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Unforgiven
film poster by Bill Gold
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Produced by	Clint Eastwood
Written by	David Webb Peoples
Starring	Clint Eastwood Gene Hackman Morgan Freeman Richard Harris
Music by	Lennie Niehaus
Cinematography	Jack N. Green
Editing by	Joel Cox
Studio	Malpaso Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	August 7, 1992 (1992-08-07)
Running time	131 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Gross revenue	$159,157,447

Unforgiven is a 1992 Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming. A dark Western that deals frankly with the uglier aspects of violence and the myth of the Old West, it stars Eastwood in the lead role, along with Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett, Saul Rubinek and Frances Fisher.

Eastwood dedicated the movie to deceased directors and mentors Don Siegel and Sergio Leone. The film won four Academy Awards including Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture. Eastwood himself was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, but he lost to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman. Unforgiven was inducted into the United States National Film Registry in 2004.

In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten Top Ten," the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Unforgiven was acknowledged as the fourth best film in the western genre.^[1][2] beat only by Shane, High Noon, and The Searchers.

Eastwood stated that this would be his last western film.^{[citation needed]}

Plot

A group of prostitutes in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, offers a $1000 reward to whoever can kill two cowboys who disfigured one of them (Anna Levine). This upsets the local sheriff, a former gunfighter known as Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), who doesn't allow guns or assassins in his town.

Miles away, in Kansas, the Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett), an arrogant and boastful young man, visits the farm of William Munny (Clint Eastwood), seeking to recruit him to kill the cowboys. In his youth, Munny was an infamous bandit, killer and drinker, but is now a widower raising two children on a pig farm. Though Munny initially refuses to help with the assassination, his pigs are sick, putting his children's future in jeopardy, so he reconsiders a few days later and sets off to catch up with the Kid. On his way, Munny recruits Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman), another retired gunfighter who reluctantly leaves his wife to go along on the hit.

Back in Wyoming, gunfighter English Bob (Richard Harris) and his biographer W.W. Beauchamp (Saul Rubinek) arrive in Big Whiskey, also seeking the reward. Little Bill and his deputies disarm English Bob and Little Bill savagely beats him in the street, hoping to set an example for other would-be assassins. While Bob is in jail, Little Bill plays a psychological game in which Beauchamp is allowed to present a firearm to Bob who refuses to take it, thinking it is unloaded. Bob is at first visibly upset when Bill unloads five cartridges from the revolver making it seem that the gun was indeed loaded, but his suspicion was proven right as the sixth chamber(which would have been the indexed chamber, had Bob taken and fired the pistol) was shown to be empty. The next morning, Bob is ejected from town, however Beauchamp decides to stay and write about Little Bill, who has impressed him with his tales of old gunfights and seeming knowledge of the inner workings of a gunfighter's psyche.

Munny, Logan and the Kid arrive in Big Whiskey amid a rain storm and head to the whorehouse to find out where the cowboys are. Munny has a bad fever after riding in the rain, and is sitting alone in the saloon when Little Bill and his deputies arrive to confront him. Little Bill has no idea who Munny is. Little Bill informs Munny that firearms aren't allowed in Big Whiskey and asks him if he is carrying any and who he is, Munny gives him a false name and tells him he isn't carrying firearms. Bill searches Munny and discovers his gun, so he beats him up and kicks him into the street. Logan and the Kid, who are upstairs getting "advances" on their payment from the prostitutes, escape out a window when they realize the law is on to them.

The three regroup at a barn outside of town, where they nurse Munny back to health. Three days later, the men ambush a group of cowboys in the canyons and kill one of the targets — though it becomes apparent that Logan and Munny no longer have much stomach for murder. Logan decides he won't stick around to kill the second cowboy and sets off back home. Munny and the Kid head to the cowboys' ranch, where the Kid ambushes the second target in an outhouse and shoots him dead. After the two men escape from the ranch, the now distraught Kid confesses he had never killed anyone before the shootout.

When a prostitute meets the two men to give them their reward money, they learn that Logan was captured by Little Bill's men before he got out of the county. He was beat to death, but not before giving up the identities of his two accomplices and informing them that Munny would come and kill them. When he learns of his friend's death, Munny takes a swig from the Kid's bottle of whiskey. An alcoholic in his past life, Munny had until this point refused all offers of drink. The Kid heads back to Kansas to deliver the reward money to Munny and Logan's families, while Munny heads into town to get revenge for Logan's death.

That night, Logan's corpse is displayed outside the whorehouse/saloon to make an example to all assassins. Inside, Little Bill has assembled a posse to pursue Munny and the Kid. Munny walks straight into the saloon with a double-barreled shotgun and shoots Skinny Dubois the owner/pimp. Little Bill insults Munny calling him a "cowardly son of a bitch" and says "You'd be William Munny out of Missouri, killer of women and children". Munny aims the shotgun right at Little Bill and says "That's right, I've killed women and children, I've killed just about everything that walked or crawled at one time or another, and I'm here to kill you Little Bill, for what you did to Ned". Bill, whose primary weapon is psychology, believes that Munny will back down in the face of mutual destruction just as English Bob and so many others had. He announces to everyone else that after Munny has fired his final shot at Bill to "Pick up your pistols and shoot him down like the mangy scoundrel he is". After a tense moment, Munny fires to Bill's great surprise. However, the shot is a misfire: Munny then hurls the shotgun at Little Bill who draws his gun and fires but misses. A wild gunfight ensues, in which Munny shoots five men, including Little Bill who is shot in the gut, without taking a single hit. When the shooting stops, Munny orders "Any man who don't wanna get shot, better clear on out the back", then starts drinking whiskey at the bar, surrounded by corpses.

Mr. Beauchamp crawls out from behind a body and asks Munny details about the gunfight — who he shot first and why. Munny asks Beauchamp to hand him a Spencer rifle with shells. Beauchamp is obviously more impressed with Munny than either English Bob or Little Bill, but when asked too many questions about the order of who he killed, Munny threatens Beauchamp, telling him "All I can tell ya is who's gonna be last".

Little Bill, it turns out, was only wounded in the shootout. Munny disarms him when he tries to cock his gun in an attempt to kill Munny. As Munny prepares to execute Little Bill, Bill desperately tries to convince him that he deserves to live but Munny simply replies "Deserves got nothin' to do with it" . The two look each other square in the eyes as Little Bill angrily says "I'll see you in hell William Munny" and Munny simply nods his head and shoots Little Bill in the face.

As he leaves the bar, Munny shouts out that "You'd better bury Ned right, or I'll come back and kill every one of you sons of bitches". A deputy across the street is too frightened to take a shot at Munny as he rides away. The final scene is a silhouette of Munny's pig farm. Text scrolls by on the screen, telling us that Munny was later rumored to have moved to San Francisco and "prospered in dry goods".

Reception

Critical response was very positive, and the film is 'Certified Fresh' by rottentomatoes.com, with a 96% approval rating among reviews. Many critics acclaimed the film for its noir-ish moral ambiguity and atmosphere.^[3] They also acclaimed it as a fitting eulogy to the western genre. However, the film was not without its critics: Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, though the latter still gave it a positive vote, both criticized the picture for being too long and having too many superfluous characters (such as Harris's English Bob, who enters and leaves without ever meeting the protagonists). Roger Ebert did, however, eventually include the film in his "Great Movies" list.^[4]

Cast

• Clint Eastwood as Will Munny
• Gene Hackman as Little Bill Daggett
• Morgan Freeman as Ned Logan
• Richard Harris as English Bob
• Jaimz Woolvett as The Schofield Kid
• Saul Rubinek as W.W. Beauchamp
• Frances Fisher as Strawberry Alice
• Anna Levine as Delilah Fitzgerald (credited as Anna Thomson)
• David Mucci as Quick Mike
• Rob Campbell as Davey Bunting
• Anthony James as Skinny Dubois
• Tara Frederick as Little Sue (credited as Tara Dawn Frederick)
• Beverley Elliott as Silky
• Liisa Repo-Martell as Faith
• Josie Smith as Crow Creek Kate
• Shane Meier as Will Munny's son

Awards and honors

Academy Awards

Others

The film makes an appearance in the American Film Institute's 100 years, 100 movies. In 2005, Time.com named it one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years.

It was also admitted to the National Film Registry in 2004, and is one of the few westerns to be so honored.

The film trailer music for Unforgiven was composed in 1992 by Randy J. Shams and Tim Stithem.

American Film Institute recognition

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies #98
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) #68
• AFI's 10 Top 10 #4 Western

The movie poster for Unforgiven won its designer, longtime Eastwood collaborator Bill Gold, the prestigious 1992 Key Art award from The Hollywood Reporter magazine.^[5]

Historical details

• In the movie, Schofield Kid said he was named after his Schofield Revolver.

Notes

External links

• Unforgiven at the Internet Movie Database
• Unforgiven at Allmovie
• Unforgiven at Rotten Tomatoes
• Unforgiven at Box Office Mojo
• Unforgiven at Filmsite.org
• Unforgiven at the Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films list
• Psychoanalytic review of Unforgiven

From Wikiquote

Unforgiven is a 1992 Western film which tells the story of a retired gunslinger who takes on one more job in order to avenge a prostitute who was brutally slashed.

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Written by David Webb Peoples.

Will Munny

• [to Delilah] What I said the other day, you looking like me, that ain't true. You ain't ugly like me, it's just that we both have got scars.

• All right now, I'm comin' out. Any man I see out there, I'm gonna kill him. Any sumbitch takes a shot at me, I'm not only gonna kill him, but I'm gonna kill his wife. All his friends. Burn his damn house down.

• You better bury Ned right; and don't go cuttin' up... nor otherwise harm no whores, or I'll come back and kill every one of you sons-a-bitches.

• Any man don't wanna get killed... better clear on out the back.

• Who's the fella owns this shithole? (pause) You, fat man. Speak up.

• I'm Will Munny and I've killed women and children. I've killed everything that walks or crawls at one time or another. And I'm here to kill you, Little Bill, for what you done to Ned.

• It's a hell of a thing, killin' a man. Take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna have.

Little Bill Daggett

• Now Ned, them whores are going to tell different lies than you. And when their lies ain't the same as your lies... Well, I ain't gonna hurt no woman. But I'm gonna hurt you. And not gentle like before... but bad.

• You been talking about that queen , again? [punches him] On Independence Day?

• [kicking English Bob] I guess you think I'm kicking you, Bob. But it ain't so. What I'm doing is talking, you hear? I'm talking to all those villains down there in Kansas. I'm talking to all those villains in Missouri. And all those villains down there in Cheyenne. And what I'm saying is there ain't no whore's gold. And if there was, how they wouldn't want to come looking for it anyhow.

• [Sending English Bob on his way after beating and jailing him] I suppose you know, Bob, if I ever see you again I'm just going to start shooting and figure it was self-defense.

• Look son, being a good shot, being quick with a pistol, that don't do no harm, but it don't mean much next to being cool-headed. A man who will keep his head and not get rattled under fire, like as not, he'll kill ya. It ain't so easy to shoot a man anyhow, especially if the son-of-a-bitch is shootin' back at you.

• [After Munny's gun doesn't go off] Misfire. Kill that son of a bitch.

• [With William Munny's shotgun pointed at himself] Alright Gentlemen. He's got one barrel left. And when he fires that, take out your pistols and shoot him down like the mangy scoundrel he is!

Others

• English Bob: [discussing the assassination of President Garfield] If you were to try to assassinate a king, sir, the, how shall I say it, the aura of royalty would cause you to miss. But, a president, [chuckles] I mean, why not shoot a president?

• English Bob: A plague on you. A plague on the whole stinking lot of ya, without morals or laws. And all you whores got no laws. You got no honor. It's no wonder you all emigrated to America, because they wouldn't have you in England. You're a lot of savages, that's what you all are. A bunch of bloody savages. A plague on you. I'll be back.

• Clyde: [about the house the Sheriff's building] You know, he don't have a straight angle in that whole god-damned porch, or the whole house for that matter. He is the worst damn carpenter.

• Skinny Dubois: You know how women lie.

• Strawberry Alice: Just because we let them smelly fools ride us like horses don't mean we gotta let 'em brand us like horses. Maybe we ain't nothing but whores but we, by god, we ain't horses.

Dialogue

Will Munny: I ain't like that no more. I ain't the same, Ned. Claudia, she straightened me up, cleared me of drinkin' whiskey and all. Just 'cause we're goin' on this killing, that don't mean I'm gonna go back to bein' the way I was. I just need the money, get a new start for them youngsters. Ned, you remember that drover I shot through the mouth and his teeth came out the back of his head? I think about him now and again. He didn't do anything to deserve to get shot, at least nothin' I could remember when I sobered up.

Ned Logan: You were crazy, Will.

Will Munny: Yeah, no one liked me. Mountain boys all thought I was gonna shoot 'em out of pure meanness.

Ned Logan: Well, like you said, you ain't like that no more.

Will Munny: That's right. I'm just a fella now. I ain't no different than anyone else no more.

Little Bill Daggett: It's been a long time, Bob. You run out of Chinamen?

English Bob: Little Bill, well I thought you was, well I thought that you were dead. I see you've shaved your chin whiskers off.

Little Bill Daggett: I was tasting the soup two hours after I ate it.

English Bob: Well, actually, what I heard was that you fell off your horse, drunk of course, and that you broke your bloody neck.

Little Bill Daggett: I heard that one myself, Bob. Hell, I even thought I was dead 'til I found out it was just that I was in Nebraska.

Little Bill Daggett: [telling the real story of English Bob's gunfight] Well, that bullet whizzin' by panicked Corky, an' he done the wrong thing! Pulled his gun in such a damn hurry he shot off his own toe. Meantime, Bob aims good and squeezes off another... but he's still so damned drunk he misses an' hits this thousand dollar mirror behind the bar.

Well, now the Duck of Death is as good as dead 'cause this time Corky does it right an' aims real good, no hurry... Bam! That Walker Colt blew up in his hand... which was a failing common to that model. Now if Corky would have really had two guns instead of just a big dick he could have defended himself to the end.

W.W. Beauchamp: You mean Bob shot him after his hand had been...

Little Bill Daggett: Well he wasn't gonna wait for Corky to grow a new hand. He walked over real close, 'cause he was drunk, an' shot him [makes popping sound] right through the liver.

Ned Logan: Hell, Will. We ain't bad men no more. Shit, we're farmers.

Will Munny: Should be easy killing them, supposing they don't go on down to Texas first.

Ned Logan: How long has it been since you fired a gun at a man, Will? Nine, ten years?

Will Munny: Eleven.

Ned Logan: Easy, huh? Hell, I don't know that it was all that easy even back then. And we was young and full of beans. I mean, if you was mad at 'em, Will, I mean. If they'd done you some wrong, I could see shooting 'em.

Will Munny: We done stuff for money before, Ned.

Ned Logan: Yeah, we thought we did. All right, so what did these fellas do? Cheat at cards? Steal some strays? Spit on a rich fella? What?

Will Munny: No, they cut up a woman.

Ned Logan: What?

Will Munny: Yeah, they cut up her face, cut her eyes out, cut her fingers off, cut her teats, everything but her cunny, I suppose.

Ned Logan: I'll be dogg - Golly, I guess they got it comin'. 'Course, you know, Will, if Claudia was alive you wouldn't be doin' this.

Will Munny: I seen 'em, Ned, I seen the angel of death, he's got snake eyes.

Ned Logan: Who Will, who's got snake eyes?

Will Munny: It's the angel of death, oh Ned, I'm scared of dyin'.

Ned Logan: Easy, partner, easy.

Will Munny: I see Claudia too.

Ned Logan: That's good, Will, that's good you saw Claudia, ain't it?

Will Munny: Her face was all covered with worms, oh Ned I'm scared, I'm dyin'. Don't tell nobody, don't tell my kids, none of the things I done, hear me?

Ned Logan: All right, Will.

The Schofield Kid: Like I was saying, you don't look no meaner-than-hell, cold-blooded, damn killer.

Will Munny: Maybe I ain't.

The Schofield Kid: Yeah, well, Uncle Pete says you was the meanest goddamn son-of-a-bitch alive, and if I ever wanted a partner for a killin', you were the worst one. Meaning the best, on account as your'e as cold as the snow and you don't have no weak nerve nor fear.

Will Munny: Pete said that, huh?

The Schofield Kid: Yeah, yeah he did. I'm a damn killer myself, 'cept, uh, I ain't killed as many as you on account of my youth.

Ned Logan: I sure do miss my bed.

Will Munny: You said that last night.

Ned Logan: No last night I said I missed my wife, tonight I just miss my dadgummed bed.

Delilah Fitzgerald: Are you still goin' to kill those men?

Will Munny: I reckon so. The money's still available, ain't it?

Delilah Fitzgerald: Yeah. Your two friends have been taking advances on the money.

Will Munny: What?

Delilah Fitzgerald: You know, free ones.

[Will looks confused]

Delilah Fitzgerald: Alice and Silky been givin' them free ones. Would you like a free one?

Will Munny: I reckon not.

Delilah Fitzgerald: [Misunderstanding Will] I didn't mean with me. Alice and Silky would be glad to give you one.

Will Munny: I meant I didn't want a free one with Alice or Silky. Because of my wife back home. I reckon if I was to want a free one, it would be with you.

Will Munny: Wanna help me count this, kid?

The Schofield Kid: I trust you.

Will Munny: Don't go trusting me too much.

Will Munny: Hell of a thing, killin' a man. You take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have.

The Schofield Kid: Yeah, well, I guess he had it comin'.

Will Munny: We all got it comin', kid.

The Schofield Kid: I ain't never killed no one before that, Will.

Will Munny: Well you sure killed the hell outta this one today.

The Schofield Kid: That was the first one... first one I ever killed. You know how I said I shot five men? It weren't true. That Mexican that come at me with a knife, I just busted his leg with a shovel. I didn't kill him or nothing, neither.

The Schofield Kid: [referring to his gun] You go on, keep it. I'm never gonna use it again. I won't kill nobody no more. I ain't like you, Will... [indicating the money] Go on, keep it. All of it. It's yours.

Will Munny: What about the spectacles and fancy clothes?

The Schofield Kid: I guess I'd rather be blind and ragged than dead.

Will Munny: You don't have to worry, Kid. I ain't gonna kill you. You're the only friend I got. Here, take this money and give my half and Ned's half to my kids. Tell 'em if I ain't back in a week, they give half to Sally Two Trees. You keep the rest. You can get them spectacles now.

Strawberry Alice: You just kicked the shit out of an innocent man.

Little Bill Daggett: Innocent? Innocent of what?

Will Munny: Who's the fella owns this shithole?

WIll Munny: (To Fatty) You, fat man, speak up.

Skinny Dubois: Uh, I own this establishment. I bought the place from Greeley for a...thousand dollars.

Will Munny: (To the men behind Skinny) You better clear out of there

Man: Yes sir

Little Bill Daggett: (As Munny takes aim) Just hold it right there...HOLD IT!

[Munny shoots him]

Little Bill Daggett: You, sir, are a cowardly son of a bitch! You just shot an unarmed man.

Will Munny: Well he should have armed himself if he's gonna decorate his saloon with my friend.

Little Bill Daggett: You'd be William Munny out of Missouri; killer of women and children.

Will Munny: That's right. I've killed women and children. I've killed just about everything that walks or crawls at one time or another; and I'm here to kill you Little Bill for what you did to Ned.

Little Bill Daggett: [walking toward Will] All right boys, he's only got one barrel left. When he fires, take out your pistols and shoot him down like the mangy scoundrel he is!

Davey: I'm dyin' boys. Jesus, I'm so thirsty.

Will Munny: Give him a drink of water, goddamn it. Will you give him a drink of water for Christ's sake? We ain't gonna shoot.

Bill Daggett: I don't deserve this… to die like this. I was building a house.

Will Munny: ''''Deserve's got nothin' to do with it.'''' [aims gun]

Little Bill Daggett: I'll see you in hell, William Munny.

Will Munny: Yeah. [fires]

W.W. Beauchamp: Who'd you kill first? Was it Little Bill? When confronted by superior numbers, an experienced gunfighter will *always* fire on the best shot first.

Will Munny: Is that a fact?

W.W. Beauchamp: [Nods]

Will Munny: I was lucky in the order, but I've always been lucky when it comes to killin' folks.

Cast

• Clint Eastwood - Will Munny
• Gene Hackman - Little Bill Daggett
• Morgan Freeman - Ned Logan
• Richard Harris - English Bob
• Jaimz Woolvett - The Schofield Kid
• Saul Rubinek - W.W. Beauchamp
• Frances Fisher - Strawberry Alice

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

Unforgiven

• Unforgiven quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Unforgiven at Rotten Tomatoes