Hi again, moviegoers!
You knew this one was coming: ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ Made in 1946, directed by Frank Capra (Based on a short story called ‘The Greatest Gift’ written by Philip Van Doren Stern), it stars Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Henry Travers, and Lionel Barrymore. Although the movie was initially a major flop in the box office when it first came out, it has since been considered one of the greatest American films ever made and a Christmas classic worldwide.
It opens with the family and friends of a man named George Bailey (Stewart) all praying for him. Then, it goes up to Heaven, where some of the angels are debating what to do about it. They summon angel- in- training Clarence (Travers), and inform him that later that night, Bailey will be contemplating suicide.
The first half of the film is then spent with the angels showing Clarence in flashbacks about George Bailey’s life. All throughout it, George’s main concern has been helping others, he’s sacrificed a lot for the sake of his community, especially trying to help the other residents of Bedford Falls avoid winding up under the thumb of Henry Potter (Barrymore), the heartless money- grubber who controls much of the town and clearly wants to control what’s left as well.
Then, on Christmas Eve, Bailey falls into a lot of trouble, as his eccentric uncle Billy misplaced $8000 that was meant to be deposited in the bank to keep his family’s building & loan alive. With the police and district attorney after him and his growing increasingly desperate, he begins losing his temper at everyone he sees, including his own wife and children. When he goes to Potter as a last- ditch attempt for help, the twisted old creep mocks George as being worth more dead than alive, and George starts to take that to heart. George finds himself at the city bridge, contemplating throwing himself in to his death so his family can get the life insurance money to pay off everything.
Just then, Clarence, having seen all he needed to see, intervenes. The suicide averted, he and George get to talking, and George says everyone would be a lot better off if he were never born. To prove how wrong this notion is, Clarence shows George what the world would have been like if he were never born, and it isn’t a pretty sight. The quaint little town of Bedford Falls has been turned into a thriving but decadent and nightmarish city now known as “Pottersville.†His children were never born, his wife never married, and most of the other good people he knew are now either dead, or in such bad shape that they might as well be.
George starts to realize that, although he had always thought of his life as being wasted because he never got to go out and see the world as he had hoped, the opposite was true; his life was about as well- spent as a life can be, because of all the decent people he helped. He begs Clarence to be allowed to have been born again, and his wish is granted. He’s overjoyed to see the town and its people returned to normal, and to be reunited with his family. Finally, he gets a big surprise from all his friends, which resolves his financial problems and reminds him again that he is far from a failure, as well as reminding him that Clarence, through helping to save George, earned his wings.
While certainly a classic, I can think of a few things I’d change about ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ mostly involving what they could have shown during the time when George sees what the world would be like if he were never born. For instance, one of George’s friends was a kindly Italian bar owner named Martini. When Bedford Falls is transformed into “Pottersville,†we see what happened to the bar (It’s now a raucous dive known as “Nick’s†instead of “Martini’sâ€), but not what happened to Martini himself. My only guess is that in that timeline, Martini and his family would still be living in the rundown shack owned by Potter (One of the things we see in the flashback was George helping the Martinis move out of it and into a nicer house), but they could have shown or at least mentioned that. Speaking of Potter, even though he obviously took over Bedford Falls in that timeline (Hence its name), we never see Potter himself in it. They could have done that, shown him as now being worse than ever as a result of being drunk with power and controlling all of the city (Sort of like Biff in the alternate- Hill- Valley timeline of ‘Back to the Future 2’). Another small issue is relating to how George got into trouble in the first place. Considering that it was a lot of money, you’d think George would have maybe entrusted the $8000 to one of the other employees besides absent- minded Uncle Billy.
All that being said, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ remains one of my all- time favorite movies. The opening in which we see/hear George’s friends and relatives praying for him is quite touching, and is sort of foreshadowing of what will happen in the end of the movie (Seeing that there are so many people who care enough about George to know that something is very wrong with him, and pray for him). The message is absolutely wonderful, about how what truly defines a person’s life/ worth is what kind of an impact he or she has had on the lives of others. Ever since I first saw the movie in its entirety nine years ago, I’ve strove to live my own life that way. The flashbacks of George’s life help to reveal a lot about how much he and the other characters grew over the course of their lives. The scenes in “Pottersville†are scary as hell, and seeing those kind Bedford Falls residents who we had watched living there earlier in the film in the wretched states they are now in with this timeline is heartbreaking. Finally, the resolution and ending have admittedly brought me to tears several times in the past.
As far as the performances go, they’re all winners. Donna Reed as George’s wife Mary is heavily sympathetic. From the time of her dating George, to the time as his wife, we really feel how deeply she cares for him. Lionel Barrymore makes Potter into one of the most vicious and twisted villains I’ve ever seen in a movie. Even just through little things, his greed and desire for power over others are easily evident (i.e. in his office, the chairs in front of his desk for visitors are noticeably shorter than his own, to give the impression of him lording over anyone who comes to see him). Just the sound of his smug voice can make a person’s skin crawl.
As Clarence the angel in training, Henry Travers is very funny (He has no problem admitting to literally everyone that he is an angel, and I always chuckle at some of the scenes in which he makes mention of that), and also quite moving and poignant. Just hearing the couple notes of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star†used as Clarence’s theme music brings a smile to my face.
However, this is really Jimmy Stewart’s film, he made the movie what it is with his portrayal of George Bailey. He takes the character on a full range of emotions all throughout the movie, from optimistic to angry to desperate to terrified to filled with joy, and pulls it all off effortlessly, with the honest, down- to- earth charm he always brings to his roles. His monologues (Especially when confronting Potter in various scenes) are all quite memorable. Seeing his performance makes it that much sweeter when Bailey’s life of service to others is finally rewarded.
That takes care of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ beautiful film that has earned its reputation as one of the Christmas greats and which I eagerly look forward to seeing each Christmas Eve.
Well, it’s past midnight now, so merry Christmas, and stay tuned, loyal readers, I’ve got a couple more to go through before this is done!
