Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart's It's a Wonderful Life is my all-time favorite

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2006)

Since I first saw this classic in 1981, I've seen an episode of Laverne and Shirly with this premise (it's Laverne who imagines this scenario), a musical version on stage with Ernie the taxi driver-not Martini-owning a bar, and last year a Baton Rouge Little Theater presentation with dialogue almost taken verbatim from the movie. Nothing however compares to the original film interpretation. How can one not laugh when George (Jimmy Stewart) and Mary (Donna Reed) accidentally fall into the high school gym swimming pool after Mary ditched a potential suitor (Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer)? Or not get touched by George's speech defending his late father to Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore)? Certainly the last hour as George feels the world tumbling before him and his eventual appreciation of his life are some of the most tear-and-laugh inducing scenes I've ever seen in the movies or television. It's a Wonderful Life has always been my favorite movie and nothing I've ever seen has even come close. Kudos to Stewart and director Frank Capra for such a life-affirming project. Thanks also to Barrymore, Reed, Switzer, Samuel S. Hinds (George's father Peter), Beulah Bondi (George's mom), Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy), H.B. Warner (Gower the druggist), Gloria Grahame (Violet Bick), Lilian Randolph (Annie the maid), Sheldon Leonard (Nick the bartender), Ward Bond (Bert the cop), Frank Faylen (Ernie the taxi driver), Bill Edmunds (Martini), and Charles Lane in his role as the guy who tells Potter about George's Bailey Park plans for filling the picture with, in Nick's words "a little atmosphere". Add to that all the various kid and adult actors I can't remember right now. And finally, special thanks to Henry Travers (Clarence) for making us all believe in angels. No truer words have ever been written as the one in Clarence's book gift (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) to George: No man is a failure who has friends. Though one may quibble about Harry not being saved without George despite other friends near him or Mary becoming an old maid, It's a Wonderful Life is a flawless masterpiece that has stood the test of time for the last 60 years. May it stand forevermore. P.S. Look for the Blondie movie series' kid stars Larry "Baby Dumpling/Alexander Bumstead" Simms (George's son Pete) and Danny "Alvin Fuddle" Mummert (Little Marty Hatch). And Ellen "Grandma Walton" Corby as the woman George kisses in the run-on-the-bank sequence.