Rating: 
Summary: A box office dud when released
Review: "It's a Wonderful Life" was so very UN-wonderful to the American public when it opened that the only reason that most people have seen it is that it was allowed to go into "public domain" because the studio didn't want to waste the money it would cost to renew the copyright! Beaten to death for years by being played on TV stations across America (who could air it for free), it was sometimes shown by three or more competing stations in the same market ... simultaneously. Unable to escape this dreadful mush of shmaltz, millions of Americans were exposed to it. With bits and pieces of it being shown in other films and TV shows (again, for free), there was no way to avoid having this "meme" drilled into one's consciousness. Seen by itself at some other season than Xmas, shorn of all hoopla, this turns out to be a truly mediocre picture, which has cursed us even more by inspiring even worse remakes, adaptations, and parodies. "A Christmas Carol" (preferably the Alastair Sim version!!!) is the best Xmas viewing (preferably followed by one of the earlier versions of "Miracle on 34th Street"). IMHO, of course.
Rating: 
Summary: Widescreen
Review: "It's a Wonderful Movie" but I recommend a widescreen version. I think all movies, perticularly classics, should be seen as the director intended them to be.
Rating:
Summary: The best family movie!
Review: Rated R in Finland! This is a family movie! I'll give it 4.3 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a Wonderful Live
Review: This is an extremely poor movie. It is a shameless enterprise in sentimentality, constantly bordering on bathos. Typical of many American films both of that period and contemporary times. Very boring to boot. It gets all its mileage out of holiday sentiments, and the hazy glow of the holidays colors too many people's view of the film.
Rating: 
Summary: Obviously, it is also a wonderful film
Review: It was produced and directed by Frank Capra who collaborated with Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Jo Swerling on the screenplay. Nominated for five Academy Awards (including Best Picture) it won none. Over the years, however, it developed a loyal following, largely comprised of those who appreciate Capra's films. Only in recent years has it received the recognition and praise it deserves. How to describe this film? It focuses on a thoroughly decent man named George Bailey (James Stewart) who, after being financially ruined by his evil rival Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), becomes despondent and attempts to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. George is rescued by his guardian angel, Clarence Oddbody (Henry Travers), and permitted to learn what would have happened if he (George) had never been born. Only then does George fully appreciate how precious life is. Of course, the film has a happy ending. Many people think this is a corny film but I do not. As in other films (notably in Meet John Doe), Capra celebrates certain basic values which guided and informed George throughout much of his life. When facing financial disaster which involves not only him and his family but countless others who entrusted to him their limited funds...and their own dreams for a wonderful life, George temporarily loses his faith in those values and his will to live without them. He regains his appreciation of life only after a near-death experience and a realization of how important his life had been to others. I am reminded of the situation in Thornton Wilder's Our Town when Emily Webb fully appreciates only in death what she had not previously while alive in a town very much like Bedford Falls.. It is noteworthy that Leo McCarey, a contemporary of Capra's, affirms many of the same values in films he directed such as Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary's. When It's a Wonderful Life appeared in 1946, the World War II had only recently ended. Moreover, only 17 had years had passed since the stock market crash. Several contemporary accounts of American society during the mid-1940s note an excitement about opportunities which had been denied by the Great Depression and then delayed by the recent war. An entrepreneur, George Bailey's dream is to enable as many people as possible in Bedford Falls to own their own home. The film traces his efforts to make that dream a reality while he also marries Mary Hatch and they start a family. Yes, George is idealistic and somewhat naive but has business acumen. Regrettably, he is vulnerable to.... I am among those who cherish this movie and the values which it affirms. I am especially grateful for the documentaries, "The Making of It's a Wonderful Life" and the special tribute to Frank Capra, "A Personal Remembrance" from "Frank Capra Jr.," which accompany it in its DVD format. Until recent years, seeing it again was among the highlights of my holiday season. What happened? By way of concluding this brief commentary, I presume to suggest that those who allowed this film to be overexposed on television every December should be strapped into their seats in a screening room, eyes held open with duct tape, and required to watch the following films (repeated over and over again) for 168 consecutive hours: Battlefield Earth, Barb Wire, Howard the Duck, It's Pat, Little Nicky, and Wild Wild West. I further suggest they be joined by those who have butchered directors' cuts such as Sergio Leone's of Once Upon a Time in America.
Rating:
Summary: The classic--what can I say?
Review: With almost 200 reviews, there probably isn't much I can add to this, but I did want to make a few comments. And one comment I hadn't seen elsewhere since it's more a piece of exotic movie trivia. This great movie has been known to bring tears to the eyes of big, strong men, and I have to admit I'm no different. (In fact, just thinking about the film to write this review sort of brought tears to my eyes). Based on the depression-era short story by Phillip van Doren Stern, Capra uses the humble but uplifting story of George Bailey to bring his hopeful vision of humanity to the silver screen. He not only does justice to the story but produced a movie that transcends the genre to become a timeless story of the human spirit. Stewart turns in probably his most famous performance in the character of George Bailey, a marginally successful but respected and well-liked small-town businessman who had hoped and dreamed of greater things but who is resigned to his humble fate. He'd dreamed of college and travel and a different career from the humble Building and Loan he runs but fate has conspired to give his younger brother the opportunities instead, so George believes life has mostly passed him by. Then disaster strikes, and we see George brought to the brink of suicide and back again, discovering in the process that he really had a great life after all, and that the true meaning of life isn't so much in the accomplishment of outward achievements so much as in how we touch the lives and minds and hearts of others. About that piece of trivia I mentioned. Remember the guy in the bridge toll booth when George tries to commit suicide, and is saved by his guardian angel, played by Henry Travers? This was the guy with the long face and thick crop of wavy hair. It was one of the funnier scenes in the movie, as he reacts to Clarence's revelations to Stewart about being an angel. Anyway, I'm not certain, but I think he appears briefly 10 years later in an uncredited role in the 1958 film, The Big Country, starring Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Charles Bickford, Jean Simmons, Burl Ives, and Chuck Connors. He's the one who asks Peck at the party in the Colonel's house if he's seen anything as big as the country out west. Peck, being a former sea captain, says, "Why yes, a couple of oceans." And then he makes the same bewildered expressions as he did back in the toll booth in It's a Wonderful Life. Anyway, whoever he was, he had quite a mug and worked perfectly for these little bit parts, usually playing some local hick or hayseed with a rubber face who could make the most comical expressions. The International Movie Database website credits him as Tom Fadden in It's a Wonderful Life, but not in The Big Country, so I can't say for sure. But getting back to the original movie, I had one more comment, actually a suggestion, for anybody who might be interested in reading an author whose stories have the sort of hopeful, sweetly surrealistic quality of Capra's films, combined with an ironic wit that ranges from gentle to outright vicious. This is author John Welter, and I'd recommend his two books, I Want to Buy a Vowel, and Begin to Exit Here. He has one other novel with the title Night of the Avenging Blowfish, but despite the title, I think the other two are better and would read them first. If you're a Chris Moore, Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey, or Bill Fitzhugh fan also, and are looking for something else, check out these two books by Welter also. He's not as famous as any of the above but deserves to be much better known.
Rating:
Summary: Christmas the way it should be.
Review: Decorate the tree, light a candle or three, sit down with the mulled wine and cuddle in with your better half for this one. How to realise that life is sometimes better than you realise. James Stewart gives an unforgettable performance as the hometown boy who always planned, but never succeeded, to escape to Tahiti and the big world that was surely waiting for him. Instead he stayed in smallville, married his high school sweetheart, built up the family Savings and Loan, fought off the bully-boy tactics of the local mogul, and unknowingly secured himself a place in the hearts of most of his townfolk's hearts. A warming, enchanting tale of how we sometimes lose track of how wonderful life can be, and often is. Merry Christmas! And remember to ring a bell every so often - to give out those angels wings ....
Rating:
Summary: It's A Wonderful Movie!
Review: a heart-warming tale of a hardworking man who needs an angel to remind him just how blessed he is and how many lives he's changed with his kindness. A wonderful Christmas movie for the whole family!
Rating:
Summary: Not just for Christmas anymore
Review: Easily one of my favorite films. Everything about this film hits just the right chord. It never fails to make me cry. I understand why it has become a holiday favorite, but it's worth watching anytime you need a reason to have faith in humanity.
Rating:
Summary: Uncut crystal-clear print. Larry Simms and Danny Mummert .
Review: What can I say about It's A Wonderful Life (1946) that has not already been said? Some may say, Oh, I have already seen it many times". Well, allow me to give you a reason to buy this DVD. This version is the "original uncut version". All 132 minutes (2 hours,12 minutes) are here. No scratching, no popping and no skipping of footage. The print is crystal-clear in beautiful black & white. Special features on this DVD is the original theatrical trailer. Also includes the 1990 featurette "The Making Of It's A Wonderful Life", hosted by Tom Bosley. This featurette includes several interesting tidbits of information about special effects used, surprise casting and locations. There are interviews of Frank Capra, James Stewart and Sheldon Leonard. Another featurette is "A Personal Remembrance". a 1991 special tribute to Frank Capra, hosted by Frank Capra Jr. There is an interview with James Stewart. A bit of trivia I would like to share is Larry Simms (who played "Pete Bailey") and Danny Mummert (who played "Little Marty Hatch") are also in this film , but not in a scene together. They, of course, both worked closely together in the "BLONDIE" film series from 1938-1950. One TV-Movie I would highly recommend is "IT HAPPENED ONE CHRISTMAS" (1977). This is the same storyline of "It's A Wonderful Life" (1946), a re-telling if you will, with Marlo Thomas in the starring role. Cloris Leachman as "Mary's Guardian Angel", Doris Roberts as "Ma Bailey" and Orson Welles as "Mr. Potter". This Marlo Thomas version is currently not avaialbe on VHS nor DVD.It should be and I hope it will be soon.
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