Great Scene: “Saving Private Ryan”

Captain Miller finally reveals what his job is back home in a scene which is considerably different than an early draft of the script.

IMDb plot summary: Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.

Written by Robert Rodat.

Setup: There has been a running bet among the Second Rangers soldiers, taking guesses as to what Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) does for a living back home. In the run-up to this scene, the soldiers are pissed off. Two of their men have been killed in combat while they are stuck on a mission to find Private Ryan, who they do not know, and escort him to safety. They don’t understand the mission, they don’t want the mission, they’d rather be fighting the war and killing German soldiers. The tension gets to the point where two soldiers draw guns on each other. That’s when Miller intervenes.

Here is Miller’s monologue:

I’m a schoolteacher. I teach English composition… in this little town called Adley…