Bill's Notes -

[Bill, October 10, 2008]

Where's George Bailey now?

GEORGE
Now, just remember that this thing isn't as black as it appears.

As George speaks, sirens are heard passing in the street below.
The crowd turn to the windows, then back to George.

GEORGE (cont'd)
I have some news for you, folks. I've just talked to old man
Potter, and he's guaranteed cash payments at the bank. The bank's going to reopen next week.

ED
But, George, I got my money here.

CHARLIE
Did he guarantee this place?

GEORGE
Well, no, Charlie. I didn't even ask him. We don't need Potter over here.

Mary and Ernie have come into the room during this scene. Mary stands watching silently.

CHARLIE
I'll take mine now.

GEORGE
No, but you . . . you . . . you're thinking of this place all wrong. As if I had the money back in a safe. The money's not here. Your money's in Joe's
house . . .
(to one of the men)
. . . right next to yours. And in the Kennedy house, and Mrs. Macklin's house, and a hundred others. Why, you're lending them the money to build, and then, they're going to pay it back to you as best they can. Now what are you
going to do? Foreclose on them?

TOM
I got two hundred and forty-two dollars in here, and two hundred and forty-two dollars isn't going to break anybody.

MEDIUM CLOSE SHOT –– ANOTHER ANGLE

GEORGE (handing him a slip)
Okay, Tom. All right. Here you are. You sign this. You'll get your money in sixty days.

TOM
Sixty days?

GEORGE
Well, now that's what you agreed to when you bought your shares.

There is a commotion at the outer doors. A man (Randall) comes in and makes his way up to Tom.

RANDALL
Tom . . . Tom, did you get your money?

TOM
No.

RANDALL
Well, I did. Old man Potter'll pay fifty cents on the dollar for every share you got.
(shows bills)

CROWD (ad lib)
Fifty cents on the dollar!

RANDALL
Yes, cash!

TOM (to George)
Well, what do you say?

GEORGE
Now, Tom, you have to stick to your original agreement. Now give us sixty days on this.

TOM (turning to Randall)
Okay, Randall.

He starts out.

MRS. THOMPSON
Are you going to go to Potter's?

TOM
Better to get half than nothing.

A few other people start for the door. CAMERA PANS WITH George as he vaults over the counter quickly, speaking to the people.

GEORGE
Tom! Tom! Randall! Now wait . . . now listen . . . now listen to me. I beg of you not to do this thing. If Potter gets hold of this Building and Loan there'll
never be another decent house built in this town. He's already got charge of the bank. He's got the bus line. He's got the department stores. And now he's after us.
Why? Well, it's very simple. Because we're cutting in on his
business, that's why. And because he wants to keep you living in his slums and paying the kind of rent he
decides.

The people are still trying to get out, but some of them have stood still, listening to him. George has begun to make an impression on them.

GEORGE (cont'd)
Joe, you lived in one of his houses, didn't you? Well, have you forgotten? Have you forgotten what he charged you for that broken-down
shack?
(to Ed)
Here, Ed. You know, you remember last year when things weren't going so well, and you couldn't make your payments. You didn't lose your house, did you? Do
you think Potter would have let you keep it?
(turns to address the room again)
Can't you understand what's happening here? Don't you see what's happening? Potter isn't selling. Potter's buying! And why? Because we're panicky and he's not.
That's why. He's picking up some bargains. Now, we can get
through this thing all right. We've got to stick together,
though. We've got to have faith in each other.

MRS. THOMPSON
But my husband hasn't worked in over a year, and I need money.

WOMAN
How am I going to live until the bank opens?

MAN
I got doctor bills to pay.

MAN
I need cash.

MAN
Can't feed my kids on faith.

During this scene Mary has come up behind the counter. Suddenly, as the people once more start moving toward the door, she holds up a roll of bills andcalls out:

MARY
How much do you need?

George jumps over the counter and takes the money from Mary.

GEORGE
Hey! I got two thousand dollars! Here's two thousand dollars.
This'll tide us over until the bank reopen.
(to Tom)
All right, Tom, how much do you need?

TOM (doggedly)
Two hundred and forty-two dollars!

GEORGE (pleading)
Aw, Tom, just enough to tide you over till the bank reopens.

TOM
I'll take two hundred and forty-two dollars.

George starts rapidly to count out the money. Tom throws his
passbook on the counter.

GEORGE
There you are.

TOM
That'll close my account.

GEORGE
Your account's still here. That's a loan.

Mary turns and slips out through the crowd, followed by Ernie.
George hands the two hundred and forty-two dollars to Tom, and speaks to Ed, the next in line.

GEORGE (cont'd)
Okay. All right, Ed?

ED
I got three hundred dollars here, George.

Uncle Billy takes out his wallet and takes out all the cash he's got.

GEORGE
Aw, now, Ed . . . what'll it take till the bank reopens? What do you need?

ED
Well, I suppose twenty dollars.

GEORGE
Twenty dollars. Now you're talking. Fine. Thanks, Ed.
(to Mrs. Thompson, next in line)
All right, now, Mrs. Thompson. How much do you want?

MRS. THOMPSON
But it's your own money, George.

GEORGE
Never mind about that. How much do you want?

MRS. THOMPSON
I can get along with twenty, all right.

GEORGE (counting it out)
Twenty dollars.

MRS. THOMPSON
And I'll sign a paper.

GEORGE
You don't have to sign anything. I know you'll pay it back when you can. That's okay.
(to woman next in line)
All right, Mrs. Davis.

MRS. DAVIS
Could I have seventeen-fifty?

GEORGE
Seven . . .
(he kisses her)
Bless your heart, Of course you can have it. You got fifty cents?
(counting)
Seven . . .

WIPE TO:

INTERIOR OUTER OFFICE BUILDING AND LOAN –– NIGHT

CLOSE SHOT –– George, Uncle Billy and Cousin Tilly are behind the counter, watching the minute hand of a clock on the wall as George counts off the seconds. Cousin Eustace is ready to close the door.

UNCLE BILLY (excitedly)
We're going to make it, George. They'll never close us up today!

GEORGE (counting)
Six . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . .
Bingo!

Cousin Eustace slams and locks the door, and scurries around the counter to join the others.

GEORGE (cont'd)
We made it! Look . . .
(holds up two bills)
. . . look, we're still in business! We've still got two bucks left!

Uncle Billy is taking a drink out of his bottle.

GEORGE (cont'd)
Well, let's have some of that. Get some glasses, Cousin Tilly.
(to Uncle Billy)
We're a couple of financial wizards.

UNCLE BILLY
Those Rockefellers!

GEORGE
Get a tray for these great big important simoleons.

UNCLE BILLY
We'll save them for seed. A toast!

They raise their glasses.

GEORGE
A toast! A toast to Papa Dollar and to Mama Dollar, and if you want the old Building and Loan to stay in business, you better have a family real quick.

COUSIN TILLY
I wish they were rabbits.

GEORGE
I wish they were too. Okay, let's put them in the safe and see what happens.

The four of them parade through the office; George puts the two dollars in the safe.

6 Comments

[Bill, October 9, 2008]

Bumper Stickers

This has been making the email rounds.

2 Comments

[Bill, October 7, 2008]

Left, right, middle, Democrat, Republican, Catholic

Being Catholic is not the same as having a political affiliation. When a political party tries to use a church to achieve its political ends, we call that instrumentalism. When a church tries to use a political party to achieve its religious ends, that's called moralism. Both instrumentalism and moralism are bad. To non-subtle thinkers, that would seem to indicate that there should be no dialogue between religious and political realms, or especially that the religious may transfer all their thinking into secular terms, and hooray for separation of church and state.

There's a fallacy in there, and it has to do with the parallel nature of the premises. Religious people should not use politics to achieve religious ends. However, religious people can draw upon their religious beliefs to determine the political ends they'd like to see. Follow?

What I'm dealing with now is trying to clarify this idea. Not sure I'm there yet.

Anyway, one thing I'm getting at is that I'm Catholic. Republican is a temporary affiliation, just as Democrat was, based on each party's current policies, means and goals. What it means to be Catholic doesn't change — but Dem and GOP does change.

Someone recently asked me if I would vote for John McCain if he were pro-choice. The answer's no, I wouldn't even consider it. In fact, if I thought he were guilty of instrumentalism (that is, blowing smoke about being pro-life), I wouldn't vote for him either. In fact, it's a little difficult to vote for him because he supports Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR). To vote for him, I have to have a proportionate reason for cooperating with the evil of ESCR; in this case, the proportionate reason is his anti-abortion stance. Plus, the Republican Party supports neither abortion or ESCR in its party platform.

It should also be noted that the Catholic Church tends to annoy partisans of both parties at some point in time. No you can't kill babies. No, you can't torture people. No, you can't start a war in Iraq. No, now you can't leave until you fix it. No, you can't nuke Hiroshima. And so on and on.

My point is — if the Catholic Church takes a position that irritates you and gives comfort to your political opponents, don't sweat it. Stick around, be patient, and soon enough the shoe will be on the other foot and they'll be vexing your opponents and comforting you.

UPDATE: Typos fixed. Thanks, SG.

3 Comments

[Bill, October 6, 2008]

On Scranton's bishop

OK, let's say I start a club. Let's call it the Poconos Pro-Life Cause. (PPLC). One day there's a national election. I, as grand poo-bah of the club, put on my funny hat and remind people that according to the rules of our club, you should vote for the pro-life candidate. Otherwise, you will not be allowed to have fruit cup before dinner. And if you persist in pro-choiceness, you'll have to leave until you change your mind, at which point you may return and have fruit cup with us.

Now, what happens to the pro-choice members. They realize they're in the wrong organization, and they leave, and they form the Poconos Pro-Choice Cause, and have their own meetings, eat all the fruit cup they want, and vote for whomever they want.

Somehow, this is theocracy according to DB. You see, because Imams issue fatwas telling people what to do, and Catholic Bishops issue letters telling people what to do, and Imams are theocratic, thus, Catholic BIshops are theocratic. Except that, as usual with liberal thinking, what happens if you don't do what the Imams or Bishops say? You see, there's nothing wrong with a Imam telling Muslims what to do. It's what happens when they don't that matters. If the Imams say, "well, don't come back to Mosque until you straighten up," OK, well, Skippy's out of the club. If, on the other hand, they say, "Die blaspheming apostate!" That's another story.

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