Its A Wonderful Life (1946)

Thomas Mitchell, Donna Reed and James Stewart

'It's a Wonderful Life' is a comedy/drama film made in 1946, directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and Thomas Mitchell. It was not a box- office success on first release but it has since come to be regarded as an Indisputable classic and one of the most popular movies ever made. James Stewart considered the film his personal favorite of all the movies he made.

The movie received five Academy Award nominations, for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Sound Recording and Best Film Editing, but did not win any, losing out to William Wyler's 'The Best Years of Our Lives' which won seven Oscars.

'It's a Wonderful Life' premiered in December, 1946, one month after 'The Best Years of Our Lives' and each film got a markedly different reception.The reviews for 'The Best Years of Our Lives' were universally ecstatic but for 'It's a Wonderful Life' were very mixed and the film fared poorly at the box-office. In addition, with the cold war Communist witch hunts just beginning, the FBI mounted an innuendo campaign against the movie, describing Barrymore's character as "subversive Bolshevik propoganda" and Stewart's Mr Everyman as a "common trick used by the Communists".

It was only when the initial 28 year copyright period ended in 1973 that the film suddenly exploded onto countless TV stations and quickly became a staple of American winter holiday TV programming and belatedly earned a place in the heart of American popular culture.

The American Film Institute ranked the film at number one in its list of most inspirational movies of all time and on its 100 Years... 100 Movies list of the top American films it is ranked at number eleven.

In 1990, 'It's a Wonderful Life' was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry. It achieved first place in the American film Institute's list of most inspirational movies.

The main characters are all perfectly cast, which is one of the film's great strengths. James Stewart as George Bailey, in his first role after WWII, confirms his status as one of the greats of Hollywood with a brilliant tour de force of natural, believable acting. He is ably backed up by Donna Reed as his wife and the great character actors, Lionel Barrymore as Henry Potter, the greedy banker who tries to take over the town, and Thomas Mitchell in one of his most memorable roles as the bumbling Uncle Billy.

The plot is unusual in that it hinges on a failed suicide attempt interrupted by an angel sent down by God. George Bailey, played by James Stewart, in his first role after WWII, is the nice guy who contemplates suicide because he thinks everyone will be better off without him. He is then taken on a journey by Clarence the Angel to see how his family and friends would have fared if he had never been born, like Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" in reverse.

What he sees is a nightmare vision and he begs Clarence to give him another chance. He gets it and the film ends happily on an upbeat note which brings us to the message of the film. George might not have lots of money, but he has countless friends and a family that loves him, and that makes him the richest man in town. The music by Dimitri Tiomkin, the set pieces, and the wonderful acting all contribute to a touching "feelgood" movie - a Frank Capra classic.