Voila! Finally, the Fahrenheit 451
script is here for all you quotes spouting fans of the François Truffaut
movie based on the Ray Bradbury novel. This script is a transcript that was painstakingly
transcribed using the screenplay and/or viewings of Fahrenheit 451. 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.
An Enterprise Vineyard
production.
Oskar Werner,
Julie Christie...
In
Fahrenheit 451
Co-starring: Cyril Cusack,
Anton Diffring,
Jeremy Spenser,
Bee Duffeil, Alex Scott.
Screenplay by François Truffaut
and Jean-Louis Richard.
From a novel
by Ray Bradbury.
Music by Bernard Herman.
Director of Photography:
Nicholas Rowe.
Colour by Technicolor.
Art Director:
Sid Caine.
Production and Costume Design
Consultant: Tony Walton.
Film Editor:
Thom Noble.
Associate Producer:
Mickey Delamar.
Produced by Lewis M. Allen.
Directed by François Truffaut.
Hello.
- Get out! Hurry!
- What? Who is that?
Get moving! For god's
sake, get out of there!
Hello?
Montag, here.
Well... What sort
were these then, Montag?
I didn't really look, sir.
A little bit of everything.
- Novels, biographies, adventure stories.
- Oh, routine, eh?
Why will they do it?
It's sheer perversity.
By the way...
What does Montag do
with his day off duty?
Not very much, sir.
Mow the lawn.
And what if the law
forbids that?
Just watch it grow, sir.
Uh-huh.
Good.
Good. Montag might be hearing
some exciting news in a day or two.
Benedict won't be with us
very much longer,
- And Montag's name has been mentioned.
- Promotion, sir?
I trust that the thought
makes Montag happy.
I think we're neighbours.
I live near block .
Isn't that where you live? Yes, I do.
Do you know we make the same
trip together almost every day?
Do we?
Hmm.
That's why
I thought to myself,
Well, we ought
to talk to each other.
Do you mind?
Me talking, I mean.
No, no, go ahead.
Talk.
I can't promise to think of
anything to answer though.
Don't worry about that.
Once I get started,
nothing can stop me.
My uncle says I am
a veritable well of words.
Has this uncle of yours ever warned
you never to speak to strangers?
No. He did say once if
anyone asked how old I was...
To say I was years old
and light in the head.
- They always go together.
- "Light in the head"?
Mmm.
Loopy. Crazy.
Anyway,
you don't frighten me.
- Why should I?
- No reason really.
The uniform, I suppose.
Most people are...
Frightened,
- frightened of firemen.
- This is my stop now.
Mine too.
- Are you an officer?
- Oh, no. Not yet.
An officer has to...
I'm going to be promoted soon.
Even with my eyes closed, I
could tell what you do for a job.
- Because of the smell of kerosene?
- Huh.
Quite a scent,
isn't it?
My wife doesn't like it very
much. She says it lingers.
I don't mind. I think
of it as a... Perfume.
- Perfume?
- Yes, a perfume, like any other.
I don't think I've seen
your wife. What's she like?
She's rather like you,
except her hair is long.
- Rather like me?
- Quite like you.
Tell me, that number
you all wear, what's it mean?
Oh, Fahrenheit 451
Why rather than
or ?
Fahrenheit 451 is the
temperature at which...
book paper catches fire
and starts to burn.
I'd like to ask you something
else, only I don't really dare.
Go ahead.
Is it true...
that a long time ago...
firemen used to put out fires
and not burn books?
Really, your uncle is right.
You are light in the head.
"Put fires out"?
Who told you that?
- I don't know. Someone. But is it true?
- What a strange idea.
- Houses have always been fireproof.
- Ours isn't.
Well, then, it should be
condemned one of these days.
It has to be destroyed,
and you will have to move...
to a house that is fireproof.
Too bad.
Tell me,
why do you burn books?
What?
Well, it's a job
like any other.
Good work with lots
of variety.
Monday, we burn Miller; Tuesday,
Tolstoy; Wednesday, Walt Whitman;
Friday, Faulkner; and Saturday
and Sunday, Schopenhauer and Sartre.
"We burn them to ashes
and then burn the ashes."
That's our official motto.
You don't like books then?
- Do you like the rain?
- Yes, I adore it.
Books are just
so much... rubbish.
They have no interest.
Then why do some people still read
them although it's so dangerous?
Precisely because
it is forbidden.
Why is it forbidden?
Because it makes
people unhappy.
Do you really
believe that?
Oh, yes. Books
disturb people.
They make them
antisocial.
Do you think
I'm antisocial?
Why do you ask?
Well...
I'm a teacher.
Well, not quite.
I'm still on probation.
This afternoon
the analyst called me in,
And I don't think
I said the right things.
I'm not at all happy
about my answers.
That's probably why I've been so
rude to you. Have I been annoying you?
Oh, no,
not at all.
In fact, I was questioned
this afternoon as well.
I didn't do
too well either.
This is where I live.
You see?
This is my house.
- One more question.
- Another one?
- Just a tiny one.
- What is it?
Do you ever read
the books you burn?
Why should I? First,
I'm not interested.
Second, I've better things
to do. Third, it is forbidden.
Of course.
- You happy?
- What?
Of course I'm happy.
...so you can protect
yourself on the streets.
The art of self-defence,
and of attack on occasions,
may also come in handy
in the home, cousins.
If you watch carefully,
you will see...
how a woman can use a man's
superior weight to her own advantage.
Did you see that?
Now let's watch that
once again normally.
And now
in slow motion.
Watch it carefully
again, cousins.
I'm going to be promoted.
Are you listening, Linda?
Oh, that's marvellous,
Montag.
The captain told me
while we were out on a call.
What did you say?
I'm talking
about my promotion.
Does that mean
an increase, dear?
- How much?
- He didn't mention that.
We could move to a larger
house. Would you like that?
I'd rather have
a second wall-set put in.
They say when you have
your second wall-screen,
It's like having
your family grow around you.
Linda, how many of these pills
have you taken today?
What's that?
Oh, those. Help yourself.
I've got another bottle.
- How many have you had?
- Oh, don't carry on like that. Only a few.
Anyway,
tonight's special for me.
I've got a part in the family.
What?
Today's figures for operations
in the urban area alone...
Account for the elimination
of the total...
Of pounds
of conventional editions.
Eight hundred and thirty-six
pounds of first editions...
And pounds of manuscripts
were also destroyed.
Twenty-three antisocial elements
were detained, pending re-education.
Did you see that? Cousin
Claudette's got a bouffant tonight.
- Who?
- Cousin Claudette.
- Who is cousin Claudette?
- The cousin announcer. The one you don't like.
I don't like
any of them.
Why don't you get the
kitchen fixed? You are awful.
Oh, hurry, hurry!
I'll be on in a minute!
Quickly!
Quickly!
I don't understand.
How can you be in a play?
They've written a play with
one part missing. That's me.
When the people look at me,
then I have to speak.
They ask me a question,
and I have to say what I think.
- The play, it's beginning.
- And now, for cousins everywhere,
our family theatre.
"Come play with us."
Naturally, in what
you are about to see...
any similarity with the truth or with
real life will be purely coincidental.
Do bear that in mind.
So, will you
come play with us?
You will? Good!
I thought you would.
Come in, cousins.
Be one of the family.
Charles, do you realize
what a dilemma this is?
It's terribly difficult.
I don't see any way out of it.
Come, come, Bernard. Of
course there's a way out.
There are of us
so far, right?
You want to invite
Edward, which makes .
But if somebody's ill, then
we should be back to again.
Precisely. Then we must invite
more people. That's an idea.
What about Lottie and
James? That'll make .
Then if somebody's ill,
at least we won't be .
But then there's
the problem of the rooms.
Lottie has children,
little boys,
Freddie and little John.
I don't see any problem
there at all.
We can put the two
children in Helen's room.
What do you think, Linda?
- Go ahead. They're waiting for you.
- I think that...
You see?
Linda agrees with me.
Lottie's children must go in with Helen's
children. Linda's absolutely right.
Then there's the problem
of the seating, Charles.
I think I've got something
worked out, though. Look.
If we put Yvonne at the head
and Richard at her right...
Oh, no, Bernard. Richard
isn't even speaking to Yvonne.
Oh?
Because of Leslie.
Oh! Madeleine must be at the head.
Besides, Madeleine is older than Yvonne.
She might even be older than Jacqueline.
I see no problem there. We put
Madeleine at the head of the table.
It's Madeleine,
isn't it, Linda?
Absolutely.
If Linda thinks
it's all right, it must be.
There's still the problem about
the rooms. What rooms are left?
There's the pink room. We could
always put Lillian in the pink room.
We can put Susan in the green room. Yes.
Where can we put Monica? Yes,
what can we do with Monica?
Do you have
the answer, Linda?
In the blue room?
Linda, you're right.
She's right.
Linda, you're
absolutely fantastic.
You saw it, didn't you?
I gave all the right answers.
Wasn't it wonderful? I could have
been an actress. Don't you think so?
- Think what?
- That I could have been an actress.
Oh, sure you could have
been an actress.
I wonder whether Joyce
was watching. I do hope so.
I must ring her tomorrow
and find out what she thought.
- How did you get the part?
- The head of the family rang me up. Me!
And said I was to be
in tonight's play.
Linda, they must have phoned every one
of Lindas in the whole country.
That's not true.
I mean, even if it were true, you didn't
have to tell me. That was very mean.
So you're in for promotion,
Montag. Good luck.
Thank you.
Well, well, what's all this
we hear, Montag? Promotion, eh?
It seems so.
How do you feel
about it? Happy?
The wife rather likes
the idea. I suppose.
Hurry!
Attention!
That will do for today.
Go back to your desks.
What's this? I told you two I did not
want to see you sitting next to each other.
Didn't I make it clear enough
the first time? Yes, you!
You know what I mean.
Come and sit here.
Let us review
yesterday's lesson.
We studied how to detect books hidden
during the actual construction of a house.
This is somewhat rare
because it's very costly;
For its floors,
for its ceilings.
We also studied concealment
inside furniture.
Trainee firemen Stoneman and Black are
to report to captain's office immediately.
I repeat, trainee firemen
Stoneman and Black...
Are to report to the
captain's office immediately.
We were discussing
concealment inside furniture.
The most prevalent form being the
false icebox or the fake television set.
What occasionally presents problems
are books hidden in small quantities...
In everyday objects.
When one is looking for a book, the
most common area is to look for it...
in a rectangular object, like
a cigar box or a chocolate box...
or any other object
in similar shape.
I demonstrate how even a
cylindrical object can be used.
Montag will report
to the captain's office.
Here, you.
Hand me a pile of books.
While I'm gone, give each
of the trainees a book.
Each of you will hide his book
somewhere in this classroom.
When I return, I will give you
a demonstration how to search.
To learn how to find,
one must first know how to hide.
- What shall I say?
- We met by accident.
- That's no good.
- What do you want to say?
- We planned it?
- It was your idea.
- You're the one who thought of it.
- Shut up!
If we don't tell him the
same story, we're... Listen...
Let's play this by ear.
- Montag, this will take about five minutes.
- Yes, sir.
What time is it?
Uh... : sir.
Get out! This is
the last time!
Get out!
- Like gymnastics, Montag?
- Yes, sir.
- And what about hockey? Do you like hockey?
- Yes, I do, sir.
- And golf?
- Golf. Very much, sir.
- Hmm? And football?
- Wonderful, sir.
Billiards?
Basketball?
Oh, they're all
very fine sports, sir.
Then increase the dosage.
More sports for everyone, hmm?
Strengthen the group spirit.
Organize the fun. Hmm?
Just keep them busy, and you keep
them happy. That's what matters.
Hmm?
Am I right?
Absolutely, sir.
Well, shall we talk a little
about this promotion of yours?
You have mentioned
the possibility to your wife?
- Yes, sir.
- And her reaction?
She thought we might be able
to have a second wall-screen.
Oh, you only have
the one wall converted. I see.
These matters of promotion are much more
important to a married man, aren't they?
I guess so, sir.
Montag... You have
no children, I believe.
No, sir.
We have no children.
Well, then, a commission
seems in order.
I can't see any reason offhand
why it shouldn't go through.
You understand, of course,
With the new amendment to the law, we
must expect to be worked really very hard.
Very hard, indeed,
Until we can arrange for
new volunteers to be drafted.
Yes, sir, I heard the men
talking about it.
How long have you been with us?
For six years, sir.
Yes, for six years.
No, no, no, for five
years, sir. For five years.
Montag has one quality
I appreciate greatly.
He says very little.
Have you seen
my personal medallion?
It's a remarkable likeness.
You must remind me to let you
have one sometime.
Now, let's get back
to this promotion of yours.
I've been looking
through your file.
There are only six back views.
We need of them, you know.
Two sets of six.
Remember that, Montag.
Linda?
Linda!
Hospital listening.
- Yes, it's about my wife. She...
- Name and address.
Uh... Montag.
Block .
- ?
- Uh, just a moment.
Hello? I just came home from work, yes.
- And I found her on the floor unconscious.
- Does she take pills?
- Of course! Yesterday, she...
- Just a moment.
- I'll connect you with poisoning section.
- Yes.
- Poisoning listening.
- It's about my wife. She...
- Name and address.
- Uh, Montag. Block .
- What kind of pills?
- Oh... Uh, just a moment.
- Hello?
- Yes?
- They are red.
- Oh, and red number two.
Oh, it's a stimulant.
It's harmless.
She's probably taken the wrong
kind of sedative on top of that.
Oh, just a moment.
- Hello?
- Yes, listening.
Oh, yes, they are
golden number eight.
Right. Stay close to her.
The ambulance is on its way.
- Four minutes.
- What should I do in the meantime?
Nothing.
Where is the doctor?
What doctor? The doctor
that took care of my wife.
No doctors on these jobs. We do
all the blood jobs, me and him.
- No, it's here, please.
- That's right, us. Who did you expect?
Cases like that... We
handle a day like her.
That's right. She won't be the last
tonight, not by a long shot. No, sir.
Don't you worry, sir. We'll give her a
pump out and fill her up with new blood.
In minutes, she'll be as
good as new. Just you relax.
This isn't pretty
to look at.
You need a strong stomach.
You better wait out there.
You just leave it all to us. We'll
call you as soon as she's done.
This regulator is not
as regular as it was.
Come here
with that thing.
First,
get the stockings off.
Never mind that.
Put the dress on that chair.
All right, sir,
you can come in now.
She's fresh as a daisy,
good as gold.
- She's still unconscious.
- I wouldn't say that, sir.
You've got it wrong.
She's asleep.
Never mind about her.
You get to bed.
By tomorrow,
it'll all be forgotten.
She'll be completely well
by tomorrow?
Better than that. Take my word for
it, she'll be on top of the world.
She'll have an appetite
for all sorts of things.
That's right. She'll be
starving. You'll find out.
My, I'm hungry.
How do you feel?
Hungry.
Really hungry.
- I'm absolutely starving. I could eat a horse.
- Do you remember last night?
- Yes, what a sleep. I slept like a log.
- Listen...
- When I came home last night, you were...
- I'm absolutely famished.
Let me talk, Linda,
will you?
Oh...
Of course, darling.
Talk all you like
if it makes you happy.
Go on then.
What about last night?
Nothing.
I can't remember.
It doesn't matter anyway.
Look.
I've bought you a present
to celebrate your...
Oh, I forget what.
Never mind.
Do you like it?
Isn't it lovely?
Do you like it? Yes, I do. Very much.
Isn't it smart?
It's the very latest.
Everyone's
using them now.
Can I throw
your old one away?
Linda.
Linda.
I've something
to tell you.
Are you listening,
Linda?
What are you doing?
Linda?
Hey!
Do you ever read
the books you burn?
Hey, you, come here.
Come here.
Here. What's all this?
What is it? Eh?
Hey!
Come on. Come on. Come on.
All right.
Hold him.
But some boys still boycott
the barbershops.
Here you see a mop-up squad at work
on one of these messy know-it-alls.
It all goes to show
law enforcement can be fun.
How come the door
is not working?
You're just in time.
Dinner is nearly ready.
Montag, what are you doing? I'm coming.
"The personal history
of David Copperfield...
"by Charles Dickens...
"with illustrations by Phiz.
"London, Chapman and Hall,
Limited, and Humphrey Milford.
"New York,
Oxford University Press,
"the American branch.
" west nd street.
"David Copperfield.
"Chapter one.
"I am born.
"whether I shall turn out
to be the hero of my own life,
"or whether that station
will be held by anybody else,
"these pages must show.
"To begin my life
with the beginning of my life,
"I record that I was born...
"on a Friday,
at twelve o'clock at night.
"It was remarked that the clock
began to strike,
and I began to cry,
simultaneously."
Simultaneously.
Just a moment.
Go on.
Come on.
Aha.
Ah-ah.
- Oh! Everything all right?
- Yes, everything's all right.
That's what they always say,
so it must be... All right.
It certainly doesn't look
that way. What's wrong?
Oh, everything.
It would take
too long to...
Sometimes I can't stand it
anymore. I'd just like to...
All right, let's go
somewhere quiet then.
- Won't you be late?
- No, I have plenty of time. Let's go over here.
I saw you the other day, when
we were going out on a call.
I was
on the fire engine.
You know, it's funny.
It reminded me of something.
A girl who used to wait...
For a soldier...
By a barrack gate.
- What's happened?
- You remember the analyst, how worried I was?
I was right to be worried.
I've been dismissed.
Why? What reason
did they give?
None at all.
Just an official call.
Services no longer required.
I'm never to go
to the school anymore.
They must give you a reason. Make them
tell you why. Go to the school and ask.
I can't do that.
Anyway, who knows what they may
have said about me to the children.
Strange. I wonder what you
said that made the analyst...
Don't you have any idea?
Something you said or did?
I never did get on well with
the staff. They disapprove of me.
I don't always stick
to the timetable and...
We have fun in my classes,
and they don't like that.
There was another teacher,
the one I replaced.
The same thing happened to her.
They didn't like her either.
- Now she's in some awful kind of trouble.
- Then it wasn't the analyst.
It was the staff that wanted to get
rid of you because you are different.
Look at that fellow
over there.
What's he doing? That's
the information box.
- He can't make up his mind.
- What's he want to find out?
He doesn't want to find out anything.
He knows someone who has books.
So he got hold of that
person's picture and number,
And is going to drop it
into that box.
- But he's an informer!
- No, he's an informant. Look at him.
Like someone circling
around a woman.
He's putting something in
his mouth. It's a stimulant...
To work up his nerve.
He wants to make sure
no one can see him.
Look at him.
He's walking away.
You see? He couldn't
go through with it.
Don't worry, he'll be back.
Here he comes.
Good lord,
make up your mind.
- There. What a relief.
- Now he's got rid of his noisy neighbour...
or his brother-in-law who has got
a better job or even his mother.
Why not?
It's time to work.
Please, go back to the
school and try to find out.
No, I can't do that.
You must find an excuse
to go back there.
I suppose I ought to go
and clear out my locker.
That's all right. Uh, I
have to hurry. Good luck.
I'm not going.
You must come with me.
But I can't.
I have to go to work.
I'll take care of that.
Come on.
Leave it to me.
The Rodier firehouse.
Extension one, miss.
Rodier firehouse listening.
- Can I speak to...
- Who's calling?
- I'm speaking for Montag.
- Yes?
- Can I speak to the captain?
- One moment.
- Captain listening.
- This is Linda Montag.
- Montag's wife?
- Yes.
- What can I do for you?
- My husband asked me to tell you...
He's been taken ill
and can't leave his bed.
- Nothing serious, I hope.
- No, he should be up by this evening.
- Very well, madam. Thank you for informing me.
- Thank you.
Montag's wife. He's not too
well. He's staying in bed.
Montag?
Mmm.
Is he?
I see.
Well, Fabian,
that'll do for now.
Until the meeting.
Okay.
Nine thirteens are
a hundred and seventeen.
Nine fourteens are
a hundred and twenty-six.
Nine fifteens are
a hundred and thirty-five.
Nine sixteens are
a hundred and forty-four.
Nine seventeens are
a hundred and fifty-three.
That's Robert. Nine eighteens
are a hundred and sixty-two.
Nine nineteens are
a hundred and seventy-one.
Robert.
Nine thirteens are
a hundred and seventeen.
- It may be my uniform.
- Yes, yes, that's what frightened him!
- It must have been your uniform.
- Go ahead. I'll wait here.
All right.
Nine sixteens are
a hundred and forty-four.
Nine seventeens are
a hundred and fifty-three.
Nine eighteens are
a hundred and sixty-three.
One twelve is twelve.
Two twelves is twenty-four.
Three twelves is thirty-six.
Four twelves is forty-eight.
Five twelves is sixty.
Six twelves is seventy-two.
Seven twelves is eighty-four.
Eight twelves
is ninety-six.
Nine twelves
is a hundred and eight.
Ten twelves
is a hundred and twenty.
Eleven twelves
is a hundred and thirty-two.
Twelve twelves...
I'm going
to be promoted.
They'll listen
to me then.
I'll go and see your
principal myself. Come.
- Why?
- What?
How did it come about?
What made it begin?
What made you want to do...
How could someone like you
be doing this kind of work?
I know everyone says that.
But you!
You're not like them.
When I say something to you,
you look at me.
Why did you
choose this job?
For you it doesn't seem
to make any sense.
Do you remember what
you asked me the other day?
If I ever read the books
I burn? Remember?
Last night I read one.
"Because I'd be ashamed
of myself."
Ashamed of myself.
"It was a little
after half past : ."
- What are you doing, Linda?
- I found these things in the house.
I don't want these things.
They frighten me.
You spend your whole life in
front of that "family" on the wall.
These books
are my family.
When did we first meet?
And where?
What? When did we meet
for the first time?
I don't know.
Let me think.
No, I really
can't remember.
Oh, that's rather sad.
Don't you think? I do.
I think it's very sad.
Behind each of these
books, there's a man.
That's what interests me. So leave
them alone and go back to bed.
I can't sleep. You have
your pills, haven't you?
"Rhinoceros:
"any of certain large, powerful,
"thick-skinned
perissodactyl mammals...
"of the family...
Rhinocerotidae."
- Well, look who's here.
- What about it?
- I thought you were on sick leave.
- Sick leave?
- Who gave you that idea?
- I don't remember. I must have got it wrong.
Hurry up.
Montag, you've
forgotten your helmet.
What's this, Montag? Something
wrong between you and the pole?
Oh, mummy, look!
Firemen. Mummy, there's
going to be a fire.
"Play the man,
master Ridley.
"We shall this day light such
a candle, by god's grace...
As I trust shall
never be put out."
The police haven't done their
job very well. Who is this woman?
What is she doing here? Well, she's
certainly worth looking at anyway.
Police arrested the family this
morning, sir. She must have been out.
Where are the books? If you didn't
know that, you wouldn't be here.
Upstairs. Montag,
you stay here.
Hey! You two, in there!
In there.
Go on.
Down there!
Throw them all down!
Break it open! That's it.
This way! Come on!
Down there!
Throw them all down!
All the books! All of them!
This way! Come on!
"Once upon a time, there was a
poor woodcutter whose name was... "
They can't have my books.
They'll never take them away.
Montag, I think you
should see this. Yes, sir.
Come on! Quickly!
This is a real eyeful.
Ah, Montag.
I knew it. I knew it.
Of course, all this...
The existence of a secret...
Library was known
in high places,
But there was no way
of getting at it.
Only once before have I seen
so many books in one place.
I was just an ordinary
fireman at the time.
I wasn't even qualified
to use the flamethrower.
It's all ours, Montag.
Listen to me, Montag.
Once to each fireman,
at least once in his career,
He just itches to know what
these books are all about.
He just aches to know.
Isn't that so?
Take my word for it, Montag,
there's nothing there.
The books have nothing
to say!
Look, these are all novels.
All about people
that never existed.
The people that read them, it makes
them unhappy with their own lives,
Makes them want to live in other
ways that can never really be.
What's happening?
This house is condemned. They said to
burn the books here with everything else.
Burning the house is one thing.
Burning the books is another, isn't it?
It's never any good
burning everything together.
Come on, Montag. All this
philosophy, let's get rid of it.
It's even worse
than the novels.
Thinkers, philosophers, all of
them saying exactly the same thing:
"Only I am right.
The others are all idiots."
One century, they tell you
man's destiny is predetermined.
The next, they say that
he has freedom of choice.
It's just a matter of fashion,
that's all. Philosophy.
Just like short dresses this
year, long dresses next year.
Look. All stories of the
dead. Biography that's called.
And autobiography.
My life. My diary.
My memoirs.
My intimate memoirs.
Of course, when they started out,
it was just the urge to write.
Then after the second or third book, all
they wanted was to satisfy their own vanity,
To stand out from the crowd,
to be different,
To be able to look down
on all the others.
Ah, critic's prize.
This is a good one.
Of course, he had the critics
on his side. Lucky fellow.
Just tell me this, Montag,
at a guess,
How many literary awards were made in
this country, on an average each year?
Five, ten, forty? Hmm?
No less than .
Anybody that put pen to paper was
bound to win some prize someday.
Ah, Robinson Crusoe. The negroes didn't
like that because of his man, Friday.
And Nietzsche. Ah, Nietzsche.
The Jews didn't like Nietzsche.
Now, here's a book
about lung cancer.
All the cigarette smokers got into a panic,
so for everybody's peace of mind, we burn it.
Ah, now this one must be very
profound. The Ethics of Aristotle.
Now anybody that read that must believe
he's a cut above anybody that hadn't.
You see, it's no good, Montag.
We've all got to be alike.
The only way to be happy is
for everyone to be made equal.
So, we must burn the books,
Montag.
- All the books.
- Sir.
- Yes, what's the matter?
- Trouble with the old lady downstairs.
She won't leave. She won't
leave her books, she says.
She won't leave her books,
won't she? Won't she?
Come on now, Madam.
We're gonna burn the house.
No. What do you want? Martyrdom?
I want to die as I've lived. Oh,
you must have read that in there.
I'm not going to ask
you again. Are you going?
These books were alive.
They spoke to me.
Go ahead.
All right, that's enough. Come
on, Madam, you've got ten seconds.
Fabian, ten count.
One.
Two. Three.
Four. Five.
Six. Seven.
Eight.
- Nine.
- Nine elevens are ninety-nine.
Nine twelves
are a hundred and eight.
- Nine thirteens are a .
- She can't stay here.
- She refuses to leave.
- She must be forced to leave.
Back there! Open up!
Everybody, outside!
Come on,
you too, Montag!
Montag!
Get out of there!
Montag!
Come on, this way!
Montag!
Montag!
Finally, do remember to
tolerate your friends' friends,
However alien and peculiar
they may seem to you.
- Don't despise minorities.
- Doesn't cousin Midge's face look swollen?
- That's because she's pregnant.
- Is that why?
I think it's irresponsible
to have children.
Somebody's got to have children,
Jackie. They can't let the race die out.
Babies grow up to look
like you. That must be fun.
- Strangle violence. Suppress prejudice.
- Here's Montag.
Be tolerant today.
Being just pretty
is not enough.
The wife who uses translusives
knows better than that.
Try some today, but watch out
for your friends' husbands.
They'll be around you
like flies.
No one will ever notice
that your chairs don't match,
And you'll be
as popular as ever.
Would you excuse me?
Yes, I like her hair
like this.
Come on, Montag,
be good now.
Come on over and sit with us. You haven't
seen Jackie and Doris and Helen for ages.
- It's very rude, you know.
- Leave me alone.
Aren't you well?
All right,
but it's very naughty.
...are being reclassified.
Two cells of antisocials
were located earlier today...
In the western
metropolitan area.
The police have declined
to comment so far.
Meanwhile, the "report those
who threaten you" campaign...
- met with particular success today...
- When an old woman, cousins,
chose to be burned with her books
rather than being separated from them.
If that's a joke,
it's not in very good taste.
- You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?
- Don't be silly, Montag.
Things like that
don't happen.
You mean, you don't want
to hear about it. I saw it!
- My husband says...
- Oh, your husband! You don't even know where he is!
- Montag!
- Of course I know.
- He's been called on reserve for some field training.
- Or to fight a little war.
You never know, do you?
Why do you call it that?
Even if he was,
what about it?
He's not allowed to call
me until it's all over.
- It'll only be about a week or two.
- He'll be all right.
The point about wars is, if
you want to call them that,
it's only other women's husbands
who get killed. That's true.
I never knew anyone
who got killed in a...
Not anyone whose husband
died like that.
Getting run over, jumping
out of a window, yes.
Like Gloria's husband
a few nights ago.
But never
that other way.
Anyway, that's life,
isn't it?
That's what you call it.
You're nothing
but zombies, all of you.
Just like those husbands of
yours you don't even know anymore.
You're not living,
you're just killing time!
Well, I think it's time to go. Yes, I...
Thank you. It was a lovely afternoon.
Really fun. Yes. Sit down!
- Come on, sit down. It'll only take a minute.
- Whatever is that?
- Darling.
- It's not a book?
That's what it is.
It's a novel.
Oh, it's a book! Oh, you
mustn't! It's against the law!
- Quiet. Sit down and listen.
- Since Montag really insists.
But when he's through,
I hope we can do as we please.
"There can be no disparity
in marriage...
"like unsuitability
of mind and purpose.
"I had endeavoured to adapt Dora to
myself and found it impracticable.
"It remained for me to adapt myself to Dora,
to share with her what I could and be happy.
"It made my second year
much happier than my first,
"and, what was better still,
made Dora's life all sunshine.
"But as that year wore on,
Dora was not strong.
"I had hoped that lighter hands than
mine would help to mould her character...
"and that a baby's smile upon her breast
might change my child-wife to a woman.
"It was not to be.
My pretty Dora.
"We thought she would be running
about as she used to do in a few days.
"But they said wait a few days
more, and then wait a few days more,
"and still she neither
ran nor walked.
"I began to carry her downstairs
every morning and upstairs every night.
"But sometimes when I took her up, I
felt that she was lighter in my arms.
"A dead, blank feeling
came upon me,
"as if I were approaching
some frozen region...
"yet unseen
that numbed my life.
"I avoided direct recognition of this feeling
by any name, over any communing with myself.
"Until one night when it was
very strong upon me...
"and my aunt had left her
with her parting cry,
"'Oh, good-bye,
little blossom.'
"I sat down at my desk,
alone, and tried to think.
"oh, what a fatal name
it was.
"and how the blossom...
withered in its bloom
up in the tree."
I knew that's what would happen.
It's what I've always said.
Life isn't like novels, novels
and tears, novels and suicide.
Novels are sick.
That was sheer cruelty, Montag.
You're a cruel man. All
those words; idiotic words.
Evil words
that hurt people.
Isn't there enough
trouble as it is?
Why disturb people with that
sort of filth? Poor Doris.
Bye, Linda. We were
having such a nice party.
- Such a shame.
- I can't bear to know those feelings.
I'd forgotten
all about those things.
Oh, I'm sorry, Doris.
They won't come back.
I'll be all alone.
I won't be popular anymore.
They won't use me
in the family anymore.
And you made Doris cry!
She cried because
it is true.
What are you going to do now?
Haven't you done enough harm?
Leave me alone, Linda. I've
got reading to do. Quite a lot.
- What's the matter with you? Aren't you well?
- It's nothing.
I've got to read.
I've got to catch up with
the remembrance of the past!
Right. You four,
over to the house!
Take out the line.
- This is it. Hurry. Go on!
- But what about you, uncle?
Don't worry.
Get going!
All right.
Take your time. I'm coming.
Open up! Come on!
We know there's someone in there!
Please, wait a minute.
I'm coming.
- Come on! Open up!
- All right! I'm coming!
Come on, come on.
- Now, watch it.
- You watch it.
- What is this?
- I'm moving this chair.
I'm fed up with it
in the middle of the room.
And this one...
I'm going to put...
Over here.
There. And I'm going to
change those curtains.
I've never liked them.
I'm gonna get new ones.
And I'm gonna change the
laundry basket. I've decided...
You're right. The chair's
much better over there.
You know, you're not well. You
were tossing and turning all night.
You kept me awake.
You ought to stay home today.
No, no, I'm going to
the firehouse. I must.
Because I don't know if I'm going
there tomorrow or any other day.
- But what about your promotion?
- My promotion?
That was before.
Montag.
Look, last night...
You were talking in your sleep.
I don't know what.
I didn't understand.
And I don't understand. What's making you
like this? What's going on in your head?
I don't know,
and I don't want to know.
But one thing I do want. I want
you to get rid of those books.
- Take them away, Montag. Please.
- I will. I promise.
- I'll do it myself if you like.
- No, I'll do it... After I've read them.
No, now.
Do it right now, Montag.
I'll leave you.
I can't live
with those.
You've got
to make a choice.
Answer me, Montag.
How can I answer, Linda?
I just don't know.
Excuse me. Do you know the girl who
lives here with her uncle? Clarisse.
- They came for them.
- Who?
- To take them away.
- The police?
Not the police?
The firemen?
They came to take them away.
They do that now, don't they?
Only to question them.
They let them come back.
You can't tell, can you?
They weren't like us.
They were special.
You see over there?
And there.
And there too.
Do you see?
Now look at their house.
There's nothing.
Here, you! Come here!
What's the meaning of this?
Sir... Look! How often must
I talk to you about this?
I talked to you about it in the
office the other day, didn't I?
Why can't you do what you're
told? Eh? Why can't you?
Look! Look at you!
Look!
Did I tell you to...
Haven't you got a head?
- Is the captain in?
- He just stepped out.
- Didn't you pass him?
- No.
Captain.
Yeah?
The people who were
arrested last night, sir.
It's about time.
- How long have you been with us?
- Three years, sir.
Yes, you're a good man.
Remind me to give you one
of my personal medallions.
The likeness is remarkable.
You'll see.
I, uh...
You, uh...
I already
have one, sir.
Oh, so it was you, was it?
How did you get in?
I needed some information about some
arrests that were made last night.
I wanted to see
some identifications.
Ah! So Montag's handling
the arrests now, is he?
Oh, no, sir,
not at all.
Last night, you said. But the
identifications wouldn't be there.
Not yet. In fact,
they've just been handed to me.
Let's see now.
Let's see if they're
amongst this lot.
- Oh, they're the ones!
- I see.
A little young
for him... I'd say.
He's her uncle.
- Friends of yours?
- Oh, no, sir. I know them slightly.
- They live nearby.
- Ah.
- And you'd like their house, is that it?
- Yes, sir, that's it.
Well, the house will have
to be requisitioned,
But you can't move in until
the niece has been arrested too.
Oh, she...
She's still at large then?
For the moment, yes.
Look at the identification.
It hasn't been stamped yet.
It's just a matter
of a day or two.
We'll get you
your house. Hmm?
How did you get in?
Oh, now,
what's all this about?
Hmm? Still shaky?
You shouldn't have come in.
Look at you.
You look like death.
Some fresh air,
that's what you need.
A nice bit of fresh air
will put you right again.
Incidentally, if you see that niece
wandering about this part of the world,
You might let us know.
It might expedite
the matter of the house.
Of course, sir.
- Clarisse, I must talk to you.
- Not here.
- What happened?
- Uncle was arrested.
I got away.
But how did it happen?
They came last night. We
were all asleep. Come on.
Look, I have to get home.
It's terribly important.
Uncle woke me up and
told me to get away.
I escaped through the
skylight over the roof.
This is the last place
you should have come to.
I know, but there's
something I must find.
Look, please stay with me.
I'm frightened.
All right,
I'll stay with you.
- It must be here somewhere.
- What must be here?
Something.
Something I have to find.
- Find and destroy.
- Let me look.
- You wouldn't know where to start looking.
- It was my job.
- How big?
- About this big.
- Papers.
- Oh.
It's no use.
- We'll find it. Don't you worry.
- It's a list of addresses.
Friends of my uncle; who they
are and where they're hiding.
We'll find it.
What are you doing?
We must destroy these.
I always wanted
to tell you...
Our meeting in the
monorail was no accident.
I noticed you,
and I followed you.
I thought
you could help us.
I knew it when that old
woman killed herself.
I realized there was a
connection between you. Yes.
She was afraid she'd talk
and give us away. Yes.
And I...
This morning, what do I do? I
get into a little bit of trouble,
And I faint
like a silly, little girl.
I can't be a fireman anymore.
What is that over there?
That? That's a rocking chair.
People used to sit...
Outside their houses on warm evenings
and rock backwards and forwards.
- Oh, really?
- Talking to anyone passing by.
Just talking. We'll have
to go away from here.
I know a place.
My uncle told me what to do if
ever he was... If ever he was taken.
You follow the river upstream 'til
you come to the old steam railway line.
Then you go on and you go on until
you get to where the book people live.
- The good people?
- No, book. The book people.
You've not heard of them? No.
People who vanished. Some were
arrested and managed to escape.
Others were released. Some didn't wait to
be arrested. They just hid themselves away.
Up in the farm country; the woods and the
hills. They live there in little groups.
The law can't touch them. They live quite
peaceably and do nothing that's forbidden.
Though, if they came into the
city, they might not last long.
But how can you
call them book people...
If they don't do anything
against the law?
They are books.
Each one, men and women,
Everyone, commits a book they've chosen
to memory, and they become the books.
Of course, every now and then,
someone gets stopped, arrested.
Which is why
they live so cautiously.
Because the secret they carry is the
most precious secret in the world.
With them, all human knowledge
would pass away.
- You must come with me.
- Oh, no, not yet.
Uh, it is too soon for me.
I was still burning books.
Yes, in time, perhaps.
But now everything in my life
has suddenly changed.
I must stay in the city.
I have a plan.
I will hide a book in every
fireman's house and then denounce him.
The system will eat itself.
We must burn
the pyromaniacs out.
Now we have to go.
Separately.
You to your book people
and me to strip this off.
We shall see
each other again.
No, we shan't.
Why pretend we shall?
You are right.
We shan't.
Fit and well again? Good, excellent.
Come on, hurry, no time to lose.
I'm sorry, sir. I was
on my way to tell you...
I shan't be staying
with the force, sir.
Shan't be? But this isn't
how things are done, Montag.
Not on the eve of promotion.
I shan't be coming in tomorrow.
Tomorrow's another day.
Today you're under my command.
Montag, I'm asking you,
as one man to another.
Please. Please!
You can't let me down like this in front
of the men, not in front of the others.
Just this one last call.
Then you can do as you like.
Montag.
This is my house!
Mm-hmm, that's right.
- Linda!
- I couldn't bear it.
I just couldn't bear it
anymore.
Well, now, Montag knows
exactly what we're looking for.
I think we can
leave it to him.
To know how to find, one must first
know how to hide. Isn't that so?
I like a man who knows his work. You
men, just check the rest of the house.
Everything ready, Fabian?
Come on, hurry it up.
Come on,
bring us the sparkler.
As this is Montag's home, I think,
perhaps, he should do the honours.
What are you doing in there!
Have you gone mad?
Come on, get back in there!
Just the books! The books!
What do you think you're doing?
There's no need for that!
I said the books, Montag!
That's good.
That's what I like to see.
Sweet reason.
Novels aren't life.
What did Montag hope
to get out of all this print?
Happiness? What a poor
idiot you must have been.
This gibberish is enough
to drive a man mad.
Thought you could learn from these
how to walk on the waters, did you?
Montag must learn
to think a little.
Consider how all these writings, all
these recipes for happiness disagree.
Now let this heap of
contradictions burn itself out.
You know it's we who, at this moment,
are working for man's happiness.
Look, isn't that lovely?
The pages,
Like flower petals or
butterflies, luminous and black.
Who can explain the fascination
of fire? What draws us to it?
Whether we're young or old.
Nothing to say?
That's the spirit.
That's real wisdom.
He still has one.
What have you got there?
Is this your special book?
It's got to be burned with the
others, and you're under arrest.
Montag.
Get out of there!
Everybody, out of here quick!
He's gone mad!
Right now! Go!
Watch for a man running
through the streets.
Repeating.
Calling all citizens.
Wanted for murder.
Montag.
Fireman.
The criminal is alone
and on foot.
Let each one stand
at his front door.
Look and listen.
Watch for a man running
through the streets.
Repeating.
Calling all citizens.
Wanted for murder.
Montag.
Fireman.
The criminal is alone
and on foot.
Let each one stand
at his front door.
Look and listen.
I am, uh... Yes, we know who you are.
You're the man of the hour. Come.
Come and witness your
own capture. My capture?
That's right. Our
beautiful cousin is being...
Particularly
entertaining today.
You'll see.
Oh, I beg your pardon.
I am the journal of Henri
Brilard by Stendhal.
Montag is still at large,
but time is running out fast.
Ah, there it is.
The aerial patrol
has sighted the wanted man.
They can't keep the viewers
waiting much longer.
The show must go on.
They'll find somebody.
Anybody will do to provide them
with their climax.
There he is.
You can see him clearly now.
There is Montag,
running headlong into the trap,
Scurrying about
like a frightened rat.
Just look at him, cousins.
It's all over, cousins.
Montag is dead.
A crime against society
has been avenged.
They never showed the man's face
properly. It was too far away, of course.
Even your friends are bound
to believe you're dead.
Here. You may as well
shed your old skin.
"The moon was shining
sulkily...
"because she thought the sun...
"had got no business
to be there...
"after the day was done.
'It's very rude of him,'
she said."
Are you interested
in Plato's Republic?
Uh... Well, I am Plato's Republic.
I'll recite myself for you whenever
you like. Thank you very much.
Now here's Wuthering Heights
by Emily Bronte.
And here's The Corsair
by Byron.
She used to be married
to a chief of police.
Now that skinny fellow is Alice
in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Where's Alice through the looking-glass today?
She should be somewhere about.
There's Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan.
He ate his book
so they couldn't burn it.
Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett.
Oh, you see the little blonde
coming towards us? Watch her blush.
I'm Jean-Paul Sartre's The Jewish Question.
Delighted to meet you.
I'm The Martian Chronicles
by Ray Bradbury.
Allow me to introduce...
Oh. May I?
The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens.
Oh, Charles Dickens.
Once I read a book
he wrote:
David Copperfield. We have
a David Copperfield amongst us.
He's with another group
in the south.
I am The Prince by Machiavelli. Oh.
As you see, you can't
judge a book by its cover.
I am Jane Austin's
Pride and Prejudice.
I am Jane Austin's
Pride and Prejudice.
Both of you the same book?
My brother is volume one.
My brother is volume two.
It's a great pleasure
to meet you.
We call the first one Pride.
The other one's Prejudice.
I don't think they like it much.
Here, we're only or so, but there
are many, many more scattered around.
In abandoned railway yards,
wandering the roads.
Tramps outwardly,
but, inwardly, libraries.
Oh, it wasn't planned.
It just so happened that a man here
and a man there loved some book.
And rather than lose it,
he learned it.
And we came together.
We're a minority of undesirables
crying out in the wilderness.
But it won't
always be so.
One day we shall be called on, one
by one, to recite what we've learned.
And then books
will be printed again.
And when the next
age of darkness comes,
Those who come after us will
do again as we have done.
I have one with me. Yes?
What is it?
Let me see.
"Tales of Mystery and
Imagination by Edgar Allen Poe."
Learn it quickly, so that
we can burn it. You burn it?
We have to, so that no one
can take them away from us.
Yes, we burn the books.
But we keep them up here
where nobody can find them.
As a matter of fact, we've just
burned the memoirs of Saint Simon.
You see, Montag, that man over
there hasn't much longer to live.
He's the Weir of Hermiston by Robert
Louis Stevenson. The boy is his nephew.
He's now reciting himself,
so the boy can become the book.
"'I will be very quiet,' replied
Archie. And I will be boldly frank.
I do not love my father. I wonder
sometimes if I do not hate him."
"'I will be very quiet,' replied
Archie. And I will be boldly frank.
I do not love my father. I wonder
sometimes if I do not hate him."
"There's my shame,
perhaps my sin.
At least, and in the sight
of god, not my fault."
"There's my shame,
perhaps my sin.
At least, and in the sight
of god, not my fault."
"How was I to love him?
"He has never spoken to me,
never smiled upon me.
I do not think
he ever touched me."
"How was I to love him? He has never
spoken to me, never smiled upon me.
And I do not think
he ever touched me."
"He was more afraid of death
than of anything else.
"And he died
as he thought he would,
while the first snows
of winter fell."
"He was more afraid of death
than of anything else.
- "And he died... "
- "And he died while the first... "
- "He died as he thought... "
- "And he died as he thought... "
- "As he thought he would."
- "As he thought he would,
While the first snows
of winter fell."
"'I will be very quiet,' replied
Archie. And I will be boldly frank.
"I do not love my father. I wonder
sometimes if I do not hate him.
"There's my shame,
perhaps my sin.
"At least, and in the sight
of god, not my fault.
"How was I to love him? He has never
spoken to me, never smiled upon me.
"And I do not think
he ever touched me.
"He was more afraid of death
than of anything else.
"And he died as he
thought he would,
while the first snows
of winter fell."
"I'm going to relate
a tale full of horror."
"I would gladly suppress it,
were it not a chronicle."
"Now, how much there is
to tell... "
"at that moment,
Mr. Pickwick... "