It's a Wonderful Life Scene 8 Summary

Where's the Christmas Cheer?

  • At home, a depressed George greets his happy family, who are all in the Christmas spirit. George hugs his son and starts crying. Mary notices but doesn't say anything.
  • George gets mad at his daughter for continually playing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" on the piano.
  • He's very agitated and gets annoyed when he hears that his youngest daughter, Zuzu, has a cold.
  • George keeps complaining to Mary, saying he wishes they didn't live in Bedford Falls and have so many kids.
  • He goes up to see Zuzu, who shows him a flower. Some of the petals have fallen off, and she asks George to fix it.
  • George secretly puts the petals in his pocket and gives the flower back to Zuzu.
  • Downstairs, Mary is talking to Zuzu's teacher on the phone, and George grabs the phone, shouting at the teacher for sending Zuzu home from school without being bundled up.
  • He yells at the teacher's husband, too.
  • George yells at his kids, tells his daughter to stop playing the piano, and knocks things over in the living room.
  • Ashamed, he apologizes to his wife and to his kids. They stare at him, and his daughter starts crying.
  • George walks out of the house, and Mary calls Uncle Billy on the phone. She tells the kids to pray for their dad. Something is seriously wrong. This is where we came in at the beginning of the movie.
  • Back at Potter's office, George begs Potter for a loan, explaining that he (really, Billy) misplaced $8,000. Potter ridicules him, suggesting that maybe George was spending the money on Violet or wasting it in other ways.
  • George says he has a $15,000 life insurance policy he can use as collateral, but Potter refuses.
  • Potter tells George he's worth more dead than alive. He says he's going to ask the cops to arrest George for misappropriating funds.
  • George is in shock.