Starring: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Michael Covino, Fred Hechinger, Neil Sandilands, Thomas Francis Murphy, Mare Winningham, Elizabeth Marvel, Chukwudi Iwuji

OUR RATING: ★★★★☆

Story:

Western drama directed and co-written by Paul Greengrass. The story follows Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks), a widowed veteran, who travels town to town announcing the news of the world to the local population. In Texas, he crosses paths with an orphan girl, Johanna (Helena Zengel), who was taken in by the Kiowa people and raised as one of their own, but must now reluctantly return to her aunt and uncle. Kidd agrees to deliver Johanna to her family and they embark on a dangerous journey through the wilderness as they search for a place that either can call home.

Get a copy of the novel that it’s based on here!

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Our Favorite Quotes:

'We're all hurting. These are difficult times.' - Captain Kidd (News of the World) Click To Tweet 'We're all journeying across the prairie in a straight line and looking for that place to be. And when we find it, we go straight out, and we plow it, and we plant it, all in a straight line.' - Captain Kidd (News of the World) Click To Tweet 'To move forward, you must remember first.' - Johanna (News of the World) Click To Tweet

Best Quotes

Captain Kidd: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It’s good to be back with you all here in Wichita Falls. My name is Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, and I’m here tonight to bring you all the news from across this great world of ours.

Captain Kidd: Now, I know how life is in these parts, working a trade sunup to sundown. No time for reading newspapers. Am I correct? Let me do that work for you. And maybe, just for tonight, we can escape our troubles, and hear of the great changes that are happening out there.

Captain Kidd: [after encountering Johanna] Who are you? Do you have a name?
Johanna: [in Kiowa] Home. I want to go home.
Captain Kidd: I don’t understand. I don’t speak Kiowa.

Captain Kidd: These are Indian agency papers. “Johanna Leonberger.” Is that your name? Johanna?

Captain Kidd: Looks like the Indians had her. Here’s her agency papers. I just found them.
Cavalry Lieutenant: You’re good.
Captain Kidd: What the hell do I do with this child?
Cavalry Lieutenant: Fetch her to Red River. Command post will know.

Captain Kidd: [reading from the agency papers] So, the army found you three weeks ago when they cleared the Kiowa out of Montague County. You’ve been living with them since they kidnapped you when they attacked your family in Hill Country six years prior. Dear Heaven. “Her mother, father, and sister were…” Well, they passed. But you have an aunt, and an uncle, still living down there. Near Castroville. So that’s where you were being taken.

Captain Kidd: [as he’s trying to speak in German to Johanna] Remember your German family? Alright. Come tomorrow, we’ll find somebody who can take you home.

Captain Kidd: Well, I found this child, see, and the lieutenant who was patrolling the road told me to bring her to see you.
Union Duty Officer: Well, what do you expect me to do?
Captain Kidd: She needs taken home.
Union Duty Officer: The agent won’t be back for another three months. Strays are his responsibility. Looks like you’ll need to take her.
Captain Kidd: I can’t take her, sir. I work and travel from town to town. I can’t take her.
Union Duty Officer: Listen, friend. Wait for the agent, or take her yourself. It’s up to you. If you will, please.

Simon Boudlin: What are you going to do with her?
Captain Kidd: Wait for the agent, it appears.
Simon Boudlin: Got kind of a wild look about her, doesn’t she?
Doris Boudlin: No, she’s scared.

Captain Kidd: [to Johanna] Alright, now. See here, child. I have to work. You’re going to stay here with these kind folks. Friends. Friends. You got that, child?
Simon Boudlin: Well, shoot, Kidd. She don’t understand a damn thing, does she?

Captain Kidd: [to the crowd] Northern blues are not helping us a lot, and they’re asking for a great deal in return. We’re all hurting. All of us. But I’m thinking we got a part to play in all of this as well. There’s more than rain, and Indians, and Northern blues troubling our roads. I’ve seen it myself, coming in from Wichita Falls. Yeah. We’re all hurting. These are difficult times.

Johanna: [in Kiowa, shouting to the Native American tribe leaving] It’s me. Daughter of Turning Water and Three Spotted. Come back!

Simon Boudlin: [after Kidd finds Johanna again] Well, s**t, Captain. What the hell are you going to do with her?
Captain Kidd: I’ll take her. I found her. I’ll take her.
Simon Boudlin: You sure about that, Captain? Castroville’s damn near four hundred miles. Those roads have changed since you lived down that way.
Captain Kidd: The little girl is lost. She needs to be home.

Simon Boudlin: Captain, why are you doing this?

Captain Kidd: [to Johanna] We’ll be on this road for about six days till we make Dallas. Then across Central Texas to the Hill Country, it’ll be a few weeks. We’ll have to stop and give readings, of course. We have to pay our way. I’ll keep an eye out for trouble. Settlers killing Indians for their land, and Indians killing settlers for taking it. I guess you know something about that.

Captain Kidd: I’m Captain Kidd, by the by.
[points to himself]
Captain Kidd: “Captain. Captain.” You’re Johanna. You, “Johanna.” And it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Make no mistake.

Captain Kidd: [as Johanna tosses the bacon his way] This is the bacon. I guess I’ll make some. “Please” would be nice to hear. That’s the way it works.

Captain Kidd: That is coffee.
[Johanna puts some ground coffee in her mouth and spits it out]
Captain Kidd: Yeah, coffee packs a punch, doesn’t it? It’s an acquired taste. That’s sugar.
[Johanna starts eating the sugar]
Captain Kidd: Bit more to your liking, huh?

Captain Kidd: [referring to the newspaper] See all those words printed in a line one after the other? Put them all together, and you have a story.
Johanna: Story.
Captain Kidd: Stories.

Captain Kidd: [as Johanna takes out a photograph] Well, go right ahead. That’s my wife. Down in San Antonio.

Mrs. Gannett: They paying you to take her home, or you doing it out of the goodness of your heart?
Captain Kidd: No, they’re not paying me. I just know the road.

Captain Kidd: [as Gannett speaks to Johanna in Kiowa] What did she say?
Mrs. Gannett: She said you’ve been calling her the wrong name. Her name’s Cicada.
Captain Kidd: Well, it’s Johanna now. Johanna Leonberger.

Mrs. Gannett: [to Kidd] She says she got no home. No Kiowa family, neither. You see the hair? They cut it when they’re in mourning. This child is an orphan twice over.

Captain Kidd: Can you tell her that I am taking her to family, to an aunt and an uncle down near Castroville?
Mrs. Gannett: Kidd, she don’t got any idea what that means.
Captain Kidd: Well, they’re the only ones that will take her. She’s got no place else. Nobody wants her.

Mrs. Gannett: I hear them roads are bad Castroville way.
Captain Kidd: Yeah. Yeah, so I hear.
Mrs. Gannett: Mr. Gannett used to take them. Before he went to California. Maybe he just didn’t want to come back.

Captain Kidd: I do not have a clue as to the care of a child. Never had the need, nor the patience required.
Mrs. Gannett: She’s still alive, ain’t she? That’s not nothing.

Mrs. Gannett: Road taking its toll?
Captain Kidd: Sleeping through the night isn’t what it once was.
CMrs. Gannett: Yeah. Your stories can only keep you company for so long.

Mrs. Gannett: So what you going to do once you’ve taken her?
Captain Kidd: I may just keep heading south. Work passage on a ship out of Galveston. Go see those far off places I read about to people every night.

Mrs. Gannett: How long has it been?
Captain Kidd: Close to five years now.
Mrs. Gannett: Castroville’s San Antonio way.
Captain Kidd: Yeah. Yes, it is.
Mrs. Gannett: [referring to Kidd’s wife] Isn’t it time you went back? Made things right with her? Looking at you now, I’m thinking you don’t have a choice.

See more News of the World Quotes

Almay: So where did you serve, Captain?
Captain Kidd: Infantry, Third Texas. You?
Almay: First Texas Infantry, Northern Virginia. Lot of good it did us. Poor men fighting a rich man’s war. Left us lying here in the gutter. Way I see it, we fought. But ain’t no piece of this ours.
Captain Kidd: It’s late, Mr. Almay. And what is your point?
Almay: Point is, us old soldiers got to live, right?

Almay: I have a little business proposition for you, seeing you traveling alone like you are. This young girl.
Captain Kidd: What do you want?
Almay: How much you want for her?
Captain Kidd: This child is not for sale.

Almay: How about fifty dollars? Alright, a hundred, then. And you can rest easy knowing at least she’ll get paid. I mean, look at that fair skin. I bet you were a lucky man out there in the desert.
Captain Kidd: You are scum!
Almay: In the alternative, we could just take her.

Almay: I’ll be seeing you, Captain. You hear me? I’m coming for you, as soon as I’m done with these blues.

Almay: [as he’s shooting at Kidd] Hey, Cap, didn’t I say I’d come for you?
Captain Kidd: [to Johanna] Go.
Almay: Didn’t I say that?

Almay: Hey, Cap! You’re good for a man of years. But ain’t you just so damn tired of all this? Didn’t we have our body and soul broke out there? Seems an awful shame for it to end like this when you can just join us! This world, rich pickings for some, slim pickings for the rest of us.

Captain Kidd: [to Johanna, as Almay continues to shoot at them] You go. Take the horses and go. I shoot. You go.

Almay: You’re not thinking straight, Cap. She ain’t worth dying for!
Captain Kidd: [to Johanna] Go. Get away while you can.
Almay: What do you say, Cap? Talk to me.

Captain Kidd: Mr. Almay! You have me in an uncomfortable circumstance. How exactly are we going to work this out?
Almay: I figure a share for each man, and an extra for me! Considering what you did to my associate over there.
Captain Kidd: That sounds pretty fair to me. So what do you want me to do?
Almay: Just got to turn over the girl. That’s all!

Almay: [as Kidd shoots at them] Oh, Cap, what you trying to do, tickle us to death?
Captain Kidd: Well, we don’t have a deal yet.
Almay: Aha! I think it’s because you’re out of bullets, and all you got left now is bird shot. Am I right, Cap?

Almay: [as Kidd shoots one of his men] Oh, goddamn it! Well, now you done gone and spoiled it, Cap. Looks like we’re back on opposite sides.
Captain Kidd: Looks like it.
Almay: Alright, Cap. Looks like I’m coming for you now.
[after which Kidd finally shoots and kills Almay]

Captain Kidd: [to Johanna] We’re all journeying across the prairie in a straight line and looking for that place to be. And when we find it, we go straight out, and we plow it, and we plant it, all in a straight line.

Captain Kidd: [as Johanna has a memory from her past] You just leave that. You just leave it. Forget it. I guess we both have demons to face, going down this road.

Captain Kidd: Good day, gentlemen.
Benjamin Farley: Road’s closed. Ain’t nobody unaccounted for getting into Erath County.
Captain Kidd: Is that the law?
Benjamin Farley: It is now.

Mr. Farley: What’s your name, sir?
Captain Kidd: Kidd. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd.
Mr. Farley: And your reason for traveling, Cap?
Captain Kidd: The news. I read the news, to anyone with ten cents, and the time to hear it.

Mr. Farley: We’re building a whole new world down here in Erath County. But ain’t none of it writ here.
Captain Kidd: That news didn’t travel.
Mr. Farley: Let’s take care of that. Why don’t we have us a little read? What do you say, news man?

Captain Kidd: What business is Mr. Farley in?
Benjamin Farley: Business to never mind your business.

Mr. Farley: [after Kidd tells the story about the miners who standup to the cruel mine owner] You should’ve just read, Captain.
Captain Kidd: I was just giving the people a choice, Mr. Farley.
Mr. Farley: Well, you can read now. You got no idea what we deal with down here. Mexicans, blacks, Indians. Give them an inch, and every one will slit your throat where you pi**.
Captain Kidd: The war is over, Mr. Farley. We have to stop fighting sometime.
Mr. Farley: Oh, we will. When it’s ours alone.

Mr. Farley: You ready to read, Cap?
[as he goes to shoot Kidd, Johanna shoots him]

John Calley: [after he’s saved Johanna and Kidd by killing Farley] I like your stories.

John Calley: I tell you, I ain’t never heard of news reading as a business before.
Captain Kidd: It’s not a rich man’s occupation, as you can see.

Captain Kidd: I was a printer by trade. And I had a printworks in San Antonio. I printed up newspapers. Then the war came. When it was over, it was all gone. I lost everything. Had to make a new life for myself right there. I couldn’t print the newspapers anymore, but I could read them. And that’s what I’ve been doing, from town to town.

John Calley: If they find you, they’d kill you.
Captain Kidd: The railroad’s that way, John. Go make something of your own.
John Calley: At least, take this gun. I could get another real easy. Just take it for her.

Johanna: [as Johanna goes into her old home where her parents were killed] Mama, Papa tot?
Captain Kidd: Yes. They’re dead.

Captain Kidd: [to Johanna] I want to get you away from all this pain and killing, get you clear of it. Going back, it’s not good.

Captain Kidd: Stay on that line. And don’t look back.
Johanna: [in Kiowa] No. To move forward, you must remember first.

Captain Kidd: [as they finally reach Johanna’s aunt and uncle’s farmstead] This is where you belong now, Johanna. This is your home now.

Anna Leonberger: So, she thinks she’s an Indian now?
Captain Kidd: Well, something in between. She needs time to adjust.

Anna Leonberger: You know, my sister, when we found her in the bedroom, they cut her throat. The baby sister, they bashed the brain out.
Captain Kidd: Best if she forgets all that. She needs new memories.
Anna Leonberger: Who knows what they will have taught her? But we must try to see her as a blessing. And we need the extra hands.

Wilhelm Leonberger: You want money for bring her here?
Captain Kidd: No. No, I don’t want your money. Buy her books.
Anna Leonberger: Books?
Captain Kidd: So she can read. She likes stories.

Wilhelm Leonberger: [as Johanna sits in silence ignoring Kidd] He’s leaving, child. You ungrateful girl. This man, he brought you on home.
Captain Kidd: That’s alright. Maybe she doesn’t understand what’s happening.

Mr. Branholme: [referring to Kidd’s wife] She’s at the church. In the garden. It was cholera. There’s nothing you could have done. Doctor said.
Captain Kidd: It was being away for four years of war, Willie. Four years with all the killing, and all the blood. Of wanting to go home every day. Of wanting to see her, and feel her. To talk, and laugh, and dream, and think of having a family. Instead, I got a letter delivered to my tent, saying she was gone and already buried. That’s when I knew. God’s curse on me had taken her.

Mr. Branholme: It was sickness, Jeff, just sickness.
Captain Kidd: It wasn’t sickness. It was judgment, for all I had seen, and all I had done.
Mr. Branholme: I’ve known you fifty years. Since we were boys. We didn’t ask for any of this. But it fell to us to do the fighting. We lived. She died. That’s not judgment. It’s just what we had to face and carry the rest of our days.

Anna Leonberger: [Kidd returns back to where he left Johanna with her aunt and uncle] We had to tie her. She runs away.
Captain Kidd: She’s a child.
Wilhelm Leonberger: She no work.
Captain Kidd: My mistake. She doesn’t belong here.

Captain Kidd: I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
[in Kiowa]
Captain Kidd: You belong with me. Johanna. You belong with me
Johanna: Captain, Johanna go?
Captain Kidd: Yes. If that’s what you want.
[Johanna cries softly then embraces Kidd]
Captain Kidd: Captain, Johanna go.

Captain Kidd: [after he reads to another crowd and Johanna helps out with sound effects] My name is Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd. This is Miss Johanna Kidd. And that is all the news of the world we have for you. We thank you, and good night.

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1 Comment

Michael C Sullivan on February 5, 2021 at 4:01 am

I would like to see the one about the person being buried alive at the end of the movie which Captain Kidd tells to the audience Is there any way you could send me that one? I did enjoy most of the quotes but I can’t believe you left the one I just requested to you off the list.

Best News of the World Movie Quotes – ‘It’s hard finding your way.’

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