It's a Wonderful Life
Stephen Furda

Review by Stephen Furda Pro

It's a Wonderful Life 1946

★★★★★

Rewatched 24 Dec 2021

Frank Capra's best films endure because he doesn't take the easy route to sentimentality, making his films funny and discursive before they go for their emotional crescendos. There's so much interesting stuff going on in the margins of It's a Wonderful Life; it's as much George Bailey's story as it is a portrait of an entire small town overrun by corrupt interests. Many of the movie's best scenes provide an affecting, deeply felt portrait of small-town life - Bailey's childhood ice skating, the pool opening up underneath the gymnasium floor, George and Mary walking home after the dance. These scenes also serve as context that makes George's fateful night on the bridge so powerful - you get such a rich sense of how a community like Bedford Falls operates, how people come to mean so much to one another. When Capra does go into full-bore sentimentality, he does so with resounding grace and wit and perceptive small details like George's reaction to the broken railing.

Block or Report
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_01003be5-6834-49f6-b8b6-d738ac720b19" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-01003be5-6834-49f6-b8b6-d738ac720b19'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-01003be5-6834-49f6-b8b6-d738ac720b19'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-01003be5-6834-49f6-b8b6-d738ac720b19'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_d7703720-40db-42c1-b031-60ab7f4af1a5" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-d7703720-40db-42c1-b031-60ab7f4af1a5'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-d7703720-40db-42c1-b031-60ab7f4af1a5'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-d7703720-40db-42c1-b031-60ab7f4af1a5'));