Submission Samples from the Western Genre

Title: REVENGE at REDEMPTION FLATS

Logline: 1855, a free black woman is working as a trail hand and searching for her still enslaved mother. But, a newly hired hand, with vengeance on his mind, puts her dream and an the wagon train at risk.

Synopsis: BALTIMORE was sold away from her mother as a little girl. Now, as a grown woman, she works hard to save money to purchase the woman's freedom once she finds her. JASPER REEDY is a hard working, quiet man until one day slave catchers arrive at his home and terrorize him and his family. BROPHY, the vicious leader of the band of paddyrollers, beats Jasper trying to get information on runaways. Jasper manages to escape, throwing Brophy into a rage. MAYFIELD BLANKS is the man tasked with leading the wagon train from Iowa to California. He has made this trek many times with few problems, but that before Jasper Reedy worked as a trail hand. REVENGE starts out as a dream of one woman to free her mother from bondage and ends up as a good old-fashioned western.

Title: The Borderline

Logline: A retired gunfighter who seeks revenge for the brutal murder of his family, teams up with a U.S. Marshal who wants justice-but vengeance and justice are different, or are they?

Synopsis: Retired gunfighter Alamo Brock has turned in his guns for the quiet life of a rancher. But when his family is brutally murdered, he seeks revenge on his attackers. Rescued by a mystical, white horse, Alamo teams up with a U.S. Marshal, who also wants justice. But vengeance and justice are different. Or are they? An epic western loaded with action and suspense, The Borderline will have you on the edge of your seat from the first frame, until the final, spine-tingling climax. Alamo wants vengeance, and the Marshal wants justice. But where do you draw the line? This dichotomy is so powerful that it actually turns the two heroes against each other in the end. What is vengeance? And what is justice? You decide. Murray Williams 3927 Kitchen Hill Lane Sugar Land, TX 77479 713.417.8422 mhwilliams1@yahoo.com www.theborderline-movie.com

Title: Women For Zion

Logline: St. Joe Mo. 1859. 141 young female Mormon converts from Europe pulling handcarts begin the 1000 mile trek to SLC. Mormon Zion. They are preyed upon by Indians, Mormon haters, men wanting find wives

Synopsis: 1859 St. Joe Mo. End of railroad. Caroline and 141 young women converts from Europe arrive. They are cursed, threatened by the townsfolk. Ruth, a girl of the town joins the Mormons. Pulling handcarts holding their scant possession. the women begin the 1000 mile trek across the wildernes of the prairie and Rocky Mts. to SLC, Mormon Zion. Ruth's father hires DeBreen and his band of Mormon haters to pursue and kill the Mormons and bring Ruth back. Indians try to buy Caroline, and attack when they are refused. Four men from Montana ride to find wives among the women. Nathan, looking for the killer DeBreen, joins the Montanans. Brigham Young orders the fierce Grueling with a band of Mormons to find the women and bring every one of them to SLC. With fierce storms fallling upon them, the women struggle west dragging handcarts. Montanans arrive and woo the women. Nathan falls for Caroline. DeBreen arrives. Grueling appears. The final battle. What Montanan will find a wife among the women?

Title: Four Of A Kind

Logline: They were the James Gang of Canada -- young half-breed brothers Allan, Charlie & Archie McLean, plus their "half-Injun, half-French, hundred-percent mind-crazy friend-for-life," Alex Hare.

Synopsis: The four of them came of age 20 years after the Caribou Gold Rush, when the pickings afforded by the land ranged from slim to none. Guided by the prophesies and promises of the delusional soothsayer, Feemy Wildbird, the McLeans and Hare galloped away from Kamloops, British Columbia, in search of a better life on those ever-elusive "streets paved with gold" in New York City. To win the family's fortune, the brawniest McLean brother, Allan, is elected to vie for big prize money in a famous (but infamous) fight to the death against the eighth annual winner of that event, a towering giant from Manitoba. Our often-comedic, action-packed story is loosely based on the actual story of The McLeans and Alex Hare, four hell-raisers in B.C. during the late 1870's. This screenplay was inspired by an early folk song entitled "Four Rode By" by the Canadian duo Ian & Sylvia. Four Of a Kind is registered with the Writers' Guild Of America, #1100427.

Title: Outlaw from Alabama

Logline: My screenplay is a Western telling of various exploits of legendary outlaw named Rube Burrow. For some reason this character has not been taken seriously by movie makers.

Synopsis: Rube Burrow made his name as an outlaw of the Wild West. He was born in Alabama and at the age of 18 moved westward to Texas to become a rancher. In the story that follows Rube and his family had been living on their Texas ranch for some years when the Railroads take over his land bought for a cheap price. Rube, his brother and ranch hand turn to robbing trains partly for revenge and also financial reward. A 5 man gang is formed with three succesful robberies before one of his gang is killed and another two captured. However, Rube manages to aquire another ranch in Texas where it seems at one stage he might settle with his family but the excitement and rewards from train robbery tempts him to continue his exploits. More recruits are found for another hold up and a final robbery involves a solo attempt by Rube and he makes good his escape. The law enforcement officers step up their efforts to capture him and he rides to Alabama but dies in a gunfight with a sheriff.

Title: The Path of Absolution

Logline: When Jarron Clark gets conned by his gang robbing a wagon train, he's stranded on the Oregon Trail. His one chance for redemption lies in Oregon & he must regain the trust of the train to get there.

Synopsis: Jarron Clark is a rugged loner that joins a peaceful wagon train bound for Oregon.Chuck Fairley is the first man to take Jarron in & accept him as one of their own.Jarron plans to rob the wagons,but it backfires when his gang of outlaws double-crosses him.Left with nothing, Jarron ventures out on his own only to rescue Chuck's wife,Laura, from a runaway wagon.His heroism is not enough to convince the wagon train he can be trusted & he's banished to the isolated trail.Without food & water & being a wanted man, Jarron struggles to survive. When the wagon train crosses paths with a beleaguered Jarron later on, Laura nurses him back to health.With wild animals,Indians, & thieves around each bend,Jarron's ability to handle danger slowly wins back some of the trust he'd lost.Jarron proves to be a vital as a hired gun & the wagon train realizes they need Jarron just as much as he needs them.The train's only chance to make it to Oregon lies in their fragile trust of Jarron,a former outlaw.

Title: Company of Bullets

Logline: Based on actual events, in the spring of 1879, an embattled Sheriff's Deputy battles to save his sanity and his Colorado town as a ruthless railroad war explodes.

Synopsis: Pat Desmond moved to South Pueblo, Colorado in hope of living a simple life with his wife and son, but in 1879, the life of a Deputy Sheriff is anything but simple. Tormented by the violence of his past, Desmond's unique talent for striking fear in the hearts of murderers and thieves propels his reputation throughout the West, but pushes him to the edge of self destruction. With a silver boom like this country has never seen, Leadville, Colorado is making millionaires overnight. General Palmer's Denver & Rio Grande railroad has staked claim to the only route possible to Leadville, through the treacherous Royal Gorge canyon, but The Santa Fe railroad will stop at nothing to prove they in fact are the rightful owners of the elusive passage to the booming mining town. As the battle wages in federal courtrooms, the men of each company take matters into their own hands on the Royal Gorge floor. As the violence escalates, legendary lawmen and notorious gunfighters join the fight.

Title: Django Returns

Logline: "In the Year Of Our Lord, 1880, there was a ranch called the Double M...OWNED BY THE McClane clan...in Dutchess County ...in the State of Arizona...it is there this tale begins."

Synopsis: A boy...a girl...a man...a woman...cut down by bullets. SHOOTER unknown...CRIME unsolved. WEEKS LATER...On the table top of the northern mountain range a man EMERGES. He is young and tall, blond and blue-eyed. A small beard covers his face. He is a sardonic man wearing a trench coat and a wide brimmed hat low on his forehead. A Colt.45 sits in a holster on his left hip. And he walks dragging a coffin behind. This is the beginning of Django Returns. It is a classic Western drama of revenge...renewal...and redemption. 127 pages. It is written to rival ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST...as the greatest western movie of all time. WGA, EAST#R25071.

Title: Some Kind of Justice

Logline: A man driven to the edge of the West

Synopsis: We find Luke, alone in the mountains of Western American (1868)... tracked down by bounty hunters and crooked lawmen... and haunted by the image of his fiance, Mary, who was shot down in front of him. He narrates, through violent flashbacks, his story of how a simple game of poker caused a string of events that led to his present dire situation. But it is not over yet... having survived cruel imprisonment, hard labour, and the hangman's noose, he still faces constant persecution. The cause of all his suffering is a single man called Jack King. In true epic style, Luke musters up a force big enough to exact revenge on his enemy. The only thing that remains uncertain is the whereabouts of Mary.

Title: Clay

Logline: Based on the life of shootist Clay Allison - A Civil War veteran, struggling to maintain the good in himself, starts a new life in New Mexico, and finds his neighbors have more use for his evil side.

Synopsis: Robert Clay Allison was born with a clubfoot, which causes others to shun him as "unholy" and leads to a childhood trauma that leaves Clay mentally unstable, divided. After bloody engagements in the American Civil War, Union forces imprison him. He emerges from this isolation with a new sense of himself. He seems to be free of his raging "dark side" and so sets off to become a cattle rancher in the wide-open west. But his dark side comes with him. One violent encounter leads to another, as people begin to spin horror stories around him, giving his dark half more opportunities to come forward, to take over. He is shunned once again, but manages to start over. Clay marries and has a daughter. He fears his little girl will inherit his evils and knows he absolutely must be rid of his other half. He forces a final showdown with his inner demon--and with those who would see the demon win. He gains his freedom but loses his life. A tale of society's fascination with the "bad guy".