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BARRY LYNDON A Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick Based on the novel by William Makepeace ThackerayFADE IN:EXT. PARK - DAYBrief shot of duel.RODERICK (V.O.)My father, who was well-known to thebest circles in this kingdom underthe name of roaring Harry James, waskilled in a duel, when I was fifte
EXT. ROAD TO DUBLIN - DAY
A well-armed gentleman dressed in green, and a gold cord,
with a patch on his eye, and riding a powerful mare, puts
his horse alongside.
ARMED GENTLEMAN
Good day to you, young sir.
RODERICK
Good morning.
ARMED GENTLEMAN
Where are you bound for?
RODERICK
(after a long look at
his companion)
That is none of your business.
ARMED GENTLEMAN
Is your mother not afraid on account
of the highwayman to let one so
young as you travel?
RODERICK
(pulling out a
pistol)
Not at all, sir. I have a pair of
good pistols that have already done
execution, and are ready to do it
again.
At this, a pock-marked man coming up, the well-armed
gentleman spurs into his bay mare, and leaves Roderick.
EXT. ROAD TO DUBLIN - DAY
RODERICK (V.O.)
A little later on, as I rode towards
Kilcullen, I saw a crowd of peasant
people assembled round a one-horse
chair, and my friend in green, as I
thought, making off half-a-mile up
the hill.
A footman howls, at the top of his voice.
FOOTMAN
Stop thief!
But the country fellows only laugh at his distress, and
make all sorts of jokes at the adventure which had just
befallen.
COUNTRY FELLOW #1
Sure, you might have kept him off
with your blunderbush!
COUNTRY FELLOW #2
O the coward! To let the Captain
bate you, and he only one eye!
COUNTRY FELLOW #3
The next time my lady travels, she'd
better leave you at home!
RODERICK
What is this noise, fellows?
Roderick rides up amongst them, and seeing the lady in the
carriage, very pale and frightened, gives a slash of his
whip, and bids the red-shanked ruffians keep off.
Pulling off his hat, and bringing his mare up in a prance
to the chair-window.
RODERICK
What has happened, madam, to annoy
your ladyship?
MRS. O'REILLY
Oh, I am grateful to you, sir. I am
the wife of Captain O'Reilly
hastening to join him at Dublin. My
chair was stopped by a highwayman;
this great oaf of a servant-man fell
down on his knees, armed as he was,
and though there were thirty people
in the next field, working, when the
ruffian attacked, not one of them
would help but, on the contrary,
wished him "good luck."
COUNTRY FELLOW #1
Sure, he's the friend of the poor,
and good luck to him.
COUNTRY FELLOW #2
Was it any business of ours?
RODERICK
(shouting)
Be off to your work, you pack of
rascals, or you will have a good
taste of my thong.
(to Mrs. O'Reilly)
Have you lost much?
MRS. O'REILLY
Everything -- my purse, containing
upwards of a hundred guineas, my
jewels, my snuff-boxes, watches.
And all because this blundering
coward fell to his knees...
FOOTMAN
Be fair, ma'am, them wasn't so much.
Didn't he return you the thirteen
pence in copper, and the watch,
saying it was only pinchbeck?
MRS. O'REILLY
Don't be insolent, or I'll report
you to the Captain.
FOOTMAN
Sorry, ma'am.
He shuffles a few steps away and frowns in the direction
that the Captain has vanished.
MRS. O'REILLY
That fool didn't know what was the
meaning of a hundred-pound bill,
which was in the pocket-book that
the fellow took from me.
RODERICK
I am riding to Dublin myself, and if
your ladyship will allow me the
honor of riding with you, I shall do
my best to protect you from further
mishap.
MRS. O'REILLY
But I shouldn't like to put you to
such trouble, Mister...?
RODERICK
O'Higgins... Mohawk O'Higgins.
EXT. ROADSIDE INN - DAY
They stop at the inn.
RODERICK
(very gallantly)
As you have been robbed of your
purse, may I have permission to lend
your ladyship a couple of pieces to
pay any expenses which you might
incur before reaching your home?
MRS. O'REILLY
(smiling)
That's very kind of you, Mr.
O'Higgins.
He gives her two gold pieces.
INT. INN - DAY
Roderick and Mrs. O'Reilly finishing their meal.
We will hear dialogue underneath Roderick's voice over.
RODERICK (V.O.)
How different was her lively rattle
to the vulgar wenches at Kilwangan
assemblies. In every sentence, she
mentioned a lord or a person of
quality. To the lady's question
about my birth and parentage, I
replied that I was a young gentleman
of large fortune, that I was going
to Dublin for my studies, and that
my mother allowed me five hundred
per annum.
MRS. O'REILLY
You must be very cautious with
regard to the company you should
meet in Dublin, where rogues and
adventurers of all countries abound.
I hope you will do me the honor of
accepting lodgings in my own house,
where Captain O'Reilly will welcome
with delight, my gallant young
preserver.
Paying the bill.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Perhaps had I been a little older in
the world's experience, I should
have begun to see that Madame
O'Reilly was not the person of
fashion she pretended to be; but, as
it was, I took all her stories for
truth, and, when the landlord
brought the bill for dinner, paid it
with the air of a lord. Indeed, she
made no motion to produce the two
pieces I had lent her.
EXT. DUBLIN - STREET - NIGHT
They ride by.
RODERICK (V.O.)
And so we rode on slowly towards
Dublin, into which city we made our
entrance at nightfall. The rattle
and splendor of the coaches, the
flare of the linkboys, the number
and magnificence of the houses,
struck me with the greatest wonder;
though I was careful to disguise
this feeling.
EXT. O'REILLY HOUSE - DUBLIN - NIGHT
RODERICK (V.O.)
We stopped at length at a house of
rather mean appearance, and were let
into a passage which had a great
smell of supper and punch.
INT. O'REILLY HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT
Captain O'Reilly, a stout red-faced man, without a
periwig, and in a rather tattered nightgown and cap.
Roderick and Mrs. O'Reilly.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
Mr. O'Higgins, I cannot say how
grateful I am for your timely
assistance to my wife.
RODERICK
I am only sorry that I was unable to
prevent the villain from carrying
off all her ladyship's money and
pearls.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
Mr. O'Higgins, we are in your debt,
and rest assured, sir, you have
friends in this house whenever you
are in Dublin.
(pours a glass)
Mister O'Higgins, I wonder if I know
your good father?
RODERICK
Which O'Higgins do you know? For I
have never heard your name mentioned
in my family.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
Oh, I am thinking of the O'Higgins
of Redmondstown. General O'Higgins
was a close friend of my wife's dear
father, Colonel Granby Somerset.
RODERICK
Ah -- I see. No, I'm afraid mine
are the O'Higgins of Watertown.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
I have heard of them.
There are relics of some mutton-chops and onions on a
cracked dish before them.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
My love, I wish I had known of your
coming, for Bob Moriaty and I just
finished the most delicious venison
pasty, which His Grace the Lord
Lieutenant, sent us, with a flash of
sillery from his own cellar. You
know the wine, my dear? But as
bygones are bygones, and no help for
them, what say ye to a fine lobster
and a bottle of as good claret as
any in Ireland? Betty, clear these
things from the table, and make the
mistress and our young friend
welcome to our home.
Captain O'Reilly searches his pockets for some money to
give to Betty.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
I'm sorry, Mr. O'Higgins, but I
don't seem to have any small change.
May I borrow a ten-penny piece to
give to the girl?
MRS. O'REILLY
I have some money, my dear. Here,
Betty, go to the fishmonger and
bring back our supper, and mind you
get the right change.
She takes out one of the golden guineas Roderick gave to
her.
INT. DINNING ROOM - LATER
They are eating.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Our supper was seasoned, if not by
any great elegance, at least by a
plentiful store of anecdotes,
concerning the highest personages of
the city, with whom, according to
himself, the captain lived on terms
of the utmost intimacy. Not to be
behind hand with him, I spoke of my
own estates and property as if I was
as rich as a duke.
INT. O'REILLY HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT
The couple wishing Roderick goodnight.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Had I been an English lad, the
appearance of the chamber I occupied
might, indeed, have aroused
instantly my suspicion and distrust.
But we are not particular in Ireland
on the score of neatness, hence the
disorder of my bed-chamber did not
strike me so much.
Broken door.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Was there a lock to the door, or a
hasp to fasten it to?
Dress lying over bed.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Though my counterpane was evidently
a greased brocade dress of Mrs.
O'Reilly.
Cracked mirror.
RODERICK (V.O.)
And my cracked toilet-glass not much
bigger than a half-crown, yet I was
used to these sort of ways in Irish
houses, and still thought myself to
be in that of a man of fashion.
Drawers, full of junk.
RODERICK (V.O.)
There was no lock to the drawers,
which, when they did open, were full
of my hostess' rouge-pots, shoes,
stays, and rags.
INT. BEDROOM - O'REILLY HOUSE - NIGHT
In the middle of the night, Mrs. O'Reilly comes to
Roderick's room on a flimsy pretext, and in the course of
events, he has his first woman.
INT. COACH - DAY
Roderick, Captain and Mrs. O'Reilly.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
I needn't ask whether you had a
comfortable bed. Young Fred
Pimpleton slept in it for seven
months, during which he did me the
honor to stay with me, and if he was
satisfied, I don't know who else
wouldn't be.
EXT. PROMENADE - PHOENIX PARK - DAY
Roderick, Captain and Mrs. O'Reilly, their friends.
Various cuts.
RODERICK (V.O.)
After breakfast, we drove out to
Phoenix Park, where numbers of the
young gentry were known to Mrs.
O'Reilly, to all of whom she
presented me in such a complimentary
way that, before half an hour, I had
got to be considered as a gentleman
of great expectations and large
property.
INT. O'REILLY HOUSE - NIGHT
RODERICK (V.O.)
I had little notion then that I had
got amongst a set of impostors --
that Captain O'Reilly was only an
adventurer, and his lady a person of
no credit. The fact was, a young
man could hardly have fallen into
worse hands than those in which I
now found myself.
An evening of gambling.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Their friends were always welcome on
payment of a certain moderate sum
for their dinner after which, you
may be sure, that cards were not
wanting, and that the company who
played did not play for love merely.
Various cuts of the characters present.
RODERICK (V.O.)
What could happen to a man but
misfortune from associating with
such company? And in a very, very
short time I became their prey.
Roderick loses two hundred guineas to Captain O'Reilly in
a single hand.
We see Captain O'Reilly cheat, but Roderick does not.
He pays him the 18 gold guineas, remaining from the sum
his mother gave him.
RODERICK
I shall have to write out a note for
the rest of it, Captain O'Reilly.
EXT. STREET - OUTSIDE O'REILLY HOUSE - DAWN
Roderick exits to the street. The sound of the gambling
can still be heard in the street. He is soon joined by
Councillor Mulligan.
COUNCILLOR MULLIGAN
Master Roderick, you appear a young
fellow of birth and fortune; let me
whisper in your ear that you have
fallen into very bad hands -- it's a
regular gang of swindlers; and a
gentleman of your rank and quality
should never be seen in such
company. The captain has been a
gentleman's gentleman, and his lady
of no higher rank. Go home, pack
your valise, pay the little trifle
you owe me, mount your mare, and
ride back again to your parents --
it's the very best thing you can do.
Roderick does not reply, and walks slowly away from him
down the street.
INT. O'REILLY HOUSE - RODERICK'S BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING
Roderick enters.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Into a pretty nest of villains,
indeed, was I plunged! When I
returned to my bed-chamber, a few
hours later, it seemed as if all my
misfortunes were to break on me at
once.
Valise open, wardrobe lying on the ground, and Roderick's
keys in the possession of O'Reilly and his wife.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
Whom have I been harboring in my
house? Who are you, sirrah?
RODERICK
Sirrah! Sirrah, I am as good a
gentleman as any in Ireland!
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
You're an impostor, young man, a
schemer, a deceiver!
RODERICK
Repeat the words again, and I run
you through the body.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
Tut, tut! I can play at fencing as
well as you, Mr. Roderick James.
Ah! You change color, do you? Your
secret is known, is it? You come
like a viper into the bosom of
innocent families; you represent
yourself as the heir to my friends
the O'Higgins of Castle O'Higgins; I
introduce you to the nobility and
gentry of this methropolis; I take
you to my tradesmen, who give you
credit. I accept your note for near
two hundred pounds, and what do I
find? A fraud.
He holds up the name, Roderick James, printed on the
linen.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
Not Master O'Higgins of Watertown,
but Roderick James of the devil only
knows where...
Captain O'Reilly gathers up the linen clothes, silver
toilet articles, and the rest of Roderick's gear.
RODERICK
Hark ye, Mr. O'Reilly, I will tell
you why I was obliged to alter my
name, which is James and the best
name in Ireland. I changed it, sir,
because, on the day before I came to
Dublin, I killed a man in deadly
combat -- an Englishman, sir, and a
Captain in His Majesty's service;
and if you offer to let or hinder me
in the slightest way, the same arm
which destroyed him is ready to
punish you.
So saying, Roderick draws his sword like lightning, and
giving a "ha, ha!" and a stamp with his foot, lunges it
within an inch of O'Reilly's heart, who starts back and
turns deadly pale, while his wife, with a scream, flings
herself between them.
MRS. O'REILLY
Dearest Roderick -- be pacified.
O'Reilly, you don't want the poor
child's blood. Let him escape -- in
Heaven's name, let him go.
CAPTAIN O'REILLY
(sulkily)
He may go hang for me, and he's
better be off quickly, for I shall
go to the magistrate if I see him
again.
O'Reilly exits. His wife sits down on the bed and begins
to cry.
EXT. DUBLIN STREET - DAY
Roderick riding down the street, with his valise.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Where was now a home for the
descendant of the James? I was
expelled from Dublin by a
persecution occasioned, I must
confess, by my own imprudence. I
had no time to wait and choose. No
place of refuge to fly to.
INT. ALE HOUSE - DAY
RODERICK (V.O.)
There was a score of recruiting
parties in the town beating up for
men to join our gallant armies in
America and Germany.
Roderick approaches a Captain and a Sergeant, who quickly
make him welcome.
RODERICK
I will tell you frankly, sir. I am
a young gentleman in difficulties; I
have killed an officer in a duel,
and I am anxious to get out of the
country.
RODERICK (V.O.)
But I needn't have troubled myself
with any explanations; King George
was in too much want of men to heed
from whence they came -- and a
fellow of my inches was always
welcome. Indeed, I could not have
chosen my time better. A transport
was lying at Dunleary, waiting for a
wind.
EXT. BRITISH WARSHIP AT SEA - DAY
RODERICK (V.O.)
I never had a taste for any thing
but genteel company, and hate all
descriptions of low life. Hence my
account of the society in which I at
present found myself must of
necessity be short. The
reminiscences of the horrid black-
hole of a place in which we soldiers
were confined, of the wretched
creatures with whom I was now forced
to keep company, of the plowmen,
poachers, pickpockets, who had taken
refuge from poverty, or the law, as,
in truth, I had done myself, is
enough to make me ashamed even now.
Roderick sits very disconsolately over a platter of rancid
bacon and moldy biscuit, which is served to him at mess.
When it comes to his turn to be helped to drink, he is
served, like the rest, with dirty tin noggin, containing
somewhat more than half a pint of rum and water. The
beaker is so greasy and filthy that he cannot help turning
round to the messman and saying:
RODERICK
Fellow, get me a glass!
At which, all the wretches round him burst into a roar of
laughter, the very loudest among them being Mr. Toole, a
red-haired monster of a man.
MR. TOOLE
Get the gentleman a towel for his
hands, and serve him a basin of
turtle-soup.
Roars the monster, who is sitting, or rather squatting, on
the deck opposite him, and as he speaks, he suddenly
seizes Roderick's beaker of grog and empties it in midst
of another burst of applause.
LINK-BOY
(whispers)
If you want to vex him, ask him
about his wife, the washerwoman, who
bates him.
RODERICK
Is it a towel of your wife's
washing, Mr. Toole? I'm told she
wiped your face often with one.
LINK-BOY
(whispers)
Ask him why he wouldn't see her
yesterday, when she came to the
ship.
RODERICK (V.O.)
And so I put to him some other
foolish jokes about soapsuds, hen-
pecking, and flat-irons, which set
the man into a fury, and succeeded
in raising a quarrel between us.
Roderick and Toole fight with cudgels. Roderick gives him
a thump across his head which lays him lifeless on the
floor.
RODERICK (V.O.)
This victory over the cock of the
vile dunghill obtained me respect
among the wretches among whom I
formed part.
EXT. MILITARY DRILL FIELD - CUXHAVEN - DAY
RODERICK (V.O.)
Our passage was very favorable, and
in two days we landed at Cuxhaven,
and before I had been a month in the
Electorate, I was transported into a
tall and proper young soldier, and,
having a natural aptitude for
military exercise, was soon as
accomplished at the drill as the
oldest sergeant in the regiment.
Various cuts.
Roderick learning the soldierly arts, musket drill, manual
of arms, bayonet, marching.
EXT. MILITARY COURTYARD - CUXHAVEN - DAY
The Cuxhaven troops are drawn up to receive a new
regiment, arrived from England.
Roderick sees, marching at the head of his company, his
old friend, Captain Grogan, who gives him a wink.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Six weeks after we arrived in
Cuxhaven, we were reinforced by
Gales regiment of foot from England,
and I promise you the sight of
Grogan's face was most welcome to
me, for it assured me that a friend
was near me.
INT. GROGAN'S QUARTERS - DAY
Roderick and Grogan.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Grogan gave me a wink of
recognition, but offered no public
token of acquaintance and it was not
until two days afterwards that he
called me into his quarters, and
then, shaking hands with me
cordially, gave me news which I
wanted, of my family.
CAPTAIN GROGAN
I had news of you in Dublin. Faith,
you've begun early, like your
father's son, but I think you could
not do better than as you have done.
But why did you not write home to
your poor mother? She has sent
half-a-dozen letters to you in
Dublin.
RODERICK
I suppose she addressed them to me
in my real name, by which I never
thought to ask for them at the post
office.
CAPTAIN GROGAN
We must write to her today, and you
can tell her that you are safe and
married to "Brown Bess."
Roderick sighs when Grogan says the word "married," on
which Grogan says with a laugh:
CAPTAIN GROGAN
I see you are thinking of a certain
young lady at Duganstown.
RODERICK
Is Miss Dugan well?
CAPTAIN GROGAN
There's only six Miss Dugans now...
poor Dorothy.
RODERICK
Good heavens! Whatever? Has she
died of grief?
CAPTAIN GROGAN
She took on so at your going away
that she was obliged to console
herself with a husband. She is now
Mrs. John Best.
RODERICK
Mrs. John Best! Was there another
Mr. John Best?!
CAPTAIN GROGAN
No, the very same one, my boy. He
recovered from his wound. The ball
you hit him with was not likely to
hurt him. It was only made of tow.
Do you think the Dugans would let
you kill fifteen hundred a-year out
of the family? The plan of the duel
was all arranged in order to get you
out of the way, for the cowardly
Englishman could never be brought to
marry from fear of you. But hit him
you certainly did, Roderick, and
with a fine thick plugget of tow,
and the fellow was so frightened
that he was an hour in coming to.
We told your mother the story
afterwards, and a pretty scene she
made.
RODERICK
The coward!
CAPTAIN GROGAN
He has paid off your uncle's
mortgage. He gave Dorothy a coach-
and-six. That coward of a fellow
has been making of your uncle's
family. Faith, the business was
well done. Your cousins, Michael
and Harry, never let him out of
their sight, though he was for
deserting to England, until the
marriage was completed, and the
happy couple off on their road to
Dublin. Are you in want of cash, my
boy? You may draw upon me, for I got
a couple of hundred out of Master
Best for my share and, while they
last, you shall never want.
EXT. VARIOUS LOCATIONS - BRITISH ON THE MARCH - DAY
Roderick on the march.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Our regiment, which was quartered
about Stade and Luneberg, speedily
had got orders to march southwards
towards the Rhine, where we would
fight the famous battle of Minden.
It would require a greater
philosopher and historian than I am
to explain the causes of the famous
Seven Years' War in which Europe was
engaged, and, indeed, its origin has
always appeared to me to be so
complicated, and the books written
about it so amazingly hard to
understand, that I have seldom been
much wiser at the end of a chapter
than at the beginning, and so shall
not trouble you with any personal
disquisitions concerning the matter.
Various cuts featuring Roderick; marching, cooking at open
fires, gambling, resting in a farm yard, officers riding
by; shivering in his blanket.
EXT. BATTLEFIELD OF MINDEN - BATTLE FRAGMENT - DAY
Roderick and his company.
RODERICK (V.O.)
Were these memoirs not characterized
by truth, I might easily make myself
the hero of some strange and popular
adventures.
EXT. MINDEN - BATTLE FRAGMENTS - DAY
Officers ride by in smoke. Troops marching to the attack.
RODERICK (V.O.)
But I saw no one of the higher ranks
that day than my colonel and a
couple of orderly officers riding by
in the smoke -- no one on our side,
that is. A poor corporal is not
generally invited into the company
of commanders and the great.
Roderick advancing.
RODERICK (V.O.)
But, in revenge, I saw, I promise
you, some very good company on the
French part, for their regiments of
Lorraine and Royal Cravate were
charging us all day; and in the sort
of melee high and low are pretty
equally received. I hate bragging,
but I cannot help saying that I made
a very close acquaintance with the
colonel of the Cravates.
Roderick firing his musket. He bayonets a French colonel,
amidst shouts and curses.
RODERICK (V.O.)
And finished off a poor little
ensign, so young, slender, and
small, that a blow from my pigtail
would have dispatched him.
Roderick kills a French ensign with a blows from the butt
of his musket.
RODERICK (V.O.)
And in the poor ensign's pocket
found a purse of fourteen louis
d'or, and a silver box of sugar-
plums, of which the former present
was very agreeable to me.
Roderick taking money and the box of sugar-plums from the
ensign.
RODERICK (V.O.)
If people would tell their stories
of battles in this simple way, I
think the cause of truth would not
suffer by it. All I know of this
famous fight of Minden, except from
books, is told here above.
Captain Grogan is shot, cries out, and falls.
A brother captain turns to Lieutenant Lakenham.
CAPTAIN
Grogan's down; Lakenham, there's
your company.
RODERICK (V.O.)
That was all the epitaph my brave
patron got.
Roderick kneels above Grogan.
CAPTAIN GROGAN
I should have left you a hundred
guineas, Roderick, but for a cursed
run of ill-luck last night at faro.
He gives Roderick a faint squeeze of the hand; and, as the
word is given to advance, Roderick leaves him.
RODERICK (V.O.)
When we came back to our ground,
which we presently did, he was lying
still, but he was dead. Some of our
people had already torn off his
epaulets, and, no doubt, had rifled
his purse.
EXT. VARIOUS ROUGH RURAL LOCATIONS - DAY
Short cuts to voice over.
Roderick and British troops rape, pillage and burn.
RODERICK (V.O.)
After the death of my protector,
Captain Grogan, I am forced to
confess that I fell into the very
worst of courses and company. In a
foreign country, with the enemy
before us, and the people
continually under contribution from
one side or the other, numberless
irregularities were permitted to the
troops. It is well for gentlemen to
talk of the age of chivalry; but
remember the starving brutes whom
they lead -- men nursed in poverty,
entirely ignorant, made to take
pride in deeds of blood -- men who
can have no amusement but in
drunkenness, debauch, and plunder.
It is with these shocking
instruments that your great warriors
and kings have been doing their
murderous work in the world.
EXT. BATTLEFIELD - WARBURG - BATTLE FRAGMENTS - DAY
RODERICK (V.O.)
The year in which George II died,
our regiment had the honor to be
present at the Battle of Warburg,
where Prince Ferdinand once more
completely defeated the Frenchmen.
Lieutenant Lakenham is shot, falls, and cries for help.
RODERICK (V.O.)
During the action, my lieutenant,
Mr. Lakenham, of Lakenham, was
struck by a musket-ball in the side.
He had shown no want of courage in
this or any other occasion where he
had been called upon to act against
the French; but this was his first
wound, and the young gentleman was
exceedingly frightened by it.
LAKENHAM
Here, you, Roderick James. I will
pay you five guineas if you will
carry me into the town which is hard
by those woods.
Roderick and another man take him up in a cloak, and carry
him towards the nearby town of Warburg.
EXT. A FARMHOUSE - GERMAN STREET - WARBURG - DAY
In order to get into the house, Roderick and the other man
are obliged to fire into the locks with their pieces,
which summons brings the inhabitants of the house to the
door; a very pretty and black-eyed, young woman, and her
old, half-blinded father.
They are at first unwilling to accommodate the guest, but
Mr. Lakenham, speaking to them in German, and taking a
couple of guineas out of a very full purse, speedily
convinces the people that they have only to deal with a
person of honor.
INT. WARBURG FARMHOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY
They carry Lieutenant Lakenham to bed and receive their
five guineas.
RODERICK (V.O.)
We put the patient to bed, and he
paid me the stipulated reward. A
young surgeon, who desired nothing
better than to take himself out of
the fire of the musketry, came
presently to dress the wound.
In his German jargon, Roderick pays some deserved
compliments to the black-eyed beauty of Warburg, thinking,
with no small envy, how comfortable it would be to be
billeted there.
EXT. STREET - WARBURG - OUTSIDE THE FARMHOUSE - DAY
He starts back to the regiment, with his comrade, when the
man interrupts his reverie by suggesting they divide the
five guineas.
PRIVATE
I should get half.
RODERICK
Your share is one guinea.
Roderick gives him one guinea.
PRIVATE
He gave you five guineas, and I
bloody well expect half.
RODERICK
Go to the devil.
The private lifting his musket, hits Roderick a blow with
the butt-end of it, which sends him stunned to the ground,
allowing his comrade to take the other four guineas from
his pocket.
Recovering his senses, Roderick bleeding, with a large
wound in the head, has barely time to stagger back to the
house where he had just left the lieutenant, when he
falls fainting at the door, just as the surgeon exits.
INT. WARBURG FARMHOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY
Roderick is carried by the surgeon and the black-eyed
girl, into another bed in the room where the Lieutenant
has been laid.
LAKENHAM
(languidly, in pain)
Who are you putting into that bed?
LISCHEN
We have the Corporal, wounded, to
you bringing.
LAKENHAM
A corporal? Turn him out. Schicken
sie Herrn Koporal weg!
INT. WARBURG FARMHOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT AND DAY
Lischen brings Roderick a refreshing drink; and, as he
takes it, he presses the kind hand that gave it to him;
nor does this token of his gratitude seem unwelcome.
RODERICK (V.O.)
I found Lischen the tenderest of
nurses. Whenever any delicacy was
to be provided for the wounded
lieutenant, a share was always sent
to the bed opposite his, and to the
avaricious man's no small annoyance.
Lischen serving food.
Various cuts, representing different days.
Lakenham behaving as rottenly as Roderick describes:
RODERICK (V.O.)
Nor was I the only person in the
house to whom the worthy gentleman
was uncivil. He ordered the fair
Lischen hither and thither, made
impertinent love to her, abused her
soups, quarreled with her
omelettes, and grudged the money
which was laid out for his
maintenance, so that our hostess
detested him as much as, I think,
without vanity, as she regarded me.
Roderick making lover to Lischen while Lieutenant Lakenham
sulks in the next bed.
RODERICK (V.O.)
For if truth must be told, I had
made very deep love to her during my
stay under her roof, as is always my
way with women, of whatever age or
degree of beauty. Do not think me
very cruel and heartless, ladies;
this heart of Lischen's was like
many a town, which had been stormed
and occupied several times before I
came to invest it,
Roderick sitting up in bed. Lischen has just served him
his supper.
Enter a British officer, an aide who carries a notebook,
and a surgeon. In a brief scene to be written, we learn
that a sudden movement on the part of the French requires
the British army to follow them. The town is to be
evacuated, except for some Prussian line-of-communication
troops, whose surgeons are to visit the wounded in the
place; and, when they are well, they are to be drafted to
their regiments.
RODERICK (V.O.)
I began to reflect how pleasant my
quarters were to me, and that I was
much better here than crawling under
an odious tent with a parcel of
tipsy soldiers, or going the night-
rounds, or rising long before
daybreak for drill. I determined
that I never would join mine again.
EXT. VIEW OUT OF WARBURG FARMHOUSE WINDOW - DAY
Roderick stands by the window, watching English troops and
wagons leaving the town.
INT. WARBURG FARMHOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY
Roderick walks into Lakenham's room attired in his full
regimentals, and with his hat cocked over his left eye.
RODERICK
I'm promoted Lieutenant. I've come
to take my leave of you. I intend
to have your papers and purse.
LAKENHAM
You great scoundrel! You mutinous
dog! What do you mean by dressing
yourself in my regimentals? As sure
as my name's Lakenham, when we get
back to the regiment, I'll have your
soul cut out of your body.
With this, Roderick puts his hand under his pillow, at
which Lakenham gives a scream that might have called the
whole garrison about his ears.
Roderick threatens him with a knife at his throat.
RODERICK
Hark ye, sir! No more noise, or you
are a dead man!
Roderick, taking his handkerchief, binds it tight round
his mouth, and, pulling forward the sleeves of his shirt,
ties them in a knot together, and so leaves him, removing
the papers and the purse, and wishing him politely a good
day.
EXT. WARBURG FARMHOUSE - STREET - DAY
Lischen, waiting outside the house, with a saddled horse,
throws her arms around him, and makes the tenderest adieu.
Roderick mounts his newly-purchased animal, waves his hat
gallantly, and, prances away down the street.
EXT. ROAD - DAY
Roderick happily riding along a wooded country road,
rounds a blind bend and sees suddenly before him, about
two hundred yards away, a company of Prussian infantry
resting along the sides of the road, together with a dozen
mounted dragoons.
A quick calculation tells him that is is better to proceed
than to turn back, and he rides into their midst,
approaching a group of officers.
He presents himself as Lieutenant Lakenham and asks for
directions to join his regiment. He is told that he is
riding in the wrong direction, and is shown a map.
During the explanation, Captain Galgenstein approaches
with an open, smiling countenance, introduces himself, and
says he, too, is bound for the same place, and asks if
Roderick will honor him with his company.
To avoid suspicion, Roderick readily accepts the offer,
and the two men mount up, and ride off together.
EXT. ROAD - GERMANY - DAY
Roderick and Galgenstein riding together.
Dialogue under voice over.
RODERICK (V.O.)
My companion treated me with great
civility, and asked me a thousand
questions about England, which I
answered as best I might. But this
best, I am bound to say, was bad
enough. I knew nothing about
England, and I invented a thousand
stories which I told him; described
the king and the ministers to him,
said the British ambassador in
Berlin was my uncle, and promised my
acquaintance a letter of
recommendation to him.
CAPTAIN GALGENSTEIN
What is your uncle's name?
RODERICK
(slowly)
O'Grady.
CAPTAIN GALGENSTEIN
(with a laugh)
Oh, yes, of course, Ambassador
O'Grady...
EXT. DESOLATE GERMAN ROAD - DAY
Roderick and Captain Galgenstein. Their horses' heads
together, jogging on.
They pass a party of recruits under the armed guard of a
red-coated Hanoverian sergeant.
He exchanges signs of recognition with Captain
Galgenstein.
CAPTAIN GALGENSTEIN
It hurts my feelings to be obliged
to commune with such wretches, but
the stern necessities of war demand
men continually, and hence these
recruiters whom you see market in
human flesh. They get five-and-
twenty thaler a man from our
government for every man they bring
in. For fine men -- for men like
you.
(he adds laughing)
They would go as high as hundred.
EXT. DESOLATE GERMAN INN - LATE AFTERNOON
Roderick and Captain Galgenstein approach a very lonely-
looking place.
CAPTAIN GALGENSTEIN
This is a very good inn. Shall we
stop for dinner?
RODERICK
This may be a very good inn for
Germany, but it would not pass in
old Ireland. Corbach is only a
league off, let us push on for
Corbach.
CAPTAIN GALGENSTEIN
Do you want to see the loveliest
woman in Europe?
Roderick smiles.
CAPTAIN GALGENSTEIN
Ah! You sly rogue, I see that will
influence you.
RODERICK
The place seems more a farm than an
inn-yard.
CAPTAIN GALGENSTEIN
The people are great farmers, as
well as inn-keepers.
They enter by a great gate into a court, walled round, and
at on end of which is the building, a dingy ruinous place.
A couple of covered wagons are in the courtyard; their
horses are littered under a shed hard by.
Lounging about the place are some men, and a pair of
sergeants in the Prussian uniform, who both touch their
hats to the captain.
The inn has something foreboding about it, and the men
shut the great yard-gates as soon as they enter.
CAPTAIN GALGENSTEIN
