Original subtitles

Well, we're moving on up. We're moving on up. To the east. We're moving on up.

To the deep.

Have you seen where George... Oh, my God. He must have been working all

As usual.

Oh, look at that.

Isn't George cute when he's sleeping?

He's cute any time his mouth is shut.

He just stopped being cute.

I guess we should wake him up. I know how to handle that.

So do I.

Florence, I was trying to be gentle.

Well, the next time you're trying to be gentle, don't be coming at me like a

vacuum cleaner.

Well, I'm glad to see you got up in a good mood.

Look, just cut the jokes, Weezy.

Florence, how about some coffee?

Now I got to do all this stuff tonight.

Oh, not again.

George, you're working too hard.

Look, I like to work long hours. I'm built that way.

Well, if you worked the way you were built, you would have short hours.

Cleaners, that's what.

We never spend time together anymore.

Didn't we go out to dinner together twice last week?

Yeah, with a starch salesman. And boy, did he get stiff.

I'm serious.

George, you're so wrapped up in your work, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm

wife or just a tax deduction.

Oh, come on, Weasley. You know the answer to that.

You're both.

Just kidding, Weave. Look, I'll try to spend more time with you from now on.

Oh, really, George?

Well,

if this is what y 'all do at 9 o 'clock in the morning, no telling what'll be

happening at lunchtime.

You know the one nice thing about you, Florence?

No, what?

See that? You don't know either.

George, I can't wait for Coney Island Wednesday night.

Coney Island?

for rich folks like y 'all. We weren't always rich, you know.

That's where George proposed to me.

And every year we go back to relive that night.

You mean you actually celebrate the night you got hooked up with him?

Lawrence, it was beautiful.

First we ate cotton candy and hot dogs and we rode the whip and then they

down the whip to clean it.

Because George shouldn't eat before he rides the whip.

Well, eating a lot of junk food and going on some rides don't sound romantic

me. Well, we did add one thing to the night, but only after we got

married. All right, we got to know all the details of our personal life.

Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Mr. Jefferson. I don't hear nothing that

goes on around here.

Oh. Tiger.

Sorry, George, I didn't mean to embarrass you, but I'm really looking

Coney Island.

Yeah, too bad we can't go this year.

What? That's the same night as my special store manager's meeting. We're

changing our prices the next day. I gotta be there.

What about me?

You can come if you want.

I mean Coney Island.

I'm not going there by myself.

Well, take Florence.

Maybe you'll get lucky and lose her.

What do you two want? Take it easy, George.

We just came over to see Louise.

Oh, okay, now you've seen her. Bye.

Louise, we got this crazy urge to run over to the park to play badminton.

Want to come?

Badminton? What kind of stupid game is that?

Oh, it's a lot like tennis, only instead of a ball, you hit a bird.

Oh, well, that's just great, Willis. Why don't you and your bird fly out of

here?

George, will you please be more civil?

Say, George, why don't you come along with us?

I can't. I got to work.

There. You see, the Willis is buying time to spend together.

Well, they got to stay together.

Who ever heard of half a zebra?

Who ever heard of half a brain?

But you managed.

Sounds like we walked into the middle of a fight.

You're darn right you did.

Helen! What would you say if you and Tom always celebrated the night he

proposed? But this year you can't celebrate because he's too busy.

I'd say he was a stubborn, miserable, selfish, no -good jackass.

You'd say that to me?

No. I'd say that to George.

I'll never forget our special night.

Helen and I celebrate the night we told our parents we were getting married.

We call it gunfight at the O .K. Corral.

Some fight, everybody lost.

You know what your trouble is, George? Yep, nosy neighbors.

Your business is getting too big for you to handle. You're trying to carry the

same responsibilities for seven stores that you used to carry for one.

Face it, George, you're only human.

All the votes aren't in on that one yet.

Tom's absolutely right, George.

He ain't right about nothing.

All I'm trying to say is that you've got a big business now, and you're still

running it like a small one.

So? So, do what other businesses do when they get big.

I ain't got enough money to bribe a senator.

No, I mean hire an assistant, a general manager, working directly under you to

take some of the work off your shoulders.

George, that's the answer. I think so, too. That's a wonderful idea.

I think it stinks.

Why? Because he thought of it.

You hear that?

And they all laughed at Henry Ford, too.

Only when he pardoned Nixon.

Look, George, I'm just trying to give you some advice.

Look, I don't need your advice. Just stay out of my business.

Oh, you've got to relax.

Come on out and play some badminton with us. Oh, look out here.

It's a beautiful day.

Ah, just smell that fresh air.

I don't want to.

And I don't want to play your old stupid game, either. Oh.

Afraid it'll be too hard for you, George?

What are you talking about? All you gotta do is take me back and hit the

thing. Oh, my God!

Hey, look out down there!

No, no!

A bus ran over my bird.

Well, keep your eye on it till the ambulance comes.

That wasn't very nice, George.

Come on, Helen.

You owe me a bird.

You got it.

George, how could you do that?

I didn't mean to do it. Anyway, it serves him right for trying to tell me

run my business.

He meant well.

Besides, the more I think about a general manager, the more I like the

Well, I ain't hiring one.

I know why you're against it. Because you don't think there's no one on Earth

who can do your job as well as you can.

Bingo!

Hold it, George.

I'm not through with you.

Don't you see what all your success is turning us into?

Yep, rich people.

No, rich strangers.

Look, I'm doing it all for you.

Who wants to live in a big, fancy apartment?

You do.

Who wants to rub elbows with high society?

You do.

Okay, well, who is it that wants all the spending money in the world?

I do.

You stay out of this.

I can talk if I want to. This ain't Uncle Tom's cabin.

No, this is Uncle George's condominium.

And I'm telling you to shut up.

George, I'm through. Through sharing you with your business, you are going to

hire a general manager.

There's nobody qualified.

What about Clarence Martin?

Clarence Martin?

Yeah, he's the manager of your Brooklyn store. You were always saying what a

nice job he does.

I lied.

Why don't you call Clarence and talk to him? I bet he's perfect for the job.

Wheezy, this is my business.

I do the hiring, you do the buttoning out.

George!

This discussion is over, through, finished.

Not quite. This has been building up for a long time.

This year, you miss Coney Island.

Next year, it'll be our anniversary.

Pretty soon, you'll be living in your damn stores.

I ain't listening no more.

Well, you had better listen, because I'm your wife, and I got my rights, too.

You are going to hire a general manager when hell freezes over.

Then grab your overcoat, Buster.

Because it's going to be colder than that in our bedroom tonight.

And I mean cold.

Hey, Florence, how about an egg salad sandwich?

Oh, no, thanks. I already ate.

I saw a bowl of it in there. You better look again, because that's what I ate.

Okay, then give me some of that leftover turkey. That should make a good snack.

It sure did.

You ate that, too?

How can I work if I don't eat?

How can you work if all you do is eat?

There's a can of sardines in the cupboard. Oh, I hate sardines.

Me, too. That's why they're still in there.

This should go in the oven at five.

Okay. I wouldn't go in there if I was you.

Mr. Jefferson's going over the answer to his ad for a general manager.

Is he in a bad mood?

Is Sammy Davis got jewelry?

Well, that's too bad. But George is just going to have to live through it.

Hello, George, sweetheart.

My goodness.

Just look at all the answers that newspaper ad brought you in just one

How's it going?

Lousy. If these are the people that read our paper, I'm canceling my

subscription.

Oh, come on. It can't be that bad. You already got it sorted into piles.

Yeah. Reject, forget it, not qualified.

I knew you'd make it hard.

Well, it is. Already opened more letters than the CIA.

Mr. Bentley. Mrs.

J, Mr. J, I'm sorry to barge in, but I just finished it and I had to show

someone. Show us what?

This.

What do you think?

I think you should change liquor stores.

Your bottle's got a boat in it.

Oh, I know. I put it there.

Oh, Mr.

Bentley, that's beautiful.

Oh, thank you. It took me hours of work. Do you recognize it?

Yeah, it's a scotch bottle.

No, it's a Santa Maria.

Christopher Columbus came across the ocean in this very boat.

Really?

I always thought Columbus was much taller.

Look, Bentley, if you don't mind, I'm busy right now.

George has been running an ad for a general manager.

Oh, capital idea, Mr. J. You could use a man Friday.

Why? Saturday's a much busier day in the store.

Just be careful about your want ad. I placed one of those myself once.

Actually, it was a very interesting story.

So far, it ain't.

You see, I was trying to sell a Welsh Mother of Pearl snuff box, but the

newspaper made a typographical error so that my ad read, for sale, one Waxolotl

Bemidget.

That's ridiculous.

No, the ridiculous part is the ad got a response.

I received a letter from a man who claimed he owned a Waxolotl Bemidget and

he wanted to mate it with mine.

Weren't you leaving, Bentley?

Oh, yes, I believe I am.

You know, it's too bad that you can't talk to my Uncle Willard. He's worked

newspapers all his life. Yeah, what does he do?

He wraps fish in them. He wraps... Hey,

what are you doing to those letters?

I find it hard to believe that you can't find one qualified person out of all of

these answers.

Well, I can't, so just get out of here.

Well... What about this man?

He seems to have a lot of experience. What's wrong with him? He's too fat.

What? How do you know he's fat?

Because his ketchup stain's on the letter.

If he ain't too fat, he's too sloppy.

Oh, you're impossible.

Look, there's nobody here good enough.

You have no intention of keeping your part of the bargain, do you?

Blige, get the door.

George, I'm talking to you. I know that. Everybody in the building knows that.

I'll tell you one thing.

Whoever this is, I hope they brought earmuffs for me, too.

Oh, well, hello there.

How you doing, Mr. Jefferson, Mrs. Jefferson?

Well, hello, Clarence.

Hey, Clarence, this ain't your day off.

Why ain't you in the Brooklyn store?

Oh, my assistant can handle that for a while, Mr. Jefferson. You see, I got

phone call that said this is where you're hiring your new general manager.

Phone call?

I thought I told you to stay out of my business.

Yes, you did, George.

That's why I had Florence call.

Traitor.

Well, well, well.

Mm -hmm. The minute I heard that voice on the phone, I knew it had to belong to

one lovely lady.

You don't mean that.

Look, if you come to talk business, you talk to me.

Let the man talk to who he wants to.

Now, what were you saying?

Have anyone ever told you what big, beautiful brown eyes you have?

No, but go right ahead, child. The truth shall set you free.

Look, Florence.

Clarence came here to talk business. Now, either you get out of here or sit

and be quiet.

All right.

All right.

You won't hear another word out of me.

My lips are glued shut.

Try using cement.

Mr. Jefferson, I want this job.

Mm -hmm. That's why you ain't gonna get it.

Anybody who's dumb enough to want to take on all the work of being my general

manager is too dumb to be my general manager.

That don't make sense.

Oh, then the only way to get the job is to say, I don't want it.

Right. All right, I don't want the job.

Good, because you ain't gonna get it.

George!

I mean, it's a lousy job.

Extra hard work. I can handle it. You mean never get home to see your family?

don't have one.

The pay stinks.

I know. I work for you already.

Clarence came all the way over here.

He's obviously qualified, so give him the job.

How do I know he's qualified?

Try me, Mr. Jefferson.

Okay.

You get a call from the Queen's store that the generator blew out in the

of a big load. What do you do? Oh, no sweat. I just switch right over to the K

-150.

You hear that?

What is the K -150?

An auxiliary generator.

Any more questions, George?

Lucky guess.

Then Clarence gets the job?

Uh -uh.

He ain't executive material.

What? Look, Wheezy, my general manager is supposed to represent all of my

cleaners. How can he represent my cleaners when he looks like he needs

himself?

Now, look, Mr. Jefferson, a truck smashed me there. Now, this outfit is

Now, what you getting on my case for?

Because I just remembered you ain't a good worker.

Ain't no good worker, man. I didn't put... Uh -huh.

Yeah, I know what it is. You mad at me because I knew about the K -150 and you

won't admit your mistake.

I don't have to admit my mistakes.

I hire them.

Hey, man, what's going down here? The elevator. Use it.

Uh -huh. Now, that cuts it, Jack. I mean, that is the end of it. Now, I'm

to tell you exactly what I think of you.

If I got any faults, I'd like to hear them.

Well, then, take this chair. This shouldn't take but a year.

I can't work with him. Wait a minute, Mr. Jefferson. I'm not through telling

what I think of you.

Nice job, interview.

George, I want to talk to you. No.

Yes!

You almost killed me.

George, you were very unfair to Clarence. Now get out there and

him. No way.

Okay.

You'd be much better off...

to interrupt.

Go right ahead.

Don't mind me.

It's a family matter.

Nothing really.

Sorry.

What the hell is that?

Your overcoat.

You're going to have to wear it to bed tonight.

You're right, Florence.

You are right. I handled him all wrong.

I just lost my hair.

That's what I've been trying to tell you.

Nobody can out -yell Mr. Jefferson. He got more mouth than a dentist can see in

a year.

I just don't know how to deal with them. I do.

Now, ain't you ever heard the story of the alligator and the two bunnies?

No, my library card expired.

It applies.

Now, see, these two bunnies wanted to get across the river.

But only the alligator could swim that far.

Now, the first bunny tried to force the alligator to take him across.

He said things like, start swimming, thin face.

Let's go, luggage lift.

But see, the alligator didn't like that. So the alligator said, yo mama.

But now the second bunny, he was smart.

So he said nice things to the alligator.

Like, you sure are a good swimmer.

I sure hope they don't make shoes out of you.

I dig.

So the alligator took him across the river.

Right. Now you know what I'm saying? Yeah.

I gotta learn to be a smart money rabbit.

You insulted that man because you didn't want to hire him.

Now go out there and apologize.

I can't. Go!

Wow.

Glantz, I got something I want to say to you.

I just want to say that I apologize.

I don't think he heard you, George.

Oh.

I said I... Before you say any more, Mr. Jefferson, I want to say that I lost my

temper, and I shouldn't have done that, and will you accept my apology?

Well, sure, why not?

When I'm wrong, I'm always the first to apologize.

I... Guess I wanted the job too much. But you can't blame me for wanting to

with you, man, because, hey, you're the best. That's true.

It was a chance of a lifetime. Imagine me being taught the cleaning business by

the master, Mr. George Jefferson.

That's right. You'd be a fool to pass that up.

And I figured I'd do anything to get the job so I can learn from you.

You know, this guy's starting to make sense.

But I guess I blew it. You don't want me, so... Wait, wait. Where you going?

Oh, nowhere. Just walking around thinking.

With all the work you got to do? That ain't no way to start off as my new

general manager.

Me? I got the job.

Why not? I got to give it to somebody.

Or else I don't get no peace.

You can say that again.

Mr. Jefferson, look here. You're going to never regret this. Look, I'm going to

handle all your bookkeeping, your payroll, take care of your supplies. And

can run the manager's meeting tonight.

Oh, wheezy. While Mr.

Jefferson and I go to Coney Isle.

Don't worry about a thing, Mr. Jefferson. I can handle everything.

Yeah, we'll see.

All right.

Oh, uh, Mr. Jefferson, one more thing. Now that I'm an executive, about my

salary. Lesson number one from the master.

An executive never, ever, ever talks about money. Bye, Clarence.

Bye, Mrs. Jefferson. Bye, Mrs. Jefferson.

Oh.

Florence,

thank you so much for that tip.

I guess this bunny really played that old alligator, huh?

Works every time. Yeah. Oh, one more thing.

You never did tell me whatever happened to that bunny when he got to the other

side of the river.

Oh, the alligator ate him.

Yeah. Oh, George, I'm so proud of you.

You've just hired your first general manager.

Yeah, I did, didn't I?

From now on, he'll talk to the suppliers.

He'll deal with the accountants. He'll handle the employees.

What'll I do?

Anything you want. Just think of all that free time.

Yeah, free time.

And your days will be your own.

Free time.

Hey, Weezy, you know something? This just might be the greatest idea you ever

had. Oh, do you really think so, George?

Yeah, because while Clarence is out there doing all my dirty work, I can

my time doing some more important things.

Like what, George?

Like opening up some new stores.

Just kidding. Just kidding.

The Jeffersons was videotaped in front of a studio audience.

Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0