Cast. Lionel Barrymore, Ward Bond, Frank Faylen, Gloria Grahame, Thomas Mitchell, Donna Reed, James Stewart, Henry Travers.
Rating. 92%
A visit to The Glasgow Film Theatre on Christmas Eve to watch a screening of It's A Wonderful Life is a cherished family tradition in the Glen household. Oh, how we missed the experience during the coronavirus lockdowns.
Frank Capra's timeless masterpiece may now enjoy its status as a firm Christmas favourite, but this wasn't the case initially. It's A Wonderful Life was the first output of Liberty Films, a short-lived independent film company formed by Frank Capra, producer Samuel J. Briskin and directors William Wyler and George Stevens. The film was cooly received by critics and performed poorly at the box office. It's A Wonderful Life failed to recoup its high production costs of in excess of $2.3 million dollars and lost more than $500,000 on its release in Christmas 1946 (in the United States). It's A Wonderful Life only became popular in the 1970s when copyright lapsed and US television networks made the film a staple of the Christmas television schedule.
Before World War II, the three-time Academy Award-winning director's most famous works were screwball comedies, It Happened One Night (1934), romantic comedies, You Can't Take It With You (1938) and satirical social conscience comedy-dramas, the likes of Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936), and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939). Many of these early films share similar themes with It's A Wonderful Life, namely the celebration of small-town values and the goodness of common people, alongside scorn and cynicism of big-time corporate principles. Whilst the film may be viewed as a conscience piece, aimed at soothing an audience traumatised in the immediate aftermath of World War II, what differentiates It's A Wonderful Life from its pre-war counterparts is the degree of darkness found within the storyline.
When the war was over, many of the values extolled in Frank Capra's earlier films were now redundant and irrelevant. Therefore, the director had to re-establish himself in Hollywood. It's A Wonderful Life became the auspicious return for Frank Capra, as well as the film's lead actor, James Stewart, both of whom had dedicated themselves to the war effort - producing and directing documentaries and promotional films, and serving in the US Army Air Corps, respectively.
It's A Wonderful Life centres on the character of George Bailey, played memorably by James Stewart, who lives in the fictional town of Bedford Falls, upstate New York. Thwarted by circumstances, George is progressively forced to abandon his dreams of college education, world travel and a high-flying career to stay at home and look after the family's Building and Loan business.
George's altruism finally takes its toll on one fateful Christmas Eve when $8,000 from the Building and Loan's funds are misplaced. The consequences are potentially dire - bankruptcy, scandal, prison. There is almost an inevitable explosion from a man whose personal dreams and ambitions have been continually circumvented by the needs and demands of others. At his wit's end, feeling that taking his own life is the only option available to him, he is consoled by his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, AS2 (Henry Travers). Clarence affords George a chance to see what the world, and in particular the residents of his beloved Bedford Falls, would look like if he never existed.
More than half the film is told in flashback, an uncommon technique in the 1940s. In doing so, Frank Capra recants George Bailey's entire life story. We understand his motivations and desires. We witness his private moments of frustration and anger, and the cost of every one of his selfless sacrifices. The audience can't help but fall in love with George Bailey.
The influence of the atrocities of World War II on the lead actors cannot be underestimated. James Stewart, in particular, may have drawn on his own personal wartime traumas to give such a raw and emotive performance. In his darkest moment of despair, seeking divine intervention in Martini's bar, those were genuine tears shed by James Stewart. The lead actors perfectly mirror the two major emotions prevalent after World War II - George is the jaded cynic contemplating whether life will ever be the same again, and Mary is the life-affirming optimist.
Although an original storyline, the film is essentially a re-working of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Underneath the uplifting Yuletide veneer, the film routinely confronts dark themes such as poverty, death and suicide. George's nightmarish odyssey through Pottersville and an alternate community fashioned without his existence is strikingly dark, almost tipping over into film noir territory.
The film's enduring popularity can be attributed to its sincerity, earnestness and warmth. A sentimental celebration of the virtues of an ordinary life. It's A Wonderful Life isn't only a story true to the spirit of Christmas, but a film with a philosophy - a message that has managed to resonate with audiences through the decades.
For me, It's A Wonderful Life remains the best Christmas film of all time. Frank Capra's genius is to combine a film with comedy, romance and melodrama into an entertaining, emotional and ultimately uplifting package. It's A Wonderful Life is the kind of experience cinema was invented for, and James Stewart's journey into despair and back will be forever treasured.
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