Perennial favorite has worn well with time...

Rating: 8/10 (10 January 2007)

...and remains one of the few film classics that absolutely, in my mind, should never, ever be remade. The reader may wonder why I don't rate it higher than "8" if I feel that way, but I have reasons.
One, the story relies on various conceits to make its point about George's importance to the people around him. Take, for instance, the opening sequence in which George saves his little brother, Harry, from drowning. Later, we learn that Harry grows up to become a WWII hero, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor by saving a troop transport from a kamikaze attack. In Pottersville, however, George's non-existence translates to an unsaved Harry and a transport load of troops sent to Davey Jones' locker. All well and good, but this scenario ignores two things: someone else might well have saved Harry's life, and even more significantly, without George, Harry might well have never fallen into the icy pond in the first place. Similar arguments can be made for virtually every other character whose future in Pottersville is radically altered by George's non-being.
Two, the film is rife with a certain nostalgic myopia, painting a vision of American life that really never existed outside of a Norman Rockwell painting.
Three, it overtly reinforces supernaturalism and irrationality, depending on heavenly intervention to remedy human error. This is, however, no surprise given the tenor of the times in which it was produced, as well as the very human tendency toward superstition that has been with us since longer than we've been able to write, let alone make movies.
However, none of these flaws can overly tarnish what Frank Capra himself identified as his favorite movie that he made. "It's a Wonderful Life" remains a rare gem in the treasury of American film-making, an unabashedly sentimental fable about the worth of the individual and the value of hearth and home, family and friends. It is a fairy tale meant for adults, yet accessible to children. Its language is sweet and simple, based primarily on the vocabulary of love and friendship. Its technical aspects are noteworthy (the fake snow, the elaborate Bedford Falls set, the superb use of Dmitri Tiomkin's score and other music, the fine camera-work), the casting is impeccable (can you possibly imagine anyone besides Jimmy Stewart playing George Bailey?), and of course, the direction is top grade.
Scene after scene burns itself into the viewer's consciousness: Mr. Gower's gut-wrenching realization that George has saved him from poisoning an innocent; a grown-up Violet sashaying past George and the boys; George and Mary's first date, and a number of years later, their first kiss (perhaps one of the greatest screen kisses ever consummated); George's breakdown, both at home and at Martini's pub; a callous Nick in Pottersville, banging on the cash register and cackling, "Get me, I'm handing out wings!" The list goes on and on, and no doubt every viewer has his or her own favorites. Myself, I'm still partial to "Why don't you kiss her instead of talking her to death?" followed by "Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people!"
It's incredibly rare to see such a film rated highly by the IMDb crowd, young and male as it is. 50k+ voters and a 42% "10" rating. Astounding! Even the usual gang of pessimists, cynics, and naysayers couldn't rack up better than 5% poor ("1," "2," or "3") votes. Amazing! The one anomaly that intrigues me is the relatively low vote of the sub-18 female cohort. I can only speculate that they had a hard time identifying with Mary, the one character they perhaps recognize as having had more direct impact on George's "failures" than any other. Could it be they are somewhat embarrassed by the machinations of their own gender?
All in all, "It's a Wonderful Life" works because we want it to work. It embodies a timeless appeal to humankind's better side, the side that wants to do the right thing regardless of the cost. For that it will always remain a top-rank film to be enjoyed year after year.
One small side note: I recently completed a two-month stint in a musical version of "It's a Wonderful Life" in which Clarence getting his wings takes on far too much import. The cast almost unanimously disliked the script we had to perform, primarily because the songs, although pretty enough, failed by and large to advance the plot, reducing the story to its bare bones, discarding or horribly distorting scene after favorite scene, and reducing many characters to barely recognizable caricatures. I won't say which musical version it is (there are several), but I will advise you to avoid it at all costs if you are any sort of purist about the film. You won't be glad you saw it, no matter how well it's performed.