It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore

produced and directed by Frank Capra

130 minutes

Angel Second Class Clarence Oddbody learns about the life of George Bailey (James Stewart). He sees George's progression from a young boy of about 10 to a man in his 30s. George always wanted to leave his hometown of Bedford Falls but circumstances conspire to keep him there. George becomes the president of the Bedford Falls' Savings and Loan which stands in direct opposition to the owner of the bank, Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore).

Potter seeks control of everything in Bedford Falls, including the Savings and Loan, which was started by George's father. George never wanted to run the S&L but after his father died, just before George was about to enroll at a university, George felt as if he had no choice but to step in and help his inept Uncle Billy run the S&L. 

The Bedford Falls Savings and Loan scrapes by for several years. George gets married to Mary (Donna Reed) and they have four children. Things come to a head for George and the S&L when Uncle Billy misplaces a large bank deposit on the same day that a bank examiner comes to inspect the S&L's books.

Fearing that he will be sent to prison, George freaks out and is about to kill himself when Clarence Oddbody arrives in Bedford Falls and introduces himself to George. George speculates that everyone would be better off if he had never existed. Clarence helps George to see how much worse things would have been if he had not been born while Mary rallies the people of Bedford Falls to chip in and replace the missing funds.

Thoughts

There are plenty of details and characters that my summary skipped over.

I've seen this movie several times before. I'm pretty sure that I first saw it 40-45 years ago, in the early 1980s. I have no idea how many times I have seen it but this was the first time I watched it on the big screen and the first time I watched it in it's entirety since the 1990s, if my records are accurate.

This movie is burned into my brain. I knew all the key moments and scenes before they occurred. Many of them got me a bit emotional despite the fact that I knew what was coming.

I really like this movie. I have a hard time deciding which of Frank Capra's films is my favorite but this one is right up there with movies like It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), and Meet John Doe (1941). 

Notes

I have seen James Stewart in at least a dozen other films, some of which I have seen in recent years. The most recent film that I saw him in was Call Northside 777 (1948). The only other film that Donna Reed was in that I have seen is From Here to Eternity (1953). I have seen Lionel Barrymore in a few other films. The most recent film that I saw him in was Grand Hotel (1932).

Henry Travers, Thomas Mitchell, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, H. B. Warner, Frank Albertson, Todd Karns, and Samuel Hinds are just some of the other actors that are in this movie that I have seen in other movies or in television shows.