“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a timeless holiday classic that I highly recommend watching!
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TITLE: It’s a Wonderful Life
FILM YEAR: 1946
DURATION: 130 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition
COMPANY: Paramount Pictures
RATED: G
Directed by Frank Capra
Screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra
Based on the Story by Philip Van Doren Stern
Executive Producer: Tarquin Gotch, Mark Levinson, Scott M. Rosenfelt
Producer: Frank Capra
Associate Producer: Mark Radcliffe
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc, Joseph Walker, Victor Milner
Edited by William Hornbeck
Art Direction by Jack Okey, William Cameron Menzies
Set Decoration by Emile Kuri
Costume Design by Edward Stevenson
Starring:
James Stewart as George Bailey
Donna Reed as Mary Hatch
Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter
Thomas Mitchell as Uncle Billy
Henry Travers as Clarence
Beaulah Bondi as Mrs. Bailey
Frank Faylen as Ernie
Ward Bond as Bert
Gloria Grahame as Violet
H.B. Warner as Mr. Gower
Frank Albertson as Sam Wainwright
Todd Karns as Harry Bailey
Samuel S. Hinds as Pa Bailey
Mary Treen as Cousin Tilly
Virginia Patton as Ruth Dakin
After George Bailey wishes he had never been born, an angel is sent to earth to make George’s wish come true. George starts to realize how many lives he has changed and impacted, and how they would be different if he was never there.
It’s Christmas Day and for Day 40, we take a look at the holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life” directed by Frank Capra. Based on the short story “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern and a screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett and Frank Capra.
The film would star James Stewart (“Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, “The Philadelphia Story”, “Vertigo”), Donna Reed (“From Here to Eternity”, “The Donna Reed Show”, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”), Lionel Barrymore (“Key Largo”, “You Can’t Take It With You”), Henry Travers (“Shadow of a Doubt”, “The Invisible Man”), Thomas Mitchell (“Stagecoach”, “Gone with the Wind”).
The film is considered one of the greatest films of all time, nominated for five academy awards and one of the “100 Best American Films Ever Made” according to the American Film Institute.
And what was surprising is that the film didn’t make its money back when it was released and received mix reviews and was unsuccessful in the box office. But would achieve success after it was released in public domain and broadcast without licensing or royalty fees. In fact, even the FBI issued a memo discrediting the film saying that the film tried to descredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as “Scrooge type” and “this picture deliberately maligned the upper class, attempting to show the people who had money were mean and despicable characters”.
But the film is considered a holiday classic and airs every year during the Christmas holiday and is beloved by generation after generation. It received its due credit in 1990 when it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.
The film is beloved worldwide and the film is a tale of hope, love and compassion.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” begins on Christmas Eve in 1945 in Bedford Falls, New York and George Bailey (portrayed by James Stewart) is contemplating suicide on Christmas Eve. His family and friends pray and the prayers reach Heaven and Angel 2nd class Clarence Odbody (portrayed by Henry Travers) who is assigned to save George.
Before he is to rescue George, he is shown the story of George’s life, as a child, how he lost his hearing trying to save his brother Harry from drowning. To when he was a teenager with dreams to go on a world tour before attending college and meeting Mary Hatch (portrayed by Donna Reed),a girl who has loved George since she was a child.
When George’s father dies from a stroke, he learns that Henry Potter (portrayed by Lionel Barrymore), who controls most of the town, wants the Bailey family business, Bailey Brothers Building and Loan. The Board will back Bailey Brothers Building only if George runs it. But that would mean that George’s dream of traveling the world and going to college is out the window, and he would stay in town to run the family business, so Potter can’t get control of the business.While the money for college would go to his brother Harry.
While George would live his life hoping his younger brother Harry would take on the loan company and George can pursue his dream, its dashed when Harry introduces his new wife and that he can’t run the business, meaning George will continue to run the family business.
But if there is one good thing for George, its reuniting with Mary Hatch, who he falls for and the two end up together.
But what happens to George that makes him want to contemplate suicide? And what would life be if George Bailey did not live?
There is no doubt that there are some similarities to the 1843 Charles Dickens novella, “A Christmas Carol”. About a man who gets to see the lives of others if he were not around. How he saved others and why he should realize how important, how wonderful his life is.
Sure, while a classic holiday film that begins with an introduction to a man wanting to kill himself is dark, it’s that semblance of hope, the love between husband and wife and overcoming all odds, and the compassion of people and what your life brought to the lives of others, is what makes this story so beloved. That people go through problems and problems are temporary.
George Bailey sacrificed a lot, but its what made him an earnest, good man with a good heart. And though he goes through his darkest of times, he learns an important lesson and learns why his life, is indeed a wonderful life.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a timeless holiday classic that I highly recommend watching!
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