IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
	La sceneggiatura	I suoni	Jimmy Stewart	La gallery

LA SCENEGGIATURA

It's a Wonderful Life

Final Script

FADE IN –– NIGHT SEQUENCE

Series of shots of various streets and buildings in the town of Bedford Falls, somewhere in New York State. The streets are deserted, and snow is falling. It is Christmas Eve. Over the above scenes we hear voices praying:

GOWER'S VOICE: I owe everything to George Bailey. Help him, dear Father.

MARTINI'S VOICE: Joseph, Jesus and Mary. Help my friend Mr. Bailey.

MRS. BAILEY'S VOICE: Help my son George tonight.

BERT'S VOICE: He never thinks about himself, God; that's why he's in trouble.

ERNIE'S VOICE: George is a good guy. Give him a break, God.

MARY'S VOICE: I love him, dear Lord. Watch over him tonight.

JANIE'S VOICE: Please, God. Something's the matter with Daddy.

ZUZU'S VOICE: Please bring Daddy back.

CAMERA PULLS UP from the Bailey home and travels up through the sky until it is above the falling snow and moving slowly toward a firmament full of stars. As the camera stops we hear the following heavenly voices talking, and as each voice is heard, one of the stars twinkles brightly:

FRANKLIN'S VOICE: Hello, Joseph, trouble?

JOSEPH'S VOICE: Looks like we'll have to send someone down –– a lot of people are asking for help for a man named George Bailey.

FRANKLIN'S VOICE: George Bailey. Yes, tonight's his crucial night. You're right, we'll have to send someone down immediately. Whose turn is it?

JOSEPH'S VOICE: That's why I came to see you, sir. It's that clock-maker's turn again.

FRANKLIN'S VOICE: Oh –– Clarence. Hasn't got his wings yet, has he? We've passed him up right along.

JOSEPH'S VOICE: Because, you know, sir, he's got the I.Q. of a rabbit.

FRANKLIN'S VOICE: Yes, but he's got the faith of a child –– simple. Joseph, send for Clarence.

A small star flies in from left of screen and stops. It twinkles as Clarence speaks:

CLARENCE'S VOICE: You sent for me, sir?

FRANKLIN'S VOICE: Yes, Clarence. A man down on earth needs our help.

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Splendid! Is he sick?

FRANKLIN'S VOICE: No, worse. He's discouraged. At exactly ten-forty-five PM tonight, Earth time, that man will be thinking seriously of throwing away God's greatest gift.

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Oh, dear, dear! His life! Then I've only got an hour to dress. What are they wearing now?

FRANKLIN'S VOICE: You will spend that hour getting acquainted with George Bailey.

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Sir . . . If I should accomplish this mission –– I mean –– might I perhaps win my wings? I've been waiting for over two hundred years now, sir –– and people are beginning to talk.

FRANKLIN'S VOICE: What's that book you've got there?

CLARENCE'S VOICE: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

FRANKLIN'S VOICE: Clarence, you do a good job with George Bailey, and you'll get your wings.

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Oh, thank you, sir. Thank you.

JOSEPH'S VOICE: Poor George . . . Sit down.

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Sit down? What are . . .

JOSEPH'S VOICE: If you're going to help a man, you want to know something about him, don't you?

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Well, naturally. Of course.

JOSEPH'S VOICE: Well, keep your eyes open. See the town?

The stars fade out from the screen, and a light, indistinguishable blur is seen.

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Where? I don't see a thing.

JOSEPH'S VOICE: Oh, I forgot. You haven't got your wings yet. Now look, I'll help you out. Concentrate. Begin to see something?

The blur on the screen slowly begins to take form. We see a group of young boys on top of a snow-covered hill.

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Why, yes. This is amazing.

JOSEPH'S VOICE: If you ever get your wings, you'll see all by yourself.

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Oh, wonderful!

EXTERIOR FROZEN RIVER AND HILL –– DAY –– 1919

CLOSE SHOT –– group of boys. They are preparing to slide down the hill on large shovels. One of them makes the slide and shoots out onto the ice of a frozen river at the bottom of the hill.

BOY (as he slides): Yippee!!

CLARENCE'S VOICE: Hey, who's that?

JOSEPH'S VOICE: That's your problem, George Bailey.

CLARENCE'S VOICE: A boy?

JOSEPH'S VOICE: That's him when he was twelve, back in 1919. Something happens here you'll have to remember later on.

Series of shots as four or five boys make the slide down the hill and out onto the ice. As each boy comes down the others applaud.

CLOSE SHOT –– George Bailey at bottom of slide.

GEORGE (through megaphone): And here comes the scare-baby, my kid brother, Harry Bailey.

CLOSE SHOT –– Harry, on top of hill, preparing to make his slide.

HARRY: I'm not scared.

BOYS (ad lib): Come on, Harry! Attaboy, Harry!

MEDIUM SHOT –– Harry makes his slide very fast. He passes the marks made by the other boys, and his shovel takes him onto the thin ice at the bend of the river. The ice breaks, and Harry disappears into the water.

CLOSE SHOT –– George.

GEORGE: I'm coming, Harry.

MEDIUM SHOT –– George jumps into the water and grabs Harry. As he starts to pull him out he yells:

GEORGE: Make a chain, gang! A chain!

WIDER ANGLE –– the other boys lie flat on the ice, forming a human chain. When George reaches the edge with Harry in his arms, they pull them both to safety.

JOSEPH'S VOICE: George saved his brother's life that day. But he caught a bad cold which infected his left ear. Cost him his hearing in that ear. It was weeks before he could return to his after-school job at old man Gower's drugstore.