MovieChat Forums > You Can't Take It with You (1938) Discussion > Grandpa and the IRS...

Grandpa and the IRS...

posted 12 years ago by skohl632001
3 replies | jump to latest

Can anyone explain why the I.R.S. man believes that Grandpa owes 22 years of back income tax and he claimes that he owes none (and, apparently, he's correct which makes the I.R.S. man seem like something of an idiot)? I've never understood that part of the film (and it's never explained-just glossed over).

For that matter, where does Grandpa get his money (remember we see him quietly handing over grocery money at one point which implies that he's footing all of the bills for the household).

I've always loved this film but I find that I have to continually resist the impulse to think about the above details too much.

I'd be very interested to hear anyone elses's input about this.

[–] martiemouse 12 years ago

I too, get so caught up in the dialogue I almost loose track. The IRS debt is never explained, so I assume the writer left it that way to imply that Grandpa outwitted him. At least, that is the humor I see in the exchange. Maybe, that he wanted to leave us with quirky questions :)

Being from Alabama, I am trying to determine why the UA pennant was hung in such an obvious place? It didn't seem to fit in but was almost too obvious. That one I will probably never get an answer for either.

But, regardless I always seem to watch it again and again.

[–] bradford-1 12 years ago

I can't explain the IRS situation, but Ed Carmichael was supposed to have played foortball at Alabama. In fact, when the family is moving out, for some reason he is dressed in his old uniform.
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

[–] ljspin 12 years ago

Maybe this will help.

Grandpa used to be a businessman, a rather successful one, until he decided that the ulcers, the stress, and so on was too much. He walked away from it all and never regretted it. In the scene with Henderson, the I.R.S. agent, it is mentioned that Grandpa owns property and receives a yearly income from that property. The line is quick, in both the play and the movie, so it is easily missed. Grandpa receives income from this property (rent, interest, other -- again it is not explained) and it is this income that the I.R.S. is taxing.

Grandpa does not believe in income tax. If he is going to pay for something, he wants to see/know what he is paying for. Henderson's arguements have no effect on Grandpa. "Henderson: What about Congress? We have to pay for them, don't we? Grandpa: Not with my money."

Again, it is in lines that are easily missed, but before Mr. DePinna came to live with the Sycamores, they had a milkman. He came to deliver milk one day and just stayed. He died, and the family didn't know his real name, which made getting a death certificate and arranging a funeral difficult. To get out of the problem, they gave the man Grandpa's name. When Grandpa had had enough of the I.R.S., he told them he was dead. Since there was a death certificate and funeral notice in his name, he was absolved from all taxes since a dead man cannot be accountable for taxes.

I know this all is silly and doesn't follow tax law, even in the 1930s. However, it is a comedy, and they all live in a world that is a little different from reality, a world we all would like to live in.

I hope I have helped with the understanding of the play/movie. While you think about it, I will go play my xylaphone for a while.