It's a Wonderful Life

Rating:
Summary: The message rings clear
Review: This film is one of the classics of American cinema. It's just a shame that it didn't get the praise it so rightly deserved years earlier. I don't think I've been able to make it through the last scene without crying, ever. No matter how hard I try, the message of the film is just as fresh as it was the first time I saw it. It's true. No man is a failure who has friends, and all the little things we've done in our lives add up and come back to us just when we need them the most. Isn't that the message we all need to hear not only during the holidays, but all through the year? This movie will always be a classic as long as people need to hear what it has to say.

Rating:
Summary: "I'm glad I know you, George Bailey."
Review: This is one of my all-time film favorites. I'm in great company on this. Beyond those who love and write about it here, as cited in many tributes and documentaries, it's Director Capra's and actor James Stewart's favorite, as well. IaWL can be summed up by it's essence: it's uplifting message of the extramundane, friendship, and the hopeful worth of the individual. No other film that I've seen can touch and rekindle the warmth I feel by this film's conclusion.

Frank Capra's classic easily transcends the decades since the 1940's and settles me as the viewer in the town of Bedford Falls, New York without complaint. It strengths as cinema...or as a piece of Americana...is its faceted and deeply layered approach to what seems like a simple story involving family, sacrifice, and despair. Nonetheless, It's A Wonderful Life's story, cast, and direction blend into something as beautiful and sentimental as snow falling on Christmas Eve--even to a native Southern Californian like myself.

"You've been given a great gift, George. A chance to see what the world would be like without you." It's A Wonderful Life in a nutshell. Should you hate Christmas, or never watched it on television or videotape, and have never seen the 1946 film, it concerns the trials of one George Bailey. A Bedford Falls native whose boyhood dreams of travel and adventure are seemingly crushed by a life of familial obligations. He's lived in his own world of self-sacrifice toward his younger brother, father, and the small close-knit community around him. George is an imperfect, but extraordinary man with a rising, latent bitterness toward his situation.

By the film's Christmas Eve reckoning, his final hopes come crashing down in potential financial ruin (through no fault of his own), leaving suicide as his idea for an solution to the predicament. Enter the guardian angel--second class--Clarence, who gives George a vivid look into the world as it might have been if he'd never been born. It is a story that draws us into a glancing, heavenly nightmare. George realizes the worth of his life and to those around him (painfully) and pleads to live again. And, climatically, Life (so to speak), realizes the worth of George Bailey, and rewards him.

It is a storyline that touches, at times wrenchingly, life's inequities, what-if's, and moments of sheer joy. George's all too apparent desires and emotions lay familiar as they are pretty universal. I think that is the film's not so subtle secret. Additionally, Mr. Capra's film works, in retrospect, because a great script has a tailor-made cast for its roles. The quintessential everyman role of George Bailey is brought to life by the quintessential common man actor, James Stewart.

Mr. Stewart's greatest gift has been his quality of the vernacular, his informal and but not simple manner. And many an actor has tried to achieve this in other movies, but it only a handful can bring it off (Jack Lemon would be another). As for George's love, Donna Reed brings old fashion warmth, grace, and strength to her part as Mary Hatch. The embodiment of the 'All-American Girl." Her Mary, though, is not without a sense of passion, romantic or otherwise. The perfect wife? Perhaps. For better or worse, she, and this role, laid the groundwork for this ideal for many generations with this portrayal.

The remaining cast is equally perfect. Could anyone else have played the great villain of the town's richest man, Mr. Potter (Capra's key idea and addition to the script), other than Lionel Barrrymore? His role is part caricature to be sure, but it breathes! He has life, malevolently so. and all too real power and menace. Henry Travers as Clarence the Angel, stumbles amiably to the heartfelt rhythm of the film. We should all have a guardian who tries so hard. Uncle Billy, played by Thomas Mitchell, poignantly identifies with family, fears of growing old, and our compassion for an irascible relative. The rest of a mighty cast of great characater actors, Gloria Grahame, Ward Bond, Frank Faylen, etc..., go on to complete and bring life to a part of cinema history.

Finally, but not lastly, Frank Capra's direction and production keeps a heartrending tale from veering to the maudlin. He does not linger on man's goodness or his failings, or on life's ups or downs. But, he does give hope and enlightenment. Capra bestows a magical sense of Heaven (and a little Hell) here on Earth that lasts the duration of the film, and then some. The everyday and the otherworldly. The creation of Bedford Falls as a real place on film, inhabited by real people, is no small feat. His bringing together by whatever means of cast, crew, and script are indelibly etched in many a memory, and the highlight of a great career.

For those who have seen it, who can forget the Charleston dance contest on the high school basketball floor so wonderfully and comically staged; the passionate kiss of George and Mary that comes at a point of romantic anguish and realization for George; or the crescendo and emotional impact that the final 12 minutes bring? After more than fifty years in release, and no matter how many times I see it, it still enthralls me. It is a superbly crafted film--though very Capraesque, I grant you. We're all better for it. Everything works: direction, cast, cinematography, editing, costumes, even corny singing. It seems to be about dreams that turn into nightmares, and nightmares that turn into blessings. George Bailey wins but also loses...and sacrifices, only to gain many fold. It's a Wonderful Life is a film that is greater than the sum of its parts--and again, we 're all better for it.

This DVD has a great transfer of the original B&W film. The extras of a couple of documentaries and the original trailer are a nice addition.

Rating:
Summary: Almost the best movie I have ever seen! I love it !
Review: This is such a great movie I don't really know where to start. First of all, I love Jimmy Stuart. He is so awesome in this though. Its a great story that really touches anyone except the most heartless bastard. I watch it every Christmas season more than 1 time. I remember seeing it as a kid and loved it then too. Anyone who doesn't enjoy this movie is a heartless bastard is all I have to say. Jimmy Stuart and Donna Reed have excellent chemistry and Mr. Potter is an ass. Great movie. Watch it with soemone you love!

Rating:
Summary: WAKE UP! This is a lousy movie!
Review: This movie never won any awards. It was so bad that the studio could hardly give it away when they first puit it on tape, then they let it be colorized just so they could sell SOME copies of it, and suddenly the big war cry from the Hollywood liberals was -- "OOH! Save a classic black and white film!" Baloney! No one liked this movie when it was made. No one liked it the 1950s. No one liked it in the 1960s. No one liked it in the 1970s. No one liked it in the 1980s, then SUDDENLY! -- it's an American classic. NOT! It's Communist propaganda about the "evils" of American free enterprise from a guy who made a lot of pinko films but never thought HE should have to live like this "common man" he kept making pictures about.

Rating:
Summary: It's a Wonderful Movie!
Review: This rates up with my top 5 favorite movies of all time. I grew up on the Donna Reed show and remember that this was the movie I always saw her in and she was a lot more beautiful then. James Stewart is great as George Baily, the guy who wanted to help everybody and sacrificed his own financial success.

The idea that one doesn't realize one's worth until you are removed from the equation has been copied hundreds of times since but never as well as this movie.

Clarence is probably the most enjoyable bumbling character that I have ever seen. There is a cameo by an adult Alfalfa Sweitzer (for the Our Gang series) and the characters of Bert and Ernie later were immortalized by Sesame Street.

The ending of this movie is the "feel good" ending of all-time!

Rating:
Summary: Zuzu's Petals......
Review: This review refers to the Republic Pictures (Dist by Artisan)DVD edition of "It's a Wonderful Life".......

You do NOT have to wait until Christmas to open this gift. Now that Frank Capra's wonderful film from 1946 is on this pristeen DVD it may be enjoyed anytime of the year. "It's A Wonderful Life" is the feel good movie of the all time.It should be watched anytime you need a lift!(Okay, Okay , you can watch it at Christmas time too!).

ASC(Angel Second Class), Clarence Oddbody needs to get his wings.George Bailey is desperatley in need of an Angel. So the powers up above arrange a meeting. It's a story made in heaven.

Clarence gets to view George Bailey's life from the time he was a young boy until the present, when George is having so many problems he thinks he would be better off if he'd never been born (it may be safe to say we have all had days like that!). We watch as George touches the lives of so many from boyhood to adulthood. He saves his brother's life,he stops his boss(a druggist) from making a fatal mistake, he saves the family business, "The Building and Loan Assoc" from the hands of the Scroogelike Mr. Potter, is friend and mentor to so many, and although never gets to follow his dreams of travel, settles down with the girl next door in his town, "Bedford Falls".

But things start going amiss for poor George,an accidental misplacemnet of a large sum of money, and the auditor showing up just at the wrong time, causes George to face loosing everything he THINKS is important. He's on the bridge, ready to pack it all in when his guardian angel Clarence shows up in the nick of time.Clarence shows George what life would REALLY be like if he was never born. It's not good! George must realize that "It's A Wonderful Life" before he can exsist again.

Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey. He is just tremendous in this role. We see the full range of his talents as he runs the course of going from carefree, to distraught, to bitter and finally elated with life as he discovers Zuzu's petals have reappeared in his pocket.The petals that dissapeared from his pocket when he dissapeared from exsistence. Henry Travers is Clarence and there has never been a more cherubic angel than he. Donna Reed as Mary(George's wife) is exceptional at making a wonderful life for George and looking great doing it. And Lionel Barrymore is the mean Mr. Potter who we love to hate. There are so many other famous faces to look for that do such a supberb job, here are a few...the great character actor Thomas Mitchell is the forgetful "Uncle Billy", Lillian Randolph is "Annie", the housekeeper, Beulah Bondi as Mrs. Bailey, Ellen Corby, the lady who only wants $17.50, Gloria Grahame is Violet and don't miss Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, mischievous as ever at the pool scene.

Hollywood is no slouch when it comes to making the old look young, and that is no exception for this film. At 57 it looks amazingly new on this DVD. It is remastered from the original film negative and the sound in Dolby Digital is clear as a bell( oh.. I think an angel just got his wings..)The black and white images are clear, sharp and bright. I was very impressed. There are a couple of special features, found on side b(don't worry the whole film is on side a). A great "making of" featurette narrated by Tom Bosley has lots of great info. There's also "A Personal Remembrance" with Frank Capra Jr., that has some nice interviews with Jimmy and Frank, but contains much of the same info from the first featurette, but is nice to have. There is English Captioning for those who may need it, it may be viewed in French and Spanish with subtitles as well.

So if you're feelinbg a little down, watch this movie and like Zuzu's petals, your smile will reappear......Laurie

Rating:
Summary: What are you waiting for?
Review: What do you say about the quintessential Christmas movie that hasn't already been said? Nothing, so I won't try. This is movie making at its best. Great characters, great actors (supporting and main), great story, great direction, and superb messages. "It's a Wonderful Life" was perhaps at its best when it was still in the public domain and could be watched practically every hour on a different television station. Thanks to a greedy media industry, we can now only see it once a season, or on DVD. Okay, enough of this soap box.

George Bailey is a man down on his luck. His dreams always took him far away from Bedford Falls, but his realities kept him firmly secured to this small New York town. Every time his bags were packed, another emergency forced him to take on another responsibility that would more deeply root him. Finally, he faces another crisis from circumstances beyond his control that make him consider suicide. What could keep him from jumping off the bridge? A well meaning angel named Clarence that knew George would never fail to do the right thing for someone else. In an answer to George's prayer, Clarence shows him a world without George Bailey. For a brief time, he sees how his life and love had made a real difference on those around him.

The morals of this movie aren't likely to be seen in Hollywood for a long time to come, if ever. So enjoy this treasure from 1946. It might not be "realisitic," but it should be.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest movies of all time.
Review: When I think of words to describe Frank Capra's masterpiece "It's a Wonderful Life," only one word comes to mind: greatness. Greatness in its storytelling, which embodies the traditions and values of an American era gone by... greatness in its ability to generate some of the most complex characters in movie history from the simplest of human themes... greatness in its sense of heartfelt emotion and true knowledge of what life is really all about. Here is a movie that merits multiple viewings with each new holiday season, leaving its mark on each new generation while giving those familiar with it another chance to experience the magic.

People are most often surprised by the history of the film, which opened to moderate business at the box office, yet failed to muster the excitement and audience embracement that modern viewers have so lovingly bestowed upon it. Due to the weather, many people remained in their homes, while many who ventured to the bistro billed the film as too depressing for the Christmas season. And so, like a snowflake in the winter breeze, Frank Capra's slice-of-life film came and went like most modern movies of today.

Perhaps if its copyright had been renewed, we may never have known the true heart of this magnificent film, which has since become a traditional part of the holidays for many who revere the film as a classic; to bill it as anything but such is an injustice. The film has earned its popularity through its virtue and heartfelt emotional core, telling a story that serves as a model for humankind as well as a striking portrait of some of our country's most darkest days.

The story, originally a short story in the form of a Christmas card which was purchased by RKO Pictures for ten thousand dollars, takes us to the small town of Bedford Falls, where life is simple and people are filled with high spirits despite their hardships. At the center of this is George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart in one of the towering screen performances of all time; George has lofty ambitions that include "seeing the world, building skyscrapers 1000 stories high," and "a bridge a mile long." His idealistic view of the outside world is constantly put on hold, as he struggles to upkeep his deceased father's building and loan company, which is in danger of going under.

It may not appear so at first, but as the movie progresses, we can see just how much George does for his fellow man. He keeps the building and loan going as an outlet for those who have little or nothing to begin a better life without having to turn to Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore), "the richest and meanest man in the county" who sees fit to keep the citizens of Bedford Falls under his rule. But George will not allow it, and so, with the help of his newly-acquired wife, Mary (Donna Reed), and his business partner, his uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell), he struggles to keep the town alive, ignoring his own dreams and aspirations for the greater good, never realizing the full impact he has on his fellow man until he is given a frightening glimpse of what may have been had he never been born at all, compliments of angel Clarence Oddbody, played by Henry Travers with real wit and acting ability.

Through all of this, George's life is shown in various lights, from the happiest moments a man could ever wish for, to the darkest depths of depression from which every man spends much of his life running from. This is why Capra's film succeeds so enormously: one minute we are in the murkiest recesses of life, as George searches frantically for a way out of his troubles. Through Capra's direction and Stewart's brilliant acting, much of this third act is infused with sheer terror that still manages to evoke chills, as he discovers what his absence would have meant to the people he met in his life. And then, after the realization that running from one's hardships provides no solace, he returns from his nightmare to discover his life in a completely different light, armed with the knowledge that "no man is a failure who has friends."

The overall film itself is a wonderful mosaic of American life at its most jubilant and its most downtrodden. As George grows up, from a small boy working in a drug store, to an ambitious college-bound teenager struck by love when he lays eyes on his future wife, we bear witness to some of the landmarks of our nation's history, from a Charleston contest at a high school dance, to the Great Depression and World War II. Each character is affected by these events, yet their upbeat demeanor in the face of these trying times magnificently captures the human resolve, and we come to care for all of them a great deal more.

And just as Capra is working his magic behind the camera, his wonderful and now-landmark cast works much of their own onscreen. Stewart's performance is one of history's most memorable, and will not soon be forgotten so long as the film remains in our hearts. Donna Reed evokes a warm and caring nature as Mary, sharing a terrific bond with Stewart that makes the marriage between their two characters affectionate and loving, not to mention totally convincing. Thomas Mitchell's eccentric and frantic Uncle Billy is supplied with heart, while each supporting actor offers humor and heartfelt emotion to the town's most notable citizens. Barrymore, too, plays the miserly Mr. Potter with supreme and delectable nastiness, one of Hollywood's most memorable villains.

Despite a less-than-favorable history, "It's a Wonderful Life" has reached its broad audience to find a home in everyone's hearts, with its wonderful storytelling, instantly likeable characters, and warm message about life. It takes risks in that it doesn't hide the hardships from view, but rather shows them in a most eerie and frightening manner, and this juxtaposition of gloom and happiness is the movie's biggest success. That, and its status as a great American film, a timeless classic which keeps us coming back for another slice of George Bailey's life each holiday season.