Movies - TV
Unforgiven's Original Ending Was
A Scene Inspired
By The Godfather
By DEVIN MEENAN
The 1992 landmark movie by Clint Eastwood, “Unforgiven,” follows William Munny (Eastwood), a ruthless killer now transformed into a family man, in what could be seen as an epilogue to the tale of the gunslinging cowboy Eastwood portrayed in his younger days. David Peoples, the original author of the 1976 story titled “The William Munny Killings,” shared the movie’s original ending.
“Unforgiven” ends after the shootout and Munny riding out of town and into the darkness with a text epilogue, but Peoples revealed the original ending featured Munny returning home and lying to his children about not killing anyone. Peoples noted the end was inspired by “The Godfather” and how Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) lies to his wife about Carlo’s murder.
Both “Unforgiven” and “The Godfather” are about men failing to do good, but Eastwood felt that the original ending had “a beat too many,” according to Peoples. The writer would have liked to see his conclusion in the film, but he explained Eastwood’s view, saying, “He had this sense that the movie had already ended, and sticking on another scene wasn’t going to help.”