Black Beauty

Synopsis: Black Beauty, a beautiful black stallion in 1870s England, recalls his life from his birth through his carefree life as a colt to the many hardships he suffered after achieving maturity. He goes through many owners, both good and bad, until he finally finds happiness and contentment.
Director(s): Caroline Thompson
  1 win & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
6.6
G
Year:
1994
88 min
2,100 Views


The story of my life

is the story of the people in it.

I haven't always been as lucky

as I am now...

...in this delicious place of water...

...and grass and sunlight.

Mine is a story of trust and betrayal...

...and learning to trust again.

I remember everything.

I'm here, Duchess.

I'll help you.

Come on, old lass.

Come on, push.

Push!

It was cold and too bright

and strange out in the air.

But then my mother kissed me.

I wanted to be nearer to her.

Over here, little one. It's all right.

In the beginning, I stayed as close

to my mother as I possibly could.

As the weeks went by,

I still stayed right beside her...

...but I began to have my own ideas

of what we should do.

So much of the time,

she would just stand there.

Hurry up!

Let's go!

Come on, come on.

I don't like this.

I do not like this!

Don't fight me now.

Everything's changing.

Even I'm changing.

Come on.

A black coat's taking over my baby fur.

It's all happening too fast.

When I turned 3...

...my master sent me to spend the year

with a gang of other colts.

Now it was time.

Training.

The bit was the first thing.

Terrible bars of cold, hard steel

between your teeth and over your tongue.

If you've never had one in your mouth,

you can't imagine what a shock it is.

But thank heaven for oats!

When you're eating them,

you can forget the bit's nasty coldness...

...the bitter, metallic taste.

Delicious oats.

Sweet oats.

Lovely, crunchy oats.

Beautiful oats.

Splendid oats... ow!

Here. It's just a saddle.

It's choking me!

You can still move. Promise.

Nobody could walk with this.

Come back here with those oats.

At first, the iron shoes made

my feet feel stiff and heavy.

I said, "No!" But he said, "Go!"

Come on.

Once I discovered that he and I...

...that the two of us could become one...

...this business turned out to be

perfectly glorious!

It was now time for me

to go to a new home.

My mother was proud of me...

...and encouraged me.

She knew my master would only

let me go to good people.

But I would miss her.

Before long, a man came

to take me to Birtwick Park...

...to live with Squire Gordon's family.

Just a moment! Molly!

- Come here with that pony.

- Run, Merry. Faster!

Please stay inside.

You're still much too weak.

I won't break. I want to see him.

It's a horse. Nothing more, nothing less,

I promise.

A beautiful horse!

Beauty is as beauty does.

How was he, John?

Perfect, sir.

They were shooting rabbits near Highwood

and the guns went off.

He pulled at such, and looked,

but he didn't step off the path.

- Did you, young fella?

- What shall we call him?

We'll decide over tea.

You must get out of this air.

He's as black as ebony.

Ebony.

Ebony.

Sounds like "bones. "

Settle him in the stables.

Pleasure, sir.

We'll call him Blackbird,

after your uncle's old horse.

But Blackbird was ugly

and mean-tempered.

- Wait. You've already named him.

- Pardon?

- "Beauty is as beauty does. "

- That's not a name.

Yes, it is. Beauty.

Black Beauty.

A new name...

...a new home...

...and a stable full of new horses to meet.

She'll be all right.

She was ill-tempered.

She was mean-spirited.

She was vicious.

She was the most beautiful creature

I'd ever seen.

I hate Alfred.

Me too.

Let me down!

Charge!

Lazy pony!

Move!

Stop it!

Move along!

Merrylegs!

- Quick, Merrylegs!

- Run!

Keep running, Merrylegs!

Mine too.

Open mine too!

Merrylegs.

What a perfect name for the little fellow.

Leave him alone!

Whoa there, Joe!

Better let young Joe catch him,

Master Alfred.

He needs the practice.

Go on now. Round them up.

Thank you for offering to help.

I expect it's time for your tea now, isn't it?

Yes, I expect it is.

Tea time, girls.

Jessica, Molly, come along!

It's a good thing John came along

when he did.

It certainly is.

Joe had a good heart...

...but really not a clue.

Stand still, will you?

Stop running.

Come on, everybody!

What a wonderful place.

I flew down to her.

I knew it would be magic between us.

Hey! Wait a second.

What do you think you're doing?

Please!

Easy, Ginger, easy.

- What's the matter with her?

- They must've battered her.

We treat her well and give her her head,

she'll come round, surely enough.

Back him on in.

Kind treatment makes good horses, Joe.

Bad treatment ruins them.

Straighten him out.

I can't.

Yes, you can.

Was I ever going to win her affection?

When we came to the hill...

...instead of slowing down

and leaving me to do the work...

...she threw her weight into the collar

and pulled away, straight up.

Our paces matched perfectly.

I was sure that afterwards,

things would be different between us.

They were.

They were worse.

Now she ignored me completely.

I bounded.

I leaped to the sky!

I tried everything to get her attention.

Even though I was new...

...the squire and John trusted me to

get them safely back from town...

...no matter how terrible the storm.

The wild branches tried to grab me.

The rain stung my eyes

like a thousand bees!

Keep moving, Beauty!

The bridge was flooded.

But it looked safe.

As I reached the middle,

I knew at once that something was wrong.

Beauty, forward!

Go forward!

Everything inside me screamed

not to go any further.

Go forward!

I wanted to obey him but he was wrong.

I know, chum. I know.

How can I make you understand?

We can't go near there!

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

Caroline Thompson

Caroline Thompson (born April 23, 1956) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer. She wrote the screenplays for Tim Burton's films Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Corpse Bride. She co-wrote the story for Edward Scissorhands and recently co-adapted a new stage version of the film with director and choreographer Matthew Bourne. Thompson also adapted the screenplay for the film version of Wicked Lovely, a bestselling fantasy series, in 2011, but the production was put into turnaround. more…

All Caroline Thompson scripts | Caroline Thompson Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Black Beauty" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/black_beauty_4157>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.