It's a Wonderful Life Page #16

POTTER:

I want you to manage my affairs, run my properties. George, I'll

start you out at twenty thousand dollars a year.

George drops his cigar on his lap. He nervously brushes off the

sparks from his clothes.

GEORGE (flabbergasted)

Twenty thou . . . twenty thousand dollars a year?

POTTER:

You wouldn't mind living in the nicest house in town, buying your

wife a lot of fine clothes, a couple of business trips to New

York a year, maybe once in

a while Europe. You wouldn't mind that, would you, George?

GEORGE:

Would I?

(looking around skeptically)

You're not talking to somebody else around here, are you? You

know, this is me, you remember me? George Bailey.

POTTER:

Oh, yes, George Bailey. Whose ship has just come in �� providing

he has brains enough to climb aboard.

GEORGE:

Well, what about the Building and Loan?

POTTER:

Oh, confound it, man, are you afraid of success? I'm offering you

a three year contract at twenty thousand dollars a year, starting

today. Is it a deal or

isn't it?

GEORGE:

Well, Mr. Potter, I . . . I . . . I know I ought to jump at the

chance, but I . . . I just . . . I wonder if it would be possible

for you to give me twenty-four

hours to think it over?

POTTER:

Sure, sure, sure. You go on home and talk about it to your wife.

GEORGE:

I'd like to do that.

POTTER:

In the meantime, I'll draw up the papers.

GEORGE:

All right, sir.

POTTER (offers hand)

Okay, George?

GEORGE (taking his hand)

Okay, Mr. Potter.

As they shake hands, George feels a physical revulsion. Potter's

hand feels like a cold mackerel to him. In that moment of

physical contact he knows he

could never be associated with this man. George drops his hand

with a shudder. He peers intently into Potter's face.

GEORGE (cont'd �� vehemently)

No . . . no . . . no . . . no, now wait a minute, here! I don't

have to talk to anybody! I know right now, and the answer is no!

NO! Doggone it!

(getting madder all the time)

You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think

the whole world revolves around you and your money. Well, it

doesn't, Mr. Potter! In the . . . in the

whole vast configuration of things, I'd say you were nothing but

a scurvy little spider. You . . .

He turns and shouts at the goon, impassive as ever beside

Potter's wheelchair.

GEORGE (cont'd)

. . . And that goes for you too!

As George opens the office door to exit, he shouts at Mr.

Potter's secretary in the outer office:

GEORGE (cont'd)

And it goes for you too!

WIPE TO:

INTERIOR BEDROOM �� GEORGE AND MARY'S HOUSE �� NIGHT

CLOSE SHOT �� George enters the bedroom. The room is modestly

furnished with just a cheap bed, a chair or two, and a dresser.

Mary is asleep in the

bed. As George comes in, his head is filled with many confusing

thoughts, relating to incidents in his past life.

POTTER'S VOICE

You wouldn't mind living in the nicest house in town. Buying your

wife a lot of fine clothes, going to New York on a business trip

a couple of

times a year. Maybe to Europe once in a while.

George takes off his hat and coat, moves over to the dresser and

stares at his reflection in the mirror.

GEORGE'S VOICE

I know what I'm going to do tomorrow and the next day and next

year and the year after that. I'm shaking the dust of this crummy

little town

off my feet, and I'm going to see the world . . . And I'm going

to build things. I'm going to build air fields. I'm going to

build skyscrapers a hundred stories high. I'm

going to build a bridge a mile long.

While the above thoughts are passing through George's head, his

attention is caught by a picture on the wall near the dresser:

INSERT:

Picture on the wall. It is the sketch of George lassoing the moon

that we first saw in Mary's living room. The lettering reads

"George Lassos

The Moon."

GEORGE'S VOICE

What is it you want, Mary? You want the moon? If you do, just say

the word; I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down for you.

Mary is now awake, and starts singing their theme song:

MARY (singing)

Buffalo Gals, won't you come out tonight, won't you come out

tonight, won't you come out tonight.

George crosses over and sits on the edge of the bed.

GEORGE:

Hi.

MARY:

Hi.

GEORGE:

Mary Hatch, why in the world did you ever marry a guy like me?

MARY:

To keep from being an old maid.

GEORGE:

You could have married Sam Wainwright or anybody else in town.

MARY:

I didn't want to marry anybody else in town. I want my baby to

look like you.

GEORGE:

You didn't even have a honeymoon. I promised you . . .

(does a double take)

. . . Your what?

MARY:

My baby.

GEORGE (incredulously)

You mean . . . Mary, you on the nest?

MARY:

George Bailey lassos stork.

GEORGE:

Lassos the stork! You mean you . . . What is it, a boy or a girl?

Mary nods her head happily.

FADE OUT:

George and Mary start a family/Harry gets decorated/Uncle Billy

loses the money

FADE IN:

MONTAGE SEQUENCE

Over the following SERIES OF SHOTS we hear the voices of Joseph

and Clarence in Heaven.

EXTERIOR MAIN STREET BEDFORD FALLS �� NIGHT

MEDIUM SHOT �� George is crossing the street, heading for the

offices of the Building and Loan.

JOSEPH'S VOICE

Now, you've probably already guessed that George never leaves

Bedford Falls.

CLARENCE'S VOICE

No!

INTERIOR HOSPITAL �� DAY

CLOSE SHOT �� nurse holding newborn baby.

JOSEPH'S VOICE

Mary had her baby, a boy.

INTERIOR SITTING ROOM �� DAY

CLOSE SHOT �� Mary sitting on the floor playing with a baby. A

little boy is in a playpen nearby.

JOSEPH'S VOICE

Then she had another one �� a girl.

INTERIOR GRANVILLE HOUSE �� DAY

CLOSE SHOTS �� Mary is busy hanging wallpaper and painting the

old place.

JOSEPH'S VOICE

Day after day she worked away remaking the old Granville house

into a home.

INTERIOR GRANVILLE HOUSE �� NIGHT

CLOSE SHOT �� George has just come into the hall. He is obviously

tired and discouraged as he starts up the stairs. The knob on the

banister comes off

in his hand.

JOSEPH'S VOICE

Night after night George came back late from the office. Potter

was bearing down hard.

WIPE TO:

EXTERIOR RECRUITING GROUNDS �� DAY

MEDIUM LONG SHOT �� A group of men, obviously just drafted,

marching along in a camp.

JOSEPH'S VOICE

Then came a war.

INTERIOR RED CROSS WORKROOM �� DAY

CLOSE SHOT �� Mrs. Bailey and other women in Red Cross uniforms

busily sewing, etc.

JOSEPH'S VOICE

Ma Bailey and Mrs. Hatch joined the Red Cross and sewed.

EXTERIOR TRAIN IN RAILROAD STATION �� DAY

CLOSE SHOT �� Mary, with portable U.S.O. pushcart, is serving

coffee and doughnuts to men leaning from the train.

JOSEPH'S VOICE

Mary had two more babies, but still found time to run the U.S.O.

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