It’s A Wonderful Life

“It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute, that gives meaning to our lives. Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true fulfillment."
"The secret to living is giving.” Tony Robbins

“I think it’s the strongest picture I’ve made. I think it’s my favorite film, because [...] it epitomizes everything that I tried to say in all the other films in one package.” Frank Capra

Frank Capra was an immigrant from Italy and he truly loved America. During World War II, he had been making training documentaries, and after the war had ended he was looking to return to making narrative films. He felt the change in American society after the war. Because Capra lived through the Depression and then through the rise of terrible ideologies, he knew how bad things could get. He knew, too, that the United States was not immune to corruption and this knowledge spiked his love with the worst kind of fear.

James Stewart hadn’t made a film in 5 years because he was serving in the military, fighting in the war. When he returned home, the horrors of war had changed him and he had been grounded in 1945 from flying missions due to what would later be diagnosed as PTSD. He eventually headed back to Hollywood and found few opportunities outside of wartime hero roles that turned his stomach. The war had not only taken a toll on Stewart’s youthful looks, but his digestion and hearing as well.

Capra always envisioned Stewart as the lead in Its A Wonderful Life. Although the role had originally been written for Cary Grant under another producer, when Capra took control of the project he began rewrites with Stewart in mind. It would be both of their return to the screen following war service. The character of George Bailey was perfect for Stewart, allowing him to channel his own postwar feelings to give a cathartic performance.

The film was actually shot in the summer of 1946 during a heat wave. At times, the heat was so strong that Capra was forced to shut down filming. There are also times when it is evident that Stewart is sweating, despite the fact that it’s supposed to be winter. Before “It’s a Wonderful Life,” snow in movies was typically created with cornflakes. However, the loud sound they created when actors stepped on them, resulting in scenes needing to be re-shot and re-dubbed in post. However, Capra’s effects team created a new way of doing snow that was not disruptive, combining water, soap and sugar.

Best Years of Our Lives (1946) was released shortly before and was embraced by audiences. When the film was released in 1946, it was not successful at the box office. The film’s advertising did not portray the film well, neglecting the Christmas element and depicting the film more as a romance or comedy. Capra and the cast were disappointed by the poor reception. Capra had hoped the film would do well, since he saw it as the film he had been “waiting his whole life to make.” In his autobiography, The Name Above the Title, Capra speculated that perhaps postwar moviegoers did not want to be confronted with the film’s heavy themes.
For many years, It’s a Wonderful Life was forgotten, however in 1974, the film fell into public domain because of a clerical error and the copyright was not renewed. This meant that any television network could broadcast the film without paying a fee.
Thus a new generation in the 1970s saw the film with fresh eyes and critics of the time reevaluated the film giving almost unanimously positive reviews, finally giving the film its deserved recognition. So for almost two decades, American networks consistently broadcast the film. There were days when the film was playing on every station, whether viewers wanted it or not. It became a seasonal favorite by default – a film that had something for everyone, and for every generation. As Capra famously observed that “the film has a life of its own now.”
So year after year, It’s A Wonderful Life made the holiday airwaves and became the beloved Christmas classic that it is known as today.
In 2005, nearly 60 years after its release, the American Film Institute named It’s A Wonderful Life their #1 most inspiring film.

The film begins in George’s childhood, when he and his friends are sledding and his brother Harry falls through the ice. George jumps into the frigid waters and saves his brother’s life, losing his hearing in one of his ears as a result. In the next scene, he’s working in a drug store and his boss, Gower, accidentally fills a prescription with toxic pills. George catches the mistake, saving his employer’s reputation and another boy’s life. These first scenes establish that George has a natural inclination to put others before himself. George greatly respects his father and his motivations and character were shaped by his father.
George’s father owns “Bill Brothers Building and Loan”, a company that works to provide housing to the residents of Bedford Falls when they would not be able to afford it otherwise. This continually frustrates Potter, the richest man in town, who’s greed and avarice drives him to continually try to shut down the Building and Loan, though Potter is continually repelled by the hard work and noble character of George’s father. The Building and Loan is the only institution in town that Potter doesn't own, and he's willing to do anything to get his hands on it – lie, cheat, bribe, steal. Significantly, Potter is not portrayed as Satan, but as a corrupt man, and behind Potter is his silent butler, occasionally whispering in Potter’s ear. Notably, the devil always speaks in the left ear and George is deaf in his left ear.

George himself has big plans: to leave Bedford Falls and see the world. Though his father passes away and George has to stay behind and run the Building and Loan, temporarily. While he planned to go to college, he gives that up as well because board rules that they will only keep the Building and Loan open if George stays on as manager. So George gives his college money to his brother Harry. Unlike George, Harry embarks on a traditional hero’s journey. Harry gets to leave his hometown to go to college, becomes a decorated military pilot who wins the Congressional Metal of Honor. Harry gets to live the life that George dreamed of.
Some time passes and George marries Mary and they have saved up $2,000 for their honeymoon. But on their way out of town, they find that Potter has called in all the loans that his company holds and all the customers are tempted to move to Potter’s bank. So George sacrifices all his honeymoon money, to pay back all the withdrawals to prevent their customers from going over to Potter in desperation. George saves his bank with only $2 left.
Instead of their adventurous vacation, George and Mary have their honeymoon in their worn down, leaking house during a heavy rainfall. Cabbie Ernie and Police Officer Bert give the newlyweds a romantic dinner, even singing a serenade by the window, out in the rain.

When WWII breaks out, it’s George’s younger brother Harry who wins the glory by saving the lives of men on a troop transport by shooting down kamikaze planes; but the contributions of George, Mary, and their mothers, as humble and unenviable as they are, still matter. Potter tempts George with a nice, high-paying job, which would grant him his dream of traveling overseas, it’s very tempting with a lot of money, but it would mean closing the Building and Loan. George holds to his values and won’t betray the Building and Loan.

George continually puts the needs of others ahead of himself, sacrificing his own desires for the good of his family and friends. As a result, he never leaves Bedford Falls. His brother Harry goes off to college and becomes a hero in WWII.
On Christmas Eve, Harry is scheduled to return to town to have a big celebration. That same day, George’s Uncle Billy goes to deposit $8,000 for the Building and Loan at the bank, but while he’s there he accidentally gives the money, along with a newspaper, to Potter who hides the money. Unfortunately, a bank examiner is in town that day for an audit and George knows that the lost money would mean bankruptcy, scandal and prison.
George takes his frustrations out on his family and then goes to Potter, begging for his help. Potter knows that George is trying to take the blame for Billy’s mistake and yet Potter still tells George that with his insurance policy he is worth more dead than alive.
In complete despair, George drives to a nearby bridge and considers ending his life. Just before George is about to jump off the bridge, he makes a short prayer to God, saying, “show me the way.” It’s hard to imagine a more powerful prayer.
Though George’s care for others prevents him even from self-harm, as he sees another man drowning in the river, he dives into the water to save another suicide. The man is revealed to be an Angel named Clarence, who has been sent to help George, and he will graduate as an Angel for having done so.
Clarence saved George from suicide by faking a suicide attempt of his own. By being saved by George, Clarence saved George. Clarence has appeared to George to prove to him that his life is worth living. George tells Clarence that he “wish[es] he had never been born”, thus Clarence grants George his wish - showing him an alternate reality where he hadn’t existed and impacted his friends and family. So George returns to town and no one recognizes him, because he never existed. George barely recognizes his hometown because Bedford Falls has become Pottersville, the Building and Loan does not exist, Gower went to prison for poisoning a child, his friends who he had helped find housing now live in shacks owned by Potter, his Uncle Billy is in an mental asylum, his mother runs a boarding house and Mary is miserable working as a maid.
Clarence reflects that it’s “strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole.”

This iconic segment of the film is reminiscent of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. In both stories, the visions supplied by supernatural beings convince their subjects of the value of life and the importance of the contribution of the individual. Despite the apparent difference in the nature of each story's protagonist, both popular Christmas tales strike similar chords with audiences.

The experience gives George a newfound appreciation for his life and he begs Clarence and God to bring him back, praying for “help”, earnestly exclaiming to God that he wants “to live again”. His wish is granted and in spite of all his misfortunes, he’s thrilled to see “Pottersville” changed back to Bedford Falls. He doesn’t care that he’s going to jail: he just wants to see his family again.
George rushes home to embrace his wife and children like never before. He was given a gift to be allowed to see how different things would have been without him.

George is also rewarded with generosity from the community in an outpouring of charity to pay off his debt. Regardless of George seeing his alternate present, the town would’ve helped him. This was the answer to his prayer, and Clarence was the answer to the town’s prayers shown at the beginning of the film.
The community brought gifts of money (akin to suburban Magi), but the most important gift they bring is something George has had in spades all along: friendship that has endured for decades, as throughout the film, they have served and cared for him as well. George comes to realize not only the impact of his own goodness, but realizes that it’s there in everyone else as well.
George’s now-famous brother, Harry, a war hero and all-star football player, raises a glass in toast to “my big brother George, the richest man in town.” While nothing about George’s life has changed, it is George himself that has changed. George still has to live in his drafty, old house and scraping by to support his family. His business, despite being bailed out by the town, still remains under hardship by Potter’s relentless expansion. Though George is now viewing it differently. George wasn’t stuck where he thought he was, he was stuck with his focus in the wrong place. He was focused on what he feels like he missed out on, rather than focused on the blessings that he has and the good that surrounds him. God has been with him and has blessed him richly. George is able to be content and appreciate all that he has been blessed with.

Potter personifies the corruption of unfettered capitalism, a relentless pursuit of selfish desires, that leave no room for community. To Potter, compassion is a weakness. He views men like George as weak. Instead of ending with an uprising against Potter and his business empire, the film ends with George’s friends and neighbors donating money to compensate for the money that Potter could have easily given back. Despite stealing from the Building and Loan, Potter does not faces any consequences and he is not vanquished.
This ending doesn’t trivialize George’s situation nor does it diminish the reality of the Potters of the world, the elites and upper class draining the working class for their selfish desires.

Capra’s film was attempting to address the personal, social and cultural problems in America after the war and show the ideal for people to realign. It's a Wonderful Life has earned its acclimation because it expresses a core truth of life, that each person has the power to make a difference, and that the measure of our humanity has nothing to do with fame or money, but with how we live our life on a day-to-day basis.

We are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:14
“For we are God's handiwork, created to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph 2:10

RESOURCES USED
Capra, Frank. Frank Capra: The Name above the Title ; an Autobiography. Allen, 1972.
Carney, Raymond. American Vision: The Films of Frank Capra. Wesleyan University Press, 1996.