The fable still holds up

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2002)

I just re-watched this film with my family as an annual Christmas tradition (first time on DVD though). I have to say, despite the 10-11 times i've seen this, it still holds up with magnificent strength and emotion. The scenes where Bailey has "never been born" with Clarence the angle and the triumphant concluding scene in Stewart's house where all his friends come to his aid are famous beyond comparison, but still are mesmerizing and emotional. What often is overlooked is the mountain of great dialogue in this film. Barrymore and Stewart have so many great lines-"I'm and old man and most people hate me, but I don't like them either"; "Oh, why don't you stop annoying people!"; "Is it too much to ask that people can live their lives with a few nice rooms and a bath and not have to live in your slums? We need this run-down old building just so there can be somewhere people can go and not crawl to Potter." Jimmy Stewart gives one of THE performances of all time as the ultimate put-upon good guy George Bailey. All he wants to do is get out of Bedford Falls, travel the world and go to college. But, because of a string of coincidences and occurences where George puts others above himself, he ends up never leaving the town. Donna Reed is his loving wife Mary, who waits around for George to realize that he loves her. This situation leads to one of the most touching and romantic scenes on film, where as the plastic magnate Sam Wainwright talks to George and Mary on the same phone, they look into each other's eyes and you see the what they truly feel for eachother. George grabs Mary, saying "I don't wanna get married to anyone anywhere at anytime", but he is cut off in the middle of his speech by the emotion, and they embrace. Rob Reiner claims he can't watch or discuss this scene without tearing up. How Stewart and Reed didn't win Oscars for this scene alone is unthinkable. Also, Lionel Barrymore is great as the evil Mr. Potter (with his wheelchair pilot/crony, Potter is the predecessor to everyone from the Beatles "Mean Mr. Mustard" to Mr. Burns on "The Simpsons")-who you believe is just a mean old man at the beginning, but then when he gives his final major speech to Stewart you realize what a twisted and cruel monster he truly is. The director, Frank Capra, must also be given credit when praising this film. He directs the actors and frames them in such a way that the true relationships and actions between them are so much more meaningful. He really knew what he was doing when making this film. The make-up and lighting department also successfully show the wear of 18 years on the principle actors-this movie takes place with the same actors from the period of 1928-1946, and Reed's and Stewart's make-up jobs are extremely convincing. Some great moments: The close-ups of Stewarts face when 1.) He lears if he doesn't take over the Bailey Building and Loan, the board of trustees will vote with Potter and drive the institution out of business, and 2.) In the fantasy scenes, where he runs away from "Ma Bailey's Boarding House" and realizes that not even his own mother regognizes him. The speech Bailey gives condemning Mr. Potter after Pa Bailey's death and Potter's appeal to liquidate the Building and Loan. A young George Bailey reveals to the pharmacist Mr. Gower that because he was so grief-stricken over the death of his son that he put the wrong medicine in the wrong tablet, and the look from Gower when he realizes that if not for Bailey, he would have done a terrible, terrible thing (this moment always gives me goosebumps). The look of disgust and horror on Stewart's face after shaking Potter's hand after being offered a job, then wiping his hand on his jacket-symbolising his realization that if he had agreed to work for Potter, he would have been selling his soul to the devil. This scene is followed by the wonderfully tender moment between Stewart and Reed where he stares at her in the dark as she tells him she is pregnant. Capra's greatest gift to the common man, "It's a Wonderful Life" still holds up beautifully. It is a morality tale with a timeless message that no man is poor who has friends. It's the ultimate happy ending, and the ultimate Christmas story.