Librarians, Boogie Woogie

Rating: Null/10 (27 December 2004)

I watched this again yesterday. I've been sucked into watching this (sometimes up to eight times when it was still public domain) every December for about 40 years. It's that good.
I always enjoy this movie, but there are two and a half elements that stop me cold, leave me cold, make me not like the scenes I'm watching:
1) The climactic horror that Mary is a librarian. And presumably single. And wearing white lipstick before 1964. Alternate scenarios? An early death? An an abusive marriage? At least she wouldn't be an "old maid."
2) That the music in the bar sucks because George exists. I guess the "Bailey exists" music is coming from the juka boxa of final scene fame. Martini's is depicted as a reasonably earthy neighborhood bar otherwise, with forties guys in hats ordering shots, but their audio ambiance is Deanna Durbin. If George had not been born the bar would have been a tougher hangout, but there would have been a live piano player performing good boogie-woogie.
1/2) Since it's not integral to George not being born, this doesn't divert me quite as much: Annie's idiotic line about "savi'n' up for a divorce i'f'n I ever get married" is the sort of "humor" that mars movies up to the sixties. Capra has mitigated this somewhat, it's Annie's only embarrassingly stupid line, and he shows sane African-Americans, albeit only as as extras, in other scenes. For a brief example, an attractive, not overweight/mammyish, 40's "New Negro" lady donates money to the George basket soon after Annie's "comic" turn.