Case Study No. 1682: Mrs. Handy

Alex & Miranda Meet (Chances Are;TriStar, 1989)
3:06
Alex Finch meets Miranda Jeffries for the first time at the Yale University library. Robert Downey, Jr. is adorable!
Tags: Robert Downey Jr Mary Stuart Masterson. Kathleen Freeman Chances Are film movie
Added: 5 years ago
From: London8021
Views: 6,466

[scene opens with a male student riding a book cart around the Yale University Library, when he notices an attractive female student speaking with the elderly female librarian (short red hair, grey pants suit) at the front desk]
MRS. HANDY: This is a pretty situation! So, you just assumed that nobody at Yale University or Yale Law School had any interest in checking out these six books in the last three months?
MIRANDA: No, I just--
MRS. HANDY: You are gonna make some lawyer ...
[she starts typing on the computer]
MRS. HANDY: You owe eighty seven dollars and twenty five cents.
MIRANDA: Eighty seven twenty five ... Can I put that on a credit card?
MRS. HANDY: This isn't a boutique! Cash only, or we'll have to hold up your grades ...
MIRANDA: I don't have enough cash. Um, I'm going home right now, and my ride's waiting for me--
[the male student suddenly jumps into the scene and grabs the librarian by the shoulders]
ALEX: Misses Handy! The Rare Books room! The Shakespeare folios!
MRS. HANDY: Yes Alex, what about the folios?
ALEX: They're fooling with the folios!
MRS. HANDY: [pause] Fooling with the folios?
ALEX: Yes, and they're fiddling, too!
[she starts to become agitated]
MRS. HANDY: Fiddling?
ALEX: Go! Go to them!
MRS. HANDY: Yes! Oh, thank you!
[she rushes off, as he yells after her]
ALEX: I'll take over here!
MRS. HANDY: Oh! Oh dear ... Good heavens!
[the female student waits until she is out of sight, then turns to the male student]
MIRANDA: God, is she always that awful?
ALEX: Mom? No ...
[she suddenly gets embarrassed (thinking that he was being serious)]
MIRANDA: Uh, I'm sorry ... I just didn't have enough cash and she, y'know, she wouldn't take a credit card? And I can't get my grades, my ride's waiting.
[he starts typing at the computer]
ALEX: Uh-oh.
MIRANDA: What? What?
ALEX: This is bad.
MIRANDA: How bad?
ALEX: It's worse than I thought.
MIRANDA: How worse?
ALEX: A lot. According to this, these books were never legally checked out.
MIRANDA: [pause] Yeah, so?
ALEX: Yeah, so it means that I can't charge you for them. You beat the system ... Yeah.
[he turns to her and smiles, so she gives a nervous laugh]
MIRANDA: Oh.
[he gets up from the chair]
ALEX: Alex.
MIRANDA: Alex. Miranda ... Well, thank you. That was really sweet of you.
ALEX: Consider it a graduation present.
MIRANDA: I'm not graduating.
ALEX: I am. Tomorrow.
MIRANDA: Oh yeah? Congratulations ... I gotta go.
ALEX: Okay.
MIRANDA: Bye ...
[she starts to leave, but then turns back]
MIRANDA: That wasn't really your mother, right?
ALEX: No.
[she laughs, then heads for the exit]
ALEX: Have a nice life!
MIRANDA: Thanks! You too ...

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From reel-librarians.com:

The movie Chances Are (1989) is a romantic comedy about reincarnation. A woman's (Cybill Shepherd) husband is killed in the 1960s, and in a brief heaven scene - complete with fluffy clouds and angels with clear tablets shaped like the Ten Commandments - we see the husband head off to get reincarnated. The only problem is, he doesn't get the all-important forgetfulness inoculation. Through the rest of the film, Corinne (Shepherd) believes her husband's soul has come back in the body of her daughter's boyfriend, Alex (Robert Downey, Jr.).

As you can imagine, the creep factor is quite high in this film. If Alex is Corinne's reincarnated husband, then he's dating his own daughter. If he's not her reincarnated husband, then Corinne is stealing her daughter's boyfriend. Oh, and she's been cooking her dead husband dinners for over 20 years. And her husband's best friend (Ryan O'Neal) has been in love with Corinne all this time, and has basically helped raised Corinne's daughter. Like I said, the creep factor is high.

It's a strange premise for a romantic comedy, and it requires a good half-hour or so of set-up and character introductions. The first time we meet Alex is about fifteen minutes into the film, as he coasts along on a book cart in the Yale University Library. This introduces his personality as boyish and fun-loving - traits at odds in a serious setting like the library.

He then coasts into a scene in which Miranda (Masterson) - whom is later revealed to be Corinne's daughter - is getting schooled by a librarian called Mrs. Handy (Kathleen Freeman). The librarian is middle-aged, dressed in conservative layers and has short hair - but no glasses!

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From byui.edu:

CHANCES ARE (1989). A young man meets the girl of his dreams in the Yale University library when she is pleading with an old fashioned librarian for relief from a fine. He tells the librarian (played by Kathleen Freeman) that someone is fondling the folios, sending her in a tizzy in search of the offender. He then erases the bill from the computer and sends the girl on her way with a smile.