It’s A Wonderful Life

“every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings” — Zuzu Bailey

Nothing says hol­iday tra­di­tion like this time­less classic. The 1946 Frank Capra film is con­sid­ered one of the most loved films in Amer­ican cinema and has become tra­di­tional viewing during the Christmas season.

George Bailey is a small-​​town man whose life seems so des­perate he con­tem­plates sui­cide. He had always wanted to leave Bed­ford Falls to see the world, but cir­cum­stances and his own good heart have led him to stay. He sac­ri­ficed his edu­ca­tion for his brother’s, kept the family-​​run sav­ings and loan afloat, pro­tected the town from the avarice of the greedy banker Mr. Potter, and mar­ried his child­hood sweet­heart. As he pre­pares to jump from a bridge, his guardian angel inter­cedes; showing him what life would have become for the res­i­dents of Bed­ford Falls is he had never lived. A story of love, romance, friend­ship, and family.

Once released, the film was con­sid­ered a box office failure and never came close to cov­ering the pro­duc­tion costs. The stu­dios decided that Frank Capra was washed up as a director, no longer able to create must-​​see, money making films as he had in the past. Despite ini­tially per­forming poorly at the box office, the film has now come to be regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas tele­vi­sion around the world. The movie turned out to be Frank Capra’s “reality tv” as his pro­fes­sional life mim­icked George Bai­leys strife and even­tual tri­umph over adver­sity, so to did Capra over the studios.

Today, It’s a Won­derful Life is con­sid­ered one of the most crit­i­cally acclaimed films ever made. It was nom­i­nated for five Oscars and has been rec­og­nized by the Amer­ican Film Insti­tute as one of the 100 best Amer­ican films ever made, and would also place number one on its list of the most inspi­ra­tional Amer­ican films of all time. Frank Capra revealed that this was his per­sonal favorite among the films he directed and that he screened it for his family every Christmas season.

Does your family watch this Amer­ican classic every hol­iday season? Although it is tele­vised every year, there is some­thing enchanting about seeing this classic at a movie the­ater. Here in Tampa, the Tampa The­atre hosts an annual screening of the film. For those of you local, Friday, December 20th at 7:30 is the one and only show­time. Not only will you expe­ri­ence the magic of this film, but also that of the 1926 the­atre that has been named one of the top 10 Beau­tiful Cin­emas according to the BBC. Take a moment to research classic the­aters in your home­town and we bet that you will find the movie showing this weekend. Create a new tra­di­tion and enjoy the meaning of the Christmas season.

As always, Clayton Gray Home wishes you a mag­ical holiday!