Film Review
Film: It’s A Wonderful Life
Director: Frank Capra
Studio: Paramount
Principal Actors: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Running Time: 130 minutes
Rating: G
Release: 20 December 1946

Reviewed by: Jared Hunt

Screen legend James Stewart and director Frank Capra prove that three times is a charm in their third collaborative outing in the great holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life. Stewart plays the starry eyed dreamer George Bailey who wants to kick up the dust and break free from Bedford Falls, feeling he is meant for bigger and better things. It appears as though fate has something different in store for George in this timeless classic about how the seemingly unimportant actions of one George Bailey come to have a monumental effect on the lives of an entire town.

Upon the abrupt and sudden passing of his father (Samuel S. Hinds) George begrudgingly puts his globetrotting plans on hold in order to stay behind and help take care of matters at his father’s business at the Building and Loan. After a successive string of inopportune situations, George gradually comes to terms with the notion that there may be no exit for him from Bedford Falls in the foreseeable future and feels as though there is no escaping his inevitable place at the Building and Loans.

George Bailey reaches his breaking point on Christmas Eve, after his absentminded business partner Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) misplaces eight thousand dollars on the day that just so happens to be the day the bank examiner comes to town to assess the Building and Loan’s books. Frantic to find the missing money, George and his befuddled Uncle Billy futilely set out to retrace their steps in order to relocate and return the missing money.

Unsuccessful in finding the whereabouts of the money, George returns home angry and tired and lets his frustrations of the days events out on his family. In a scene filled with much poeticism, George takes hold of his miniature modeled bridge and buildings and destroys them in a fit of anger which poignantly serves as the literal and figurative deconstruction of his by-gone boyhood dreams of worldly travels. Feeling hopeless and finding no solace in his predicament, George Bailey runs out of his house in a desperate attempt to solve his problems. Wallowing in self despair, George contemplates his own mortal existence, realizing that he is worth more dead than alive and everyone in his life would have been better if he were never born at all.

Perched on the edge of a snow covered bridge, he takes the last remaining moments of his life to contemplate his actions. As he is about to jump from the bridge into the icy waters below, a bemusing and most unorthodox answer comes to George Bailey in the form of a guardian angel, Clarence (Henry Travers), who quickly intercedes between George’s attempt of jumping off the bridge by jumping off the bridge first himself, before George gets a chance to jump, in a convoluted attempt at saving George’s life before it’s too late.

Later, within the warm confines of a nearby cabin, close to a bolstering fire, Clarence pleads his case with George, asking him to reconsider, explaining to him that he is his guardian angel, sent from Heaven to protect him against making the biggest mistake of his life. Clarence finds a way of slipping in the extra adage of if he successfully “saves” George, he will go on to attain his wings and join the other Heavenly hosts of angels who already have their wings. In a moment of self-indulged pity, George Bailey recounts the earlier days disappearance of the Building and Loans’ eight thousand dollars, wishing he had never been born at all, emphatically saying that the people of Bedford Falls would be better off never knowing him at all. Determined that this is the opportunity that will get him his wings, Clarence decides to indulge George’s fantasy and take him on an inside look of what life would be like if he were not born at all.

George Bailey is immediately thrusted into an alternative Bedford Falls, renamed Pottersville, after the town’s domineering antagonist played with convincing realism by Lionel Barrymore. George gets a firsthand glimpse into what life looks like if he had never been born. The town has been transformed to a strikingly dark and gloomy place, contradictory to the wholesome, warmth of the once existent Bedford Falls. Pottersville is a town driven by money, greed, and lust, a place attractive to the lowest of low characters and to the darker, seedy, rift raft of society.

As George Bailey attempts to push his way through the confusing landscape, he intuitively seeks out the people he cared for most in Bedford Falls and learns of the reality of their grim alternative existence. His mother (Beulah Bondi) solely operates the Bailey’s Boarding house, his Uncle Billy is in an insane asylum, his childhood employer Mr. Gower (H.B. Warner) of whom he helped prevent a terrible catastrophe, is now the town drunk, his wife (Donna Reed) lives as a lonely old maid, and the Building and Loan ceases to exist. Upon a series of repeated attempts, George fails to convince anyone of the deep regret and love he has towards them.

With a predictably happy ending, George rediscovers the indelible lesson of one man's impact on the lives of others and learns to become grateful for the things he has in life. As Clarence says: “Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole…”

The film, as a whole, survives as a sentimental one-two punch of self-rediscovery and love for family and friends. James Stewart handles the character with considerable restraint that could easily become too over inflated or highly exaggerated. Stewart contains the George Bailey character within a realm of authenticity with whom the audience can relate. Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore add to the highly functional cast that successfully demonstrates the tiny intricacies of a close nit group of townspeople whose interactions with each other propel the legitimacy of the film’s narrative.

Capra has always been regarded as the master of sentiment and was frequently accused of too much over exaggerated optimism and heavy handedness in his films but his use of sentimentality works in favor for this film’s final resolve, by steering clear of any signs of severely overt sensibility. It’s a Wonderful Life is an enduring classic that has gone on to be appreciated by one generation to another, proving that at the heart of every great story there lies humanity and the realization that no man is a failure who has friends.

Written by :

jrhunt

 

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written by Kindah Mardam Bey, December 16, 2009

This is my favourite film of all time! At James Stewart's funeral the "Zou Zou" actress got up and spoke and then ended her eulogy by saying "No man is a failure who has friends", then she raised her arm and said "A toast to James Stewart, the richest man in town", to which all the mourners also toasted. Such a fantastic and endearing film....this film never gets boring to me.

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