It’s a Wonderful Life

For whatever reason, rumor has it that Frank Capra’s seminal Christmas favourite It’s a Wonderful Life came and went with little excitement. Certainly not the hit you’d expect from a film that has since gone on to become not only a holiday classic, but a classic amongst all American film history. Reaching to the core of the human spirit and remaining genuine throughout, It’s a Wonderful Life may come off as a little strong considering it’s on seemingly every time you sit down to do some channel surfing in the cold months of December, but it’s still deserving of one viewing per year, preferably without the interruption of commercials.

George Bailey (James Stewart) is a noble man. An adventurer at heart wishing to trek to all parts of the world, he becomes a slave of sacrifice to the family’s business, the Bailey Building and Loan. When he was but a wee lad, George lost his hearing in one ear after saving his younger brother Harry from frigid ice water. Then just as he was about to leave Bedford Falls, the place of his small-town upbringing, to travel, his father is striken with a stroke and George is left to tend to the family business. Again and again George’s plans and dreams of leaving are thwarted with circumstance after circumstance. Finally, married with four children and no exit ticket in sight, George gives up. In a Christmas Eve outburst where all seems hopeless, he sets out to kill himself. An angel sans wings named Clarence (Henry Travers) is sent down to help George see that he is an invaluable member of Bedford Falls, and in turn Clarence can earn his wings. The plan is something similar to what happened to Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Through spiritual means, George is transported to a world in which he’d never been born. People’s lives were forever changed, mostly for the worse, because he was never there to help them. Bedford Falls had long since been taken over by the rich and miserly Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore). Others had died because others still did not live as long. Through all of his sacrifices, George helped many people over the years and the cascading domino effect helped even more.

It’s a Wonderful Life gets you because it is so sincere. George does all the things that are right in a moral sense, yet you see why he does it. He has a genuinely big heart, even though every time he shows it he is hurt in the long run. Perhaps he is the perfect human being. But he can only exist in the movies and comes through in the eyes and spirit of Stewart. He carries himself with confidence and charm. Whether it’s while he’s trading verbal jabs with Potter or wooing his beloved Mary (Donna Reed), I couldn’t help but wish that I was anywhere close to as good a person as George.

The first few times I saw It’s a Wonderful Life was on television. While I liked it, it came off as a little on the longish side. Scenes felt disjointed and the pacing lagged. Then I saw it on video and it was a totally different movie. Suddenly, the three-hour television event was held to not much more than two. A sense of pacing emerged and I got wrapped up in all of the characters. Finally, I felt even more for George. This is where It’s a Wonderful Life went from a really good film to a classic for me. It might be easier to flip it on the television, but it’s not the same film by any means. Although you might have seen it many times on the TV, make an extra effort to track down an uninterrupted video or DVD. It’s not hard and well worth it.