empty. There was always folks comin' and goin'.
Mrs. Gump: (voice-over) Suppa.
INT. GUMP BOARDING HOUSE
Mrs. Gump steps forward and speaks to all the boarders.
Mrs. Gump: It's suppa, everyone. Forrest...
A MAN WITH A CANE steps left across the hall.
Man With Cane: My, my. That sure looks special.
Mrs. Gump looks into a sitting room and informs the boarders about
dinner.
Mrs. Gump: Gentlemen, would you care to join us for supper? Hurry up
and get it before the flies do. I prefer you don't smoke
that cigar so close to mealtime.
Forrest: (voice-over) Sometimes we had so many people stayin' with
us that every room was filled with travelers. You know,
folks livin' out of their suitcases, and hat cases, and
sample cases.
Mrs. Gump: Well, you go ahead and start. I cant find Forrest.
Mrs. Gump walks up the stairs.
Mrs. Gump: Forrest... Forrest...
Forrest: (voice-over) One time a young man was staying with us, and
he had him a guitar case.
Mrs. Gump looks into Forrest's room. She hears singing coming from
another room and walks over to a closed door. Mrs. Gump opens the door,
revealing a young man with long sideburns as he plays the guitar and
sings. Forrest holds onto a broom and dances oddly. The young man is
ELVIS PRESLEY.
Elvis Presley: (sings) "Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit, and you
ain't no friend of mine."
Forrest's legs rock back and forth to the guitar.
Mrs. Gump: Forrest! I told you not to bother this nice young man.
Elvis: Oh, no, that's all right, ma'am. I was just showin' him a
thing or two on the guitar here.
Mrs. Gump: All right, but your supper's ready if y'all want to eat.
Elvis: Yeah, that sounds good. Thank you, ma'am.
Mrs. Gump leaves and closes the door. Elvis sits back down. Forrest
stands left, and looks himself in a mirror.
Elvis: Say, man, show me that crazy little walk you just did
there. Slow it down some.
Forrest begins to dance again as Elvis plays the guitar and sings.
Elvis: (sings) "You ain't nothin' but a hound, hound dog..."
Forrest: (voice-over) I liked that guitar.
Forrest dances as he watches himself in the mirror.
Forrest: (voice-over) It sounded good.
Elvis: (sings) "... cryin' all the time"
Forrest rocks up and down on his braced legs, then begins to step.
Elvis: (sings) "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog..."
Forrest: (voice-over) I started moving around to the music,
swinging my hips. This one night we and Momma...
EXT. GREENBOW - NIGHT
Mrs. Gump and Forrest walk along a sidewalk. A television inside a store
window reveals Elvis Presley as he performs "Houng Dog" on a stage.
Forrest: (voice-over) ...was out shoppin', and we walked right by
Benson's Furniture and Appliance store, and guess what.
The television reveals Elvis as he thrusts his hips and sings.
Elvis: (sings) You ain't nothin' but a hound dog...
Mrs. Gump and Forrest watch the television.
Elvis dances around in the same manner Forrest did. A woman in the
audience screaming and applauding.
Elvis: (sings) You ain't nothin' but a hound dog...
Mrs. Gump: This is not children's eyes.
Mrs. Gump walks away, pulling Forrest with her. Forrest stops and takes
one last look.
Elvis continues to perform over the television.
Elvis: (sings)"Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit and you
ain't no friend of mine."
Forrest: (voice-over) Some years later, that handsome young man who
they called "The King," well, he sung too many songs, had
himself a heart attack or something.
EXT. SAVANNAH/BUS BENCH - DAY
Forrest is still sitting on the bus bench. The black nurse looks at him.
Forrest: Must be hard being a king. You know, it's funny how you
remember some things, but some things you can't.
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD/ALABAMA - MORNING - 1954
Mrs. Gump and Forrest wait for the school bus. The bus pulls up as Mrs.
Gump prepares Forrest for his first day of school.
Mrs. Gump: You do your very best now, Forrest.
Forrest: I sure will, Momma.
Forrest: (voice-over) I remember the bus ride on the first day of
school very well.
The bus driver opens the door and looks down. Forrest walks to the steps
of the bus and looks at the bus driver. She is smoking a cigarette.
Bus Driver: Are you comin' along?
Forrest: Momma said not to be taking rides from strangers.
Bus Driver: This is the bus to school.
Forrest: I'm Forrest Gump.
Bus Driver: I'm Dorothy Harris.
Forrest: Well, now we ain't strangers anymore.
The bus driver smiles as Forrest steps up into the bus.
INT. BUS
Forrest steps up onto the bus. Mrs. Gump waves to Forrest as the bus
drives away. Forrest begins to walk down the aisle.
TWO YOUNG BOYS look up from the seat.
Boy #1: This seat's taken.
Boy #2: It's taken!
Forrest looks around. A larger girl slides over so Forrest can't sit next
to her. She shakes her head. Forrest looks to the other side where a boy
sits alone on a larger seat. They boy glares up at Forrest.
Boy #3: You can't sit here.
Forrest: (voice-over) You know, it's funny what a young man
recollects. 'Cause I don't remember being born.
EXT. SAVANNAH/BUS BENCH - DAY
Forerst continues talking as he sits on the bus bench.
Forrest: I, I... don't recall what I got for my first Christmas and
I don't know when I went on my first outdoor picnic. But,
I do remember the first time I heard the sweetiest
voice...
INT. BUS - MORNING (1954)
Young Forrest is still standing in the aisle on the bus.
Forrest: (voice-over) ... in the wide world.
Girl: You can sit here if you want.
Forrest looks back at JENNY CURRAN, a young girl about Forrest's age.
Forrest: (voice-over) I had never seen anything so beautiful in my
life. She was like an angel.
Jenny: Well, are you gonna sit down, or aren't ya?
Forrest sits down next to Jenny.
Jenny: What's wrong with your legs?
Forrest: Um, nothing at all, thank you. My legs are just fine and
dandy.
Forrest: (voice-over) I just sat next to her on that bus and had
conversation all the way to school.
Jenny: Then why do you have those shoes on?
Forrest: My momma said my back's crooked like a question mark.
These are going to make me as straight as an arrow.
They're my magic shoes.
Forrest: (voice-over) And next to Momma, no one ever talked to me
or asked me questions.
Jenny: Are you stupid or something.
Forrest: Mommy says stupid is as stupid does.
Jenny puts her hand out toward Forrest. Forrest reaches over and shakes
her hand.
Jenny: I'm Jenny.
Forrest: I'm Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump.
Forrest: (voice-over) From that day on, we was always together.
Jenny and me was like peas and carrots.
EXT. OAK TREE - DAY
Young Jenny and Forrest run toward a large oak tree.
Forrest: (voice-over) She taught me how to climb...
Jenny sits on a large branch and calls down to Forrest.
Jenny: Come on, Forrest, you can do it.
Forrest dangles from the branch.
Forrest: (voice-over) ... I showed her how to dangle.
Jenny and Forrest sit on a tree branch and read.
Forrest: ".....a good little moneky and..."
Forrest: (voice-over) She helped me to learn how to read.
Forrest hangs upside down from a branch and swings back and forth.
Forrest's braces are wedged in the tree.
Forrest: (voice-over) And I showed her to swing.
Night. Th silhouete of the oak tree, Jenny and Forrest as they sit on a
branch.
Forrest: (voice-over) Sometimes we'd just sit out and wait for thhe
stars.
Forrest: Momma's gonna worry about me.
Jenny puts her hand on Forrest's hand.
Jenny: Just stay a little longer.
Forrest: (voice-over) For some reason, Jenny didn't never want to
go home.
Forrest: Okay, Jenny. I'll stay.
Forrest: (voice-over) She was my most special friend.
INT. SAVANNAH/BUS STOP - DAY
Forrest nods as he remembers.
Forrest: My only friend.
Forrest continues talking to the black woman. She doesn't s eem to be
listening as she reads her magazine. She looks up from her magazine.
Forrest: Now, my Momma always told me that miracles happen every
day. Some people don't think so, but they do.
EXT. OAK ALLEY - ANOTHER DAY (1954)
Jenny and Forrest walk. A dirt clod hits Forrest in the back of the head.
Jenny looks as Forrest rubs his head.
THREE YOUNG BOYS get off their bikes and pick up more rocks.
Boy #1: Hey... dummy!
Forrest is hit in the eye with another dirt clod. Forrest falls backward
onto the ground as the boys glare at him.
Boy #2: Are you retarded, or just plain stupid?
Boy #3: Look, I'm Forrest Grum.
Jenny helps Forrest back up. Boy #1 and Boy #2 throw more dirt clods at
Forrest.
Jenny: Just run away, Forrest.
Another dirt clod hits Forrest in the arm.
Jenny: Run, Forrest!
Forrest tries to run along the road, but his braces makes it impossible.
He hobbles along as Jenny yells after him.
Jenny: Run away! Hurry!
Boy #1 and Boy #2 turn back toward the bikes.
Boy #2: Get the bikes!
Boy #3: Hurry up!
The boys pick up their bikes and ride after Forrest.
Boy #3: Let's get him! Come on!
Boy #2: Look out, dummy, here we come!
The boys ride after Forrest. Jenny stands and watches.
Boy #2: We're gonna get you!
Jenny: Run, Forrest! Run!
Forrest hobbles along the dirt road.
Jenny: Run, Forrest!
Forrest looks over his shoulder. The three boys race on their bikes.
Boy #1: Come back here, you!
Forrest begins to run faster with his braces on.
Forrest continues running as the boys chase him. Blood drips down from a
cut on his head.
The boys on the bikes are gaining on Forrest. Forrest hobbles along. He
begins to gain speed.
Jenny: Run, Forrest! Run!
Slow motion -- Forrest runs from the chasing room. He looks over his
shoulder in fear.
The boys on the bikes peddle faster as they gain on Forrest, running.
Forrest tries to run even faster to get away. Suddenly his braces
shatter, sending steel and plastic flying into the air.
Forrest runs and look down at his legs in surprise.
