Great Scene: “It’s A Wonderful Life”
George Bailey and Mary Hatch have an intense telephone conversation.
Movie: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), screenplay by Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett and Frank Capra, story by Philip Van Doren Stern
IMDb plot summary: An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Scene Setup: Frustrated that it looks like he’ll continue to be stuck in Bedford Falls now that his brother has secretly gotten married, George goes out for a walk and ends up visiting Mary. They get into a heated argument, then fate intervenes: A phone call from their old friend Sam Wainwright.
Here is the movie version of the scene:
“He says it’s the chance of a lifetime.” One of the most important lines in the movie. Here the text is about Sam Wainwright offering George and Mary a business investment opportunity. The subtext: George has an opportunity to be with Mary.
But there is a callback later when Clarence says this to George: “You’ve been given a great gift, George: A chance to see what the world would be like without you.”
There’s that word again: Chance. George opted to take the chance to be with Mary. Then he’s given a chance to look back on the ramifications of that choice. So in effect, there is not only subtext in this scene, but also a setup to a later payoff.
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