Friday, December 21, 2012

Case Study No. 0703: Unnamed Female Librarian (Christmas on Division Street)

Christmas on Division street part 1
15:01
part 1 of the film chrismas on division street.
ive taken this film from a video i have,as i know a lot of people would like to see it ,but it isnt easy to find.
i searched myself for ages,wasnt on here or any download site(for free that is!)
so i bought a copy on vhs on amazon
i had the video capture device and suitable software as ive done a lot of video transfering before.
ive had to cut it into 15 minute segments because of time restrictions on uploads on youtube.
if you wanted you could get a youtube download program for youre web browser(google,firefox etc)and download it for free then use a suitable dvd converter /burner program (convertxto dvd or similar)to make it into a dvd for youre tv.
or if you email me i will send you a copy without charge,except for cost of the dvd(40p?maybe)
and the cost of a stamp to where you live.im in the uk
a dvd copy would be of better quality because of the screen resolution,compression on this upload..
hope you enjoy this great film.
Tags: Christmas division street philladelphia fred savage hume cronyn festive movie.
Added: 11 months ago
From: MrFatkenny
Views: 1,846

[Mister Atwood enters his son's bedroom]
MISTER ATWOOD: So, uh ... waddaya need to get started on that report of yours?
TREVOR: I dunno ... encyclopedias. History stuff.
MISTER ATWOOD: Well, uh, I tell you what. I gotta run by the office, waddaya say I drop you off at the library?
TREVOR: [pause] Sure. I guess.
MISTER ATWOOD: That's the spirit ...
[cut to inside the public library, as Trevor and his father are speaking to the young female librarian at the front desk]
LIBRARIAN: American History is right over there, did you have anything particular in mind?
TREVOR: Not yet.
LIBRARIAN: Alright, here's your temporary card.
[he signs it, then they turn to leave]
MISTER ATWOOD: Okay, well, I'll meet you out front in exactly ... one hour, right? You all set?
TREVOR: I guess ... Can I borrow a buck for the snack machine?
MISTER ATWOOD: Sure. I think I still owe you your allowance anyway ... Here.
[he hands him a dollar bill]
MISTER ATWOOD: And don't forget, one hour.
[he leaves, then cut to Trevor browsing one of the secluded bookshelves, when he slowly pulls out one of the books]
CLEVELAND: [from off camera] Nooo ...
[Trevor lets go of the book and looks around, startled by the unfamiliar voice, then moves forward and grabs a different book off the shelf]
CLEVELAND: [from off camera] You can do better than that ...
[Trevor looks up at the space made by the pulled book, and sees the face of an old homeless man staring at him from the other side of the shelf]
[he quickly puts the book back and starts to walk off, as he can hear the man chuckling quietly to himself]
[cut to another shot of Trevor trying to leave, when the homeless man is suddenly standing right in front of him]
CLEVELAND: Need a little help?
TREVOR: [pause] No.
CLEVELAND: American History? Follow me ...
[he leads him to the other side of the bookshelf, as Trevor cautiously follows]
CLEVELAND: Term paper, correct? And you haven't got a clue as to what to do it on ... Tell me if I'm getting warm.
TREVOR: Look Mister, if you're trying to panhandle me, forget it. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to talk to strangers?
CLEVELAND: Well now, that's a valid point ... On the other hand, if a person never talked to strangers, how would a person ever get to know anybody? Classic dilemma, wouldn't you say?
[someone off camera clears his throat, and they both turn to find a rather large man wearing glasses standing behind them]
LIBRARY PATRON: Hey pal, why don't you leave the kid alone?
[the homeless man calmly folds his arms and adopts a flippant tone]
CLEVELAND: First of all, sir, I am not your pal ... And secondly, it's none of your damn business.
LIBRARY PATRON: Is this guy bothering you, son?
[Trevor says nothing]
CLEVELAND: Go ahead, speak up.
[Trevor turns to the man, then gives a weak smile]
TREVOR: It's under control ... Thanks.
[the patron gives the homeless man a dirty look, then leaves]
LIBRARY PATRON: Damn bums ...
[as Trevor nervously watches the patron leave, the homeless man extends his hand]
CLEVELAND: Cleveland Meriwether, Minister of Education, at your service.
TREVOR: That guy just called you a bum ...
CLEVELAND: A matter of opinion. Wadda you think?
[he looks him up and down]
TREVOR: [pause] Yeah.
[Cleveland sighs, as if offended, so Trevor tries to backtrack a little]
TREVOR: Well ... maybe.
CLEVELAND: That's what I like, an open mind!
[he takes his hand and shakes]
CLEVELAND: Ha! My friend's call me "Cleve" ...
TREVOR: Trevor ...
CLEVELAND: Trevor! I knew a Trevor once ...
[he starts browsing the shelves as he's talking]
CLEVELAND: Ballplayer. Played shortstop. Did you ever play shortstop?
TREVOR: Sometimes.
CLEVELAND: Oooh, heart of the team ... Ah, here we are!
[he pulls a book off the shelf]
CLEVELAND: Richard Saunders! Interesting fellow, this Saunders ... Quit school when he was just about your age. Ran away from home to see the world.
[he tries to hand the book to Trevor]
CLEVELAND: This is one of his first books. It's got some pretty good jokes in it!
CLEVELAND: What's the matter? You don't like jokes?
TREVOR: Yeah ... but I think we're supposed to pick more of a heavyweight.
CLEVELAND: Go on, go on, go on ... Give it a try.
[Trevor takes the book, looks briefly at the cover, then hands it back]
TREVOR: I don't think so.
CLEVELAND: You're making this tough ... Alright! How about something on a famous American statesman? World traveller, musician, inventor, philosopher. All rolled up into one!
TREVOR: Might work.
[Cleveland hands him back the same book]
CLEVELAND: Saunders was just his pen name ... Otherwise known as Benjamin Franklin.
[cut to Trevor and Cleveland sitting at a table in front of a large mural of George Washington, while another female librarian pushes a bookcart past them]
CLEVELAND: Now, Franklin wasn't the only big thinker of his day ... He was just the best. Like all brilliant men, he had the knack of taking something complicated, and making it look simple. Like ...
[he trails off]
CLEVELAND: You getting this down?
TREVOR: Yes sir!
[Trevor starts writing in his notebook]
CLEVELAND: Which is not to say that the man didn't struggle. He came to this town without a nickel or a friend. And without a break here or there, he could've ended up that way ... It happens. You can quote me on that.
TREVOR: Yes sir!
CLEVELAND: The name is "Cleve" ... Save that "sir" crap for the army!
TREVOR: Well, you did say you were the Minister of Education ...
CLEVELAND: And don't you forget it!
[he laughs]
CLEVELAND: Now, that library card you got there ... Franklin's idea. He started the first subscription library right here in Philly! Y'know, you could write a whole report just on that alone! But I don't wanna leave you with the wrong--
TREVOR: How do you know all this stuff?
CLEVELAND: Pay attention ... I don't wanna leave you with the wrong idea. Ben Franklin was no saint ... Loved his women. Loved his wine. Loved his nights out with the boys! But most of all, he loved his freedom. And that brings me to the single most important thing he ever did in his whole life.
TREVOR: What's that?
CLEVELAND: He ... He and a bunch of his drinking buddies told the King of England to go to hell!
TREVOR: I can't write that in my report!
CLEVELAND: You don't have to, he did it for you! Did you ever hear of a piece of paper called the Declaration of Independence?
TREVOR: Well, no one says "Go to hell" in that ...
CLEVELAND: [laughs] That's what you think ... Have you got a set of encyclopedias at home?
TREVOR: Somewhere, in a box. We just moved.
CLEVELAND: Oh ... Well then, you better gimmee some money.
TREVOR: [pause] Why?
CLEVELAND: So I can make you a copy of this Declaration ... Y-You can't write about something you haven't even read, can ya?
TREVOR: Uh, I don't have any money ...
[Cleveland gives him a sly grin]
CLEVELAND: Come on ... Come on, come on, come on. Hand it over.
[Trevor slowly reaches into his pocket and pulls out the dollar his father gave him, but hesitates]
TREVOR: You don't trust me, do you?
[he eventually relinquishes the dollar, as Cleveland smiles and pats him on the back before exiting the scene ... just as Trevor turns and sees his father standing across the room next to the card catalog]
MISTER ATWOOD: You were supposed to meet me out front ...
TREVOR: I'm sorry, I forgot.
MISTER ATWOOD: Who was that you were talking to?
TREVOR: No one! Just some guy ...
MISTER ATWOOD: Trevor, this is a tough city. It is not a good idea to go around talking to strangers.
TREVOR: Fine. Who can I talk to then, Dad? Everyone's a stranger around here!
[Trevor turns and angrily leaves, as his father soon follows]

---

From imdb.com:

"Christmas on Division Street" (1991)
TV Movie

Fred Savage ... Trevor Atwood
Hume Cronyn ... Cleveland Meriwether
Crystal Verge ... Librarian
Dwight McFee ... Library Guard
Forbes Angus ... Library Patron

---

From baltimoresun.com:

"Christmas on Division Street" has multiple opportunities to turn into a treacly, sugar-plum fable for the season, but it avoids almost every one of them to remain a surprisingly substantive movie from start to finish.

Not a perfect movie, however. Clearly, this is a statement by Barry Morrow, Oscar winner for the screenplay of "Rain Man," who wrote and co-executive produced this CBS film that will be on Channel 11 (WBAL) Sunday night at 9 o'clock.

So, at times it becomes something of a polemic on the plight of the homeless in our society, a bit didactic on the way we might like to begin charity at home, but then make sure its recipients are kept as far away as possible.

But, even if its messages are occasionally heavy-handed, they are messages worth receiving, especially at this time of year when a few more ears might be open to hear them.

In a pairing that could only happen on television, "Christmas on Division Street" stars Hume Cronyn and Fred Savage, a venerable and revered star of American stage and screen and a juvenile sitcom actor. Luckily, as fans of "The Wonder Years" know, Savage has a kind of natural aplomb that carries him through any situation, even trying to match chops with a master like Cronyn, who acts his behind off in this made-for-an-Emmy performance.

Savage plays Trevor, son of your standard upwardly mobile all-American family that, as our film opens, is arriving at its new home in Philadelphia. Trevor's not too keen about the move and is ill-at-ease at his snooty new school, as every 14-year-old is when his new peer group is made up of total strangers.

With his family's encyclopedias still in boxes, he heads for the public library to research his American history paper and there encounters one of those street people who seek warmth and shelter amid the shelves in all our urban areas.

Only this one isn't a recluse, but a talkative, sprightly sort named Cleve, played by Cronyn. Though the security types don't like him bothering the paying customers, he can't help himself and ends up helping others. See, it happens that Cleve is a man of some learning; indeed, he refers to himself as the Minister of Education.

Trevor and Cleve strike up one of those cross-cultural relationships that usually happen only on TV, although this is supposed to be based on a true story.

As with Romeo and Juliet, the scions of these Capulet and Montague families -- Trevor's parents and Cleve's social worker -- order the two to break it off. But they can't. They really do love one another, in part because each is replacing a lost family member for the other, Trevor's grandfather and Cleve's son.

For a while, it appears that "Christmas on Division Street" is going to paint a romanticized, rosy picture of the homeless and their environs, that these are just a bunch of lost, lovable people who have found a truthful simplicity sleeping in a box. Eventually, though, it gets around to showing what a tough life, full of tough people, you get when you live on the streets.

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