Not only do many consider it the greatest Christmas film of all time, but many consider
it one of the greatest FILMS of all time, period.
Even though it debuted 75 years ago, it still holds up amazingly well.
Here is everything you need to know about It’s a Wonderful Life.
Behind the scenes November 1939
Philip Van Doren Stern begins writing a short story loosely based on the classic Charles
Dickens novella A Christmas Carol.
He didn’t finish it until 1943 and sent it to a bunch of publishers, none of which
were interested in publishing it.
So he just printed a bunch and mailed them to friends and family members instead.
Well somehow, the story, called The Greatest Gift, got into the hands of David Hempstead,
a film producer who worked for RKO Pictures, and he got the story to the actor Cary Grant.
Well Grant loved it and said if RKO Pictures turned it into a film, he’d want to play
the lead role.
RKO bought the rights to turn it into a movie for $10,000.
However, RKO Pictures hesitated on moving forward, not satisfied with different scripts
that different screenwriters came up with.
Enter director Frank Capra, whose new production company, Liberty Films, had just entered a
long-term deal with RKO.
After Capra read it he immediately wanted it for his first Hollywood film.
Capra hired his own team to help him write a screenplay from it.
The main folks who contributed were Frances Goodrich, Albert Hacket, and Jo Swerling,
although Capra apparently didn’t get along well with the team.
Though this has never been fully verified, Capra was likely inspired to model the setting
for the film after Seneca Falls, New York, after he visited the town in 1945, although
the original author, Stern, had Califon, New Jersey in mind.
Anyway, Cary Grant had moved on, so now Capra needed to find someone for the lead role.
He found James Stewart, who had just returned home from his heroic military service during
World War Two.
Stewart had worked with Capra on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington before the war.
Now that the war was over, Stewart was looking at returning to acting, and gladly accepted
the leading role of George Bailey.
Capra considered MANY actors for the rest of the roles, but ultimately went with Donna
Reed to play George’s wife, Mary Bailey.
He chose Lionel Barrymore to play Potter, which was kind of fitting since Barrymore
had famously played Ebenezer Scrooge in radio presentations of A Christmas Carol a few years
prior.
The dude who Capra picked to play Mr. Gower, the drugstore owner was H.B.
Warner, who actually studied medicine before going into acting.
An English actor named Henry Travers played Clarence, the angel.
Though he was an accomplished actor, this would easily be his most famous role.
Capra would not only direct the film, but produce the whole thing as well.
Filming began on April 15, 1946 and ended on July 27th, and no, they didn’t film it
in New York or New Jersey.
They filmed it in California, of course, mostly on a giant set.
Yep, Bedford Falls was a fake town built on four acres at the RKO Studios in Culver City,
California, with additional scenes shot on their 89-acre ranch in Encino.
For the snow scenes, special effects artist Russell Shearman had developed a brand new
compound mixing water, soap flakes, foamite, and sugar.
Before that movie snow was usually made from untoasted cornflakes, believe it or not.
The famous high school dance scenes were filmed at a REAL location, at Beverly Hills High
School, which you can still visit.
Here is what it looks like today, and it may just be the only full size pool with a basketball
court over it in the world.
At least the only one of its kind that I could find.
Other random facts about filming?
This apparently was accidentally a real slap and the young George Bailey, played by Bobby
Anderson, was really bleeding out of his ear.
This scene, in which a drunk Uncle Billy supposedly crashes into trash cans off screen, actually
plays the sound of a technician accidentally knocking over some camera equipment.
It’s a Wonderful Life premiered on December 20, 1946, yeah just five days before Christmas,
at the Globe Theatre in New York City.
It wouldn’t be released nationwide until January 7th, which probably hurt its performance.
Critics were mixed about it and it actually underperformed at the box office, with RKO
losing $525,000.
The FBI officially didn’t like it, either, issuing a memo that said the film secretly
had a pro-Communist agenda.
Plot While you should definitely watch it yourself,
here is the basic storyline.
It begins on Christmas Eve, 1945, in the aforementioned town of Bedford Falls, and we see the main
character, George Bailey, considering committing suicide.
After his family and friends pray for him, Heaven assigns an angel named Clarence to
save George’s life in order to earn his wings.
But before he does that, he learns George’s life story, and we do, too, for the majority
of the film.
In fact, Clarence doesn’t make his first appearance until an hour and forty minutes
in, but we definitely need that hour and forty minutes to fall for George, which is pretty
easy because we learn he is definitely a decent and honorable person.
We learn about his hopes and dreams as a young man, as well as some of his trials and tribulations.
A constant theme throughout the film is George having big plans to change the world, but
he constantly keeps having stuff come up that requires his attention at home.
Oh, and the woman he falls in love with, Mary.
And he does grow jealous and bitter over the years watching his friends and brother seem
to live out their hopes and dreams.The main antagonist throughout the film is Henry Potter.
After George’s father dies, George takes over the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan,
much to the disappointment of Potter, who apparently wants to control the entire town.
Potter especially doesn’t like how, under George’s leadership, Bailey Brothers Building
and Loan establishes Bailey Park, a housing development that rivals his overpriced slums.
Along the way we see George constantly putting others before himself, even when it's clearly
not in his best interest.
The catalyst that causes George to consider suicide is his Uncle Billy losing $8,000,
which remember in 1945 was a lot ok, and means that not only would his business fail, but
he would go to prison.
Analysis It’s a Wonderful Life is a fantasy film,
as we see things happen that we assume are not possible here in the real world.
And sure, it is sentimental, but the reason why it’s sentimental is because it delivers
a very powerful, uplifting, and universal message.
It’s not just that George Bailey is a “good person.”
It’s that we ALL are “good people.”
A big message is that communities and relationships are more important than almost everything
else when it comes to being happy.
And yeah…if you do good, good will come your way, often when you least expect it to.
The acting is ahead of its time.
Trust me, go back and watch other Hollywood films of the era.
Virtually every character shines.
Some have interpreted the film to be a praise of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies.
Some say it’s actually tragic that George never got out of Bedford Falls.
But they're missing the point.
If the story continues, George likely will earn enough money to travel the world like
he really always wanted, this time with his beloved wife Mary.
Potter would have likely died and he likely would have controlled most of the town.
But that crap is extra…it’s bonus stuff ok?
Often, by taking care of and appreciating your relationships, everything else falls
into place.
George spends his whole life waiting for it to begin, but at the end of the film he realizes
he was living it all along.
It’s a Wonderful Life is timeless.
Young viewers today barely notice those strange telephones the characters talk into or cars
they drive or phonographs they somehow play music through.
The engaging story, filled with lots of drama but also just enough comedy, is so good that
none of that matters.
Legacy Although It’s a Wonderful Life received
five Academy Award nominations the year it was released, it only won one: the Technical
Achievement Award for the work of the aforementioned Russell Shearman.
Also, as I said earlier, the film was kind of a flop at the box office, and many critics
talked trash about it.
It was only decades later that people began to realize the true greatness of the film,
but the reason for that might surprise you.
So what was the reason?
People began watching it.
You see, due to an apparent clerical error, in 1974, the movie’s copyright expired,
and the film went into the public domain, meaning any media outlet could broadcast the
film and not have to pay any royalty fees to do so.
Because of this, after 1974 the movie was everywhere since distributors could air it
for free, and people LOVED it.
After more and more folks had VCRs, they duplicated the heck out of it.
Long story short, eventually NBC got the television rights for the film, and it’s currently
streaming it for free.
Over the years, It’s a Wonderful Life has been adapted for radio and for the stage.
It’s been referenced at least hundreds of times in television shows and other movies.
There have been remakes and spinoffs, and lots of satires.
Today, the film is considered a classic.
In 1990, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National
Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
It also often appears on many greatest movies of all time lists.
Heck, later on, both Frank Capra and James Stewart considered it their favorite film.
Notably, it’s #1 on the American Film Institute’s Most Inspiring Films of all Time list.
And inspiring is probably the best word to describe It’s a Wonderful Life.
It’s undeniable that this film shines light on the darkness and gives us hope.
Every Christmas season, watching it is the slap in the face we need to realize what is
TRULY the most important.
Forget personal ambitions and materialism.
What matters most are the humans in our lives.
Our relationships.
And if we take care of our community, our community will always take care of us.
Ain’t gonna lie.
I often cry when watching the ending of this film.
It’s that good.
December 20th was the 75th anniversary of this film’s release, and I do look forward
to watching it every year.
So what are some of YOUR favorite Christmas movies?
Also, what other film would you like to see explained in a similar fashion?
Let me know in those comments below.
Also, Led Zeppelin is next.
Woot woot.
Happy holidays and stuff, and I’m supposed to tell you to subscribe to my channel.
Thanks for watching.