EFL Movie Study Guide for:
It's a Wonderful Life
Story: George lives for others all his life. One Christmas Eve, a
relative’s error threatens to put him in jail. While considering suicide,
George gets an unexpected gift when an angel shows him what his town would
be like if he had never been born. Many Americans watch this classic every
Christmas. (1946; three Oscar nominations: Best Actor; Best Director
[Frank Capra]; Best Picture; Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed; Liberty
Films/Republic Pictures; black & white drama/fantasy, with a healthy dose
of romance, comedy and Christmas cheer; not rated but "G"; about two
hours)
Setting: Bedford Falls, New York (a fictional small town), 1907 to
1945
Note: I've copied this from "The Name Above the Title", by this
film's famous director: Frank Capra--". . .It was my film for my kind of
people. A film to tell the weary, disheartened, and the
disillusioned...that no man is a failure! To show [common people] that
each man's life touches so many other lives. And that if he isn't around
it would leave an awful hole. [...It's] a film that expressed its love for
the homeless and the loveless; for her whose cross is heavy and him whose
touch is ashes; for the Magdalenes stoned by hypocrites and the afflicted
Lazaruses with only dogs to lick their sores. I wanted it to shout to the
abandoned [and abused]: "You are the salt of the earth. And It's a
Wonderful Life is my memorial to you!" (You can read the whole quote
at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/9502/life.html) |
People & proper nouns
(main characters and places)
George Bailey (the center of the story)
Peter Bailey: George’s father, a kind man who runs a type of “people’s
bank” called the Bailey Brothers’ Building and Loan
Bailey Brothers’ Building and Loan Office: Peter and Billy Bailey run this
“alternative bank,” where people can save money by buying “shares” that
allow neighbors to borrow money to be used to build small homes. The
town’s bank is run by a self-centered man (Mr. Potter) who only wants to
make money—not to help people—so the “building and loan” loans money for a
house or car.
Billy Bailey (or “Uncle Billy”): Peter’s brother and George’s uncle;
kind-hearted but disorganized and forgetful (symbolized by pieces of
string tied to his fingers, each one representing something he is supposed
to remember!)
Building and Loan: see “Bailey Brothers’ Building and Loan Office”
Mary Hatch: one of George’s childhood friends (she eventually marries
George)
Zuzu: George and Mary have four children; this is the youngest daughter’s
name
Harry Bailey: George’s younger brother (“kid brother”); at the beginning
of the movie, George saves his life; at the end of the movie Harry is
getting America’s highest award (The Congressional Medal of Honor) for
saving many lives during World War 2.
Mr. Gower (also called “Old man Gower”): runs the drug store; George
worked there as a teenager
Mr. Martini: an Italian immigrant; Mr Potter used to charge him a lot of
money to live in a rented apartment, but George helped him (and countless
others) get out of “Potter’s slum” and build his own home, and even to
build his own restaurant
Nick: a nice man who works for Mr. Martini (in George’s dream, Nick has a
mean personality)
Clarence Odbody: an angel who is sent from Heaven to help George (in
answer to the prayers of many of George’s friends—these prayers are the
first thing you hear in the movie); he is described as being simple-minded
(he has the “IQ of a rabbit” but also has “the faith of a child”)
Ernie and Bert: two of George’s childhood friends, who grow up to be a
taxi driver and a cop
Sam Wainwright: one of George’s childhood friends (we can recognize him
because he greets people by saying "Hee Haw"); when he grows up he gets
rich by running a plastics business
Violet Bick: one of George’s childhood friends (we see her as a child and
as an attractive young woman)
Henry F. Potter: the “bad guy” in this movie, described as "the richest
and meanest man" in the county”; he runs the bank, and wants the Bailey
Building and Loan Office to go out of business
Bedford Falls, New York: the (fictional) city where the story takes place
the Granville house: we first see it as a run-down, deserted house (George
says that even if he were a ghost he wouldn’t want to live there), but
later it becomes George’s home
Bailey Park: an area where the Bailey’s sell land and help people build
inexpensive homes
Vocabulary:
alternative: a choice; one thing instead of something else
bankruptcy: a legal term, meaning you go out of business because you can’t
pay your debts
(to be/feel) cooped up: to feel like you are trapped in a place, as if
you were a bird in a cage
cop: police officer
characters: people (esp. strangers) who act odd
drunk/drunkard: as a noun, it means someone who chooses to stay drunk
(i.e., so he doesn’t have to face the challenges of life; many “drunks”
are also jobless and homeless)
equity: the “actual value” of certain types of investment [some life
insurance policies were both a “savings” account that you could “cash”
whenever you wanted—this was the equity—but that also gave loved ones a
much larger amount of money if you accidentally died]
hard drinks: alcohol that makes you drunk fast (as opposed to wine or beer
that many people only drink a little of—not enough to get drunk)
the homefront (in the movie, it is called “the battle of Bedford Falls”):
things people do “back home” in a time of war; how non-soldiers help their
country to win a war by recycling things, not wasting resources, buying
war bonds, etc.
honeymoon: a short vacation couples often take right after they are
married; a “Bridal Suite” is an expensive room in a nice hotel, reserved
for people on their honeymoon
luggage: suitcases and other bags used when traveling (sometimes used in
movies to symbolize “travel” or the desire to travel)
mansion: a large, expensive house
old maid: a woman who has never married (this term isn’t used anymore
because it is considered impolite)
penny-ante: an adj from poker/gambling, which means “for everyone/very
cheap” (the “ante” is the first bet in a poker game; if it is just a
penny—one cent—then anyone can afford to play)
rabble: a negative term for a crowd, used to insult people who don’t have
money or social status
riffraff: (same as rabble)
a run (on the bank): when many fearful people want to take out their money
at the same time (remember that banks don’t keep your money in a safe;
they loan it to businesses and to your neighbors so they can build
homes—if too many people want to take their money out at the same time, it
forces the bank to go out of business)
scandal: a shocking event that brings shame or disgrace to a
person/company (often because one’s actions were immoral)
slum: a place where poor people live, and usually it is very hard to “move
out” to become a part of the middle class
stroke: a medical emergency when blood can’t flow to the brain; this is
how George’s father dies
suicide: to kill yourself; in the movie this is called “throwing away
God's greatest gift" (that is, your life)
Sentences/dialogs from
the movie:
(see below the “discussion” section) |
Synopsis/Timeline
(this film uses a flashback point of view; to understand the story, here
is a timeline of the main character’s life)
1907—George Bailey is born
1919—12-year-old George Bailey and friends are sledding when his little
brother Harry falls through the ice. George saves his life, but gets very
sick and becomes deaf in one ear. Mr. Gower’s son dies of influenza; Mr.
Gower accidentally puts poison in medicine, but George discovers this and
refuses to deliver the “medicine”—this saves another life, and keeps Mr.
Gower from going to jail.
1924—George graduates from High School and starts working for his dad at
the Building and Loan
1928—Harry (George’s kid brother) graduates from high school; George has
now saved enough money to go to college, but his plans to travel for the
summer end because his father died of a stroke. In the fall, he has to
choose between going to college or keeping the Building and Loan in
business (the Board chose him to take over the company). He accepts the
appointment and uses his money to send his brother to college.
1932—Harry graduates from college and he is supposed to come run the
Building and Loan. But instead he marries Ruth, whose father gives Harry a
good research job in another city. For years, George has tried to leave
Bedford Falls (he also avoids Mary, though inside he loves her). Now he
realizes that he will never leave, and he decides to marry Mary. It is in
the Great Depression—a time of economic crisis and intense bank
instability. George and Mary cancel their honeymoon and use George’s
savings to keep the Building and Loan running (they also make the run-down
Granville house their home).
1935?—George’s old friend Sam “Hee Haw” Wainwright is now rich, while
George still struggles to pay his bills. Mr Potter tries to convince
George to work for him; it would mean a very big salary, but the Building
and Loan would close and common people could no longer get loans to build
houses. George rejects the offer for the sake of “the people”; he and Mary
have their first of four children.
1942?—George’s brother and his friends join the army to serve in World War
2, but the military “draft board” rejects George because he is deaf in one
ear.
1945—Harry Bailey becomes a hero because (as a pilot) he saves many lives.
1945—Christmas eve (when most of this story takes place). “Uncle Billy”
and George are very proud because the town is going to celebrate Harry’s
heroism. Absentminded Uncle Billy accidentally misplaces several thousand
dollars (in fact, he puts it in a newspaper and gives it to Mr. Potter by
mistake). When the money can’t be found, George says to Billy: “Do you
realize what this means? It means bankruptcy and scandal and prison.”
After a careful search, they still can’t find the money. To make
matters worse, his daughter Zuzu is sick (she won a rose in school and was
too excited about it to think about dressing warmly). Without thinking,
George insults Zuzu’s teacher Mrs. Welch, so Mr. Welch hits George. Very
depressed, George decides that he can get people out of trouble by killing
himself (if it looks like an accident, they will get money from his life
insurance policy).
All of his friends pray for George, and Heaven sends help in the
form of a simple-minded angel named Clarence (who can “earn his wings” if
he succeeds in helping George). In desperation, George says he wishes he
had never been born, and Clarence grants this wish.
As George sees how different the town is without him, Clarence
says: "You've been given a great gift, George: a chance to see what the
world would be like without you. Strange, isn't it? Each man's life
touches so many other lives, and when he isn't around he leaves an awful
hole, doesn't he?"
There is a remarkably detailed synopsis of this story at
http://www.filmsite.org/itsa.html (by Tim Dirks). I recommend that you
get a cup of tea, and a dictionary, and then read it before your watch
this film in English.
Sayings/idioms
“50 cents on the dollar”: half price; you paid a dollar, but I’ll buy it
from you for 50 cents (this only sounds like a “good deal” if you think no
one else would want to buy it at all)
“crawling on your hands and knees”: desperately begging (like a dog,
begging for food)
“David and Goliath”: a well-known story from the Bible, where a shepherd
boy defeats a mighty, giant warrior with a few rocks and a lot of faith in
God; the boy goes on to become the country’s greatest king.
“Get me” or “Get this”: look at me/this because it’s very strange or
interesting (Nick says—“Get me! I'm giving out wings!”—to make fun
of Clarence)
“I don’t know you from Adam”: I’ve never met you before; we have no
relationship, so why are you acting like we do? [Nick: “Where do you come
off calling me Nick? I don’t know you from Adam’s off Ox.”]
“It’s about time!”: You certainly waited too long before saying/doing
that!
“It’s no skin off my nose”: I don’t care about that because it won’t
affect me
“passed him up”: We intentionally skipped him, because we didn’t think he
was able to do sth. (“I should have been promoted, but I’ve been passed
up two times!”)
(to be) “run out of town on a rail”: (of colonial origin) to be forced by
the angry townspeople to leave town, who warned you to never return |
Discussion:
1. Look at what George said are “the three most exciting sounds in the
world” (dialog 10). What did Billy say? Do you agree with George or Billy,
or do you have a different answer?
2. Look at what George’s mom said about Mary (dialog 11). What makes
you “light up like a firefly”?
3. Look at the “blessing” said when Mr. Martini got a new house (dialog
13). What do you think of it? Tell us about a custom in your country or
hometown, such as when someone gets a new house or when someone gets
married.
4. The website
http://www.filmsite.org/itsa.html (Tim Dirks) lists many of the things
that would be different in Bedford Falls if George had never been born.
See how many you can think of. Here are some questions to help you and a
partner to get started:
a. What would have happened to Harry as a child, and how would that
effect others?
b. What might have happened to Mr. Gower, the drug store owner?
c. How might Mr. Potter have changed Bedford Falls?
d. How would it have affected George’s wife and children?
e. What might have happened to George’s mother and uncle?
5. Look at the motto for the Building and Loan (dialog 3). What had George
“given away” during his life? Do you agree with this motto? Why or why
not?
6. Mr. Potter was very rich and powerful. Why do you think he was so
unhappy and selfish? What are some of the good and bad things about having
a lot of power and/or money?
7. How would you define “failure” and “success”? Clarence wrote this in
the book he gave George: “Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.”
Do you agree? Why?
|
Dialogs/thoughts from the movie: (some are from IMBD: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/quotes)
1. [first lines in the film; lots of people are praying for George]
Mr. Emil Gower: I owe everything to George Bailey. Help him, dear
Father.
Giuseppe Martini: Joseph, Jesus and Mary. Help my friend, Mr.
Bailey.
Ma Bailey: Help my son, George, tonight.
Ernie: He never thinks about himself, God, that's why he's in
trouble.
Bert: George is a good guy. Give him a break, God.
Mary (George’s wife): I love him, dear Lord. Watch over him tonight.
Janie Bailey: Please, God, something's the matter with Daddy.
Zuzu Bailey: Please bring Daddy back.
2. Senior Angel: Hello Joseph, trouble?
Joseph - Angel: Looks like we'll have to send someone down. There
are a lot of people asking for help for a man named George Bailey.
Senior Angel: George Bailey? Yes! Tonight's his crucial night.
You're right. We'll have to send someone down immediately. Whose turn is
it?
Joseph - Angel: That's why I came to see you, sir. It's that clock
maker's turn again.
Senior Angel: [chuckles] Oh, Clarence. Hasn't gotten his wings yet,
has he?
Joseph - Angel: We passed him up right along. Because, you
know sir, he's got the IQ of a rabbit.
Senior Angel: Yes, but he's got the faith of a child. Simple.
Joseph, send for Clarence…
Clarence: You sent for me, sir?
Senior Angel: Yes, Clarence. A man down on earth needs our help.
Clarence: Splendid. Is he sick?
Senior Angel: No, worse. He's discouraged. At exactly 10:45 pm earth
time, that man will be thinking seriously about throwing away God's
greatest gift.
Clarence: Oh, dear, dear. His life. Then I've only got 1 hour to
dress. What are they wearing now?
Senior Angel: You will spend that hour getting acquainted with
George Bailey.
Clarence: Sir, if I should accomplish this mission, I mean... um.
Might I perhaps win my wings? I've been waiting for over 200 years now,
sir, and people ARE beginning to talk.
Senior Angel: What's that book you've got there?
Clarence: Oh, oh. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (by Mark
Twain)
Senior Angel: Clarence, you do a good job with George Bailey and you
will get your wings.
3. sign: "All you can take with you [when you go to Heaven] is that
which you've given away." (sign on the wall of Bailey Building and Loan;
this is the company’s philosophy)
4. Little Mary [whispering in George’s deaf ear—when they are children]:
Is this the ear you can't hear on? George Bailey, I'll love you 'til the
day I die.
5. [At dinner, just before Harry’s high school graduation party; George
is older than Harry]
Pa Bailey: I know it's soon to talk about it.
George: Oh, now Pop, I couldn't. I couldn't face being cooped up
for the rest of my life in a shabby little office... Oh, I'm sorry Pop, I
didn't mean that, but this business of nickels and dimes and spending all
your life trying to figure out how to save three cents on a length of
pipe... I'd go crazy. I want to do something big and something important.
Pa Bailey: You know, George, I feel that in a small way we are doing
something important. Satisfying a fundamental urge. It's deep in the race
for a man to want his own roof and walls and fireplace, and we're helping
him get those things in our shabby little office.
George Bailey: I know, Dad. I wish I felt... But I've been hoarding
pennies like a miser in order to... Most of my friends have already
finished college. I just feel like if I don't get away, I'd bust.
Pa Bailey: Yes... yes... You're right son. This town is no place for
any man unless he's willing to crawl to Potter. You've got talent, son.
I've seen it. You get yourself an education. Then get out of here.
George Bailey: Pop, you want a shock? I think you're a great guy.
[to their housekeeper, Annie, listening through the door] Oh, did you hear
that, Annie?
Annie: I heard it. It’s about time one of you lunkheads said
it.
6. Mickey [Mickey walks up to a disheartened Freddie Othello, after
George “steals” his date at the dance] What's the matter, Othello -
jealous? Did you know there's a swimming pool under this floor? And did
you know that button behind you causes this floor to open up? And
did you further know that George Bailey is dancing right over that crack?
[Othello turns to Mickey, hopefully.] And I've got the key!
7. George [after attending a dance with Mary—who has had a crush on
George for years—George is telling Mary about his plans for the future]: I
know what I'm gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next year, and
the year after that. I'm shaking the dust of this crummy little town off
my feet and I'm gonna see the world. Italy, Greece, the Parthenon, the
Colosseum. Then, I'm coming' back here to go to college and see what they
know. And then I'm gonna build things. I'm gonna build airfields, I'm
gonna build skyscrapers a hundred stories high, I'm gonna build bridges a
mile long... What is it you want, Mary? You want the moon? Just say
the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a
pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary.
Mary: I'll take it. Then what?
George: Well, then you can swallow it, and it'll all dissolve,
see... and the moonbeams would shoot out of your fingers and your toes and
the ends of your hair... am I talking too much?
Neighbor: YES! Why don’t you just kiss her instead of talking her to
death?
George: You want me to kiss her, huh?
Neighbor [rising from chair to go inside]: Ah, youth is wasted on
the wrong people.
George: Well, just come back here, Mister. I'll give her a kiss
that'll put hair back on your head!
8. George: [After Mr. Bailey died, George is defending him when Mr.
Potter and other businessmen want to “chloroform”—i.e., to kill—the
Building and Loan]: Now, hold on, Mr. Potter. You're right when you
say my father was no businessman. I know that. Why he ever started this
cheap, penny-ante Building and Loan, I'll never know. But
neither you nor anyone else can say anything against his character,
because his whole life was... why, in the 25 years since he and his
brother, Uncle Billy, started this thing, he never once thought of
himself. Isn't that right, Uncle Billy? He didn't save enough money to
send Harry away to college, let alone me. But he did help a few people get
out of your slums, Mr. Potter, and what's wrong with that?
9. [The self-centered Mr. Potter believes that when the Building and
Loan helps average people build their own homes, the result is "a
discontented, lazy rabble instead of a thrifty working class." George
defends the people, saying that his father made them all better citizens
and customers.]
George: Doesn't it make them better citizens? Doesn't it make them
better customers? You... you said... what'd you say a minute ago? They had
to wait and save their money before they even ought to think of a decent
home. Wait? Wait for what? Until their children grow up and leave them?
Until they're so old and broken down that they... Do you know how long it
takes a working man to save five thousand dollars [the cost of a small
home in 1930]? Just remember… this rabble you're talking about… do
most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community.
Well, is it too much to have them work, pay, live and die in a couple of
decent rooms and a bath [i.e., in their own homes]? Anyway, my father
didn't think so. People were human beings to him, but to you, a warped,
frustrated old man, they're cattle. Well, in my book, he died a much
richer man than you'll ever be.
10. George: Do you know what the three most exciting sounds in the world
are?
Uncle Billy: “Breakfast is served,” “Lunch is served,” “Dinner is
served.”
George: No! Anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles.
(continued in other column) |
(continued from other column)
11. Ma Bailey [just after Harry’s wedding]: Nice girl, Mary... she
lights up like a firefly whenever you are around. Besides, Sam Wainright
is off in New York, and you're here in Bedford Falls...
George: And all's fair in love and war, right?
Ma Bailey [fixing his collar]: Well, I don't know about war...
12. Mrs. Hatch: Who is down there with you, Mary?
Mary Hatch: It's George Bailey, mother.
Mrs. Hatch: George Bailey? What does he want?
Mary: I don't know! [to George] What do you want?
George Bailey: Me? Nothing! I just came in to get warm, is all.
Mary [after a pause]: He's making violent love to me, mother!
13. Mary: “Bread - that this house may never know hunger. Salt - that
life may always have flavor. Wine - that joy and prosperity may reign
forever.” (Blessing said when Mr. Martini moves into his new home)
14. Real Estate Salesman, talking to Mr. Potter: Fifteen years ago, a
half-dozen houses stuck here and there. There's the old cemetery,
squirrels, buttercups, daisies. Now… Dozens of the prettiest little homes
you ever saw. Ninety per cent owned by suckers who used to pay rent to
you. Your “Potter's Field”, my dear Mr. Employer, is becoming just that.
And are the local yokels making with those David and Goliath
wisecracks!
Mr. Potter: Oh, they are, are they? Even though they know the
Baileys haven't made a dime out of it.
Real Estate Salesman: You know very well why. The Baileys were all
chumps. Every one of these homes is worth twice what it cost the
Building and Loan to build. If I were you, Mr. Potter...
Mr. Potter: Well, you are not me.
Real Estate Salesman: As I say, it's no skin off my nose. But
one of these days this bright young man is going to be asking George
Bailey for a job.
15. George [very upset, yelling at Uncle Billy after they’ve looked
everywhere for the missing money—money Billy accidentally gave to Mr.
Potter!]: Where's that money, you silly stupid old fool? Where's that
money? Do you realize what this means? It means bankruptcy and scandal and
prison! That's what it means! One of us is going to jail... well, it's not
gonna be me!
16. [Mr. Potter knows that Billy gave Potter the missing money, but
George doesn’t know this]
Mr. Potter: What have you been doing lately, George? Playing the
market with the company's money?
George: No, of course not.
Mr. Potter: Or is it a woman you're involved with? It's all over
town that you've been giving money to Violet Bick.
George: What?
Mr. Potter: Not that it's any skin off my nose…. Look at you.
You used to be so cocky. Now you’ve just a miserable little clerk
crawling in here on your hands and knees and begging for help. You
have nothing but a miserable little $500 equity in a life insurance
policy. You’re worth more dead than alive. Why don't you go to the
riffraff you love so much and ask them to let you have $8,000? You
know why? Because they'd run you out of town on a rail. Well, I'll
tell you what I'm going to do for you, George. Since the state [bank]
examiner is still here…, as a stockholder of the Building and Loan, I'm
going to swear out a warrant for your arrest. Misappropriation of funds,
manipulation, malfeasance...
17. George [praying in desperation]: Dear [Heavenly] Father, I'm not a
praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me, show me the way.
I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way, oh God.
18. George [after meeting his angel]: Well, you look about the kind of
angel I'd get. Sort of a fallen angel, aren't you? What happened to your
wings?
Clarence: I haven't won my wings, yet. That's why I'm called an
Angel Second Class. I have to earn them. And you'll help me, won’t you?
George: [sarcastic] Sure, sure. How?
Clarence: By letting me help you.
George: I know one way you can help me. You don't happen to have
8,000 bucks on you?
Clarence: No, we don't use money in Heaven.
George: Well, it comes in real handy down here, bud!
19. George: Everybody would be better off if I’d never been born.
20. Clarence: You mustn’t say that… Oh, now wait a minute. That's an idea
now, isn't it? [looks upward] What do you think? Ahhh... All right,
George, you've got your wish: you've never been born. [Wind begins to blow
violently outside the shack; Clarence yells out the door] You don't need
to make all THAT fuss about it!
21. Clarence [hearing Nick's cash register ding]: Oh-oh. Somebody's just
made it.
George Bailey: Made what?
Clarence: Every time you hear a bell ring, it means that some
angel's just got his wings.
22. [After George “gets his wish” to have “never been born”, they are in
a bar that is very different from the way it was an hour before. Clarence
asks for a “colonial era” drink—flaming rum punch—because he’s been dead a
long time. This makes Nick the bartender angry.]
Nick: Hey look, mister. We serve hard drinks in here for men
who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around
to give the joint "atmosphere". Is that clear, or do I have to slip you my
left for a convincer?
George: [intervening] Nick, hold on. Just give him the same as mine.
He's no trouble. [to Clarence] What's the matter with him? I never saw
Nick act like that before.
Clarence: You'll see a lot of strange things from now on.
23. [Clarence shows George his brother Harry's tombstone]
Clarence [explaining]: Your brother, Harry Bailey, broke through the
ice and was drowned at the age of nine.
George: That's a lie! Harry Bailey went to war! He got the
Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the lives of every man on that
[army] transport!
Clarence: Every man on that transport died. Harry wasn't there to
save them, because you weren't there to save Harry [as children]. Strange,
isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't
around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?
24. Clarence: You've been given a great gift, George: A chance to see
what the world would be like without you. …You see George, you've really
had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to just
throw it away?
25. [Near the end of the film, this famous dialog tells us that George is
back in his real life. It starts with him alone on a bridge—after running
away from policeman Bert, who doesn’t know him…]
George: [praying] Help me, Clarence! Get me back! I don't care what
happens to me! Get me back to my wife and kids! Help me Clarence, please!
I wanna live again. I wanna live again. Please, God, let me live again.
Bert: [shouts] Hey, George! Are you all right? Hey, what's the
matter?
George: Now get out of here, Bert, or I'll hit you again! Get outta
here!
Bert: What the sam hill are you yelling for, George?
George: You... [suddenly stunned] Bert? Do you know me?
Bert: Know you? Huh. You kiddin'? I've been looking all over town
trying to find you. I saw your car plowed into that tree down there and I
thought maybe you - hey, your mouth's bleeding. Are you sure you're all
right?
George: What the... [he discovers that the blood is back] Ha, ha,
ha, ha! My mouth's bleeding, Bert! My mouth's bleeding! [he finds rose
petals in his pocket] Zuzu's petals... There they are! Bert, what do you
know about that! Merry Christmas!
26. [at the final party, lots of people are bringing money to help
George]
Annie [emptying a jar of cash]: I been savin' this money for a
divorce, if ever I got a husband!
Ernie: [holding a telegram] Just a minute! Quiet everybody! Now
get this, it's from London. Mr. Gower cabled [sent a telegram saying
that] you need cash, stop. My office instructed to advance you up to
twenty-five thousand dollars, stop. Hee Haw and Merry Christmas! Sam
Wainwright.
27. Clarence [wrote this inside the cover of “Tom Sawyer”, and left it
for George]: Remember, no man is a failure who has friends. |
(For more information about Christmas, see these Christmas pages on our
website: the traditional Christmas story,
who is Santa (圣诞老人)?,
candy canes,
Christmas Perspectives (poem), and the pre-Christmas Advent season.
Also look for Christmas wallpaper
here. You'll also find movie study guides on this website for some
great holiday films: A
Snoopy/Charlie Brown Christmas, Last Holiday,
White Christmas, The
Grinch, Christmas Carol,
It's
a Wonderful Life) |
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