DANCES WITH WOLVES
Written by
Michael Blake
MAY 23, 1989
Final Draft
INT. FIELD HOSPITAL TENT – DAY
A black screen.
The sound of a knife cutting through boot leather.
Fade in on the waists of two men (THE SURGEONS) hovering
around a crude operating table.
In the extreme background, TWO STRETCHER BEARERS are just
leaving.
SURGEON 1 (O.S.)
Is this the last one?
One of the bearers stops and looks back. His face is numb.
And he nods hollowly.
We cannot see the patient stretched out on the table. But we
do see that the first surgeon has succeeded in getting the
man’s boot off.
SURGEON 2 (O.S.)
God, what a mess… at least there’s
no gangrene.
SURGEON 1 (O.S.)
There will be if it doesn’t come
off.
SURGEON 2 (O.S.)
Well I can’t saw if I can’t keep my
eyes open. Let’s coffee up… he
can wait a few more minutes.
As the TWO SURGEONS duck through a tent flap in the background
we see a mangled foot, torn by shrapnel, it oozes blood from
a cut clear to the bone.
LIEUTENANT JOHN J. DUNBAR’S eyes are now open. He’s a young
man, his features sharp and handsome. With effort, he lifts
his head and searches the room.
His eyes come to rest on the form of a legless man lying in
bloodsoaked sheets. He’s whimpering like a child.
Dunbar comes to a sitting position on the operating table.
As his eyes move around the room they come to rest on a crate
filled with the boots of men who have lost their legs.
A cane travels through space and deftly hooks one of the
boots.
Lieutenant Dunbar brings the boot onto the operating table.
He tries to pull it on his mangled foot, but the pain makes
him cry out. Deliberately he breaks the cane and sticks a
piece of it between his teeth.
Tears of pain are rolling down his face. A sweat has broken
out on his forehead and with great determination he pulls
the boot on.
EXT. FIELD HOSPITAL TENT – DAY
The two weary surgeons sip on steaming mugs of coffee, their
white coats spattered with blood. Their brief respite is
interrupted by the sound of a muffled scream.
Together they turn and rush back into the tent.
INT. FIELD HOSPITAL TENT – DAY
The operating table is empty save the broken cane and a small
pool of blood. Dunbar is gone.
LEGEND: ST. DAVID’S FIELD, TENNESSEE – 1862
EXT. CIVIL WAR HILL – DAY
In a natural valley below is a peaceful field. And on either
side of the field, seperated by a hundred yards of green,
are low rock walls.
Several dairy cows are lying dead in the field.
A group of MOUNTED UNION OFFICERS, ride onto the crest of
the hill and look down at the field. The distinguished man
with a long grey beard is GENERAL TIDE.
EXT. CONFEDERATE WALL – DAY
Ragged CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS crouch sullenly behind one of
the walls.
EXT. UNION WALL – DAY
And just behind the other wall are UNION MEN, better equipped
perhaps, but just as weary as their enemies.
We hold on one man, an enlisted soldier, SERGEANT PEPPER. He
chances to glance behind and squints at a strange sight.
A solitary officer is standing a few feet behind him. The
sun is at his back, giving him a ghostly feel. Eerily he
takes a step or two forward. He’s limping badly.
The sergeant recognizes him. It’s Dunbar.
PEPPER
Lieutenant… izat you?
Dunbar says nothing. He just stands and stares. It unnerves
the sergeant.
PEPPER
What’re you doing here lieutenant?
DUNBAR
This is where I belong… this is my
outfit.
The sergeant stares at Dunbar’s foot.
PEPPER
You went to hospital?
DUNBAR
It was no good… what’s going on
here?
A ping of riflefire flies overhead and the sergeant dives
for the wall. He calls over his shoulder.
PEPPER
Better come to cover lieutenant…
those boys are shooters.
Dunbar settles next to the sergeant.
PEPPER
What’s goin’ on here… seems to be
the question alright… you could
ask the major but he don’t know.
He’s busy tryin’ to figger out how
come the officer’s mess run outta
peach ice cream…
The sergeant nods at the distant hill and Dunbar looks too.
PEPPER
General’s come up to see the show
but all he knows is there ain’t no
show…
Now he nods toward the trees behind them and the lieutenant
follows. Several union men are clustered around a huge hunk
of material attached to a gondola.
PEPPER
We started a balloon up but they
shot her down fore she was ten feet
off the ground… so nobody’s made a
run either way. It’s been a stand-
off all damn day… and now… the
major, he’s lookin’ at the general
and he’s thinkin’ I better do
somethin’, and you know what that
means…
More riflefire comes in and some of the union men answer
with a few rounds of their own. The sergeant watches the
confederate line across the field through a crack in the
wall.
Lieutenant Dunbar is not watching the enemy. He’s looking at
some horses picketed in the trees behind the union lines.
There’s a nice bay. There’s a big roan.
PEPPER
They’re ‘sposed to be beat up just
like us but everybody knows that
Tucker’s men are tough as cobs. I
sure don’t wanna die out there with
them cows.
Dunbar is still watching the horses. He’s holding on a small,
well-muscled buckskin standing a little apart from the others.
CISCO.
Now he moves away from the wall, heading for the horses.
The sergeant squeezes off a shot. Squinting across the field,
he sees a rifle with a hat on the tip of its bayonet waving
at him disrespectfully. The sergeant rolls on his side to
reload. He keeps on talking to the lieutenant, but the
lieutenant is gone.
PEPPER
Some of the boys are sayin’ that if
we ain’t gonna fight we could just
settle the whole business with a
little high stakes poker. Wouldn’t
that be a sight… a bunch of fellas
sittin’ in the middle of this field
drawin’ cards…