During this, CAMERA MOVES CLOSER to George. Nick, the bartender, is watching him solicitously. Seated on the other side of George is a burly individual, drinking a glass of beer. George is mumbling:
>> It's a Wonderful Life Movie Script

EXTERIOR MARTINI'S BAR �� NIGHT MEDIUM CLOSE SHOT �� An attractive little roadside tavern, with the name "Martini's" in neon lights on the front wall.
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POTTER (cont'd) (on phone) Bill? This is Potter.
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POTTER (sarcastically) Look at you. You used to be so cocky! You were going to go out and conquer the world! You once called me a warped, frustrated old man. What are you but a warped, frustrated young man? A miserable little clerk crawling in here on your hands and knees and begging for help. No securities �� no stocks �� no bonds �� nothing but a miserable little five hundred dollar equity in a life insurance policy. You're worth more dead than alive. Why don't you go to the riff-raff you love so much and ask them to let you have eight thousand dollar? You know why? Because they'd run you out of town on a rail . . .But I'll tell you what I'm going to do for you, George. Since the state examiner is still here, as a stockholder of the Building and Loan, I'm going to swear out a warrant for your arrest.
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GEORGE (desperate) Please help me, Mr. Potter. Help me, won't you please? Can't you see what it means to my family? I'll pay you any sort of a bonus on the loan . . . any interest. If you still want the Building and Loan, why I . . .
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(on phone) Hello, Uncle Billy?
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(shouts) Now, go on, play!
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GEORGE (gasping for breath) I'm sorry, Mary, Janie. I'm sorry. I didn't mean . . . you go on and practice. Pete, I owe you an apology, too. I'm sorry. What do you want to know?
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But before he can think of an insult to top Welch's, we hear a click on the phone.
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(on phone) Hello? Who is this? Oh, Mr. Welch? Okay, that's fine, Mr. Welch. Gives me a chance to tell you what I really think of your wife.
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She puts a restraining hand on his arm. He shakes it off. She cannot know that George's tirade against Mrs. Welch is really a tirade against the world, against life itself, against God. Over the phone we hear Mrs.
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GEORGE (cont'd) (on phone) Hello. Hello, Mrs. Welch? This is George Bailey. I'm Zuzu's father. Say, what kind of a teacher are you anyway? What do you mean sending her home like that, half-naked? Do you realize she'll probably end up with pneumonia on account of you?
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(on phone) Hello. Yes, this is Mrs. Bailey.
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She closes her eyes and relaxes on the bed. George pulls the covers over her. He bends down and his lips touch a tendril of the child's hair. Then he gets up and tiptoes out of the room.
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George puts the flower in a glass of water on the table beside her bed.
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INTERIOR ZUZU'S BEDROOM �� NIGHT FULL SHOT �� The SOUND of Janie at the piano can be heard, the same monotonous rhythm over and over. Zuzu (aged six) is sitting up in her bed, the lamp burning beside her. She is holding her prize flower. George tiptoes in. Then, as he sees she's awake, he comes over, sitting on the edge of her bed.
>> It's a Wonderful Life Movie Script

INTERIOR HALL �� NIGHT MEDIUM CLOSE SHOT �� George starts up the stairs. The knob on the banister comes off in his hand, and for a moment he has an impulse to hurl it into the living room. Then, he replaces the knob, and goes on up the stairs.
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GEORGE (turns on him) Well, what's the matter with our car? Isn't it good enough for you?
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At a small table Pete (aged nine) is seated with pad and pencil in the throes of composition. On the floor Tommy (aged three) is playing with a toy vacuum cleaner. We hear the SOUND of a door open and close. Mary turns and sees George enter the hall, a slight powdering of snow on his head and shoulders.
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George turns and heads for the door, kicking viciously at a waste basket on the floor as he goes. Uncle Billy remains sobbing at the table, his head in his arms.
>> It's a Wonderful Life Movie Script