Daily Dialogue — May 29, 2018

Mr. Potter: [on the telephone] George, there is a rumor around town that you closed your doors. Is that true? [pause] Oh, well, I’m very glad to hear that. George, are you all right? Do you need any police?
George Bailey: Police? What for?
Mr. Potter: Well, mobs get pretty ugly sometimes, you know. George, I’m going all out to help in this crisis. I’ve just guaranteed the bank sufficient funds to meet their needs. They’ll close up for a week and then reopen.
George Bailey: [to Uncle Billy] He just took over the bank.
Mr. Potter: I may lose a fortune, but I’m willing to guarantee your people, too. Just tell them to bring their shares over here and I will pay fifty cents on the dollar.
George Bailey: Aw, you never miss a trick, do you, Potter? Well, you’re going to miss this one!
Mr. Potter: If you close your doors before six p.m., you will never re-open!

There is a loud click as George hangs up.

— It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), screenplay by Francis Goodrich, Albert Hackett and Frank Capra

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Bank.

Trivia: Dalton Trumbo, Dorothy Parker, Marc Connelly, and Clifford Odets all did uncredited work on the script.

Dialogue On Dialogue: There are several key bank and savings and loan scenes in It’s a Wonderful Life. The run on the bank represents another moment in George’s life in which fate intervened to keep him from getting out of Bedford Falls, even if for a honeymoon, those funds ($5K) to keep open the Bailey Savings & Loan.