It's Wonderful Tripe

Rating: 2/10 (30 December 2018)

This is Hollywood saccharine at its most deadly.
Jimmy Stewart is the bumbling owner/manager of the local hick town's
Savings & Loan but his grasp of economics is so feable only a country of dirt farmers and unemployed laborers who think FDR was some kind of genius would buy this drivel. I was actually surprised to learn that upon release, movie-goers were wise enough to reject this movie. Only to see it revived for audiences decades later when it became part of the public domain so TV station could show it for free. Come to think of it, that explains everything - the movie sorta rests on a ''free sh^t for everyone" theme so why shouldn't it have grown popular by being a feel-good movie families watched for free on TV at Christmas while the local TV station padded its bottom line at virtually zero cost to them.
The bank owner played by Barrymore is so broadly brushed as an evil capitalist I'm surprised Capra didn't get hauled in front of HUAC or Sen. McCarthy.
The first 2/3 of the movie where Stewart stumbles from one misfortune to another is so turgidly paced and insipidly acted I couldn't wait for him to, um, do something about it. The final 1/3 with the Ghost of Christmas Past shtick wasn't terribly fresh or interesting, either.
This movie is easily one of the most over-rated of all time.