You Can't Take It With You Scene 3 Summary

  • The scene opens at Vanderhof's home, the Sycamore family house, where you're introduced to Rheba the maid, Essie (who dances) Mrs. Sycamore (who writes), and Mr. Sycamore (who makes fireworks).
  • Also a very cute kitten, a crow, Mr. Sycamore's assistant DePinna, and Rheba's fiancé Donald. And Ed Carmichael, Essie's husband, who plays the xylophone.
  • That's a lot of characters! The Sycamore house is full of people doing goofy things.
  • Grandpa and Poppins come in as well.
  • The family chats about Alice, Mrs. Sycamore's daughter, who is working in a bank. (She's the boring one in the family, obviously.)
  • Fireworks keep going off. Mr. Poppins keeps trying to bolt and run. But Grandpa convinces him to stay. Very convincing, that Grandpa.
  • Then Poppins shows his bunny thing to Mr. Sycamore and Mr. DePinna, and they all bustle down to the shop. Guys do shop, girls do arts. The Sycamores are unconventional, but not that unconventional.
  • Grandpa dispenses folksy wisdom about how things are meaner and less American now than they were in the past.
  • Then Rheba calls Alice at work… and we bounce through the phone and out to Scene 4.