Thank You Magic Shadows

Rating: 10/10 (22 January 2007)

Anybody who grew up in Ontario might remember TVO's "Magic Shadows".Elwy Yost would spin half an hour of a movie...each day for the week. Now I don't know how anybody today could watch that and even then as a kid I only watched one entire movie on Magic Shadows.That was the week he showed "Its a Wonderful Life". This was not the Christmas classic then.Mid seventies I had never heard of it and I was excited to watch every half hour of it. The audience knows there is a man who will be brought to despare and that he is a good man...well he must be because the angels are talking about how to save him.It is in this manner... how the story is set up... that there is a suspense and eagerness in watching.It almost feels like two films because you are watching the buildup to James Stewart's tragic demise all in flashback and then we are in the present and he isn't saved yet. Really well done film because it entertains and makes you feel good. Glad to see it became a classic and will always be there for us at Christmas. On the serious and dramatic side what happened to George Bailey could happen to any of us....he has the best intentions but at the end he is feeling unfulfilled and abandoned.James Stewart's acting captures this very well. Thank you Elwy Yost...Its A Wonderful Life!