Our Town (1940) - full transcript
Change comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century. People grow up, get married, live, and die. Milk and the newspaper get delivered every morning, and nobody locks their front doors.
The name of our town is Grover's Corners,
New Hampshire.
It's just across
the line from Massachusetts.
Latitude is 42 degrees, 40 minutes.
Longitude is 70 degrees, 37 minutes.
Running through the middle
of the town is Main Street.
Cutting across Main Street on the left
is the railroad tracks.
Beyond the railroad tracks is Polish Town--
you know, foreign folks who
come here to work in the mills--
a couple of Canuck families,
and the Catholic Church.
You can see the steeple
on the Congregational Church.
The Presbyterian is just across the street.
The Methodist and the
Unitarian are up a block.
The Baptist Church is down
in the hollow...by the river.
Next to the post office is the town hall.
The jail's in the basement.
Bryan once made a speech
right on those very steps.
It's a nice town, know what I mean?
Nobody very wonderful ever come out of it,
so far as we know.
The earliest dates on the tombstones
up there in the cemetery say 1670.
There're Grovers and Cartwrights
and Gibbses and Herseys--
same names as you find around here now.
First, we'll show you a day in our town.
Not as it is today in the year 1940,
but as it used to be in the year 1901.
All right, operator, let's start.
Yes, sir, that's the way our town looked
back in the year 1901.
Along Main Street, there's a row of stores
with hitchin' posts...
and horse blocks in front of 'em.
The first automobile is gonna
come along in about five years.
The date is June 7, 1901.
It's just before dawn.
Yeah, just about.
The sky's already beginning...
to show some streaks of light in it over
there in the east, back of our mountain.
The morning star gets wonderful bright
the moment before it has to go.
The only lights on in the town are
a cottage over in Polish Town,
where a mother's just
giving birth to twins,
and down in the depot
where Shorty Hawkins...
is getting ready to flag
the 5:45 for Boston.
There she is now.
Of course, naturally, out
in the country all around,
there've been lights on for some time,
what with milkin' and so on,
but townfolk sleep late.
Here comes Joe Crowell,
delivering the morning papers.
So...another day has begun.
Here comes Doc Gibbs from that baby case
I was tellin' you about.
And this is Doc Gibbs' house.
His neighbor's Editor Webb.
There's Mrs. Gibbs coming downstairs
to get breakfast.
Later on, about 1910, she's going on to visit her daughter, Rebecca, in Canton, Ohio.
Mrs. Gibbs is going to die there...
pneumonia.
But she's going to be brought back here,
and she's going to be buried...
in the cemetery right here in our town...
with a whole mess of Gibbses and Herseys.
In our town, we like to know
the facts about everybody.
And there's Mrs. Webb coming downstairs
to get her breakfast too.
Mrs. Webb was a Grover before
she married Editor Webb.
Yeah.
Children...children, time to get up!
George...Rebecca!
Emily, time to get up!
Wally...it's 7:00!
Mornin', Howie.
Mornin', Mrs. Gibbs.
Looks like you're late today.
Yes, somethin' wrong with the separator.
Don't know what it was.
There ya be.
Thanks, Howie.
Mornin', Mrs. Webb.
Mornin', Mr. Newsome.
Mighty fine day.
Yeah.
How's Mrs. Newsome?
Good.
Emily...Wally!
George...Rebecca!
Come on, get up.
Bessie, come on.
What's the matter with you?
Ah, they've quit taking milk,
now, come on!
Mornin', Howie!
Mornin', Doc!
Bessie acting up?
She's all mixed up about the route ever since the Lockhart's stopped takin' a quart of milk a day.
She wants to leave 'em
a quart just the same.
Keeps pulling me the whole trip.
Somebody sick?
Twins over at Mrs. Gorislovsky's.
Twins, huh.
This town keeps gettin' bigger every year.
Come on, now,
come on, Bessie.
Mornin', Doc.
Mornin', Joe.
Want your paper now?
Yeah, I'll take it.
Anybody been sick, Doc?
No, twins over in Polish Town.
Joe, I see your teacher
Miss Foster's gonna get married.
Yes, sir, to a fella over in Concord.
How do you boys feel about that?
Well, of course,
it ain't none of my business,
but I think if a person
starts out to be a teacher,
she oughta stay one.
How's the knee, Joe?
Fine, Doc.
Never think 'bout it at'll.
Only like you said,
it always tells me when it's gonna rain.
What's it telling you today? Gonna rain?
No, sir.
- Sure?
- Yes, sir.
- Knee never makes mistakes?
- No, sir.
- Doc.
- Joe.
Want to tell you something
about that boy, Joe Crowell.
Joe was awful smart,
so he got a scholarship to Boston Tech.
Yes, gonna be a great engineer, Joe was.
But...the war broke out...
and he died in France.
All that education for nothing.
- Everything all right, Frank?
- Yes.
I declare, easy as kittens.
Children, hurry up!
George...Rebecca!
Bacon'll be ready in a moment.
Sit down and drink your coffee.
You can catch a couple of hours
sleep this morning, won't ya?
Mrs. Wentworth's comin' at 11:00.
Guess I know what that's about too.
Her stomach ain't what it ought to be.
All told, you won't get more
than three hours sleep.
Frank Gibbs, I don't know
what's gonna become of you.
I think we should go away some place
and take a rest.
It'd do you good.
Children, hurry now!
Emily...Wally!
You'll have to speak to George.
Seems like something's
come over him lately.
He's no help to me at all.
Can't even get him to cut some wood.
Is he sassy to you?
Just whines.
All he thinks about is that old baseball.
George...Rebecca,
you'll be late for school!
George!
George, look sharp!
Yes, Pa.
Don't you hear your mother calling you?
Guess I'll go upstairs and catch 40 winks.
Ma...Ma, what dress shall I wear?
I washed and ironed
the blue gingham for you special.
Oh, Ma, I hate that dress!
Every day, I go to school
dressed like a sick turkey!
Oh, Rebecca, you always look very nice.
Ma, George is throwing soap at me!
I'll come up and slap the both of ya,
that's what I'll do!
Hurry up, children, it's after 7:00,
and I don't want to call you again!
Ma.
Mornin', children.
Children, I won't have it!
Breakfast's as good as any meal.
I won't have you gobbling like wolves.
It'll stunt your growth.
Wally, put your book away.
Ma, by 10:00,
I gotta know all about Canada.
You know the rules as well as I do.
No books at table.
As for me, I'd rather have my children
healthy than bright.
I'm both, Mama, you know I am.
I'm the brightest girl
in school for my age.
I have a wonderful memory.
Eat your breakfast.
I'll speak to your father when he's rested.
It'd seem 25 cents a week's
enough for a boy your age.
I don't know how you spend it all.
Oh, Ma, I got a lot of things to buy.
Strawberry frosties,
that's what you spend it on.
I don't see how Rebecca
comes to have so much money.
She's got more than a dollar.
I've been savin' it up.
It's good to spend some now and then.
Ma, do you know
what I like most in the world?
Do ya?
Money.
Eat your breakfast.
There's the first bell!
I gotta go!
Hurry up, Wally!
Bye, Mama.
Now, walk fast, you don't have to run!
Wally, pull up your pants at the knees!
Rebecca, give Miss Foster
my best congratulations!
Can you remember that?
Rebecca...pick up your feet.
Here, chick...chick...chick...
Where did you come from?
You don't belong to me.
What ya scared of, nobody's gonna hurt ya.
Mornin', Julia.
Mornin', Myrtle.
How's your cold?
Oh, still got that ticklin'
feeling in my throat.
Told Charles I didn't know as I'd go
to choir rehearsal tonight.
Ever try singin' over your voice?
Yes, but somehow I can't do that
and stay on key.
Beans have been good this year.
Let me help ya.
I decided to put up
40 quarts if it kills me.
Children say they hate 'em,
but they manage to get 'em down all winter.
Myrtle, I got to tell ya somethin'.
If I don't tell somebody, I'll burst.
Why, Julia Gibbs.
One of those secondhand furniture men
from Boston came to see me last Friday.
First I thought it was a patient
waitin' to see Dr. Gibbs,
but he wormed his way right into my parlor.
Myrtle Webb, he offered me $350 for Grandmother Hersey's highboy as I'm sittin' here.
Well, you're gonna take it, aren't ya?
I don't know.
You don't know...?
$350!
What's come over you?
Well, if I could get the doctor
to take the money...
and go away on a trip,
I'd sell it like that.
You know, it's always been a dream
of my life to see Paris, France.
Crazy, I suppose.
For years, I've been promisin' myself
if we ever had the chance...
How does the doctor feel about it?
Well I did beat about the bush a little.
Said if I ever got a legacy
--that's the way I put it--
I'd make him take me.
What'd he say?
You know how he is.
Haven't heard a serious word
out of him since I've known him.
"No", he says.
"Might make him discontented with Grover's
Corners to go traipsing over to Europe.
"No, let well enough alone," he said.
Well if that secondhand man's real serious
about buying it, you sell it, Julia.
You'll get to see Paris.
Just drop a hint from time to time.
That's how I got Mr. Webb to take me
to see the Atlantic Ocean, you know.
I'm sorry I mentioned it.
It seems to me once
in your life before you die,
you oughta see a country
where they don't speak in English...
and don't even wanna.
That'll do, ladies, thank you very much.
Now, we'll skip a few hours.
Now, before we get on, I think we oughta have a little more information about the town.
A kind of a scientific account,
you might say.
So I've invited Professor Willard
of our state university...
to come here and try to sketch
in a few details of our past history.
There he is now.
Am I late?
Right on time.
May I introduce Professor Willard
of our state university?
Just a few brief words, Professor.
Unfortunately, our time is limited.
Yes, let me see.
Grover's Corners.
Grover's Corners lies on the old Pliocene
granite of the Appalachian Range.
I might say that's some of
the oldest land in the world.
We're very proud of that around here.
Some highly interesting
fossils have been found.
I might say unique fossils,
two miles north of town...
in Silas Peckham's cow pasture.
These may be seen in the museum
of the university at any time.
Well, that is, at any reasonable time.
Shall I tell 'em about the meteorological
conditions, the mean precipitation, etc.?
I'm afraid we won't have time for that,
Professor.
We might have a few words about
the history of man here, though.
- Oh, anthropological data.
- Yes.
Let's see.
Early Amerindian stock,
Cotahatchie tribes.
No evidences before
the tenth century of this era.
Now entirely disappeared.
Oh, possible traces in three families.
Migration in the early 17th century of
English brachycephalic, blue-eyed stock,
and since then,
some Slav and Mediterranean...
And the population, Professor.
Within the town limits, 2640.
The po...
Oh, is that so.
In that case,
the population at the moment is 2642.
The postal districts bring in 507 more,
making a total of 3149.
Mortality, birth rates--constant.
By McPherson's gauge, 6.32.
Thank you very much, Professor.
I'm sure we're all
very much obliged to you.
Not at all, sir.
Not at all.
Good day.
And now, the social and political report.
Oh, Editor Webb.
Mr. Webb.
Charlie Webb's the father
of Wally and Emily.
Emily's the smart girl
with the good memory.
You know, you saw her at breakfast.
Alright, Editor Webb, it's your turn now.
Well, I don't have to tell ya...
that we're run here
by a board of select men.
All males vote at the age of 21.
Women vote indirect.
Politically, we're 86% republican,
12% democrat, 4% socialist...
the rest indifferent.
Religiously, we're 85% Protestants,
12% Catholics...the rest indifferent.
Very ordinary town, if you ask me,
but our young people here
seem to like it well enough.
Lots of 'em settle down right here to live,
even after they've been away to college.
Now, is there anybody in the audience
who'd like to ask...
Editor Webb any questions about our town?
Is there much drinkin'
in Grover's Corners?
Well, ma'am,
I wouldn't know what you'd call much.
Saturday nights, the farmhands meet down...
at Edward's stable and holler some.
We got one or two town drunks,
but they're always having remorses...
every time an evangelist comes to town.
No, I'd say that liquor wasn't
a regular thing in a home here,
except in the medicine chest.
Probably good for snake bites, you know.
Always was.
Mr. Webb.
Yes.
Is there any culture or
love of beauty in Grover's Corners?
Well, no, ma'am, not much, that is,
in the sense you mean.
There are some girls that play the piano
at the high school commencement,
but they ain't happy about it.
No, there ain't much culture.
Robinson Crusoe and the Bible
and Händel's Largo--
we all know that--
and Whistler's Mother.
That's about as far as we go.
Thank you very much, Mr. Webb.
Is there no one in town...
I'm sorry, but we haven't time
for any more questions.
We must be getting on with the picture.
It's getting on in the afternoon.
All 2642 have had their dinners.
All the dishes have been washed.
There's an early afternoon
calm about the town.
Charlie Webb's going home to mow his lawn.
One man in ten thinks it's a privilige
to push his own lawn mower.
The afternoon session of school is over.
Doc Gibbs is in his office
tappin' people...
and making 'em say, "Ahhh."
Ahhh.
I have to go home and
help my mother, I promised.
Emily, walk simply.
Who do you think you are today?
Papa, you're terrible.
One minute, you tell me to
stand up straight,
and the next minute, you call me names.
I just don't listen to you.
Golly, never got a kiss
from such a great lady before!
Hello, Emily.
Oh, hello.
You made a fine speech in class today.
Well, I was really ready to make a speech
on the Monroe Doctrine,
but at the last minute,
Miss Foster made me talk...
about the Louisiana Purchase instead.
I worked an awful long time
on both of them.
Gee, it's funny, Emily.
From my window up there,
I can see your head nights...
when you're doin' your homework
over in your room.
Why, can you?
You certainly do stick to it, Emily.
I don't see how you
can sit still that long.
I guess you must like school.
Well, I feel it's just something
you have to go through.
What do you think, Emily?
We might work out a kind of telegraph
from your window to mine,
and you could give me a hint every once in
a while on one of those algebra problems.
Well...
Well, I don't mean the answers, Emily.
Of course not.
I mean, just some little hint.
Well, I think hints are allowed,
so if you get stuck, George,
just whistle to me,
and I'll give you some hints.
Gosh...you're just naturally bright,
I guess.
Well...I figure it's just
the way a person's born.
Yeah...but you see,
I want to be a farmer.
My Uncle Luke says that whenever I'm ready,
I can come over and work on his farm.
If I'm any good at all,
I can just gradually have it.
You mean, the house and everything?
Yeah.
Well, I guess I better be gettin' off
to the baseball field.
Thanks for the talk, Emily.
Afternoon, Mrs. Webb.
Hi, George.
So long, Emily.
So long, George.
Emily, what ya doing?
Nothing, Mama.
If you're doing nothing, you can come in
here and help me with this yarn.
Well, George Gibbs let himself have
a real conversation, didn't he?
He's growin' up.
How old would George be?
Oh, I don't know.
Let's see, he must be around 17.
Mama, I made a speech in class today.
I was very good.
You must recite it
to your father at supper.
What was it about?
The Louisiana Purchase.
It was like silk off a spool.
I'm going to make speeches all my life.
You're holding it too tight, Emily.
There, that's better.
- Mama?
- Huh?
Will you answer me a question, serious?
Seriously, dear, not serious.
Seriously, will you?
Of course I will.
Mama...am I good-looking?
Of course you are.
Both of my children
have gotten good features.
It'd be a shame if they hadn't.
Oh, Mama, that's not what I mean.
What I mean is...am I pretty?
I've already told you yes!
Now, that's enough of that!
You've got a nice young, pretty face.
Never heard such foolishness.
Oh, Mama, you never tell us
the truth about anything.
I am telling you the truth!
Mama, were you pretty?
Yes, I was, if I do say it.
I was the prettiest girl in town
next to Mamie Cartwright.
Oh, but Mama,
you've got to say something about me.
Am I pretty enough to get anybody...
well, to get people interested in me?
Emily, you make me tired!
Now, stop it!
You're pretty enough
for all normal purposes!
It's evening.
You can hear the choir practicing
in the Congregational Church.
The children are all home
doing their schoolwork.
The day is running down like a tired clock.
Alright...that's better,
which ain't no miracle.
Now, do it again.
Remember, ladies...music come into
the world to give pleasure.
Now, try it again.
Softly.
Softer!
Now, listen, everybody.
Get it out of your minds that
music's only good when it's loud.
You leave loudness to the Methodists.
You couldn't beat 'em,
even if you wanted to.
Once again, now...
"Art thou weary,
art thou languid?"
It's a question, ladies and gentlemen...
make it talk.
Oh, and remember, on Sunday,
take the second verse real soft.
Sort of die out at the end.
Ready?
Psst...Emily.
- Oh, hello.
- Hello.
I can't work at all.
The moonlight's so terrible.
Emily, did you get the third problem?
- Which?
- The third.
Oh, yes, George,
that's the easiest of them all.
I don't see it.
Emily, could you give me a hint?
Well, I'll tell you one thing.
The answer's in yards.
In yards?
What do you mean?
Square yards.
Oh, square yards.
Yes, George, don't you see?
Yeah.
Square yards of wallpaper!
Oh, I see.
Square yards of wallpaper.
- Thanks a lot, Emily.
- You're welcome.
My...isn't the moonlight terrible?
I think if you hold your breath,
you can hear the train
all the way to Contoocook.
Hear it?
Yeah, what do you know.
Well...I guess I'd better
get back now and try to work.
Good night, Emily.
Good night, George.
Oh, George, can you come down a minute?
Yes, Pa.
Make yourself comfortable, George.
I'll only keep you a minute.
- George, how old are you?
- Me?
I'm past 17.
What do you want to do after school's over?
You know, Pa, I want to be a farmer
on Uncle Luke's farm.
And you'll be willing, will you, to get up
early and milk and feed the stock?
And you'll be able to hoe and hay all day?
Sure, I will.
What do you mean, Pa?
Well, George, when I was here in the office
today, I heard a funny sound.
What do you think it was?
It was your mother chopping wood.
Now, there you see
your mother getting up early,
cooking meals all day,
washing and ironing,
and yet she has to go out
in the backyard and chop wood.
I suppose she got tired of asking you.
I suppose she just gave up and decided
it was easier to do it herself.
Yet, you eat her meals.
You put on the clothes
she keeps nice for ya.
Then you run out and play baseball...
like she was a hired girl
we kept around the house...
but didn't like very much.
I knew all I had to do was
call it to your attention.
Here's a handkerchief, son.
Wonder what's happened to your mother?
Choir practice never was
as late as this before.
It's only half past eight, Pa.
I don't know what she wants
in that choir anyway.
She hasn't got any more voice
than an old crow.
Traipsing around the street
at this hour of the night.
Just about time you retired,
don't you think, George?
Yes, Pa.
My, it's late.
A real nice choir practice, wasn't it?
Myrtle Webb, look at that moon.
Potato weather, sure.
Well, naturally I didn't want to
say a word about it...
in front of those others,
but now we're alone,
really it's the worst scandal
that ever was in this town.
- What?
- Why, Simon Stimson.
Now, Louella.
But Julia, to have the organist at
a church drink and drink year after year.
Louella!
Julia, you know he was drunk tonight.
Now, Louella,
we all know about Mr. Stimson.
We all know about
the trouble he's been through.
And Dr. Ferguson knows.
If Dr. Ferguson's willing to
keep him on his job,
the only thing the rest of us
can do is not notice it.
Not to notice it?
But it's getting worse.
No, it ain't, Louella, it's getting better.
I've been in that choir
twice as long as you have,
and it doesn't happen
anywhere near so often.
Oh, my...
I hate to go to bed on a night like this.
- Well...good night, Louella.
- Good night.
- Night, Julia.
- Night, Myrtle.
Can you get home all right, Louella?
Oh, it's as bright as day.
I can see Mr. Soames
scowling at the window now.
You'd think we'd been to a dance
the way the menfolk carry on.
- Good night, Julia.
- Good night, Louella.
- See you on Sunday.
- See you then.
Well, we had a real good time.
You're late enough.
Frank, I'm not any later than usual.
You stopping to gossip with a lot of hens.
Now, don't be grouchy.
Smell my heliotrope.
What'd you do all the time I was away?
Oh, I read as usual.
Well...
what did the girls gossip about tonight?
Believe me, Frank,
there's something to gossip about.
Simon Stimson?
Far gone was he?
The worst I've ever seen.
Frank, how's all that going to end?
Dr. Ferguson can't forgive him forever.
I guess I know Simon as well as
anybody in this town.
Some people just ain't made
for small-town life.
I don't know how that'll end, but there's
nothing we can do but leave it alone.
- Get in.
- Oh, no, not yet.
Frank, I'm worried about you.
What are you worried about?
Well, I think it's my duty to plan for you
to get a real rest and change.
If I get that legacy,
I'm gonna insist upon it.
Now, now, Julie, there's no sense
in going all over that again.
Come on, it's getting late.
First thing you know,
you'll catch a cold.
I gave George a piece of my mind tonight.
I reckon you'll get your wood chopped...
for a little while anyway.
You know, that Mrs. Fairchild always
locks her front door every night.
All of them out in that part of town do.
They're all getting too citified.
That's the trouble with them.
They haven't got a thing fit to burgle,
and everybody knows it.
Good evening, Constable.
Good evening, Mr. Webb.
- Quite a moon.
- Yeah.
All quiet tonight?
Simon Stimson is roaming around a little.
I just saw his wife
moving out to hunt for him,
so I looked the other way.
There he is now.
Good evenin', Simon.
Good evenin'.
Most of the town's
settled down for the evening.
Guess we'd better do the same.
Can I walk along with you?
Good night.
I don't know how that's gonna end.
Oh, Bill, if you see
my boy smokin' cigarettes,
give a word to him, will ya?
He thinks a lot of you, Bill.
I don't think
he smokes no cigarettes, Mr. Webb.
At least ways,
not more than two or three a year.
Well, I hope not.
- Good night, Bill.
- Night, Mr. Webb.
Who's that up there?
Is that you, Myrtle?
Oh, no, it's me, Papa.
Why aren't you in bed?
I don't know.
I just can't sleep yet, Papa.
The moonlight's so wonderful...
and...the smell of Mrs. Gibbs' heliotrope.
Can you smell it?
Ummm...yes.
Haven't any troubles on your mind
have ya, Emily?
Troubles, Papa, no.
Well, don't let your mother catch ya.
Good night, Emily.
Night, Papa.
I never told ya about that
letter Jane Crawford got...
from her minister when she was sick.
He wrote Jane a letter, and on the
envelope, the address was like this.
It said, "Jane Crawford,
The Crawford Farm, Grover's Corners,
Sutton County, New Hampshire,
The United States of America"...
What's funny about that?
But listen, it's not finished!
"The United States of America,
Continent of North America,
Western Hemisphere, The Earth, The Solar
System, The Universe, The Mind of God."
That's what it said on the envelope.
Hmmm...what do ya know.
Yep, and the postman
brought it just the same.
What do ya know?
Well...three years have gone by.
The sun's come up over a thousand times.
Summers and winters have cracked
the mountains a little bit more,
and the rain's brought
down some of the dirt.
Some babies who weren't even born before...
have begun talking
regular sentences already.
And some folks who thought
they were right young and spry...
have discovered they can't bound up
a flight of stairs the way they used to...
without their hearts flutterin' a little.
All that can happen in a thousand days.
Nature's been pushin' and contrivin'
in other ways too.
A number of young people
fell in love and got married.
Most everybody in the world gets married.
In this town,
there aren't hardly any exceptions.
Most everybody climbs into
the grave married.
What you've seen
was called the "daily life".
Let's call what you're going to see
"love and marriage".
So, it's three years later--1904.
It's July 7,
just after the high school commencement.
That's the time most young people
jump up and get married,
as soon as they've passed their final examinations in solid geometry and Cicero's orations.
That's the time most young people
think themselves fitted to get married.
It's early morning again--
this time it's been raining.
It's been thunderin' and pourin'.
I don't know...
may start in again any moment.
Yeah...there's the 5:45 for Boston.
And there's Si Crowell, delivering
the papers like his brother before him.
And there's Mrs. Gibbs...
and Mrs. Webb coming downstairs to get breakfast just as though this were an ordinary day.
I don't have to point out
to the women in the audience...
that both these ladies
they see before them...
both these ladies have been cooking three meals a day-- one of 'em for 21 years and the other for 25--
and never took a summer vacation.
They raised two children apiece,
washed, cleaned the house,
and never had a nervous breakdown.
And here comes Howie Newsome
and Bessie delivering the milk.
- Mornin', Howie.
- Mornin', Si.
Anything in the paper I oughta know?
Nothin' much, 'cept for George is...
about the best baseball pitcher
Grover's Corners ever had.
George Gibbs, huh?
I don't see how he can give up
a thing like that just to get married.
Would you have, Howie?
Can't say, never had no talent that way,
but in '95, we had a player, Si,
that even George Gibbs
couldn't have touched.
Name of Hank Todd.
But he went down to Maine
to become a parson.
A wonderful ballplayer.
- Si.
- Howie.
Mornin', Mrs. Gibbs.
Mornin', Howie.
Too bad it's so wet, but I guess
it's cleared up for good.
I certainly hope it has. But I'll have
a house full of relations today, Howie.
Looks like I'll need
three of milk and two of cream.
Three of milk and two of cream. My wife
says to tell ya we hope they'll be happy.
Thanks a lot, Howie. Tell your wife
I hope she gets to the weddin'.
Maybe she can.
She'll get there if she can.
Mornin', Mrs. Webb.
Mornin', Mr. Newsome.
I told ya four quarts, but I hope
you can spare me another.
Yes, I brought you a pint of cream too.
Mrs. Newsome told me special to tell ya...
as we hope they'll be very happy.
I know they'll be.
Thank ya, Mr. Newsome,
and thank Mrs. Newsome.
We're countin' on seein' ya at the church.
Yes, we hope to get there alright.
Wouldn't miss that.
Well, Ma, the day's come for
losing one of your chicks.
Frank Gibbs, don't you say another word!
I feel like cryin' any minute.
Sit down and drink your coffee.
Groom's upstairs shaving himself,
only there isn't very much to shave.
He's whistling and singing
like he was glad to leave us.
Every now and then saying
"I do" to the mirror,
but it don't sound convincing to me.
I don't know how he's gonna get along.
I've always arranged his clothes,
seen to it his feet were dry,
and he had warm things on.
They're too young.
Emily'll never think of those things.
He'll catch his death of cold
within a week.
I remember my wedding morning, Julie.
Don't start that, Frank Gibbs.
I was the scaredest young fellow
in the state of New Hampshire.
Thought I'd made a mistake for sure.
When I saw you coming down the aisle,
I thought you were the prettiest girl
I'd ever seen.
The whole trouble was,
I'd never seen you before.
There I was right in the Congregational
Church being married to a total stranger.
How do you think I felt?
I tell ya, Frank,
weddin's are perfectly horrible things.
Farces, that's what they are.
Made somethin' for ya.
Why Julie Hersey!
French toast.
It ain't hard to make.
Besides, I had to do something.
How d'ya sleep last night, Julie?
Heard a lot of hours struck off.
I get a shock every time
I think of George...
setting out as a family man.
That great gangling thing.
I tell you, Julie, there's nothing
in the world so terrifying as a son.
The relation between a father and a son
is the dangdest, awkwardest...
Well, mother and daughter's no picnic,
I can tell ya.
I do...I do...I do...I do.
They'll have a lot of trouble, I suppose,
but that's none of our business.
Everybody's got a right
to their own troubles.
You know one thing that scared me
when I married you?
Go along with you.
I was afraid we didn't have material for
conversation more than'd last a few weeks.
I was afraid we'd run out and
have to eat our meals in silence.
That's a fact.
Well, you and I have been conversing for 20 years without any noticeable barren spells.
Good weather, bad weather,
it ain't very choice,
but I always find something to say.
- Did you hear Rebecca stirring around up there?
- No.
This is the only day in the year
when she isn't managing everyone's affairs.
She's pouting in her room,
and I have an idea she's crying.
Land sakes, this has got to stop!
Rebecca...Rebecca,
come and eat your breakfast.
Good morning, everybody!
Only four more hours to live!
George Gibbs, where ya goin'?
I'm just steppin' across the grass
to see my girl.
Now, George, put your rubbers on.
It's been rainin' hard.
Don't step out of this house
unless you're prepared.
Oh, Ma!
It's just a step!
You'll catch your death of cold
and cough through the service!
- Ahh...
- George.
Do as your mother tells ya!
From tomorrow on,
you can kill yourself in all weather,
but when you're in my house,
you'll live wisely, thank you.
Maybe Mrs. Webb ain't used to
callers at 7:00 in the mornin'.
Here, have a cup of coffee first!
Be back in a minute!
- Good mornin', George.
- Good mornin', Mother Webb.
Goodness, you frightened me.
George, I hate to say it, but you
understand, I can't ask you in.
- Why not? - You know as well as I do
a groom can't see...
his bride on his wedding day,
till he sees her in church first.
That's just a superstition.
- Good morning, Mr. Webb.
- Mornin', George.
You don't believe in
that superstition, do you?
There's a lot of common sense
in superstitions, George.
Millions have followed it, and don't you be
the first to fly in the face of custom.
- How's Emily?
- She hasn't waked up yet.
Haven't heard a sound out of her.
- Emily's asleep? - No wonder, we were up
till all hours sewin' and packin'.
George, you sit down here with Mr. Webb
and drink that cup of coffee.
I'll run up and see that she
doesn't come down and surprise ya.
There's some bacon there.
Don't be too long about it.
Well, George, how are ya?
Well, I'm fine.
Mr. Webb...what common sense
could there be in a superstition like that?
Well, George, on the weddin' mornin',
a girl's head is full of...
oh, you know, clothes
and one thing or another.
Don't you think that's probably it?
Oh, yeah...I think that's it.
I guess I never thought of that before.
A girl's apt to be a mite nervous
on her weddin' day.
Gee, I wish a person could get married
without all that marchin' up and down.
Every man that's ever lived
has felt that way, George,
but it hasn't been any use.
It's the womenfolks who
build up weddin's, my boy.
A man looks mighty
small at a weddin', George.
All those good women standing
shoulder to shoulder...
makin' sure that the knot's
tied in a mighty public way.
But you believe in it, don't you, Mr. Webb?
Yes...oh, yes,
now don't misunderstand me, George.
Marriage is a wonderful thing.
A wonderful thing.
- Don't you forget that, George!
- No, sir.
Mr. Webb...how old were you
when you got married?
Well, you see, I'd been to college and
I'd taken a little time to get settled.
Mrs. Webb wasn't much older
than what Emily is.
Oh, age hasn't much to do with it, my boy.
That is, compared with...other things.
What were you gonna say, Mr. Webb?
Oh, I don't know,
was I going to say somethin'?
George...I was remembering the other night the advice my father gave me when I got married.
Yes, he said, "Charles," he said.
"Start right off by showin' her who's boss.
"Best thing to do is to give
an order about something.
"Even if it don't make sense.
Just so she'll learn to obey," he said.
Then he said,
"If anything about her irritates you,
"conversation or anything,
"get right up and leave the house.
That'll make it clear to her."
And oh, yes, he said,
"Never tell your wife
how much money you have."
Never!
Well, I couldn't do exactly that...
So I overlooked his advice,
and I've been happy ever since.
Let that be a lesson to you, my boy.
Never ask advice of anybody
on personal matters.
George, Emily's got to come down
and eat her breakfast.
She sends you her love,
but she don't want to lay eyes on ya.
Good-bye.
Good-bye.
Myrtle...I guess you didn't know about
that older superstition.
What do you mean, Charles?
Since the caveman, no bridegroom
should see his father-in-law...
on the day of the weddin' or near it.
Remember that.
Now, before we get on with the wedding,
I think we should see how it all began--
this plan to spend a lifetime together.
I'm awfully interested in
how such big things begin.
You know, you're 21 or 22,
then...you're 70.
You've been a lawyer for 50 years,
and the white-haired lady beside you...
has eaten 50,000 meals with you.
How do such things begin?
Now, George and Emily are gonna show you the conversation they had when they first knew,
as the saying goes,
they were meant for one another.
Now, it all happened last year
on the way home from school.
George had just been elected
the president of the senior class,
and Emily had just been
elected secretary and treasurer.
Now, you all know how important that is.
Emily, can I carry your books home for ya?
Oh, well...thank you, it isn't far.
Bob, if I'm late, start practice.
We'll give Herb some long, high ones.
Alright.
Awfully glad you were elected too, Emily.
Thank you.
Emily, why are you mad at me?
Oh, I'm not mad at you.
You've been treating me so funny lately.
Well, since you asked me, I might as well
say it right out, George.
- Good-bye, Miss Corcoran.
- Emily.
- Good-bye, Mrs. Corcoran.
- George.
What is it?
I don't like the whole change
that's come over you this last year.
I'm sorry if that hurt your feelings,
but I've just got to tell the truth
and shame the devil.
Change?
What do you mean?
Well, up to a year ago,
I used to like you a lot.
I used to watch you while you did everything, because we've been friends so long.
Then you started spending
all your time at baseball,
and you never stop to
speak to anybody anymore!
Not to really speak!
Not even to your own family you didn't,
and George, it's a fact.
Since you've been captain,
you've got awful stuck up and conceited,
and all the girls say so.
It hurts me to hear 'em say it,
but I have to agree with them a little,
because it's true.
Gosh, Emily, I never thought that
such thing was happening to me.
I guess it's hard for a fella not to have
some faults creep into his character.
I always expect a man to be perfect,
and I think he should be.
Well, I...I don't think it's possible
to be perfect, Emily.
Well, my father is.
And as far as I can see, your father is.
There's no reason on earth why
you shouldn't be too.
I feel that it's just the other way around.
Men aren't naturally good, but girls are.
Well, you might as well know right now
that I'm not perfect.
It isn't as easy for a girl
to be perfect as a man,
because...well...
we girls are more nervous.
Oh, now, I'm sorry I said that about you.
I don't know what made me say it.
- Emily... - Now, I can see
it isn't the truth at all.
Suddenly, I feel it isn't important anyway.
Emily...would you like
an ice cream soda or somethin'...
before you go home?
Thank you, I would.
Hello, George.
Hello, Emily.
Hello, Mr. Morgan.
Now, what can I do for ya?
Why, Emily Webb,
what you been cryin' about?
She got an awful scare, Mr. Morgan,
that hardware store wagon
almost ran over her.
Everybody says that Tom Huckins
drives like a crazy man.
Well, here, let me
give you a glass of water.
Gracious, you look all shook up.
I tell ya, you got to look both ways...
before you cross Main Street these days.
It's getting worse every year.
What'll you have?
I'll have a strawberry phosphate,
Mr. Morgan.
Oh, no, Emily, have a soda with me.
Well, I...
Two strawberry ice cream sodas, Mr. Morgan.
Two strawberry ice cream sodas.
Yes...
Yes, sir, I want to tell ya something.
There are 275 horses in Grover's Corners
this very moment I'm talkin' to you.
State inspector was in here yesterday.
Now, with all these
automobiles coming along,
looks to me like the only safe place
to stay was to home.
I can remember the time
when a dog could lie...
in the middle of
Main Street all day long...
without anything comin'
along to disturb him.
There ya are.
Howdy, Mrs. Ellis, what can I do for ya?
- I've got a prescription.
- Yes, well, let's see.
Shouldn't take long to fill that.
Just sit down, and I'll be
with you in just a minute.
It's so expensive.
No, Emily, don't you think about that.
We're celebratin' our election.
Emily, I...want to ask you a favor.
What?
If I go away to
State Agricultural College next year,
will ya write me a letter once in awhile?
I certainly will.
I certainly will, George.
It certainly seems like
being away three years,
you'd get out of touch with things.
Maybe letters from Grover's Corners
won't seem so interesting after awhile.
Grover's Corners isn't
a very important place...
when you think of all New Hampshire,
but I think it's a very nice town.
The day wouldn't come when I wouldn't
want to know everything about our town.
Well, I know that's true, Emily.
Well...
I'll try to make my letters interesting.
You know, Emily,
whenever I meet a farmer,
I ask him if he thinks it's important...
to go to agricultural school
to be a good farmer.
Why, George!
Yeah, and some of 'em
even say it's a waste of time.
You can get all that stuff anyway
in the pamphlets the government puts out.
Uncle Luke's gettin' pretty old,
and he's about ready for me
to start taking over his farm.
Tomorrow, if I could.
Oh, but George, maybe it's important for you to go and learn all that about cattle judging...
and soils and those things.
Of course, I don't know.
Emily...
I'm gonna make up my mind right now.
I won't go.
I'll tell Pa about it tonight.
But George, you don't have to decide
right now. It's a whole year away.
Emily, I'm glad you spoke to me
about that fault in my character.
Everything you said was right,
but there was one thing wrong with it.
That's when you said
I wasn't noticing people.
You, for instance.
You say you were watching me
when I did everything.
I was doin' the same thing
about you all the time.
Why...
Sure, I always thought about you
as one of the chief people I thought about.
I always made sure you
were sitting on the bleachers,
who you were with.
For three days now, I've been trying
to walk home with you,
but something always got in the way.
Yesterday, I was standing out
by the wall waiting for you,
and you walked home with Miss Corcoran.
Oh, George...life's awful funny.
How could I have known...
Emily, I'm gonna tell you why
I'm not going to agricultural school.
I think once you've found a person
you're very fond of...
and a person who's fond of you too...
and likes you well enough
to be interested in your character,
I think that's just as
important as college is.
Even more so.
That's what I think.
I think it's awfully important too.
Emily.
Yes, George?
Emily, if I do improve
and make a big change,
would you be...I mean...
could you be...
Well, I am now!
I always have been!
So I guess this is a pretty important
talk we've been having.
Yes.
Yes.
- Good-bye, Mrs. Ellis.
- Good day.
If you'll wait a minute,
I'll walk you home.
- Mr. Morgan.
- Yes.
I'll have to go home and get the money
to pay you for this.
Why, George Gibbs,
do you mean to tell me...
Mr. Morgan, I got a reason.
I'll leave my gold watch
with you until I get back.
No, no, you keep your watch, George.
I'll trust ya.
But I'll be back in five minutes.
I'll trust ya for ten years, George.
Not a day more, though.
- Feeling all right now, Emily?
- Oh, yes.
Thank you, Mr. Morgan, it's nothing.
I'm ready.
Well, now, to get on with the wedding.
There's a lot of things
to be said about a wedding.
We can't get to more
than one wedding, naturally,
especially not a wedding
in Grover's Corners
where weddings are mighty short and plain.
People think a lot of thoughts
during a wedding.
The bride, the groom, the relatives,
and the guests.
And even the minister.
Yes...a lot of thoughts
go on during a wedding.
I've married 200 couples in my day.
M marries M.
Millions of them.
The cottage, the go-cart,
the Sunday afternoon drives in the country,
the first rheumatism, the grandchildren,
the second rheumatism, the death bed,
the reading of the will.
Once in a thousand times, it's interesting.
I don't know why on earth
I should be crying.
I suppose there's nothin' to cry about,
but this morning at breakfast,
it just come over me.
There was Emily, eatin' her breakfast,
as she's done for 17 years.
She's going out of my house.
I suppose that's it.
I never felt so alone in my whole life.
I don't want to get married.
Why can't I stay for awhile as I am?
Papa, darling, don't you remember
what you used to say...
all the time that I was your girl?
I don't want to get married.
I'm gonna get married.
I'm grown up.
I'm gettin' old.
I don't want to get old,
takin' on all these responsibilities.
Why is everybody pushing me so?
All I want to do is be a fella,
and I'm gonna get married.
Cheer up, Ma, I'm gettin' married.
Come on, Ma.
Now, Ma, you'll see Thursday night.
Emily and I will be over for supper
every Thursday night.
You'll see.
Come on, Ma,
we've got to get ready for this.
- Got the ring?
- Oh, yes, sir.
Come on.
It's a lovely wedding.
Loveliest wedding I ever saw.
Oh, I do love a good wedding, don't you?
Doesn't she make a lovely bride?
Dearly beloved,
we are gathered together here...
in the sight of God
and in the face of this company...
to join together this man and this woman...
in holy matrimony.
Don't know when I seen
such a lovely wedding.
I always cry.
I don't know why it is,
but I always cry.
I just like to see young people happy.
They're such a lovely couple.
I've never been to such a nice wedding.
To love and to cherish,
till death you do part,
according to God's holy ordinance
and thereto...
plight her your troth?
I do.
Do you, Emily,
take George to your wedded husband,
to have and to hold from this day forward,
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
till death you do part,
according to God's holy ordinance...
and thereto plight him your troth?
I do.
What token dost thou give of thy sincerity?
With this ring...
With this ring...
I thee wed.
I thee wed.
For as much as George and Emily...
have consented together in holy wedlock,
and have witnessed the same
before God and this company,
and have declared the same
by giving and receiving a ring,
I pronounce that they are husband and wife.
Amen.
Forever.
Forever and ever.
Pay you the first of the month like usual.
See ya, Howie.
Man his age shouldn't be
drivin' one of those things.
Not when he's got a lot of
young fellas to do it for him.
Howie likes to deliver the milk himself.
Says he gets the feel of the town that way.
You know, in all these years,
he never kept a book.
Carries all the accounts in his head.
I hear he's been doin' so well...
he's begun lockin'
his front door at nights.
Afraid of burglars.
Ain't no burglars in this town yet.
No, but Howie's heard about 'em.
This time, nine years
have gone by, friends.
It's the summer of 1913.
Gradual changes in Grover's Corners.
Horses are gettin' rarer.
Farmers are coming into town now in Fords.
Still, you'd be surprised, though, on the whole, things don't change much around here.
This is an important part of Grover's
Corners up here on this hilltop.
Lots of sky, lots of clouds,
often lots of sun and moon and stars.
Certainly a beautiful spot up here.
I often wonder why people
want to be buried...
in Woodlawn in Brooklyn...
when they might pass the same time
up here in New Hampshire.
Over here are the old stones...1660...1670.
Strong-minded people who
come a long ways to be independent.
Over here...are some Civil War veterans.
Iron flags on their graves.
New Hampshire boys.
They had a notion that the Union
ought to be kept together,
altough they'd never seen
more than 50 miles of it themselves.
All they knew was a name, friends--
the United States of America.
The United States of America.
And they went and died about it.
This is the new part of the cemetery.
There's Mrs. Soames who enjoyed
the wedding so much, remember?
And there's our friend, Mrs. Gibbs.
Yeah, Doc Gibbs lost his wife
three years ago,
just about this time.
And that little Webb's boy, Wallace,
whose appendix burst...
on a Boy Scout trip to Crawford Notch.
There's Mr. Stimson,
the organist of the Congregational Church.
He drank a lot, they used to say.
Hung himself in the attic.
They tried to hush it up,
but of course, it got around.
He wrote his own epitaph.
Ain't a verse, exactly,
it's just a lot of notes.
I wouldn't know what it was.
It was all writ up in the Boston papers
at the time, though.
A lot of sorrows kind of
quieted down up here too.
All those important things--
mother and daughter,
husband and wife,
enemy and enemy,
money and miser--
all those terribly important things...
here kind of burns away.
Burns out.
And what's left?
What's left when memory is gone
and your identity, Mrs. Smith?
Something eternal.
We all know down in our bones
that something is eternal,
and that something has to
do with human beings.
All the greatest people that have lived for the past 5,000 years have been telling us that.
And yet, you'll be surprised
how we lose sight of that fact.
There's something eternal
about every human being.
I guess I'm thinking these thoughts today
on account of our friend, Emily.
Another baby's expected down at
that happy home we saw started.
It's Emily's second.
There's a little boy about six years old,
but this time, Emily's pretty sick.
Doc Gibbs is going around these days
with a mighty worried face.
I want to live.
Oh, I want to live.
Who's coming now, Julia?
My daughter-in-law, Emily Webb.
What ails her?
Trouble bringing a baby into the world.
Why, I remember Emily's wedding.
Wasn't it a lovely wedding?
I remember I called on George
and Emily at their farm...
just before I died.
It's a beautiful farm.
Dear friends, as we gather here...
in the last tribute of memory
to our loved one...
Hello, Mother Gibbs.
Hello, Emily.
Hello, Emily.
Hello, Mrs. Soames.
Hello, sis.
Hello, Wally.
...eternal in the heavens.
Mother Gibbs, they're going.
Yes, dear.
Father Gibbs is bringing some of my
flowers to you, Mother Gibbs.
Mother Gibbs, I never realized
how troubled and sad he looks.
I loved him so.
Father Gibbs...Father Gibbs!
I'm so tired, Mother Gibbs.
Mother Gibbs, when does
this feeling go away--
being strange here...
how long do I...
Hush, dear.
Just wait and be patient.
How do you do, Mr. Stimson?
How do you do, Emily?
Mother Gibbs,
George and I have made that farm...
into just the best place you ever saw.
We thought of you all the time.
We wanted to show you the new barn...
and the great long cement
drinking fountain for the stock.
We bought that out of
the money you left us.
I, dear?
Mother Gibbs, don't you remember,
the legacy you left us?
Why, it was more than $350.
Oh, yes...yes, Emily.
It won't be the same
for George without me...
but it's a lovely farm.
My boy's spending the day at Mrs. Carter's.
Oh, Mr. Carter, my little boy
is spending the day at your house.
He is?
Yes, he loves it there.
Mother Gibbs,
one can go back...in memory...
and live each of those days over again!
Why, just then, for a moment,
I was thinking about the farm,
and for a moment, I was there!
And my baby was in my arms as plain as day!
Yes, but when you've been here longer,
you'll realize that our life
here is to forget all that.
To think of what is ahead
and be ready for what is ahead.
But Mother Gibbs,
how can I ever forget that life?
It's all I know.
It's all I had.
One can go back and
live all those days over again.
I feel it.
I know it.
You not only live it...
you watch yourself living it.
I'll choose a happy day.
Oh, Emily, it isn't wise.
Really, it isn't.
I'll choose the day
I first knew I loved George.
Why should that be painful?
Because it's the happiest days
that are the hardest to relive.
And to forget.
But I must.
I must!
Then chose an unimportant day.
Chose the least important day in your life.
It will be important enough.
I'll choose...I'll choose.
Yes, Emily, think hard.
Remember.
I'm remembering.
I'm remembering...
I'm remembering...
There's Main Street!
There's Mr. Morgan's drug store
before he changed it.
And there's the livery stable!
That's the town I knew as a little girl.
And look...there's the old white fence...
that used to be around our house.
Oh, I'd forgotten that!
I love it so.
There's Mama coming downstairs
to make breakfast!
Mama.
Look, there's Howie Newsome,
and there's Joe Crowell.
- Mornin', Howie.
- Mornin', Joe.
Children...Emily...Wally, time to get up!
- Mornin', Mrs. Webb.
- Mornin', Mr. Newsome.
Sure is cold.
Yes'm, ten below at my barn, Mrs. Webb.
- Keep yourself dressed up, Mr. Newsome.
- Yes'm.
Oh, tell Emily many happy
returns of the day.
Now, I know!
It's my 16th birthday!
Mama, I can't find my blue
hair ribbon anywhere.
Just open your eyes, dear, that's all.
I laid it out special for ya
on the dresser there.
If it were a snake, it'd bite ya.
Oh, how young Mama looks.
I didn't know Mama was ever that young.
- Mornin' Howie.
- Mornin', Mr. Webb.
There's Papa!
You're up early.
Been back to my old college
to make a speech.
Any news here?
A customer was called this mornin'
to rescue a Polish fella.
Darn near froze to death.
I'll put that in the paper.
Mornin', Mother.
Well, there you are, back at last.
- How'd it go, Charles?
- Oh, fine, I guess.
I told 'em a few things.
Everything all right here?
Yes, can't think of anything
that happened special.
It's been mighty cold.
Howie Newsome says it's ten
below down at his barn.
Yes, well, it's colder than
that at Hamilton College.
Students' ears are fallin' off.
Ain't Christian.
Paper have any mistakes in it?
Not that I noticed.
Oh, you can have your coffee
when you want it, Charles.
Don't forget, it's Emily's birthday.
Did you remember to get her anything?
Got it right here.
Where's my girl?
Where's my birthday girl?
Don't interrupt her now, Charles.
You can see her at breakfast.
She's slow enough as it is.
I can't bear it!
Why did they ever have to get old?
Mama, I'm here.
I'm grown up!
Oh, I love you all.
Everything.
I can't look at everything hard enough.
Hurry up, children!
It's 7:00.
I don't want to call you again!
Morning, Mama.
Well, now, dear, a happy birthday to my
girl and many happy returns.
A surprise is waiting for ya
on the table there.
Oh, Mama, you shouldn't have!
I can't...I can't!
Birthday or no birthday,
I want you to eat your breakfast
good and slow.
I want you to grow up
and be a good, strong girl.
That in the blue package
is from your Aunt Carrie.
Good morning.
George!
Good morning, George.
I brought this over
for your birthday, Emily.
Many happy returns of the day.
Thank you.
It's only a photograph album.
Oh, George, I'd forgotten.
It's beautiful!
Oh, it's just an album.
I'm going out to
my Uncle Luke's farm today.
I like it out there.
George, we grew up and were married,
don't you remember!?
Uncle Luke gave you the farm!
Well, good-bye.
Good-bye and thanks.
Chew this good and slow.
It'll help keep you warm on a cold day.
Mama.
Just look at me for one minute
as though you really saw me!
Mama.
Twelve years have gone by!
I'm dead!
I married George Gibbs, Mama!
Wally's dead too.
Mama, his appendix burst
on a camping trip to Crawford Notch!
We felt just terrible about it,
don't you remember?
Just for a moment, now, we're all together.
Mama, let's be happy, just for a moment.
Let's look at one another!
That in the yellow package is something
I found in the attic...
among your grandmother's things.
You're old enough to wear it,
and I thought you'd like it.
Oh, and this is from you!
It's lovely.
It's just what I wanted!
It's beautiful.
I hoped you'd like it.
Wally has a present for you too.
He made it at manual training class.
Be sure and make a fuss over it.
Your father's got a surprise for you too.
I don't know what it is myself.
There he comes.
Where's my girl?
Where's my birthday girl?
I can't...I can't go on!!!
It goes so fast.
We don't have time to look at one another.
I didn't realize.
All that was going on...
and we never noticed.
Must I go back to my grave?
Wait.
One more look.
Good-bye.
Good-bye, world!
Good-bye, Grover's Corners.
Mama...Papa.
Good-bye to clocks ticking...
my butternut tree,
and Mama's sunflowers.
Food and coffee and new-ironed dresses...
and hot baths and sleeping and waking up!
Oh, earth, you're too wonderful
for anybody to realize!
Do any human beings ever realize life
while they live it?
Every, every minute.
Oh, I want to live,
I want to live, I want to live!
Of course you do, Emily, of course.
Most everybody's asleep
in Grover's Corners.
Oh, there are a few lights on.
Down at the depot, Shorty Hawkins
has just watched...
the Albany train go by.
And of course,
out in George and Emily's farm,
they're still up.
Talking over the new baby, I suppose.
It's like what one of those
Midwestern poets said,
"You gotta love life to have life,
and you gotta have life to love life."
Eleven o'clock in Grover's Corners.
Tomorrow will be another day.
Everybody's resting in Grover's Corners.
You get a good rest too.
Good night.
New Hampshire.
It's just across
the line from Massachusetts.
Latitude is 42 degrees, 40 minutes.
Longitude is 70 degrees, 37 minutes.
Running through the middle
of the town is Main Street.
Cutting across Main Street on the left
is the railroad tracks.
Beyond the railroad tracks is Polish Town--
you know, foreign folks who
come here to work in the mills--
a couple of Canuck families,
and the Catholic Church.
You can see the steeple
on the Congregational Church.
The Presbyterian is just across the street.
The Methodist and the
Unitarian are up a block.
The Baptist Church is down
in the hollow...by the river.
Next to the post office is the town hall.
The jail's in the basement.
Bryan once made a speech
right on those very steps.
It's a nice town, know what I mean?
Nobody very wonderful ever come out of it,
so far as we know.
The earliest dates on the tombstones
up there in the cemetery say 1670.
There're Grovers and Cartwrights
and Gibbses and Herseys--
same names as you find around here now.
First, we'll show you a day in our town.
Not as it is today in the year 1940,
but as it used to be in the year 1901.
All right, operator, let's start.
Yes, sir, that's the way our town looked
back in the year 1901.
Along Main Street, there's a row of stores
with hitchin' posts...
and horse blocks in front of 'em.
The first automobile is gonna
come along in about five years.
The date is June 7, 1901.
It's just before dawn.
Yeah, just about.
The sky's already beginning...
to show some streaks of light in it over
there in the east, back of our mountain.
The morning star gets wonderful bright
the moment before it has to go.
The only lights on in the town are
a cottage over in Polish Town,
where a mother's just
giving birth to twins,
and down in the depot
where Shorty Hawkins...
is getting ready to flag
the 5:45 for Boston.
There she is now.
Of course, naturally, out
in the country all around,
there've been lights on for some time,
what with milkin' and so on,
but townfolk sleep late.
Here comes Joe Crowell,
delivering the morning papers.
So...another day has begun.
Here comes Doc Gibbs from that baby case
I was tellin' you about.
And this is Doc Gibbs' house.
His neighbor's Editor Webb.
There's Mrs. Gibbs coming downstairs
to get breakfast.
Later on, about 1910, she's going on to visit her daughter, Rebecca, in Canton, Ohio.
Mrs. Gibbs is going to die there...
pneumonia.
But she's going to be brought back here,
and she's going to be buried...
in the cemetery right here in our town...
with a whole mess of Gibbses and Herseys.
In our town, we like to know
the facts about everybody.
And there's Mrs. Webb coming downstairs
to get her breakfast too.
Mrs. Webb was a Grover before
she married Editor Webb.
Yeah.
Children...children, time to get up!
George...Rebecca!
Emily, time to get up!
Wally...it's 7:00!
Mornin', Howie.
Mornin', Mrs. Gibbs.
Looks like you're late today.
Yes, somethin' wrong with the separator.
Don't know what it was.
There ya be.
Thanks, Howie.
Mornin', Mrs. Webb.
Mornin', Mr. Newsome.
Mighty fine day.
Yeah.
How's Mrs. Newsome?
Good.
Emily...Wally!
George...Rebecca!
Come on, get up.
Bessie, come on.
What's the matter with you?
Ah, they've quit taking milk,
now, come on!
Mornin', Howie!
Mornin', Doc!
Bessie acting up?
She's all mixed up about the route ever since the Lockhart's stopped takin' a quart of milk a day.
She wants to leave 'em
a quart just the same.
Keeps pulling me the whole trip.
Somebody sick?
Twins over at Mrs. Gorislovsky's.
Twins, huh.
This town keeps gettin' bigger every year.
Come on, now,
come on, Bessie.
Mornin', Doc.
Mornin', Joe.
Want your paper now?
Yeah, I'll take it.
Anybody been sick, Doc?
No, twins over in Polish Town.
Joe, I see your teacher
Miss Foster's gonna get married.
Yes, sir, to a fella over in Concord.
How do you boys feel about that?
Well, of course,
it ain't none of my business,
but I think if a person
starts out to be a teacher,
she oughta stay one.
How's the knee, Joe?
Fine, Doc.
Never think 'bout it at'll.
Only like you said,
it always tells me when it's gonna rain.
What's it telling you today? Gonna rain?
No, sir.
- Sure?
- Yes, sir.
- Knee never makes mistakes?
- No, sir.
- Doc.
- Joe.
Want to tell you something
about that boy, Joe Crowell.
Joe was awful smart,
so he got a scholarship to Boston Tech.
Yes, gonna be a great engineer, Joe was.
But...the war broke out...
and he died in France.
All that education for nothing.
- Everything all right, Frank?
- Yes.
I declare, easy as kittens.
Children, hurry up!
George...Rebecca!
Bacon'll be ready in a moment.
Sit down and drink your coffee.
You can catch a couple of hours
sleep this morning, won't ya?
Mrs. Wentworth's comin' at 11:00.
Guess I know what that's about too.
Her stomach ain't what it ought to be.
All told, you won't get more
than three hours sleep.
Frank Gibbs, I don't know
what's gonna become of you.
I think we should go away some place
and take a rest.
It'd do you good.
Children, hurry now!
Emily...Wally!
You'll have to speak to George.
Seems like something's
come over him lately.
He's no help to me at all.
Can't even get him to cut some wood.
Is he sassy to you?
Just whines.
All he thinks about is that old baseball.
George...Rebecca,
you'll be late for school!
George!
George, look sharp!
Yes, Pa.
Don't you hear your mother calling you?
Guess I'll go upstairs and catch 40 winks.
Ma...Ma, what dress shall I wear?
I washed and ironed
the blue gingham for you special.
Oh, Ma, I hate that dress!
Every day, I go to school
dressed like a sick turkey!
Oh, Rebecca, you always look very nice.
Ma, George is throwing soap at me!
I'll come up and slap the both of ya,
that's what I'll do!
Hurry up, children, it's after 7:00,
and I don't want to call you again!
Ma.
Mornin', children.
Children, I won't have it!
Breakfast's as good as any meal.
I won't have you gobbling like wolves.
It'll stunt your growth.
Wally, put your book away.
Ma, by 10:00,
I gotta know all about Canada.
You know the rules as well as I do.
No books at table.
As for me, I'd rather have my children
healthy than bright.
I'm both, Mama, you know I am.
I'm the brightest girl
in school for my age.
I have a wonderful memory.
Eat your breakfast.
I'll speak to your father when he's rested.
It'd seem 25 cents a week's
enough for a boy your age.
I don't know how you spend it all.
Oh, Ma, I got a lot of things to buy.
Strawberry frosties,
that's what you spend it on.
I don't see how Rebecca
comes to have so much money.
She's got more than a dollar.
I've been savin' it up.
It's good to spend some now and then.
Ma, do you know
what I like most in the world?
Do ya?
Money.
Eat your breakfast.
There's the first bell!
I gotta go!
Hurry up, Wally!
Bye, Mama.
Now, walk fast, you don't have to run!
Wally, pull up your pants at the knees!
Rebecca, give Miss Foster
my best congratulations!
Can you remember that?
Rebecca...pick up your feet.
Here, chick...chick...chick...
Where did you come from?
You don't belong to me.
What ya scared of, nobody's gonna hurt ya.
Mornin', Julia.
Mornin', Myrtle.
How's your cold?
Oh, still got that ticklin'
feeling in my throat.
Told Charles I didn't know as I'd go
to choir rehearsal tonight.
Ever try singin' over your voice?
Yes, but somehow I can't do that
and stay on key.
Beans have been good this year.
Let me help ya.
I decided to put up
40 quarts if it kills me.
Children say they hate 'em,
but they manage to get 'em down all winter.
Myrtle, I got to tell ya somethin'.
If I don't tell somebody, I'll burst.
Why, Julia Gibbs.
One of those secondhand furniture men
from Boston came to see me last Friday.
First I thought it was a patient
waitin' to see Dr. Gibbs,
but he wormed his way right into my parlor.
Myrtle Webb, he offered me $350 for Grandmother Hersey's highboy as I'm sittin' here.
Well, you're gonna take it, aren't ya?
I don't know.
You don't know...?
$350!
What's come over you?
Well, if I could get the doctor
to take the money...
and go away on a trip,
I'd sell it like that.
You know, it's always been a dream
of my life to see Paris, France.
Crazy, I suppose.
For years, I've been promisin' myself
if we ever had the chance...
How does the doctor feel about it?
Well I did beat about the bush a little.
Said if I ever got a legacy
--that's the way I put it--
I'd make him take me.
What'd he say?
You know how he is.
Haven't heard a serious word
out of him since I've known him.
"No", he says.
"Might make him discontented with Grover's
Corners to go traipsing over to Europe.
"No, let well enough alone," he said.
Well if that secondhand man's real serious
about buying it, you sell it, Julia.
You'll get to see Paris.
Just drop a hint from time to time.
That's how I got Mr. Webb to take me
to see the Atlantic Ocean, you know.
I'm sorry I mentioned it.
It seems to me once
in your life before you die,
you oughta see a country
where they don't speak in English...
and don't even wanna.
That'll do, ladies, thank you very much.
Now, we'll skip a few hours.
Now, before we get on, I think we oughta have a little more information about the town.
A kind of a scientific account,
you might say.
So I've invited Professor Willard
of our state university...
to come here and try to sketch
in a few details of our past history.
There he is now.
Am I late?
Right on time.
May I introduce Professor Willard
of our state university?
Just a few brief words, Professor.
Unfortunately, our time is limited.
Yes, let me see.
Grover's Corners.
Grover's Corners lies on the old Pliocene
granite of the Appalachian Range.
I might say that's some of
the oldest land in the world.
We're very proud of that around here.
Some highly interesting
fossils have been found.
I might say unique fossils,
two miles north of town...
in Silas Peckham's cow pasture.
These may be seen in the museum
of the university at any time.
Well, that is, at any reasonable time.
Shall I tell 'em about the meteorological
conditions, the mean precipitation, etc.?
I'm afraid we won't have time for that,
Professor.
We might have a few words about
the history of man here, though.
- Oh, anthropological data.
- Yes.
Let's see.
Early Amerindian stock,
Cotahatchie tribes.
No evidences before
the tenth century of this era.
Now entirely disappeared.
Oh, possible traces in three families.
Migration in the early 17th century of
English brachycephalic, blue-eyed stock,
and since then,
some Slav and Mediterranean...
And the population, Professor.
Within the town limits, 2640.
The po...
Oh, is that so.
In that case,
the population at the moment is 2642.
The postal districts bring in 507 more,
making a total of 3149.
Mortality, birth rates--constant.
By McPherson's gauge, 6.32.
Thank you very much, Professor.
I'm sure we're all
very much obliged to you.
Not at all, sir.
Not at all.
Good day.
And now, the social and political report.
Oh, Editor Webb.
Mr. Webb.
Charlie Webb's the father
of Wally and Emily.
Emily's the smart girl
with the good memory.
You know, you saw her at breakfast.
Alright, Editor Webb, it's your turn now.
Well, I don't have to tell ya...
that we're run here
by a board of select men.
All males vote at the age of 21.
Women vote indirect.
Politically, we're 86% republican,
12% democrat, 4% socialist...
the rest indifferent.
Religiously, we're 85% Protestants,
12% Catholics...the rest indifferent.
Very ordinary town, if you ask me,
but our young people here
seem to like it well enough.
Lots of 'em settle down right here to live,
even after they've been away to college.
Now, is there anybody in the audience
who'd like to ask...
Editor Webb any questions about our town?
Is there much drinkin'
in Grover's Corners?
Well, ma'am,
I wouldn't know what you'd call much.
Saturday nights, the farmhands meet down...
at Edward's stable and holler some.
We got one or two town drunks,
but they're always having remorses...
every time an evangelist comes to town.
No, I'd say that liquor wasn't
a regular thing in a home here,
except in the medicine chest.
Probably good for snake bites, you know.
Always was.
Mr. Webb.
Yes.
Is there any culture or
love of beauty in Grover's Corners?
Well, no, ma'am, not much, that is,
in the sense you mean.
There are some girls that play the piano
at the high school commencement,
but they ain't happy about it.
No, there ain't much culture.
Robinson Crusoe and the Bible
and Händel's Largo--
we all know that--
and Whistler's Mother.
That's about as far as we go.
Thank you very much, Mr. Webb.
Is there no one in town...
I'm sorry, but we haven't time
for any more questions.
We must be getting on with the picture.
It's getting on in the afternoon.
All 2642 have had their dinners.
All the dishes have been washed.
There's an early afternoon
calm about the town.
Charlie Webb's going home to mow his lawn.
One man in ten thinks it's a privilige
to push his own lawn mower.
The afternoon session of school is over.
Doc Gibbs is in his office
tappin' people...
and making 'em say, "Ahhh."
Ahhh.
I have to go home and
help my mother, I promised.
Emily, walk simply.
Who do you think you are today?
Papa, you're terrible.
One minute, you tell me to
stand up straight,
and the next minute, you call me names.
I just don't listen to you.
Golly, never got a kiss
from such a great lady before!
Hello, Emily.
Oh, hello.
You made a fine speech in class today.
Well, I was really ready to make a speech
on the Monroe Doctrine,
but at the last minute,
Miss Foster made me talk...
about the Louisiana Purchase instead.
I worked an awful long time
on both of them.
Gee, it's funny, Emily.
From my window up there,
I can see your head nights...
when you're doin' your homework
over in your room.
Why, can you?
You certainly do stick to it, Emily.
I don't see how you
can sit still that long.
I guess you must like school.
Well, I feel it's just something
you have to go through.
What do you think, Emily?
We might work out a kind of telegraph
from your window to mine,
and you could give me a hint every once in
a while on one of those algebra problems.
Well...
Well, I don't mean the answers, Emily.
Of course not.
I mean, just some little hint.
Well, I think hints are allowed,
so if you get stuck, George,
just whistle to me,
and I'll give you some hints.
Gosh...you're just naturally bright,
I guess.
Well...I figure it's just
the way a person's born.
Yeah...but you see,
I want to be a farmer.
My Uncle Luke says that whenever I'm ready,
I can come over and work on his farm.
If I'm any good at all,
I can just gradually have it.
You mean, the house and everything?
Yeah.
Well, I guess I better be gettin' off
to the baseball field.
Thanks for the talk, Emily.
Afternoon, Mrs. Webb.
Hi, George.
So long, Emily.
So long, George.
Emily, what ya doing?
Nothing, Mama.
If you're doing nothing, you can come in
here and help me with this yarn.
Well, George Gibbs let himself have
a real conversation, didn't he?
He's growin' up.
How old would George be?
Oh, I don't know.
Let's see, he must be around 17.
Mama, I made a speech in class today.
I was very good.
You must recite it
to your father at supper.
What was it about?
The Louisiana Purchase.
It was like silk off a spool.
I'm going to make speeches all my life.
You're holding it too tight, Emily.
There, that's better.
- Mama?
- Huh?
Will you answer me a question, serious?
Seriously, dear, not serious.
Seriously, will you?
Of course I will.
Mama...am I good-looking?
Of course you are.
Both of my children
have gotten good features.
It'd be a shame if they hadn't.
Oh, Mama, that's not what I mean.
What I mean is...am I pretty?
I've already told you yes!
Now, that's enough of that!
You've got a nice young, pretty face.
Never heard such foolishness.
Oh, Mama, you never tell us
the truth about anything.
I am telling you the truth!
Mama, were you pretty?
Yes, I was, if I do say it.
I was the prettiest girl in town
next to Mamie Cartwright.
Oh, but Mama,
you've got to say something about me.
Am I pretty enough to get anybody...
well, to get people interested in me?
Emily, you make me tired!
Now, stop it!
You're pretty enough
for all normal purposes!
It's evening.
You can hear the choir practicing
in the Congregational Church.
The children are all home
doing their schoolwork.
The day is running down like a tired clock.
Alright...that's better,
which ain't no miracle.
Now, do it again.
Remember, ladies...music come into
the world to give pleasure.
Now, try it again.
Softly.
Softer!
Now, listen, everybody.
Get it out of your minds that
music's only good when it's loud.
You leave loudness to the Methodists.
You couldn't beat 'em,
even if you wanted to.
Once again, now...
"Art thou weary,
art thou languid?"
It's a question, ladies and gentlemen...
make it talk.
Oh, and remember, on Sunday,
take the second verse real soft.
Sort of die out at the end.
Ready?
Psst...Emily.
- Oh, hello.
- Hello.
I can't work at all.
The moonlight's so terrible.
Emily, did you get the third problem?
- Which?
- The third.
Oh, yes, George,
that's the easiest of them all.
I don't see it.
Emily, could you give me a hint?
Well, I'll tell you one thing.
The answer's in yards.
In yards?
What do you mean?
Square yards.
Oh, square yards.
Yes, George, don't you see?
Yeah.
Square yards of wallpaper!
Oh, I see.
Square yards of wallpaper.
- Thanks a lot, Emily.
- You're welcome.
My...isn't the moonlight terrible?
I think if you hold your breath,
you can hear the train
all the way to Contoocook.
Hear it?
Yeah, what do you know.
Well...I guess I'd better
get back now and try to work.
Good night, Emily.
Good night, George.
Oh, George, can you come down a minute?
Yes, Pa.
Make yourself comfortable, George.
I'll only keep you a minute.
- George, how old are you?
- Me?
I'm past 17.
What do you want to do after school's over?
You know, Pa, I want to be a farmer
on Uncle Luke's farm.
And you'll be willing, will you, to get up
early and milk and feed the stock?
And you'll be able to hoe and hay all day?
Sure, I will.
What do you mean, Pa?
Well, George, when I was here in the office
today, I heard a funny sound.
What do you think it was?
It was your mother chopping wood.
Now, there you see
your mother getting up early,
cooking meals all day,
washing and ironing,
and yet she has to go out
in the backyard and chop wood.
I suppose she got tired of asking you.
I suppose she just gave up and decided
it was easier to do it herself.
Yet, you eat her meals.
You put on the clothes
she keeps nice for ya.
Then you run out and play baseball...
like she was a hired girl
we kept around the house...
but didn't like very much.
I knew all I had to do was
call it to your attention.
Here's a handkerchief, son.
Wonder what's happened to your mother?
Choir practice never was
as late as this before.
It's only half past eight, Pa.
I don't know what she wants
in that choir anyway.
She hasn't got any more voice
than an old crow.
Traipsing around the street
at this hour of the night.
Just about time you retired,
don't you think, George?
Yes, Pa.
My, it's late.
A real nice choir practice, wasn't it?
Myrtle Webb, look at that moon.
Potato weather, sure.
Well, naturally I didn't want to
say a word about it...
in front of those others,
but now we're alone,
really it's the worst scandal
that ever was in this town.
- What?
- Why, Simon Stimson.
Now, Louella.
But Julia, to have the organist at
a church drink and drink year after year.
Louella!
Julia, you know he was drunk tonight.
Now, Louella,
we all know about Mr. Stimson.
We all know about
the trouble he's been through.
And Dr. Ferguson knows.
If Dr. Ferguson's willing to
keep him on his job,
the only thing the rest of us
can do is not notice it.
Not to notice it?
But it's getting worse.
No, it ain't, Louella, it's getting better.
I've been in that choir
twice as long as you have,
and it doesn't happen
anywhere near so often.
Oh, my...
I hate to go to bed on a night like this.
- Well...good night, Louella.
- Good night.
- Night, Julia.
- Night, Myrtle.
Can you get home all right, Louella?
Oh, it's as bright as day.
I can see Mr. Soames
scowling at the window now.
You'd think we'd been to a dance
the way the menfolk carry on.
- Good night, Julia.
- Good night, Louella.
- See you on Sunday.
- See you then.
Well, we had a real good time.
You're late enough.
Frank, I'm not any later than usual.
You stopping to gossip with a lot of hens.
Now, don't be grouchy.
Smell my heliotrope.
What'd you do all the time I was away?
Oh, I read as usual.
Well...
what did the girls gossip about tonight?
Believe me, Frank,
there's something to gossip about.
Simon Stimson?
Far gone was he?
The worst I've ever seen.
Frank, how's all that going to end?
Dr. Ferguson can't forgive him forever.
I guess I know Simon as well as
anybody in this town.
Some people just ain't made
for small-town life.
I don't know how that'll end, but there's
nothing we can do but leave it alone.
- Get in.
- Oh, no, not yet.
Frank, I'm worried about you.
What are you worried about?
Well, I think it's my duty to plan for you
to get a real rest and change.
If I get that legacy,
I'm gonna insist upon it.
Now, now, Julie, there's no sense
in going all over that again.
Come on, it's getting late.
First thing you know,
you'll catch a cold.
I gave George a piece of my mind tonight.
I reckon you'll get your wood chopped...
for a little while anyway.
You know, that Mrs. Fairchild always
locks her front door every night.
All of them out in that part of town do.
They're all getting too citified.
That's the trouble with them.
They haven't got a thing fit to burgle,
and everybody knows it.
Good evening, Constable.
Good evening, Mr. Webb.
- Quite a moon.
- Yeah.
All quiet tonight?
Simon Stimson is roaming around a little.
I just saw his wife
moving out to hunt for him,
so I looked the other way.
There he is now.
Good evenin', Simon.
Good evenin'.
Most of the town's
settled down for the evening.
Guess we'd better do the same.
Can I walk along with you?
Good night.
I don't know how that's gonna end.
Oh, Bill, if you see
my boy smokin' cigarettes,
give a word to him, will ya?
He thinks a lot of you, Bill.
I don't think
he smokes no cigarettes, Mr. Webb.
At least ways,
not more than two or three a year.
Well, I hope not.
- Good night, Bill.
- Night, Mr. Webb.
Who's that up there?
Is that you, Myrtle?
Oh, no, it's me, Papa.
Why aren't you in bed?
I don't know.
I just can't sleep yet, Papa.
The moonlight's so wonderful...
and...the smell of Mrs. Gibbs' heliotrope.
Can you smell it?
Ummm...yes.
Haven't any troubles on your mind
have ya, Emily?
Troubles, Papa, no.
Well, don't let your mother catch ya.
Good night, Emily.
Night, Papa.
I never told ya about that
letter Jane Crawford got...
from her minister when she was sick.
He wrote Jane a letter, and on the
envelope, the address was like this.
It said, "Jane Crawford,
The Crawford Farm, Grover's Corners,
Sutton County, New Hampshire,
The United States of America"...
What's funny about that?
But listen, it's not finished!
"The United States of America,
Continent of North America,
Western Hemisphere, The Earth, The Solar
System, The Universe, The Mind of God."
That's what it said on the envelope.
Hmmm...what do ya know.
Yep, and the postman
brought it just the same.
What do ya know?
Well...three years have gone by.
The sun's come up over a thousand times.
Summers and winters have cracked
the mountains a little bit more,
and the rain's brought
down some of the dirt.
Some babies who weren't even born before...
have begun talking
regular sentences already.
And some folks who thought
they were right young and spry...
have discovered they can't bound up
a flight of stairs the way they used to...
without their hearts flutterin' a little.
All that can happen in a thousand days.
Nature's been pushin' and contrivin'
in other ways too.
A number of young people
fell in love and got married.
Most everybody in the world gets married.
In this town,
there aren't hardly any exceptions.
Most everybody climbs into
the grave married.
What you've seen
was called the "daily life".
Let's call what you're going to see
"love and marriage".
So, it's three years later--1904.
It's July 7,
just after the high school commencement.
That's the time most young people
jump up and get married,
as soon as they've passed their final examinations in solid geometry and Cicero's orations.
That's the time most young people
think themselves fitted to get married.
It's early morning again--
this time it's been raining.
It's been thunderin' and pourin'.
I don't know...
may start in again any moment.
Yeah...there's the 5:45 for Boston.
And there's Si Crowell, delivering
the papers like his brother before him.
And there's Mrs. Gibbs...
and Mrs. Webb coming downstairs to get breakfast just as though this were an ordinary day.
I don't have to point out
to the women in the audience...
that both these ladies
they see before them...
both these ladies have been cooking three meals a day-- one of 'em for 21 years and the other for 25--
and never took a summer vacation.
They raised two children apiece,
washed, cleaned the house,
and never had a nervous breakdown.
And here comes Howie Newsome
and Bessie delivering the milk.
- Mornin', Howie.
- Mornin', Si.
Anything in the paper I oughta know?
Nothin' much, 'cept for George is...
about the best baseball pitcher
Grover's Corners ever had.
George Gibbs, huh?
I don't see how he can give up
a thing like that just to get married.
Would you have, Howie?
Can't say, never had no talent that way,
but in '95, we had a player, Si,
that even George Gibbs
couldn't have touched.
Name of Hank Todd.
But he went down to Maine
to become a parson.
A wonderful ballplayer.
- Si.
- Howie.
Mornin', Mrs. Gibbs.
Mornin', Howie.
Too bad it's so wet, but I guess
it's cleared up for good.
I certainly hope it has. But I'll have
a house full of relations today, Howie.
Looks like I'll need
three of milk and two of cream.
Three of milk and two of cream. My wife
says to tell ya we hope they'll be happy.
Thanks a lot, Howie. Tell your wife
I hope she gets to the weddin'.
Maybe she can.
She'll get there if she can.
Mornin', Mrs. Webb.
Mornin', Mr. Newsome.
I told ya four quarts, but I hope
you can spare me another.
Yes, I brought you a pint of cream too.
Mrs. Newsome told me special to tell ya...
as we hope they'll be very happy.
I know they'll be.
Thank ya, Mr. Newsome,
and thank Mrs. Newsome.
We're countin' on seein' ya at the church.
Yes, we hope to get there alright.
Wouldn't miss that.
Well, Ma, the day's come for
losing one of your chicks.
Frank Gibbs, don't you say another word!
I feel like cryin' any minute.
Sit down and drink your coffee.
Groom's upstairs shaving himself,
only there isn't very much to shave.
He's whistling and singing
like he was glad to leave us.
Every now and then saying
"I do" to the mirror,
but it don't sound convincing to me.
I don't know how he's gonna get along.
I've always arranged his clothes,
seen to it his feet were dry,
and he had warm things on.
They're too young.
Emily'll never think of those things.
He'll catch his death of cold
within a week.
I remember my wedding morning, Julie.
Don't start that, Frank Gibbs.
I was the scaredest young fellow
in the state of New Hampshire.
Thought I'd made a mistake for sure.
When I saw you coming down the aisle,
I thought you were the prettiest girl
I'd ever seen.
The whole trouble was,
I'd never seen you before.
There I was right in the Congregational
Church being married to a total stranger.
How do you think I felt?
I tell ya, Frank,
weddin's are perfectly horrible things.
Farces, that's what they are.
Made somethin' for ya.
Why Julie Hersey!
French toast.
It ain't hard to make.
Besides, I had to do something.
How d'ya sleep last night, Julie?
Heard a lot of hours struck off.
I get a shock every time
I think of George...
setting out as a family man.
That great gangling thing.
I tell you, Julie, there's nothing
in the world so terrifying as a son.
The relation between a father and a son
is the dangdest, awkwardest...
Well, mother and daughter's no picnic,
I can tell ya.
I do...I do...I do...I do.
They'll have a lot of trouble, I suppose,
but that's none of our business.
Everybody's got a right
to their own troubles.
You know one thing that scared me
when I married you?
Go along with you.
I was afraid we didn't have material for
conversation more than'd last a few weeks.
I was afraid we'd run out and
have to eat our meals in silence.
That's a fact.
Well, you and I have been conversing for 20 years without any noticeable barren spells.
Good weather, bad weather,
it ain't very choice,
but I always find something to say.
- Did you hear Rebecca stirring around up there?
- No.
This is the only day in the year
when she isn't managing everyone's affairs.
She's pouting in her room,
and I have an idea she's crying.
Land sakes, this has got to stop!
Rebecca...Rebecca,
come and eat your breakfast.
Good morning, everybody!
Only four more hours to live!
George Gibbs, where ya goin'?
I'm just steppin' across the grass
to see my girl.
Now, George, put your rubbers on.
It's been rainin' hard.
Don't step out of this house
unless you're prepared.
Oh, Ma!
It's just a step!
You'll catch your death of cold
and cough through the service!
- Ahh...
- George.
Do as your mother tells ya!
From tomorrow on,
you can kill yourself in all weather,
but when you're in my house,
you'll live wisely, thank you.
Maybe Mrs. Webb ain't used to
callers at 7:00 in the mornin'.
Here, have a cup of coffee first!
Be back in a minute!
- Good mornin', George.
- Good mornin', Mother Webb.
Goodness, you frightened me.
George, I hate to say it, but you
understand, I can't ask you in.
- Why not? - You know as well as I do
a groom can't see...
his bride on his wedding day,
till he sees her in church first.
That's just a superstition.
- Good morning, Mr. Webb.
- Mornin', George.
You don't believe in
that superstition, do you?
There's a lot of common sense
in superstitions, George.
Millions have followed it, and don't you be
the first to fly in the face of custom.
- How's Emily?
- She hasn't waked up yet.
Haven't heard a sound out of her.
- Emily's asleep? - No wonder, we were up
till all hours sewin' and packin'.
George, you sit down here with Mr. Webb
and drink that cup of coffee.
I'll run up and see that she
doesn't come down and surprise ya.
There's some bacon there.
Don't be too long about it.
Well, George, how are ya?
Well, I'm fine.
Mr. Webb...what common sense
could there be in a superstition like that?
Well, George, on the weddin' mornin',
a girl's head is full of...
oh, you know, clothes
and one thing or another.
Don't you think that's probably it?
Oh, yeah...I think that's it.
I guess I never thought of that before.
A girl's apt to be a mite nervous
on her weddin' day.
Gee, I wish a person could get married
without all that marchin' up and down.
Every man that's ever lived
has felt that way, George,
but it hasn't been any use.
It's the womenfolks who
build up weddin's, my boy.
A man looks mighty
small at a weddin', George.
All those good women standing
shoulder to shoulder...
makin' sure that the knot's
tied in a mighty public way.
But you believe in it, don't you, Mr. Webb?
Yes...oh, yes,
now don't misunderstand me, George.
Marriage is a wonderful thing.
A wonderful thing.
- Don't you forget that, George!
- No, sir.
Mr. Webb...how old were you
when you got married?
Well, you see, I'd been to college and
I'd taken a little time to get settled.
Mrs. Webb wasn't much older
than what Emily is.
Oh, age hasn't much to do with it, my boy.
That is, compared with...other things.
What were you gonna say, Mr. Webb?
Oh, I don't know,
was I going to say somethin'?
George...I was remembering the other night the advice my father gave me when I got married.
Yes, he said, "Charles," he said.
"Start right off by showin' her who's boss.
"Best thing to do is to give
an order about something.
"Even if it don't make sense.
Just so she'll learn to obey," he said.
Then he said,
"If anything about her irritates you,
"conversation or anything,
"get right up and leave the house.
That'll make it clear to her."
And oh, yes, he said,
"Never tell your wife
how much money you have."
Never!
Well, I couldn't do exactly that...
So I overlooked his advice,
and I've been happy ever since.
Let that be a lesson to you, my boy.
Never ask advice of anybody
on personal matters.
George, Emily's got to come down
and eat her breakfast.
She sends you her love,
but she don't want to lay eyes on ya.
Good-bye.
Good-bye.
Myrtle...I guess you didn't know about
that older superstition.
What do you mean, Charles?
Since the caveman, no bridegroom
should see his father-in-law...
on the day of the weddin' or near it.
Remember that.
Now, before we get on with the wedding,
I think we should see how it all began--
this plan to spend a lifetime together.
I'm awfully interested in
how such big things begin.
You know, you're 21 or 22,
then...you're 70.
You've been a lawyer for 50 years,
and the white-haired lady beside you...
has eaten 50,000 meals with you.
How do such things begin?
Now, George and Emily are gonna show you the conversation they had when they first knew,
as the saying goes,
they were meant for one another.
Now, it all happened last year
on the way home from school.
George had just been elected
the president of the senior class,
and Emily had just been
elected secretary and treasurer.
Now, you all know how important that is.
Emily, can I carry your books home for ya?
Oh, well...thank you, it isn't far.
Bob, if I'm late, start practice.
We'll give Herb some long, high ones.
Alright.
Awfully glad you were elected too, Emily.
Thank you.
Emily, why are you mad at me?
Oh, I'm not mad at you.
You've been treating me so funny lately.
Well, since you asked me, I might as well
say it right out, George.
- Good-bye, Miss Corcoran.
- Emily.
- Good-bye, Mrs. Corcoran.
- George.
What is it?
I don't like the whole change
that's come over you this last year.
I'm sorry if that hurt your feelings,
but I've just got to tell the truth
and shame the devil.
Change?
What do you mean?
Well, up to a year ago,
I used to like you a lot.
I used to watch you while you did everything, because we've been friends so long.
Then you started spending
all your time at baseball,
and you never stop to
speak to anybody anymore!
Not to really speak!
Not even to your own family you didn't,
and George, it's a fact.
Since you've been captain,
you've got awful stuck up and conceited,
and all the girls say so.
It hurts me to hear 'em say it,
but I have to agree with them a little,
because it's true.
Gosh, Emily, I never thought that
such thing was happening to me.
I guess it's hard for a fella not to have
some faults creep into his character.
I always expect a man to be perfect,
and I think he should be.
Well, I...I don't think it's possible
to be perfect, Emily.
Well, my father is.
And as far as I can see, your father is.
There's no reason on earth why
you shouldn't be too.
I feel that it's just the other way around.
Men aren't naturally good, but girls are.
Well, you might as well know right now
that I'm not perfect.
It isn't as easy for a girl
to be perfect as a man,
because...well...
we girls are more nervous.
Oh, now, I'm sorry I said that about you.
I don't know what made me say it.
- Emily... - Now, I can see
it isn't the truth at all.
Suddenly, I feel it isn't important anyway.
Emily...would you like
an ice cream soda or somethin'...
before you go home?
Thank you, I would.
Hello, George.
Hello, Emily.
Hello, Mr. Morgan.
Now, what can I do for ya?
Why, Emily Webb,
what you been cryin' about?
She got an awful scare, Mr. Morgan,
that hardware store wagon
almost ran over her.
Everybody says that Tom Huckins
drives like a crazy man.
Well, here, let me
give you a glass of water.
Gracious, you look all shook up.
I tell ya, you got to look both ways...
before you cross Main Street these days.
It's getting worse every year.
What'll you have?
I'll have a strawberry phosphate,
Mr. Morgan.
Oh, no, Emily, have a soda with me.
Well, I...
Two strawberry ice cream sodas, Mr. Morgan.
Two strawberry ice cream sodas.
Yes...
Yes, sir, I want to tell ya something.
There are 275 horses in Grover's Corners
this very moment I'm talkin' to you.
State inspector was in here yesterday.
Now, with all these
automobiles coming along,
looks to me like the only safe place
to stay was to home.
I can remember the time
when a dog could lie...
in the middle of
Main Street all day long...
without anything comin'
along to disturb him.
There ya are.
Howdy, Mrs. Ellis, what can I do for ya?
- I've got a prescription.
- Yes, well, let's see.
Shouldn't take long to fill that.
Just sit down, and I'll be
with you in just a minute.
It's so expensive.
No, Emily, don't you think about that.
We're celebratin' our election.
Emily, I...want to ask you a favor.
What?
If I go away to
State Agricultural College next year,
will ya write me a letter once in awhile?
I certainly will.
I certainly will, George.
It certainly seems like
being away three years,
you'd get out of touch with things.
Maybe letters from Grover's Corners
won't seem so interesting after awhile.
Grover's Corners isn't
a very important place...
when you think of all New Hampshire,
but I think it's a very nice town.
The day wouldn't come when I wouldn't
want to know everything about our town.
Well, I know that's true, Emily.
Well...
I'll try to make my letters interesting.
You know, Emily,
whenever I meet a farmer,
I ask him if he thinks it's important...
to go to agricultural school
to be a good farmer.
Why, George!
Yeah, and some of 'em
even say it's a waste of time.
You can get all that stuff anyway
in the pamphlets the government puts out.
Uncle Luke's gettin' pretty old,
and he's about ready for me
to start taking over his farm.
Tomorrow, if I could.
Oh, but George, maybe it's important for you to go and learn all that about cattle judging...
and soils and those things.
Of course, I don't know.
Emily...
I'm gonna make up my mind right now.
I won't go.
I'll tell Pa about it tonight.
But George, you don't have to decide
right now. It's a whole year away.
Emily, I'm glad you spoke to me
about that fault in my character.
Everything you said was right,
but there was one thing wrong with it.
That's when you said
I wasn't noticing people.
You, for instance.
You say you were watching me
when I did everything.
I was doin' the same thing
about you all the time.
Why...
Sure, I always thought about you
as one of the chief people I thought about.
I always made sure you
were sitting on the bleachers,
who you were with.
For three days now, I've been trying
to walk home with you,
but something always got in the way.
Yesterday, I was standing out
by the wall waiting for you,
and you walked home with Miss Corcoran.
Oh, George...life's awful funny.
How could I have known...
Emily, I'm gonna tell you why
I'm not going to agricultural school.
I think once you've found a person
you're very fond of...
and a person who's fond of you too...
and likes you well enough
to be interested in your character,
I think that's just as
important as college is.
Even more so.
That's what I think.
I think it's awfully important too.
Emily.
Yes, George?
Emily, if I do improve
and make a big change,
would you be...I mean...
could you be...
Well, I am now!
I always have been!
So I guess this is a pretty important
talk we've been having.
Yes.
Yes.
- Good-bye, Mrs. Ellis.
- Good day.
If you'll wait a minute,
I'll walk you home.
- Mr. Morgan.
- Yes.
I'll have to go home and get the money
to pay you for this.
Why, George Gibbs,
do you mean to tell me...
Mr. Morgan, I got a reason.
I'll leave my gold watch
with you until I get back.
No, no, you keep your watch, George.
I'll trust ya.
But I'll be back in five minutes.
I'll trust ya for ten years, George.
Not a day more, though.
- Feeling all right now, Emily?
- Oh, yes.
Thank you, Mr. Morgan, it's nothing.
I'm ready.
Well, now, to get on with the wedding.
There's a lot of things
to be said about a wedding.
We can't get to more
than one wedding, naturally,
especially not a wedding
in Grover's Corners
where weddings are mighty short and plain.
People think a lot of thoughts
during a wedding.
The bride, the groom, the relatives,
and the guests.
And even the minister.
Yes...a lot of thoughts
go on during a wedding.
I've married 200 couples in my day.
M marries M.
Millions of them.
The cottage, the go-cart,
the Sunday afternoon drives in the country,
the first rheumatism, the grandchildren,
the second rheumatism, the death bed,
the reading of the will.
Once in a thousand times, it's interesting.
I don't know why on earth
I should be crying.
I suppose there's nothin' to cry about,
but this morning at breakfast,
it just come over me.
There was Emily, eatin' her breakfast,
as she's done for 17 years.
She's going out of my house.
I suppose that's it.
I never felt so alone in my whole life.
I don't want to get married.
Why can't I stay for awhile as I am?
Papa, darling, don't you remember
what you used to say...
all the time that I was your girl?
I don't want to get married.
I'm gonna get married.
I'm grown up.
I'm gettin' old.
I don't want to get old,
takin' on all these responsibilities.
Why is everybody pushing me so?
All I want to do is be a fella,
and I'm gonna get married.
Cheer up, Ma, I'm gettin' married.
Come on, Ma.
Now, Ma, you'll see Thursday night.
Emily and I will be over for supper
every Thursday night.
You'll see.
Come on, Ma,
we've got to get ready for this.
- Got the ring?
- Oh, yes, sir.
Come on.
It's a lovely wedding.
Loveliest wedding I ever saw.
Oh, I do love a good wedding, don't you?
Doesn't she make a lovely bride?
Dearly beloved,
we are gathered together here...
in the sight of God
and in the face of this company...
to join together this man and this woman...
in holy matrimony.
Don't know when I seen
such a lovely wedding.
I always cry.
I don't know why it is,
but I always cry.
I just like to see young people happy.
They're such a lovely couple.
I've never been to such a nice wedding.
To love and to cherish,
till death you do part,
according to God's holy ordinance
and thereto...
plight her your troth?
I do.
Do you, Emily,
take George to your wedded husband,
to have and to hold from this day forward,
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
till death you do part,
according to God's holy ordinance...
and thereto plight him your troth?
I do.
What token dost thou give of thy sincerity?
With this ring...
With this ring...
I thee wed.
I thee wed.
For as much as George and Emily...
have consented together in holy wedlock,
and have witnessed the same
before God and this company,
and have declared the same
by giving and receiving a ring,
I pronounce that they are husband and wife.
Amen.
Forever.
Forever and ever.
Pay you the first of the month like usual.
See ya, Howie.
Man his age shouldn't be
drivin' one of those things.
Not when he's got a lot of
young fellas to do it for him.
Howie likes to deliver the milk himself.
Says he gets the feel of the town that way.
You know, in all these years,
he never kept a book.
Carries all the accounts in his head.
I hear he's been doin' so well...
he's begun lockin'
his front door at nights.
Afraid of burglars.
Ain't no burglars in this town yet.
No, but Howie's heard about 'em.
This time, nine years
have gone by, friends.
It's the summer of 1913.
Gradual changes in Grover's Corners.
Horses are gettin' rarer.
Farmers are coming into town now in Fords.
Still, you'd be surprised, though, on the whole, things don't change much around here.
This is an important part of Grover's
Corners up here on this hilltop.
Lots of sky, lots of clouds,
often lots of sun and moon and stars.
Certainly a beautiful spot up here.
I often wonder why people
want to be buried...
in Woodlawn in Brooklyn...
when they might pass the same time
up here in New Hampshire.
Over here are the old stones...1660...1670.
Strong-minded people who
come a long ways to be independent.
Over here...are some Civil War veterans.
Iron flags on their graves.
New Hampshire boys.
They had a notion that the Union
ought to be kept together,
altough they'd never seen
more than 50 miles of it themselves.
All they knew was a name, friends--
the United States of America.
The United States of America.
And they went and died about it.
This is the new part of the cemetery.
There's Mrs. Soames who enjoyed
the wedding so much, remember?
And there's our friend, Mrs. Gibbs.
Yeah, Doc Gibbs lost his wife
three years ago,
just about this time.
And that little Webb's boy, Wallace,
whose appendix burst...
on a Boy Scout trip to Crawford Notch.
There's Mr. Stimson,
the organist of the Congregational Church.
He drank a lot, they used to say.
Hung himself in the attic.
They tried to hush it up,
but of course, it got around.
He wrote his own epitaph.
Ain't a verse, exactly,
it's just a lot of notes.
I wouldn't know what it was.
It was all writ up in the Boston papers
at the time, though.
A lot of sorrows kind of
quieted down up here too.
All those important things--
mother and daughter,
husband and wife,
enemy and enemy,
money and miser--
all those terribly important things...
here kind of burns away.
Burns out.
And what's left?
What's left when memory is gone
and your identity, Mrs. Smith?
Something eternal.
We all know down in our bones
that something is eternal,
and that something has to
do with human beings.
All the greatest people that have lived for the past 5,000 years have been telling us that.
And yet, you'll be surprised
how we lose sight of that fact.
There's something eternal
about every human being.
I guess I'm thinking these thoughts today
on account of our friend, Emily.
Another baby's expected down at
that happy home we saw started.
It's Emily's second.
There's a little boy about six years old,
but this time, Emily's pretty sick.
Doc Gibbs is going around these days
with a mighty worried face.
I want to live.
Oh, I want to live.
Who's coming now, Julia?
My daughter-in-law, Emily Webb.
What ails her?
Trouble bringing a baby into the world.
Why, I remember Emily's wedding.
Wasn't it a lovely wedding?
I remember I called on George
and Emily at their farm...
just before I died.
It's a beautiful farm.
Dear friends, as we gather here...
in the last tribute of memory
to our loved one...
Hello, Mother Gibbs.
Hello, Emily.
Hello, Emily.
Hello, Mrs. Soames.
Hello, sis.
Hello, Wally.
...eternal in the heavens.
Mother Gibbs, they're going.
Yes, dear.
Father Gibbs is bringing some of my
flowers to you, Mother Gibbs.
Mother Gibbs, I never realized
how troubled and sad he looks.
I loved him so.
Father Gibbs...Father Gibbs!
I'm so tired, Mother Gibbs.
Mother Gibbs, when does
this feeling go away--
being strange here...
how long do I...
Hush, dear.
Just wait and be patient.
How do you do, Mr. Stimson?
How do you do, Emily?
Mother Gibbs,
George and I have made that farm...
into just the best place you ever saw.
We thought of you all the time.
We wanted to show you the new barn...
and the great long cement
drinking fountain for the stock.
We bought that out of
the money you left us.
I, dear?
Mother Gibbs, don't you remember,
the legacy you left us?
Why, it was more than $350.
Oh, yes...yes, Emily.
It won't be the same
for George without me...
but it's a lovely farm.
My boy's spending the day at Mrs. Carter's.
Oh, Mr. Carter, my little boy
is spending the day at your house.
He is?
Yes, he loves it there.
Mother Gibbs,
one can go back...in memory...
and live each of those days over again!
Why, just then, for a moment,
I was thinking about the farm,
and for a moment, I was there!
And my baby was in my arms as plain as day!
Yes, but when you've been here longer,
you'll realize that our life
here is to forget all that.
To think of what is ahead
and be ready for what is ahead.
But Mother Gibbs,
how can I ever forget that life?
It's all I know.
It's all I had.
One can go back and
live all those days over again.
I feel it.
I know it.
You not only live it...
you watch yourself living it.
I'll choose a happy day.
Oh, Emily, it isn't wise.
Really, it isn't.
I'll choose the day
I first knew I loved George.
Why should that be painful?
Because it's the happiest days
that are the hardest to relive.
And to forget.
But I must.
I must!
Then chose an unimportant day.
Chose the least important day in your life.
It will be important enough.
I'll choose...I'll choose.
Yes, Emily, think hard.
Remember.
I'm remembering.
I'm remembering...
I'm remembering...
There's Main Street!
There's Mr. Morgan's drug store
before he changed it.
And there's the livery stable!
That's the town I knew as a little girl.
And look...there's the old white fence...
that used to be around our house.
Oh, I'd forgotten that!
I love it so.
There's Mama coming downstairs
to make breakfast!
Mama.
Look, there's Howie Newsome,
and there's Joe Crowell.
- Mornin', Howie.
- Mornin', Joe.
Children...Emily...Wally, time to get up!
- Mornin', Mrs. Webb.
- Mornin', Mr. Newsome.
Sure is cold.
Yes'm, ten below at my barn, Mrs. Webb.
- Keep yourself dressed up, Mr. Newsome.
- Yes'm.
Oh, tell Emily many happy
returns of the day.
Now, I know!
It's my 16th birthday!
Mama, I can't find my blue
hair ribbon anywhere.
Just open your eyes, dear, that's all.
I laid it out special for ya
on the dresser there.
If it were a snake, it'd bite ya.
Oh, how young Mama looks.
I didn't know Mama was ever that young.
- Mornin' Howie.
- Mornin', Mr. Webb.
There's Papa!
You're up early.
Been back to my old college
to make a speech.
Any news here?
A customer was called this mornin'
to rescue a Polish fella.
Darn near froze to death.
I'll put that in the paper.
Mornin', Mother.
Well, there you are, back at last.
- How'd it go, Charles?
- Oh, fine, I guess.
I told 'em a few things.
Everything all right here?
Yes, can't think of anything
that happened special.
It's been mighty cold.
Howie Newsome says it's ten
below down at his barn.
Yes, well, it's colder than
that at Hamilton College.
Students' ears are fallin' off.
Ain't Christian.
Paper have any mistakes in it?
Not that I noticed.
Oh, you can have your coffee
when you want it, Charles.
Don't forget, it's Emily's birthday.
Did you remember to get her anything?
Got it right here.
Where's my girl?
Where's my birthday girl?
Don't interrupt her now, Charles.
You can see her at breakfast.
She's slow enough as it is.
I can't bear it!
Why did they ever have to get old?
Mama, I'm here.
I'm grown up!
Oh, I love you all.
Everything.
I can't look at everything hard enough.
Hurry up, children!
It's 7:00.
I don't want to call you again!
Morning, Mama.
Well, now, dear, a happy birthday to my
girl and many happy returns.
A surprise is waiting for ya
on the table there.
Oh, Mama, you shouldn't have!
I can't...I can't!
Birthday or no birthday,
I want you to eat your breakfast
good and slow.
I want you to grow up
and be a good, strong girl.
That in the blue package
is from your Aunt Carrie.
Good morning.
George!
Good morning, George.
I brought this over
for your birthday, Emily.
Many happy returns of the day.
Thank you.
It's only a photograph album.
Oh, George, I'd forgotten.
It's beautiful!
Oh, it's just an album.
I'm going out to
my Uncle Luke's farm today.
I like it out there.
George, we grew up and were married,
don't you remember!?
Uncle Luke gave you the farm!
Well, good-bye.
Good-bye and thanks.
Chew this good and slow.
It'll help keep you warm on a cold day.
Mama.
Just look at me for one minute
as though you really saw me!
Mama.
Twelve years have gone by!
I'm dead!
I married George Gibbs, Mama!
Wally's dead too.
Mama, his appendix burst
on a camping trip to Crawford Notch!
We felt just terrible about it,
don't you remember?
Just for a moment, now, we're all together.
Mama, let's be happy, just for a moment.
Let's look at one another!
That in the yellow package is something
I found in the attic...
among your grandmother's things.
You're old enough to wear it,
and I thought you'd like it.
Oh, and this is from you!
It's lovely.
It's just what I wanted!
It's beautiful.
I hoped you'd like it.
Wally has a present for you too.
He made it at manual training class.
Be sure and make a fuss over it.
Your father's got a surprise for you too.
I don't know what it is myself.
There he comes.
Where's my girl?
Where's my birthday girl?
I can't...I can't go on!!!
It goes so fast.
We don't have time to look at one another.
I didn't realize.
All that was going on...
and we never noticed.
Must I go back to my grave?
Wait.
One more look.
Good-bye.
Good-bye, world!
Good-bye, Grover's Corners.
Mama...Papa.
Good-bye to clocks ticking...
my butternut tree,
and Mama's sunflowers.
Food and coffee and new-ironed dresses...
and hot baths and sleeping and waking up!
Oh, earth, you're too wonderful
for anybody to realize!
Do any human beings ever realize life
while they live it?
Every, every minute.
Oh, I want to live,
I want to live, I want to live!
Of course you do, Emily, of course.
Most everybody's asleep
in Grover's Corners.
Oh, there are a few lights on.
Down at the depot, Shorty Hawkins
has just watched...
the Albany train go by.
And of course,
out in George and Emily's farm,
they're still up.
Talking over the new baby, I suppose.
It's like what one of those
Midwestern poets said,
"You gotta love life to have life,
and you gotta have life to love life."
Eleven o'clock in Grover's Corners.
Tomorrow will be another day.
Everybody's resting in Grover's Corners.
You get a good rest too.
Good night.