You Can't Take It with You

Synopsis: The stenographer Alice Sycamore is in love with her boss Tony Kirby, who is the vice-president of the powerful company owned by his greedy father Anthony P. Kirby. Kirby Sr. is dealing a monopoly in the trade of weapons, and needs to buy one last house in a twelve block area owned by Alice's grandparent Martin Vanderhof. However, Martin is the patriarch of an anarchic and eccentric family where the members do not care for money but for having fun and making friends. When Tony proposes Alice, she states that it would be mandatory to introduce her simple and lunatic family to the snobbish Kirbys, and Tone decides to visit Alice with his parents one day before the scheduled. There is an inevitable clash of classes and lifestyles, the Kirbys spurn the Sycamores and Alice breaks with Tony, changing the lives of the Kirby family.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director(s): Frank Capra
Production: Columbia Pictures
  Won 2 Oscars. Another 7 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.0
Rotten Tomatoes:
91%
PASSED
Year:
1938
126 min
2,661 Views


- Good morning, Mr. Kirby.

- Good morning.

- Good morning, A.P.

- Good morning.

Good morning.

- No pictures.

- New York Times, Mr. Kirby.

We'd like a statement

on the business outlook.

The newspapers should know

Mr. Kirby never issues any statements.

Come on, come on.

I got your telegram, Mr. Kirby.

They're waiting in your office.

Good.

Hello, A.P.

- You're looking well.

- How was the trip?

- Hi, Dad.

- I'm glad to get home.

- Tony, how are you?

- Good.

- How's your mother?

- Fine.

Good, I nearly sent for you.

You might like the White House.

Sorry you didn't.

- How do you like being vice president?

- Painless so far.

He still talks

as if he were having a tooth yanked.

- What happened in Washington?

- What did you find out?

- How do we stand?

- Get me some bicarbonate of soda.

How do we stand, A.P.?

There will be no interference

from the powers that be.

- There won't?

- Are you sure?

What about the senator

with the anti-trust complex?

I said there'd be no interference.

We're going ahead exactly as we planned.

It'll be the largest individual monopoly

in the world if we're smart.

Particularly now that Ramsey is lined up.

- That's impossible.

- The administration'd never stand for that.

- We'd control every type of war material.

- That's exactly it.

With the world going crazy,

the next big move is munitions.

And Kirby and Company will cash in on it.

It's unbelievable.

A war wouldn't be possible anywhere

without us.

If I know Ramsey, he'll never let himself

be absorbed by anybody.

- Won't he?

- No.

We'll see if he will

when I hand him a little surprise.

I own every inch of the 12 blocks

that surround the Ramsey factories.

- News to us!

- We didn't know anything about that.

So, how is he going to fulfill his contracts

without us?

You'd better get busy.

Complete your negotiations with the others.

- I'll handle Ramsey myself.

- We'll hop right to it.

I have a meeting with my nitrate group

this afternoon.

Good.

$10,000 a year for doctors

and I'm still taking this stuff.

- Son, what do you think about it?

- Don't ask me.

You know how cockeyed

my sense of value is.

Get me that sour-faced real estate agent

on the phone. What's his name?

- Blakely.

- Yeah. Private line.

- Dad, how do you feel?

- Rotten. It's my stomach.

I thought so.

These trips to Washington have me jittery.

But it's the last one.

From now on, they come to me.

Tony, do you realize there won't be a bullet,

gun or cannon made here without us?

Now, Dad, don't tell me

you've forgotten the slingshot market.

Mr. Blakely on the phone.

Hello, Blakely. This is A.P. How's it going?

You what? What trouble?

Now, wait a minute. Don't bite my head off.

I've got all 12 blocks, everything...

...with the exception of one little lot

and I can't get the man to sell.

Those 12 blocks are useless

unless I get every inch of them.

I'm up against some kind of an old crank.

His house isn't worth over $25,000.

I've already offered him $50,000,

but he's standing pat.

If you can't get it with money

there are other ways.

That's up to you. Now, remember this:

Unless you buy up the whole 12 blocks,

you won't get a penny commission.

That man has got ice water in his veins.

The description fits only one man.

I've simply got to get that property, Bill.

You can't force a man

to sell his home, John.

I've got to. I'll make him sell

if I have to drive him out with stink bombs.

Listen, a fortune has been invested

in those 12 blocks.

Behind it is one of the most powerful men

in the country, and a silly old man...

...with that silly little house

is holding up the whole business.

- Now, how do you like that?

- Excuse me, John, but I think it's great.

What did he say when you offered him

$50,000 for his place?

I'm not sure,

but I think someone began singing.

Someone danced and Grandpa Vanderhof

sat down and played a mouth organ.

Played a mouth organ?

- What are they, a bunch of nuts?

- Fascinating ones.

- It's the old army game.

- I doubt it. He's not interested in money.

Mr. Vanderhof is here.

- Have him come in right away.

- How did you get him to come here?

Not interested in money, eh?

Miss Jones, just a minute.

Don't send him in yet.

Have him wait. Let him cool his heels.

Yes, sir.

- He will just be a minute, Mr. Vanderhof.

- Thank you.

That guy wanting me

to split commissions three ways.

What are you doing?

My goodness. I made a mistake.

First time in 20 years.

That calls for the building to collapse,

I suppose?

- Have some.

- No, thank you. It'll spoil my appetite.

What are you doing that for?

I have to add up these figures

to see if they're right.

Why?

Why? Because they have to check

against these figures.

- Say, do you like this?

- Like it?

- This work you're doing.

- No, my goodness, no.

Land's sake, what am I saying?

Well, why do you do it?

Look, they're very strict

in this office and I...

Isn't there something else

you'd rather be doing than this?

No!

Go along with you.

I don't believe a word you're saying.

Go on, tell me,

what would you rather be doing than this?

I make up things.

- Poetry?

- No. Just things.

Go on. Let me see some of them.

- That's kind of cute.

- It is, isn't it? I made it up myself.

Yes.

I have a lot of other ideas just like it.

Well, what do you mean

fooling around with those dull figures?

Rate this script:3.0 / 2 votes

Robert Riskin

Robert Riskin (March 30, 1897 – September 20, 1955) was an American Academy Award-winning screenwriter and playwright, best known for his collaborations with director-producer Frank Capra. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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