It’s a Wonderful Life (1947) – Film Review

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Yearly Ritual

Every year, I watch Frank Capra’s classic black and white Christmas fairy tale, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It is a significant holiday ritual for me. I think this is because I often consider the idea behind the movie, which is that we all affect each other’s lives in ways that we cannot necessarily see or measure. In the movie, the central character, George Bailey finds out what would have happened if he had never been born. How would the world have been a different place?

That is something none of us can possibly know, but I wonder how much more meaning there would be in our lives if we did know. That is why I think about this movie often. I wonder what (if any) impact I might have had on other people’s lives. Sometimes, when I feel very low, it cheers me a little to think I might have had a positive impact in ways of which I might not fully be aware.

It feels like it goes without saying that this is a great movie. Have you seen it? If not, why not? There is at least one person streaming it on YouTube right now although I don’t think they technically have the rights to it. Considering that all the people involved in the making of it are probably long gone, I don’t feel bad if the studio is missing out on extra royalties. Maybe that is wrong-thinking of me.

My point, though, is, if you haven’t seen the movie, stop reading this right now, and go watch it. Otherwise, read on at your peril for there be spoilers ahead, matey. I am a pirate, all of a sudden, argghh. This is one of the hazards of writing on Hive as opposed to writing a book. There is no human editor to say, “Hey, you cannot suddenly be a pirate in the middle of a movie review and then discuss being a pirate in the middle of the review. No. Harlow. Edit that crap out. It’s no good. You’re wasting the reader’s time, for one thing. For another, it has nothing to do with the rest of the article.” However, I don’t have an editor, so I can be a Sudden Pirate if I want. Argghh, matey. It’s the plank for ye.

Did you know that some pirates were actually commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I? That has nothing to do with cinema, but it’s such a fun pirate fact, and I could not help myself. I feel like I have become a pirate and this article is a boat I have boarded. I am plundering the booty and leaving nonsense in my pirate wake.

So, where was I? It’s a wonderful movie:

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Summary with Spoilers, so Beware

If you are easily offended by anything, do yourself a favour and don’t watch old movies full stop because you will be offended. There is racism and sexism galore. This is a side effect of when it was made, and only you can decide if you want to watch it or not. Some people are more sensitive to it than others, but I thought I should mention it.

The movie, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore (Drew’s great-uncle), opens on Christmas Eve 1945, in Bedford Falls, New York. As George Bailey contemplates suicide, his friends and family pray for him. Heaven hears the prayers, and an angel named Clarence Oddbody is given the task of saving George. If Clarence can do it, he will earn his wings.

Through flashblacks, Clarence sees George’s life. He watches as 12-year-old George saves younger brother Harry from drowning. Unfortunately, as a result, George becomes deaf in one ear. Later on, George stops his employer, the pharmacist, Mr. Gower from accidentally poisoning a customer. Mr. Gower, grief-stricken over his son’s sudden death, put poison in a customer’s pills, but George, who is the delivery boy, does not deliver them to the customer.

As George’s life progresses, we see him yearn for education, travel, and excitement. He looks forward to taking on the world and leaving Bedford Falls behind. However, at each turn, he is thwarted by his own sense of duty and obligation. He ends up married with children, running his father and uncle’s company, the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan. He helps the people of his town navigate their way through the depression and through the war, in which he cannot fight because of his ear. Despite the fact that he helps many people, he faces personal frustration seemingly at every turn.

Meanwhile, his brother went to war and is returning a hero. It is Christmas Eve 1945 and the town prepares a hero’s welcome for Harry. George’s Uncle Billy goes to the bank to deposit $8,000 (which was much more money back then) from the Bailey Building and Loan. Unfortunately, when he is there, he foolishly taunts his nemesis, the banker Potter with a newspaper that has a headline about Harry returning a war hero. He thrusts the newspaper at Potter, not realizing that he has wrapped the envelope containing the $8,000 inside it.

Potter finds the money right away, but he doesn’t say anything because he is a big jerk. When George realizes what has happened, he completely loses his temper with Uncle Billy. You see, along with the scandal of the missing money, there will be criminal charges. Someone will go to jail for this. After a life of duty and toil, George is going to jail? George asks Potter for a loan, but Potter instead phones the police to arrest him because, did I mention Potter is a big jerk?

George runs away instead to get drunk at the bar (not the most productive solution, but who are we to judge, right?) He gets into a fight at the bar (well, he gets punched in the face). Then, he decides to drink and drive (bad plan) and drives into a tree. The owner of the tree starts yelling at him. He staggers off to a nearby bridge and decides to throw himself off of it and commit suicide.

Clarence “saves” him by already being in the water, so George rescues Clarence. No. It’s not logical. It’s fairytale logic. George has difficulty believing that this man he rescued is, in fact, his guardian angel. However, when George wishes he had never been born, the town changes. Suddenly, it is Pottersville, a much more sleazy town. Mr. Gower went to jail because George was not there to prevent him from accidentally poisoning his customer. Uncle Billy went insane after the Building and Loan collapsed. Harry died because George was not there to save him, and all the men that Harry saved in the war also died. All the people who had homes because of the Building and Loan have to live in Potter’s slums. George has the epiphany that even though he never left Bedford Falls, he had a wonderful life. He asks Clarence for his life back.

George is grateful even though he is certain that he will be going to jail. He hurries home to await arrest. However, in the interim, his wife Mary and Uncle Billy have gone to all the people of the town. They donate more than enough to cover the missing funds, so no one has to go to jail after all. Somehow, mean old Potter ends up $8000 richer with no consequences. Clarence gets his wings.

Review

I love this movie because it is the quintessential feel-good movie. I have to admit that last time I watched it, I was a bit shocked at how woke it is not. There are definitely some cringe-worthy moments.

I really like the message behind the movie. I think it is about how our lives are intertwined. I think it is also about being grateful for what we have. Sometimes, it is hard to appreciate what we have, especially if our lives did not pan out as we might have planned. It is a movie that reminds us that our lives don’t have to be the way we planned them in order to have value.

I found it surprising that the movie did not do particularly well when it was initially released in theatres. It received mixed reviews; however, it became a Christmas classic after it was (accidentally) put in the public domain, which meant it could be broadcast royalty-free. It is no longer in the public domain, in case you were hoping although the images I used for this article are.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” was nominated for five Academy Awards, and is one of the American Film Institute’s “100 Best American Films Ever Made”. Additionally, in 1990, it was designated as culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant and was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

There are so many classic cinematic scenes in this movie. For example, when the swimming pool opens under the dance floor and then all the students start jumping in, that is a scene that is classic and I can’t think of another movie that does anything similar.

Conclusion

I was surprised to find out that Frank Capra himself had the same ritual I do: he watched this movie with his own family every year. Maye I shouldn’t be surprised. To me, it is more than a holiday movie. It is a philosophy.

At its heart, this movie is about the philosophy that the Buddhists call Interbeing. We are all connected. George Bailey felt like he was a man who was frustrated and unappreciated, but actually, his actions meant a lot to many people.

I sometimes think of things, some small and some large, some acknowledged and some not, that I have done in my life, and I wonder what the world would be like without me. It often feels like we are so extremely insignificant. Like cosmic dust. However, like the butterfly effect, each one of us touches so many lives in so many ways, large and small. I think maybe we are sometimes not even aware of some of the biggest impacts we have had. It’s strange to consider.

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