“It’s a Wonderful Life” Review
George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) finds the will to live in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” a classic of the holiday season and one of the greatest films of all time.
When it comes to the best Christmas film of all time, most people debate in their heads between films like “A Christmas Story,” “Home Alone,” “White Christmas,” etc. However, for me, it’s no contest. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is easily my go-to Christmas film. Not only is it beyond uplifting, but it manages to tap into the feelings of generosity and sacrifice that are more apparent than ever at Christmastime.
Most people who haven’t seen “It’s a Wonderful Life” still know the plot because of how much it’s been embraced in popular culture. George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) considers taking his own life on Christmas Eve after a series of financial disasters have made him believe that his entire life has meant nothing. But an angel named Clarence (Henry Travers) is sent down and shows George what his life would have been like had he not been born.
But that’s just the last half hour, the first hour-and-a-half is dedicated to showing us the life of George Bailey from when he’s a child (Bobbie Anderson) to the night of Christmas Eve and all of the lives he’s touched over the years. While so much of the film’s success does lie in its supporting cast and the brilliant direction of Frank Capra, Jimmy Stewart is the heart and soul of the film and his performance as George Bailey is the best of his career.
George is someone who has always dreamed of exploring the world and leaving his small town of Bedford Falls. However, life happened and he has always remained attached to his hometown.
When he finally has enough money to go to college, his father (Samuel S. Hinds) dies and he has to take over the family Building and Loan or else so many people will lose their homes. When he gets married to his loving wife Mary (Donna Reed) and has enough money to go away for their honeymoon, the Great Depression happens and George gives up the money to help his neighbors. When WWII happens and so many people, including George’s brother Harry (Todd Karns), enlist and serve their country, George is given 4F status on account of a bad ear.
But despite not achieving his own goals, George manages to help a lot of people because of how selfless he is. I think that’s what I find most comforting about this film. That it says that you may not achieve everything you want in life and that’s okay. It’s all about who you meet along the way.
While the main plot of an angel named Clarence (Henry Travers") showing George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) what life would be like without him is well-known, it doesn’t appear until three-quarters through the film. The rest of the film is about George and his life.
Before the film’s release, Jimmy Stewart was a much more optimistic character in films like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “The Philadelphia Story.” But after serving in WWII, Stewart’s characters had a more noticeable dark edge including “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “Anatomy of a Murder” and a slew of Hitchcock films. Not only did Stewart serve but so did Capra and his reported pitch to Stewart was that it was a Christmas film about suicide. They both developed a darker sense of humor in the military and loved the idea.
But “It’s a Wonderful Life” is not a sad or depressing film. It’s actually quite full of love and humor. What invests me more than anything is the romance between George and Mary. When they first meet as adults, they dance in a Charlston contest which goes awry when the gym floor opens up and many of the guests fall into the swimming pool. I think that modern audiences think that older romances were more unrealistic but George and Mary’s relationship develops slowly over the years. Of course, it helps that Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed’s chemistry is unbelievably adorable.
Nearly everyone loves George. Everyone except Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), the richest man in town and biggest owner of real estate although his slums hardly can be called homes. To him, all people are valued by the amount of money they have. If they don’t have a lot, they must be lazy. If they can’t pay rent, they must be leeches of society. While it’s easy to dismiss Potter as a simple villain and an obstacle George must outmaneuver, people like Potter do exist and I happen to know a few.
But George is there to serve as a champion of the working class. If there’s anything to take away from the film, it’s George’s empathy. When Potter proposes dissolving the Building and Loan following the passing of George’s father, George goes on a tirade about the working class and how they need a quality home. “Doesn’t it make them better citizens? Doesn’t it make them better customers?”
He commands a respect for working people which definitely resonated with a generation that had seen the effects of the Great Depression firsthand. “They do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community.”
After we’ve gotten to know George and the world he inhabits, everything changes on Christmas Eve of 1945 when George’s Building and Loan misplaces $8000. With the money missing and a bank examiner is sure to discover this, leading to criminal charges, George begins to marinate on his entire life and how he never left Bedford Falls. As he’s about to throw himself in the river so his family can get a life insurance policy, Clarence does so instead so that George can rescue him, thwarting George’s awful plan.
When George expresses regret over the thought of killing himself, instead wishing he’s never been born, Clarence shows him a world without George and how terrible it is. The town is called Pottersville and is a slum with the exception of trashy entertainment all in Potter’s name. I’d be shocked if “Back to the Future Part II” didn’t take influence from this sequence. When Marty McFly walks around Hill Valley and sees how Biff has taken over, it’s virtually the same as when George sees the wreck of Bedford Falls only there’s no flying Delorean.
The romance that blossoms between Mary (Donna Reed) and George (Jimmy Stewart) is one of the emotional cores of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
While “It’s a Wonderful Life” is joyous, this alternate Bedford Falls is an intense part of the film because the town itself is a character. We have spent so much time here that we’re practically citizens. After George tries to talk to his mother (Beulah Bondi) and she doesn’t recognize him, Stewart walks slowly towards the camera and Capra shows an extreme close-up of his eyes: desperate with fear.
This part of the film may be emotionally intense, but it’s all worth it when George reaffirms how he wants to live and wishes to go back to his life. When his wish is granted, George becomes overjoyed and runs through the snowy streets of Bedford Falls wishing everyone, including that old grouch Potter, a Merry Christmas.
Not only did the film achieve marvelous production design by having the town be entirely constructed on an RKO Studios lot, but “It’s a Wonderful Life” made advancements in fake snow created from soap, sugar, foamite and water. Before, corn flakes were used which resulted in loud crunches that required all dialogue to be dubbed in post-production. That or asbestos would be used like in “The Wizard of Oz.” That’s right. One of my childhood classics used asbestos on set and that is something we all have to live with. But the snow and the decorations and the music all bring out this feeling of Yuletide cheer that brings out all of the warm fuzzies.
When George makes it home, his kids are there waiting for that warm embrace you’ve all seen on the posters. Mary walks in with all of George’s friends, his mother and his brother, a recent recipient of the Medal of Honor, who have managed to raise the missing $8000. They sing and they all toast to George’s good heart and generous nature. This ending is so joyous that it never ceases to bring a smile to my face. As the entire cast sings “Auld Layne Syng” and George finds out that Clarence earned himself angel’s wings, I realize all over again that it is a wonderful life indeed.
I never grew up with this film, my dad never having seen it and no one in my family having a strong emotional attachment to it. I first saw the film on a winter’s morning in 2018 when I was in college, very skeptical of the film’s legacy as a classic. Within the first ten minutes, that doubt melted away. This is not only the greatest Christmas film of all time, it’s one of the greatest films ever made. It doesn’t get more wonderful than this.
