American Rhetoric: Movie Speech

"It's A Wonderful Life" (1946)

George Bailey: Address to the People at Bailey Building and Loan

Audio mp3 delivered by Jimmy Stewart

Bailey: Tom! Ran...no, Randall, wait. Now wait...now listen...now listen to me. I, I beg of ya not to do this thing. If Potter gets a hold of this Building and Loan, there'll never be another decent house built in this town. He's already got charge of the bank. He's got the bus line. He got the department stores, and now he's after us. Why? Well, it's very simple. Because we're cuttin' in on his business, that's why. And because he wants to keep you livin' in his slums and paying the kind of rent he decides.

Joe, you had one of those Potter houses, didn't you? Well, have you forgotten? Have you forgotten what he charged you for that broken-down shack? Here, Ed. You know, you remember last year when things weren't going so well, and you couldn't make your payments. Well, you didn't lose your house, did you? You think Potter would have let you keep it?

Can't you understand what's happening here? Don't you see what's happening? Potter isn't selling. Potter's buying! And why? Because we're panicky and he's not. That's why. He's pickin' up some bargain. Now, we can get through this thing all right. We've, we've got to stick together, though. We've got to have faith in each other.