IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

"Please God, help my daddy."

A child's voice penetrates the darkness of Bedford Falls, followed by another. Then a man's voice, praying for his friend George Bailey. An old woman's, pleading for the life of her son. A wife's, tenderly asking God to bring him home. These are the voices of the family and friends of one of the kindest men in town. They raise to the attention of God's messengers, his angels. Clarence Oddbody (Henry Travers) has not yet gotten his wings, after many failed attempts at helping people. He's assigned to George's case. Joseph helps him to look back on George's long and reasonably happy wife. The oldest son of the Bailey family, who make their living off the Building & Loan, the only business in town not owned by the money-grubbing Potter (Lionel Barrymore), George's expectations are high.

As a child he dreams of going places, of seeing the world. He works as a soda jerk at the local drug store and narrowly prevents a family being poisoned when the druggist, in grief over his son's death overseas, accidentally puts poison in the pills. He saves his brother's life when Harry falls through the ice at a snow-sliding party. A few weeks before he's prepared to set off on his world tour with the money he's scrimped and saved from childhood, George (Jimmy Stewart) is reintroduced to an old childhood friend. Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) has loved him since the first time she set eyes on him. But the last thing George wants is to fall in love. Despite an initial flirtation, a memorable Charleston dance, and the adventures the two have on the walk home, his life is disrupted with the sudden death of his father.

In Mr. Bailey's absence, Potter wants to close down the Building & Loan. George's Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) is too scatterbrained to run a business, and George desperately wants to go to college. But in the knowledge the board will close up the family industry unless he agrees to act in his father's place, George forgoes his dreams. Hoping his brother Harry will take over once he returns from school, he is once again disappointed. Despite his best intentions to remain unattached, he eventually marries the woman he loves and they share several wonderful years together. Until Christmas Eve, when a disaster instigated by Potter will send George to the edge. On a bridge in the falling snow, he prays to God he'd never been born. And Clarence will help him see just how much his life is worth... and that even when things turn bad, hope will always triumph in the end.

This film has been a family favorite since I was a little girl. When it first premiered in the dark days after WWII, and Jimmy Stewart had returned home a war hero, It's a Wonderful Life was dubbed "overly-sentimental Capra-corn." But since that day, it has become one of the most popular Christmas films of all time. The story of George Bailey and his struggle against a wealthy tyrant, his hours of morose darkness as he wanders through a world much-altered without him in it, and the tear jerking finale will not fail to touch, amuse, and impact audiences for years to come. The film embraces everything good about early American cinema. Family values, romantic affections, and the never-ending struggle between good and evil. The characters are likable and have become immortalized through magnificent performances. The money-grubbing Potter, an old tyrant with a mercenary nature.

Mary, the sweet, kind-hearted girl who has set her cap for George since she was buying penny shoelaces. Violet, the flashy blonde bombshell with a tender side. Uncle Billy, the eccentric, forgetful old coot with strings tied around his fingers as reminders. George, the film's hero -- a man with high aspirations, bound by duty to his family. Clarence, the angel slightly off his nut. The production values are very good for an older film, and the recent restoration has done wonders. The finished product is magnificent. There are a few mild things worth mentioning, but they're not strong enough to drive away sensitive viewers. The ratings board was still extremely strict at this time, and so Capra kept things light and airy, defying them in only one instance... allowing the villain to go virtually unpunished. In the light of the dramatic ending, this is forgivable.

Violet saunters down the street, nearly causing a young man to be hit by a car as he looks and whistles. After a tumble into a pool, Mary and George walk home in clothing they've snitched from the gym. Mary is wearing a long bathrobe. Once George steps on the train and we see part of her bare leg. When an older man tells him off for being so talkative and tells him to "just kiss her!" the two share some banter. Embarrassed, Mary flees -- not knowing he's standing on the hem of her bathrobe. She winds up in a bush, pleading to have her robe back, while George wanders around musing on how "interesting" the situation is. He teases her about not being able to go anywhere, and wonders if he could sell tickets. Later, when Mary is upset at him being so distant in her parlor, she tells her mother he's "making violent love to me." (This implied kissing and romantic speech at the time.) There's some passionate kissing.

George wanders through the reformed town in the absence of his life-changing influence. Most of the stores have been turned into strip clubs, peep shoes, and casinos. Several prostitutes are arrested by the police. A fight erupts in a bar. Two men are thrown out into the snow, another punched for formerly insulting a man's wife. The bartender squirts an old man in the face. A woman struggles with a man several times. He once shakes her violently before giving in to his true feelings and hugging her. A little boy has his ears boxed. One bleeds. There are some painful elements, such as an old man being shaken and yelled at for losing a great sum of money, and George losing his temper in front of his children and knocking over his construction pieces. The film also implies angels are "recycled humans." Clarence died in the 1700's and has been working for his wings ever since.

This is a minor count against an otherwise magnificent family film, perfect for sentimentalists and those who just love a good Christmas story. Once you meet George Bailey, you'll never forget him... or the lesson this tale embodies. Every life touches many others. No man is an island. Without George, Bedford Falls was a dark and sober place. His life had an influence on far more people than he realized. The value of a single life is heavily empathized, giving a strong anti-suicidal message. Best of all, the film isn't dated to the time period in which it was filmed. It holds up against many newer adaptations and similar stories purely for the genius of Frank Capra and truly magnificent performances by the leading cast.