The Movie Book

90 IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

I

ronically, the release of Frank

Capra’s most enduring motion

picture was one of his greatest

disappointments. Despite being

amply praised by his peers, who

appreciated the movie’s craft, and

winning five Oscar nominations

plus a Golden Globe for its director,

the movie flopped at the box

office. Through the years, however,

popular perceptions of the movie

changed, and over the course of his

life Capra saw it become one of the

best-loved movies of all time.

Today, It’s a Wonderful Life has

become a festive favorite that seems

to embody the Christmas spirit.

In the 1930s, Capra had been the

voice of Hollywood. He refined the

screwball comedy genre with

IN CONTEXT

GENRE

Fantasy drama

DIRECTOR

Frank Capra

WRITERS

Frances Goodrich, Albert

Hackett, Frank Capra

STARS

James Stewart, Donna

Reed, Lionel Barrymore

BEFORE

1934 Frank Capra has

his first major hit with

the screwball comedy

It Happened One Night.

1939 In Capra’s Mr. Smith

Goes to Washington, James

Stewart plays a naive but

honest man who takes a place

in the US Senate.

AFTER

1950 In Henry Koster’s Harvey,

Stewart has a big hit playing a

likeable man who speaks to an

invisible human-sized rabbit.

00:04

George saves his brother

Harry from drowning in an

icy lake. In the process,

George suffers an ear

infection that leaves him

partially deaf, and will later

keep him out of the war.

00:51

George marries his

sweetheart, Mary. They are

about to go on honeymoon,

when there is a run on the

bank. George stays, and

saves the bank with his

own money.

01:20

At the end of the war,

with Harry due to return

home, Uncle Billy accidentally

gives Potter $8,000 on the

day the bank examiner is

visiting. Potter keeps the

money to ruin George.

01:44

Clarence shows

George what the world

would have been like

if George had never

existed. This leads

George to beg to be

allowed to live again.

00:25

After his father dies,

George gives up his travel

plans to manage the family’s

Bailey Building and Loan,

the only way he can stop

Mr. Potter, a slum landlord,

taking over the business.

01:10

Potter offers George a

$20,000-a-year job. George

turns it down and returns

home to hear from Mary

that she is pregnant.

00:00 00:20 00:40 01:00 01:20 01:40 02:00 02:10

01:36

In a bar, George implores

God to help; then he drives to

the bridge, where he intends

to end his life. Clarence, his

angel, saves him by jumping

into the water first so that

George can rescue him.

02:02

George runs home,

where he discovers

that the townspeople

have made a collection

to save him. Harry

returns as they all

sing Auld Lang Syne.

Minute by minute

George Bailey (James Stewart) woos

Mary (Donna Reed), just before tragedy

strikes: George’s father dies. He has to

take over the family business, and

never leaves Bedford Falls.