Reel Look: It's A Wonderful Life

Rating: 8/10 (25 December 2016)

"Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends." Frank Capra's portrayal of the average American everyman through his direction has been seen in his previous films, such as It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. But none shines the brightest and boldest except here. Capra's American Christmas fantasy drama and personal favorite film (including Stewart's), 'It's a Wonderful Life' has initially, and belovedly, become a holiday favorite the years over. The story was originally written by Philip Van Doren Stern in November 1939, entitled "The Greatest Gift". Unsuccessful in getting his story published, he decided to make it into a Christmas card, mailing two hundred copies to family and friends in December 1943. In April 1944, RKO Pictures bought the rights to the film for $10,000, upon coming to the attention of producer David Hempstead, of whom showed it to Cary Grant's Hollywood agent. Hoping to make the story into a vehicle for Grant, RKO created three unsatisfactory scripts before finally shelving the planned movie, as Grant went on to make another Christmas movie staple, The Bishop's Wife. At the suggestion of RKO Studio chief Charles Koerner, Capra read "The Greatest Gift" and saw its potential immediately, later stating that this was the picture he was born to make. RKO sold the rights to Capra's own production company, Liberty Films, in 1945, of which had a nine-film distribution. The script underwent many revisions throughout pre-production and during filming. With the final screenplay credit going to Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett and Frank Capra (with uncredited input from Dorothy Parker, Clifford Odets and the infamously blacklisted Dalton Trumbo), the film was thus put into production after much anxiousness from RKO. Though a flop upon its release, losing $525,000 at the box office for RKO, it had to stand the test of time. By the 1960s, the film's copyright had expired, thus opening the floodgates for a "public domain" to be circulated for cheap and recurring television broadcasts. The film became a mainstay due to wholesome family viewing, especially due to the fact that it was repeated excessively during the holiday season. In the 1970s, public broadcasting stations set the film's reputation of quality in stone by scheduling the picture against the tactless network's commercial and materialistic costs, even becoming a victim of the colorization craze. By the 1980s due to numerous television showings, it had become a traditional holiday viewing during the Christmas season. So does this American holiday classic hold up even by today's standards to provoke even still to feel post viewing? Let's take a look.
George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) is a good-natured, generous small-town businessman of whom has spent his entire life in Bedford Falls, Connecticut. Sacrificing his education and yearning wanderlust to leave town and see the world, his dreams and aspirations are lost again and again due to sending his younger brother Harry to college instead of himself. He also stays behind and marries his childhood sweetheart Mary (Donna Reed) while also keeping the family-run savings and loan afloat from the heartless clutches of the greedy banker Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore, in a suitably hateful Scrooge-like performance). When $8,000 is accidentally misplaced on Christmas Eve, a distraught and desperately frustrated George contemplates suicide by preparing to jump off of the local bridge into the icy waters below. It is here that his untimely death is prevented when his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) intercedes on his behalf, eventually showing George what life in Bedford Falls would have looked like without him had he never existed, culminating in a triumphal ending in opening George's eyes and our own as to realize that we too don't know how much difference we have made in other's lives as well.
Today, 'It's A Wonderful Life' still contains the profound and yet raw emotional power to evoke joy, sorrow and the feeling of redemption. Nominated for five Academy Awards, the film has certainly become an iconoclastic staple in American cinema as a traditional and seasonal viewing experience, and certainly one of the most acclaimed pictures of all time. So much so that it truly demands to be seen each and every year due to its robust themes, ponderings and incredible acting from Stewart. And, seventy years later, it still remains an all-American classic and a powerful reminder that every life is important, regarding of what one makes of it. And I personally feel that that ideal is what truly makes life wonderful.