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In the 65 years since its original release, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE has lost none of its charm, and for some remains the ultimate Christmas film. Indeed, it is made in that timeless mold of Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, the story that has influenced dozens of yuletide yarns over the years.
By now we all know the story: George Bailey is the small-town man with a big heart, and he’s the only thing stopping the villainous Mr Potter (Barrymore) from getting his hands on every cent in Bedford Falls.
Following the death of his father, Bailey reluctantly takes the reigns of the family’s Buildings and Loan company, if only so the less-fortunate folk of Bedford Falls will have someone to rely on: without Bailey, they’d all be at the mercy of the wheelchair-bound Potter, whose miserly ways would see them all up to their eyeballs in debt. But on Christmas Eve, when George misplaces $8,000, he finds himself on the brink of ruin and facing time in the slammer. Even his doting wife Mary (Reed) and his four children can’t save George from despair, and he soon finds himself perched on the side of a bridge, ready to take the plunge and end it all…
James Stewart’s performance as George Bailey is the true crux of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, maintaining a sharp sense of humour and moments of affecting emotion throughout. George is the anti-Scrooge, demonstrating levels of self-sacrifice rarely seen in cinema before or since. Whether it’s losing the use of one ear when saving his brother from drowning, or casting aside his dreams of traveling the world so Potter cannot take over the town, George is impossibly virtuous. Of course, such self-sacrifice can be difficult to swallow, and some of the film’s finest moments come as George realises he will be stuck in Bedford Falls forever: watch Stewart’s subtle mannerisms as George’s brother returns home with a new wife and brand-new job, ensuring George is saddled with family responsibilities for life. Heartbreaking stuff.
There are further similarities to Dickens’ classic tale of Christmas redemption: as George is ready to end it all, the ingeniously-named angel Clarence arrives to guide him to safety. While Scrooge saw the ghostly visions of Christmases past, present, and future, Clarence shows George an alternative version of Bedford Falls in which he had never been born. The town – now named Potterville – is a regular mini-Vegas, and much poorer for having never known George’s selfless influence. As George learns the lesson that life is a gift, an he has used it for the very best, his redemption is as uplifting and sweet as anything Hollywood has ever had to offer, and the finale should put a smile on even the most humbug of Christmas Grinches.
Capra’s film – the first he produced, directed, and co-wrote – is surprisingly ahead of its time, too. We watch George’s story through Clarence’s eyes as he watches in preparation for his upcoming spiritual intervention. In doing this Capra draws attention to the film’s structure (even pausing the action at one point so Clarence and his angel chum can discuss proceedings), utilizing methods that would be considered postmodern years later.
But it’s the inherent Christmas spirit with which we’re concerned here, and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE has absolute bags of it. It’s funny, charming, and sweet, and has the dark undertones that every great festive tale should.
A genuine Christmas cracker.
