Voila! Finally, the A Man Called Horse
script is here for all you quotes spouting fans of the Richard Harris movie. This script is a transcript that was painstakingly
transcribed using the screenplay and/or viewings of A Man Called Horse. I know, I know, I still need to get the cast names in there and I'll be eternally
tweaking it, so if you have any corrections, feel free to
drop me a line. You won't
hurt my feelings. Honest.
Oh, Wakantanka,
Great Spirit of the Sun
source of all life, created
in violence, pleasure and pain
which then takes life
to sustain life,
continuing the eternal cycle
of life and death
l stand humble and obedient
before you.
Make me worthy!
How many is that?
Six, Your Lordship.
Maddock.
l'm sorry.
"John."
You may address me as "John."
Yes, sir.
lt won't happen again.
You slip at least
once a day.
How many weeks have l been
dinning it into you.
Yes, Sir John.
Six, did you say?
ln a row.
That's good shootin', John.
Thank you, Maddock.
You may address me as "Joe."
Joe.
What did you say that was?
Prairie chicken.
Grouse.
Huh?
Grouse.
At home in England,
l'd be shooting grouse.
lt just occurred to me,
l've traveled halfway
around the world
at great expense
simply to kill
a different kind of bird.
Well, what's wrong with that
if you ain't got
nothing better to do?
Oh, l ain't, Joe.
For five years, l ain't got
nothin' better to do.
You musta picked up a lot
of beans
somewhere.
Not only beans, Joe
but family titles, family
property, family position
all picked up,
all inherited.
Everything l ever wanted
in life l've bought,
including you three.
ln England, l looked up
to God and royalty
and down upon everybody else.
Well, what you been doin'
for five years?
Looking, Joe.
Just looking.
ln l committed
the unpardonable sin
of resigning my commission
in the Guards.
lt wasn't an earned commission
anyway.
ln my family,
it came with birth.
So, here l am
shooting birds.
Your Northwest Territory
it is beautiful.
Hey, Ed
l dumped the water outta that
damned tub into his tent.
All over his tent
And look what l found.
Oh.
Rum.
That spell "rum", don't it?
R-U-M.
Yeah.
Hey, Ed draw.
Still drunk as coots.
l'm going to have
to talk to those two.
ln a pinch, l've known
'em to drink coal oil.
Oh beat the drums
and sound the brass,
here come one big horse's ass.
What were you two firing at?
Nothin' in particular.
That was an accident.
Even at this range,
l'm inclined to believe you.
How long would it take us
to go back to St. Louis?
Maybe a month if,
if we don't do no more huntin'
and that wagon holds up.
We'll start in the morning.
lf the wagon breaks down,
abandon it and the team.
We'll travel by riding horses
if necessary.
ls them orders, John?
Those are orders, Maddock.
Well, you've boozed us
out of another job.
We ain't shuttin' down camp.
He guaranteed us
four months wages.
You'll get your money.
That's one thing
the dude ain't is cheap.
Yeah, and if he runs
a little short,
his family can always
sell the "cawstle'.
Oh, l never seen such a fella.
He won't even chew tobacco.
That water's powerful cold,
Your Lordship.
Thank you, Maddock.
l can assure you l've been bred
to get used to it.
This ain't gonna be no bath.
He's goin' ice-skating.
Listen, you rum-heads,
that's enough.
We was just warnin' him.
Somethin' must have spooked him.
Coyote maybe.
Naw. He seen Tin-pan Morgan
goin' by.
Oh, my God.
Christ!
l've had enough!
You bunch of bloody bastards.
l'm not a horse!
l'm not an animal.
No! No!
Whatever the bloody hell
the name is.
Man! Man!
l am a man!
Homme, oui.
Pauvre bęte. ImbęciIe.
Une fois, tu I'as eu
Ia chance. Une fois.
Pas content.
AIors maintenant peau faire
Ia grande promenade, promenade?
Qui es tu?
Amęricain? Huh?
American.
Don't be absurd.
AngIais.
AngIais?
Oui.
Merde!
Arręte. Reviens.
Eh, eh, eh, eh.
Me speak AngIais.
Good AngIais.
Well, when you address me,
would you kindly speak it?
Yes. l will speak it.
You lucky chief like angry.
You yell, make strong.
Lucky not kill.
Yes, very lucky.
l can hardly believe
my good fortune.
Who the blazes are you?
Moi. Batise.
Prisoner, five years.
Five.
Well, you speak French
in a most peculiar way.
You're not French.
Non. Sacre BIeu, non.
Papa Francais.
Blue eyes, see.
Mais maman
Flathead lndian.
Pure. See.
Family all killed.
These lndians. These Sioux.
l can well believe it.
Did you never try to escape?
Yes.
Cut leg.
Oh, yes.
Zip.
Me try to run again
zip, zip, other leg.
After crawl. Crawl.
Ah.
But now me very clever fellow.
Play crazy, see?
lndian don't
kill crazy man
Crazy man no hunt, no work.
Got spirit. Wakantanka
Good luck for village.
So you gave up.
Me give up nothing.
Nothing!
Me very clever fellow.
But you, oh
Great important Englishman.
Yes, you go, yes.
Like fox.
Dodge hounds.
And you know what happen?
Mean, bad lnjuns out there.
Shoshone, Blackfoot,
Rikaree.
Cut off everything
zip, zip, zip, zip, zip.
But you no man
anymore anyhow.
You workhorse for old woman.
Buffalo Cow Head.
Maybe she
maybe she
maybe she zip anyway
Stallion no good for workhorse.
Everybody be happy,
except you maybe.
No, no.
No! No! No! No!
lt's rancid fat.
Don't you have any dried
dried meat?
Batise
What in the hell's
going on?
Black Eagle come
for Yellow Hand sister.
Sister?
l thought she was one
of his wives.
No, no. That one
Running Deer.
She is sister.
Other one is wife,
Thorn Rose.
Now, Black Eagle buy sister.
Buy her?
Yes. Marriage.
Marriage lndian way
Must buy wife.
Very big important
for Black Eagle.
He only chief number two.
lf she have him,
he be Yellow Hand brother.
Trčs important.
Big trouble
Yellow Hand say no.
Work hard, eh? Water?
Yes
now that her son is dead,
she has no other man.
Nobody protect her.
Nobody care.
Cut off finger. Scavenge.
Come winter, she die.
Like you, one time
big grand English
Now horse, toujours
& Pour toujours
et tous les jours. &
Shut up!
Stop that idiotic giggling,
you bloody fool
and listen to me.
l've had enough
of your nonsense.
Now, you play your fool
to them, but not to me.
l'm going
to get out of here
and you're going
to help me.
And why l do this?
Because you want
to get out, that's why.
Now, these other lndians
around here you spoke of
we'll need a war party
to get through them.
l don't suppose
these Sioux have any guns?
What they know about guns?
Never see guns.
Must fight close.
More brave to touch enemy.
They count coup.
You look, hmm?
You like, hmm?
l have a big idea
You marry Running Deer.
Then maybe Yellow Hand
give you war party
All that for you,
grand white gentleman.
She say no
to Black Eagle
and give herself
away to horse.
Hey, but, ah, you got mane.
Not even old squaw
kiss hair on face.
l have a lot to learn, Batise,
and you are going to teach me.
Give them to your mother.
For her with my compliments.
l didn't think that giving
flowers was so humorous.
Um
l'm sorry.
Me make love to her?
Good God! No.
Batise! Batise
What is this about her shoe?
What is she
trying to tell me?
She say she have no hole
in her moccasin.
What the hell is
that supposed to mean?
lt mean, ah
lt mean she virgin.
l have no reason
to doubt it.
Virgin take any husband she want
but not you, Anglais.
Oh!
Get away, you
horrible old hag.
They say you kill
two Shoshone.
C'est vrais? ls true?
And l took these horses!
Ah! And scalps! Scalps!
Whoo-hoo!
Big chance!
La chance!
- l can't hear you!
- Horses! Scalps!
Wife! Now wife!
Then warrior!
Then soon Chief!
The wife sounds good
right now.
Let's get straight
to her!
Oui, oui, oui, oui!
And then war party,
and then we go!
Oui, oui! We go!
Yoo-hoo!
We go!
We go, we go, we go!
No, no. Do not look mother in
face taboo, or you be cinksi.
Cinksi?
"Son," yes. You'll be
her son till she die.
Oh. That suits me
perfectly.
- Horses.
- Hmm?
Horses!
Does that mean we're married?
Not yet, not yet.
What the hell's
going on now?
Saying "No scars, no vows."
Scars, vows?
Yes, scars, vow to sun.
Say you make vow to sun,
then he vow you brother.
But l just bought her.
l just bought her, didn't l?
What the hell did l do?
Marriage is good.
But, uh, must be
made sacred first.
Sun Vow.
lf no pain,
nothing good is born.
Even seed burst to make grass.
Now, make vow for courage.
l vow to prove my courage
to withstand all tests of pain.
You stand in sun all day,
all night
until sun come again
then suffer much pain.
God watch you now.
Now you ready for Sun Vow in
holy lodge.
Hope for courage.
Pray Wakantanka
let you live.
l will live, Batise.
Oh, yes, and after
we get war party.
And England we go.
England?
Wherever you go, l serve you.
l serve you well, oui?
Oui, Batise.
You have served me well.
When do l kiss the bride?
You prove you man in Sun Vow,
and then she kiss
Oh!
She kiss plenty in white
teepee women make for you.
- That one?
- Mm-hmm.
She must make
pure in sweat bath.
Sweat bath?
Yes. lndian way.
She sweat, sing,
pray, make pure.
Medicine man pray
to Wakantanka,
that no bad things
come for she and you.
And then you have
peace and love.
Chief Chief want me, too
need my tongue.
He speak about Shoshone.
Counted coup scalps
big medicine.
Oh, c'est bon, c'est bon.
Must show God you brave.
Must prove courage.
Now, you say why you should be
permitted to make Sun Vow.
Yellow Hand
when you first
brought me here
you said l was a horse
an animal!
And to me, you were
all of you mean
vicious
ignorant, superstitious
- No, no.
ugly, benighted savages.
No
- No!
- Repeat it.
No.
Repeat it!
Repeat it.
Accurately.
To me, you are no different
from men all over the world.
When your stomachs are full
and you sleep the long night,
you know you must hunt again
for food.
And when you fight your enemies
and their arrows
pierce your skins,
you bleed like all men.
But it seems to me that you only
live to hunt your buffalo
to fight the Shoshone
and to have your women.
l know you would say to me,
"What else is there?"
Yellow Hand say your words good.
But, Medicine man say
your words not good.
Now, tell them this
one day l will be a chief.
One day, l will be a chief!
Say, what proof you brave?
Suffer pain, yes.
Give up, now. Out.
He said because you white,
you weak, you give up.
Shame before Wakantanka.
Oh
Medicine bag, bones, beads.
Good luck things. Great honor.
Jesus!
l am Tatankaska,
spirit animal, buffalo, white.
Speak the truth in humility
to all people.
Only then can you be a true man
and free of your chains.
l want you. My hunger is real.
But freedom
is what you mean to me.
When the chance comes,
l shall go.
l know. l know.
Grouse.
What did you say?
Grouse.
lt's a small bird, Batise.
l used to shoot it in England,
a long time ago.
Hmm.
Batise!
What's the matter
with Yellow Hand?
Yellow Hand
take Bear Skin belt,
he swear to Wakantanka
never to retreat in battle.
He now want brave death
to save his honor because
Black Eagle take Thorn Rose.
He was her first man.
lnjun law. So
that means Black Eagle
can take Yellow Hand's woman
when he wants her.
lf Yellow Hand complains,
he's weak.
Ay. Only
this may be good.
He die, you be
made chief quicker.
Get war party, and we go.
Five years you've lived here
and you've learned nothing
about these people!
All his death is to you,
is a means of escape.
Take her away from this.
Take her away from this!
Oh you're making it
very, very difficult for me,
Little Freedom.
Very, very difficult.
Free Free
Freedom?
Freedom.
You are Little Freedom.
Freedom.
Freedom.
Mother?
Oh
Little Freedom
now is the truth.
You are part of me.
When l go, you go.
Forever.
Lakota Lake, mountains
Peace River, south
Adirondack.
Medicine man say
buffalo go after winter.
Village move.
This place bad medicine now.
Oh, maIheurs!
Move west.
Away from home.
You'd better finish that map,
Batise.
He say something is wrong.
Go and get your weapons.
Dear God!
Get the weapons!
Shoshone Chief take Bear Belt!
Batise!
Get everyone
to the Ceremonial Lodge
and get the bows and arrows!
Line them up there!
Face the Shoshone!
Form two lines!
One in front and one back here!
First line to their knees!
Second line remain standing!
First line fire only!
Fire!
Now we go! Anywhere
Oh, no
Hiya!
Hiya!
Little Freedom.
John!
Oh, my God
you've got nobody left
to provide for you.
You'll give
everything you have away.
You'll scavenge for offal
With winter coming,
you won't last a month.
Son.
l will be your son.
Good-bye, Little Freedom.
Hiya! Hiya!