It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Frances Goodrich (screenplay) and
Albert Hackett (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 January 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

They're making memories tonight!

Plot:

An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.

Plot Keywords:

Angel | Business | Christmas | Small Town | Bank

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins

Cast

James Stewart	...	George Bailey
Donna Reed	...	Mary Hatch
Lionel Barrymore	...	Mr. Potter
Thomas Mitchell	...	Uncle Billy
Henry Travers	...	Clarence
Beulah Bondi	...	Mrs. Bailey
Frank Faylen	...	Ernie
Ward Bond	...	Bert
Gloria Grahame	...	Violet
H.B. Warner	...	Mr. Gower
Frank Albertson	...	Sam Wainwright
Todd Karns	...	Harry Bailey
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Pa Bailey
Mary Treen	...	Cousin Tilly
Virginia Patton	...	Ruth Dakin

Also Known As:

Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (USA) (complete title)
The Greatest Gift (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

130 min | Spain:118 min (25 fps) (DVD edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre | Sweden:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:6 | Spain:T | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #11656)

Filming Locations:

4587 Viro Road, La Canada Flintridge, California, USA

Company:

Liberty Films (II)

Trivia:

The song "Auld Lang Syne" is sung at the end of the movie when the townspeople have come to Jimmy Stewart's rescue. The same song is sung towards the beginning of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) at the banquet honoring Jimmy Stewart's appointment to the Senate.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Mary (Donna Reed) throws her rock at an upstairs window of the dilapidated old house, the rock disappears a split-second after leaving her hand, and then reappears in the distance just before crashing through the glass. The roof of the house was a matte painting, added after principal photography by the visual effects department. When Ms Reed threw her rock (and it was her throwing it, not a stand-in), the arc of its flight was a bit too high, and it crossed the matte line for most of it's travel. Consequently, it was covered up by the painting, which was added later. Appartently the live-action crew did not notice the potential problem when filming the shot.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mr. Emil Gower: I owe everything to George Bailey. Help him, dear Father.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Time Travel: Fact, Fiction and Fantasy (1985) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Wedding March

A Great Influence...

No movie ever made has influenced me more than this classic. I had the honor of doing a play version of it about 5 years ago. I had seen the film thousands of times, had loved it, but I never really knew what it meant. During the course of the production, I suddenly felt alive. I felt that I wasn't having enough fun. I felt that I wasn't doing enough in my life. Crazy things, like kissing my mother or my father. I hadn't really hugged one of them in a while. It makes you think. It's more of a thinking person's film than a mere Christmas film. If you think it's just a Christmas film, I insist you watch it again and again, until you get the message.

Stewart gives the finest performance of his career, in one of the most difficult characters ever portrayed. A character all of us are familiar with...a person looking to find himself/herself. It's the great struggle for finding what it is in life you really want to do. George Bailey teaches us so lessons throughout the film and in the end he teaches us the most important lesson of all, that life, although a long and winding road, truly is (for lack of a better word) wonderful...