From "As ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ turns 75, Karolyn ‘Zuzu’ Grimes reflects on the film that belatedly changed her life" (WaPo).
Grimes played George Bailey’s youngest daughter, Zuzu, the “little ginger snap” with the petals, who in the film’s profoundly soul-stirring climax, says perhaps the film’s most-quoted line: “Look, Daddy, teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.”
“I had no clue whatsoever those words would be so special to so many people,” she said. “I’m thrilled I got to say them and that I got to be a part of that scene and that movie.”Every time you spill coffee on somebody, an angel gets the part you were trying to deny her.
Posts
16 comments:
Another excellent story supporting the theme of rising above the traps others set for you.
Nice story!
That’s a nice story. We always hear about how actors got the part- how they had coffee spilled on them or they effed up in an endearing way or they stormed into the audition proclaiming they have the part already or you’ll get to see my audition on the first day of shooting. It makes me wonder if everyone at every audition does that stuff, yet we only hear about the winners…
In It's A Wonderful Life, Pottersville Actually Looks Way More Fun Than Bedford Falls
Pottersville looks fun as hell! At least, more fun than sleepy Bedford Falls, where the coolest thing you can do is throw rocks at a condemned house or sled into an icy pond and suffer lifelong hearing loss.
Admit it, Clarence–Bedford Falls is better off without George Bailey.
When he goes to his old buddy Mr. Martini's bar, to find that it has been replaced with "Nick's." But it's fun now! There's live music! Clarence tries to order a "Flaming rum punch," then mentions his spiel about angels getting wings when bells are heard, and the two of them end up face-first in the snow outside. "And stay out!" The bouncers yell. Inside, the bartender repeatedly dings the cash register and makes the joke, "Look at me, I'm giving out wings!" You gotta admit, it's not a bad burn.
We don't get to see too much of Pottersville, but in the brief glimpses director Frank Capra shows us, it looks like a place I'd like to go. First, we see a bar called Blue Moon that resembles the kind of trendy spot you might find on Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn (pretentious bartenders, decently-priced craft beer, maybe a foosball table). Then there's a billiards club next to a billboard for an upcoming boxing match–a good Friday night to me!
The thing that really sends Bailey reeling is the image of his Building and Loan replaced by a "Jitterbug" club, which I imagine is 1940s burlesque spot. Bailey's modest family business (which really fucked over the entire town of Bedford Falls in the other dimension of the film) has transformed into a glamorous, sexually-liberated fun-zone. Violet, the film's most sexually-liberated character, apparently performs there. Good for Violet. She deserved better than these squares.
Thanks for that one, AA. Great start to the day even with a bit of rough sledding in there.
Every time you spill coffee on somebody, an angel gets the part you were trying to deny her.
This confused me at first because after "gets his wings" I was thinking body parts, not roles. I was picturing angels waiting for an arm or a leg or a kidney or something and hoping there's a coffee incident down on earth.
I read a piece yesterday that Capra cut two scenes. I have to agree with the editing.
This movie is perhaps my favorite and has shaped my view of America in many ways.
Zuzu spoke at a special screening of the movie in Omaha. She’s a delight. She said Jimmy Stewart treated her like a princess. My youngest had never seen the movie because now that the copyright has been restored, it isn’t on TV that frequently. Maybe “the accident” of losing the copyright was the work of Clarence.
“ According to Grimes, the name "Zuzu" came from a cookie, similar to a gingersnap, that was sold in the early 1900s.”
She's a lovely lady. I met her MC'ing at the RedFord Theater in Detroit Mi for a showing It's a Wonderful Life.
Took me a moment to realize this wasn't Elon Musk's ex.
SNL treated the story of the lost deposit properly. George finds out the banker, Old Man Potter, stole the money, and the entire family beats him up.
Everytime a CNN perv is forced to resign, an angel gets its wings.
'“ According to Grimes, the name "Zuzu" came from a cookie, similar to a gingersnap, that was sold in the early 1900s.”'
Sounds like a Frank Zappa kid name : )
Donna Reed was a cutie...
@gilbar -- A "trendy spot" with "pretentious bartenders" sounds perfect for readers of today's Esquire.
But isn't that film now regarded as sexist and therefore taboo?
https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/20/opinions/sexual-harassment-culture-christmas-opinion-costello/index.html
I'd forgotten that Karolyn Grimes was the child actress in "It's a Wonderful Life". I always think of her as Debbie, the daughter in "The Bishop's Wife".
Mmmm. Coffee.
This holiday classic was not a staple when I was growing up, and it wasn't until I started dating that I discovered that it was required. This was when there were only the Big Three (and PBS) and you had to make an effort to see the annual broadcast. It was probably on the TV more than I knew, but if I had new stuff for Christmas I wasn't going to sit still and watch some dumb movie.
After the first couple of times, I got it. I've made no effort to watch it since.
But it's a nice popular fable about counterfactuals--you might even say simulated reality--and the coffee anecdote reminded me of another one.
DORMROOM PHILOSOPHER: I think we're all living in a simulation! Like the Matrix--our very existence is just part of a program we can't see, none of this is real, and we're manipulated by unseen forces. It's all an illusion!
IDEAL ME: [spills piping hot tea on DP's crotch] Ooops! I'm so sorry! I'm such a clutz.
DP: Aaiiiighhh you asshole! I ought to kill you, you fool.
IDEAL ME: It's an illusion, dude. Chill out. I said I'm sorry.
Post a Comment