page_title: George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life)
section_title: Post war
hierarchical_section_title: George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life) / Fictional biography / Post war
caption_attribution_description: English: Screenshot of Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Karolyn Grimes in the American film It's a Wonderful Life (1946). The film lapsed into the public domain in the United States due to the failure of National Telefilm Associates, the last copyright owner, to renew. See film article for details.Español: Conocida imagen de la película estadounidense de 1946 ¡Qué bello es vivir! en la que aparecen Donna Reed, James Stewart y Karolyn Grimes.
context_page_description: George Bailey is a fictional character and the protagonist in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. The character is a building and loan banker who sacrifices his dreams in order to help his community of Bedford Falls to the point where he feels life has passed him by. Eventually, due to difficulties in keeping the building and loan solvent, Bailey falls into despair so deep that he contemplates suicide, until his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, gives him a valuable perspective on the worth of his life. George finds through Odbody's angelic power and gift what life would be like if he didn't have his wife, Mary, his children and friends, and what their lives and the social structure of Bedford Falls would be like without him. The character was listed ninth on the American Film Institute's 2003 list of the 50 greatest screen heroes; although there are points of view that the movie's true hero is either Mary Hatch or Mr. Potter.
  Bailey is played by James Stewart as an adult and Bobby Anderson as a child, and is loosely based on George Pratt, a character in Philip Van Doren Stern's 1943 booklet The Greatest Gift.
context_section_description: Christmas Eve 1945
  On Christmas Eve morning, Uncle Billy is on his way to the bank to deposit $8,000 of the Building & Loan's cash funds. Holding a newspaper which has Harry on the front page he greets Potter saying, "Well, good morning, Mr. Potter. What's the news?" Billy grabs Mr. Potter's newspaper and says, "Well, well, well, Harry Bailey wins Congressional Medal. That couldn't be one of the Bailey boys? You just can't keep those Baileys down, now, can you, Mr. Potter?" Potter angrily snatches the paper, but Billy inattentively allows the money to be snatched with it. After returning to his office, Potter opens the paper, notices the money and keeps it, knowing that displacement of bank money would result in bankruptcy for the Building & Loan and criminal charges for George. Billy goes back to the Building & Loan and tells George the news. George is extremely worried, especially with the bank examiner just outside the room. George and Billy go through the town taking every step Billy took in the morning and it goes to a dead end. George later goes home, and Mary knows straight away something is wrong with him. To add to his anger, he finds out his youngest daughter Zuzu has come home with a cold, which George blames on her teacher. When she calls he berates her on the phone, and her husband, as well. He then gets frustrated with his family and ends up smashing up the models of buildings and bridges he had made.
  A desperate George appeals to Potter for a loan. Potter sarcastically turns George down, and then swears out a warrant for his arrest for bank fraud. George, now completely depressed, gets drunk at the bar owned by his friend, Martini, where he silently prays for help. He also gets a  full punch to the face from Zuzu's teacher's husband, who is drinking there. Again George runs out, and drives his car into a tree. He comes to a bridge intending to commit suicide, feeling he is "worth more dead than alive" because of a life insurance policy. Before he can leap, another man jumps in first and pretends to be drowning. After George rescues him, the man reveals himself to be George's guardian angel, Clarence Odbody.
  George does not believe him, and he bitterly wishes he had never been born. Inspired by this comment, Clarence shows George what the town would have been like without him, with the snow outside stopping as the change is made. In this alternative scenario Bedford Falls is instead named Pottersville, and is home to sleazy nightclubs, pawn shops, and amoral people. Bailey Park was never built, and remains an old cemetery. Mr. Gower was sent to prison for poisoning the child and is despised and homeless. Martini does not own the bars and is instead run by Nick, now with a gruff personality, who throws George and Clarence out of the bar. George's friend Violet Bick is a taxi-dancer who gets arrested. Ernie is hopelessly poor, with his family having forsaken him. Uncle Billy has been in an insane asylum for many years since he lost his brother and the family business. Harry is dead as a result of George not being there to save him from drowning, and the servicemen he would have saved also died. (A deleted scene exists in which George finds Martini's grave near Harry's, as Martini and his family died in a fire because they couldn't move out of Potter's slums.) Ma Bailey is a bitter widow, and Mary a shy, single spinster librarian.
  George runs back to the bridge and begs to be allowed to live again. His prayer is answered, shown as the snow restarts, and he runs home joyously, where the authorities are waiting to arrest him. Mary, Uncle Billy, and a flood of townspeople arrive with more than enough donations to save George and the Building & Loan. In addition, George's friend Sam Wainwright sends him a $25,000 line of credit by telegram. As they celebrate, the town's sheriff tears the warrant for his arrest and joins in the festivities. Harry also arrives to support his brother, and toasts George as "The richest man in town". In the pile of donated funds, George finds a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer insc
caption: George, Mary and their youngest daughter Zuzu.
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