It's a Wonderful Life
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: Lux presents Hollywood!
MUSIC: LUX THEME
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: Lever Brothers Company, the makers of Lux Toilet Soap,
bring you The Lux Radio Theatre, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and
Victor Moore in "It's a Wonderful Life"! Ladies and gentlemen, your producer,
Mr. William Keighley!
SOUND: APPLAUSE
MUSIC: OUT
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, we
bring you one of the season's most inspiring hits, a Liberty Films production
that's been nominated for the highest screen award. Yes, "It's a Wonderful
Life"! And we present it now with its original fine stars, Jimmy Stewart and
Donna Reed. Jimmy, in the role which won him a nomination for the best
performance of the year. Also in our cast is starred that fine comedian,
Victor Moore.
"It's a Wonderful Life" is the drama of a typical American. It might be you,
it might be me. He dreams of glory. He lives in hope. He loves and doubts. And
only Providence puts a final value on his service to humanity. Our story
starts before the War, when life was normal, shortages were generally unknown,
and simple luxuries, like Lux soap, were abundant. I won't say that's the only
reason people said, "It's a wonderful life," but I do know, from the thousands
of letters in our files, that most of them said, "It's a wonderful soap"! And
they keep right on saying it day after day. In fact the popularity of Lux soap
is what makes it possible to present such entertainment as Frank Capra's great
production, "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart as George, Donna
Reed as Mary Hatch, and Victor Moore as Clarence.
MUSIC: IN AND UNDER
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: This is the story of George Bailey, citizen of Bedford
Falls, New York. George Bailey -- who, more than anything under the sun,
wanted to see the world. The wonderful, exciting world that lay somewhere
beyond the limits of his home town. Oddly enough, this story does not begin in
Bedford Falls. In fact, it doesn't begin anywhere in the world. It begins ...
in Heaven, where the Superintendent of Angels has just summoned an apprentice
angel named Clarence.
MUSIC: OUT
CLARENCE: Oh, I - I'm really going down to Earth, sir? Oh, how splendid.
JOSEPH: Yes. There's a very discouraged man down there, Clarence. George
Bailey. At exactly ten forty-five PM, Earth time, he'll be thinking seriously
of ending his life.
CLARENCE: Oh, dear, dear. His life.
JOSEPH: Now, I want you to stop him if you can. Now, sit down, sit down. I'll
give you Bailey's case history.
CLARENCE: Sir, if, er ... if I should accomplish my mission... may I perhaps
get my wings? I've been waiting over two hundred years now and, well, people
are beginning to talk.
JOSEPH: Clarence, what's that book?
CLARENCE: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," sir. I was reading it when you sent
for me.
JOSEPH: Oh, fine book, excellent. Well, you do a good job on George Bailey and
we'll see about your wings.
CLARENCE: Oh, thank you, sir.
JOSEPH: Now, listen. When George Bailey was a boy, two events occurred that
you should keep in mind. One was when his young brother, Harry, fell through
the ice and almost drowned. George saved him.
CLARENCE: (writes this down) "... brother fell through the ice ... George
saved him ..."
JOSEPH: Ever since, George has had a bad ear. All that icy water -- you
understand.
CLARENCE: "... bad ear ..." Yes, sir.
JOSEPH: The other event came a few months later. George used to work after
school in Mr. Gower's drug store. One day, Mr. Gower's only son died of
influenza. It was a terrible blow and poor Mr. Gower tried to lose his grief
in whiskey... (fades)
GOWER: (drunkenly) Where you been George? Mrs. Blaine's called twice! What
happened to her prescription? Ya lost it, didn't ya?
YOUNG GEORGE: No, Mr. Gower, here it is.
GOWER: Why you good-fer-nuthin'! Don't you know that Blaine girl's very sick?
SOUND: SLAPS GEORGE
YOUNG GEORGE: (in pain) Mr. Gower, my ear! You're hurting my sore ear!
GOWER: I'll teach ya to loaf, ya lazy brat!
YOUNG GEORGE: Mr. Gower, you don't know what you're doing! You put something
wrong in those capsules!
GOWER: Shut up!
YOUNG GEORGE: I know you feel bad but, look, Mr. Gower! Look! This bottle you
used, this bottle to make up the capsules! It's poison!
GOWER: Poison?
YOUNG GEORGE: Don't hurt my sore ear again, Mr. Gower!
GOWER: Poison? Oh, George, George...
MUSIC: UNDER
YOUNG GEORGE: It's why I didn't deliver, Mr. Gower! All I wanted was to make
sure!
GOWER: (sobs) George, George...
JOSEPH: Well, Clarence, that was George Bailey as a boy. When he grew up, he
wanted to go to college, but there just wasn't the money ...
MUSIC: OUT
JOSEPH: ... so he worked four years in the Building and Loan Association...
CLARENCE: Building and Loan Association?
JOSEPH: Oh, I forgot to tell you. George's father was in the building and loan
business. He and George's Uncle Billy. High ideals and low bank account.
Anyway, George worked for his father and saved enough to see him through the
university. That summer, though, he was going to Europe. Got a job on a cattle
boat, do a little traveling before college... (fades)
GEORGE: Boy, oh boy, oh boy! It's hard to realize it's my last night at the
Bailey boarding house.
POP: Well, we're sure going to miss you, George.
GEORGE: Aw, I'm going to miss you, too, Pop. Hey, what's the matter? You look
tired.
POP: Oh, I had another tussle with old Henry Potter today.
GEORGE: Oh, I thought when you put him on the Board of Directors, he'd ease
up.
POP: So did I.
GEORGE: Ah, I just can't understand a man like Mr. Potter. He can't begin to
spend all the money he has.
POP: I guess Potter owns about everything he wants in Bedford Falls except our
building and loan. That's why he hates us.
HARRY: (from off) Hey, George! Can I borrow your tuxedo studs?
GEORGE: (yells) Yeah, help yourself, Harry!
HARRY: Well, where are they? In your suitcase?
GEORGE: No, I'm not taking a tuxedo in a cattle boat, you know.
HARRY: Say, where'd you get that suitcase, anyway?
GEORGE: Oh, Mr. Gower. Going away present. And, one of these days, you're
gonna see that bag all covered with travel labels. Italy and Baghdad and
Samarkand--
HARRY: Gonna have a pretty full summer, eh?
GEORGE: I'm gonna have a pretty full life!
HARRY: Hey, why don't you come to the dance tonight?
GEORGE: What? And be bored to death?
HARRY: Well, ya couldn't want a better death! Lots of pretty girls. Hey, I
gotta hurry!
POP: I wish we could send Harry to college with you, George.
GEORGE: Aw, we've got that all figured out now, Pop. He'll take over my job at
the Building and Loan, work four years like I did, then he'll go.
POP: He's pretty young for that job.
GEORGE: Well, no younger'n I was.
POP: Maybe you were born older, George.
GEORGE: Huh?
POP: George, when you get out of college, I don't suppose you'd come back to
the Building and Loan?
GEORGE: Oh, no, now, Pop, I - I - I - I just couldn't. I - I couldn't face
being cooped up the rest of my life in a shabby little office. I-- Oh, I'm
sorry, Pop. Now, I - I didn't mean that, but it's just this business of
nickels and dimes. I'd go crazy. I - I want to do something big. Something
important.
POP: In a small way, we are doing something important, George. In that shabby
little office, we help people figure out how they can own their own homes.
GEORGE: I know. I know, Pop. I - I just wish I felt that I-- I-- But I just
feel like if I didn't get away, I'd bust.
POP: You're right, boy. You get yourself an education. Then -- get out o'
here.
GEORGE: Aw, Pop, ya-- Pop, you want a shock? I think you're a pretty great
guy.
POP: Well, thanks, George. I'm glad to hear it. Look, um, why don't you go on
over to Harry's dance? You'll have a good time.
GEORGE: Well, I don't know, maybe I will drop in. Yeah, maybe I will, at that.
MUSIC: HEAVENLY BRIDGE
CLARENCE: So George Bailey went to a dance. Is that important, Joseph?
JOSEPH: Why, it was at the dance he met Mary Hatch.
CLARENCE: Ah-ohhh...
JOSEPH: And three hours later, he was walking her home. George and Mary were
feeling pretty good, Clarence. As a matter of fact, wonderful... (fades)
MUSIC: OUT
SOUND: FOOTSTEPS -- IN THE DISTANCE, A DOG BARKS
GEORGE AND MARY: (singing) "Buffalo Gals, can't you come out tonight? Can't
you come out tonight? Can't you come out tonight? Buffalo Gals, can't you come
out tonight... aaaaaaannnnnnnnd dance by the light of da moon?"
GEORGE: Hot dog!
MARY: Beautiful!
GEORGE: Oh, boy, just like an organ.
MARY: At least.
GEORGE: Gee whiz. Hey, you know - you know somethin'? If it wasn't me talkin',
I'd say you were the prettiest girl in town.
MARY: Well, why don't you say it?
GEORGE: I don't know. Maybe I will. Hey, how old are you, anyway?
MARY: Eighteen.
GEORGE: Eighteen?!
MARY: Too young or too old?
GEORGE: No, no, no that's just right. It sorta fits you. Hey, look where we
are!
MARY: Hm? Oh, the old Granville house.
GEORGE: Yeah, I gotta throw a rock!
MARY: Oh, no, George. I love that old house.
GEORGE: Well, don't you know about deserted houses? You - you make a wish and
then throw a rock!
MARY: George, but it's such a lovely old place. I wish I lived there.
GEORGE: In there? I wouldn't live in it as a ghost! Now, watch. Watch this.
Here we go.
SOUND: GLASS SHATTERS IN THE DISTANCE
GEORGE: How 'bout it, huh? Pretty good shot, huh? Broke a window, huh?
MARY: What'd you wish, George?
GEORGE: Oh... I don't know. Not just one wish. A whole hatful of 'em. Mary,
I'm shakin' the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see
the world! Italy, Greece, the Parthenon, the Coliseum. And then I'm comin'
back here and go to college and see what they know. And then I'm gonna build
things. I'm gonna build air fields and skyscrapers a hundred stories high and
bridges a mile long, and then I'm gonna - gonna-- ... Hey - hey, Mary? What is
it you want? What do you want, huh? You want the moon? All you gotta do is
just say the word and I'll--
MARY: Okay. The moon. I'll take it. Then what?
GEORGE: Then what? Well - well, then you could swallow it... and - and it'd
dissolve like an aspirin, you know? And the moonbeams'd shoot out of your
fingers and the ends of your hair and the - the, uh... You - you think I'm
talkin' too much?
GRUMPY OLD MAN: (yells from off mike) Yes! Whyn't you kiss her instead of
talking her to death?!
GEORGE: How's that?
GRUMPY OLD MAN: Aw, youth is wasted on the wrong people.
SOUND: CAR PULLS UP ... MOTOR IDLES
GEORGE: Well, hey! Hey, just a minute, mister! Hey, you come on back here,
I'll show you some kissing that'll--
UNCLE BILLY: George! George!
GEORGE: Hey, Uncle Billy! Look here, I'm gonna kiss Mary! Watch!
UNCLE BILLY: George! Get in the car, quick! Your father's had a stroke!
GEORGE: What? What?
UNCLE BILLY: George, get in, hurry!
MUSIC: BRIDGE UNDER
JOSEPH: Well, George's father died that night, Clarence. So, of course, George
couldn't go to Europe. But, that fall, just as he was ready to leave for
college, the directors of the building and loan had a meeting. They were going
to appoint a successor to Mr. Bailey... (fades)
MUSIC: OUT
SOUND: BOARD OF DIRECTORS TALKING
DR. CAMPBELL: What was that you said, Mr. Potter?
POTTER: I said, as long as Peter Bailey's dead, let's dissolve the Building
and Loan. We don't need it.
UNCLE BILLY: Now wait a minute--
POTTER: No, you wait a minute! Peter Bailey was not a businessman. Ideals
without common sense can ruin a town. What do we get? A discontented, lazy
rabble instead of a thrifty working class.
SOUND: BOARD OF DIRECTORS TALKING
GEORGE: Now hold on, Mr. Potter!
POTTER: Oh, I meant no disrespect, George, but--
GEORGE: Now, wait a minute there. Why my father ever started this cheap,
penny-ante building and loan, I'll never know. But just remember this, Mr.
Potter, this rabble you're talking about. They do most of the working and
paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have
them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath?!
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, Mr.
Potter, he died a much richer man than you'll ever be.
POTTER: I'm not interested in your book, George. I'm talking about the
Building and Loan.
GEORGE: You're talking about something you can't get your fingers on and it's
galling -- that's what you're talking about. Well, this town needs this measly
one-horse institution, if only to have some place where people can borrow a
few dollars without crawling to you! Now, come on, Uncle Billy!
SOUND: DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES
TILLY: What happened, George?
EUSTACE: Yeah, all we heard was a lot of yelling!
UNCLE BILLY: Boy, oh, boy, you should've heard George!
GEORGE: Yeah, they're in there voting us out of business.
TILLY: Well, who cares? I can get another job. I'm only forty-one.
EUSTACE: Forty-five.
UNCLE BILLY: Will you get out of here, George, you missed your boat trip. Do
you wanna miss college, too?
SOUND: DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES, DIRECTORS TALK
DR. CAMPBELL: George! We just voted Potter down! We're still in business!
UNCLE BILLY: Whoopee! We're still in business! We're still in business!
DR. CAMPBELL: But there's one condition, George. They've appointed you to take
your father's place.
GEORGE: Appoint me?! But I'm going to college. Look, this is my last chance!
Uncle Billy's your man!
DR. CAMPBELL: George, you've got to take it, they'll vote with Potter
otherwise. They said so, they even... (fades)
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND OUT
CLARENCE: I know. George Bailey didn't go to college.
JOSEPH: That's right, Clarence. He gave his college money to Harry. Harry went
instead.
CLARENCE: But what happened to that good-looking girl? You know, Mary?
JOSEPH: Oh, George saw her now and then. Not very often, though, because Mary
went away to school, too. Anyway, George waited four years more for Harry to
come back and take over the Building and Loan. He could still see the world.
He planned to work in the oil fields, Venezuela. Except when Harry came home,
he wasn't alone. There was a girl with him. His wife... (fades)
SOUND: PORCH DOOR CLOSES
MRS. BAILEY: George?
GEORGE: Yeah, I'm out here on the porch, Mother. I just thought I'd get some
air.
MRS. BAILEY: Well, how - how do you like your new sister-in-law?
GEORGE: Aw, she's swell.
MRS. BAILEY: Looks like she can keep Harry on his toes.
GEORGE: Yeah. Yeah and keep him out of Bedford Falls, anyway.
MRS. BAILEY: What do you mean?
GEORGE: Well, Ruth's father... he's got a wonderful job for Harry up in
Buffalo.
MRS. BAILEY: Buffalo? Well, that means you--
GEORGE: Yeah.
MRS. BAILEY: You can't--
GEORGE: Yeah.
MRS. BAILEY: George, uh, did you know Mary Hatch is back from school?
GEORGE: Hm? Yeah, yeah.
MRS. BAILEY: Nice girl, Mary.
GEORGE: Mm hmmm.
MRS. BAILEY: Oh, stop grunting!
GEORGE: Well...
MRS. BAILEY: Give me one good reason why you shouldn't call on Mary.
GEORGE: Well, Sam Wainwright. Sam's crazy about Mary.
MRS. BAILEY: Well, she's not crazy about him.
GEORGE: Well, now, how do you know that? Did she discuss it with you? How do
you--?
MRS. BAILEY: Besides, Sam's away in New York.
GEORGE: Oh. And all's fair in love and war, huh? Uh huh, I see. (mock serious)
Okay, Mother, I think I'll go out and find that girl and do a little
passionate neckin'.
MRS. BAILEY: Oh! George!
GEORGE: Goodbye, Mrs. Bailey. By the way, do you want any books at the
library?
MRS. BAILEY: Library?! George! George, you go and see Mary, do you hear?!
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND OUT
SOUND: FOOTSTEPS PACING
MARY: George? Is that you out there?
GEORGE: Uh, oh, hello, Mary.
MARY: Well, are you coming in?
GEORGE: I just happened to be passin' by here and--
MARY: Oh. I thought you were picketing. Have you made up your mind?
GEORGE: How's that?
MARY: Have you made up your mind?
GEORGE: 'Bout what?
MARY: About coming in. Your mother just phoned. She said you were coming over.
GEORGE: My mother--? Just phoned--? What's she mean, coming--? I just happened
to be passing by, that's all! I didn't--
MARY: Well?
GEORGE: Well, all right, I'll come in for a minute but I - I didn't tell
anybody I was coming here. A fella can't go out for a walk nowadays without--
When d'you - When d'you get back?
MARY: Tuesday.
GEORGE: Ah. Where'd you get that dress?
MARY: Do you like it?
GEORGE: Well, it's all right.
MARY: Well, no point standing here on the porch. Come on in.
SOUND: DOOR CLOSES
GEORGE: I still can't understand it. I didn't tell anybody I was comin' here,
ya know.
MARY: Would you rather leave?
GEORGE: Well, no, I don't wanna be rude. I'll sit down for a while.
MARY: It's nice about your brother and Ruth, isn't it?
GEORGE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all right.
MARY: Don't you like her?
GEORGE: Well, of course I like her. She's a peach!
MARY: Oh, just marriage in general you're not enthusiastic about, hm?
GEORGE: No, no. Marriage is all right for a lot of people. It's all right for
Harry ... Sam Wainright ... and you.
MARY: For Sam--?
MRS. HATCH: (from off) Mary?!
MARY: (yells) It's George Bailey, Mother!
MRS. HATCH: What's he want?!
MARY: (yells) I don't know! (to George) What do you want?
GEORGE: Me? Not a thing! Not a thing! And I - I just came in to get warm!
MARY: (yells) He's making violent love to me, Mother!
MRS. HATCH: You just tell him to go right back home. Sam said he'd call you
tonight from New York, didn't he?
MARY: (yells) I guess so! (to George) How about some music?
SOUND: RECORD STARTING
MUSIC: "BUFFALO GALS" INSTRUMENTAL
GEORGE: (offended) You know, your mother needn't-- You know, I didn't come
here to--
MARY: What did you come here for, then?
GEORGE: (annoyed) I don't know! You're supposed to be the one with all the
answers! You tell me!
MARY: (matching him) Oh, why don't you go home?!
GEORGE: I don't know why I came here in the first place! Good night!
MARY: Good night!
SOUND: PHONE RING
MRS. HATCH: Mary! Telephone, Mary!
GEORGE: The way you're shouting, you'd think that--
MRS. HATCH: Mary!
MARY: You'd think what?
MRS. HATCH: Mary!
MARY: All right, I'll get it! George, on your way out, would you mind turning
off the phonograph?
GEORGE: I'd be very happy to!
SOUND: NEEDLE SCRATCHES
MUSIC: MUSIC STOPS
GEORGE: Doggone crazy song!
SOUND: MARY PICKS UP PHONE
MARY: Hello? Sam?
SAM: (on the phone) Mary! Gee, it's good to hear your voice!
MARY: How are you, Sam?
GEORGE: I forgot my hat!
MARY: Hee-haw.
SAM: What?
MARY: Oh, I was just talking to an old friend of yours. George Bailey.
SAM: Old mossback George?
MARY: Old mossback George.
SAM: Well, put him on. I'll talk to him, too!
MARY: Wait a second. George?
MRS. HATCH: He doesn't want to speak to George!
MARY: He does so. He asked for him.
GEORGE: (to Mary) Did you call me? Because if you did, I'm in a hurry, I got--
MARY: Sam wants to talk to you.
GEORGE: Oh? Um, hiya, Sam.
SAM: Hey, fine pal you are. Tryin' to steal my girl!
GEORGE: What do you mean? Nobody's tryin' to steal anybody's girl. Here, Mary,
take the phone--
SAM: No, no, wait, wait, George. I want to speak to you both. Tell Mary to get
on the extension upstairs.
GEORGE: (to Mary) He says for you to get on the extension upstairs.
MARY: I can't. Mother's on the extension.
MRS. HATCH: I am not!
MARY: We can both hear, George. Just put your head a little closer.
GEORGE: What?
MARY: There, that's - that's better. (to Sam) Uh, we're - we're listening,
Sam.
SAM: Well, I have a big deal coming up that's going to make us all rich.
George, you remember that time you told me about making plastics out of
soybeans?
GEORGE: Soybeans? Yeah, yeah... soybeans. Yeah.
SAM: Well, my father's checked into it, George, see? And now he's going to put
up a factory! How do you like that?
GEORGE: A factory, huh?
SAM: And here's the point, George. I may have a job for you, unless you're
still married to that broken-down Building and Loan. Oh, Mary?
MARY: Uh, I'm here.
SAM: You tell that guy I'm giving him the chance of a lifetime, you hear?
MARY: (to George) He - he says it's the chance of a lifetime.
GEORGE: Give me that phone.
MARY: Here's George again, Sam.
SOUND: HANGS UP PHONE
MARY: George!
GEORGE: (intense) Now you listen to me, Mary! I don't want any plastics and I
don't want any job, and I don't want to get married -- ever -- to anyone! Do
you understand that?
MUSIC: UNDER
MARY: (sobs)
GEORGE: I want to do what I want to do! And - and you're not gonna trick me!
And you're-- Mary ...
MARY: George...
GEORGE: Mary... Oh, Mary, darling... I love you, Mary...
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND OUT
CLARENCE: Well, well. So George Bailey and Mary Hatch were--?
JOSEPH: Yes. George and Mary were married.
CLARENCE: Mm.
JOSEPH: And they started off on their honeymoon in Ernie Bishop's taxicab.
SOUND: MOTOR RUNNING
ERNIE: Hey, where were you two going on this here now honeymoon?
GEORGE: We're gonna shoot the works, Ernie! A whole week in New York, a whole
week in Bermuda, the highest hotel, the oldest champagne, the hottest music
and the prettiest wife!
ERNIE: Ha ha! So you're finally gettin' out of Bedford Falls, heh? Then what?
GEORGE: (to Mary) Then what, honey?
MARY: After that, who cares?
GEORGE: That does it! Hey, you know, Mrs. Bailey, I haven't kissed you yet.
ERNIE: Hey, George, there's something funny going on over there! Look, look
over there at the bank! It looks like a run!
GEORGE: Pull over there a minute, will ya, Ernie?
MARY: George, let's not stop. Please. Let's go straight to the station.
SOUND: CAR PULLS OVER ... STOPS ... CAR DOOR OPENS
GEORGE: Now, wait a minute. Better see what it is. I'll be right back.
MARY: George, please! George!
MUSIC: BRIDGE, UP AND OUT
SOUND: APPLAUSE
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: In a few moments, we'll return with the second act of "It's
a Wonderful Life" starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Victor Moore.
Meanwhile, here's our Hollywood reporter, Libby Collins. Looking very smart,
too, may I say?
LIBBY COLLINS: Well, thank you, Mr. Keighley. You know, after seeing Paulette
Goddard's wardrobe for Paramount's new comedy "Suddenly, It's Spring," I just
had to rush out and buy something new. Looking at all those lovely clothes was
just too much for my self-control!
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Well, you look stunning, Libby.
LIBBY COLLINS: Thank you again, Mr. Keighley.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Tell me about the picture. I understand that Paulette's
portrayal of an ex-WAC is truly delightful.
LIBBY COLLINS: Oh, yes, it is! And Fred MacMurray gives a perfect
characterization of her wayward husband. Between the two of them, "Suddenly,
It's Spring" is a high-spirited comedy with emphasis on the romantic side.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Well, naturally.
LIBBY COLLINS: (chuckles) But, really, Mr. Keighley, that wardrobe of Miss
Goddard's certainly will make clothes-conscious girls sit up and take notice.
I bet you'll think so, too, Mr. Kennedy.
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: Well, Libby, men seldom know much about styles. Well,
what I notice about a dress is the general effect when a woman wears it. Some
girls always seem to have that "right-on-the-beam" look. You know what I mean.
LIBBY COLLINS: (chuckles) Well, I think what you have in mind, Mr. Kennedy, is
good grooming. Screen stars certainly put great emphasis on it. A perfect
hairdo. Fresh, beautifully cared for skin. Those are essential.
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: That must be the reason Lux Toilet Soap continues to be a
studio standby, no matter how often other styles change.
LIBBY COLLINS: Well, that's what Miss Goddard told me. She says her beauty
facials are so quick and easy and work so well, she's never without a supply
of Lux Toilet Soap. "I can depend on it for daily complexion care," she said.
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: I wish you'd tell the ladies in our audience how easy
these Lux soap facials are, Libby.
LIBBY COLLINS: Well, here's what Paulette Goddard does. She says, "I cover my
face with the fragrant Lux soap lather and work it well in. I rinse with warm
water, then cold, and use a soft towel to pat my skin dry. Gives skin quick
new beauty," she says.
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: Daily Lux soap facials do make skin lovelier. Recent
tests by skin specialists proved it. In three out of four cases, complexions
became softer and smoother in just a short time.
LIBBY COLLINS: A lovely Lux complexion makes a woman so attractive. I wish
every girl who hasn't tried Lux Toilet Soap would begin using it tomorrow.
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: That's sound advice, Libby! When nine out of ten screen
stars recommend a beauty soap, you know it has to be good. So, why not try Lux
Toilet Soap? Hollywood's own complexion soap. We pause now for station
identification. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System!
MUSIC: STATION IDENTIFICATION BRIDGE AND OUT
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Act Two of "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart as
George, Donna Reed as Mary, and Victor Moore as Clarence.
MUSIC: HEAVENLY BRIDGE
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Well, we're back in heaven again, where the Superintendent
of Angels is reviewing the case history of a mortal named George Bailey.
Clarence, the apprentice angel, is very eager to depart on his mission to the
Earth.
MUSIC: OUT
CLARENCE: Poor George Bailey! Oh, he's certainly in desperate trouble, Joseph.
I'll go to him at once.
JOSEPH: Now, you sit down, Clarence, sit down. We're nowhere near the point
where George Bailey is thinking of taking his life.
CLARENCE: We're not?
JOSEPH: Now, where were we? Oh, yes, yes. George and Mary had just started out
on their honeymoon when they ran smack into the financial panic of 1932. In
the waiting room of the Building and Loan, a hundred frantic people were
clamoring for their savings...
SOUND: CROWD NOISE
GEORGE: Hey, what's going on, Uncle Billy? What's happened? All those people
out there?
UNCLE BILLY: This is a pickle, George. All I know is the bank called our loan
an hour ago. I had to hand over all our cash.
GEORGE: Holy mackerel!
UNCLE BILLY: Whole town's gone crazy. Bank's in the same spot we are!
GEORGE: Our charter--!
UNCLE BILLY: What about our charter?
GEORGE: Our charter says we have to stay open till six p.m. The state can take
away our license if we don't!
UNCLE BILLY: How can we stay open till six without any money? George, where're
you goin'?
GEORGE: Out to talk to those people. C'mon!
SOUND: CROWD NOISE INTENSIFIES
GEORGE: Now, please! Now, now, please, folks! Now, just a minute! Just a
minute, now, please!
CHARLIE: How about our money, George? Where's our money?
GEORGE: Now, come on, now, please! Now, wait a minute, now! Listen to me! Now,
you're thinking of this place all wrong. Your money's not here!
CROWD: (ad-libs) What?
GEORGE: Wait a minute, now, let me tell you. Let me tell you. Your money's in
people's houses! In the Kennedy house, and the MacClaren house, and in your
house, and a hundred others. Now, what are you going to do? Foreclose on
them?!
CHARLIE: I got two hundred and forty dollars in shares. Now lemme have it!
GEORGE: All right, all right, Charlie. Now, you'll get your money in sixty
days.
CHARLIE: Sixty days?!
GEORGE: Well, now, look, that's what you - that's what you agreed on when you
bought your shares.
RANDALL: I got my money!
CROWD: (ad-libs) Where?
RANDALL: Old Man Potter's taken over the bank! He'll pay you fifty cents on
every dollar!
CHARLIE: (to crowd) Then let's take our shares to Potter! Half is better than
nothing!
GEORGE: Wait a minute, wait a minute, please, folks! I beg of you not to do
this. If Potter gets hold of your shares, he'll be owning this building and
loan. And he's got the bank. He's got the bus line. He's got the department
stores. And now he's after us because he wants to keep you living in his
shacks and paying the kind of rent he decides to charge. Now, we can get
through this thing all right, but we've got to stick together! We've got to
have faith in each other!
MRS. THOMPSON: My husband's out of work. We need money.
ANGRY MAN: I got doctor bills to pay!
WORRIED WOMAN: I can't feed my kids on faith!
CROWD: (ad-libbing) Me, too! What about that, George?!
MARY: How much do you need? We've still got some money!
GEORGE: Hey, Mary!
MARY: Here it is, George! You told me to hold on to it. Would have made a nice
honeymoon -- bought furniture, too!
GEORGE: Hey, now, wait a minute, folks! Listen, I got two thousand dollars!
All right, Charlie, how much do you need?
CHARLIE: Two hundred and forty dollars.
GEORGE: (pleading) Now, Charlie, now, listen -- just enough to tide you over!
CHARLIE: I said, two hundred and forty dollars!
GEORGE: Okay, okay. Uncle Billy give Charlie two hundred and forty dollars.
All right, Ed, now, how much just to get by?
ED: Twenty dollars, I suppose.
GEORGE: Now you're talking! Mrs. Thompson, how about you?
MRS. THOMPSON: Twenty dollars will do me.
GEORGE: Good, good, twenty dollars. Uncle Billy? Pay it back when you can,
now. Pay it back when you can. All right, all right, who's next?
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND OUT
UNCLE BILLY: Look at the clock! Look!
GEORGE: (counts) Five seconds... four seconds... three... two... one... Six
o'clock, we made it! Lock that door, Eustace, quick!
SOUND: DOOR SLAMS SHUT ... PHONE RINGS
GEORGE: Boy, we're still in business, Uncle Billy! We even got two bucks left!
TILLY: George, there's a call for you!
GEORGE: Okay, and then call my wife, will you? She's probably over at
Mother's.
TILLY: Mrs. Bailey's on the line.
GEORGE: I don't want Mrs. Bailey, I want my wife. Mrs. Bailey. Mrs. Bail--
Tha-- That's my wife! Give me the phone, will you? Hey, Mary? Listen, Mary,
I'm sorry, I - I - Hm? Come home? Well, what home? Well, Three-twenty-three
Sycamore? Well, whose home is that? What? Well, Mary, how can I--? Well, sure,
all right, sure, I'll - I'll be there. (fades)
JOSEPH: Clarence? Guess what Three-twenty-three Sycamore was?
CLARENCE: His mother-in-law's house, huh?
JOSEPH: Oh, no. Number Three-twenty-three Sycamore was the old Granville
house. The one George threw rocks at and made wishes. Yes, sir, that's where
they spent their honeymoon. That's where they started housekeeping. They were
still living there two years later when old man Potter asked George to stop
over at his office... (fades)
POTTER: Sit down, George, sit down. Uh, have a cigar.
GEORGE: Well! Thank you, sir.
POTTER: Now, George, you're a young man -- married, making, say, forty dollars
a week at the Building and Loan--
GEORGE: Forty-five.
POTTER: Forty-five. Now, if you were some ordinary yokel, I'd say you were
doing fine. But George Bailey is intelligent, ambitious. He hates the Building
and Loan almost as much as I do. He's been dying to get out of town ever since
he was born. But he's trapped. Trapped into frittering his life away playing
nursemaid to a lot of garlic-eaters. Do I paint a correct picture, George, or
do I exaggerate?
GEORGE: Well, what's your point, Mr. Potter?
POTTER: My point is that you're the only man in town who's licked me. George,
I want to hire you. Manage my affairs. I'll start you off at twenty thousand
dollars a year.
GEORGE: (stunned) Twenty thou--? Twenty thousand dollars a year? Are you sure
you're talkin' to me? I'm George Bailey. Don't you remember me? The Building
and Loan, remember?
POTTER: Yes, George Bailey. Whose ship has just come in, providing he has
sense enough to climb aboard.
GEORGE: Well, but - but - what about the Building and Loan?
POTTER: (angry) Confound it, man, I'm offering you a three-year contract at
twenty thousand dollars a year! Is it a deal or isn't it?
GEORGE: No! No! The answer's "no"! Doggone it! If you offered me a million
dollars to stay around this town and play stooge to you, the answer'd still be
"no"! Now, lemme alone! Don't bother me!
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND OUT
MARY: George, what did Mr. Potter want?
GEORGE: (tired) Oh, it was nothing. He just-- talk, talk, I don't know, it was
nothin' ... (sighs deeply) Aw, gee... Mary Hatch... Mary, why in the world
d'you ever marry a guy like me, anyway?
MARY: (chuckles) To keep from being an old maid.
GEORGE: I was gonna see the world. I was gonna build things. I was gonna give
you the moon. What have I given you, what have I given you? Not even a new
dress, not for months. I-- Gee whiz, I feel awful.
MARY: So do I. Mornings especially.
GEORGE: You could have married Sam Wainwright, anybody else in town.
MARY: I didn't want to marry anybody else. I want my baby to look like you.
GEORGE: You didn't even have a honeymoon, and I promised you that you - you -
you - you - you - you - you-- You what?
MARY: My baby.
GEORGE: (stunned) Your--? You mean-- Hey-- Mary-- Mary, you mean you're on the
nest?
MUSIC: BRIDGE
JOSEPH: Well, Mary had her baby, Clarence. A boy.
CLARENCE: You don't say!
JOSEPH: Then, she had another one. A girl.
CLARENCE: Well, whaddya know?
JOSEPH: Night after night, George'd come home late from the office. Things
weren't good with the Building and Loan. Potter was really bearing down on
him. Then came the war. Mary had another baby by then.
CLARENCE: Ohhhhh...
JOSEPH: But she still had time to help out in U.S.O. Uncle Billy sold war
bonds. And George's brother Harry became a real hero -- shot down fifteen
planes!
CLARENCE: But George. What about George?
JOSEPH: Well, George was 4F -- his bad ear. He was an air raid warden. On V-E
Day, he wept and prayed. On V-J Day, he wept and prayed again.
CLARENCE: We're, uh, we're getting pretty close to today, aren't we sir?
JOSEPH: Yes, Clarence. You now know almost everything you have to know about
George Bailey. Except what happened that finds him down there at this moment,
wanting to die.
CLARENCE: Well, sir? Well?
JOSEPH: Well, today's the day before Christmas, er, Earth time. George is
pretty excited...
GEORGE: Hey, Tilly! Eustace! Hey, look at the newspaper! "Commander Harry
Bailey decorated by the President"! That's my kid brother! The Congressional
Medal of Honor!
EUSTACE: Gosh, George! Gosh!
GEORGE: What do you think about that? Fifteen Jap planes! And the last one he
got was just about to dive into a transport loaded with soldiers! You know
what that means? He saved lives -- hundreds of lives! Hey-- Gee whiz, where's
Uncle Billy?
TILLY: Gone to the bank, George.
GEORGE: Oh.
TILLY: He's depositing that eight thousand dollars.
GEORGE: Good, good, good. Who's that in his office there?
TILLY: It's that man again. The bank examiner.
GEORGE: Uh oh, oh, yeah. (to Carter, the bank examiner) Well, good afternoon,
Mr. Carter! (to Tilly) Hey, uh, Tilly, get the books for Mr. Carter, will ya?
(to Carter) You know, that's my brother's picture there, Mr. Carter, he shot
down fifteen planes, and one of 'em was just about to... (fades)
UNCLE BILLY: Well, well. Mr. Henry F. Potter come to the bank to deposit some
more loot, eh?
POTTER: Look out, you old fool!
UNCLE BILLY: How'd ya like the news in the paper, Mr. Potter? Just can't keep
those Bailey boys down, now, can you?
POTTER: Huh? Lemme see that newspaper!
UNCLE BILLY: Here. Sorry I can't chat, you old thief. Gotta make a deposit.
(to Horace, the bank teller) Eh, here ya are, Horace. Deposit slip. Bank book.
And a very merry Christmas to you.
HORACE THE TELLER: You, too, Mr. Bailey. Say, you've forgotten something,
haven't you?
UNCLE BILLY: Horace, I've forgotten things all my life.
POTTER: (off) Get a wheel on, boy!
HORACE THE TELLER: But, Mr. Bailey, where's the money?!
UNCLE BILLY: Wha - what's that?
HORACE THE TELLER: You want to make a deposit?
UNCLE BILLY: Well, certainly I want--!
HORACE THE TELLER: Well, it's customary to bring the money with you.
UNCLE BILLY: It's gone! Where'd I put it? Where'd I put that money?!
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND UNDER
JOSEPH: A terrible thing, Clarence, terrible. Uncle Billy couldn't find the
money because the envelope with the eight thousand dollars was folded up in
that newspaper he gave to old man Potter.
MUSIC: OUT
SOUND: WIND
UNCLE BILLY: (distraught) I just don't know what happened to it, George, I
just don't know!
GEORGE: Eight thousand dollars! Uncle Billy, the bank examiner's here and it's
not our money, it belongs to the depositors.
UNCLE BILLY: George! What - what are we gonna do? We've traced every step I
took. We can't stand here in the street!
GEORGE: Are you sure you didn't put that envelope in your coat pocket?
UNCLE BILLY: I - I - I think so... maybe... maybe... Oh, I'm no good to you,
George. I'm no good!
GEORGE: (desperate) Now, listen to me! Now, listen to me! Think! Think, will
you?! Now try and think!
UNCLE BILLY: (sobs) I can't think any more! I can't--
GEORGE: (snaps) Where's that money, you silly old fool?! You know what this
means? It means bankruptcy and scandal and prison! One of us is going to jail!
Well, it's not gonna be me! Now, get out o' my way, I'm goin' home!
MUSIC: BRIDGE .. THEN A PIECE FOR SOLO PIANO ... IN BG
MARY: George, dear, what's wrong? You haven't said a word since you came home!
GEORGE: With that banging on the piano-- Does she have to just keep playin'
that same piece over and over and over again?
JANIE: I have to practice for the Christmas party, Daddy.
MARY: What is it, dear? Another hectic day?
GEORGE: Yeah. Yeah, another red letter day for the Baileys.
PETE: Dad, the Murphys got a brand new car! You should see it!
GEORGE: What's the matter with our car? Isn't it good enough for you?
PETE: I'm sorry, Dad. I only--
MARY: Run upstairs, Petey. See if Zuzu's all right.
PETE: Okay, Mom.
GEORGE: Now, what do you mean? "See if Zuzu's all right"? What do you mean?
MARY: Oh, she caught a little cold coming home from school. She didn't button
up her coat.
GEORGE: Well, what is it? What do you - what do you mean "just a cold"?
MARY: George, the doctor said it was nothing serious.
GEORGE: The doctor? Was the doctor here?
MARY: Well, I thought he'd better look at her.
GEORGE: It's this old drafty house. No wonder we don't all have pneumonia!
Might as well be living in a refrigerator. Why'd we have to live here in the
first place and stay around this measly, crummy old town?
MUSIC: PIANO STOPS
MARY: (worried) George, what's happened?
GEORGE: Everything's happened! You call this a happy family? Why did we have
to have all these kids?
JANIE: Daddy, how do you spell "frankincense"?
GEORGE: (shouts) I don't know how you--! Whyn't you ask your mother?!
MARY: Where're you going?
SOUND: PHONE RINGS ... MARY PICKS UP
GEORGE: (off) Upstairs to see Zuzu!
MARY: (into phone) Hello? Oh, thank you, Mrs. Welch. I'm sure she'll be all
right--
GEORGE: Who's that?
MARY: (to George) Zuzu's schoolteacher. (into phone) What? Oh, yes, the doctor
says she'll be fine tomorrow.
GEORGE: Here, give me that phone!
MARY: George, please!
MUSIC: JANIE PLAYS PIANO
GEORGE: (upset, into phone) Mrs. Welch? This is Mr. Bailey! Say, what kind of
teacher are you, anyway? What do you mean sending Zuzu home like that, half-
naked? Do you realize she'll probably end up with pneumonia just because of
your stupidity? You know, maybe my kids aren't the best-dressed kids in town,
but at least-- Hello? Hello?
SOUND: SLAMS PHONE DOWN
GEORGE: (screams) Janie, will you stop playing that lousy piano?! Now, cut it
out! Stop it!
SOUND: PIANO STOPS ... JANIE STARTS CRYING IN BG
MARY: George, for heaven's sake, what's wrong with you?
GEORGE: (gets a grip on himself) I'm sorry, Janie. I'm sorry, Mary ...
SOUND: FRONT DOOR OPENS
GEORGE: I - I've just got to get out of here.
SOUND: FRONT DOOR CLOSES
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND OUT
POTTER: So, that's it, George. You're short eight thousand dollars in your
accounts, eh?
GEORGE: Please, Mr. Potter, I'll pay any sort of a bonus. If you still want
the Building and Loan, I--
POTTER: You say it was lost. Have you notified the police?
GEORGE: No, sir, I haven't done that, yet. Harry's homecoming tomorrow...
POTTER: Why come to me? What about your good friend Sam Wainwright?
GEORGE: I can't get a hold of him. He's in Europe.
POTTER: What kind of security would I have, George? What collateral?
GEORGE: Yes sir, I have some life insurance here. Fifteen thousand dollar
policy.
POTTER: Hmm? What's your equity in it?
GEORGE: Five hundred dollars.
POTTER: And you want eight thousand? You once called me a warped, frustrated
old man. Well, what are you but a warped, frustrated young man? Crawling on
your hands and knees for help. Why don't you go to the riff-raff you love so
well? Ask them for help!
GEORGE: I'll do anything, Mr. Potter, please. Please help me. My wife and
kids--
POTTER: I'm calling the district attorney. (contemptuous) Five hundred
dollars. You know something, George? You're worth more dead than you are
alive. Now, get out of here! Get out!
MUSIC: BRIDGE
JOSEPH: And, all the time, Potter had the eight thousand dollars in his desk
drawer. It's still there, Clarence.
CLARENCE: But where is George, sir? Where?
JOSEPH: Well, he went over to Martini's café. He's had a couple of drinks,
Clarence. He's just standing there, sort of in a daze... (fades)
SOUND: CROWD SOUNDS
GEORGE: Oh, God... God... Dear Father in Heaven, I - I - I'm not a praying
man, but if - if you're up there and - and you can hear me, please, show me
the way. I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way, God.
MARTINI: Mr. Bailey, you all right? Don't drink any more, Mr. Bailey, please.
You don't feel good.
WELCH: Bailey? Did you say Bailey? Which Bailey?
MARTINI: This gentleman is Mr. Bailey. George Bailey.
WELCH: George Bailey, huh?
SOUND: WELCH PUNCHES GEORGE WHO FALLS TO THE FLOOR
WELCH: And the next time you talk to my wife like that, you'll get worse! It
isn't enough she slaves teaching your stupid kids how to read and write -- you
gotta bawl her out!
MARTINI: You get out of here, Mr. Welch! You hit my best friend! Get out!
WELCH: All right, I'm goin'!
MARTINI: Mr. Bailey, you - you okay?
GEORGE: Who was that?
MARTINI: Mr. Welch, but don't worry. He don't come in this place no more! I'll
get something for your face -- it's bleeding!
GEORGE: No, I'm all right.
MARTINI: Please, don't go away, Mr. Bailey.
GEORGE: Leave me alone.
MARTINI: Don't go away.
GEORGE: Lemme alone!
MUSIC: BRIDGE UNDER
JOSEPH: Well, George left Martini's café five minutes ago, Clarence. He's at
the river now, on the bridge, looking at the water. Are you ready, Clarence?
CLARENCE: All ready, sir.
JOSEPH: Very well. Save George Bailey's life and you'll get your wings!
CLARENCE: My wings! Oh, thank you, Joseph. (calls out) George?! George Bailey!
Get away from that bridge! Do you hear me, George?! George!
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
SOUND: APPLAUSE
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: In just a moment, we'll bring you Act Three of "It's a
Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Victor Moore. The
popular theory about beautiful blondes is that they're content to be merely
decorative. Our lovely guest tonight, Miss Susan Blanchard, completely
disproves that idea. Besides being a hard working Fox starlet, Susan, I
understand you're a wonderful cook.
SUSAN BLANCHARD: I really love housekeeping, Mr. Keighley. But, most of all, I
enjoy the training I get at the studio. It's work, but it's fun, too.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: You're an Easterner, aren't you, Susan?
SUSAN BLANCHARD: Yes. A native New Yorker.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: I thought so.
SUSAN BLANCHARD: It was the Broadway theater that inspired me to think of show
business as a career.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Well, that's interesting.
SUSAN BLANCHARD: I used to save my allowance and go to every play I could. One
of my favorite actresses was Jane Wyatt.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Uh huh.
SUSAN BLANCHARD: Imagine, Mr. Keighley, what a thrill it was for me to meet
her right here in Hollywood.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Jane Wyatt's latest picture "Boomerang" was made in the
east, I understand.
SUSAN BLANCHARD: Mm hm, yes. But she and Dana Andrews, who stars in
"Boomerang" with her, were in Hollywood to see a studio showing of the
picture.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Oh, I see.
SUSAN BLANCHARD: Jane Wyatt is my ideal of a stage and screen star. So
talented, and so lovely to look at. Just as lovely in real life, too.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: She is indeed.
SUSAN BLANCHARD: 'Twasn't long before I discovered that she's as keen about
Lux Toilet Soap for beauty care as I am. You know, I'm a Lux girl, too.
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: We're glad to hear you say that, Miss Blanchard, because
that's a very beautiful Lux complexion I see before me. Just right for blue
eyes and ash-blonde hair.
SUSAN BLANCHARD: Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. Any girl in pictures is delighted to
find out about Lux Toilet Soap as a beauty care. Active lather facials are so
quick and easy. And they really make a difference in your skin.
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: Thousands of busy, attractive women have discovered that,
Miss Blanchard. Daily Lux soap complexion care does make skin lovelier.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be the choice of nine out of ten screen stars.
SUSAN BLANCHARD: Lux Toilet Soap is all-around beauty care for me. I use it as
a bath soap, too. It has such delightful perfume. Leaves a lovely fragrance on
the skin.
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: Thank you, Miss Susan Blanchard. I hope our audience will
be seeing that lovely Lux complexion of yours in a screen close-up one of
these days. Now, back to our producer, William Keighley.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Act Three of "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart,
Donna Reed, and Victor Moore.
MUSIC: IN AND UNDER
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Numb with despair -- convinced, as Mr. Potter said, that
he's worth more dead than alive, George Bailey stands on a bridge staring at
the dark and frigid waters below. Suddenly, there's a splash.
CLARENCE: (off) Help! Help, I'm drowning! Oh! Help!
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: No, that's not George. It's Clarence, the apprentice angel.
And there goes George in after him. Hm. It's a few minutes later, now, and, in
the bridgekeeper's shack, George and Clarence are drying off.
MUSIC: OUT
BRIDGEKEEPER: You both sure you're all right? You want a doctor?
GEORGE: No, I'm all right, I'm all right.
CLARENCE: Oh, I'm fine. This underwear-- I didn't have time to get anything
more stylish. My wife gave me this on my last birthday. I passed away in it.
BRIDGEKEEPER: You - you what, mister?
CLARENCE: Oh, I see Tom Sawyer's drying out, too.
BRIDGEKEEPER: Who?
CLARENCE: My book. I left in such a hurry, I brought Tom Sawyer with me.
GEORGE: Hey, how'd you happen to fall in?
CLARENCE: Oh, I jumped in. I jumped in to save you.
GEORGE: Jumped in to save me?
CLARENCE: Well, I - I did, didn't I? You didn't go through with it, did you?
GEORGE: Go through with what?
CLARENCE: Suicide.
BRIDGEKEEPER: Hey, it's against the law to commit suicide around here!
CLARENCE: Yeah, it's against the law where I come from, too.
BRIDGEKEEPER: Where do you come from?
CLARENCE: Heaven.
GEORGE: Oh, that's very funny, very funny.
CLARENCE: Your - your lip's bleeding.
GEORGE: Yeah. Yeah, I got a bust in the jaw in answer to a prayer.
CLARENCE: Oh, no, George. I'm the answer to your prayer.
GEORGE: Hey, how - how'd you know my name?
CLARENCE: Oh, I know all about you.
GEORGE: Well, who are you supposed to be, anyway?
CLARENCE: Clarence Oddbody, A-S-2.
GEORGE: Clarence Oddbody. What's - what's the A-S-2 for?
CLARENCE: Angel, Second Class.
BRIDGEKEEPER: Hey, I'm gettin' outta here! You may not need a doctor, but I
do!
SOUND: DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES
CLARENCE: Cheerio, my good man!
GEORGE: Hey, look here, why'd you want to save me?
CLARENCE: Because I'm your guardian angel, George.
GEORGE: Oh, I see, uh huh. Well, you look like about the kind of an angel I'd
get. What - what, uh, what happened to your wings?
CLARENCE: I haven't won my wings yet. That's why I'm an Angel, Second Class.
GEORGE: Oh, I see.
CLARENCE: But you can help me earn them, George, by letting me help you.
GEORGE: Oh, uh huh. Don't happen to have eight thousand bucks on you, do you?
CLARENCE: Oh, no, no. We - we don't use money in Heaven.
GEORGE: Oh, that's right, yeah, I keep forgetting. I see. Comes in pretty
handy down here, bub.
CLARENCE: (chuckles) Oh, tut tut tut.
GEORGE: Of course, I found it out a little late. You know, I'm worth more dead
than alive!
CLARENCE: You mustn't talk like. Joseph will never give me my wings if you
keep feeling that way. You just don't realize what you've done for your folks.
Why, if it hadn't been for you--
GEORGE: Yeah, if it hadn't been for me, everybody'd be better off! My wife,
and my kids and my friends--
CLARENCE: Ohhhh, this is not going to be easy.
GEORGE: They'd all be better off if I hadn't been born.
CLARENCE: What did you say?
GEORGE: I said, I wish I'd never been born!
CLARENCE: George, that's wonderful.
GEORGE: Wonderful? What?
CLARENCE: The idea you just gave me. Well, you've got your wish. You've never
been born.
GEORGE: I've never been born?
CLARENCE: Exactly. No worries, no eight thousand dollars to get, nothing. You
simply don't exist.
GEORGE: All right, all right, okay, all right.
CLARENCE: George, I can do things. Strange things. I can show you the world,
George, the way it would be if you hadn't been born.
GEORGE: Hey, wait. Say, wait a minute! This ear of mine. Say something else in
that bad ear.
CLARENCE: You don't have a bad ear any more. Oh, I don't think you're
concentrating. Don't you see? You're not the George Bailey you think you are.
You're-- Well, uh, you're nobody.
GEORGE: Well, that's the doggonedest thing I ever-- that - that ear--
CLARENCE: Your lip's stopped bleeding, too.
GEORGE: Yeah, yeah... Hey, what's - what's happenin' around here? What is
this, anyway? I need a drink, that's what I need! What about you, angel, you
want a drink?
CLARENCE: Well, I - I don't quite know.
GEORGE: C'mon, c'mon, we'll go as soon as our clothes are dry.
CLARENCE: Clothes ARE dry, George.
GEORGE: Hey, so they are, that's funny. Well, look, let's get dressed and
we'll stroll over to Martini's and then-- Oh, oh, excuse me, I mean, I'll
stroll, you fly.
CLARENCE: Ha, no, no, I don't have my wings.
GEORGE: (over him) You don't have your wings yet. That's right, I forgot that
again. Couple of drinks and we'll both fly, huh?
SOUND: BAR SOUNDS ... JUKE BOX IN BG
NICK: What'll ya have, fellas?
GEORGE: Hey, where's the boss? Where's Martini?
NICK: Look, wise guy, I'm the boss, see?
GEORGE: Okay. Well, double scotch. Quick, will ya?
NICK: What's yours?
CLARENCE: You know what I'd just love? Some mulled wine.
NICK: Huh?
CLARENCE: Heavy on the cinnamon and light on the cloves. Off with you, my lad,
and lively now!
NICK: Now, cut it out!
GEORGE: (to Nick) Oh, come on, here. Just give him the same as I ordered. He's
okay.
NICK: Ehh. Two double scotches.
GEORGE: What about this place? It's all changed.
CLARENCE: All of Bedford Falls has changed. You're having your wish, George.
You've never been born. Oh, there'll be lots of things you've never seen
before.
SOUND: CASH REGISTER BELL RINGS
CLARENCE: Oh, good. Somebody's just made it.
GEORGE: Made what?
CLARENCE: Every time a bell rings, it means some angel's got his wings.
NICK: What'd you say?
GEORGE: Ah, look, uh, Clarence, I don't think you better talk about angels
around here.
CLARENCE: Don't they believe in angels?
GEORGE: Oh, yeah, they believe in them, but, you know, it's just, uh--
CLARENCE: Then why should they be surprised when they see one?
GEORGE: Ah, don't mind him, bartender. He's just a little fella - he just
never grew up. How old are ya, anyway, Clarence?
CLARENCE: Well, next May I'll be two hundred and ninety-three.
NICK: That does it! A couple of pixies, eh? Go on, get, do you hear me? Get!
GEORGE: Where's Martini? Will you call him--?
NICK: Stop askin' about Martini! He ain't here and he-- (harshly) Hey, you!
Rummy! Didn't I tell you never to come panhandlin' around here?!
CLARENCE: George, look!
GEORGE: It's Mr. Gower! Mr. Gower! Listen, Mr. Gower, don't you know me? This
is George Bailey!
GOWER: (drunkenly) You - you buy me a drink, mister? Just one drink, will ya,
mister?
NICK: Pinky?
PINKY: Yeah, Nick?
NICK: Throw the rummy out!
GOWER: Oh, no, no, please--
GEORGE: Hey, bartender, that's - that's Mr. Gower, the druggist!
NICK: That rumhead spent twenty years in jail for poisonin' some kid. If you
know him, you must be a jailbird yourself. (yells) Pinky! Here's two more! Get
'em outta here! (fades)
CLARENCE: Well, get up, George. Good thing he threw us in this snow bank, heh?
GEORGE: Where's - where's Mr. Gower?
CLARENCE: Mr. Gower doesn't know you, George. You see, you weren't there to
stop him from putting poison into that prescription.
GEORGE: What do you mean, I wasn't there? Look, now, tell me, what are you?
Are you a hypnotist?
CLARENCE: George...
GEORGE: Look, why am I seeing all these strange things here?
CLARENCE: Don't you understand? It's because you were not born.
GEORGE: Well, if I wasn't born, then who am I?
CLARENCE: Nobody. You have no identity.
GEORGE: What do you mean, I have no identity?
CLARENCE: No papers, no driver's license, no 4-F card, no insurance policy.
GEORGE: Zuzu's bell!
CLARENCE: What?
GEORGE: Zuzu's bell. I bought my little girl a bell to hang on the Christmas
tree and I forgot to give it to her. I've got it in-- (searches for it) It's
gone. It's gone, too. Everything's gone.
CLARENCE: But you've been given a great gift, George. A chance to see what the
world would be like if you'd never been born.
GEORGE: You're crazy. You're crazy as a bedbug and you're drivin' me crazy,
too! Now, look, I'm goin' home to my wife and family, do you understand that?
And I'm going home alone!
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND UNDER
JOSEPH: Better not leave him alone, Clarence. Keep following him.
CLARENCE: Joseph! Oh, I'll stay near him, sir. Poor George, he's seeing Main
Street now, the way it'd be if he hadn't lived. The thing that's really
shocked him, sir, is the Building and Loan office. Know what's there now?
Pawnshop.
JOSEPH: What's he doing? Can you see?
CLARENCE: He's talking to Ernie Bishop, the taxi driver. He wants to go home.
JOSEPH: You'd better tag along, Clarence.
CLARENCE: Oh, I will, sir. I will.
MUSIC: MUSIC OUT
SOUND: MOTOR RUNNING
GEORGE: C'mon, step on it, will ya, Ernie? Get me home. I'm off my nut!
ERNIE: (a much harder man than before) Where do you live, buddy?
GEORGE: Aw, now, doggone it, Ernie, don't you start pullin' that stuff on me.
Three-twenty-three Sycamore!
ERNIE: Three-twenty-three Sycamore?
GEORGE: Yeah, hurry up. Zuzu's sick.
ERNIE: Okay, buddy.
GEORGE: Hey, look, Ernie, I - I don't know what's happenin'. I'm goin' crazy
or something. I've got some bad liquor. I-- Now, look, tell me this now.
You're Ernie Bishop, right? And you live with your wife and kid down in--
ERNIE: (sharply) You seen my wife?
GEORGE: What do you mean? Seen your wife? I've been in your house a hundred
times! We built it for you, didn't we?
ERNIE: Bud, my wife took the kid and ran away five years ago and I ain't never
seen you before in my life, see?
GEORGE: Okay, Ernie, okay. Okay. Just step on it. Get me home.
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND OUT
GEORGE: Mary! Mary, where are you?! Janie! Petey! Zuzu! Zuzu! Where are you?
CLARENCE: This is just an old abandoned house, George. You have no wife. No
children.
GEORGE: Where are they? What have you done with them?
ERNIE: (off, to Bert the cop) There you are, Bert. That's him, see? I told ya!
BERT: All right, up with your hands!
GEORGE: Oh, Bert! Bert the cop, thank heaven, you're here!
BERT: Now, look, why don't you be a good fella and I'll take you to a doctor?
GEORGE: Bert. Now, Bert, listen to me. What's the matter with you guys? Now
listen, it's that fellow there. He says he's an angel. He tried to hypnotize
me!
BERT: I hate to use my nightstick, but I guess I-- Oww!
CLARENCE: Run, George, run! He can't hit you while I'm biting him!
BERT: Owwww!
CLARENCE: George, run! My teeth aren't what they used to be! Joseph, help!
Joseph! Joseph!
MUSIC: HEAVENLY MUSIC ... THEN UNDER
BERT: Where'd they go, Ernie? Where'd they go?
ERNIE: I - I don't know! They just disappeared!
MUSIC: BRIEF BRIDGE
JOSEPH: Clarence?!
CLARENCE: Oh, Joseph, I hope you don't mind my calling on you like I did.
JOSEPH: It was very irregular, Clarence. You're by yourself again. Where's
George?
CLARENCE: He's at his mother's house, sir.
JOSEPH: Well, if George hasn't been born, he has no mother.
CLARENCE: Oh, he's being very stubborn, sir. He'll just have to find these
things out for himself.
JOSEPH: But his mother! That's a terribly bitter blow to a man. His own mother
not knowing him.
CLARENCE: You mean I shouldn't have let him--?
JOSEPH: I mean, you'd better find him right away. Oh, and stop biting
policemen, Clarence!
MUSIC: OUT
CLARENCE: I'm here again, George.
GEORGE: My mother -- my own mother didn't know me! If only Harry were here, my
brother were only back from Washington.
CLARENCE: Your brother fell through the ice and was drowned at the age of
nine.
GEORGE: That's a lie! He got the Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the
lives of every man on that transport!
CLARENCE: Every man on that transport died. Strange, isn't it? Each man's life
touches so many other lives. Harry wasn't there to save them because you
weren't there to save Harry. Don't you see, George? You really had a wonderful
life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?
GEORGE: Clarence...
CLARENCE: Yes?
GEORGE: Where's Mary? Please, where's my wife?
CLARENCE: I, uh, I'm not supposed to tell.
GEORGE: Tell me where she is.
CLARENCE: You're not going to like it, George.
GEORGE: Where is she? I'll choke it out of you, if I have to! Where's my wife?
CLARENCE: The library. She works there. She's just about to lock up for the
night. So, I, uh-- George! George! Come back! (sadly, to himself) Oh, there
must be some easier way for me to get my wings.
SOUND: STREET SOUNDS
GEORGE: Mary! Mary!
MARY: I'm sorry, the library's closed.
GEORGE: Mary, it's George! Don't you know me?
MARY: No, I don't know you. Let me go!
GEORGE: Mary, please don't do this to me! Mary, please, help me! Help me!
Where're our kids, Mary? I need you, Mary! Please!
MARY: Get away from me! Help! Help!
GEORGE: Help me, Mary! I'm George! Mary!
MARY: (screams)
MUSIC: BRIDGE AND UNDER
JOSEPH: Clarence?
CLARENCE: Oh, where is he, Joseph? Where's George? I'm afraid I've lost him,
sir!
JOSEPH: You knew you shouldn't have let him try to see Mary. Now, they're
after him -- a mob! They think he was trying to hurt her!
CLARENCE: Joseph, I won't even get one wing, will I?
JOSEPH: You have one more chance, Clarence. Get over to the bridge by the
river. I think George has seen just about enough.
CLARENCE: But - but the mob?!
JOSEPH: Don't worry -- they've lost him, too. Now, hurry up!
CLARENCE: Oh, thank you, Joseph! Thank you!
MUSIC: OUT
GEORGE: Clarence? ... (yells) Clarence! Clarence, where are you?
CLARENCE: I'm here, George.
GEORGE: Help me, Clarence. Get me back. I don't care what happens to me. Only
get me back to my wife and kids, please. I want to live again!
CLARENCE: Oh, thank you, George. Thank you, Lord!
GEORGE: I want to live again, please. Oh, God, please, let me live again!
BERT: (from off) George? Is that you down there, George?
GEORGE: Now, get out of here, Bert! Get out of here! You come any closer and
I'll let you have it!
BERT: What the Sam Hill you yelling for, George?
GEORGE: C'mon--! George? George! Bert! Bert, do you know me?
BERT: Know you? I've been looking all over town for you. Where you been?
GEORGE: Hey, Bert! Bert! I'm alive again, Bert!
BERT: You sure you're all right? Hey, your mouth's bleedin'!
GEORGE: It is? Hey! My mouth's bleedin'! Bert, lookit! Look at the blood come
out of there, would ya? Oh! Hey! Where's--? Zuzu's Christmas bell, Bert, I had
it right in my pocket--
SOUND: BELL RINGING
GEORGE: Here it is! Hey, it's in my pocket! What do you know about that? Hey,
merry Christmas, Bert!
BERT: Well, merry Christmas. Get in the car, I'll drive you home.
GEORGE: You will, Bert? Well, do that. And turn the siren wide open, huh?
Merry Christmas, Bedford Falls! Hey! Merry Christmas, old Building and Loan!
Merry Christmas, Mr. Potter! Yippee! (fades)
SOUND: FOOTSTEPS
GEORGE: C'mon! Hey, Bert, c'mon - c'mon in with me, huh?
SOUND: DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES ... CROWD NOISE
GEORGE: Wha - What's with all these people? These reporters? Wha--? (laughs)
Hey! Merry Christmas, reporters! Hey, Mr. Bank Examiner, merry Christmas!
CARTER: Mr. Bailey, there's a deficit!
GEORGE: I know. Eight thousand dollars, I'll bet, huh?
SHERIFF: George, I've - I've got a little paper here, I'm sorry--
GEORGE: I'll bet it's a warrant for my arrest, isn't that wonderful? Merry
Christmas! Hey, where's Mary? You know? Oh, look at this wonderful, old,
drafty house! Isn't it wonderful? Have you seen my wife? Where's Mary?
CHILDREN'S VOICES: Merry Christmas, Daddy! Merry Christmas, Daddy!
GEORGE: Kids! Hey, kids! Janie! Petey! Oh, I could eat you up! Where's your
mother?
JANIE: She went looking for you, Daddy, with Uncle Billy.
ZUZU: Daddy!
GEORGE: Zuzu! My little gingersnap! How do you feel, huh?
ZUZU: Fine, Daddy. Not a smidge of temperature!
GEORGE: Not a smidge of temp--?! Hallelujah!
MARY: George! George, darling!
JANIE: It's Mommy! Mommy's home!
GEORGE: Mary!
MARY: George, where have you been?
GEORGE: Mary!
MARY: Oh, George!
GEORGE: Mary! Just let me touch you! Oh, you're real, Mary! Oh, you've no idea
what happened to me.
MARY: You've no idea what's happened either. They're on their way here!
GEORGE: Who? Who's on their way? Oh, it's the police department? I don't-- The
FBI? The National Guard? I'm alive again, Mary! (quietly) Oh, listen, Mary,
I'm alive again.
MARY: Oh, yes, darling, yes. Now - now, close your eyes and - and come on
downstairs... (fades)
SOUND: CROWD NOISE, LOUDER THAN BEFORE
GEORGE: (fades in) Wh - what is it? Can - can I open my eyes yet, Mary? What's
goin' on here?
MARY: Now, now, keep your eyes closed! Now, I'll just walk you over here by
the Christmas tree and--
GEORGE: Well, there's people -- I hear lots of people. What - what is it?
MARY: Just one minute now. We're all ready, Uncle Billy! Come in, everybody!
CROWD: Hooray!
UNCLE BILLY: George! Look -- just look!
GEORGE: Uncle Billy?!
UNCLE BILLY: Money, George! A laundry basket filled with money! Money for you!
Mary did it, George! Mary!
GEORGE: I don't understand. What money? What--?
MARY: People - people heard you were in trouble, darling. These people, your
friends! They've collected this money for you! The eight thousand dollars!
GEORGE: Charlie -- wait, there's Martini -- and Mr. Gower! Hey, how are you,
Mr. Gower? Mrs. Thompson. Ed. Tom. Everybody.
ERNIE: None of us would have a roof over our heads if it wasn't for you,
George!
GEORGE: Gosh, this is wonderful! Hey, Mary, look! Look who's coming in--
Mother! Hi, Mother! Hey! And Harry!
HARRY: Got Mary's telegram, George! I flew in as fast as I could.
ERNIE: Hey, hey, everybody, a toast! How about a toast!
HARRY: Good idea, Ernie! A toast... to my big brother, George. The richest man
in town!
CROWD: Hooray!
SOUND: CROWD BEGINS SINGING "AULD LANG SYNE"
ZUZU: Daddy, my Christmas bell. You didn't forget?
GEORGE: Forget? Here, honey. Here's your bell.
ZUZU: Daddy!
SOUND: BELL RINGS
MARY: Darling, what's this on the table here? What's this book?
GEORGE: (chuckles) "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."
MARY: Well, look, there's something written in it.
GEORGE: (reads aloud) "Dear George: Remember, no man is a failure who has
friends. Thanks for the wings. Love, Clarence."
MARY: Clarence?
GEORGE: Yeah. He's a very dear friend of mine.
SOUND: BELL RINGS
ZUZU: Daddy, Mrs. Welch says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets his
wings!
GEORGE: That's right, Zuzu, that's right. That's right. Attaboy, Clarence.
Attaboy, Clarence! Happy landings!
MUSIC: "AULD LANG SYNE" TO A FINISH
SOUND: LENGTHY APPLAUSE
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: It's a wonderful life - so long as we can have such fine
performances as we enjoyed tonight - from Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and
Victor Moore. Jimmy, I'd like to thank whatever guardian angel whisked you
back from Texas for our show this evening.
JIMMY STEWART: Well, that guardian angel was an airline's wing, uh, Bill.
DONNA REED: You were in Texas for the premiere of this picture weren't you,
Jimmy?
JIMMY STEWART: Yeah, Frank Capra and I went down for five openings in as many
nights. Pretty good down there in Texas.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: All of them in Texas, Jimmy?
JIMMY STEWART: Yeah, every one of 'em. Five premieres over Texas-- You know,
it's a pretty big state, takes that many to--
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: (laughs) Jimmy, I'm sure your fans were proud to read that
you received an honorary degree from Princeton just the other week.
DONNA REED: Yes, how about that, Jimmy? Do we call you "professor" now?
JIMMY STEWART: Mm, no, no, no, no. It - it's just an M.A.
VICTOR MOORE: Oh? Master of Arts?
JIMMY STEWART: Well, I'd-- It might've been, I don't know. Might be for
Murdering Architecture. That's what I studied.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: (laughs) Well, you know Donna has an honorary degree to her
credit, too: "L.L.C."
VICTOR MOORE: What's that, Bill?
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: "L.L.C."? Well, you can see for yourself. A "Lovely Lux
Complexion"!
DONNA REED: (laughs) Well, thank you, Bill. Or, rather, thank Lux Toilet Soap.
It's a wonderful complexion care. I use it faithfully.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: With wonderful results, I see.
JIMMY STEWART: Ah, what's happening next Monday night on Lux, Bill?
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Next week, we have another of the season's most successful
films. It's Twentieth Century Fox's thrilling screen hit, "Leave Her to
Heaven" with lovely Gene Tierney.
CROWD: Aaaahhhh.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: And a star who appears in answer to literally hundreds of
requests: Cornel Wilde.
CROWD: (swooning) Oooohhhhh.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, "Leave Her
to Heaven" is the strange, dramatic story of a woman whose twisted mind and
fiendish jealousy drive her to any lengths to hold the man she loves.
VICTOR MOORE: That ought to make great listening, Bill.
DONNA REED: I wouldn't miss it for anything.
ALL: (ad lib) Good night.
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: And thanks a million!
SOUND: APPLAUSE
MUSIC: LUX THEME
WILLIAM KEIGHLEY: Lever Brothers Company, the makers of Lux Toilet Soap, join
me in inviting you to be with us again next Monday evening when the Lux Radio
Theatre presents Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde in "Leave Her to Heaven." This
is William Keighley saying, "Goodnight to you, from Hollywood!"
SOUND: APPLAUSE
MUSIC: LUX THEME ... UNDER
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: Here's a sure way to save on your meat and grocery bills.
Turn in used fats -- kitchen fats -- to your butcher and receive a generous
price for every pound. The worldwide supply of fats is still desperately short
and every drop you save helps in the making of soap, refrigerators, and other
needed items. So save and turn in your used kitchen fats. Donna Reed appeared
through the courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producers of "The Beginning or
the End" starring Brian Donlevy and Robert Walker. James Stewart will soon be
seen in the Robert Riskin production for RKO, "Magic Town." Victor Moore will
soon be seen in Roy Del Ruth's production "It Happened on Fifth Avenue." Our
music was directed by Louis Silvers. This program is broadcast to our men and
women overseas through the cooperation of the Armed Forces Radio Service. And
this is your announcer, John Milton Kennedy, reminding you to tune in again
next Monday to hear "Leave Her to Heaven" with Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde.
SOUND: APPLAUSE
JINGLE SINGERS: Spry -- when you bake and fry
Spry -- for your cake and pie
Spry -- it's your shortening buy
Rely on Spry!
ANNOUNCER: Want fried foods crisp, golden, better-tasting? Try Spry, the pure
vegetable shortening that gives you delicious, better-tasting fried foods. So
digestible, too, the Spry way!
JINGLE SINGERS: Rely on Spry! S-P-R-Y!
Rely on Spry! S-P-R-Y!
MUSIC: LUX THEME UNDER
JOHN MILTON KENNEDY: Be sure to listen in again next Monday night to hear the
Lux Radio Theater presentation of "Leave Her to Heaven." This is CBS, the
Columbia Broadcasting System.
SOUND: APPLAUSE
======================================
Originally broadcast: 10 March 1947