Its a Wonderful Life may well be Frank Capra's masterpiece. It is the film where his positive outlook on life, his humanity, his humane portrayal of the characters, shines through most brightly. All of Capra's works present his philosophy on life and love, but this film defines that philosophy, and still stands as the greatest Christmas movie of all time.
The nostalgic inner child in you may disagree and cite A Christmas Story or How the Grinch Stole Christmas or even It's Christmas Charlie Brown! The cynic in you will jokingly cite Die Hard or Lethal Weapon as the greatest holiday film ever made, but those sides of you are both wrong! When it comes to a holiday film, you need to go with your heart and soul, and that points you towards It's a Wonderful Life.
The film deals with the darker side of the holidays, the depression, the self pity, the nihilism, despair and disappointment that so few filmmakers have the courage to address. In fact, the second act begins with Jimmy Stewart, the warmest and most friendly actor in history, attempting suicide! To start from such an incredibly low point takes confidence.
It is because of this ugliness, this darkness and pessimism, that it is so heroic to see Stewart's George Bailey overcome the odds and learn to love his life again. True optimism only counts in the face of adversity. Anyone can be positive in one of those weepy made for cable Lifetime movies where nobody ever really faces any true challenges, but Bailey faces the worst challenges of his life, and learns to face them with a sense of hope.
This film and Rocky rank as the all time great "Tears of Joy" films. If you're not crying by the end, then sorry, but there's probably something wrong with you, no offense. The film is simply so human, so humane, yet so honest, that it can't help but dash any trace of negativity and pessimism you might have been feeling when it began.
Interestingly, the film was a flop on release. The director had always been a popular, money-making film maker, but for some reason, this one just didn't grab the movie-going audience. Of course, the movie has since become one of the most successful of all time on video, DVD, second runs and, of course, cable, but at the time, it almost sank Capra's career.
Another interesting point: Film legend has it that Stewart was the director's only choice for the lead, but in fact, his first choice had been the other legendary nice guy of the screen, Henry Fonda. Fonda could have turned in an incredible performance, but Stewart really plays the character of a lifetime in George Bailey.
There were actually several alternative endings written, and one or two filmed. If you've ever seen the Saturday Night Live episode where Bailey leads the whole town to Potter's home to give him his comeuppance... That was actually based on an ending that was filmed by Capra! The one filmed for the movie probably wasn't quite as goofy, but nevertheless, it WAS filmed!
The nostalgic inner child in you may disagree and cite A Christmas Story or How the Grinch Stole Christmas or even It's Christmas Charlie Brown! The cynic in you will jokingly cite Die Hard or Lethal Weapon as the greatest holiday film ever made, but those sides of you are both wrong! When it comes to a holiday film, you need to go with your heart and soul, and that points you towards It's a Wonderful Life.
The film deals with the darker side of the holidays, the depression, the self pity, the nihilism, despair and disappointment that so few filmmakers have the courage to address. In fact, the second act begins with Jimmy Stewart, the warmest and most friendly actor in history, attempting suicide! To start from such an incredibly low point takes confidence.
It is because of this ugliness, this darkness and pessimism, that it is so heroic to see Stewart's George Bailey overcome the odds and learn to love his life again. True optimism only counts in the face of adversity. Anyone can be positive in one of those weepy made for cable Lifetime movies where nobody ever really faces any true challenges, but Bailey faces the worst challenges of his life, and learns to face them with a sense of hope.
This film and Rocky rank as the all time great "Tears of Joy" films. If you're not crying by the end, then sorry, but there's probably something wrong with you, no offense. The film is simply so human, so humane, yet so honest, that it can't help but dash any trace of negativity and pessimism you might have been feeling when it began.
Interestingly, the film was a flop on release. The director had always been a popular, money-making film maker, but for some reason, this one just didn't grab the movie-going audience. Of course, the movie has since become one of the most successful of all time on video, DVD, second runs and, of course, cable, but at the time, it almost sank Capra's career.
Another interesting point: Film legend has it that Stewart was the director's only choice for the lead, but in fact, his first choice had been the other legendary nice guy of the screen, Henry Fonda. Fonda could have turned in an incredible performance, but Stewart really plays the character of a lifetime in George Bailey.
There were actually several alternative endings written, and one or two filmed. If you've ever seen the Saturday Night Live episode where Bailey leads the whole town to Potter's home to give him his comeuppance... That was actually based on an ending that was filmed by Capra! The one filmed for the movie probably wasn't quite as goofy, but nevertheless, it WAS filmed!
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