-
prim Blanche views Bonnie as a harpy corrupting her husband and brother-in-law,
while Bonnie sees Blanche as an incompetent, shrill shrew.Bonnie and Clyde turn
from pulling small-time heists to robbing banks. Their exploits also become more
violent. When C.W., the get-away driver, botches a bank robbery by parallel parking
the car, Clyde shoots the bank manager in the face after he jumps onto the slow-
moving car's running board. The gang is pursued by law enforcement, including Texas
Ranger Frank Hamer, who is captured and humiliated by the outlaws, then set free.
After a raid kills Buck, injures Bonnie and Clyde, and leaves Blanche sightless and
in police custody, Hamer tricks Blanche, whose eyes are bandaged, into revealing
the name of C.W. Moss, known in the press only as an unnamed accomplice.The Ranger
locates Bonnie, Clyde and C.W. hiding at the house of C.W.'s father, who thinks
Bonnie and Clyde -- and an elaborate tattoo -- have corrupted his son. He strikes a
bargain with Hamer: in exchange for a lenient jail sentence for C.W., he helps set
a trap for the outlaws. When Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed while stopped by the
side of the road, the police riddle their bodies with bullets in a blood bath.\n",
"\nIn December 1970 in Marseilles, France, a plainclothes policeman is observing
former longshoreman turned entrepreneur Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) chatting with
some unsavory types. Charnier is being tailed by the undercover cop because he is a
kingpin in smuggling heroin overseas - a fact that costs the cop his life when he
later returns home and is shot in the face by Pierre Nicoli (Marcel Bozzuffi),
Charnier's henchman.Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, NY, a corner Santa is chatting with
some children outside a seedy bar while a hotdog vendor completes a transaction.
The Santa is Detective Jimmy \"Popeye\" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and the vendor is his
partner, Detective Salvatore Russo (Roy Scheider), whom Doyle nicknames \"Cloudy.\"
The two narcotics cops are staking out the bar in hope of finding a pusher named
Willie (Alan Weeks). When Popeye sees Willie in the bar passing some drugs to a
companion, he starts singing to the children, his signal to Cloudy. Cloudy enters
the bar and grabs Willie's buddy. Willie sees the commotion and suddenly flees
outside, with Popeye and Cloudy in hot pursuit. They corner him in an alley and
Willie slashes Cloudy's arm with a hidden knife and runs. The cops chase him on
foot to a deserted lot where he trips and falls and is beaten by both cops before
Russo implores Doyle to stop. Once the two cops calm down they confusingly
interrogate Willie, trying to get information on his drug connection.In France,
Charnier finishes a day overseeing dock work and drives home to his seaside villa
and his young trophy wife (Ann Rebbot), who obviously has expensive tastes. The two
exchange gifts for their upcoming trip to the US. Charnier later meets his gunman
Nicoli at a rendezvous point for an acquaintance of Charnier, TV personality Henri
Devereaux (Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric de Pasquale). Devereaux is traveling to the US to
make a film and has decided to aid Charnier's smuggling effort because he needs
money. Nicoli believes involving Devereaux is a mistake, but is reassured by
Charnier.In NYC, Popeye and Cloudy sign off for the night and Popeye takes his
reluctant partner to a nightclub called The Chez. Popeye notices one table in
particular, populated by known narcotics connections who are being entertained by a
free-spending young man whom Popeye describes as a \"greaser.\" Popeye smells a
drug deal underway and persuades Cloudy to help him tail the greaser and his
companion, a big-haired blonde. Throughout the night they tail the two, watching
them drop off a suitcase in Little Italy and then switch cars early the next
morning from an attractive coupe to a beat-up sedan. They then drive to a candy
store/luncheonette, \"Sal and Angie's\", in a working-class area of Brooklyn.
Peering inside as the couple prepares to open for the day, Popeye and Cloudy notice
that the blonde is now a brunette, having worn a wig the night before.Realizing
they are on to something, the two cops stake out the candy store for a week using
audio surveillance. Cloudy poses as a photographer to question Angie. Combing
records they find that the greaser is Salvatore \"Sal\" Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) and
his wife is Angie (Arlene Farber). The candy store's income could not explain Sal's
free-spending ways. The posh coupe is owned by Angie while the beat-up sedan is
owned by Sal's brother Lou (Benny Marino), a garbageman in training at a facility
on Ward's Island in the East River. All three Bocas have criminal records. The
candy store is regularly visited by unsavory types from New Jersey, and Sal makes
numerous trips to an expensive condo in Manhattan at which lives lawyer Joel
Weinstock (Harold Gary), a known drug financier who bankrolled a heroin shipment
from Mexico.Popeye and Cloudy raid a junk-house bar. One Afro-haired patron (Al
Fann) talks back at Popeye and is hauled into a men's room to be beaten up -
actually cover so Popeye can debrief his informant, who reveals that a big shipment
is due within a few weeks that will satisfy everyone in the city. In order to make
the ruse look convincing, Popeye punches his colleague in the jaw, a bit too
enthusiastically.Popeye's boss, Walt Simonson (Eddie Egan, the real-life
inspiration for Popeye Doyle), is reluctant to let the two cops continue with their
investigation of Boca, pointedly reminding Popeye of a previous case where his
hunches backfired. But with Joel Weinstock, whom the police have long wanted to
arrest, potentially involved, Simonson relents and goes to court for a wiretap on
Boca's house and candy store. The federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
(BNDD) now becomes involved and assigns Agents Bill Mulderig (Bill Hickman) and
Bill Klein (Sonny Grosso, the real-life inspiration for Cloudy Russo), who've
worked with Popeye before; Popeye and Mulderig are at constant loggerheads because
Mulderig blames Popeye for the death of a policeman in a previous case and doesn't
believe Popeye's hunches to begin with.Charnier, Nicoli, and Devereaux arrive in
NYC and Devereaux brings with him Charnier's Lincoln, signed for in Charnier's
stead. They speak fair English, but nonetheless have an interpreter, La Valle
(Andre Ernotte), with them. La Valle escorts Charnier to a police auction of
impounded cars and identifies Lou Boca as the scrap metal buyer for Charnier's
business (suggesting how the Bocas may have linked up with Charnier).After several
days of monitoring mundane conversations, the wiretap finally brings Popeye and
Cloudy their first break - Charnier phones Sal to arrange a 12 o'clock meeting the
next day. Popeye, Cloudy, and Mulderig tail Sal to midtown Manhattan, where they
spot Sal meeting with Charnier and Nicoli. While Mulderig follows Sal, Popeye and
Cloudy tail Charnier, dubbed \"Frog One,\" and Nicoli as they walk through the
city. The Frenchmen stop to eat at an expensive restaurant, which the cops observe
while standing outside in freezing temperatures and eating bad pizza with worse
coffee. Later, Popeye finds out that Frog One is staying at the Westbury Hotel, but
Mulderig still doesn't believe Popeye is on to anything, leading to a brief
argument.At Joel Weinstock's condo, a young dope chemist (Pat McDermott) tests a
sample of Charnier's heroin and it measures to 89% pure. There are sixty kilos due
to arrive; when cut down into \"dime bags\" it will total out to $32 million with a
half-million cash down payment. Weinstock, however, wants to wait before the switch
is made, much to Sal's displeasure as Sal fears that Charnier will abort the deal
if Weinstock drags it out too long.The next day Popeye arrives at the Westbury just
in time to see Charnier breeze right by the distracted Mulderig and Klein and walk
into the city without a tail. Popeye tails Charnier himself, almost loses him at a
flower shop, but then picks him up again at the Grand Central subway station. They
play a cat-and-mouse game on the platform, but the wily Charnier manages to hop
back on
a train at the last moment and waves goodbye as the furious Popeye futilely runs
after the train.Charnier meets Sal in Washington DC - Sal followed there by Klein -
where Charnier insists that the deal must be consummated by the end of the week,
despite Sal's protests that his mob pals want to wait. On the flight back to New
York, Charnier expresses his worries to Nicoli, who points out that Sal's concern
about the police is warranted. The Frenchmen agree that Doyle is the main problem,
and Nicoli volunteers to assassinate Doyle. Charnier reluctantly agrees, unaware
that a fight has erupted between Popeye and Mulderig, and that Popeye has been
taken off the case by a furious Simonson.The dejected Popeye returns to his
Brooklyn apartment building, where he is fired upon by Nicoli from the roof. Popeye
manages to enter the building and pursues Nicoli to the roof, and then back down
when he sees Nicoli fleeing. Nicoli runs to a nearby elevated train station and
boards the train while Popeye screams for a uniformed transit policeman on board to
stop him. As the train leaves the station, the transit policeman follows Nicoli as
he moves forward through the train. Popeye commandeers a Pontiac Le Mans from a
flabbergasted citizen. Nicoli kills the transit cop and seizes the motorman,
forcing him to keep the train going through all the regular stops. Popeye furiously
pursues in the car, barely escaping as other cars sideswipe him, and he nearly
strikes a woman pushing her child in a baby carriage. Nicoli then kills the
conductor who tries to intervene, and the crowd on the train flees while the
terrified motorman collapses with a heart attack, locking the train on a collision
course with a stopped train. The two trains crash and passengers, including Nicoli,
are thrown about. Despite injuries and losing his gun, Nicoli slips out undetected
- by everyone except Popeye. Nicoli starts down the stairs but is cornered by
Popeye, and when he tries to flee he is shot dead.Popeye and Cloudy, now back on
the case, tail Sal as he takes the Lincoln from a parking garage to a side street.
The police stake out the car all night; at 4:10 AM a gang of thieves tries to strip
it, but they are arrested by a horde of policemen and the car is towed to a garage
to be searched as evidence. The mechanic (Irving Abrahams), cannot find any
narcotics in the car, but Popeye refuses to believe it. While Devereaux (who signed
for the car) and La Valle argue with the garage desk sergeant, Cloudy notices a
120-pound discrepancy between the car's listed weight and actual weight. The
mechanic reveals one area he didn't open up - the car's rocker panels underneath
the doors. Popeye chews him out and then helps open up these panels, and the stash
is found. The car is replaced (either repaired or the department acquires another,
intact one), the stash replaced, and it is returned to Devereaux, while the police
now wait for the dealers to make their final move.Devereaux meets again with
Charnier and is reluctant to do any more favors, until Charnier reveals that
Devereaux is now an accomplice - to Devereaux's surprise and horror. Devereaux
walks away, but Charnier takes the car himself and drives it to Ward's Island,
where Lou Boca directs him to an abandoned factory building. There the heroin stash
is revealed and tested positively. The stash is hidden inside the building and cash
payment is hidden in the rocker panels of the junker car Lou Boca bought. With the
deal completed, the Bocas briefly celebrate and Sal drives Charnier back to the
city - and right into a police roadblock led by Popeye. Sal drives back to the
factory with police in pursuit, and the mobsters hide inside the main building
while Charnier hides in a secondary building. A gunfight ensues, in which Sal Boca
is shot dead. Popeye hunts for Charnier inside the dilapidated warehouse. Cloudy
joins him as Popeye appears to have cornered Charnier, but as the two cops approach
the room Popeye sees someone from another door. He opens fire before Cloudy can
corner the now-dead man - who turns out to be Agent Mulderig. Determined to get
Frog One at any cost, and not caring that he just killed a Federal agent, Popeye
strides through the warehouse, believing the Frenchman is still in hiding. After he
rounds a corner a single gunshot is heard.In an epilogue, it is revealed that
Weinstock and the surviving Bocas either skated or received peripheral sentences
while Henri Devereaux wound up in federal prison for four years; Charnier escaped
and is believed to be living in France, and Doyle and Russo were suspended from
narcotics duty.(Note: The French Connection drug bust that inspired the film took
place in 1961. However, the film's script sets the action at the time of actual
filming, i.e. the winter of 1970-71, in order to avoid the need for period accuracy
in the many New York street scenes.)\n", "\nThe officials of a city unveil a new
statue, only to find The Tramp sleeping on it. They shoo him away and he wanders
the streets, destitute and homeless, and is soon tormented by two newsboys. He
happens upon a beautiful Flower Girl (Virginia Cherrill), not realizing at first
that she is blind, and buys a flower. Just when she is about to give him his
change, a man gets into a nearby luxury car and is driven away, making her think
that the Tramp has departed. The Tramp tiptoes away.\nThat evening, the Tramp runs
into a drunken Millionaire (Harry Myers) who is attempting suicide on the
waterfront. (It is later mentioned that his wife has sent for her bags.) The Tramp
eventually convinces The Millionaire he should live. He takes the Tramp back to his
mansion and gives him a change of clothes. They go out for a night on the town,
where the Tramp inadvertently causes much havoc. Early the next morning, they
return to the mansion and encounter the Flower Girl en route to her vending spot.
The Tramp asks The Millionaire for some money, which he uses to buy all the girl's
flowers and then drives her home in the Millionaire's Rolls-Royce.After he leaves,
the Flower Girl tells her Grandmother (Florence Lee) about her wealthy
acquaintance. When the Tramp returns to the mansion, the Millionaire has sobered
and does not remember him, so has the butler order him out. Later that day, the
Millionaire meets the Tramp again while intoxicated, and invites him home for a
lavish party. The next morning, having sobered again and planning to leave for a
cruise, the Millionaire again has the Tramp tossed out.Returning to the Flower
Girl's apartment, the Tramp spies her being attended by a doctor. Deciding to take
a job to earn money for her, he becomes a street sweeper. Meanwhile, the
Grandmother receives a notice that she and the girl will be evicted if they cannot
pay their back rent by the next day, but hides it. The Tramp visits the girl on his
lunch break, and sees a newspaper story about a Viennese doctor who has devised an
operation that cures blindness. He then finds the eviction notice and reads it
aloud at the girl's request. He reassures her that he will pay the rent. But he
returns to work late and is fired.As he is walking away, a boxer persuades him to
stage a fake fight, promising to split the $50 prize money. Just before the bout,
however, the man receives a telegram warning him that the police are after him. He
flees, leaving the Tramp a no-nonsense replacement opponent. Despite a valiant
effort, the Tramp is knocked out.Some time later, he meets the drunken Millionaire
who has just returned from Europe. The Millionaire takes him to the mansion and
after he hears the girl's plight, gives the Tramp $1,000. Unbeknownst to the
Millionaire and the Tramp, two burglars were hiding in the house when they entered.
Upon hearing about the cash, they knock out the millionaire and take the rest of
his money. The Tramp telephones for the police, but the robbers flee before they
arrive, and the butler assumes he stole the money. The Millionaire cannot remember
the Tramp or giving him the $1,000. The Tramp narrowly escapes and gives the money
to the girl saying he will be going away for a while. Later, he is arrested in
front of the newsboys who taunted him earlier, and jailed.Months later, the Tramp
is released. Searching for the girl, he returns to her customary street corner but
does not find her. With her sight restored, the girl has opened up a flourishing
flower shop with her Grandmother. When a rich customer comes into the shop, the
girl briefly wonders if he is her mysterious benefactor. But when he leaves with no
acknowledgement, she realizes again she is wrong. While retrieving a flower from
the gutter outside the shop, the Tramp is again tormented by the two newsboys. As
he turns to leave, he finds himself staring at the girl through the window. His
despair turns to elation and he forgets about the flower. Seeing that he has
crushed the flower he retrieved, the girl kindly offers him a fresh one and a coin.
The Tramp begins to leave, then reaches for the flower. When the girl takes hold of
his hand to place the coin in it, she recognizes the touch of his hand and realizes
he is no stranger. \"You?\" she says, and he nods, asking, \"You can see now?\" She
replies, sobbing, \"Yes, I can see now.\" The Tramp smiles shyly at the girl as the
film ends.\n", "\nIt Happened One Night begins with a rich heiress named Ellie
Andrews sequestered by her father on his yacht, disapproving of her marriage to a
famous aviator named King Westley. After an argument, she escapes the yacht and
swims away. She buys a bus ticket to travel back to New York to her husband, where
she meets an out of work reporter named Peter Warne. Eventually he finds out her
true identity from a newspaper article about her escape. He offers to help her get
to her destination in exchange for exclusive rights to her story, and secures her
cooperation by threatening
to turn her in to her father if she does not agree.\nAndrews and Warne share hotel
rooms on their trip, pretending to be husband and wife to keep from arousing
suspicion. Because she is a married woman, they put up a blanket as a barrier, with
Warne referring to it as the walls of Jericho. One of the other bus passengers
recognizes Andrews from an article offering a $10,000 reward for her return. While
the bus is stranded in mud, the passenger offers to split the money with Warne if
he helps him turn in Andrews. Warne scares the passenger away by implying that hes
a professional criminal looking for $1,000,000 in ransom money and then threatens
to shoot him when he becomes frightened. Warne and Andrews then leave the bus to
hitchhike in case the other passenger decides to turn them in to the police.\nAfter
they spend the night sleeping in hay, Andrews gets a driver to stop by flashing one
of her legs, who turns out to be a robber who drives off with their possessions.
After chasing after him, Warne inexplicably returns with a bloody temple and the
mans car. In the meantime, the father reluctantly agrees to allow the marriage to
the aviator if his daughter returns. While spending another night in a blanket-
partitioned hotel room, Andrews throws herself at Warne and proposes that they both
be together. Warne seemingly rejects her and after she falls asleep he drives back
to New York in the middle of the night. He sells his story about his love and
potential marriage to Andrews to his old boss for $1000, so as not to propose to
her while broke. Meanwhile, the suspicious manager of the hotel kicks out Andrews
when she finds out that Warne has left.\nThinking that Warne hates her, Andrews
phones her father in order to turn herself in. Her father picks her up with a
police escort while Warne is returning just in time to see them drive by. Angry
with her, Warne contacts the father about reward money. He agrees to go to their
home while a real marriage ceremony for Andrews and the aviator is to take place.
He only comes to collect $39.60 for his expenses and not the full $10,000 and
admits to the father that he loves his daughter. The father starts to like Warne
and during the ceremony manages to convince his daughter that Warne really loves
her and that she should leave the aviator. Andrews runs away during the ceremony,
her father pays off the aviator to annul the wedding, and she eventually marries
the reporter. The film ends in a hotel room with the \"walls of Jericho\" coming
down.\n", "\nAfter hitchhiking from Chicago, young George Eastman (Montgomery
Clift) arrives at the Eastman bathing suit factory and arranges to visit his uncle
Charles (Herbert Hayes), the company's president, at his home that evening.
Charles, a tycoon who recently met his nephew for the first time, introduces George
to his wife Louise (Kathryn Givney), daughter Marsha (Lois Chartland) and son Earl.
The Eastmans gingerly question George about his widowed mother Hannah, a religious
mission worker in Chicago, and George, keenly aware of his lowly social position,
responds with vague politeness. After Charles insists that Earl, who has a
management position at the factory, find a job for his cousin, debutante Angela
Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor) enters the room, mesmerizing George with her beauty.The
next day at the factory, the condescending Earl assigns George to the assembly
area, where the bathing suits are put into boxes, and advises him about the strict
rules against dating fellow employees. George works tirelessly and at night in his
modest apartment, composes a list of suggestions for improving productivity on the
assembly benches.Yearning to succeed, George drives to the Eastmans' during one of
their lavish parties and sees Angela arriving, but cannot bring himself to go
inside. Instead, he goes to a movie and ends up sitting next to co-worker Alice
Tripp (Shelly Winters). After the movie, George and Alice walk together, and she
comments that George will always be different because he is an Eastman. The
uneducated George maintains that he is not special and becomes momentarily lost in
thought when he notices a boy singing in a sidewalk mission group. George then asks
Alice about her life, and she reveals that she came from a poor family and,
ironically, never learned how to swim. Outside Alice's furnished room, George and
Alice kiss and agree to see each other again. Later, at the end of another date,
the couple wind up in Alice's room and spend the night together.The next morning at
the factory, Charles comes through the assembly area and, seeing George, offers to
promote him and invites him to another party. When Alice learns that the party
coincides with George's birthday, she reminds him that she had already planned a
party for him and insists that he leave the Eastmans' early.At the Eastmans',
George feels out of place and seeks refuge in the deserted billiard room. While
playing pool by himself, George is noticed by Angela, and the two strike up a
friendly conversation. Just then, Charles bursts in and insists that George call
his mother about his promotion. Though embarrassed, George complies, while Angela
hangs on his arm, teasing him. George and Angela spend a few romantic hours
dancing, and when George finally shows up at Alice's, she is angry and informs him
that she is pregnant. Though stunned, George reassures her, but later accepts
Angela's invitation to a party at her parents' house. There, George and Angela
confess their love, and George frets that Angela will be leaving soon to spend the
summer at her parents' lakeside home. After Angela assures him that they can still
see each other, they kiss with deep passion.Later, Alice goes to see Dr. Wyeland
about her pregnancy, but he insists that he will help her only if she intends to
have the baby. Although Alice tells George that he must now marry her, George
protests and asks for time. Alice agrees to wait until the first week in September,
when George will be taking his vacation.Sometime later, Angela drops by George's
apartment to tell him that her parents have invited him to visit at the lake during
his vacation. George calls Alice and begs for another week, stating that he will be
with his uncle at the lake and might get a bonus. Reluctantly Alice complies, and
George begins a carefree holiday with Angela.At secluded Loon Lake, Angela brings
up the subject of marriage and piques George's interest when she tells him about a
couple who drowned there the summer before. Alice, meanwhile, waits for mail from
George, but instead sees a newspaper photograph of him with Angela. Back at the
lake, during a Hawaiian-themed dinner, George receives a phone call from Alice,
demanding that he come for her at the bus station. George lies to Angela that his
mother is ill, and at the station, Alice threatens to expose George unless he
marries her immediately. George gives in, and the next day, he and Alice go to the
county courthouse to wed, but discover that it is closed because it is Labor
Day.Seeing an opportunity, George suggests that they picnic at Loon Lake and spend
the night at the lodge. Before reaching the lodge, George then pretends to have run
out of gas and rents a boat under an assumed name. George rows Alice to the far
side of the lake and, after night falls, listens with growing agitation as she
chatters about how happy they are going to be. Sensing George's displeasure, Alice
abruptly asks him if he wished she were dead, and George fights to maintain his
composure. When Alice suddenly rises to come to him, causing the boat to sway,
George tries to stop her, but the boat capsizes. George and Alice both fall into
the water, but only George makes it to the shore while Alice drowns. Stumbling in
the dark, George walks into a Boy Scout camp before locating his car and driving
off.The next day, George returns to the Vickers', while at the courthouse, District
Attorney R. Frank Marlowe (Raymond Burr) is notified about Alice's death. After
questioning the boat keeper and the Boy Scout who saw George, Marlowe concludes
that only Alice drowned. Detectives then interrogate Alice's landlady, who repeats
gossip that Alice was involved with George. George, meanwhile, has a frank
conversation about his background with Angela's father Anthony and impresses him
with his honesty. Although Angela is unaware of the murder investigation, George
senses the police will soon be closing in on him and asks Angela to believe in him,
no matter what she may hear. After she swears her undying love, George says goodbye
and is arrested by the police.Determined to keep his daughter's name out of the
trial, Anthony puts up the money for George's defense. Angela follows the
proceedings while in school, but remains dazed by the desperate turn of events.
During the trial, several witnesses implicate George as well as the circumstances
that he premeditated murdering Alice to free himself from a loveless
relationship.At the climax of the trial, George takes the witness stand himself
where he describes all about his relationship with Alice and Angela as well as the
details from that day that Alice drowned by accident and he fled from the scene out
of fear of loosing everything including a romance with Angela. But when Marlowe
harshly cross-examines him, he brings up the various circumstances (George renting
the canoe under a false name, not reporting the accident, etc.) and openly accuses
George of bashing in Alice's head before throwing her overboard. George admits that
he had thought about killing Alice, but changed his mind before the boat
accidentally capsized. Despite his candid testimony, George is convicted of first
degree murder and sentenced to die.In prison a few weeks later, George is counseled
by both his mother and a minister to look into his heart to determine whether he
did everything he could to
save Alice. Haunted by a vision of Angela, George confesses that he is unsure.
Just before his execution, Angela visits George and quietly declares she still
loves him. Accepting his fate, George then is led out of his cell to his
execution.\n", "\nAs the film opens, Joe Buck (Jon Voight), a young Texan working
as a dishwasher, dresses in new cowboy clothing, packs a suitcase, and quits his
job. He heads to New York City hoping to succeed as a male prostitute for women.
Initially unsuccessful, he succeeds in bedding a well-to-do middle-aged New Yorker
(Sylvia Miles), but Joe ends up giving her money.Joe then meets Enrico
Salvatore \"Ratso\" Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a street con man with a limp who takes
$20 from Joe by offering to introduce him to a known pimp, who turns out to be a
Bible thumper (John McGiver). Joe flees the encounter in pursuit of Ratso. Joe
spends his days wandering the city and sitting in his hotel room. Soon broke, he is
locked out of his hotel room and most of his belongings are impounded.Joe tries to
make money by agreeing to receive oral sex from a young man (Bob Balaban) in a
movie theater. When Joe learns that he has no money, Joe threatens him and asks for
his watch, but eventually lets him go. The following day, Joe spots Ratso and
angrily shakes him down. Ratso offers to share the apartment in which he is
squatting in a condemned building. Joe accepts reluctantly, and they begin
a \"business relationship\" as hustlers. As they develop a bond, Ratso's health,
which has never been good, grows steadily worse.Joe's story is told through
flashbacks throughout the film. His grandmother raises him after his mother
abandons him, though his grandmother frequently neglects him as well. He also has a
tragic relationship with Annie, a local girl. Ratso's back story comes through
stories he tells Joe. His father was an illiterate Italian immigrant shoe-shiner,
who worked in a subway station. He developed a bad back, and \"coughed his lungs
out from breathin' in that wax all day\". Ratso learned shining from his father but
won't stoop so low as to do so. He dreams of moving one day to Miami.An unusual
couple approach Joe and Ratso in a diner and hand Joe a flyer, inviting him to a
party. They enter a Warhol-esque party scene (with Warhol superstars in cameos).
Joe smokes a joint, thinking it's a normal cigarette and, after taking a pill
someone offered, begins to hallucinate. He leaves the party with a socialite
(Brenda Vaccaro), who agrees to pay $20 for spending the night with him, but Joe
cannot perform. They play Scribbage together, and Joe shows his limited academic
prowess. She teasingly suggests that Joe may be gay, and he is suddenly able to
perform.In the morning, the socialite sets up her friend as Joe's next customer,
and it appears that his career is on its way. When Joe returns home, Ratso is
bedridden and feverish. Ratso refuses medical help (because he has no money or
health insurance) and begs Joe to put him on a bus to Florida. Desperate, Joe picks
up a man in an amusement arcade (Barnard Hughes), and when things go wrong, robs
the man when he tries to pay with a religious medallion instead of cash. With the
cash he steals, Joe buys two bus tickets. On the journey, Ratso's frail physical
condition further deteriorates. At a rest stop, Joe buys new clothing for Ratso and
himself, discarding his cowboy outfit. As they near Miami, Joe talks of getting a
regular job, only to realize Ratso has died. The driver tells Joe there is nothing
else to do, but continue on to Miami. The film closes with Joe, alone and afraid,
seated with his arm around his dead friend.\n", "\nThe governor of an unnamed
western state, Hubert \"Happy\" Hopper (Guy Kibbee), has to pick a replacement for
recently deceased U.S. Senator Sam Foley. His corrupt political boss, Jim Taylor
(Edward Arnold), pressures Hopper to choose his handpicked stooge, while popular
committees want a reformer. The governor's children want him to select Jefferson
Smith (James Stewart), the head of the Boy Rangers. Unable to make up his mind
between Taylor's stooge and the reformer, Hopper decides to flip a coin. When it
lands on edge and next to a newspaper story on one of Smith's accomplishments he
chooses Smith, calculating that his wholesome image will please the people while
his na\u00efvet\u00e9 will make him easy to manipulate.Smith is taken under the
wing of the publicly esteemed, but secretly crooked, Senator Joseph Paine (Claude
Rains), who was Smith's late father's oldest and best friend, and he develops an
immediate attraction to the senator's daughter, Susan (Astrid Allwyn). The
unforgiving Washington press quickly labels Smith a bumpkin, with no business being
a senator. Paine, to keep Smith busy, suggests he propose a bill.Smith comes up
with legislation that would authorize a federal government loan to buy some land in
his home state for a national boys' camp, to be paid back by youngsters across
America. Donations pour in immediately. However, the proposed campsite is already
part of a dam-building graft scheme included in a Public Works bill framed by the
Taylor political machine and supported by Senator Paine.Unwilling to crucify the
worshipful Smith so that their graft plan will go through, Paine tells Taylor he
wants out, but Taylor reminds him that Paine is in power primarily through Taylor's
influence. Through Paine, the machine accuses Smith of trying to profit from his
bill by producing fraudulent evidence that Smith owns the land in question. Smith
is too shocked by Paine's betrayal to defend himself, and runs away.However,
Smith's chief of staff, Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur), has come to believe in
him, and talks him into launching a filibuster to postpone the Works bill and prove
his innocence on the Senate floor just before the vote to expel him. While Smith
talks non-stop, his constituents try to rally around him, but the entrenched
opposition is too powerful, and all attempts are crushed. Due to influence of the
Taylor \"machine\", on his orders, newspapers and radio stations in Smith's home
state refuse to report what Smith has to say and even twist the facts against the
Senator. An effort by the Boy Rangers to spread the news results in vicious attacks
on the children by Taylor's minions.Although all hope seems lost, the senators
begin to pay attention as Smith approaches utter exhaustion. Paine has one last
card up his sleeve: he brings in bins of letters and telegrams from Smith's home
state from people demanding his expulsion. Nearly broken by the news, Smith finds a
small ray of hope in a friendly smile from the President of the Senate (Harry
Carey). Smith vows to press on until people believe him, but immediately collapses
in a faint. Overcome with guilt, Paine leaves the Senate chamber and attempts to
kill himself with a gun. When he is stopped, he bursts back into the Senate
chamber, loudly confesses to the whole scheme, and affirms Smith's innocence.\n",
"\nCharlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), a Los Angeles car dealer in his mid-twenties, is
in the middle of importing four grey market Lamborghinis. The deal is being
threatened by the EPA, and if Charlie cannot meet its requirements for pollution
control, he will lose a significant amount of money. After some quick subterfuge
with an employee, Charlie leaves for a weekend trip to Palm Springs with his
girlfriend, Susanna (Valeria Golino).Charlie's trip is cancelled by news that his
estranged father, Sanford Babbitt, has died. Charlie travels to his hometown in
Cincinnati, Ohio, to settle the estate, where he learns an undisclosed trustee is
inheriting $3 million on behalf of an unnamed beneficiary, while all he is to
receive is a 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible and several prized rose bushes --
all of which are dying from neglect. Eventually he learns the money is being
directed to Wallbrook, a mental institution which is the home of his autistic older
brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), of whose existence Charlie was previously
unaware. We learn that Charlie grew up a rebellious child and that following the
death of his mother, he ran away from home at age 16 to California where he lived
ever since, never speaking to his father ever again. Prior to his flight to
California, Charlie had taken the Roadmaster out on his 16th birthday without his
father's permission. His father subsequently called the police, reported the car
stolen, and Charlie and his friends were picked up by the police. Charlie's father
allowed the police to hold his son in jail for two days (the friends he was driving
with had been bailed out by their own parents within hours). This leads Charlie to
ask the question that permeates the movie: \"Why didn't somebody tell me I had a
brother?\"Although Raymond has autism, he is high-functioning and also has superb
memory recall, but little understanding of subject matter thus making him
an \"overgrown child\". He is frightened by change and adheres to strict routines
(for example, his continual repetition of the \"Who's on First?\" sketch whenever
he becomes nervous or agitated) and has regimented mealtimes and outings. Except
when he is in distress, he shows little emotional expression and avoids eye contact
and is frightened of most physical contact. Numbed by learning that he has a
brother and determined to get what he believes is his fair share of the Babbitt
estate, Charlie effectively kidnaps Raymond -- who has always been a voluntary
resident -- from Wallbrook. Charlie quickly becomes frustrated with Raymond's
behavior and finds out that Raymond won't get on a plane to LA: Raymond recalls
statistics of crashes with every airline (except Qantas) and has a severe anxiety
attack where he hits himself in the head and screams uncontrollably when Charlie
tries to force him to board. Charlie has no choice but to drive back to LA in the
Buick. Charlie is also forced to avoid major highways when the two pass an
accident, extending the driving time of the journey.Charlie intends to start a
custody battle in order to get Raymond's doctor, Dr. Bruner (Jerry Molen), to
settle out of court for half of Sanford Babbitt's estate so that the mental
institution can maintain custody of Raymond. During the course of the long journey,
Charlie learns about Raymond's autism, which he initially believes is curable
resulting in his frequent frustration with his brother's antics. He also learns
about how his brother came to be separated from his family, as a result of an
accident when he was left alone with Raymond when Charlie was a baby, about 20
months old and Raymond was age 10. Raymond also sings \"I Saw Her Standing There\"
by The Beatles like he did when Charlie was three or four years old. Charlie
remembers the incident as early as he could remember and always thought that the
person singing to him, (whom the young Charlie referred to as the 'Rain Man' due to
Raymond's slow-speaking of his own name) was an imaginary character. While Charlie
and his brother reminisce about their relationship, Charlie turns on the hot water
in the hotel room bathtub -- Raymond suddenly has an episode where he hits himself
and screams, yelling that the hot water will burn Charlie if he touches it. Charlie
realizes that Raymond had tried to give his younger brother a bath and had scalded
him, prompting their parents to send Raymond to Wallbrook.Charlie proves to be
sometimes shallow and exploitative, as when he uses Raymond's precision memory and
takes him to Las Vegas to win money at blackjack by counting cards. Casino security
begins to watch Charlie and Raymond, though they can't find any proof that either
is using a cheater's system to win against the house so Charlie can pay off his
considerable debts back in LA. Security sends an attractive woman who finds Raymond
alone in the casino's bar. She is able to get Raymond to allude to his and
Charlie's counting of cards. Later, in their hotel suite, Raymond mentions
the \"date\" he'd made with the woman. Charlie suggests that Raymond will have to
dance with her and he shows Raymond how to properly dance with a woman. The two
share a brotherly and friendly moment until Charlie tries to hug Raymond, who
shrieks in fright.Shortly after, security asks to speak to Charlie privately and
suggests that Charlie take his winnings, about $80,000 and leave. Charlie agrees.
Susanna meets Charlie and Raymond at the hotel and she & Charlie reconcile --
they'd had a falling out just as the journey from Cincinnati had begun over
Charlie's cold treatment of his brother. While she escorts Raymond back up to the
suite, she kisses Raymond.In the end, Charlie finds himself becoming protective of
Raymond, and grows to truly love him. Back in Los Angeles, Charlie meets with his
attorney Boros (Adam S. Gottbetter) to try to get his share of his inheritance, but
then decides that he no longer cares about the money and really just wants to have
custody of his brother. However, at a meeting with a court-appointed psychiatrist
and Dr. Bruner, Raymond is unable to decide exactly what he wants (to live with
Charlie in California or stay at the mental hospital in Ohio). Eventually, the
psychiatrist presses Raymond to make the decision, upsetting him and leading
Charlie to request that the doctor back off. Raymond is allowed to go back home to
Cincinnati. Charlie, who has gained a new brother and mellowed considerably,
promises Raymond as he boards an Amtrak train with Bruner that he'll visit in two
weeks.\n", "\nAnnie Hall is a film about a comedian, Alvy Singer (Woody Allen), who
falls in love with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). Both of the characters are completely
different but both strikingly entertaining and unusual. Alvy is an extreme
pessimist that obsesses over the subject of death and has very sarcastic and
cynical views about the world and the people around him. Annie is a ditsy and
clumsy talented singer and photographer. When Alvy and Annie meet for the first
time they are instantly attracted to each other and as a result their conversations
are awkward but never the less adorable. The film takes you through the couple's
love lives, before and after their relationship. Alvy often comes out of the scene
he is in to talk directly to the audience about his views on whatever situation he
is in.Alvy Singer is a neurotic comedian who desperately wants to analyze his
relationship with his former girlfriend Annie Hall. The beginning is romantic. Then
problems arise. He is not too enthusiastic about her idea of moving in with him,
and leaving her apartment. He dislikes her habit of smoking weed before having sex
and her lack of education. After she enrolls in adult education classes, she soon
gets attracted to a professor. Alvy and Annie break up in a fight. He tries to calm
down and starts a new relationship but with no success. After a while she calls him
and they start again, convinced they will make it this time. Everything looks
wonderful. But soon they both reveal to their shrinks that the relationship has
gone sour again. After visiting California they break up, peacefully this time.Alvy
is proud about their calm transition from relationship to friendship. He tries to
date another woman but again with no success. He gets a panic attack and flies to
California where Annie is in a happy relationship. She rejects him. He gets so
upset that he ends up in jail. After coming back to New York he writes a play about
their relationship, but with a happy ending. He meets her again later in New York
with some other guy. They go for lunch as friends, remembering their good times. At
the end he realizes that although relationships are absurd and irrational, we still
need to go through them. We need to believe they are not what they are.\n", "\nThe
movie opens with a car towing a new tan Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera through a sub-
freezing blizzard to a small inn in Fargo, North Dakota. It is 8:30 p.m. on a cold
night in January 1987. When the driver goes inside, we see that it is Jerry
Lundegaard (William H. Macy), and he uses the false name 'Jerry Anderson' to check
in. He then goes to the inn's bar/restaurant to have a meeting with two men.Jerry
has obviously never met them before. The short, bug-eyed, dark-haired, annoyed,
talkative one, Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi), tells him that Shep Proudfoot, a
mutual acquaintance of theirs who set up the meeting, had said Jerry would be there
at 7:30 rather than 8:30. The other man, a tall, blond Swede named Gaear Grimsrud
(Peter Stormare), sits silently and smokes. They discuss the tan Ciera as part of a
payment to them from Jerry, plus $40,000. Apparently, Jerry has hired the men to
kidnap his wife in order to get a ransom from his wife's father. Jerry is a fast
talker and doesn't want to say much about why he needs the money, but he reveals
that his father-in-law is wealthy and that he plans on asking for $80,000 and
keeping the other half for himself. Carl and Gaear accept the deal.The next day,
Jerry returns to his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota where we see part of his
impassive home life. Jerry awkwardly greets his laid-back, subservient wife Jean
(Kristin Rudr\u00fcd), but he becomes uncomfortable when he sees his father-in-law,
Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell), sitting on the couch watching a hockey game on TV,
visiting that night for supper. They all eat dinner, and Jerry and Jean's young
teenage son, Scotty (Tony Denman), leaves early to go to McDonald's. Jerry and Wade
start to argue about this; that Jerry seems to spoil Scotty and allows him to do
whatever he wants, plus Jerry does not inflict much discipline on his son. To get
out of the conversation, Jerry changes the subject by bringing up a deal he had
apparently suggested earlier to Wade, in which he's asking for a loan of $750,000
to build a 40-acre parking lot in Wayzata. Wade tells Jerry that his associate,
Stan Grossman, usually looks at those kinds of deals before he does. Jerry
nervously urges him to accept it, saying he and his family are in desperate need of
money soon. Wade, who clearly appears to have a condescending attitude toward
Jerry, tells him that Jean and Scotty will never have to worry about money. (Wade
clearly omits Jerry's name).Another day later, Carl and Gaear are driving the
Cutlass Ciera towards Minneapolis. Gaear tells Carl he wants to stop at \"pancakes
house\", and Carl complains that they just had pancakes for breakfast. Gaear looks
at him and tells him coldly they will stop at pancakes house. Carl agrees, somewhat
reluctantly, they will stop for the night in Brainerd where they will get pancakes,
and \"get laid.\"Back in Minneapolis, Jerry is the executive sales manager at the
car lot Wade owns, a job which fits Jerry's talkative, weaselly manner. He's
arguing with a couple about the $500 \"TruCoat\" sealant on the couple's new
$19,000 car, and now Jerry is clearly over-charging them for it when they had said
they didn't want it. Jerry says he will talk to his manager about it, and leaves
the room to have a conversation with another salesman about hockey tickets. He
comes back and lies to the couple by stating that his manager has approved a $100
discount on the TruCoat, and the husband agrees but profanely accuses Jerry of
being a liar.The story goes back briefly to a motel room at the Blue Ox, a motel in
Brainerd that evening. Gaear and Carl are having enthusiastic sex with two women on
separate beds in the same room. They watch 'The Tonight Show' with Johnny Carson on
the TV afterwords.The next morning at the Lundegaards', Jean and Scotty are having
an argument about his low grades in school. The phone rings, and it's Wade calling
for Jerry. Wade tells him that Stan Grossman has looked at the parking lot deal and
he says it's
\"pretty sweet.\" Jerry tries to restrain his excitement, as he apparently had
thought Wade wouldn't want to go through with it. They schedule a meeting for 2:30
pm that afternoon.Jerry is optimistic about the future meeting with Wade, and is
now considering calling off the kidnap/ransom plot. He makes his way to the
dealership's large service garage to seek out a burly Native American mechanic,
named Shep Proudfoot (Steve Reevis). A man of few words, Shep is apparently the
middleman who set up Jerry's earlier meeting with Carl and Gaear. Surprisingly,
Shep does not know who Carl is. He tells Jerry he'll only vouch for Grimsrud, not
Carl. Regardless, Jerry tells him that's fine, but was just wondering if there was
an alternate phone number to reach Carl and Gaear. Shep casually tells Jerry that
he can't help him anymore, for he has no other means to get in contact with Gaear
or Carl. Jerry is visibly nervous.In the next scene, Carl and Gaear are driving and
the skyline of the Twin Cities is visible. Carl chats mindlessly to Gaear and asks
him if he's ever been to the Twin Cities, to which Gaear responds with a
short \"nope.\" Carl goes on about how that's the most Gaear has said all day. He
asks Gaear how much he'd like it if he stopped talking.Meanwhile, Jerry is sitting
in his office at the car dealership talking on the phone. On the other end is a man
named Reilly Diefenbach (voice of Warren Keith) from the banking loan company GMAC
who tells Jerry that he can't read the serial numbers of a list of vehicles on a
financing document Jerry sent by fax some time ago. Jerry is elusive, telling him
there's no problem since the loans are in place already. The man tells him 'yes',
and that Jerry got $320,000 last month from the insurance loans for the new set of
cars sold, but there's an audit on the loan and that if Jerry cannot supply the
serial numbers of the cars as proof of the sales to prove that the vehicles exist,
GMAC will have to recall all of that money. Jerry clearly tries to get the man off
the phone as quickly as he can while still being vague about the particulars. Jerry
tells him that he'll fax him another copy. The man tells him a fax copy is no good,
because he can't read the serial numbers of the cars from the fax he already has.
Jerry tells him he'll send him another one as soon as possible and then hangs up.
(Note: It is highly implied at this point that Jerry is secretly embezzling money
from the car dealership bank accounts either for personal use or to pay off more
anonymous debts. So, in order to cover up his crime, he replaced the money he stole
by sending fake sales documents to acquire a $320,000 insurance loan from GMAC for
a new batch of cars that he sold... cars which apparently don't exist, thus in some
part explains why Jerry needs $320,000 to pay back GMAC when they come to recall
their loan.)At the Lundegaards' house, at about the same time Jerry is on the
phone, Jean sits alone watching a morning TV show. She hears a noise and looks up
at the sliding-glass door in the back just as Carl comes up the steps to the back
deck, wearing a ski mask and holding a crowbar. He peers through the window as if
looking for someone, steps back, and smashes the glass door with the bar. Jean
screams and tries to run for the front door, but Gaear suddenly barges in through
the front door, also wearing a ski mask. He grabs her wrist and she bites his hand.
She runs up the stairs as Carl enters. Gaear lifts up his mask, looks at the bite,
and tells Carl he needs unguent. Jean takes a phone into the second floor bathroom
and locks herself in, trying desperately to call 911. The cord is under the door.
Carl and Gaear yank the phone out of her hands before she can finish dialing. The
door frame starts to break as Carl uses the crowbar to get through. Sobbing
hysterically, she frantically tries to pry the screen off the second-story window
to escape before the men get in. The door busts open, and the two men stand there
looking at an empty bathroom, the window open. Carl runs to go outside to look for
her, and Gaear raids the medicine cabinet for some salve. As he is about to put it
on his hand, he looks up into the mirror and sees the shower curtain drawn on the
tub. He pauses for a moment and realizes where Jean is. Jean, hiding in the tub,
begins thrashing and screaming and takes off, blindly hurtling through the bathroom
and down the hall. She runs screaming, trying to throw off the curtain, and she
trips and falls down the flight of stairs and lands hard at the bottom. Gaear
calmly follows her down the stairs and nudges her body to see if she is alive.At
the 2:30 p.m. business meeting, Stan Grossman (Larry Brandenburg) and Wade tell
Jerry that the deal is looking good. They ask him what kind of finder's fee he is
looking for. Jerry seems confused and tells Stan and Wade that they would be
lending all the money to him to proceed with building the parking lot. They explain
that while Jerry will get a finder's fee of around 10% of the $750,000, Wade and
Stan will oversee the rest of the development of the parking lot with the rest of
the money. Jerry (realizing that $75,000 is nowhere near what he needs to pay back
his massive debit to GMAC), tries to convince them to give him all of the $750,000
so Jerry can invest it himself... with neither Wade nor Stan overseeing his work.
Stan tells Jerry they thought his asking for $750,000 was merely an investment he
brought to them, and states that they are not a bank. Jerry insists that Wade and
Stan give him all of the 750 grand and he will pay them back the principal and
interest when the deal starts paying, but Wade and Stan insist on running the deal
themselves. Jerry desperately guarantees them their money back if they let Jerry
run the deal and let him have all the money, but both Wade and Stan say they are
not interested and that they would like to move on the deal independently. Jerry
goes out to his car alone and vents his rage and frustration with the ice scraper
on his frozen windshield.Jerry walks into his house later that day. He surveys his
empty house, where there are obvious signs of a struggle during the kidnapping. He
practices the fake desperate and sad phone call he will make to her father.Later
that night, Carl and Gaear are driving with the sobbing Jean, now covered with a
blanket in the back seat of the car. They pass a huge statue of Paul Bunyan and the
welcome sign for Brainerd. Gaear, smoking and looking out the window as usual, is
annoyed by Jean's whimpering and tells her to shut up or he'll throw her in the
trunk.\"Geez, that's more than I've heard you say all week,\" Carl tells him. Gaear
gives him a hard, cold stare and turns away. It is then that a Minnesota State
Police cruiser behind them flips on its lights and pulls them over. Carl realizes
they're being stopped because he failed to put temporary vehicle registration tags
on the car, and he tells Gaear he'll take care of it. He tells Jean to keep quiet
or they'll shoot her. Gaear stares at him expressionlessly. The trooper approaches
Carl's window and asks for a driver's license and registration. Carl gives the
trooper his driver's license, but does not have the car's vehicle registration or
insurance. He then tries unsuccessfully to coolly bribe the trooper, who tells him
to step out of the car. Nervously, Carl hesitates, and Jean makes a noise in the
back seat. The trooper points his flashlight at Jean. Quickly, Gaear reaches across
Carl, grabs the trooper's hair, slams his head onto the door, pulls a pistol from
the glove box, and shoots him in the head, blowing his brains out. Carl sits
stunned, the trooper's blood having splattered across his face, and an angry Gaear
tells him to ditch the body.As Carl lifts the dead trooper by the arms, a pair of
headlights starts towards them down the highway. He freezes in the lights, holding
the obviously dead man in his arms by the police car. The two people in the car
stare as they pass. Gaear quickly climbs into the driver's seat and takes off after
the other car. He is briefly puzzled when its tail lights vanish in the dark, but
quickly spots the car turned over in the snow on the roadside. Gaear stops and
jumps out of the car. The driver is limping and trying to run across the snowy
field. Gaear fires once, striking the man in the back. He falls face-first and
dies. Gaear then walks over to the upside down car and looks inside, where a young
woman is lying awkwardly in her upside-down seat. He leans back, aims his pistol,
and the screen cuts to black as he shoots her.A little later, the phone rings at
the home of a sleeping couple, Brainerd police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances
McDormand) and her husband Norm (John Carroll Lynch). As she gets out of bed we see
she is very pregnant. Norm makes her some breakfast before she goes out to the
scene of the shooting.That morning, Marge arrives at the scene of the overturned
car driven by the collateral shooting victims. Marge is observant and quick-
working, and she determines from the size of the footprints that the shooter was a
heavyset individual. She surmises the events we've already seen - the trooper
pulled over a motorist for a traffic violation, said motorist shot him. The second
car came driving past, and the shooter, realizing they'd seen him, chased them down
and shot them.Marge then looks at the trooper's unit, parked several hundred yards
up the road and sees a set of smaller prints by the trooper's body, lying in the
snow by the roadside. Here, Marge deduces that a second, smaller man was involved.
From the fact that the trooper's car's lights were turned off, Marge deduces that
the accomplice was warming up in the cruiser while the heavy person was chasing
down the two witnesses. As Marge and the other officer, Lou (Bruce Bohne), drive
away, Lou notes that the trooper's notebook
was lying on the floor of his car, which the killers apparently overlooked, and
they find their first clue: the officer had partially filled out a ticket at 2:18
am for a tan Cutlass Ciera with a license plate number starting with DLR. Marge
realizes that this is not the beginning of a license plate number, but an
abbreviation of the word \"dealer\" which is an indication that the car was stopped
because it had dealer plates that hadn't been changed yet.At a restaurant in
Minneapolis, Jerry, Wade, and Stan Grossman sit and discuss Jean's kidnapping.
Jerry tells them that the kidnappers called him and expressly told him not to call
the cops. Wade is angry and insists on calling the police. As a surprise to Jerry,
Stan sides with Jerry and says they should not call the police or negotiate with
the kidnappers and that they should give them the ransom. Jerry tells Wade the men
asked for one million dollars (obviously planning to give Carl and Gaear their
$40,000 and to keep the rest for himself to pay off his debits). Jerry also says he
needs the money ready by tomorrow. Stan offers to stay with Jerry and wait for a
phone call from the kidnappers, but Jerry tells him the men said they'd deal only
with him. Stan asks Jerry if Scotty will be okay. It seems to suddenly dawn on
Jerry that this will affect his son, and he seems visibly upset or at least
surprised that he had never thought about his scheme affecting Scotty before.At
home, Jerry tells Scotty about the kidnapping, and the boy cries and asks if Jean
will be okay. Jerry nods and doesn't offer much comfort. He tells the boy that if
anyone calls for Jean, he should just say she is visiting relatives in Florida.That
afternoon, Carl and Gaear pull up to a cabin by a lake, and Gaear opens the back
door to guide Jean inside. She is hooded and tied at the wrists. Jean squeals and
tries to run away; Gaear reaches to catch her, but Carl stops him and watches her
running blindly in the snow, laughing hysterically. She falls, and Carl laughs
hysterically. Gaear, staring expressionlessly, goes to get her.Downtown in
Brainerd, Marge goes to the police station to eat lunch, and her husband Norm is
waiting there for her with food from Arby's. As they eat, Lou pokes his head into
Marge's office and tells her that the night before the shootings, two men checked
into the Blue Ox Motel with a tan Ciera with dealer plates; apparently, \"they had
company.\"Marge goes to a bar to interview the two women who Carl hired to have sex
with him and Gaear in the motel. The two ditsy women, whom work as strippers at the
bar during the evening hours, are not very helpful in describing the two men. The
first one describes Carl, the \"little fella,\" as funny-looking, and the other
describes Gaear, the \"big fella\", as an older man who didn't talk much but smoked
a lot. The women tell Marge that the men told them that they were headed to the
Twin Cities.In the cabin, Carl is banging the top of the staticky TV, cursing at
it. Jean is tied to a chair, the hood covering her head and her cold breath
steaming through the fabric. Gaear sits with the same emotionless expression,
watching silently as Carl screams and bangs on the TV, trying to improve the
reception.Late at night at the Gundersons' house, they turn off the TV to go to
sleep. The phone rings for Marge, and it's Mike Yanagita (Steve Park) calling;
apparently an old acquaintance of hers from high school, he tells her that he's in
the Twin Cities and that he saw her on the news in the story about the triple
homicide in Brainerd. Marge makes brief but polite conversation as the man
chatters.The next morning, Jerry is half-heartedly selling a car as he gets a phone
call from Carl in his office. Carl tells him that he will be arriving tomorrow to
pick up the ransom, but demands more money so he and Gaear can leave the country
because of the shootings. He demands the entire ransom of $80,000, unaware that
Jerry told Wade the ransom is $1 million. As soon as Carl hangs up, Jerry gets
another phone call from the man at GMAC, telling him he never received the serial
numbers for the vehicles in the mail as Jerry told him the previous day. Jerry,
again being elusive about the subject, maintains that the documents are still in
the mail. The man at GMAC sternly tells Jerry that he will refer the matter of the
accounting irregularities to the company's legal department if he doesn't get the
VIN numbers of the vehicles by the close of business the very next day. After the
man at GMAC hangs up, Jerry flies into a rage as he realizes that his control over
the situation is fading fast.In Brainerd, Marge and Norm sit in a buffet restaurant
eating lunch together. An officer comes in with some papers, and tells Marge he
found phone numbers from two phone calls that were made that night from the room at
Blue Ox Motel where the killers stayed, both to Minneapolis. The first one was to a
trucking company, and another to the residence of Shep Proudfoot. Marge tells the
officer and Norm that she'll take a drive down to Minneapolis to investigate.At
night at the Lundegaards' house, Jerry, Wade, and Stan are sitting around the
kitchen table. Wade is telling Jerry he wants to deliver the $1 million himself to
the kidnapper, and Jerry is upset, saying that they wanted to deal only with him.
Wade (clearly distrustful of Jerry) says that if he can't deliver it, he'll go to
the authorities.The next day, Carl leaves Gaear behind at the lakeside cabin to
look after Jean, while he drives alone to Minneapolis to pick up the ransom money.
Carl first drives to the Minneapolis airport. He drives the tan Ciera up to the
roof of the parking garage and steals a Minnesota license plate off another snow-
covered car so he can replace the dealer tags (to prevent him from being pulled
over by the police again). At the exit booth of the garage, he tells the attendant
that he has decided not to park there and that he doesn't want to pay. The friendly
man explains that there's a flat four dollar fee. Carl doesn't want to pay, but the
polite parking attendant insists that he pay. Carl gets upset and insults him by
saying: \"I guess you think, you know, you're an authority figure, with that stupid
fucking uniform. Huh, buddy?\" he sneers. However, he gives him the money anyway
and drives off.At the dealership garage, Jerry goes to talk to Shep only to find
Marge questioning him. Marge is questioning Shep about the phone call made to him
from the Blue Ox Motel a few nights ago by one of the suspects of the three murders
in her town. Shep claims that he doesn't remember receiving any phone call. She
reminds him that he has a criminal record and currently is on parole, though
nothing in his record suggests him capable of homicide, so if he had been talking
to criminals and became an accessory to the Brainerd murders, that would land him
back in prison. She then asks him cheerfully if he might remember anything
now.Marge then goes to visit with Jerry in his office. He is clearly antsy as he
nervously doodles on a notepad. She tells him that she is investigating three
murders in her upstate town of Brainerd and asks him if there has been a tan
Cutlass Ciera stolen from the lot lately, but he dances anxiously around her
question by changing the subject. He eventually tells her there haven't been any
stolen vehicles, and she leaves. When he sees Marge leave, Jerry pick up his office
phone and tries to call Shep in the garage, but another mechanic tells Jerry that
Shep has just left; he just walked out after talking with Marge.That evening, Marge
goes to eat dinner at the Radisson Hotel restaurant; she apparently has spoken to
Mike Yanagita, the man who called her late at night, and he meets her there. He is
chatty and a little odd, and he is obviously and awkwardly trying to hit on her. He
tries to change seats so as to sit next to her in the booth, but she politely tells
him to sit back across from her, saying, \"Just so I can see ya, ya know. Don't
have to turn my neck.\" He apologizes awkwardly and clumsily launches into a story
about his wife, whom he and Marge both knew from school but has since died of
leukemia. He starts to cry, telling Marge he always liked her a lot. She comforts
him politely.In the celebrity room at another hotel, Carl sits at a table with
another prostitute. He hits on her awkwardly as they watch Jose Feliciano on a
small stage. Later in the prostitute's seedy apartment, they are having sex.
Suddenly, she is flung off from on top of him by Shep, who has somehow tracked Carl
down and is furious at Carl for nearly getting him in trouble with Marge. He kicks
the escort in the rear as she runs screaming and naked down the hall. Shep beats up
a tenant that appears in the hall asking about the noise. Shep goes back into the
apartment and beats up Carl, first punching him and then throwing him across the
room and hitting him viciously with his belt.Sometime later, Carl, cut up and
bruised from the beating, calls Jerry at his house. He is humiliated and extremely
agitated. He tells Jerry to bring the ransom money to the Radisson Hotel parking
garage roof in 30 minutes or he'll kill him and his family. Wade, listening on the
other line in the house, immediately leaves with the briefcase full of the million
dollars. Jerry almost asks Wade if he could come along, but being afraid of his
antagonistic father-in-law, he chooses to say nothing. As he drives, Wade reveals
he has brought a gun in his jacket and practices what he will say to the kidnapper.
Jerry leaves soon after him to see what will happen.On the roof of the parking
garage, Carl sits waiting in his idling Ciera as Wade pulls up. Carl demands to
know where Jerry is, and Wade demands to see Jean. Carl demands that Wade give him
the briefcase with the money in it, but Wade refuses unless he sees his daughter
Jean. Surprised
and angry by Wade's demands, Carl shoots Wade in the stomach without hesitating
and goes to snatch the briefcase from his hands. Wade shoots Carl in the face as he
leans over. Carl reels back and grabs his wounded right jaw after being gazed by
the bullet. He quickly lethally shoots Wade multiple times. Clutching his bleeding
jaw while screaming in agonizing pain, Carl grabs the briefcase, gets into his car,
and drives away. As he speeds through the garage, he passes Jerry. Both of them
take a quick notice of each other, but Carl continues driving on. He drives up to
the garage attendant and, holding his bloody jaw, tells the man to open the gate.
At the same time, Jerry continues up to the roof and finds Wade lying there, shot
dead. Jerry casually pops open his car trunk (to put his father-in-law in the trunk
of his car).As Jerry leaves the garage with Wade in his trunk, he sees that Carl
has killed the attendant with a bullet to the head and smashed through the exit
gate, breaking it off. A distraught Jerry goes home, and Scotty tells him Stan
Grossman called for him. Jerry tells Scotty everything went fine, and he goes to
bed without calling Stan back.In Brainerd the next morning, Officer Gerry Olson
(Cliff Rakerd), one of Marge's deputies, stops by the house of a chatty older man,
named Mr. Mohra (Bain Boehlke), who is shoveling snow off his driveway. The man had
apparently reported an incident at his bar, and he tells Olson that a few days
ago \"a little funny-looking man\" (obviously Carl) asked him where he could \"get
some action in the area\" (hookers). When he refused, Carl had threatened the man
and stupidly bragged about killing someone. He also says that Carl mentioned that
he was staying out near a lake. The bar had been near Moose Lake, he tells the
officer, so he believes that that is the place Carl was talking about. Officer
Olson politely thanks the neighbor for the tip and leaves.Meanwhile, Carl is
stopped on the side of a snowy road, a bloody rag pressed against his wounded jaw.
He looks inside the briefcase and is astounded at how much is inside; he had
expected $80,000 and instead got the million that Jerry had been planning to keep
mostly for himself. After thinking for a minute, Carl takes out the $80,000 that
Gaear apparently would still be expecting and throws it in the backseat. He closes
the case, fixes his rag, and takes it out into the snow beside a fence. He looks
right and left, seeing only fence and snow, and he buries the money. Carl sticks an
ice scraper into the snow on top as the only marker besides the bloodied snow he'd
dug aside (presumably to come back later for the rest of it), and he drives away.In
Minneapolis, Marge sits next to her packed luggage in her hotel room talking on the
phone to a female friend. She tells the friend that she saw Mike and that he was
upset from his wife's death. The woman tells Marge that Mike never married that
woman, that he had been bothering her for some time and that she is still alive.
She tells Marge that Mike has been having life-long psychiatric problems and he has
been living in an insane asylum for a few years now and that he is now living with
his parents. Marge then checks out of the hotel, buys a breakfast sandwich from a
Hardees restaurant, and silently ponders her next move and she contends driving
back to Brainerd having gotten nowhere with her investigation. But then a thought
pops into her head as she remembers something.Marge then goes to visit Jerry at the
car dealership, obviously having picked up something from his nervous and elusive
behavior on her first visit the day before. He sits in his office writing out a new
sales form for GMAC, making sure the serial numbers for the non-existent vehicles
are again smudged and illegible. He is irritated by her visit. He tries to get her
out, but polite and insistent as usual, Marge tells him that the tan Ciera she's
investigating had dealer plates and that someone who works at the dealership got a
phone call from the perpetrators, which is too much of a coincidence. She asks if
he's done a lot count recently, and rather than answer, Jerry yells at her by
saying that the car is not from that lot. In a serious tone, Marge tells Jerry not
to get snippy with her. Jerry tells her he is cooperating, but it's obvious to us
that he is now clearly insane at realizing the depth of the mess he has created and
how miserably all his assorted schemes have failed. He jumps up, puts on his hat
and coat, and tells her he'll go inventory the lot right now. Marge waits at the
desk, looking at his picture of Jean and at the GMAC loan form on his desk. From
the window she sees him driving out of the lot. She hurriedly calls the Minneapolis
state police from Jerry's desk phone.At the cabin, Gaear sits in his long johns
eating a TV dinner as he watches a soap opera on the fuzzy television. Carl comes
in with his bloodied face and the $80,000 he took from the briefcase before he
buried it. Gaear looks unfazed by Carl's extensive wound. Carl asks what happened
to Jean, who is lying on the kitchen floor motionless, still tied to the chair;
there is blood on the stove behind her. Gaear tells Carl she started screaming and
wouldn't stop. Carl shows him the money, takes his $40,000, and tells him he's
keeping the Ciera and that Gaear can have his old truck and they must part ways.
Gaear tells him they'll split the car.\"How do you split a fuckin' car, ya dummy?!
With a fuckin' chainsaw?\" Carl spits at him, his words slurred from his jaw wound.
Gaear tells him one will pay the other for half, so Carl must pay half for the
value of the car from his share money so he can take the car for himself. Carl
refuses and screams that he got shot in the face and makes an implied threat that
he will keep the Ciera as extra compensation. Carl storms out of the front door to
the car to drive away. Seconds later, Gaear comes running out behind him wielding
an ax. As Carl turns around, Gaear raises the ax and the scene cuts to black as the
blade lands in Carl's neck.A little later, Marge is driving along an isolated road
talking on the CB radio to Lou. They are discussing Jean's kidnapping; that a
Minneapolis police detective learned from Stan and Jean's son Scotty, and the fact
that her father, Wade, is missing. She tells Lou she is driving around Moose Lake,
following the tip from the loudmouth bar owner Mr. Mohra. Their conversation
reveals that the news has gotten word out on the wire for the public to keep an eye
out for Jerry and Wade. She suddenly spots the tan Ciera parked in front of the
cabin. Lou tells her he will send her back-up.When she gets out, she hears the loud
roar of the motor of a power tool in the distance. She makes her way around the
house towards the noise behind the cabin, and sees Gaear pushing Carl's dismembered
foot down into a wood-chipper, having chopped up his dead body and disposing of it.
There is a huge puddle of blood and the rest of Carl's body in the snow. Gaear
works at getting the rest of Carl into the chipper, using a small log to push it
down. Marge pulls her gun and yells at him to put his hands up, but he doesn't hear
over the machine. She yells again, and he turns around to see her. She points to
the police crest on her hat, aiming her gun at him. He turns quickly, hurls the log
at her, and takes off across the frozen lake behind the cabin. The log glances her
leg, and she fires after him twice as he flees. One shot hits him in the back of
his thigh. He falls in the snow, and she arrests him.Marge drives away with Gaear
handcuffed in the backseat. \"So that was Mrs. Lundegaard in there?\" she asks,
looking at him in the rear view mirror. He looks expressionlessly out the
window.\"I guess that was your accomplice in the wood-chipper. And those three
people in Brainerd...\" He does not react; she is talking mostly to herself. She
tells him there is more to life than a little bit of money. \"Don't you know
that?\" she asks. She pulls over to the side of the road as a fleet of cruisers and
an ambulance drive toward them on their way to the cabin. \"And here you are. And
it's a beautiful day.\"Two days later, at a motel outside of Bismarck, North
Dakota, two state policemen bang on a room door asking for a Mr. Anderson. The
voice inside, Jerry's, tells them he'll be there in a sec. The owner unlocks the
door, and Jerry is seen trying to escape out the bathroom window, wearing only a T-
shirt and boxers. He screams and flails wildly and insanely as the police arrest
him.That night at the Gundersons', Marge climbs into bed next to Norm. He tells her
the mallard he painted for a stamp contest has been chosen to be on the three cent
stamp, but another man he knows got the twenty-nine cent. Marge tells him she's
proud of him and that people use the three cent stamp all the time. Norm rests his
hand on her pregnant belly and says, \"Two more months.\"She smiles and rests her
hand on his, and repeats, \"Two more months.\"\n", "\nIn the 1920s, Jordan \"Bick\"
Benedict, Jr. (Rock Hudson), head of a wealthy Texas ranching family, travels to
Maryland to buy War Winds, a horse he is planning to put out to stud. There he
meets and courts socialite Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor), who ends a budding
relationship with English gentleman Sir David Karfrey (Rod Taylor) and marries Bick
after a whirlwind romance.They return to Texas to start their life together on the
family ranch, Reata, which is owned and run by Luz (Mercedes McCambridge), Bick's
older and grumpy sister. Leslie doesn't get along with Luz for Luz scorns Leslie's
wealthy background while Leslie thinks that Luz is rude. Jett Rink (James Dean) is
a local ranch hand who works for Luz and hopes to find his fortune by leaving
Texas; he also has a secret love for Leslie despite the fact that she is married to
his boss.One day during a cattle
roundup, Luz expresses her hostility for Leslie by cruelly digging in her spurs
while riding Leslie's beloved horse, War Winds. Luz dies after War Winds bucks her
off, and as part of her will, Jett is given a small plot of land within the
595,000-acre Benedict ranch. Bick tries to buy back the land, but Jett refuses.
Jett keeps the fenced off waterhole as his home and names the property Little
Reata.A few years later, Leslie eventually gives birth to twins, Jordan \"Jordy\"
Benedict III (Dennis Hopper as a teenager and young adult) and Judy Benedict (Fran
Bennett as a teen and young adult), and a younger daughter named Luz II (Carroll
Baker as a teen and young adult).One day, Jett discovers oil in a footprint left by
Leslie and develops an oil drilling well on his property. Bick is annoyed with
Jett's prospecting and tries to deny him access to his land. Finally Jett hits his
first gusher, he drives into the Benedict yard (covered in crude oil) proclaiming
in front of the entire family that he will be richer than the Benedicts. After Jett
makes a rude sexual remark to Leslie, Bick and Jett have a fist fight.Shortly
after, in the 1930s, Jett starts an oil drilling company, named 'JetTexas' that
makes him enormously wealthy. But Bick resists the lure of drilling for oil on his
much larger part of the cattle ranch, preferring to remain a rancher to maintain
the legacy of his family's original business.During the 1940s, tensions in the
Benedict household revolve around how the parents want to bring up their grown-up
children. Bick stubbornly insists that Jordy must succeed him and run the ranch,
just like his father and grandfather before him, but Jordy wants to be a doctor.
Leslie wants Judy to attend finishing school in Switzerland, but Judy loves the
ranch and wants to stay in Texas for her education (and to her high school
boyfriend).After World War II breaks out, Jett visits the Benedicts and tries to
convince Bick to allow oil production on his land to help the war effort. Bick
finally realizes there is no one to take over the ranch after him, and concedes.
During this visit, Luz II, now a teen-aged girl, starts flirting with Jett. Once
oil production starts, the wealthy Benedict family becomes even wealthier, depicted
by the addition of a swimming pool next to the house. Jordy gets married to a young
Mexican-American woman and they have a son. Judy gets married to her long-term high
school boyfriend and they too have a son.The Benedict/Rink rivalry continues
however, and it comes to a head when the Benedicts find out that Luz II and the
much older Jett Rink have been dating. At a huge gala Jett organizes in his own
honor, an irate Jordy tries to fight him, after realizing he and his Mexican
American wife, Juana (Elsa C\u00e1rdenas), were invited just so Jett's employees
could turn Juana away. Jett has his goons hold Jordy and punches him out in front
of the crowd. Fed up, Bick then takes Jett to a kitchen room, about to fight him,
but realizes that Jett is now just a drunken shell of a man, who has only his
money. He tells him, \"You're not even worth hitting. ... You're all through,\" and
leaves, but not before symbolically and quite noisily caving in Rink's wine cellar
shelves domino style. The party ends when Jett, completely drunk, slumps down in
front of everyone before his big speech. Luz II sees him afterwards, once everyone
has left the ballroom, and discovers that he is a lonely, pathetic wreck who can
only repeat how much he still loves Leslie.The Benedicts, all except Jordy, drive
down an empty road to a diner. An altercation develops between the racist diner
owner Sarge (Mickey Simpson) and Bick after he refuses to serve a non-English-
speaking Mexican family that just walked in who have no dollars but pesos. Bick
intervenes on behalf of the Mexican family. A fist fight ensues when Bick stands up
for the immigrant family against the racist Sarge, leaving Bick the loser who
collapses over a table of pies. Sarge throws all of them out of the diner saying
that it is his American free right to refuse service to people he does not like,
including paying customers.Later, in the final scene back at the ranch, Bick and
Leslie watch their two grandchildren, one biracial (Jordy and Juana's son), play in
a crib and reflect on their life. Leslie tells Bick that she considered him to be
her hero for the first time in her life after the fight in the diner, something he
always tried to do with his ranching heroics. Reflecting on the Benedict family's
legacy, Bick views it as a failure because their lives didn't turn out the way he
planned, but Leslie considers their version of the family to be a success. The
final shot pans to the face of each child, one white, one Hispanic, but both
Texans.\n\n", "\n\nIt looks like we don't have a Synopsis for this title yet. Be
the first to contribute! Just click the \"Edit page\" button at the bottom of the
page or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide.\n\n", "\nAfter serving four
years in prison for killing a man, hotheaded Tom Joad () heads back to the family
farm in Oklahoma. On his way he meets Casy (), a former preacher who has lost his
faith. The pair find the farm deserted; Tom's share cropping family was evicted.
Tom is reunited with his family at his uncle's farm, only to discover the family
must also leave that farm the next day. The extended family of eight (plus Casy)
packs up their belongings onto an old truck and head to California to look for
work.Shortly after leaving, Grandpa () dies of a stroke and the family buries him
along the roadside. Money is tight; they have trouble affording 15 cents for a loaf
of bread. They are warned that there is little work in California. Grandma () dies
just before the family reaches the California border.They arrive at an itinerate
camp populated with hungry children. A man and sheriff come to the camp promising
work but won't say how much they will be paid. A local man at the camp warns the
others and the sheriff wants to arrest the man. The man runs away and the sheriff
shoots at him, killing a bystander. Tom knocks out the sheriff and flees.The family
leaves the camp and arrives at a farm that needs workers. Tom is wary. The farm is
surrounding by a barbed-wire fence with plenty of armed guards. The family settles
in a shack and picks peaches for five cents a box, earning barely enough to feed
the family. After dinner, Tom takes a walk and encounters Casy in a camp just
outside the farm. Casy is helping to lead a labor strike against the farm. Thugs
from the farm kill Casy and Tom kills one of the attackers. Tom is hit in the face
with a club, leaving a big gash.The family loads up the truck again, hiding Tom
under a mattress. They head north, and stay at a U.S. government camp. Life is
better. The camp has toilets, showers and is run by camp inhabitants. Warned ahead
of time, the camp men stop thugs from starting a fight at the Saturday night dance
that would provide an excuse for the local sheriff to take control of the camp.The
sheriff arrives at the camp looking for Tom. Tom vows to his mother, Ma Joad (),
that he will fight injustice wherever he finds it, and heads off into the night.
She worries that she will never see him again. The family hears of work and heads
north and Ma is hopeful about their future.\n\n", "\nThe movie opens with a group
of people running through a field of wheat, frantically searching for something or
someone. We then hear an unfriendly voice saying \"You love your sister? You make
any noise, know what happens?\"The movie then proceeds with an old man in a
retirement center named Paul Edgecomb (Dabbs Greer), waking up from an unpleasant
dream. He takes two pieces of dry toast from an orderly, who mentions Paul's habit
of taking long walks outside the ground. The orderly is worried about Paul, but
allows him to continue with his daily routine.Paul and several other residents are
watching TV when an old movie with Fred Astaire dancing to the song \"Heaven\" is
on. Paul sees it and is suddenly overcome by emotion, so he walks away, followed by
his friend Elaine (Eve Brent). Elaine realizes that the movie has awakened some
powerful memories in Paul, and asks about it. Paul tells Elaine his story: he was a
prison guard during the Depression, in charge of Death Row, informally called \"The
Green Mile,\" because of its green tile floor. Paul's most powerful memory of this
time took place in 1935....The story then flashes back to the 1930's at the
Louisiana State Prison, where a young Paul Edgecomb (now played by Tom Hanks)
suffers from a urinary infection. Some of the other guards- Brutus \"Brutal\"
Howell (David Morse), Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper), Harry Terwilliger (Jeffrey
DeMunn) and Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison) - bring in a new inmate. Percy makes
quite a spectacle out of the arrival, repeatedly yelling \"Dead man walking!\"
through the complex, to the annoyance of the other guards. The convict's name is
John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) \"like the drink, only not spelled the same.\"
He is a gigantic muscular negroid man, but when Paul talks to John, they find that
he has the mindset of a small child- very meek and apparently scared of the dark.
After John has been placed inside his cell, he mysteriously states that he \"tried
to take it back, but it was too late.\"Paul confronts Percy with his constantly
rousing behavior, but when Percy shows nothing but disrespect for authority, Paul
sends him off the Mile to attend work elsewhere. Percy is not happy about this, and
in frustration, he lashes out at another inmate named Eduard 'Del' Delacroix
(Michael Jeter), breaking Del's fingers. Paul is given a copy of John Coffey's
records, and finds that he was sent to Death Row after being convicted for the
murder (and implied rape) of two small girls. After the two girls went missing, a
posse
went looking for them, finding John sitting in an open field, crying
uncontrollably while holding the dead girls in his arms. As he was arrested, John
stated that he \"tried to take it back, but it was too late.\"Later on, Paul is
outside when he is met by warden Hal Moores (James Cromwell). Hal gives Paul the
execution papers for an inmate named Arlen Bitterbuck (Graham Greene), and has a
conversation with him about Percy. It's revealed that Percy is the nephew of the
governor's wife, and his powerful political connections are what got him hired- and
keep him in the job, because Percy is apparently \"stupid and mean\" according to
the other guards. Paul finds out that they have already received a complaint about
Percy being removed from the Green Mile, even though he broke an inmate's fingers.
However, Hal has also learned that Percy has applied for an administrator job at a
mental hospital, which would mean better pay and better hours, and with a little
luck, no more Percy on the Mile. Paul theorizes that Percy wants to witness an
execution up close before moving on to a new job. Warden Moores also mentions that
his wife, Melinda, is not well. She suffers from bad headaches and is scheduled for
an X-ray in order to find the source of the problem. That night, Paul talks about
John Coffey and his concerns for Melinda with his wife Jan (Bonnie Hunt). He also
regrets that they cannot make love as long as he has his infection, but waves away
her advice to see a doctor for it.Next day, Brutus spots a mouse in the cell block.
They watch it run into a small room in the corner, which turns out to be a padded
room for dangerous inmates but is currently used for storage. The guards check
everything in the room but do not find the mouse. A few hours later, Percy arrives,
spots the mouse and goes into a fury trying to kill it. The mouse goes back into
the padded room, and Percy intends to go in. The other guards purposely don't tell
him that they already tried that, and watch in amusement as Percy unpacks the
entire room again, to no avail. Afterwards, Paul berates Percy for scaring the
inmates in his pursuit of the mouse. Percy doesn't care, thinking the inmates are
contemptible. Paul feels differently, believing that the inmates are under enough
stress since they are waiting to die; if put under more strain, they could \"snap\"
and cause serious problems. After more of Percy's insolence, Brutus grabs him, but
Percy threatens to use his connections as nephew to the governor's wife to get the
others fired if they hurt him. Paul retorts that if he ever makes such a threat
again, they will \"have a go\" at him, even at the cost of their jobs.While
Bitterbuck is granted one final meeting with his family, Paul and the others
prepare the auditorium with the electric chair for his upcoming execution. They do
a rehearsal with the prison's elderly janitor, Toot-Toot (Harry Dean Stanton)
helping them. Paul instructs Percy to watch and learn while the others prep the
electric chair. One of the guards explains to Percy the necessity of putting a wet
sponge on the convict's head before the cap with the electrodes is attached; this
will cause the electric current to go straight through the head, and allow the
execution to go more smoothly. That night, Bitterbuck is prepared for the
execution. In his final talk with Paul, he recalls his most pleasant memory, and
asks Paul if he believes that if a man repents for his crimes, that he will go back
to the time that he was most happy. Paul says he believes that exact thing. Brutus
leads Bitterbuck's execution, which is carried out with little problems (although
Bitterbuck needs two jolts of electricity before his heart stops). Afterward, Paul
confronts Percy with his new job opportunity, stimulating him to take it now that
he has witnessed an execution. However, Percy reveals that he wants to be \"out
front\" (placed in charge of an inmate's execution) before he leaves.Next day, the
inmate named Del has found the mouse again, named it \"Mr. Jingles\" and is trying
to tame it. The mouse is able to fetch a spool of thread as a trick. The other
guards allow Del to keep Mr. Jingles as a pet. Even Percy is uncharacteristically
supportive of this, suggesting they get the mouse a cigar box to sleep in.Paul
meets with Warden Hal again, getting word of a new inmate coming in, a man named
William 'Wild Bill' Wharton, who killed three people in a holdup. Hal is almost in
tears; the doctors have told him that his wife Melinda has a tumor the size of a
lemon in her brain, virtually inoperable and eventually fatal.That night, Paul
suffers from his urinary infection even more; he is almost in constant pain. He
intends to see the doctor the next day after the new inmate has been brought in.
Percy and Harry go to retrieve Wharton from the mental hospital, where he is in an
apparent trance, presumably from medication. As soon as Wharton enters the Mile, he
springs to life, clearly having faked his drug-induced stupor. He surprise-attacks
the guards and incapacitates Paul by kneeing him in the groin. Dean is nearly
strangled, and Percy is nailed to the floor in shock, unable to intervene despite
Paul's cries for help. Finally, Brutus comes in and takes Wharton out. Paul urges
the others to go and report what has happened, and stop by the medical facility,
while he will hold the Mile. As soon as the others have left, he collapses in pain.
John Coffey then asks to speak with Paul. With great effort, Paul approaches John's
cell, but John grabs Paul and puts his hand over Paul's groin. John holds on for
several seconds, until the lights flare brightly. John then lets go, coughing and
gasping until he releases a cloud of gnat-like spores from his mouth that disappear
in the air. Paul asks what happened, but John can only say \"I helped\". He becomes
tired and goes to sleep. Later, when Paul visits the washroom, he feels no pain at
all: John Coffey's act has healed his infection. Paul comes home and feels
completely reborn, making love to his wife almost all night.The next morning, Paul
calls in sick for work, but goes into town to see John Coffey's public defender,
Burt Hammersmith (Gary Sinise) who preceded over John's trial. Paul voices his
doubt about Coffey, no longer believing that such a kind and gentle man could be
responsible for such a horrible crime. Hammersmith, however, is absolutely
convinced of Coffey's guilt, and compares John to the dog that attacked his own son
one day for no reason. Back at the prison, Paul presents John with a loaf of
cornbread baked by his wife, as a thanks for Coffey's \"help\". Coffey shares the
cornbread with Del and Mr. Jingles, but does not give any to Wharton, who is
blatantly racist. This enrages Wharton, who takes his fury out on the guards over
the next few days. He urinates on Harry and spits chocolate all over Brutus, so the
guards use a fire hose to catch Wharton off guard, then wrap him up in a
straitjacket and send him to the padded room. Despite Wharton's promise to behave
every time he gets out, the padded room becomes his frequent residence for a
while.Del's execution is coming nearer, and the guards are having a talk with him
about it. Del's main concern is what will happen to Mr. Jingles. Brutus suggest
sending him off to a magical place called 'Mouseville' in Florida, but first, they
feel that Del should do a show with Mr. Jingles for the prison staff.The rehearsal
for Eduard Delecroix's execution takes place the next day, as Del performs his show
with Mr. Jingles. Paul has decided to put Percy in charge, in the hope that he will
finally leave the prison right afterward. Del's show is a big success and Percy's
rehearsal went well too, so both men seem to be on good terms for a change.
However, in a momentary lapse of concentration, Percy walks too close to the cells
and is grabbed through the bars by Wharton. Wharton menaces Percy for a while
before letting him go, and Percy wets himself in terror. Ashamed, he threatens the
guards to never mention this to anyone. Paul states that \"what happens on the
Mile, stays on the Mile.\" They will not say anything about what happened. Del,
however, delights in Percy being humiliated, much to Percy's anger.Later on, Mr.
Jingles runs across the room between cells. Percy walks up and stomps on the mouse,
coldly uncaring about what he has done, leaving Del screaming in shock. John Coffey
asks for the mouse, so Paul picks it up and hands it to John. The other guards
watch in shock, awe, and possibly horror as light shines from John's hands. John
coughs, releases another cloud of spores, and Mr. Jingles runs across the room- as
good as new. Percy, seeing that the mouse is uninjured, is furious - thinking the
guards have set out to make a fool out of him. Paul confronts Percy and gives him
an ultimatum- Percy will transfer out immediately after Delacroix's execution, or
the others will go public about Percy's record of mistreatment of the prisoners and
his inadequate behavior on the Mile. Percy agrees.The night of Del's execution has
arrived. Just before he \"walks the Mile\" to the electric chair, Del gives Mr.
Jingles to Paul, knowing that he will be taken care of. When Paul points out that
he cannot have a mouse sitting on his shoulder during an execution, John Coffey
volunteers to take care of Mr. Jingles.Del is placed on the chair in front of the
audience as Percy starts the ceremony. As his last lines, an emotional Del asks for
forgiveness for his crimes, and asks Paul not to forget about Mouseville. Percy
deviously responds by saying that Mouseville isn't real; the men only mentioned it
to keep him quiet, which upsets both Del and the guards. Percy proceeds by hooking
Del up to the electrodes, with one small exception- he purposely does not soak the
sponge he places on Del's head, wanting to punish Del one more time.
Paul notices that the sponge is dry, but just too late: the electricity has
already been activated. As a result, the execution is excruciating for Del: he
convulses and screams in pain, much to the increasing horror of the audience. At
the same time, John Coffey is hysterically crying as he seems to telepathically
feel Del's struggle. Wild Bill, however, is ecstatically jeering and shouting in
joy over Del's ordeal. Paul and the other guards watch apprehensively, but don't
dare turn off the electricity, thinking that it will not take much longer. However,
they are sadly mistaken - Del's agony is prolonged to the point where he even
catches fire. The horrified audience starts to panic and flees the scene, despite
Hal Moore's assurance that everything is okay. Paul notices that Percy is averting
his eyes, but forces him to watch before Del finally dies, and orders him to put
out the fire with an extinguisher.Afterwards, Percy claims he didn't know that the
sponge needed to be wet, upon which Brutus violently punches him. Paul restrains
Brutus, saying what's done is done, and Percy isn't worth fighting over. Hal comes
in and angrily demands to know what went wrong. Paul blames Percy's inexperience
for the disastrous execution, but adds that Percy was about to accept his new job
at the mental institution anyway, cleverly forcing him to honor their agreement.
Upon returning to the Mile, Paul finds that Wharton has ripped up his mattress and
is cheerfully singing in celebration, but stops when he is threatened with solitary
confinement for the rest of his time. Paul talks to a grief-stricken John. Mr.
Jingles, who was in John's hands when it happened, must also have felt Del's pain,
and has fled; John does not expect him to return.Paul and his wife go to visit Hal
and Melinda the next day. Melinda seems pretty well, but Hal reveals that she is
rapidly falling apart. She is losing her memory and experiencing severe behavioral
changes, including uncontrollable cursing. Paul decides to invite the other guards
(minus Percy) to dinner later and discusses John Coffey's acts of healing both him
and Mr. Jingles. Paul states that he can no longer watch what is happening to
Melinda, so he wants to sneak John Coffey out to try and heal her. The others are
very skeptical, pointing out that Coffey is a convicted murderer, and it would be
disastrous if they would be discovered, or if he escapes. Paul puts forth his
belief that Coffey is innocent; he \"does not see God putting a gift like that in
the hands of a man who would kill a child.\" The other guards agree to help,
thinking it is worth the risk. Most of the men have grown-up children, but since
Dean's children are still young, he will stay behind on the Mile so that he has
plausible deniability in case something goes wrong.The next day, they carry out the
plan. Paul brings some drinks, and offers one that is drugged to Wharton , which
puts him to sleep. The others then gag Percy, put him in the straitjacket and place
him in the padded room for a few hours, supposedly as \"retribution\" for what he
did to Eduard Delacroix, but in reality so that he will not see them leaving. Dean
has memorized a cover story in case that someone comes over: John Coffey went crazy
and attacked the guards, so they put him in the padded room (which would explain
any sounds coming from it) while the rest is at the medical facility. They open up
John Coffey's cell, and he is excited at the prospect of going for a ride outside
and help Melinda. However, on their way out, Wharton, not entirely out cold yet,
grabs Coffey's arm. John is apparently horrified by what he sees when touching
Wharton, who finally falls asleep.They arrive at Hal's home, and Hal threatens them
with a shotgun, thinking there is a prison riot or escape attempt going on. Paul
carefully talks him down, while Coffey goes upstairs to meet Melinda. John gets
very close to Melinda's face, and something comes out of her mouth and into his,
making the light in the room shine intensely, even causing a small earthquake. John
breaks the connection with her, falling down coughing. Melinda sits up, looking
much healthier and having no memory of anything that happened before her X-ray. Hal
collapses, weeping at his wife's restoration. John continues to cough, unable to
release the \"spores\" like before. Melinda gives Coffey a pendant with the mark of
St. Christopher the healer as a present.The men return to the prison, and John is
still very ill from the encounter. Dean mentions that Wharton has almost regained
consciousness, so they quickly put John back in his cell. Percy is released from
solitary, looking aggravated. Paul tells him to take it like a man, and Percy
responds that he is going to give it some serious thought. The others fear that he
will talk about this one day, but that is a worry for another time. As Percy
leaves, John grabs him through the bars, holds his face close to his, releases the
spores directly into Percy's mouth, and lets go of him. Percy, in a daze, walks
over to Wharton's cell. Wharton, just coming too, taunts him some more. Percy, a
tear running across his face, empties his revolver into Wharton's chest. The others
seize Percy, who leans back and coughs up the remaining black spores.Paul asks John
why he did this. John states that Wharton and Percy were \"bad men\", and he
punished them for it. He tells Paul that he needs to see for himself, and sticks
out his hand. Over the protests of the other guards, Paul takes John's hand, and
immediately starts seeing the memories of Wharton that John is carrying. Wharton
was a worker on the farm where the two little girls lived. One night, he snuck into
their room and abducted them. He threatened them that if one would scream, he would
kill the other. While the electricity around them goes haywire again, Paul sees
that Wharton was responsible for the double murder that John Coffey was convicted
for. After finally letting go, John tells a devastated Paul that Wharton killed the
girls with their love for each other. He is constantly plagued by horrible images
like this, and the whole ordeal has exhausted him now.Hal and the police arrive at
the Mile, where Percy, upon examination, appears to be catatonic. Hal tells Paul
that he will cover for him and his men as much as he can, even at the cost of his
job, but he needs to know if any of this is connected to what happened at his
house. Paul thinks for a while, but denies it. Percy is taken away and sent to a
mental hospital, ironically the same place where he was supposed to be an
administrator. He is put in the same room where he once picked up Wharton,
presumably to stay there for the rest of his life.Now that he knows Coffey is
innocent, Paul is unsure how to proceed. He talks to his wife that night and she
suggests talking to John to see what he wants. The next day, Paul and the others
have a talk with Coffey, even asking him if they should just \"let him go.\" Coffey
does not want to escape, as he doesn't want to get them in trouble. With regards to
the upcoming execution, Paul asks John how he could ever justify killing an
innocent man before God. John tells him not to worry; he reveals that in addition
to healing, he can also feel the pain of all others around him. He does not wish to
continue with such pain and darkness in the world, so the execution would be an act
of kindness, even for a crime he did not commit. Paul offers John a last request;
Coffey states that he has always wanted to see a \"flicker show\" (a motion
picture). They bring in a movie projector with the film \"Top Hat,\" the same movie
that the elderly Paul was watching at the beginning of the movie, which is what
triggered Paul's memories, particularly when Fred Astaire is dancing to \"Heaven\".
John watches in awe, saying \"they like angels!\"The day of John's execution
finally arrives. Paul has to take John's pendant, but promises to return it to him
after his death. The guards take John to the auditorium, where John senses immense
hostility from the audience, which prominently features the dead girls' parents who
loudly jeer at him. Brutus tells John to focus on the feelings of the guards, who
have nothing but sympathy for him. John is strapped to the chair as the guards
watch on in tears. As per John's tearful request, Paul does not put a hood over his
face, as he is still scared in the dark. Paul makes extra sure that the sponge is
wet before placing the cap. Before giving the order to activate the electricity,
Paul steps up and shakes John's hand. Again, he hears John's voice saying \"he
killed them with their love\". As the chair is activated, the execution goes
smoothly, and John dies. Afterwards, Paul puts the pendant back on his neck. The
elderly Paul's voice cuts in and states that he and Brutus left The Green Mile soon
after, unable to carry on after seeing John Coffey die. They transferred to a youth
corrections' facility.Elaine admits that Paul's tale is \"quite a story,\" but she
does not completely believe it. She points out that something does not add up: Paul
mentioned his son being grown up in 1935, which means he should be much older than
he appears.Paul takes Elaine on a walk, and they come to a cabin in the woods.
There is a mouse sleeping in a small box; Elaine is shocked to meet Mr. Jingles. We
see a flashback to Paul returning to the Mile shortly after John Coffey's
execution: he finds the mouse again, and has kept him ever since. The cabin is not
exactly Mouseville, but it is a good place for him. Old Paul states that he is now
108 years old, and that he believes John Coffey \"infected him (and Mr. Jingles)
with life.\" He thinks that Mr. Jingles was probably an accident: when John held
him during Del's execution, he inadvertently gave the mouse the gift of longevity;
Paul received it when he took John's hand after Wharton's
death. Paul feels that this is his punishment for killing a genuine miracle of God
- he must stay alive and watch everyone he cares about, including friends like
Elaine, grow old and die before his own death. He has already survived his friends
from the Mile, Hal and Melinda, his wife Jan, and even his son.Later, Paul is seen
at Elaine's funeral, quietly wondering just how much longer he has to go on. He has
no doubt in his mind that he will die one day, but if God can extend the life of a
mouse for so many years, how long does he need to go one living? \"We each owe a
death,\" he states, \"There are no exceptions. But oh God, sometimes The Green Mile
seems so long.\" The film ends with close-up of Mr. Jingles sleeping.\n", "\nIn
what appers to be the Sonoran Desert; in or near Mexico, a cartographer named David
Laughlin (Bob Balaban) is introduced to a French-speaking man named Claude Lacombe
(renowned French director Fran\u00e7ois Truffaut). Though David has been hired as
Mr Lacombe's interpreter, he explains that he is actually a cartographer (a
mapmaker). The two men along with a crew soon find a strange sight: a circular ring
of airplanes in brand-new condition, with fuel still in the tank. The planes are
identified as belonging to 'Flight 19,' a group of US Naval planes that were
reported missing off the coast of Florida in 1945. The men soon after find a local
who reported the planes. David and Claude find the man has red sunburned marks on
the side of his face. Through an interpreter, the man claims the sun came out that
evening, and talked to him.In an air traffic control tower in the US, some of the
air traffic controllers receive reports of unidentified aircraft flying dangerously
an commercial flight. When the tower requests that the pilots wish to report a 'UFO
(unidentified flying object),' both planes decline, primarily because they're so
confounded, they feel they wouldn't know what to report.In Muncie, Indiana, a
strange power outage blackens the area. This incident affects two different
families of people. The first is Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon). When she wakes in
the middle of the night and finds her son Barry (Cary Guffey) missing, she wanders
off into the countryside to find him.The second person is Roy Neary (Richard
Dreyfuss). Roy gets a call from the power company he works for, and goes out to
answer a service call. However, stopping at a railroad crossing, a number of metal
objects in the vicinity (including Roy's truck) begin to act strangely. A strange
craft appears overhead, and flashes bright lights at Roy before flying off. Once
the craft has disappeared, Roy races off, almost hitting Barry on a hillside
road.As Jillian appears, several strangely-lit craft fly by, along with a bright
red light at the tail end. Entranced by the strange objects, Roy gets back in his
truck and gives chase, along with several local police cars, all of them passing
through a toll booth at the border of Ohio. The strange objects fly off over the
edge of a cliff, and as Roy and the officers watch, ascend into some thundering
storm clouds overhead, as the darkened city underneath them regains power.Roy
returns to his family eager to tell of what he saw, but his wife Ronnie (Teri Garr)
refuses to acknowledge her husband's flights of fancy. Even though Roy has red
sunburns from being flashed by the craft he saw, she still doesn't 'believe.'Some
time afterward, Roy meets up with Jillian and Barry, and Jillian relates how there
seems to be a melody and an image of a mountain she cannot get out of her mind. Roy
soon finds himself obsessing over the same mountain image, carving it in mashed
potatoes as well as sculpting it out of putty or shaving cream.Meanwhile, Bob and
Claude have gone around the world and observed other strange phenomenon: A group of
people in India have been chanting a strange 5-note sequence that they claim came
from the sky. A missing ship named the Coat Appoxi has appeared in another desert
region. Information gleaned from the musical notation sequence and a message
indicates that there appears to be plans for extraterrestrial life to descend to
Earth. The military and NASA coordinate a plan to create a false scare in the
landing region, northwestern Wyoming, that a toxic spill will make the area
dangerous.Back in Muncie, Jillian is shocked one evening when the same lights as
before descend towards her home, and soon after abduct her son Barry. Still in a
state of shock, Jillian takes her story to the news outlets.Shortly thereafter, a
person from the US Government sits down for a town hall chat with several locals in
attendance (including Roy and his family), denying that there are UFO's, or that
the government is covering up any such incidents.Roy is slowly losing his mind over
the strange images in his head. One morning he begins to throw dirt, plants, bricks
and chicken fencing into the kitchen window. His behavior finally drives Ronnie to
take their kids and leave. After they have left, Roy constructs an enormous
miniature of a flat-topped mountain in his family's living room. After an argument
with his wife on the phone, he sees a news report on the television, showing
Devil's Tower...the same structure he's been obsessed with.Roy heads off towards
Devil's Tower, only to encounter everyone leaving in the wake of a (fake) chemical
spill warning. Roy also finds Jillian there, and the two attempt to get to Devil's
Tower, but are captured by some military men.Roy and Jillian are separated, with
Roy brought before Bob and Claude. The two listen to Roy's story...a story that
sounds similar to several other people who have been drawn to the mountainous
structure nearby. The two make an impassioned plea to the Military Director at the
base, but he refuses to believe their 'theory' that these people were 'invited,'
and attempts to fly the civilians out.Jillian and Roy manage to escape with another
man named Larry, making it to the other side of the mountain before night settles
in. The Army sprays the area around the mountain with a sedative dust, putting
Larry to sleep. Roy and Jillian evade the choppers, finding an enormous landing
strip constructed on the east side of the mountain. The two secretly make their way
down as several smaller lit ships appear, before a giant 'mother ship' hovers down.
The scientists in the compound attempt to communicate with the aliens, first with
the smaller ships and then with a much larger \"mother ship\" which dwarfs the
mountain itself. After a few moments of musical exchange, the bottom of the ship
opens and dozens of people abducted by the aliens are returned, seemingly unharmed
and having not aged a day. Among them his Jillian's son. A few minutes later, the
bottom of the ship opens again and the aliens reveal themselves to the scientists:
they are humanoid in appearance, but very small, no larger than 3 feet, with large
eyes. When Claude sees that Roy has witnessed the exchange, he asks if Roy would be
willing to join the dozen people that have been selected to leave with the aliens.
Roy willingly accepts. When they line up to enter the ship, one of the aliens walks
down the line of volunteers and chooses Roy. (In a deleted scene, Roy enters the
ship and sees a cavernous room with 1000s of the aliens and vegetation.) In a final
exchange, one of the aliens gives the hand salute interpretation of the 5 note
musical tone to Claude himself, who smiles. After Roy and several others board the
ship, it takes off for distant space.Done by KrystelClaire:Strange events are
happening all over the world: a UFO is said to have appeared in the Mojave desert
in New Mexico, a long-ago lost ship appears in the middle of the Ghobi desert, many
Indian people start to chant a tune they have heard coming from \"above\", and some
airplanes have sights of flying saucers. A team of people are investigating all
these phenomena, specially Claude Lacombe (renown French director Fran\u00e7ois
Truffaut) and his interpreter Jean Claude (Philip Dodds)In the USA, Roy Neary
(Richard Dreyfuss) is trying to find his way at night. He's close to home, but is
looking for the place he has to go to in a map. He is an electric company
technician who has to solve a problem with an electrical blackout. While waiting at
a railroad crossing, everything seems to go crazy around him -- his flashlight
won't work, the radio in his truck goes haywire, and some mailboxes along the road
open themselves. Suddenly, a bright light lands on the truck. Looking out of the
window, he is flashed several times by what seems to be a UFO. Roy then attempts to
drive after the three small flying saucers and a small red light.Mainwhile, Barry
Guiler (Cary Guffey), a little boy of around 6, wakes up because all his toys start
playing themselves and making noise in the middle of the night. He goes out of home
on his own. He lives in a cheap home nearby a forest. Dressed in his pyjamas, he
goes out. A toy police car wakes up his mother Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon) as
well. From her window, she calls out for him, but Barry enters the wood anyway,
laughing alone. Jillian runs after him. When she catches up with him, Barry is
standing up in the middle of a curvy town road. He seems stunned, dazed. Jillian
arrives just in time to save him from being run over by Roy.The UFOs disappear
among cloudy and stormy weather. Many people have seen them, and they wait all
through the night in the same curve of the same road for the UFOs to appear again,
hoping for a friendly sign. Roy, Barry and Jillian are among those people.During
daylight, they all try to go on with their lives. However, it seems that they can't
cope. Barry repeats a lullaby over and over again. Jillian tries to draw a mountain
she has never seen, and Roy seems to have gone crazy. He makes all kinds of strange
attemps to create a sculpture of the same mountain
than Jillian. First with shaving foam, secondly with mashed potatoes. The three
children of the couple, Brad, Sylvia and Toby (Shawn Bishop, Adrienne Campbell and
Justin Dreyfuss), become silent and frightened as well, after a terrible row with
plenty of shouting on everybody's part. As a higher level of Roy's brand-new
eccentric behaviour, he starts pulling out some small trees from his home garden in
a frenzy, and also he steals his neighbour's duck pond metal rail in plain
daylight. His wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) is getting more and more frightened because
of her husband's hectic behaviour. She cannot take it anymore and leaves him. She
takes her children with her, while neighbours stop doing their everyday chores to
look in amazement at the final row of the couple.Now Roy can create his mountain
sculpture without being disturbed. He makes it so huge that it occupies all the
kitchen. While he is talking on the phone, he finally realises what he is so
obsessed about. The famous anchorman Howard K. Smith (himself) is announcing on TV
that Devil's Peak is being evacuated, because there is a deadly gas leaked in the
atmosphere. They show some images of the place, so Roy decides to make the journey
there immediately.At the same time, Barry has disappeared. He had been kidnapped by
the supposed energy of a UFO. Jillian had tried to prevent it, closing all doors,
windows, and even the chimney place, but it is useles. Barry feels attracted by the
lights and he goes into them through the dog trap in the main door. Newspapers will
laugh about Jillian's evidence before the police, claiming that she alleges
that \"some clouds kidnapped my son\", and treat her like a demented person.The
following day, Roy is driving in the opposite direction. He arrives at the nearest
train station to the mountain, where hundreds of people are boarding a train in
panic, climbing into the wagons through the windows and even getting on top of some
coaches. The military police are watching all the operation. There, Roy finds
Jillian, who wants to go to the same place than him. They get out of the station
quietly helped by the chaos. Jillian is carrying two pigeons in a small cage, in
the hope that, if there is any poisonous substances in the air, the birds will die
before she does so. They drive together across fields and empty roads with many
cows and horses dead along the way. They get close to their destination, but they
are stopped by the miliatry police and the two French investigators dressed in
white, astronaut-like outfits and gas masks. One of them forces Roy and Jillian to
get into a white van, while taking the cage with the two birds, now completely
dead. Jillian, Roy and another man jump off from the helicopter which was going to
take them out of the area. They had taken off their masks, proving that there is no
real danger in breathing the alledgedly deadly air. The three runaways make it to
the mountain, being followed by armed soldiers and several helicopters. The third
man gets gassed out and passes out so the two main characters are the only ones who
make it to the other side of the mountain.There, Jillian and Roy find a kind of
runway lane surrounded by scientifical devices and cameras by all sides except one.
There are people all over the place, some of them armed with heavy weaponry, and
the two Frenchmen are also there. Jillian and Roy look at the sudden weather
changes hidden behind some mountain rocks. The UFO's appear, altogether with the
smaller red light. They fly so close to them that they could have almost touched
them.The UFO's and the official people maintain a kind of dialogue: they play the
tune which Barry and the Indian people sang. They use a kind of huge keyboard and a
screen with light and colours. Everything is successful. Roy goes down the mountain
after having kissed Jillian but she prefers to stay hidden behind a rock. He thinks
he is going to be captured by an army officer, but the man is running away, hiding
himself on the portable toilet facility, a scene which will be repeated later on
Spielberg's Jurassik Park film. The UFOs go away. The French people see Roy, but
they let him be.The scientists are going to start to analyse all the materials they
have recorded. All of a sudden, the hugest UFO of them all appear, and they all go
back to their positions. Again, there is the tuned music conversation, accompained
by coloured lights. The music moves faster and faster until it dies out. Everybody
is watching, breathless.The UFO is opened. Through the below part of the device,
several people (and a dog) who had previously disappeared, walk out of the UFO.
They are all healthy and calm. One of the last ones is Barry. Jillian leaves her
hiding place and goes running to him, hugging and kissing her son while crying
tender tears. Barry does not look traumatized or hurt in any way.The UFO door opens
again. First, a long-legged and long-armed creature appears. The next instant, some
twenty grey-skinned aliens appear and get out of the UFO. They have got no hair,
they are naked, and they are as tall as a child. One of the aliens repeats the hand
movements which represent the music tune.Some volunteers, including Roy, decide to
go into the UFO with the aliens. No aliens stay on Earth. The spacecraft and their
occupants fly away from planet Earth into the million-starred celestial copola.--
originally written by KrystelClaire\n", "\nThe overarching plot takes place over
five days leading up to a political rally for Replacement Party candidate Hal
Phillip Walker, who is never seen throughout the entire movie. The story follows 24
characters roaming around Nashville, in search of some sort of goal through their
own (often overlapping) story arcs.Day OneThe film opens with a campaign van for
presidential candidate Hal Phillip Walker driving around Nashville as an external
loudspeaker blares Walker's folksy political aphorisms and vaguely anti-
establishment populism. This is juxtaposed with country superstar Haven Hamilton
(Henry Gibson) recording an overblown patriotic song (\"200 Years\") intended to
commemorate the upcoming Bicentennial, and growing irritated with the accompanying
musicians in the studio. A young Englishwoman named Opal (Geraldine Chaplin), who
claims to be working on a radio documentary for the BBC, appears in the studio but
is told to leave by Haven. Down the hall from Haven's session is Linnea Reese (Lily
Tomlin), a white gospel singer recording a song with a black choir.Later that day,
the beloved country singer Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley) is returning to Nashville,
having recovered from a burn accident, and the elite of Nashville's music scene,
including Haven Hamilton and his companion Lady Pearl (Barbara Baxley), have
converged on Berry Field to greet her plane as it arrives. Also present are Pfc.
Glenn Kelly (Scott Glenn) and the folk/rock trio \"Bill, Mary, and Tom\" whose
catchy hit song \"It Don't Worry Me\" seems to be on everybody's lips. They are in
town to record their second album. Bill (Allan F. Nicholls) and Mary (Cristina
Raines) are married, but largely unhappy, partly due to the fact that Mary is in
love with womanizing Tom (Keith Carradine).Meanwhile, Mr. Green (Keenan Wynn)
arrives at the airport to pick up his niece, Martha (Shelley Duvall), who has
renamed herself \"L.A. Joan\", a teenage groupie who has come to Nashville
ostensibly to visit her aunt Esther Green who is sick in the hospital. However,
Martha repeatedly puts off visiting her aunt in favor of chasing after musicians or
pretty much any male she comes across, including the oddball motorcyclist known
as \"Tricycle Man,\" (Jeff Goldblum). Working at the airport restaurant are
African-American cook Wade Cooley (Robert DoQui), and his pretty waitress friend,
Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles), an aspiring country singer who refuses to recognize that
she can't carry a tune.After greeting the crowds on the tarmac, Barbara Jean faints
due to the heat, and her handlers, headed by her domineering husband-manager
Barnett (Allen Garfield), rush her to the hospital. Barbara Jean's appearance
having been cut short, those in attendance depart the airport in a rush, and wind
up stranded on the highway after a pile-up occurs. During the commotion, Winifred
(Barbara Harris), an aspiring country singer who has chosen the stage
name \"Albuquerque,\" runs away from her husband, Star (Bert Remsen), after he
refuses to take her to the Grand Ole Opry. Star gives a ride to Kenny Frasier
(David Hayward), a nondescript, bespectacled young man who has just arrived in town
carrying a violin case. Opal takes advantage of the traffic jam to interview first
Linnea and then Tommy Brown (Timothy Brown), an African-American country singer who
is performing at the Opry. Tommy and his entourage later go to Lady Pearl's
nightclub, but Wade, who is drinking and trying to pick up white girls at the bar,
insults Tommy for acting too \"white\" and starts a fight.Linnea's husband, Del
Reese (Ned Beatty) is working with political organizer John Triplette (Michael
Murphy) to plan a small fundraiser and a large outdoor concert gala for the Walker
campaign. Sueleen appears at a local club's open mike night in a provocative
outfit, and despite her lack of singing ability, club manager Trout (Merle Kilgore)
recommends her to Triplette for the fundraiser based on her appearance. Winifred
shows up at Trout's club trying to recruit musicians to record a demo with her, but
Star sees her and chases her out. Del invites Triplette for a family dinner with
Linnea and their two deaf children. Linnea and Del are having communications
problems and she focuses on the children rather than on him. In the middle of
dinner, Tom calls trying to make a date with Linnea, but she puts him off, so he
takes Opal back to his room instead. Pfc. Kelly sneaks into Barbara Jean's hospital
room
and sits in the chair by her bed all night, watching her sleep.Day TwoTom calls
Linnea again but, with Del listening on the other line, Linnea yells at Tom and
tells him not to call her any more. Kenny rents a room from Mr. Green. Haven
Hamilton throws a pre-show party at his house before the evening's Grand Ole Opry
performance. At the party, Opal talks to Haven's son Bud (Dave Peel) who tells her,
unconvincingly, that he is happy to act as his father's business manager and has no
musical ambitions of his own. Under Opal's prodding, Bud starts to sing her a song
he wrote, a tender love ballad, but Opal departs in a rush when she spots a movie
star among the guests. Lady Pearl talks about her love for John and Bobby Kennedy,
the only politicians she ever admired. Triplette tries to persuade Haven to perform
at the Walker gala by telling him that if Walker is elected, Walker would back
Haven for Governor of Tennessee. Haven says he'll give Triplette his decision after
the Opry show that night.At Opryland USA, the Grand Ole Opry broadcast begins with
Tommy Brown (\"Bluebird\") and Haven Hamilton (\"For the Sake of the
Children\", \"Keep a-Goin\"). Haven then introduces Connie White (Karen Black) as a
substitute for the hospitalized Barbara Jean. Connie sings \"Memphis\" and \"I
Don't Know If I Found It in You\" while Barbara Jean and Barnett listen morosely on
the radio in her hospital room. Winifred tries unsuccessfully to get backstage.
Barbara Jean and Barnett have an argument because he is going to the after-show
gathering to thank Connie for substituting at the last minute. Barbara Jean doesn't
want him to go, and he suggests in an accusatory tone that she may be headed for
another nervous breakdown. Barnett finally calms down Barbara Jean and goes to the
after-party at a nightclub, but Connie doesn't seem happy to see him. Connie takes
the stage (\"Rolling Stone\") but the disgruntled Barnett criticizes her
performance. Lady Pearl regales Opal with stories about the Kennedy brothers,
rendering Opal for once speechless. Haven tells Triplette that Barbara Jean and
Connie never appear on the same stage, and that he (Haven) will appear anyplace
Barbara Jean also appears. Bill gets upset when his wife Mary doesn't show up all
evening, and he confesses to chauffeur Norman (David Arkin), that he suspects her
of having an affair. Mary, in bed with Tom, keeps whispering \"I Love You,\" but
Tom doesn't respond.Day ThreeIt is Sunday morning and the characters are shown
attending various local church services. A Roman Catholic service includes Lady
Pearl, Wade and Sueleen; Haven Hamilton sings in the choir at a Protestant service;
and Linnea is seen in the choir at a black Protestant church as a baptism is taking
place, with Tommy Brown in the pews. At the hospital chapel, Barbara Jean sings a
hymn from her wheelchair while Mr. Green and Pfc. Kelly, among others, watch. Mr.
Green tells Kelly how he and his wife lost their son in WWII. Opal wanders alone
through a huge auto scrap yard making free-form poetic speeches about the cars into
her tape recorder. Haven, Tommy Brown and their families attend the stock car
races, where Winifred attempts to sing on a small stage but cannot be heard over
the cars. Bill and Mary argue in their hotel room and are interrupted by Triplette,
who wants to recruit them for the Walker concert gala. Tom tries to get Norman to
score him some pills.Day FourOpal walks alone through a large school bus parking
lot trying to spin a commentary linking the buses to racism in the South, but has
trouble hitting the right note. Barbara Jean is discharged from the hospital at the
same time Mr. Green shows up to visit his sick wife. Barbara Jean asks after Mrs.
Green and sends her regards. After Barbara Jean and her entourage have left, a
nurse tells Mr. Green his wife died earlier that morning. Pfc. Kelly tells Mr.
Green why he has been following Barbara Jean around; his mother saved Barbara
Jean's life in the fire and loved her more than anything. She asked her son to go
see Barbara Jean on his leave from Vietnam service. Back at Mr. Green's house,
Kenny gets upset when Martha tries to look at his violin case.Barbara Jean performs
a matinee at Opryland USA. Triplette and Del attend and try to convince Barnett to
have Barbara Jean play the Walker concert gala at the Parthenon the next day, but
he refuses. Kenny and Pfc. Kelly are both in the audience and watch raptly as
Barbara Jean sings, although Opal annoyingly tries to interview Kelly about Vietnam
during a song. Barbara Jean gets through the first couple of songs (\"Tapedeck in
his Tractor\", \"Dues\") all right, but then begins to tell rambling stories about
her childhood instead of starting the next song. After several false starts,
Barnett escorts her from the stage and tells the disappointed audience that they
can come to the Parthenon tomorrow and see Barbara Jean perform for free, thus
committing her to the Walker concert.Tom calls Linnea and invites her to meet him
that night at a club called the Exit Inn. Linnea arrives but sits by herself
because Martha is trying to pick up Tom. Mary and Bill are also there, and Opal
sits with them and mentions that she slept with Tom, causing Mary to look away in
humiliation. Wade tries unsuccessfully to pick up Linnea, while Norman tries
equally unsuccessfully to pick up Opal. Tom is introduced as a surprise guest
artist. He casually mentions that he \"used to be in a trio,\" but then invites
Bill and Mary up to the stage, where the three perform an uncomfortable rendition
of \"Since You're Gone\". Again alone on the stage, Tom introduces his new solo
number, \"I'm Easy,\" which he dedicates to someone special in the audience. Mary,
Opal, and Martha all hope that they are the one, but Tom only has eyes for Linnea.
She goes to his room where they make love. When Linnea says she has to go, Tom begs
her to stay another hour, and is visibly miffed when she refuses. Without even
waiting for her to get dressed and leave, Tom grabs the phone and calls a
girlfriend in New York, inviting her to fly down and join him.Sueleen appears at
the all-male Walker fundraiser, but is booed off the stage when she sings poorly
and doesn't take off her clothes. Del and Triplette explain to her that the men
expect her to strip and that if she does so, they will let her sing the next day at
the Parthenon with Barbara Jean. Sueleen is humiliated, but strips anyway. Winifred
shows up at the fundraiser hoping to get a chance to sing, but after she sees what
is going on, she stays hidden behind a curtain. Del drives Sueleen home and
drunkenly comes on to her, but she is rescued by Wade. After he hears what
happened, Wade tells Sueleen the truth, that she can't sing, and asks her to go
back to Detroit with him the next day. Sueleen refuses because she is determined to
sing at the Parthenon with Barbara Jean.Day FiveThe performers, audience and Walker
and his entourage arrive for the Parthenon concert; Walker will wait in his
limousine until his speech after the musical performances. In the performing lineup
are Haven, Barbara Jean, Linnea and her choir, Bill, Mary and Tom, and Sueleen.
Winifred has shown up again hoping for a chance to sing. Barnett gets upset because
Barbara Jean will have to perform in front of a large Walker advertisement, but has
to go along with it because his wife's career will be harmed if he pulls her out of
another show. Mr. Green and Kenny attend Esther Green's burial service and Mr.
Green leaves angrily, vowing to find Martha (who is not at the service) and make
her show some respect to her aunt. Mr. Green and Kenny go to the Parthenon to look
for Martha.The Walker gala starts and Haven and Barbara Jean perform a song
together (\"One, I Love You\"), then Barbara Jean sings a very personal solo song
about her childhood (\"My Idaho Home\"). As the song ends, gunshots are heard.
Kenny has pulled a gun from his violin case and fired at the performers, grazing
Haven and seriously wounding Barbara Jean. Pfc. Kelly disarms Kenny as chaos breaks
out. Barbara Jean is carried bleeding and unconscious from the stage. Haven tries
to calm the crowd by exhorting them to sing, asserting that \"This isn't Dallas,
this is Nashville\" in reference to the JFK assassination. As he is led from the
stage for treatment of his wounds, Haven hands the microphone off to Winifred, who
tentatively begins to sing \"It Don't Worry Me.\" As she is joined by Linnea's
gospel choir, Winifred's confidence grows until all eyes are upon her. The film
ends with the audience clapping and dancing as Winifred belts out the chorus, \"You
may say that I'm not free, but it don't worry me.\" She has finally gotten her big
break.\n", "\nThe following synopsis has mostly been taken from the film's
wikipedia page:Howard Beale (Peter Finch), the longtime anchor of the Union
Broadcasting System's UBS Evening News, learns from the news division president,
Max Schumacher (William Holden), that he has just two more weeks on the air because
of declining ratings. The two old friends get roaring drunk and lament the state of
their industry. The following night, Beale announces on live television that he
will commit suicide on next Tuesday's broadcast. UBS fires him after this incident,
but Schumacher intervenes so that Beale can have a dignified farewell. Beale
promises he will apologise for his outburst, but once on the air, he launches back
into a rant claiming that life is \"bullshit\". Beale's outburst causes the
newscast's ratings to spike, and much to Schumacher's dismay, the upper echelons of
UBS decide to exploit Beale's antics rather than pull him off the air. In one
impassioned diatribe, Beale galvanises the nation, persuading his viewers to shout
out of their windows \"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this
anymore!\"Diana Christensen (Faye
Dunaway) heads the network's programming department; seeking just one hit show,
she cuts a deal with a band of radical terrorists (a parody of the Symbionese
Liberation Army called the \"Ecumenical Liberation Army\") for a new docudrama
series called the Mao Tse-Tung Hour for the upcoming fall season. When Beale's
ratings seem to have topped out, Christensen approaches Schumacher and offers to
help him \"develop\" the news show. He says no to the professional offer, but not
to the personal one, and the two begin an affair. When Schumacher decides to end
the Howard as the \"Angry Man\" format, Christensen convinces her boss, Frank
Hackett, to slot the evening news show under the entertainment division so she can
develop it. Hackett agrees, bullies the UBS executives to consent, and fires
Schumacher at the same time. Soon afterward, Beale is hosting a new program called
The Howard Beale Show, top-billed as \"the mad prophet of the airwaves\".
Ultimately, the show becomes the most highly rated program on television, and Beale
finds new celebrity preaching his angry message in front of a live studio audience
that, on cue, chants Beale's signature catchphrase en masse: \"We're as mad as
hell, and we're not going to take this anymore.\" At first, Max and Diana's romance
withers as the show flourishes, but in the flush of high ratings, the two
ultimately find their way back together, and Schumacher leaves his wife of over 25
years for Christensen. But Christensen's fanatical devotion to her job and
emotional emptiness ultimately drive Max back to his wife, and he warns his former
lover that she will self-destruct at the pace she is running with her career. \"You
are television incarnate, Diana,\" he tells her, \"indifferent to suffering,
insensitive to joy. All of life is reduced to the common rubble of banality.\"When
Beale discovers that Communications Corporation of America (CCA), the conglomerate
that owns UBS, will be bought out by an even larger Saudi Arabian conglomerate, he
launches an on-screen tirade against the deal, encouraging viewers to send
telegrams to the White House telling them, \"I want the CCA deal stopped now!\"
This throws the top network brass into a state of panic because the company's debt
load has made merger essential for survival. Hackett takes Beale to meet with CCA
chairman Arthur Jensen, who explicates his own \"corporate cosmology\" to the
attentive Beale. Jensen delivers a tirade of his own in an \"appropriate setting\",
the dramatically darkened CCA boardroom, that suggests to the docile Beale that
Jensen may himself be some higher power describing the interrelatedness of the
participants in the international economy and the illusory nature of nationality
distinctions. Jensen persuades Beale to abandon the populist messages and preach
his new \"evangel\". But television audiences find his new sermons on the
dehumanisation of society depressing, and ratings begin to slide, yet Jensen will
not allow UBS executives to fire Beale. Seeing its two-for-the-price-of-one value,
solving the Beale problem plus sparking a boost in season-opener ratings.
Christensen, Hackett, and the other executives decide to hire the Ecumenical
Liberation Army to assassinate Beale on the air. The assassination succeeds,
putting an end to The Howard Beale Show and kicking off a second season of The Mao
Tse-Tung Hour.The film ends with the narrator stating:\"This was the story of
Howard Beale, the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy
ratings.\"\n", "\nThe film explores the life of 21-year-old Ben Braddock (Dustin
Hoffman) shortly after earning his bachelor's degree from an unnamed college in the
Northeast. The school is widely believed to be Williams College, Webb's alma mater
(in the opening sequence of the movie, Dustin Hoffman, playing Benjamin Braddock,
is wearing a Williams College tie). Benjamin is seen arriving at LAX International
Airport over the opening credits.The movie really begins at a party that same
evening celebrating his graduation at his parents' house in Pasadena, a suburb of
Los Angeles. Benjamin is visibly uncomfortable at the party attended by his
parents' friends. He remains aloof while his parents deliver accolades and
neighborhood friends ask him about his future plans. Benjamin escapes from each
person who comes to congratulate him, exposing his seeming embarrassment at all the
honors he had won at college. Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the neglected wife of
his father's law partner, asks Benjamin to drive her home, which he reluctantly
does. We never learn Mrs. Robinson's first name (or, indeed, the first names of any
of Benjamin's and Elaine's parents) during the course of the film (in the novel, we
are told that the initial of Mrs. Robinson's first name is G).Arriving at her home,
she pleads for Benjamin to come inside, saying that she doesn't like to enter a
dark house alone. Once inside, she forces a drink on him, and later exposes herself
to him offering to have an affair with him. This scene, known as the \"Mrs.
Robinson, you are trying to seduce me\" scene, as said by Benjamin, is said to be
one of the most iconic scenes in the film. She, for no clear reason, does attempt
to seduce him, removing her clothing. Mr. Robinson arrives home a few minute later,
but does not see or suspect anything. Initially flustered and shocked by her
advances, Benjamin flees into the night.A few days later Benjamin contacts Mrs.
Robinson and clumsily organizes a tryst at a hotel beginning their affair. A now
confident and relaxed Benjamin spends the summer drifting around in the pool by day
and seeing Mrs. Robinson at the hotel by night. Benjamin is clearly uncomfortable
with sexuality, but he is drawn into the affair with the older, but still
attractive, Mrs. Robinson. Their affair appears to last most of the summer. All of
their scenes pass in a musically-backed montage, showing the endless pass of time.
One scene is edited so that it appears Benjamin is walking directly from his
parents' dining room into the hotel room he shares with Mrs. Robinson. This seems
to accent the separation of he and his parents, though they still live under the
same roof. Benjamin discovers that they have nothing to talk about but, she refuses
to talk and only wants sex. After pestering her one evening, Mrs. Robinson tells
Benjamin that she was forced to give up college and marry someone she didn't love
when she became pregnant with her daughter Elaine.Meanwhile, Benjamin is hounded by
his father to select a graduate school to attend. Benjamin, clearly not interested
in pursuing his studies, shrugs off his father's wishes and spends his time
lounging about and sleeping with Mrs. Robinson. His affair may serve as an escape
from his lack of direction or ambition, and his fear and anxiety of his impending
future. Mr. Robinson, unaware of his wife's budding affair, encourages Benjamin to
call on his daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross). Benjamin's parents also repeatedly
encourage him to date her. During one liaison, Mrs. Robinson forces a promise from
Ben to never date Elaine. Whether out of fear of Mrs. Robinson, or sensing that
getting involved with the daughter of his lover could be disastrous, he tries to
avoid it. However, because of the three parents' persistent intervention, he is
essentially forced to date her.Therefore, he tries to ensure his date with her will
be a disaster so she would not want to pursue a relationship with him. He drives
recklessly, practically ignoring Elaine, and then takes her to a strip club where
she is openly humiliated and silently begins to cry. After making her cry he
relents and explains he was mean only because his parents forced him to ask her
out. He awkwardly kisses her to try and cheer her up and they go and get a burger
at a drive-in. Benjamin discovers that Elaine is someone he is comfortable with and
that he can talk to her about his worries.From here, Benjamin's life falls apart.
The jealous Mrs. Robinson threatens to reveal their affair to destroy any chance
Benjamin has with Elaine, so Benjamin rashly decides he has to tell Elaine first.
Upset over hearing about Benjamin's tryst with her mother, Elaine returns to
Berkeley refusing to speak with Benjamin.Benjamin decides he is going to marry
Elaine in order to have a future with her and goes to Berkeley where he rents a
room in a local flop house, and begins to stalk her. He contrives a meeting on a
bus while she is on her way to a date with her classmate Carl. The next day, an
angry Elaine bursts into Benjamin's room and demands to know what he is doing in
Berkeley after he \"raped\" her mother by taking advantage of her while she was
drunk that evening of his graduation party. Shocked by what Elaine said, Benjamin
tells her it was her mother who seduced him that night, but Elaine refuses to
believe him and doesn't want to hear the fact that her mother is a crafty vixen.
Benjamin says he will leave Berkeley and go somewhere else for her sake. Elaine
tells Benjamin not to leave until he has a definite plan at what he wants to do
with his life.The next day, Elaine comes into Ben's apartment in the middle of the
night and asks him to kiss her. Over the next few days, the two hang out in
Berkeley while Benjamin keeps pressing her to get blood tests so that they can get
married. Elaine is unsure about this and tells him she had told Carl she might
marry him.Mr. Robinson, who has found out everything about Benjamin and his wife's
affair, goes to Ben's apartment in Berkeley where he threatens Benjamin with
violence and forces Elaine to drop out of school and takes her away to marry Carl.
Benjamin tells Mr. Robinson that his wife is the bad person and she manipulated him
into having an affair with her. But Mr. Robinson also is skeptic and refuses to
belive Benjamin. Benjamin is left with just a note from
Elaine saying that she loves him but that her father is really angry and it can
never work out.Benjamin drives back to Pasadena and arrives at the Robinson house
that evening looking for Elaine. After getting no response by knocking on the front
door, goes around to the back of the house and forces open a screen door. Benjamin
quickly sees that Elaine is not there, but finds Mrs. Robinson instead. She coldly
tells him he won't be able stop Elaine and Carl's wedding and she immediately calls
the police and play-acts by claiming that a man broke into her house and is
assaulting her. Finally seeing the sociopath that Mrs. Robinson really is, Benjamin
flees and drives back to Berkeley to hide out there.The next morning, Benjamin goes
to the Delta Chi Fraternity house to look for Elaine or Carl where he learns from
Carl's frat brothers that the wedding is in Santa Barbara that very morning.
Benjamin then speeds off towards Santa Barbara, stopping only at a gas station to
ask for directions to the church. Benjamin is in such a hurry that he rushes off
without refueling.Consequently, Ben runs out of gas and must sprint the last few
blocks. He arrives at the church just as the bride and groom are about to kiss.
Thinking he is too late, he bangs on the glass at the back of the church and
screams out \"Elaine!\" repeatedly. Elaine turns around, hesitates by looking at
her parents and her would-be husband, but then screams out \"Ben!\" and starts
running towards him. A brawl breaks out as everyone tries to stop her and Benjamin
from leaving. Elaine manages to break free from her mother, who claims \"It's too
late!\" for Elaine apparently already said her marriage vows, to which Elaine
replies, \"Not for me!\" Benjamin holds everybody off by swinging a cross ripped
from the wall, then using it to jam the outside door while the pair escape. They
run down the road and flag down a bus. The elated and smiling couple take the back
seat. But in the final shot, Benjamin's smile gradually fades to an enigmatic,
neutral expression as he gazes forward down the bus, not looking at Elaine. Elaine
also seems unsure, looks lovingly across at Ben but notices his expression and
turns away with a similar expression as the bus drives away, taking the two lovers
to an uncertain future.\n\n", "\nIt's the last night of summer in 1962, and a
number of friends are meeting at Burger City for one last hurrah. They include:-
Steve Bolander (Ron Howard), The recently-graduated Class President.-Curt Henderson
(Richard Dreyfuss), another recent graduate and Steve's best friend, who was
awarded the local Moose Lodge's first scholarship.-Laurie Henderson (Cindy
Williams), who is heading into her Senior Year in high school, and was the head
cheerleader, as well as Steve Bolander's girlfriend. She is also Curt's younger
sister.-Terry \"The Toad\" Fields (Charles Martin Smith), a rather nerdish and
socially awkward kid with glasses and a mutual friend of Steve and Curt.-John
Milner (Paul Le Mat), a young man and high school graduate in his early 20s who
spends most of his days fixing cars for a living and racing a yellow deuce coupe,
said by some to be the fastest car in the Valley.At Burger City, Curt confides to
Steve that he is considering not heading East for college the next day. Steve is
upset by this, but Curt feels that maybe he needs to get his feelings in order.
After their discussion, Steve tells Terry that he is going to give him his 1958
Chevrolet Impala until he comes back from college. As Terry only has a little Vespa
scooter, the opportunity to have a hot set of wheels makes him ecstatic.After the
formalities, Steve gets into Laurie's car, and tells her that he thinks they should
see other people while he is away. Laurie tries to hide the fact that this upsets
her, but becomes very quiet considering the ramifications.Meanwhile, Curt and John
talk about how it seems every girl that comes by is ugly or has a
boyfriend. \"Where is the dazzling beauty I've been waiting for all my life?\"
bemoans Curt. John's conversation turns to how the strip that they cruise on keeps
shrinking, remembering when a tank full of gas was needed to complete a full
circuit.It is then that the group decides to split up. John heads off cruising in
his yellow deuce coupe, while Terry heads out in Steve's car. Curt decides to
accompany Steve and Laurie to the \"Freshman Hop,\" a sock-hop in the school
gymnasium.As Milner heads off to cruise around, he encounters a couple of his
buddies also cruising down the streets, who tell him of a \"very wicked '55 Chevy
looking for him,\" as well as alerting him to cops watching for speeders.Steve,
Laurie and Curt have pulled up to a stop light, with a white '56 T-Bird next to
them. As Curt looks, a blonde driving the vehicle smiles at him, and seems to mouth
the words \"I love you,\" before taking off. Curt is taken by the vision of this
'goddess,' and pleads with his friend and sister to follow the Thunderbird.
However, his words fall on deaf ears.Milner soon after encounters a Studebaker,
full of girls. When he asks if any of them wants to ride with him, one of the
girl's sisters volunteers. However, it is only after she gets into his car does he
realize what he's gotten himself into. The girl, named Carol (Mackenzie Phillips),
is easily a very young girl, and John is determined to not have her along with him
for the rest of the night.Meanwhile, Steve, Laurie and Curt have made it to the
sock-hop. Laurie's friend Peg (Kathleen Quinlan) confides that Laurie will be fine
without Steve, but Laurie is still upset and confused about Steve's wish to see
other people. Steve meanwhile, has explained his plans to some of his own friends,
who laugh that he will use the opportunity to \"screw around.\" Curt meanwhile,
roams the halls of the school and comes across his old locker. He tries the
combination, only to find that it has been changed.After Steve and Laurie meet up
after talking to their friends, Steve wishes to dance, but Laurie refuses, her
anger over his decision boiling to the surface. Curt meanwhile, meets one of his
teachers who is chaperoning the dance. Mr. Wolfe (Terence McGovern) and Curt then
discuss the teacher's past, how he went to a college in Middlebury, Vermont, and
only stayed one semester. Wolfe contends that he wasn't the adventuresome type, and
Curt explains how he might not be as well. The teacher encourages Curt to not stay,
but to go out and explore life.Back in the yellow deuce coupe, John and Carol
continue to be at odds with each other. Carol explains how she and her friends used
shaving cream to coverup someone's windshield as a gag, and shows John that she
still has a can with her at that moment. They then fight over the music on the
radio, with John being irritated by the Beach Boys song \"Surfin' Safari\" on the
radio. John's night is further complicated when Officer Holstein (Jim Bohan) pulls
him over. Holstein gives Milner a ticket, claiming one of his taillights is out,
and claims that he received reports of John speeding, but is going to let him go
this time, promising that one day soon, he's going to catch him in the act. After
Holstein leaves, John gives Carol the ticket to put in a pouch on the driver's side
door, which already contains plenty of tickets from \"the law.\"Terry meanwhile,
has pulled up to a light, next to a black '55 Chevy. The driver is Bob Falfa
(Harrison Ford), who shouts over to Terry that he's looking for John Milner, and to
let John know that he's looking to race him. After the encounter with Falfa, Terry
notices a blonde walking the streets. After saying that she resembles Connie
Stevens, the girl stops to talk to Terry. Terry claims he's known as \"Terry the
Tiger,\" and offers to let her feel the tuck-and-roll upholstery of the Impala. The
girl, named Debbie (Candy Clark), gets in, and the two drive off.Back at the sock-
hop, Steve and Laurie are chosen to lead a spotlight snowball dance, and put on
smiling faces for the rest of the students. As they dance together, Laurie
continues to argue quietly, before beginning to cry, and telling Steve to \"go to
hell,\" as the song \"Smoke Gets In Your Eyes\" fills the gymnasium.Curt meanwhile,
has run into his ex-girlfriend, Wendy (Deby Celiz). With nothing else to do at the
school, he asks if he can tag along with her and her friend Bobbie (Lynne Marie
Stewart). Wendy agrees, much to the ire of her friend.Back in the gymnasium, as the
music picks back up, Steve and Laurie are now dancing intimately, when a teacher
named Mr Kroot (Mark Anger) tells them to \"break it up.\" Steve gets smart and
tells Kroot to 'kiss a duck,' as well as calls him a 'marble-head.' Kroot tells
Steve that he is suspended, but Steve smilingly tells Kroot that he graduated last
semester, and by all accounts, Kroot can't do anything to him. As Kroot storms off,
Steve and Laurie laugh at the moment. After the incident, they decide to go to The
Canal to be alone, their relationship appearing to have been patched up.Terry
meanwhile, has taken Debbie to Burger City to get food. As they wait, a former
'flame' of Debbie's leans into the car to talk to her. Debbie ignores all his
advances, before flicking a lit match at him after making an obscene gesture at
her. Debbie confides that the guy is just 'horny,' and that she likes Terry because
he's different. As Terry's face develops a smile, Debbie tells Terry that she
figures he's smart enough to get them some liquor. Seeing a new way to impress
Debbie, Terry heads off to a liquor store, leaving behind the order they
placed.Curt has now come to occupy the back seat of Bobbie's VW Bug, and Wendy in
the passenger seat. Seeing the white T-Bird, Curt demands they follow it, much to
Bobbie's irritation. When Wendy asks Curt who this girl in the T-Bird is, Curt says
he has no idea. Bobbie meanwhile, claims that she's the
wife of a guy who owns a jewelry store. Curt doesn't believe it, since the girl in
the T-Bird is young and beautiful.Wendy confides to Bobbie about Curt's dream to be
a Presidential Aide, and to one day shake hands with President Kennedy. Curt and
Wendy then playfully bicker about telling of his future ambitions, and Curt invites
her into the backseat to cuddle. Wendy then confides that she thinks Curt's
decision to stay in town is a good idea, saying that maybe they can attend the
local college together. Just then, Kip Pullman (Ed Greenberg) pulls up next to
their car. Bobbie tells Curt to 'say anything' to Kip, whom she has a crush on and
would like to meet. Curt then takes her request a bit too far, and yells over to
Kips that Bobbie is madly in love with him, and trembles at the sight of his
rippling biceps. This causes Bobbie to pull over immediately, demanding Curt to
leave her car. Curt does so, and then sees the T-Bird off a ways. He chases after
it, but it soon disappears, and he is unsure where to go or what to do next.John
meanwhile, has given in to Carol's request for a drink, and takes her to Burger
City for a Coke. While there, John meets one of his hot rod buddies, and explains
that he's babysitting Carol. Carol gets upset and throws her drink at him, before
storming out of the car. John lets her go for a bit, but then feels a sense of
responsibility and catches up to Carol, who gets back into his coupe.Terry
meanwhile, has gotten to the liquor store, but is unsure how to get a bottle of Old
Harper for Debbie. As he ponders outside the store, a wino comes up, and Terry asks
him to help. The wino takes Terry's money, but instead buys wine and exits out the
back door of the store. Terry goes in, and runs off a list of things for the
storekeeper to give him along with the bottle of Old Harper. However, the
storekeeper still asks Terry for his ID. Terry returns to the car, now without the
money, and asks Debbie for more. She is at first upset, but agrees. As Terry
approaches the store again, he sees another man approaching. Terry explains his
situation, and the man claims he will help Terry. However, seconds later, the man
rushes out, and tosses Terry the bottle of Old Harper. The man appears to have
robbed the store, and the store owner soon after emerges, firing on the man with a
gun! Terry hightails it back to the Impala, and quickly gets out of there with
Debbie.Meanwhile, John has taken Carol to an old junkyard, and gives her a run down
of the various vehicles that he's known about, usually belonging to guys he's known
who have long since died in crashes or accidents. Carol claims that John told her
he's never been in an accident, but he confides that he's come close a couple of
times, and that so far, none has been able to beat him.Curt meanwhile, has taken to
sitting on the hood of a car, watching an episode of \"Ozzie and Harriet\" through
the window of an appliance store. As he notices, several guys who are part of a
gang called \"The Pharoahs\" accost him, claiming he's sitting on a car that
belongs to a friend of theirs. When Curt gets off, one of the members tells Curt
that he appears to have left a scratch in the hood. The guys then take Curt along
with them in their car, deciding on a 'fitting punishment'. As Curt feels he is
going to die, the white T-Bird passes by. Shortly thereafter. Falfa's '55 Chevy
passes, and the leader of the Pharoahs claims that this guy aims to beat Milner,
claiming John's days are numbered.Meanwhile, John and Carol encounter a white
Cadillac, full of girls. The girls claim that John's car deserves their special
prize. When John is eager to accept it, the girls hurl a water balloon at him,
which misses and hits Carol. John bursts into laughter, but Carol wants revenge,
and John seems eager to have a little mischief. As both cars come to the next red
light, John proceeds to flatten the other car's tires, and Carol sprays shaving
cream all over the other car's windows, before the two jump back into John's car
and drive off.Terry and Debbie have made it to the Canal, where Terry mixes up the
Old Harper with some soda. Terry and Debbie attempt to get intimate, but there
appear to be too many people walking around. Terry leaves the car door open and the
music on, and he and Debbie go looking for a quiet place to be alone.Curt and the
Pharoahs pull into a miniature golf establishment, where the Pharoahs attempt to
pry open the pinball machines in the main building for gas money. They are soon
caught by Mr. Gordon (Scott Beach), who is a member of the Moose Lodge in town.
Curt claims that the guys he is with are his friends, and Gordon takes Curt into
the back to meet with another Moose Lodge member named Hank (Al Nalbandian). They
both congratulate Curt on winning the Lodge's first scholarship, before he takes
leave along with the Pharoahs, who have finished cleaning out the change in the
pinball machines. The leader of the Pharoahs is impressed with how Curt handled the
situation, and decides that he and his friends will consider making Curt one of
them.Back at the Canal, Terry stops necking with Debbie, when he realizes the music
from the car has stopped. He and Debbie then return to where the car was, only to
find that it has been stolen!Meanwhile, in another part of the Canal, Steve and
Laurie are getting intimate in her car. The conversation shifts a little towards
Steve's decision of wanting to go, and how Curt does not. The talk again upsets
Laurie, and she stops giving in to Steve's advances. When he claims he wants
something to remember her by, she goes limp, infuriating him more that she is just
going to let him do whatever but she isn't going to take any pleasure out of it.
When Steve makes an off hand comment about Laurie watching her brother 'doing
something,' Laurie yells at Steve \"You're disgusting!\" and kicks him out of the
car, before driving off.Terry and Debbie are walking near the canal, with Debbie
explaining about reports of a person in the area dubbed \"The Goat Killer,\" who
kills and dismembers his victims. Terry is getting more and more freaked out by her
talking, when a noise distracts them. At first thinking it might be the goat
killer, Terry is relieved when it turns out to be Steve. When Debbie explains that
their car was stolen, Terry attempts to divert the subject (not wanting Steve to
know that \"his\" car was stolen).Back with John and Carol, John attempts to trick
Carol into telling where she lives, to try and take her home, but Carol is
stubborn, claiming she isn't going home until she \"gets some action.\" It is then
that Bob Falfa's car pulls alongside John, and the two trade barbs, with Bob
insisting on racing John. They do a small race through several lights before John
stops at a red light and Bob continues on through. Carol notes that Bob is fast,
but John says that while he is fast, he also seems stupid.Meanwhile, Steve
separates from Terry and Debbie, and goes back to Burger City, while Terry and
Debbie go off to report the car stolen.Curt and the Pharoahs have meanwhile located
a police car watching for speeders. The leader of the Pharoahs charges Curt with
hooking a tow cable to the rear axle of the car. Curt is unsure about this, but is
told that he has to do this, or the Pharoahs will still plan to make him suffer for
the vehicle he scratched. Curt has some close calls, but eventually gets the cable
hooked. As he rushes back to the Pharoahs, they then speed by the officers, with
Curt yelling at the top of his lungs, \"Stand by for justice!\" The cops then take
off, but the cable catches, tearing the rear axle off their car. Prepared for shock
and awe, the two cops turn around, speechlessly looking at the torn off rear axle
of their car. Nearby, Terry and Debbie are witnesses to the incident as well.Carol
soon finds herself confused when John takes her along a dark stretch of road, and
John seems intent on having his way with her. Carol's spitfire demeanor wavers and
she insists that much of her toughness was pretend. John explains that if he knew
where she lived, he could take her home, and Carol immediately tells him her
address. Of course, John was hoping that his 'trick' would work, and they head off
for Carol's place.At Burger City, Steve meets up with a waitress named Budda (Jana
Bellan). Budda takes a moment to talk with Steve, who explains about how he and
Laurie broke up. Budda takes this opportunity to tell Steve how she secretly likes
him, and offers to have him come over to her place after her shift is over. As they
talk, both are unaware that Laurie has returned to Burger City as well and is
outside, having stopped at seeing Budda and Steve talking in a booth. Laurie
assumes the worst, and quickly leaves before they see her. Back inside the
restaurant, Steve declines Budda's offer, and watches her get back to work.Outside,
The Pharaohs pull up with Curt, and eagerly applaud what he has done. The Pharaohs
are eager to induct Curt the next evening into their group, but Curt does not tell
them that he'll be gone. Curt then gets into his car, and sees the white T-Bird
pass by. He tries to start up his car, but it won't turn over, and he watches once
again as the mysterious blonde slips from his grasp once more.Laurie is cruising
around the strip when she encounters Bob Falfa. She parks her car and gets in with
him, and they begin to cruise. Falfa attempts to talk with her, but Laurie explains
she does not want to talk.John finally gets Carol to her place, and they have an
awkward goodbye, until John gives her the cover to his gearshift as a memento.
Carol happily takes it and goes to her house, as John drives off, a strange look on
his face.Back at Burger City, Curt has run into Steve, and is shocked when Steve
explains that he is now considering not going to college out East. Curt attempts to
calm Steve, but
also ends up fixing his car, and takes off, leaving Steve unsure of what to do
now.Meanwhile, Terry has had an adverse reaction to the alcohol, and has thrown up
most of it. After Terry recovers, he and Debbie walk a ways off, and find Steve's
Impala parked in a lot! Terry finds the car unlocked and the keys gone. He attempts
to hot-wire the car when the guys who stole it confront him, and attempt to beat
him up. Debbie attempts to stop them, but they are both saved when John rolls by,
comes over and scares away the two men.Back at Burger City, another classmate of
Steve's tells him that Laurie was seen riding around with Bob Falfa. Just as Terry
and Debbie pull up outside Burger City with his car, Steve rushes out and shoos
Terry and Debbie out of his car, and drives off. Debbie is shocked that Steve just
took Terry's car, and Terry tells her the truth about how the car wasn't really
his, and how he just has a Vespa Scooter for transportation. Even so, Debbie smiles
and tells Terry that she had a good time, and as she takes leave, tells him that
she'll probably see him around.Curt meanwhile, has made his way to a radio station
on the outskirts of town. Rumor is that Wolfman Jack, whose voice has played across
the airwaves all evening, is located here. As Curt enters the station, he
encounters a bearded man sitting in the control booth. Curt hands the man a piece
of paper featuring a dedication and a request to the girl in the white T-Bird. The
man explains that he can have the dedication sent into the Wolfman's main station
and broadcast the next day. But Curt explains that he needs the request put out
tonight, as he is unsure if he is going to be leaving town or not.The man in the
control booth then explains to Curt that he really should not sell himself short,
and to go out and experience life. Curt takes the words to heart, and is excited
when the man tells him if he can, he'll try to get the message relayed right away.
As Curt is about to exit the studio, he hears a familiar voice. He turns, and sees
the man in the control booth speaking into his microphone, in the voice of Wolfman
Jack. Curt smiles at having met one of his heroes, and exits the building.John is
still at Burger City when Falfa comes up in his Chevy. John tells Falfa to meet him
out at Paradise Road for their race. Terry pleads to go along, and John
concedes.The word spreads throughout the strip, and soon reaches Steve's ears, who
heads out there when word comes that Laurie is riding with Falfa.Meanwhile, Curt
has returned to Burger City, and over to a nearby phone booth. On his car radio, he
hears Wolfman Jack relay his dedication to the blonde in the T-Bird, and smiles as
Wolfman calls Curt a good friend. Wolfman dedicates the next song to the blonde,
and gives her the number of the phone booth at Burger City, encouraging the girl to
call Curt.Meanwhile, John, Falfa, and a number of other kids have rolled out to
Paradise Road. Once out there, John finally realizes that Laurie is riding with
Falfa, and asks what she is doing in there. Laurie gives a nonchalant \"Mind your
own business, John\" and stays in Falfa's car, but Terry gets out to shine his
flashlight for the race. As the vehicles take off, the race stays tight, until
Falfa loses control of his car, skids off the road, rolls, and crashes, whilst John
continues straight down the road.Steve arrives just in time to see the aftermath,
and rushes to the wreck, to see Falfa emerge and Laurie beating and hitting him.
Steve pulls her off Falfa just as John pulls Falfa away from the car, just as it
bursts into flames.In a moment of desperation, Laurie cries and pleads for Steve
not to leave, to which Steve embraces and tells Laurie that he is not going to
leave her.Terry explains to John how impressed he was with how John beat Falfa, but
John confides to Terry that just before Falfa's car swerved off the road, he was
beating him. Terry explains that John was just nervous, and that he'll never be
beaten. John just backs up Terry's hero worship, and to calm him down, says that
they'll take on all comers, as Terry yawns, muttering, \"Jesus, what a
night.\"Meanwhile, back at Burger City, the phone rings, and Curt answers it,
ecstatic to be talking to the girl of his dreams. He inquires about her name, but
she does not give it. When Curt asks to meet her, she explains that she'll be
cruising the strip again that night, but Curt wants to meet her now. She then says
goodbye as Curt struggles to speak more, and the line goes dead.Several hours
later, Curt goes to the airport to get on the plane to head East, with his friends
and family saying goodbye. Steve does not accompany him, and Curt boards the plane,
taking off to a new adventure. As he glances out the window of the plane, he sees a
white Thunderbird traveling along a stretch of road.As the plane banks off, the
audience is treated to images of John, Terry, Steve, and Curt, along with where
they ended up in life:-John Milner was killed by a drunk driver in December 1964.-
Terry Fields was reported missing in action near An Loc in December 1965.-Steve
Bolander is an insurance agent in Modesto, California.-Curt Henderson is a writer
living in Canada.\n", "\nLate one morning in the Hawthorne Grill, a restaurant on
Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, a young couple, Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) and
Pumpkin (Tim Roth), discuss the pros and cons of robbing banks versus liquor
stores. Then they add restaurants to the equation, realizing they can make more by
taking customers' wallets than they get out of the till. The two kiss, declare they
love each other and stand up in their booth, announcing that they're robbing the
diner.Earlier in the day, Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega
(John Travolta) arrive at a San Fernando Valley apartment building. They are hit
men in the employ of Marsellus Wallace and have come to retrieve a valuable
belonging of Wallace's from a group of would-be crooks led by a young and naive guy
named Brett (Frank Whaley). They take back the valuable item -- kept in a
briefcase, it glows warmly and transfixes whoever looks at it. Jules recites what
he claims is a Bible verse, Ezekiel 25:17, before he and Vincent execute
Brett.Story #1: Vincent Vega And Marsellus Wallace's WifeAt his strip club,
Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) pays boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) to throw
his next fight. Jules and Vincent arrive; though it's only a few hours after their
visit to the Valley, the two hit men are sporting gym clothes in place of the suits
they wore earlier in the day. While Jules heads to the men's room, Vincent goes to
the bar and encounters Butch. The men take an instant disliking to each other.
Vincent insults Butch but before Butch can retaliate, Marsellus calls Vincent over
and embraces him. Marsellus is leaving town that evening and Vincent is to take
Marsellus' wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), out for dinner to keep her entertained. Rumors
abound that Marsellus gravely wounded another associate, Antoine, who he believed
had been improperly friendly with Mia, so Vincent is nervous. Before picking Mia
up, he visits his drug dealer, Lance (Eric Stoltz), and buys some high-quality
heroin. Properly sedated, he escorts the cocaine-addicted, chain-smoking Mia to
Jack Rabbit Slim's, a West Hollywood 1950s-themed restaurant. After some small talk
about European travel, Mia's failed acting career, foot massage, and the rumors
about Antoine (which Mia dispels), Mia enters herself and Vincent in a dance
contest. They dance The Twist and win a trophy. After dinner, they return to the
Wallace's home. Vincent goes to the bathroom to talk himself out of making a pass
at Mia. Meanwhile, she discovers the baggie of heroin in his coat pocket and,
assuming it's cocaine, snorts some. She immediately passes out and begins to foam
at the mouth. Panicked, Vincent takes the dying Mia to Lance's where they argue
about what to do with her. Following Lance's advice, Vincent is able to revive her
with a shot of adrenaline administered straight to the heart. Vincent takes Mia
home. They agree not to tell Marsellus what happened since both of them would get
in trouble for it.Story #2: The Gold WatchThe following night, before his fight,
Butch dreams of an incident from his childhood: Back at his Tennessee home in 1973,
Captain Koons (Christopher Walken) visited Butch to bring him a gold watch. The
watch had belonged to Butch's great-grandfather, who took it to World War I with
him. Butch's grandfather had taken it to World War II, and Butch's father to
Vietnam. Butch's father died as a POW, but gave the watch to Koons to return to
Butch. Koons says that he and Butch's father had to hide the watch in their rectums
to keep it away from their captors. Butch reaches up with his hand and takes the
watch from Koons.Butch wakes from the dream. Instead of throwing the match
(offscreen), he fights so viciously that he kills his opponent. He took Marsellus'
money and bet it on himself; his winnings will amount to a small fortune. Butch
makes small talk with Esmarelda (Angela Jones), the driver of the cab he is in, who
reveals that she knows he's the boxer who killed his opponent; she seems fascinated
with the topic of death. Esmarelda drives Butch to the seedy motel where he and his
French girlfriend, Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros), are staying, having abandoned
their apartment. In the morning they will travel to Butch's hometown of Knoxville,
Tennessee, claim their winnings, and leave the country. While packing the next
morning, however, Fabienne reveals that she forgot the gold watch, the belonging
Butch cherishes above all others. After a savage outburst in which he wrecks the
motel room's television, Butch takes Fabienne's car to get the watch, parking a few
blocks away and walking through a vacant lot to his apartment building as a
precaution. He enters
without incident and finds his wristwatch in the bedroom. He realizes he's not
alone in the apartment when he notices a sub-machine gun in the kitchen. Catching
Vincent off guard as he emerges from the bathroom, Butch kills him with the gun he
found. He leaves his apartment after wiping the gun down with a tissue to remove
his fingerprints.Leaving the apartment with his watch, Butch encounters Marsellus
crossing the street. He tries to run Marsellus over with his car but only wounds
him and is hit by another car himself. Both are injured and Marsellus chases Butch
into a pawn shop. There, the owner, Maynard (Duane Whitaker), overpowers them.
Marsellus and Butch wake up in the basement of the pawn shop, bound and gagged.
Maynard has called his cousin Zed (Peter Greene), who works as a security guard.
Maynard and Zed are apparently a pair of redneck serial killers who kill passersby
who happen into their store. While the Gimp (Stephen Hibbert), a huge man-child
dressed head to toe in black leather fetish gear, watches Butch, Maynard and Zed
take Marsellus into the next room and begin to rape him. Butch manages to break the
ropes and chair holding him and knocks out the Gimp. Ready to leave the pawn shop
and Marsellus to his fate, Butch has an attack of conscience and procures a samurai
sword and rescues Marsellus; in the process, Maynard is killed and Zed emasculated
by a shotgun blast fired by Marsellus. Marsellus stays behind to oversee the
torture-execution of Zed (\"I'ma get medieval on your ass,\" he tells him), but
promises that as long as Butch never mentions what happened and never returns to
Los Angeles, Marsellus will forget that Butch betrayed him in the boxing ring.
Butch agrees. In the final scene, Butch and Fabienne leave town on Grace, Zed's
chopper-style motorcycle.Story #3: The Bonnie SituationThree days earlier, flashing
back in time to just after Vincent and Jules finish killing Brett for stealing
Marsellus' prized possession, a gang member (Alexis Arquette) they had not known
about bursts out of the bathroom where he had apparently been when Jules and
Vincent entered and empties a large pistol point blank at them. However, all of the
bullets miss Vincent and Jules, hitting the wall behind them, so they return fire
and kill the gang member. Jules is certain what occurred was divine intervention,
but Vincent dismisses the idea. They leave with Marvin (Phil LaMarr), Marsellus'
inside man in the gang. In the car, Jules continues his insistence that what
happened in the apartment was a miracle and that he's retiring from Marsellus'
gang. Vincent leans over the front seat, asking Marvin if he believes in miracles,
but accidentally shoots him in the head and kills him. The inside of the car is now
covered in blood and brain matter. Jules, furious at Vincent's klutziness, drives
to the house of his only friend in the Valley, a former colleague named Jimmie
(Quentin Tarantino). Jimmie lets them hide the car in his garage but angrily tells
them that they have to get rid of the body within an hour -- before his wife Bonnie
comes home from her night shift at a hospital. Jules calls Marsellus at his home to
explain their predicament. Marsellus then calls Winston Wolf (Harvey Keitel), a
suave and professional \"cleaner\" who solves problems. Wolf arrives at Jimmie's
house and tells Vincent and Jules how to clean up the car and themselves -- they
have to strip out of their business suits, be sprayed down with a garden hose and
wear Jimmie's spare T-shirts and shorts (which explains their attire at the strip
club) -- then helps them dispose of the car and body at a junkyard belonging to a
discreet friend named Monster Joe, whose daughter is Mr. Wolf's girlfriend.With the
whole situation resolved, Jules and Vincent decide to have breakfast at the
Hawthorne Grill, where they continue their discussion about miracles. Jules reveals
his plan to leave his criminal life and travel the globe as a mendicant, helping
those suffering under tyranny. Vincent, upset that his friend and partner is
leaving the life, mocks him, then goes to the bathroom. Just then Honey Bunny and
Pumpkin (from the prologue) begin their robbery of the diner. They furiously
collect the cash from the register and the patrons' wallets. Jules gives Pumpkin
his wallet, but when Pumpkin tries to take Marsellus' briefcase, Jules pulls his
gun and disarms Pumpkin. While Vincent holds Honey Bunny at bay, Jules explains to
Pumpkin how, even earlier that morning, he would have killed Pumpkin and Honey
Bunny without a second thought. He recites his ersatz version of Ezekiel 25:17
again: \"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of
the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity
and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly
his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon
thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy
my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon
you.\"Jules explains that while he previously thought it was cool to make such a
cold-blooded passage the last thing his victims heard, he now realizes that
the \"tyranny of evil men\" part of the passage refers to him, and he intends to
become a better person. He and Vincent allow Honey Bunny and Pumpkin to leave with
all the money but not the briefcase. They leave the diner themselves and head to
Marsellus' strip club.\n", "\nAurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter
Emma (Debra Winger) are both searching for deep romantic love. The film opens with
Emma's early childhood, Aurora reveals how difficult and caring she can be by
nearly climbing into Emma's crib in order to make sure her daughter is
breathingonly to be reassured when Emma starts crying (after being woken up). After
the death of Aurora's husband and Emma's father, Rudyard, Aurora and Emma develop
an extremely close love-hate mother/daughter relationship as Emma grows up.Skipping
forward several years, Emma gets married immediately upon graduating from high
school in the Houston area, to Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels), of whom Aurora so
disapproves that she refuses to attend the wedding. Emma's best friend Patsy Clark
(Lisa Hart Caroll) continues on to college, eventually becoming successful and rich
in New York City.Over the next few years, Emma has two children with Flap, a
college professor who relocates the family to a university in Des Moines, Iowa,
separating the family hundreds of miles from Emma's meddlesome mother. Emma later
telephones to ask her mother for money when she is pregnant with her third child.
Aurora, not knowing by the telephone call that Emma is already several months into
her pregnancy, wants Emma to get an abortion. Emma's once-passionate marriage to
Flap becomes strained, thanks mostly to his philandering. Emma eventually has a
secret romantic affair of her own with a married small-town older banker, Sam Burns
(John Lithgow).Meanwhile back in Houston, Aurora remains celibate but cultivates
the attention of several gentlemen in the area, some rather bizarre. However, she
is attracted to her next-door neighbor of 15 years, the womanizing, alcoholic
retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson). Aurora and Garrett eventually
go on a lunch date, make love, and develop a tenuous relationship.Emma returns to
her mother's home in Houston after discovering her husband is having an affair with
a young grad student named Janice (Kate Charleston). Emma's appearance along with
her three young children makes Garrett uncomfortable, as he has been single for a
long time. Flap telephones and she reluctantly returns home to Iowa, trying to
reconcile with him. Unwilling to become a one-woman man, Garrett breaks up with
Aurora, making her feel \"humiliated.\"Emma ends her relationship with Sam as soon
as Flap accepts a new teaching position in Kearney, Nebraska. Although she does not
want to, Emma agrees to relocate to further Flap's career. She soon discovers that
Janice is attending the same college where Flap now works, realizing that Flap
followed her to Nebraska. Emma angrily confronts Janice before taking daughter
Melanie to the doctor's office so both can get flu shots. While administering the
injection, Emma's doctor notices two large lumps under Emma's armpit. Although Emma
is only in her 30s, the doctor orders a biopsy and discovers she has cancer.To
cheer her up, Patsy invites Emma to New York City for her first vacation without
her children. However, after arriving, Emma feels out-of-place among Patsy's
friends and returns home early to begin chemotherapy treatment for her illness. Her
doctor soon breaks the news that the drugs she was taking did not have the desired
effect, and that Emma will not survive her illness. Flap and Aurora remain by her
bedside in the hospital for weeks. Although devastated and exhausted, Aurora is
still very supportive and loving towards Emma. Garrett flies to Lincoln, Nebraska,
where he surprises Aurora, who confesses her love for him. He issues his stock
reply: \"I love you, too, kid.\"In a discussion in the hospital cafeteria, Aurora
tells Flap bluntly that he does not have the energy managing a job, chasing women,
and raising children. Patsy, who has no children of her own, wants to adopt
Melanie, but Flap and Emma do not want their kids to be separated. Emma also
doesn't want Janice to raise her children, so Flap, feeling like a failure as both
a father and a husband, agrees that having them live with Aurora is best.As Emma's
time begins to run short, eldest child Tommy shows open resentment toward his
mother due to circumstances such as social class, fights between his parents, and
Tommy's perception of feeling unloved. Emma reassures her two sons, and, after an
altercation
with Aurora (she slaps him in the hospital parking lot for criticizing his
mother), Tommy weeps in his grandmother's arms. Emma dies later that
night.Following the funeral, Emma's friends and family gather in Aurora's backyard
for a memorial service. Garrett shows affection toward each of Emma's children and
helps Tommy cope during the wake. The film closes on Aurora, sitting next to
Melanie.\n", "\nThough Will Hunting (Matt Damon) has genius-level intelligence
(such as a talent for memorizing facts and an intuitive ability to prove
sophisticated mathematical theorems), he works as a janitor at MIT and lives alone
in a sparsely furnished apartment in an impoverished South Boston neighborhood. An
abused foster child, he subconsciously blames himself for his unhappy upbringing
and turns this self-loathing into a form of self-sabotage in both his professional
and emotional lives. Hence, he is unable to maintain either a steady job or a
steady romantic relationship.The first week of classes, Will solves a difficult
graduate-level math problem that Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd),
a Fields Medalist and combinatorialist, left on a chalkboard as a challenge to his
students, hoping someone might solve it by the semester's end. Everyone wonders who
solved it, and Lambeau puts another problem on the board -- one that took him and
his colleagues two years to prove. Will is discovered in the act of solving it, and
Lambeau initially believes that Will is vandalizing the board and chases him away
as Will insults him. When Will turns out to have solved it correctly, Lambeau tries
to track Will down.One night after work, Will and his best friend Chuckie and a
couple of their other friends go to a bar near Harvard University. At the bar,
Chuckie spots a beautiful woman, Skylar (Minnie Driver) and he hits on her,
claiming to be a Harvard student himself. One of Skylar's fellow co-eds, Clark
(Scott William Winters), tries to humiliate Chuckie, challenging his knowledge of
American colonial history. Will steps to Chuckie's defense, matching Clark step-
for-step with historical facts he'd memorized. A potential fight is eventually
defused and Will finds that Skylar is attracted to him, getting her phone number.A
few days later Will attacks a youth who had bullied him years before in
kindergarten, and he now faces imprisonment after hitting a police officer who was
responding to the fight -- a tough judge refuses to be tricked by Will's sharp
knowledge of law precedent, which includes citing a case from the 1700s. Realizing
Will might have the potential to be a great mathematician, such as the genius \
u00c9variste Galois, Lambeau intervenes on his behalf, offering him a choice:
either Will can go to jail, or he can be released into Lambeau's personal
supervision, where he must study mathematics and see a psychotherapist to help him
with his anger and defensive personality. Will chooses the latter even though he
seems to believe that he does not need therapy.Five psychologists fail to connect
with Will. Out of sheer desperation, Lambeau finally calls on Sean Maguire (Robin
Williams), an estranged old friend and MIT classmate of his. Sean differs from his
five predecessors in that he is also from South Boston and pushes back at Will and
is eventually able to get through to him and his hostile, sarcastic defense
mechanisms. At one point, Will analyzes a watercolor painting that Sean had done
himself and concludes that it reflects Sean's suppressed feelings and guilt over
the premature death of his wife. Sean becomes offended and hostile and grabs Will
by the throat, threatening to sink his chances for reform, at which point Will ends
the appointment and walks out; Lambeau walks in believing that Will has ruined his
chances with yet another therapist. However, Sean sees Will as a challenge and
tells Lambeau to bring him back each week.In a later session, Will is particularly
struck when Sean tells him how he gave up his ticket to see the Red Sox in the 1975
World Series (missing Carlton \"Pudge\" Fisk's famous home run in the Sox
infamous \"Game 6\") in order to meet and spend time with a stranger in a bar, who
would later become his wife. Will is spurred to try to establish a relationship
with Skylar (Minnie Driver), a young woman he met at a bar near Harvard.This
doctor-patient relationship, however, is far from one-sided. Will challenges Sean
in the same way that Sean is encouraging Will to take a good, hard, objective look
at himself and his life. Sean's own pathology is that he is unable and unwilling to
even consider another romantic relationship in the aftermath of his beloved wife's
premature death from cancer several years before, possibly the primary reason why
Sean agrees to take Will on as a client.Meanwhile, Lambeau pushes Will so hard to
excel that Will eventually refuses to go to the job interviews that Lambeau has
arranged for him for positions that might prove challenging, even to his immense
talents. Lambeau and Sean also squabble about Will's future; Sean believes that
Lambeau is pushing Will to fast and also points out that Will's friends are the
most dedicated and loyal people he associates with. Will's accidental witnessing of
this furious quarrel somehow acts as a catalyst for his decision to enter a deeper
level of trust and sharing with Sean. He has apparently realized from this event
that the situation is a little more complex than Will vs. The World. He now sees
that these mentors are every bit as human, fallible, and conflicted as he is.Skylar
asks Will to move to California with her, where she will begin medical school at
Stanford. Will panics at the thought. Skylar then expresses support about his past,
which is received as patronizing and triggers a tantrum in which Will storms out of
the dorm while in a state of undress. He shrugs off the work he's doing for Lambeau
as \"a joke,\" even though Lambeau is incapable of solving some of the theorems and
admittedly envies Will. Lambeau begs Will not to throw it all away, but Will walks
out on him anyway. At a later job interview, Will gives the interviewer a long
explanation about why he doesn't want to be a government code-breaker. At another
interview, Will sends Chuckie in his place. Chuckie mocks the panel of
representatives, even persuading them to give him all the cash they have before
mildly threatening them with a call from his attorney.Sean points out that Will is
so adept at anticipating future failure in his personal and romantic relationships,
that he either allows them to fizzle out or deliberately bails in order to avoid
the risk of future emotional pain. When Will then provides a whimsical reply to
Sean's very serious query of what he wants to do with his life, Sean simply shows
him the door. When Will further tells his best friend Chuckie (Ben Affleck) that he
wants to be a laborer for the rest of his life, Chuckie becomes brutally honest
with Will: He believes it's an \"insult\" for Will to waste his potential as a
laborer, and that his recurring wish is to knock on Will's door in the morning when
he picks him up for work and find that he just isn't there, that he has left
without saying goodbye. Chuckie's honesty hits home with Will more than anyone
else's, even a trained professional like Sean.Will goes to another therapy session,
where Sean shares that he was also a victim of child abuse. At first, Will is
defensive and resentful at Sean's repeated reassurances that it was not Will's
fault that he was so horribly abused and abandoned. Will eventually breaks down in
tearful acknowledgment. Finally, after much self-reflection, Will decides to cease
being a victim of his own inner demons and to take charge of his life. When his
buddies present him with a rebuilt Chevy Nova for his 21st birthday, he decides to
go to California and reunite with Skylar, setting aside his lucrative corporate and
government job offers.Will leaves a brief note for Sean explaining what he's doing,
using one of Sean's own quips, \"I had to go see about a girl.\" Sean also leaves
to travel the world, though not before reconciling with Lambeau. The movie ends as
Chuckie poignantly discovers, in fulfillment of his own long-standing wish, that
Will has left for a better life. Will is then shown starting his life-affirming
drive to California for a new beginning with Skylar and a leap into an
unpredictable future.\n", "\nAn English spinster, Rose (Katharine Hepburn), is the
sister of a missionary, Rev. Samuel Sayer (Robert Morley). The two Christian
missionaries are in a remote African village with grass huts and a little wooden
church, which is located somewhere deep in a German African colony during WWI near
the Ulanga River. The German war machine appears to brutally start burning the
little straw hut village, killing the native women and children while kidnapping
the African men, and just as quickly the German terror vanishes. When the smoke
clears from the burning village, all is in ruin. The meek and fragile Rev. Samuel
Sayer is so distraught by what he has just witnessed he kills himself. Rose is left
all alone to fend for herself;she is lost in despair. There is no safety here, and
the German threat is all around. There is no way out except to travel south down
the dangerous and unforgiving Ulanga River. The river leads to Lake Victoria and
possible freedom. Except for the last danger, which is the Louisa - a German
gunship that patrols the Tanganyika shore of the lake up to the southern mouth of
the river. The Ulanga is filled with dangers like animals that can eat you, rocks
and white water rapids that can smash and sink a boat. It has only been
successfully navigated once by a map maker named Spangler a hundred years ago and
no one since has repeated the feat.Rose is straggling about the burnt village in
shock and despair from her brother's suicide
when a Mr. Charlie Allnut (Humphrey Bogart) shows up out of nowhere to save her.
This scruffy old gin-swigging rummy is a boat captain who is unshaven and crusty.
Mr. Allnut is there to deliver mail and supplies to the village. Mr. Allnut travels
up and down the northern part of the Ulanga on a rusty old 12-foot boat called the
African Queen. The boat barely runs, powered by a small antique steam engine on its
last legs kept together and encouraged to run with a few well placed kicks and
bangs from a hammer by Mr. Allnut. Mr. Allnut buries Rev. Sayer and takes Rose to
the African Queen for safety before the Germans come back. While on the African
Queen Rose attempts to convince Mr. Allnut they should go south down the Ulanga and
sink the Louisa. Mr. Allnut thinks the spinster is a crazy old maid and tells her
so. And Rose thinks Mr. Allnut is washed-up rummy good for nothing coward unfit to
be a captain. As impossible as it may seem Mr. Allnut decides to follow her
suggestion because its the only way to avoid the Germans, and probably the only way
to shut Rose up and stop her from nagging on and on about her crazy plan to fight
the German navy.During the first few days aboard the African Queen navigating the
Ulanga they annoy each other to the point of being disgusted. Rose reads her bible
while Mr. Allnut drinks rum from a generous supply he has on board until he passes
out every day. Rose decides to dump all of Mr. Allnuts bottles of gin into the
river one morning while Mr. Allnut is still passed out. When Mr. Allnut awakes, he
is emotionally destroyed by the thought of no more booze. How could you, Miss? Mr.
Allnut asks over and over as the African Queen smokes and tugs along the Ulanga.
Rose decides to stop talking to Mr. Allnut and gives him the silent treatment until
he gives in to her plan to sink the Louisa. Mr. Allnut continues to talk to Rose
even though Rose refuses to acknowledge his existence on the little boat. Mr.
Allnut pretends he doesn't care even though the silence is slowing killing him. It
is apparent they cannot stand each others company. Finally Mr. Allnut can't take
the silence anymore and agrees to Rose's impossible plan to sink the Louisa using
home made torpedoes made by Mr. Allnut. Mr Allnut says he can make them from the
supplies on the boat - explosives and two gas canisters used for welding.As the two
strangers sail down Ulanga River like great map makers before them and determined
to sink the Louisa, Rose is impressed by Mr. Allnut's abilities and admires his
seamanship when they hit big white water and how he skillfully navigates past the
dangerous rocks. They ride into some really rough white water that causes Rose to
feel aroused by the thrill of the ride. Not understanding the experience she
compares it to a thrilling sermon delivered by her brother when the holy ghost
consumed him. The spiritual excitement overcomes her as she describes her
excitement to Mr. Allnut. Rose and Mr. Allnut survive a second and more dangerous
set of white water rapids, along with extra dangers from African guerrillas
shooting at them from the banks of the river hoping to kill them and capture the
African Queen. When they realize they have survived certain death again they start
hugging and kissing. After they kiss, they realize they are in love. It's implied
they are lovers that afternoon after much flirting and a quick nap. However, their
troubles are not over as the African Queen breaks down and they work as a team to
fix it. Mr. Allnut shaves, baths and listens to Rose read the good book. They make
tea and find they adore each others company. They call each other dear and tell
each other sweet nothings.Nevertheless there is still more danger ahead. The river
disappears, the water is shallow, and Mr. Allnut is forced to get into the mucky
river and pull the African Queen by hand to higher water. Blood sucking leeches,
mosquitoes, and dangerous animals torment the couple's efforts. The African Queen
comes to a complete stop, stuck dead in mucky swamp water and high weeds covering
any sight of land or water ways. They are lost in the weeds and can't see anything.
They are disheartened and beaten and accept their doomed fate as they hold each
other in exhaustion waiting to die. Passed out on the African Queen they lie there
defeated. When it begins to rain and the river rises, the African Queen becomes
unstuck and floats down the river only a few hundred feet from high water and the
mouth of the Ulanga River. The Ulanga River is pouring into Lake Victoria and they
see the Louisa gunship for the first time as it makes a routine patrol..The two
lovers are now alive again! With new hope and determination they are convinced they
can now sink the Louisa. They wait in the banks of the Ulanga out of sight of the
Louisa until it comes back on its routine patrol. They have fixed and fastened two
homemade torpedoes to the insides of the African Queen. By cutting circle holes
above the water line they can stick the tips of the torpedoes through the holes
which act as battering rams that will compress on collision and ignite the
explosives to explode the gas canisters when they crash into the Louisa at full
speed ahead. Rose and Mr. Allnut lovingly argue about who will stay ashore while
the other steers the boat into the Louisa. The hero will jump just before the
collision and explosion that will sink the Louisa on impact. They both decide they
would not want to live without the other so they will do it together. Rose and Mr.
Allnut wait until the Louisa comes back on its patrol routine that evening and
begin to plan to ram the Louisa. Building steam as the weather starts to change and
the waves grow higher. The Louisa is not expecting the African Queen to even be
there let alone capable of exploding and sinking the Louisa. As they steam towards
the Louisa the lake begins to become rough, a rain storm squalls, and the seas
begin filling the boat with water. A rogue wave turns the African Queen upside over
tossing Rose and Mr. Allnut into the lake. The two are separated by another huge
wave and disappear. Have they drowned? Alas, the Louisa is not sunk and the African
Queen appears to be gone with the two star-crossed lovers.The sun appears after the
storm and we see Mr. Allnut is alive. He was rescued and captured by the Germans.
Mr. Allnut is now standing on the Louisa's deck in the captain's office. He is
being interrogated by the Louisa's captain (Peter Bull). The captain is determined
to have Mr. Allnut answer his questions. The German captain always ends each
question with the threat of death and hanging to Mr. Allnut, who is depressed and
despondent. Mr. Allnut answers each question and threat of death with a hopeless
sigh of, who cares! Because Mr. Allnut believes his Rose has drowned. Mr. Allnut is
relieved by the thought of hanging rather than live without his Rose. Suddenly he
hears Rose's voice coming from a life boat that has rescued her. Mr. Allnut,
thrilled that Rose is alive, decides to deny he knows her in hopes of saving her
from his fated hanging by the Germans. But the very English Rose not only argues
with the captain but brags how she and Charlie and the African Queen sailed down
the Ulanga, and how Charlie made homemade torpedoes, and how they came within feet
of sinking the Louisa by themselves and would have, but the storm saved the Louisa
from their doom when the weather caused the African Queen to sink and a wave tossed
them into the water. The Louisa's captain thinking them both crazy decides to hang
them both. On the deck of the Louisa, Rose and Charlie stand holding hands deeply
in love, happy about dying together. Standing there with the hangman's rope around
their necks Charlie asks the Louisa's captain to marry them as his last request
before hanging. Charlie says he really doesn't care about getting married but it
would mean a lot to the Mrs. A teary-eyed Rose is thrilled by the suggestion. The
Louisa's captain thinks they are both mad but reluctantly agrees to marry them. The
two are so happy to be married that they don't care they are going to be hung. Just
as he pronounces them man and wife the Louisa explodes. The sunken African Queen
has been hit by the Louisa. Rose and Charlie find themselves swimming and the
Louisa is gone. They did it. A wood plank with the name African Queen floats by and
the two grab it as they swim to apparent safety. Swimming away, the two sing
merrily, \"There was an old fisherman...\"\n", "\n\nIt looks like we don't have a
Synopsis for this title yet. Be the first to contribute! Just click the \"Edit
page\" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Synopsis submission
guide.\n\n", "\n\nIt looks like we don't have a Synopsis for this title yet. Be the
first to contribute! Just click the \"Edit page\" button at the bottom of the page
or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide.\n\n", "\nDuring a battle in the
last months of World War I, the protagonist, an unnamed soldier (known only in the
credits as A Jewish Barber), is fighting for the Central Powers in the army of the
fictional nation of Tomainia, comically blundering through the trenches in combat
scenes. Upon hearing a fatigued pilot pleading for help, the Barber attempts to
rescue the exhausted officer, Commander Schultz. The two board Schultz's nearby
airplane and fly off, barely escaping enemy ground fire. Schultz reveals that he is
carrying important dispatches that could win the war. However, the plane loses fuel
and crashes in a marsh. They both survive, but the Barber suffers from memory loss.
As medics arrive, Commander Schultz gives them the dispatches, but is told that the
war has just ended and Tomainia lost.Years later, as the Barber is released from
the hospital, Adenoid Hynkel (also played by Chaplin), the ruthless dictator of
Tomainia, has undertaken to persecute
Jews throughout his country, aided by Secretary of the Interior and Minister of
Propaganda Garbitsch and Minister of War Herring. The symbol of Hynkel's fascist
regime is the \"double cross\", and at times, when he's excited or angry, Hynkel
speaks in a macaronic parody of the German language. During his first speech, his
Tomainian is \"translated\" by an overly concise English-speaking news voice-
over.The Barber, unaware of Hynkel's rise to power, returns to his barbershop in
the Jewish ghetto. When he opposes the painting of the word \"Jew\" on his barber
shop by storm troopers, he flees from them, aided in part by his neighbor, Hannah,
who knocks some of them unconscious with a frying pan. The Barber is nearly lynched
by a gang of storm troopers, but Schultz, now a high-ranking officer in Hynkel's
regime, intervenes. Though surprised to see the man who saved his life at the end
of the war is not an Aryan, as he previously imagined, he returns the favor by
ordering the storm troopers to take no action against him or Hannah, even when she
throws an object at a storm trooper's head.Hynkel relaxes his stance on Tomainian
Jewry in an attempt to woo a Jewish financier into giving him a loan to support his
regime. Egged on by Garbitsch, Hynkel has become obsessed with the idea of being
Dictator of the World, dancing at one point with a large, inflatable globe, to the
tune of the Prelude to Act I of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin.Hynkel plans to invade
the neighboring country of Osterlich (Austria), and needs the loan to finance the
invasion. When the Jewish financier refuses due to the persecution of the Jews,
Hynkel reinstates and intensifies his persecution of the Jews contrary to
Garbitsch's advice. When Schultz, who is empathetic to the Jews, voices his
objection to the pogrom, Hynkel denounces Schultz as a supporter of democracy and a
traitor, and orders him placed in a concentration camp. The Barber evades storm
troopers who have heard of the arrest by hiding on his neighbor Mr. Jaeckel's roof
with Hannah, however his shop is burnt down. Schultz flees to the ghetto and begins
planning to overthrow the Hynkel regime with Hannah, the Barber and other residents
there. Schultz proposes a suicide mission to blow up the palace, the agent will be
chosen by a coin in a pudding. However Hannah causes this to be abandoned by
placing coins in all the puddings. Later the Ghetto is searched for Schultz. He and
the Barber, hiding on the roof, are captured and condemned to the camp.Hynkel is
initially opposed by Benzino Napaloni, dictator of Bacteria, in his plans to invade
Osterlich, and even plans to declare war. However just after he signs a declaration
of war he receives a call from Napaloni. He invites him and his wife to his palace
and a seeing of a military show to impress him with a display of military might and
psychological warfare, but this ends in disaster. After some friction, a comedic
food fight between the two leaders, and a deal between the two leaders on which
Hynkel immediately reneges, his invasion proceeds. Hannah and others from the
Ghetto had emigrated to Osterlich to escape Hynkel, but once again they find
themselves living under Hynkel's regime.Schultz and the Barber escape from the camp
wearing Tomainian uniforms. Border guards mistake the Barber for Hynkel, to whom he
is nearly identical in appearance. Conversely, Hynkel, on a duck-hunting trip,
falls overboard and is mistaken for the Barber and arrested by his own soldiers.
The Barber, now forced by circumstance to assume Hynkel's identity, is taken to the
capital of Osterlich to make a victory speech. Garbitsch, in introducing \"Hynkel\"
to the throngs, decries free speech and argues for the subjugation of the Jews. The
barber then makes a rousing speech, reversing Hynkel's antisemitic policies and
declaring that Tomainia and Osterlich will now be a free nation and a democracy. He
calls for humanity in general to break free from dictatorships and use science and
progress to make the world better instead.Hannah, now an impoverished laborer in a
vineyard in Osterlich, hears the barber's speech on the radio, and is amazed when
the Barber addresses her directly: \"Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are,
look up, Hannah. The clouds are lifting. The sun is breaking through. We are coming
out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world, a kindlier
world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed and brutality. Look up,
Hannah. The soul of man has been given wings, and at last he is beginning to fly.
He is flying into the rainbow into the light of hope, into the future, the glorious
future that belongs to you, to me, and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up!\" As
she rises, Mr. Jaeckel asks Hannah, \"Hannah, did you hear that?\" The girl
silences him with a gesture, saying, \"Listen,\" and turns her face, radiant with
joy and hope, toward the sunlight\n", "\nWalter Neff (MacMurray) is a successful
insurance salesman for Pacific All-Risk returning to his office building in
downtown Los Angeles late one night. Neff, clearly in pain, sits down at his desk
and tells the whole story into a Dictaphone for his colleague Barton Keyes
(Robinson), a claims adjuster.It is the story of how he meets the sultry Phyllis
Dietrichson (Stanwyck) during a routine house call to renew an automobile insurance
policy for her husband. A flirtation develops, at least until Neff hears Phyllis
wonder how she could take out a policy on her husband's life without him knowing
it. Neff knows she means murder and wants no part of it.Phyllis pursues Neff to his
own home, and persuades him that the two of them, together, should kill her
husband. Neff knows all the tricks of his trade and comes up with a plan in which
Phyllis's husband will die an unlikely death, in this case being thrown from a
train. Pacific All-Risk will therefore be required, by the \"double indemnity\"
clause in the insurance policy, to pay the widow twice the normal amount.Keyes, a
tenacious investigator, does not suspect foul play at first, but eventually
concludes that the Dietrichson woman and an unknown accomplice must be behind the
husband's death. He has no reason to be suspicious of Neff, someone he has worked
with for quite some time and admires.Neff is not only worried about Keyes. The
victim's daughter, Lola (Jean Heather), comes to him convinced that her stepmother,
Phyllis is behind her father's death because her mother also died under suspicious
circumstances when she was her nurse. Neff begins to care about what might happen
to Lola, both of whose parents have been murdered. It is for this reason Phyllis
wants her killed because she had suspected her of murdering her parents in the
first place.Then he learns Phyllis is seeing Lola's boyfriend, Nino, behind his
back. Trying to save himself and no longer caring about the money, Neff believes
the only way out is to make the police think Phyllis and Lola's boyfriend did the
murder, which is what Keyes now believes anyway. However, when Neff and Phyllis
meet, she tells him she has been seeing Lola's boyfriend only to provoke him into
killing the suspicious Lola in a jealous rage. Neff, now wholly disgusted, is about
to kill Phyllis when she shoots him first. Neff is badly wounded but still standing
and walks towards her, telling her to shoot again. Phyllis does not shoot and he
takes the gun from her. She says she never loved him or anyone else and had been
using him all along, \"until a minute ago, when I couldn't fire that second shot.\"
Neff coldly says he does not believe this new ploy. Phyllis hugs him tightly but
then pulls away and looks up at him, startled that he has not responded. Neff
says \"Goodbye, baby,\" then shoots and kills her. Before leaving, he convinces
Nino to not go inside because Phyllis was responsibile for trying to break up him
and Lola. Neff convinces him that she still loves him and she's waiting for him to
call her. Nino reluctantly agrees to call Lola and takes his quarter.Neff drives to
his office where he dictates his full confession to Keyes, who arrives and hears
enough of the confession to understand everything. Neff tells Keyes he is going to
Mexico rather than face a death sentence but collapses to the floor before he can
reach the elevator.[edit] Alternate endingWilder shot an alternate ending to the
film (to appease censors), featuring Neff paying for his crime by going to the gas
chamber. This footage is lost, but stills of the scene still
exist.source:Wikipedia\n", "\nPrivate eye Sam Spade and his partner Miles Archer
are approached by Miss Wonderly to follow a man, Floyd Thursby, who allegedly ran
off with her younger sister. The two accept the assignment because the money is
good, but Spade also implies that the woman looks like trouble, though she projects
wholesome innocence.That night, Detective Tom Polhaus informs Spade that Archer has
been shot and killed while tailing Thursby. Even later that night, two officers
visit Spade at his apartment and inquire about Spade's whereabouts in the last few
hours. Spade asks what the visit is really about. The officers say that Thursby was
also killed and that Spade is a suspect, since Thursby likely killed Archer. They
have no evidence against Spade at the moment, but tell him that they will be
conducting an investigation into the matter.The next day, Spade gets a visit from
Archer's wife, with whom he has been having an affair. The widow asks Spade if he
killed Miles so that they could be together. Spade dismisses her and tells her to
leave, and coldly orders his secretary Effie to remove all of Archer's belongings
from the office. He then goes to a new address left in a note from his client,
whose name he learns is Brigid O'Shaughnessy. He also finds out that Brigid never
had a sister, and Thursby was her acquaintance who had betrayed her.Later,
Spade is visited by another man, Joel Cairo, who offers Spade $5000 if the private
eye can retrieve a figurine of a black bird that has recently arrived. While Spade
has no idea what the man is talking about, he plays along. Suddenly, Cairo pulls a
gun on Spade, and declares his intention to search Spade's office. But when he
approaches Spade to search his person, Spade disarms him and knocks him
unconscious. After cataloguing Cairo's belongings and questioning him in return,
Spade returns Cairo's firearm and allows the man to search his office. Following
this, Spade is again contacted by Brigid O'Shaughnessy. She offers her sympathies
for the death of his partner. Spade senses a connection between O'Shaughnessy and
Cairo, and casually mentions that Cairo has contacted him. O'Shaughnessy gets
extremely nervous when she hears this. She tells Spade that she must meet with
Cairo, and asks Spade to arrange a meeting. Spade agrees.When Cairo and Brigid
O'Shaughnessy meet, they make references that the reader and Spade don't initially
comprehend. Cairo says he is ready to pay for the black figurine. Brigid
O'Shaughnessy, however, says she does not have it at the moment. They also refer to
a mysterious figure, \"G\" (\"the fat man\" in the film), whom they seem to be
scared of. The two then continue to talk about some events that happened overseas.
Eventually, O'Shaughnessy insinuates that Cairo is a homosexual, and Cairo
insinuates that O'Shaughnessy simply uses her body to get what she wants, and the
two begin to fight. At this point, the police show up, coincidentally, to talk to
Spade. Spade greets them at the door, but refuses to let them in. The officers say
they know Spade was having an affair with Archer's wife; just as they are about to
leave, they hear Cairo screaming for help. They force their way into Spade's
apartment, and Spade invents a story that involves describing how Cairo and
O'Shaughnessy were just play-acting. The officers seem to accept, if not believe,
Spade's story, but they take Cairo with them down to the station for
some \"grilling\". Spade sends Brigid to stay with Effie, where she will be
safe.The next morning, Spade makes his way to the hotel where Cairo is staying.
Cairo shows up disheveled, saying that he was held in police custody through the
night. Meanwhile, Spade notices that he's being tailed by some kid named Wilmer
Cook. He confronts the gunsel[1], and tells him that both he and his boss, \"G,\"
will have to deal with him at some point. He later receives a call from Casper
Gutman, who wishes to meet with him. Gutman, a huge person weighing over 300 lbs,
says he will pay handsomely for the black bird. Spade implies that he can get the
item (though at this point this is a bluff), but wants to know what it is
first.Gutman tells him that the figurine was a gift from the Island of Malta to the
King of Spain a few hundred years ago, but was lost on ship in transit. It was
covered with fine jewels, but acquired a layer of black enamel at some time, to
conceal its value (estimated to be in the millions). Gutman learned of its
whereabouts seventeen years ago, and has been looking for it ever since. He traced
it to the home of a Russian General, then sent three of his 'agents' (Cairo,
Thursby and Brigid O'Shaughnessy) to get it. The latter supposedly did retrieve the
figurine, but learned of its value and decided to keep it for themselves. Spade
starts to get dizzy at this point (Gutman has drugged him), and when he goes to
leave, Wilmer trips him and knocks him out by kicking his temple.When Spade
awakens, he returns to his office and tells the story of the Maltese Falcon to
Effie. Soon afterwards, an injured man, identified as Captain Jacobi of \"La
Paloma,\" shows up at the office; he drops a package on the floor and then dies of
gunshot wounds. Spade opens the package, and finds the figurine falcon. Sam is
called away from the office. To prevent losing the item, Spade stores the package
at a bus station lost luggage counter and mails himself the collection tag. He
first goes to the dock where \"La Paloma\" was anchored, but learns that a fire had
been started on board. He then proceeds to the place Rhea Gutman said she was when
she phoned earlier. There he finds a drugged-up, seventeen-year old girl, her
stomach all scratched up by a pin in attempts to keep herself awake, who just
manages to give him some information about the whereabouts of Brigid, which turns
out to be a false lead.When he arrives back at his apartment, he finds
O'Shaughnessy in a shadowy doorway. Inside, Wilmer, Cairo, and Gutman are there
waiting. Gutman hands Spade $10,000 in cash in exchange for the bird. Spade takes
the money, but in addition says that they need a \"fall guy\" to take the blame for
the murders of at least Thursby and Jacobi, if not Archer as well. Reluctantly,
both Cairo and Gutman agree to make Wilmer the fall guy. Gutman proceeds to tell
Spade the missing pieces of the story. The night that Thursby was killed, he was
first approached by Wilmer and Gutman. The latter attempted to reason with him, but
Thursby remained loyal to Brigid O'Shaughnessy and refused to cooperate. Later
things escalated, then Wilmer shot Thursby. Also, Brigid O'Shaughnessy had seduced
Captain Jacobi and hid the Falcon with him. Later, Brigid O'Shaughnessy instructed
Jacobi to deliver the package to Spade. Once Gutman learned of this fact, he
attempted to remove Spade from the situation with the spiked drink. Wilmer managed
to shoot the captain, but Jacobi still got to Spade's office to deliver the
figurine. After finishing his story, Gutman warns Spade to be very careful with
Brigid O'Shaughnessy as she is not to be trusted.Spade places a call to his
secretary, Effie, and asks her to go the office and pick up the figurine. Effie
brings it to Spade's apartment, and Spade hands the package to Gutman, who at this
time is overwhelmed with excitement. He checks the figurine, but quickly learns
that it is a fake. He realizes with dismay that the Russian must have discovered
the true value of the falcon and made a copy. During this time, Wilmer manages to
escape from Spade's apartment. Gutman quickly regains composure, and decides to go
back to Europe to continue the search. Before he leaves, Gutman asks Spade for the
$10,000. Spade returns $9000, saying he's keeping the remainder for his time and
expenses. Then Cairo and Gutman leave Spade's apartment.Immediately after Cairo and
Gutman leave, Spade phones the police department and tells them the entire story.
Wilmer killed Jacobi and Thursby. He also tells them what hotel Gutman is staying
at and urges them to hurry, since Gutman and Cairo are leaving town soon.
Afterwards, Spade angrily asks Brigid O'Shaughnessy why she killed Miles Archer. At
first, Brigid O'Shaughnessy acts horrified at this accusation, but seeing that she
cannot lie anymore, she drops the act. She wanted to get Thursby out of the picture
so that she could have the Falcon for herself, so she hired Archer to scare him
off. When Thursby didn't leave, she killed Archer and attempted to pin the crime on
Thursby. When Thursby was later killed himself, she knew that Gutman was in town
and that she needed another protector, so she came back to Spade.However, she says
that she's also in love with Spade and would have come back to him anyhow. Spade
coldly replies that the penalty for murder is most likely twenty years, and he'll
wait for her until she gets out. If they hang her, Spade says that he'll always
remember her. He goes on to say that while he despised Miles Archer, the man was
his partner, and that he's going to turn her in to the police for his murder as
that was a line he could not cross in the industry of detective work. Brigid
O'Shaughnessy begs him not to, but he replies that he has no choice. When the
police get Gutman, Gutman will finger Sam and Brigid as accomplices. Thus the only
way Spade can avoid getting charged is to say he played both sides against each
other. He tells Brigid O'Shaughnessy that he has some feelings for her, but that he
simply can't trust her. Just before the police arrive, Brigid O'Shaughnessy asks
Spade if the Falcon had been real, and he'd gotten the entire $10,000, would it
have made a difference. Spade replies that, while she shouldn't be so sure that
he's crooked, more money would have been one more item on \"her side.\"When the
police finally show up at Spade's apartment, Spade immediately turns over Brigid
O'Shaughnessy as Archer's killer. They tell Spade they arrested Gutman, Wilmer, and
Cairo. Spade also hands over the $1000 bill, guns and the falcon to the police as
evidence.\n", "\n\nIt looks like we don't have a Synopsis for this title yet. Be
the first to contribute! Just click the \"Edit page\" button at the bottom of the
page or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide.\n\n", "\nTravis Bickle (Robert
De Niro) goes to a New York City taxi depot where he applies for a job as a driver
to the tough-talking personnel officer (Joe Spinell). Travis claims that he is an
honorably discharged Marine (it is implied that he is a Vietnam Veteran). After
making an impression on the personnel officer, Travis gets the job for the night
shift due to his chronic insomnia.Via his narrative journal, Travis is soon
revealed to be a lonely and depressed young man of 26 years. His origins and
hometown are unknown. He sends his parents letters as well as birthday and
Christmas cards, lying about his life and saying he works with the Secret Service.
Travis spends his restless days alone in his rundown apartment somewhere in
Manhattan, or in seedy porn theaters on and off 42nd Street. At one porn theater he
tries to make an advance on the concession lady to no avail. He works 12 or 14 hour
shifts during the evening and night time hours carrying passengers among all five
boroughs of
New York City. Sometimes during his breaks, he goes to a local all-night diner to
have something to eat or just a few cups of coffee where fellow taxi drivers also
hang out during their late-night lunch breaks. One of whom is a self-appointed
philosophical type named Wizard (Peter Boyle). Wizard talks about the degradation
of the night time in the city. Travis barely interacts with the other taxi drivers,
mainly speaking awkwardly and shyly when he's spoken to.During taxi driving, Travis
spies and becomes infatuated with a woman named Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a campaign
volunteer for New York Senator Charles Palantine, who is running for the
presidential nomination and is promising dramatic social change. Travis spies Betsy
joking with a co-worker named Tom (Albert Brooks). Travis works up the nerve to ask
her out and Betsy is initially intrigued by Travis. She agrees to a date with him
after he flirts with her over coffee and sympathizes with her own apparent
loneliness. She compares him to a character in the Kris Kristofferson song \"The
Pilgrim.\"Travis is further revolted by what he considers the moral decay around
him. One night while on shift, Iris (Jodie Foster), a 12-year-old child prostitute,
gets in his cab, attempting to escape her pimp. Shocked by the occurrence Travis
fails to drive off quickly enough and her pimp, \"Sport\" (Harvey Keitel), reaches
the cab. Sport forcibly grabs Iris away with him and gives Travis a crumpled twenty
dollar bill as a bribe not to say anything, which haunts Travis with the memory of
his failure to help the girl.During one of his shifts, Travis picks up Senator
Palantine himself (Leonard Harris) and an aide. He tells the senator he plans to
vote for him and the senator, acting like a real politician, tells Travis he learns
more from cab drivers than limo drivers. The senator asks Travis \"what's the one
thing that bugs you the most?\" and Travis responds that he would like the next
president to \"clean the scum off New York City.\"On their date, however due to his
lack of social skills, Travis takes Betsy to a porno theater to view a hardcore
Swedish \"sex education\" film (titled: Language of Love). Offended, she leaves him
and takes a taxi home alone. The next day he tries to reconcile with Betsy, phoning
her and sending her flowers, but all of his attempts are in vain and she refuses to
speak with him. Going back into the campaign office, Travis confronts Betsy and
shouts that she will \"burn in hell like the rest of them\".Rejected and depressed,
Travis later picks up a man (director Martin Scorsese) who appears to be as
mentally unbalanced as he is. The man tells Travis to park outside an apartment
building while letting the meter run. He tells Travis to look at the woman in the
window and tells him that's his wife in her boyfriend's apartment. He tells Travis
he plans to kill them both with a .44 Magnum.One evening at the diner, Travis
approaches and tries to express his despair to Wizard, but when Wizard makes a
half-hearted response to Travis' problems with the teen prostitute and others,
Travis angrily responds with: \"that's just about the stupidest thing I ever
heard\".Travis's thoughts turn more violent. Disgusted by the petty street crime
(especially prostitution) that he witnesses while driving through the city, he now
finds a focus for his frustration and buys a number of pistols from an illegal
drug/weapons dealer (Steven Prince).Travis develops an ominously intense interest
in Senator Palantine's public appearances and it seems that he somehow blames the
presidential hopeful for his own failure at wooing Betsy and maybe hopes to include
her boss in his growing list of targets. Back at his apartment with his newly
purchased guns, he begins a program of intense physical training and practices a
menacing speech in the mirror, while pulling out a pistol that he attached to a
home-made sliding action holster on his right arm (\"You talkin' to me?\"). Later,
he hangs around a Palantine rally and asks a suspicious secret service man about
joining the service before disappearing into the crowd.In an accidental warm-up,
Travis randomly walks into a robbery in a run-down grocery store and shoots the
would-be thief (Nat Grant) in the face; adding to the bizarre violence, the
sympathetic grocery owner (Victor Argo) encourages Travis (who has no permit for
his guns) to flee the scene and then proceeds to club the near-dead stickup man to
death with a steel pole.Later, seeing Iris on the street, he follows her. Another
day later, Travis asks to pay for her time, and is sent to Sport. A tense
conversation ensues but Sport sends Travis up to Iris's room. Once in her room,
Travis does not have sex with her and instead tries to convince her to leave this
way of life behind.The next day, Travis and Iris meet for breakfast at a local
coffee shop and Travis becomes obsessed with saving this na\u00efve child-woman who
thinks hanging out with hookers, pimps and drug dealers is more \"hip\" than dating
young boys and going to school. Iris considers Travis's offer but then Sport
seduces and convinces her to stay, while (seemingly) Travis spies into the window
from his cab. Travis writes a note to Iris including all his money and stating that
he doesn't intend to survive.Any lingering doubt in the viewer's mind about Travis
Bickle's sanity is obliterated when he is suddenly and shockingly shown to be
sporting a crude Mohawk haircut at a public rally. He creeps through the crowd and
prepares to assassinate Senator Palantine but is spotted by Secret Service men and
flees.Travis returns to his apartment to collect all his guns, then drives
to \"Alphabet City\" (an area of New York's Lower East side consisting of Avenues A
through E). He walks up to Sport and confronts him. When Sport flicks a lit
cigarette at him, Travis says \"suck on this\" and shoots Sport in the belly.
Storming into the brothel, Travis blows the bouncer's hand off. Sport, who has
followed Travis, grazes Travis neck with a bullet (causing an arterial gush from
his neck) but Travis unloads one of his guns into Sport, killing him. Travis again
shoots the screaming bouncer who follows him up the stairs, slapping him. Iris'
mafioso customer shoots Travis in the arm and Travis shoots his face off. The
bouncer tackles Travis but Travis stabs him through the hand and finally kills the
bouncer with a bullet to the brain. He then calmly tries repeatedly to fire a
bullet into his own head under his chin but all the weapons are empty so he resigns
himself to resting on a convenient sofa until police arrive. When they do, the
blood-soaked Travis mimes shooting himself in the head and then blissfully thinks
of the mayhem and carnage in his wake.A brief epilogue shows Travis recuperating
from the incident. He has received a handwritten letter from Iris' parents who
thank him for saving their daughter, and the media (in newspaper clipping) hails
him as a hero for saving her as well. Travis blithely returns to his job and
suddenly seems on more friendly terms with the other cabbies. One night one of his
fares happens to be Betsy. She comments about his saving of Iris and Travis' own
media fame, yet Travis denies being any sort of hero. He drops her off without
charging her. As he is driving off, he gets a strange look on his face and adjusts
his cab's rear view mirror, giving the impression that his irrationality is about
to break through again.\n", "\nL.B. \"Jeff\" Jeffries (James Stewart) recuperates
from a broken leg during a sweltering New York summer. As a successful
photographer, he's known for taking difficult pictures no one else can get,
including the one of an out-of-control race car which smashed his camera and broke
his leg an instant after it was snapped. Jeffries lives in a small apartment, and
spends his time in a wheelchair looking out the rear window into the courtyard of
the building; he can also see into the lives of all his neighbors, catching
glimpses of their daily routines. It's the sort of thing only an invalid might do,
watching them eat, clean, sleep and argue. There's the girl who exercises in her
underwear, the married couple who sleep on their small balcony to beat the heat,
the struggling songwriter working at his piano; and there's the salesman who lives
across the courtyard from Jeffries, the one with the nagging bedridden wife. They
seem to fight all too often.Every day a therapist comes to visit Jeff, dispensing
her mature wisdom and berating him for sitting there all day spying on his
neighbors. Stella (Thelma Ritter) tells him she can smell trouble coming. He should
get his mind off his neighbors and think about marrying that beautiful girlfriend
of his. Jeff replies that he's not ready for marriage. Sure, she's a wonderful
girl, but she's also a rich, successful socialite, and Jeff lives the life of a war
correspondent, always on the go, usually living out his suitcase and often in an
unpleasant environment. It's not the life he wants to offer her. \"Well\" says
Stella, \"that girl is packed with love for you right down to her
fingertips.\"\"That Girl\" arrives shortly after Stella leaves. Lisa Carol Fremont
(Grace Kelly) breezes in wearing a stunning satin dress, looking every inch the
beautiful socialite she is, and obviously very much in love with Jeff. They have
dinner, but soon enough the conversation turns to the future, and they quarrel.
Jeff sees no way they can reconcile their different lifestyles, and she walks to
the door, telling him goodbye. \"When will I see you again?\" asks Jeffries.\"Not
for a long time,\" she replies sadly. \"At least, not until tomorrow night.\"The
night drags by, and it's too hot for Jeffries to sleep. It starts to rain. He dozes
in his wheelchair by the window, but notices activity across the yard. The salesman
goes out carrying his heavy silver sample
case, and Jeffries looks at his watch: it's 2:00am. The blinds in the bedroom are
drawn, so Jeffries can't see the wife. Later, the salesman returns, lifting the
case easily, as if it were empty. Twice more he goes out in the rain in the middle
of the night, lugging the heavy case, but coming home with it lighter. Intrigued,
Jeffries wonders what the salesman is doing, but he finally dozes off around
daybreak.Discussing the incident with Stella, and then later with Lisa, they all
begin to watch the salesman. With the blinds now open, they can see that the wife
is gone. Jeffries pulls out his binoculars, and then a large telephoto lens to get
a better look. They watch as he goes into the kitchen and cleans a large knife and
saw. Later, he ties a large packing crate with heavy rope, and has moving men come
and haul the crate away. Stella runs around the front of the building to catch the
name of the moving company, but misses the truck. By now they're all thinking the
same thing; there's foul play going on, and the missing wife has been murdered by
the salesman. They check his name on the front of the building: Lars Thorwald
(Raymond Burr).Jeffries calls in an old Army buddy - Thomas J. Doyle (Wendell
Corey) who's now a detective, and explains the situation to him. Naturally he
doesn't believe a word of it, and tells Jeffries to stick to photography. After
further checking, the detective finds that Mrs. Thorwald is in the country, has
sent a postcard to her husband, and the packing crate they had seen was full of her
clothes. Chastened, they all admit to being a little ghoulish, even disappointed
when they find out there wasn't a murder after all. Jeffries and Lisa settle down
for an evening alone, but soon a scream pierces the courtyard. One of the neighbors
had a little dog they would let roam around the yard, and now it's dead with it's
neck is broken. It had been digging in Thorwald's small flower garden. All of the
neighbors rush to their windows to see what's happened, except for one. Jeffries
notices that Thorwald sits unmoving in his dark apartment, with only the tip of his
cigarette glowing.Shortly after the dog is found dead, Jeff notices a change in
Thorwald's small flower garden in the courtyard: using a slide he'd taken about two
weeks before he discovers that the zinnia that the dog had been digging around is
now a few inches shorter. Jeff suspects that Thorwald had buried something there &
had dug it up after murdering the dog. Convinced that Thorwald is guilty after all,
they slip a letter under his door asking \"What have you done with her?\" and then
watch his reaction. Lisa delivers the note and slips away before Thorwald can find
her. When she returns to the apartment, excited, Jeff has a look of excitement on
his face as well, realizing that Lisa is a courageous woman who likely could
accompany him in his adventurous life.Calling Thorwald's apartment, Jeffries tells
Thorwald to meet him at a bar down the street, as a pretext to getting him out of
the apartment. When Thorwald leaves, Lisa and Stella grab a shovel and start
digging, but after a few minutes, they find nothing.Refusing to give up, Lisa
climbs the fire escape to Thorwald's apartment and squeezes in an open window, much
to Jeffries' alarm. Rummaging around the apartment, Lisa finds Mrs. Thorwald's
purse and wedding ring, things she surely would never have left behind on a trip.
She holds them up for Jeffries to see, but he can only watch in terror as Thorwald
comes back up the stairs to the apartment. Lisa is trapped.Calling the police as
Thorwald goes in, he and Stella watch helplessly as Lisa tries to hide, but is
found by Thorwald moments later. They see her try to talk her way out, but Thorwald
grabs and begins to assault her. Terrified by their helplessness, they can only
watch as he turns out the lights and listen as Lisa screams for help. The police
arrive and beat on Thorwald's door, saving Lisa just in time.Jeffries watches from
across the courtyard as the police question Lisa, then arrest her. Her back is to
him, and he see her hands behind her back pointing to Mrs. Thorwald's ring, which
is now on her finger. Thorwald sees this as well, and realizing that she's
signaling to someone across the way, looks up directly at Jeffries with murderous
understanding.Pulling back into the dark, Jeffries calls his detective friend, who
agrees to help get Lisa out of jail, and is now convinced that Thorwald is guilty
of something. Stella takes all the cash they have for bail and heads for the police
station. Jeffries is left alone, and looking back over to Thorwald's apartment, he
sees all the lights are off. Down below, he hears the door to his own building slam
shut, then slow footsteps begin climbing the stairs. Thorwald is coming for him,
and he's trapped in his wheelchair.Looking for a weapon, he can find only the flash
for his camera. He grabs a box of flashbulbs, and under his door he watches the
hall lights go off. Footsteps stop outside his door, then it slowly opens. Thorwald
stands in the dark looking at Jeffries. \"Who are you?\" he says heavily. \"What do
you want from me?\" Jeffries doesn't answer, but as Thorwald comes for him he sets
off the flash, blinding Thorwald for a few seconds.He is slowed but not stopped,
and Jeffries keeps setting off flashbulbs in Thorwald's face, but he finally
fumbles his way to Jeffries' wheelchair, then grabs him and pushes him towards the
open window. Fighting to stay alive, Jeffries cannot stop Thorwald, and is pushed
out. Hanging onto the ledge, yelling for help, he sees Lisa, the detective and the
police all rush in. Thorwald is pulled back, but it's too late; Jeffries slips and
falls just as the police run up beneath him. Luckily, they break his fall, and Lisa
sweeps him up in her arms. Thorwald confesses to the murder of his wife, and the
police take him away.A few days later the heat has lifted. The camera pans across
the other apartments, and there is an amusing end-tale for each one. Jeffries
sleeps peacefully in his wheelchair, now with two broken legs from the fall. Lisa
reclines happily next to him, now wearing blue jeans and a simple blouse, and
reading a camping book. She smiles at him as he sleeps, but pulls out a hidden
fashion magazine from under the cushion.\n\n", "\nSights of Vienna, Austria, flash
across the screen as an Englishman's voice (Carol Reed) describes the racketeer
trade in the post-World War II era. He describes that many amateurs have tried to
get involved in this career, but he implies that they always end up dead.
Meanwhile, the city is quartered into sectors policed by occupying forces -- the
English, the Russians, the Americans and the French -- though they barely can
handle the criminal element and don't even speak the same language. The city is
devastated (\"bombed about a bit,\" says the narrator), covered in jagged rubble.
He begins to tell the story of an American coming to Vienna named Holly Martins,
who has come to accept a job from an old friend.Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) gets
off his train and is surprised that his friend, Harry Lime, isn't at the station to
meet him. Holly goes to Lime's flat, but the building porter (Paul H\u00f6rbiger),
through extremely broken English, tells him that he just missed Lime's friends
leaving with a coffin. The porter says that Harry was killed, hit by a truck right
in front of the building.Martins goes to a massive graveyard and finds a funeral
service. An Englishman (Trevor Howard) hovering nearby informs Holly it is Harry's
funeral. Standing by the grave are two middle-aged men, both of whom eye Holly
suspiciously. Also in attendance is a pretty woman (Alida Valli) who doesn't notice
him. After the funeral, Martins begins to walk back into town, and the Englishman
offers him a ride.The stranger introduces himself as Major Calloway, a police
officer in the British sector of Vienna, and offers to buy him a drink. Holly
agrees and proceeds to drink while reminiscing about Harry. It is revealed that
Holly is an author of pulp Western novellas. As he talks about his old friend,
Calloway says that it's better that Lime is dead, since he was a murderer and a
racketeer. Holly takes umbrage at Calloway's suggestion and reaches to punch him,
but he's quickly socked in the face by fellow English soldier Sergeant Paine
(Bernard Lee). Paine apologizes and escorts the tipsy Martins to the nearby hotel,
explaining to Holly earnestly that he is a huge fan of his books. Calloway sets
Martins up at the hotel for the night, telling him he can catch a plane out of
Vienna the next day. Holly promises he will prove him wrong about Lime.Happening by
on the way out of the hotel is another Englishman named Crabbin (Wilfrid Hyde-
White). Paine tells Crabbin that Holly is an author, and though Crabbin has never
heard of him, he is excited to have a writer in Vienna. Crabbin introduces himself
to Holly and explains he represents the British cultural propaganda department in
Vienna. He invites Holly to stay and give lecture in a few days at the department's
meeting. Figuring he could use the extra time in town as an opportunity to look
into Harry's death, Holly accepts the offer.Holly is then called on the hotel phone
by a man who identifies himself as Baron Kurtz. The man says he is a friend of
Harry's. Martins and Kurtz set up a meeting at a nearby cafe. When they meet, Holly
recognizes Kurtz (Ernst Deutsch) as one of the two men at Harry's funeral. Kurtz is
carrying one of Holly's books, which he says Harry had given to him, and a small
dog.Holly proceeds to grill Kurtz about the circumstances of Harry's death. Kurtz
and Martins go out to the street in front of Harry's apartment building to
reconstruct the events of the accident. Kurtz's version is this: he was walking out
of Harry's flat with him when Harry saw a Romanian friend of
his, Popescu, across the street. Harry then began to cross the street to greet
Popescu when a truck drove up and ran Harry over. Then Kurtz and Popescu carried
Harry to the sidewalk. Shortly thereafter, Harry's doctor, Dr. Winkel, happened by.
The doctor was too late to save Harry, however. Holly asks Kurtz to help him
investigate further, but Kurtz says as he is an Austrian, he must be careful with
the police. Martins tells him the police think Harry was a racketeer. Kurtz points
out most everyone in Vienna is mixed up in some sort of racket, but mostly nothing
serious--tires, stamps, etc.Kurtz describes how after Harry was hit, he instructed
him to see after Holly when he arrived. Holly points out the porter, who is near
them outside the apartment sweeping, told him that Harry died instantaneously.
Kurtz looks the porter over and says that Harry died before the ambulance arrived,
but that he was still alive immediately after he was run over. Holly tells Kurtz he
wants to speak to Popescu, but he says Popescu has left Vienna. At Holly's
insistence, Kurtz tells him the identity of the pretty woman at the funeral. He
does not remember her name, but he tells Holly she was a companion of Harry's who
works as an actress at a local theater. Kurtz tells Holly he lives in the Russian
sector but works at the Casanova Club, and if he has any need for advice to contact
him there. Holly then tries to question the porter again. However, the porter's
wife, overhearing the conversation, looks frightened and calls for her husband to
come inside.That evening, Holly goes to theater where the woman, named Anna
Schmidt, is performing. He introduces himself as a friend of Harry Lime's, and she
tells him to come back after the show. When he meets her afterwards, Martins finds
out that Anna, so depressed over Harry's death that she declares she wishes she too
were dead, had been dating Harry for some time and that Harry had allegedly asked
Kurtz that Anna be taken care of as well just before he died. Martins thinks it
funny that Harry had time to think of both him and Anna right after the accident,
even though he supposedly died instantly, or at least very quickly. Anna also
reveals that the man driving the truck was Harry's own driver. Holly tells Anna
that he has a feeling that there's something suspicous about Harry's death -- that
seemingly everyone he knew was at the scene -- and he convinces her to help him
speak to the porter again.Anna and Holly go to talk with the porter in Harry's
apartment. Anna pokes around the flat, seemingly reminiscing, and half-heartedly
translates the German for Martins. The porter tells them that Harry's neck was
broken in such a way that he had to have died immediately; therefore, there was no
way he could have asked Kurtz that Anna and Martins be taken care of. He also says
that three men carried Harry to the sidewalk, not two (Kurtz & Popescu), as Kurtz
had claimed. Holly asks the porter why he did not reveal this information at the
inquest, and the porter responds he didn't want to be mixed up in the situation and
that he wasn't the only witness who did not give a complete testimony. As Holly
tries to convince the porter take his story to the police, the conversation becomes
heated. The porter, who becomes fearful, insists in German that Holly leave and
never come back. An elfin boy spies them arguing just before Holly and Anna
leave.Holly walks Anna back to her place and they are met by Anna's landlady
(Hedwig Bleibtreu), who frantically tells her that the police are inspecting her
apartment. Holly and Anna go upstairs to find Major Calloway and Sergeant Paine
supervising as her apartment is torn apart. Calloway asks for her passport, which
he and Paine inspect and then suspect is fake. The Major tells her he must keep it.
Holly tells Calloway that he suspects Harry may have been murdered, but he says he
doesn't care how Harry died as long he's dead. He suggests Holly should go back to
the airport and go home. As they continue to go through her things, including love
letters to her from Harry, Anna explains quietly to Holly about her passport, which
she reveals Harry forged for her. She explains that she is Czechoslovakian and that
the Russians would claim her and have her deported if it was found out that she was
not Austrian. Calloway takes Anna back with the other officers to the police
station, and on her way out, Holly asks her to remind him of Harry's doctor's name
so he can go talk with him.Holly goes to ask Dr. Winkel (Erich Ponto) about Harry's
death. The doctor was the man standing by Kurtz at the funeral. In his home, Holly
sees the same small dog that Kurtz was carrying earlier. The doctor tersely adheres
to Kurtz's take on the events, and he confirms that he arrived after Harry was
already dead. Holly asks if it's possible that Harry was pushed in front of the
truck, if he knows if Harry could have died instantaneously or not, and if there
was a third man who helped carry Harry's body to the sidewalk. Dr. Winkel tells
Holly he can give no additional opinion as to the circumstances of the accident,
since he did not witness the event and the injuries would have been the same no
matter how it happened. He also says there was no third man on the scene by the
time he arrived.At the international police station, Anna sees a Russian officer
flipping through her papers as she waits. Calloway comes in and questions her about
Harry. He shows her a picture of man named Joseph Harbin and asks if she knows who
he is. Anna says she's never seen him before. He explains that Harbin is a worker
in a military hospital, but she insists she does not know him. He accuses her of
lying, which he says is stupid because he could help her with her passport. He
explains that in one of her confiscated letters, Harry had written her to instruct
her to place a call to the Casanova Club for someone named Joseph. Anna barely
remembers that the message for Joseph was something about meeting Harry at his
home. Calloway tells her that the day she telephoned that message to Joseph Harbin,
he disappeared. Anna insists Calloway has Harry all wrong, and he sends her away,
though he keeps her passport and belongings.Anna then goes with Holly, who was
waiting outside the station for her, to the Casanova Club. Crabbin is inside just
leaving, and he reminds Holly of the lecture he is to give the next night. Holly
and Anna sit at the bar and see Kurtz playing violin for a dining couple. Kurtz
looks dismayed to see Holly again and, when questioned, insists that only he and
Popescu carried Harry and that the porter must have been mistaken. Kurtz says that
Popescu happens to be at the club that night, despite his earlier claim that
Popescu was out of town. Holly meets Popescu (Siegfried Breuer), whose account of
Harry's death mirrors Kurtz's account in all aspects. Holly again asks if a third
man helped him and Kurtz carry Harry's body, but Popescu denies this, asking where
Holly heard such a thing. He tells him the porter at Harry's building had heard the
accident and witnessed the aftermath. This is evidently news to Popescu, who was
unaware that the porter was a witness since he had not given testimony at the
inquest.Popescu is then seen arranging and attending a mysterious meeting on a
bridge with Kurtz, Dr. Winkel, and an unseen fourth man.The following morning,
while Holly wanders thoughtfully in front of Harry's former home, the porter leans
out the window and apologizes to Holly for his previous demeanor, arranging to meet
with him later to tell him something important. When the porter closes the window
and turns around, he reacts with surprise and terror to an unseen person who has
presumably snuck up behind him.Holly goes to visit Anna to tell her the porter
wants to talk to him again. She is especially depressed about Harry, and she begs
Holly to tell her stories about him. They talk about Harry, painting him as a
mischievous boy who never grew up. She insists they go see the porter together,
accidentally calling him Harry, which lightly miffs Holly.As they walk up to the
front of the porter's building, they see a crowd gathered near the door. Anna
immediately wants to leave, assuming it to be trouble. Holly, however, walks over
to the crowd, where he is told the porter has been murdered. The little boy who had
seen Holly and the porter arguing begins insisting something about Holly loudly in
German. Slowly, the assembled crowd turns to stare at Holly. Anna explains that the
crowd thinks he is the murderer. He grabs Anna and they run away. The crowd pursues
them, with the little boy in the lead. Holly and Anna duck into a movie theater,
losing the mob. Holly tells Anna to go back home where she'll be safe.Holly
eventually makes his way back to his hotel, where he asks the desk clerk for a taxi
driver. The clerk indicates that an imposing-looking man standing there is a driver
already waiting for him. With Holly in the back seat, the driver speeds off
recklessly without Holly saying where he wants to go. Holly, very frightened, asks
him if he is taking him to be killed. The driver does not answer and finally stops
in front of a doorway. Holly, sure that he's about to be murdered, starts to run,
but the door opens. Crabbin greets him, and Holly realizes it is time for the
speaking engagement that he'd agreed to.Holly struggles with the intellectual
questions posed to him. The audience begins to dissipate, while Crabbin agonizes
over the misstep of hiring Holly. Unexpectedly, Popescu arrives, and he asks Holly
if he's working on a book. Holly says that he's writing a book called \"The Third
Man\" and that it's based on fact. Popescu suggests that Holly stick to fiction,
but Holly insists he will finish this \"book.\" As the meeting is closed, two
thuggish-looking men arrive and get whispered orders from Popescu. Holly
takes off up the spiral staircase at the back of the building and the two thugs
pursue him. Holly ducks into in unlocked room, where he is bitten by an unexpected
parrot. He makes his way out of a window and finds refuge from the thugs in a car
hidden among the wartime rubble.Once safe, Holly goes to the international police
station to tell Calloway about his findings. Calloway, though now convinced that
Harry Lime was murdered, is still indifferent and explains that it's better that
Harry is dead. Holly insists he is wrong, so the Major offers to show Holly why he
believes Harry is guilty of racketeering and murder. Calloway then presents a
myriad of evidence, proving that Harry obtained penicillin illegally, diluted it,
and sold it to war-ravaged, poor hospitals, resulting in the painful deaths of many
people. (Watered-down penicillin is not only ineffective, but it also makes the
patient immune to future doses of penicillin, thus rendering medical treatment
incredibly difficult or impossible.) Many of his victims were children with
meningitis; the lucky ones, the Major says, died, and the unlucky ones lived and
went insane. He shows Holly a slide of the hospital worker Joseph Harbin, who he
explains helped steal the penicillin for Harry. The police forced Harbin to give
them information about Harry's operation, but he has recently gone missing. Holly,
now convinced of Harry's guilt, is devastated by the news about his old friend and
agrees to go back to America.After Holly goes out to a bar and gets drunk, he buys
flowers and takes them to Anna in her apartment. He drunkenly calls to Anna's cat,
who is indifferent to him, and Anna explains the only person the cat ever liked was
Harry. The cat slips out the window. Anna lets Holly know that Calloway also told
her about Harry's misdeeds, and though she now believes in his guilt as well, it
doesn't change her feelings for Harry.We then see a man outside Anna's window on
the street. He ducks into a dark doorway. Anna's cat, who has run out of the
apartment, curls up at his feet.In the apartment, Anna says Harry is better off
dead, but not because he was punished for doing wrong, as Calloway believes. Holly
agrees he's better off dead, and he no longer cares who killed him or why. He
believes there was justice in Harry's death, and he says maybe he would have even
killed Harry himself. He also tells Anna that he's fallen in love with her, but she
makes it apparent that the feeling isn't mutual, as she thinks only of
Harry.Disappointed and still drunk, Holly stumbles outside to return to his hotel,
but he sees the obscured man standing in the dark doorway, the cat still at his
feet. Holly shouts at him to stop spying and to show himself, but he does not move.
Holly's noise causes a woman upstairs to turn on her light and open her window to
yell at him to be quiet. The light from the woman's apartment shines down into the
street, revealing the man in the doorway to be Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Harry
smiles at a shocked Holly, but slips away when the woman turns off her light.
Seeing Harry's shadow running off down a nearby street, Holly takes pursuit. He
follows the sound of footsteps down a passageway that opens into a plaza, but once
Holly reaches the end of the passageway, Harry is already gone.Holly brings
Calloway and Paine out the area to re-enact the events, but they are unconvinced.
However, suddenly a light bulb goes off for Calloway as he eyes a booth in the
plaza. Opening the door on the booth, Calloway shows Holly that it is an
entranceway to the Vienna sewers, with steps leading downwards. They follow the
stairs into the sewers, where they see an endless range of tunnels for Harry to use
as escape routes.That night, Calloway leads a team to excavate Harry's grave. When
they open the coffin, the body inside is revealed to be that of Joseph Harbin.The
international police come to Anna's apartment for her as she lies in bed crying in
Harry's old pajamas. Anna surely assumes this is because of her forged papers. As
she is led into the station, Holly sees her and yells at her that he's seen Harry
alive. Calloway is standing in the hallway as the police lead her through the
station, and he instructs them to bring her into his office. He interrogates her
alone, asking when she saw Lime last. He explains in his coffin was Joseph Harbin's
body. She looks thrilled as she realizes this does mean that Harry is alive, and
she asks where he is. Calloway thinks she might know, but it is clear she was not
aware he has been alive either. He says they know Harry is hiding in the Russian
sector (which is where Kurtz lives, as he told Holly), and that if she helps them
catch Lime, Calloway will help her with the Russians, who are about to interrogate
her about her passport. She cannot help him, though, and he tells her they will
catch him eventually, as Vienna is a closed city. She says that she wishes that he
was dead, as he would be safe from \"all of you.\"The next morning, Holly goes to
visit Baron Kurtz's apartment in the Russian sector. Kurtz looks over his balcony
and invites Holly up, but Holly refuses, as he shouts back that he wants to speak
only with Harry. Dr. Winkel comes out on the balcony also, and he and Kurtz
exchange concerned looks. Though they admit nothing about Harry, Holly insists that
he come meet him at the nearby fairgrounds.As Holly waits next to the Ferris wheel,
he spots Harry walking up to warmly greet him, acting as if nothing has changed.
They go for a ride on the Ferris wheel. Harry shows no remorse for his penicillin
racket, asking Holly about the people far below them if Holly would really care if
one of \"those little dots\" stopped moving forever, especially if he were paid for
each dot. When Holly reveals that he told the police about seeing Harry, Harry is
very unhappy that Holly has been talking to the cops. Harry, staring at Holly,
clearly considers shooting him and throwing him out of the Ferris wheel to his
death. Holly takes him seriously enough to wrap his arm tightly around the car door
should Harry try anything. However, when Holly also says that they've dug up his
grave and found Harbin, Harry changes his mind and jokes that neither one of them
would ever think of doing something to the other. Harry also reveals that he was
the one who informed the Russian police about Anna's forged passport as payment for
them letting him hide out in the Russian sector. As they finish the ride, Harry
offers to cut Holly in on his schemes, but without waiting for an answer, Harry
leaves quickly, telling him that they can meet again any time he wants, but no
police.Holly goes to meet with Calloway and tells him he knows where Harry is
staying. The Major tries to convince him to help them trap Harry by arranging to
meet him at a cafe in the international zone. However, though Holly knows his
friend has done wrong, he is unwilling to be the one to doom him. Just then, the
Russian officer comes in with Anna's passport, explaining to Calloway that she must
be deported. The Major mentions to him that the Russians were supposed to be
helping the British police with Harry Lime, but the Russian says the two cases are
not related and that they will get to his case eventually. He leaves the room,
Anna's passport sitting on Calloway's desk. Calloway, seemingly resigned to Holly
giving up in Harry's case, talks about how helpful Holly could have been in getting
Lime, but Holly is staring at Anna's papers sitting on the desk. Holly asks what
price would Calloway pay for his help, and he tells him to name it.Paine
accompanies Anna to board the train that will save her from the Russian
authorities. Just as she settles into her car, she spies Holly trying to see her
off inconspicuously. Understanding that her leaving must have been part of a deal
Holly struck with Calloway, she gets off the train and confronts Holly about why
he's there. He admits he has agreed to \"betray\" Harry in turn for her getting
away. Anna makes it evident that she's disgusted with Holly and could never do
anything to hurt Harry. She leaves angrily, ripping up her passport, and allows the
train to depart with her belongings.Now despondent, Holly asks that Calloway and
Paine just take him to the airport, having changed his mind to help them catch
Harry. He shows them Anna's torn up papers. Calloway agrees, but on the way to the
airport, the Major makes an extra stop. It is the children's ward of a hospital,
where Calloway shows Holly the devastating effects of Harry's dilluted penicillin.
Horrified by the sight of painfully dying children, Holly reluctantly agrees again
to entrap Harry.At a cafe Holly waits to meet Harry while Calloway, Paine, and
several other policemen stake out nearby in the shadows. Anna comes into the cafe
to admonish Holly, his location disclosed to her by Baron Kurtz as he was being
arrested. While she talks to him, Harry has snuck in the back of the cafe. Just as
Harry enters behind Anna, she yells at Holly for being a police informant. Harry
reacts, drawing a gun to shoot Holly. Anna is standing in the way and tells Harry
that he must escape or the police will get him. Harry tells Anna to move so he can
kill Holly, but he spots Sergeant Paine entering the front of the cafe and turns to
run.Harry rushes to the nearest sewer entrance and goes down into the tunnels.
Paine, Calloway, Holly, and international policemen pursue Harry through the maze
of sewer passages. Harry, for a time, evades the many men, but he is eventually
cornered. Holly happens upon the panicked Harry and, hiding from the range of
Harry's gun, tells him that he must give up. Sergeant Paine, followed by Calloway,
comes rushing to Holly to warn him to get back, but Harry shoots Paine, and he
falls. Harry tries to run but is shot by Calloway.Harry manages to crawl out of
sight while Calloway
leans over the dying Paine. Holly takes Paine's gun and sets off after Harry, and
Calloway tells him to shoot on sight. In a passageway, badly wounded, Harry strains
to climb up steps to escape through a sewer grate. He manages to make it to the top
of the staircase, where he reaches his fingers up through the grate, feeling the
air above. However, he is too weak to lift the manhole cover, and he drops his head
into his arms. Holly walks up and aims the gun at Harry. Harry weakly lifts his
head and nods slightly at Holly, a silent okay for Holly to mercy-kill him. A shot
rings out in the sewers. Calloway sees the figure of Holly emerging from the
passageway alone.Soon after, Harry again has another funeral in the same cemetery.
Holly, Calloway, and Anna are the only attendees. After the service, Calloway
begins to drive Holly to the airport. Seeing Anna walking behind them down the same
tree-lined trail as the first time he saw her, Holly asks to get out to speak to
her. Holly waits for Anna as she walks down the long road toward him. When she
nears him, though, she does not acknowledge his presence and walks by. Holly
doesn't say anything, but he puts his head down and lights a cigarette.\n", "\
nShortly after moving to Los Angeles with his parents, 17-year-old Jim Stark (James
Dean) enrolls at Dawson High School. In the opening scene, Jim is brought into the
police station for public drunkenness. When his mother, father and grandmother
arrive at the police station to retrieve him, conflicts in Jim's family situation
are introduced as he explains to the arresting officer. His parents are often
fighting. His weak-willed father (Jim Backus) often tries to defend Jim, but Jim's
picky and domineering mother always wins the arguments for his father cannot find
the courage to stand up to his wife. Jim feels betrayed both by this fighting and
his father's lack of moral strength, causing feelings of unrest and displacement.
This shows up later in the film when he repeatedly asks his father, \"What do you
do when you have to be a man?\"The next day, while trying to conform with fellow
students at the school, he becomes involved in a dispute with a local bully named
Buzz Gunderson (Corey Allen). While Jim tries to deal with Buzz, he becomes friends
with a shy 15-year-old boy, John, who is nicknamed Plato (Sal Mineo), who was also
at the police station the night of the opening scene for shooting and killing
puppies. Plato idolizes Jim as a father-figure much to Jim's concern. Plato tells
Jim that his parents divorced several years ago and are never in Los Angeles. His
mother lives away in her hometown and never visits, calls or writes, while his
father (a wealthy business executive) is always traveling and avoids comming home,
leaving only his housekeeper to look after Plato. Plato experiences many of the
same problems as Jim, such as searching for meaning in life and dealing with his
absent and selfish parents who \"don't understand.\"In the school hallway, Jim
meets Judy (Natalie Wood), whom he also recognizes from the police station the
previous night, where she was brought in for being out alone after dark, who
originally acts unimpressed by Jim, saying in a sarcastic tone, \"I bet you're a
real yo-yo.\" She is apparently the property of Buzz. Judy too has an unhappy
homelife when it shows her before going to school when she deals with her
unattenative and sexist father who gives all his attention to Judy's younger
brother as well as ignors both Judy and his wife for he feels that women are ment
only to serve him, and nothing more.That afternoon, Jim goes on a field trip with
his science class to the Griffith Observatory. At the Planetarium, he watches a
dramatic presentation of the violent death of the universe. After the show, he
watches Buzz and his thugs slash a tire of his car for no reason, and then Buzz
challenges him to a knife fight, while the gang taunts Jim as a \"chicken.\" Jim
reluctantly takes part in the fight and wins, subduing Buzz by holding his
switchblade up to his neck before discarding both knifes off a railing. Both Jim
and Buzz get slight injuries during the knife fight. Not to be outdone, Buzz and
his thugs challenge Jim to a \"Chickie Run\" with Buzz and Jim racing stolen cars
towards an abyss. The one who first jumps out of the car loses and is deemed
a \"chicken\" (coward).That evening, the \"game\" is held with Judy and several
students in attendance to watch. But the race ends in tragedy for Buzz when a strap
on the sleeve of his leather jacket becomes looped over a handle on the car door,
preventing him from jumping out before the car goes over the cliff.Jim runs home
and tries to tell his parents what happened, but quickly becomes frustrated by
their failure to understand him and storms out of the house. Jim goes to the police
to find the sergeant who took his statement the previous night to tell him about
the accident involving Buzz's death, but learns that the police officer is not
there. Jim refuses to speak to any policeman and will speak only to the sergeant
and he leaves. But Jim is spotted leaving the station by three of Buzz's friends,
Crunch (Frank Mazzola), Goon (Dennis Hopper), and another one of Buzz's gang
members whom is not named. Mistakenly thinking that Jim told the police about
the \"Chickie Run\", they decide to hunt Jim down to \"silence him\"...
permenently.Jim meets up with Judy and they go to an abandoned mansion to hide out.
Plato finds them there (he was the one who told Jim about the house). There they
act out a \"fantasy family,\" with Jim as father, Judy as mother and Plato as
child. However, Crunch, Goon, and the other boy soon discover them, and terrorize
Plato who finally brandishes his mother's handgun that he took from the house,
shooting Crunch, and at Jim, and a police officer who investigates, in a clearly
unstable state.Plato runs and hides in the Observatory, which is soon besieged by
the police. Jim and Judy follow him inside, and Jim convinces Plato to lend him the
gun, from which he silently removes the ammunition magazine. When Plato steps out
of the observatory, he becomes agitated again at the sight of the police and
charges forward, brandishing his weapon. He is fatally shot by a police officer as
Jim yells to the police, too late, that he had already removed the bullets. Plato
was wearing Jim's jacket at the time, and as a result, Jim's parents (brought to
the scene by police) think at first that Jim was shot. Mr. Stark then runs to
comfort Jim, who is distraught by Plato's death. Mr. Stark promises to be a
stronger father, one that his son can depend on. Thus reconciled, Jim introduces
Judy to his parents and they drive off together as dawn starts to break.\n", "\nAt
the end of an ordinary work day, advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary
Grant) hurries from a Madison Avenue office building to a business meeting at the
Oak Room bar of the Plaza Hotel. After asking his secretary to phone his mother, he
realizes that she won't be able to reach her by telephone, so he will need to send
a telegram instead. When a hotel pageboy passes by calling for a Mr. George Kaplan,
Thornhill flags him down, to inquire about sending a telegram. Unfortunately, this
also draws the attention of two henchmen, names Valerian (Adam Williams) and Licht
(Robert Ellenstein), who mistake Roger for Kaplan because from the vantage point
they are standing at, he appears to be answering the page. As Roger steps into the
corridor to send his wire, the henchmen abduct Roger at gunpoint and force him into
a waiting car.Wordlessly, they drive him out of Manhattan to a Long Island country
estate displaying the name \"Townsend\" at its entrance. The car snakes up a long
winding driveway to the front entrance. A maid lets them in the front door, and
Roger is locked inside the library of the mansion. Left alone, he finds a newspaper
on the desk addressed to \"Mr. Lester Townsend, 169 Baywood, Glen Cove,
N.Y.\"Shortly, the library door opens and there enters an urbane English-accented
gentleman (James Mason), evidently none other than Townsend himself, followed soon
after by his personal secretary, Leonard (Martin Landau). The gentleman addresses
his captive as \"Kaplan,\" and by his questions, Roger can only assume that the
real Kaplan must be some sort of secret agent on this man's trail. Roger tries to
convince him that his name is Thornhill and has never been anything else, but his
skeptic captor will not hear of it. To \"prove\" his point, the man proceeds to
recite the elusive Kaplan's recent itinerary of hotels, cities, and ever-changing
hometowns, including Kaplan's present occupancy of room 796 at the Plaza Hotel, and
his future stops in the next few days in Chicago and Rapid City, South Dakota. To
find out how much \"Kaplan\" knows about his organization and their current
arrangements, he puts Leonard in charge of extracting the information while he
withdraws to join Mrs. Townsend (Josephine Hutchinson) and their party guests.
Leonard unseals a fifth of bourbon taken from a liquor cabinet, and with the aid of
Valerian and Licht, he begins to force the whiskey down Roger's throat.Having
failed to get any information from their victim, Valerian and Licht place the
severely intoxicated Thornhill behind the wheel of a Mercedes on a seaside highway
under cover of darkness, planning to guide him off of a cliff to his death. Almost
unaware of his surroundings, Roger comes sufficiently alert at the last moment to
push Valerian out of the car and start driving for himself. The two thugs follow
him down the winding highway in their own car. Roger, on the verge of passing out
and plagued with double vision, manages to careen his way down the cliffside
highway without hitting anything. As he slams on brakes to barely avoid running
over a bicyclist, a pursuing police car plows
into the rear of the Mercedes, and a third car plows into the rear of the police
car. Finding themselves overmatched, the two henchmen drive away leaving Roger in
police custody.Roger tells everyone at the police station how his captors had tried
to kill him, but in his drunken condition no one pays any attention to his bizarre
story. One of the policemen mentions that the Mercedes Roger was driving was
reported stolen. Roger phones his mother to let her know he is at the Glen Cove
police station for the night. In the morning, Roger and his attorney Larrabee
(Edward Platt) face the judge, with Roger's mother, Clara Thornhill (Jessie Royce
Landis), looking on in weary bemusement. The judge gives Roger a chance to prove
his doubtful story, and continues the case over to the next day.A pair of county
detectives accompanies Roger, his mother, and Larrabee to the house where he says
last night's events took place. They are escorted into the same library while the
same maid goes for Mrs. Townsend. Roger shows them the sofa which should still be
stained and soaked with spilled bourbon, but it has apparently been cleaned. He
opens the liquor cabinet, only to find it is full of books. When \"Mrs. Townsend\"
comes in, she greets Roger like an old friend, and asks if he had gotten home all
right. She says that he had been so drunk when he left their party the night
before, that they had all been worried about him. When Captain Junket (Edward
Binns) mentions the stolen car registered to a Mrs. Babson, Mrs. Townsend
asks, \"You didn't borrow Laura's Mercedes?\" Roger suggests that they question her
husband. Mrs. Townsend informs them that he is at the United Nations where he will
be addressing the General Assembly that afternoon. As his protests continue to fall
on deaf ears, his mother chimes in, \"Roger, pay the two dollars!\" The visitors
get back into the car and drive away. Behind them, a gardener looks up from his
work. It is Valerian, disguised.Roger and his mother take a cab to the Plaza Hotel,
where Roger tries to phone Kaplan's room. But he learns that Kaplan hasn't answered
his phone in two days. Rogers cajoles his mother into getting the key to room 796
from the front desk. They go upstairs and into Kaplan's room. Both the chambermaid
and the valet treat him as Kaplan, since he's the man in room 796 whom they have
never actually seen. Roger finds a photo of his host from the evening before, which
he slips into his pocket. The phone rings. Roger answers it and hears the familiar
voice of one of his recent captors. He then calls the hotel operator and learns
that the call originated inside the hotel.Roger hurries his mother out of the room,
and as they enter an elevator going down, Valerian and Licht step out of one coming
up just in time to join the crowded group of passengers in the down elevator. To
cut the tension on the way down, Mrs. Thornhill asks the two men if they are really
going to kill her son. The thugs start laughing and gradually everyone in the car
(except Roger) joins in. When the doors open, Roger insists, \"Ladies first.\" And
under cover of escorting the ladies off the car, he manages to elude his pursuers
and escape into the street. He jumps into a cab and asks the driver take him to the
United Nations. Seeing the thugs following him, he asks the driver to lose them if
he can.When he gets to the U.N. General Assembly Building, Roger asks for Lester
Townsend, giving his own name as Kaplan. He is told to go to the public lounge
where the attendant can page Mr. Townsend for him. Meanwhile, Valerian steps out of
another taxi and tells Licht to wait with the cab on the other side of the building
for him. Valerian then walks into the General Assembly Building. When Lester
Townsend (Philip Ober) answers the page, he is not the same man Roger had seen the
evening before. Roger asks him about the house in Glen Cove, which Townsend says is
his, but the house is currently locked up with only the gardener and his wife
living on the grounds (implying it to be Valerian and the house maid). Townsend
says that he always stays in the city when the General Assembly is in session.
Roger asks about Mrs. Townsend and learns that she has been dead for many years. As
Roger shows him the picture of his captor, Townsend flinches and begins to
collapse. Valerian has thrown a knife across the lounge and flees unnoticed, and
Townsend falls dead at Roger's feet. Reflexively, Roger pulls the knife out of
Townsend's back just as people begin to look at the commotion, and a photographer's
light bulb goes off. It appears to everyone around him that Roger has killed the
real Lester Townsend! Roger drops the knife, bolts to the exit and jumps into a
taxicab.The next morning, the action changes to inside the boardroom of a
government intelligence agency in Washington D.C. where a group of planners remark
about the photo of \"U.N murderer\" Roger Thornhill on the front page of a
newspaper. They consider how to deal with the sudden appearance of a man who has
been mistaken for the non-existent George Kaplan. It is revealed that these agents
invented a non-existent agent named \"George Kaplan\" as a decoy for their real
agent who has infiltrated an enemy group headed by a man named Vandamm. They've
succeeded in making Vandamm believe that their phantom \"Kaplan\" is the real
agent, by creating a trail of hotel registrations complete with prop clothing and
other personal belongings moved in and out of the various hotel rooms by fellow
agents. And now Vandamm has somehow mistaken Thornhill for Kaplan. The intelligence
chief, a middle-aged gentleman called the Professor (Leo G. Carroll) suggests that
the agency do nothing to help Thornhill. If they try to help him, they risk
exposing their real agent who would probably be killed. For the time being, they
will simply wait and let this real-life \"Kaplan\" (Thornhill) lend credibility to
their invented \"Kaplan.\"Meanwhile back in New York, Roger calls his mother from
Grand Central Station to tell her he's taking the train to Chicago. He has learned
that Kaplan checked out of the Plaza and has gone on to the Ambassador East in
Chicago, so Roger is following him there to find out what is going on. He tries to
buy a ticket on the 20th Century Limited, but the ticket agent recognizes him and
quietly calls security. Roger slips away unseen, makes his way to the platform, and
boards the 20th Century Limited without a ticket, closely pursued by police.
Colliding with a beautiful young woman (Eva Marie Saint) in the train corridor, he
ducks into a nearby compartment as the police appear at the other end of the
corridor. The woman misdirects the police off of the train as it gets underway.As
time passes, Roger manages to elude the conductors while they tally up the
passenger count. Then he makes his way to the dining car, where the steward seats
him with the same beautiful young woman who had helped him in the corridor earlier.
She introduces herself as Eve Kendall. He gives her a false name, but she
answers: \"No. You're Roger Thornhill of Madison Avenue, and you're wanted for
murder on every front page in America. Don't be so modest.\" But she assures him
she won't turn him in, since it's going to be a long night and she doesn't
particularly like the book she's started. He lights her cigarette from his
personally monogrammed \"R-O-T\" matchbook. \"Roger O. Thornhill. What does the 'O'
stand for?\" she asks. He tells her, \"Nothing.\" When he admits he doesn't have a
ticket, she invites him to share her drawing room, just as the train comes to an
unscheduled stop. Two men in plain clothes get out of a police car and board the
train. Roger and Eve leave the dining car to make their way to her
compartment.Presently, Eve is lying on the lower berth while Roger talks to her
from his hiding place in the closed upper berth. A knock comes at the door, and the
two police detectives enter and question her about the man she was talking with at
dinner. She deflects their questions, saying she'd never seen him before, and that
they hadn't talked about anything important. They leave to continue their search.
Using a key she had stolen earlier from a porter, Eve opens the upper berth to let
Roger out.As the evening progresses, Roger and Eve become very close very quickly,
falling in love in spite of not knowing much about each other. A buzz at the door
announces the porter, who is ready to make Eve's bed for her. Roger hides in the
washroom while the porter is there, and Eve returns the berth key to the porter,
telling him that she had found it on the floor. The porter leaves. Since there's
only one bed, Eve insists that Roger is going to sleep on the floor as they return
to their interrupted embrace.In another part of the train, the porter delivers a
note into the hand of Leonard, who passes it to his boss. The note reads, \"What do
I do with him in the morning? Eve.\"In the morning, Eve and Roger get off the train
in Chicago with Roger dressed in a redcap's uniform and carrying her luggage. He
walks ahead as the two police detectives stop and ask if she has anything to
report. She doesn't, and she rejoins Roger. She is also aware of Vandamm and
Leonard walking a short ways behind. She tells Roger to change back into his suit
which she's hidden on one of her cases, while she calls Kaplan for him.The police
soon discover a redcap who is missing his uniform, and they begin to examine every
redcap porter in the station trying to find Thornhill. Roger ducks into the men's
room, quickly changes, and starts to shave with a very tiny travel razor from the
train's washroom. The police walk right past him, not recognizing him through the
shaving cream on his face.Meanwhile, Eve in a phone booth is making notes, while in
another booth several booths away Leonard is giving instructions into the phone.
Eve and Leonard
leave their booths at the same time, taking no notice of each other. When Roger
joins her, she says that Kaplan wants him to take the Indianapolis bus and to get
off at a stop known as Prairie Stop, where Kaplan will meet him at 3:30 p.m.. He
asks how he can find her again later. Eve, for some reason, is clearly nervous. She
looks toward an empty doorway and tells him, \"They're coming!\" He hurries
away.That afternoon, Roger steps off the bus in the midst of a vast open prairie
and begins to wait. An occasional car or truck drives by, with long empty intervals
between them. Looking around, Roger notices a nearby corn field, and a crop duster
at work in the distance. And still he waits. A man gets out of a car on the
opposite side of the road. Thinking he might be Kaplan, Roger approaches. But the
man is just waiting for the next bus. The man comments on the crop duster,
observing that it seems to be dusting where there aren't any crops.After the man
gets on the next bus, Roger is left alone again. The crop dusting plane approaches,
swooping low over Roger's position. It comes around and approaches again, strafing
the ground with machine gun fire. Roger tries to flag down a car, but it doesn't
stop. The plane strafes again, and Roger runs into the corn field, hiding among the
tall stalks. The plane's first pass over the field accomplishes nothing, and Roger
begins to think he's eluded them. On its next pass the plane drops pesticide over
the field. Gasping for breath, Roger has to abandon the cover of the corn stalks.
He sees a gasoline tanker truck approaching, and he stands in its way forcing it to
stop, which it does barely in time, knocking him to the ground unhurt. The tanker's
quick stop presents a sudden obstacle to the low-swooping plane, and it flies
headlong into the load of gasoline, bursting into flames. Roger and the drivers
flee the truck moments before the second gas tank explodes. Some passersbys stop to
view the accident scene, and Roger steals a pickup truck from one of them and
drives away. The stolen pickup is next seen that evening parked on a Chicago
street.Roger inquires at the front desk of the Ambassador East Hotel for George
Kaplan's room number, only to learn that Kaplan had checked out that morning at
7:10 a.m., leaving a forwarding address for the Hotel Sheraton-Johnson in Rapid
City, South Dakota. Roger can't understand how he could have gotten the message
that morning at 9:10 a.m. if Kaplan had already left. Standing in confusion for a
moment, Roger spots, of all people, Eve Kendall entering the lobby. She picks up a
newspaper and takes the elevator to the fourth floor. Roger tells the desk clerk
that Eve Kendall is expecting him in room 4-something-or-other, he can't remember
the whole number. The clerk tells him 463.Roger rings the buzzer at room 463, and
is admitted by a surprised Eve. She runs into his arms, apparently happy to see him
alive, but he keeps his barriers up. Roger also notices a newspaper detailing the
crop dust plane crash into the tanker truck killing both men aboard the plane.
Roger plans to stick with Eve and not let her out of his sight, but Eve says that
she has plans of her own. The phone rings. Eve tells the caller that she will meet
them, jotting an address on a memo pad. She tears off the note and places it into
her purse, where she also carries a small handgun. Roger insists on having dinner
with her, but she tells him to leave and never see her again. Last night was all
there was, they're not going to get involved. He keeps insisting that they have
dinner first. She gives in, on the condition that he have the hotel valet clean up
his dusty suit. Roger goes into the bathroom to shower, and he passes his trousers
out to her. The valet takes his suit away. Then Eve slips away, not knowing that
Roger was faking the shower and was watching her. He uses a pencil to shade over
the impressions on the top blank sheet of the memo pad, revealing the address she
had jotted down as \"1212 N. Michigan.\"A few hours later, wearing his own suit
again, Roger steps out of a taxi at 1212 N. Michigan to find an art auction
underway in the gallery at that address. In the crowd, Eve Kendall sits under the
attentive and watchful eye of Roger's recent captor, the false \"Lester Townsend,\"
with Leonard standing close by. Townsend/Vandamm puts his hand on Eve's shoulder,
apparently as a clear sign of affection, and he smiles at her while she smiles
back. Consumed by anger and jealousy, Roger approaches the trio, and his accusatory
tone causes the suspicious \"Townsend\" to draw away from Eve. She becomes alarmed.
Just then an unusual primitive figurine goes up for sale. \"Townsend\" bids on the
sculpted figure, and when he wins the sale, Roger learns that his name is Vandamm.
By now, Vandamm has had enough of \"Kaplan,\" and he tells Leonard to finish him
off who walks off. This whole scene is observed by the Professor who is lurking in
the crowd. Roger starts to leave, but Valerian blocks his way at the main entrance,
while Leonard blocks the front stage.(Note: It is speculated here that Vandamm's
other henchman, Licht, was shooter in the crop duster plane which crashed along
with the anonymous pilot aboard. Thus, Licht, from this point, is never seen again
in the movie.)As Vandamm and Eve make their exit, Roger is trapped and must wait
behind in the crowd. To manufacture an escape, Roger begins to disrupt the auction,
bidding wildly and making rude remarks about the art work. When the police finally
arrive, Roger starts a fight with a gallery employee to provoke an arrest.
Vandamm's men can do nothing as the police lead him away. As they leave, the
Professor makes a quick phone call. When Roger identifies himself as the United
Nations killer on their way downtown, the policemen call the station for
instructions. They are told to take him to the airport instead of police
headquarters.At the Northwest Airlines counter, the Professor arrives and takes
Thornhill off the policemen's hands, and leads him out onto the tarmac to catch a
plane to Rapid City, SD, near Mt. Rushmore. The Professor explains that Vandamm has
a house near Mt. Rushmore, and they think that will be his jumping off point to
leave the country the following night. He explains that George Kaplan does not
exist, but that he and his associates in Washington need for Roger to continue to
play the role of Kaplan for the next 24 hours, to assure Vandamm that everything is
all right. They want Vandamm to continue on his journey so that they can learn more
about his spy organization overseas and his dealings with smuggling government
secrets in and out of the USA. Roger learns that Eve is the government's undercover
agent, and that the scene Roger made at the art auction has put her life in
jeopardy. Roger's harsh words, and Eve's candid reactions, had made it obvious to
Vandamm that his mistress is emotionally involved with a man he believes to be a
government agent. For Eve's sake, Roger agrees to co-operate with the Professor to
help set things right again.A meeting is set up between \"Kaplan\" and Vandamm in
the cafeteria of the Mt. Rushmore Visitors Center. While the Professor stands
hidden in the background, Vandamm arrives with Eve and Leonard. In exchange for not
revealing Vandamm's plans to leave the country that night, Roger asks Vandamm to
give Eve over to him so that she can get what's coming to her. Vandamm reluctantly
agrees. When Roger takes hold of Eve, she draws the handgun from her purse, shoots
Roger, and runs away. The Professor emerges from the crowd, examines Roger and
shakes his head regretfully. Leonard prompts Vandamm to leave before the
authorities arrive. Park employees carry Roger out on a stretcher, and the
Professor has him loaded into a Park Service vehicle. They drive away.The Park
Service vehicle stops in a secluded wood where a very healthy Roger steps out to
find Eve waiting for him. She had asked for this meeting so that they can clear the
air. Eve tells him that she had met Phillip Vandamm some time ago at a party and
fallen in love with him. Then the Professor had contacted her and told her
Vandamm's sordid secrets, asking her to use her unique relationship with Vandamm to
help the government, the first time anyone had ever asked Eve to do anything
important. Roger is glad that it will all be over when Vandamm takes off that
night, and he and Eve can go on with their lives. But she and the Professor tell
him that she will be going away with Vandamm, because they still need her to find
out more information about him. Roger doesn't want to let her go, and he tries to
hold her back forcibly. But the Professor's driver knocks him down, and Eve drives
away to return to Vandamm's house.That evening, Roger finds himself locked in a
hospital room wearing next to nothing. The Professor brings in a change of clothes
for him to use for the next few days on his stay in the hospital. Roger asks the
Professor if he could have some bourbon to help ease his stay, and agreeably the
Professor leaves to fetch the bourbon. Roger quickly finishes dressing, climbs out
the window and along a ledge, making his escape through the neighboring hospital
room.He makes his way to Vandamm's house, where he sees lights flashing at a nearby
landing strip as if someone is signaling an incoming plane. From outside the living
room window, he overhears Vandamm reassuring Eve that everything is all right, and
that the plane is about ten minutes away. Leonard asks to have a parting talk with
Vandamm in private. Eve goes upstairs to get her things. Leonard notes that even
though Eve's actions that afternoon had dispelled Vandamm's doubts, he still
doesn't trust her enough to tell her that the figurine they bought at the auction
in Chicago holds a bellyful of microfilm. Leonard's suspicions had been aroused by
the scene
at the Visitors Center. To prove his point, Leonard aims Eve's gun at Vandamm and
fires. But Vandamm finds himself unhurt, just as Kaplan must have been unhurt,
because the gun is loaded with blanks. Leonard had searched Eve's luggage and found
it and immediately knew it was a fake shooting. Not appreciating this cruel
revelation from Leonard, Vandamm punches him in the face. But Vandamm quickly
regains his composure and knows for certain now that Eve has betrayed him, and that
she is working with Kaplan. He tells Leonard that the solution to this is simple:
he will drop her from the plane over the ocean.Roger has to warn Eve. He climbs up
to her balcony just as she leaves her room and returns downstairs. He jots a note
inside the cover of his monogrammed matchbook saying, \"They're onto you. I'm in
your room.\" From the upper landing, he tosses the matchbook down to her. It lands
on the floor. She doesn't see it. Leonard comes over to speak to her, and he picks
up the matchbook, tossing it onto the coffee table as he walks away, not realizing
its origins. Then Eve recognizes it and reads the message. She makes an excuse and
comes upstairs again.Roger warns her that Leonard found the gun with the blanks,
that they plan to do away with her, and that the figure from the auction is filled
with microfilm. Roger begs her not to get on that plane, but dutifully she goes
downstairs again. The entourage leaves for the plane, and only the housekeeper,
Anna (Nora Marlowe), remains downstairs. Roger tries to slip out through the house,
but the maid Anna stops him at gunpoint. She tells him that after the plane leaves
with Vandamm, Valerian (who is revealed to be Anna's husband), as well as Leonard
will return.At the landing strip, Eve is wavering about whether to get on the plane
or not. As Vandamm gives his goodbyes to Leonard and Valerian, he also tells them
to say goodbye to his sister back in New York (the same woman who impersonated Mrs.
Townsend for the authorities). Suddenly, shots ring out at the house, and as
everyone turns to see Roger fleeing the house, Eve grabs the figure out of
Vandamm's arms and runs away into the darkness toward Roger. He has driven a car
from the house toward the plane, and Eve jumps into the car. They speed away.
Valerian and Leonard give chase on foot. Roger explains it took him five minutes to
realize the housekeeper had been covering him with that same gun filled with
blanks.They stop at the front gate, which is now closed and locked. Abandoning the
car, they run into the dark woods. Before long they find themselves at the top of
the Mt. Rushmore monument, with Leonard and Valerian in hot pursuit. Seeing no
other way out, they start climbing down the stone faces. Leonard and Valerian split
up and start climbing down after them.Pausing for breath, Roger suggests that if
they get out of this alive, that they go back on the train together. Eve asks if
that was a proposition. Roger tells her it was a proposal. When Eve asks what had
happened to Roger's first two marriages, he tells her his wives had left him
because he led too dull a life. The two thugs keep coming at them from two sides,
and they all continue climbing down.As Roger and Eve come around an outcropping,
they are surprised by Valerian waiting with a drawn knife. He pounces on Roger, and
the two of them tussle until Roger manages to kick him away. Valerian plunges to
his death.In the meantime, Leonard has caught up with Eve and is trying to wrest
the figurine out of her hands. He gets the statuette away, and pushes her over a
ledge. She falls a few feet and manages to grab onto another ledge with her
fingertips. Roger comes to help her. He reaches her and takes hold of her wrist,
but he can't pull her up. Leonard comes to the ledge just above him. Roger pleads
with Leonard to help them. Instead of helping, Leonard steps on Roger's fingers.
Just then a shot rings out. Leonard drops the figure which shatters, revealing the
hidden microfilm. He falls into the depths, already dead.On the summit, the
Professor and the captive Vandamm stand with a group of park rangers. One of the
rangers puts away his gun.Now the only way for Roger to save Eve is to pull her up
on his own. As he finally succeeds in lifting her up, the scene changes to a
Pullman compartment, and Roger is lifting his bride into the upper berth. The
honeymooners embrace as the train enters a tunnel.\n\n", "\n\nIt looks like we
don't have a Synopsis for this title yet. Be the first to contribute! Just click
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submission guide.\n\n"]