"IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE"

The Rumor Mill News Reading Room 

MARKING THE 65th ANNIVERSARY OF "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" WITH JIMMY STEWART AND DONNA REED

Posted By: Patriotlad [Send E-Mail]
Date: Tuesday, 20-Dec-2011 09:32:53

OF THE MANY GREAT AND SUCCESSFUL FILMS LENSED BY FRANK CAPRA, ONE OF THE TRULY GREAT PERSONALITIES OF HOLLYWOOD, PERHAPS NONE IS MORE WELL-BELOVED THAN "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE". It had its New York City premiere on this day in 1946.  Mr. Capra directed this amazing film and shares a writing credit with Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Philip Van Doren Stern earned a credit for the story and Jo Swerling is listed as an additional contributor of some scenes. IMDb.com lists one Michael Wilson as an uncredited contributor, too: he was best known for "A Place In The Sun" and "The Sandpiper," and for being black-listed during the 'McCarthy era'. Wilson also worked on the screenplay -- uncredited -- of "The Bridge On The River Kwai". He died in 1978 at the age of sixty-three. This film has become a 'family-friendly treasure' at Christmas-time ever since being released on VHS for home screening, and is also available now on DVD in a special boxed set. Capra was able to craft a message of hope and brotherhood in "It's A Wonderful Life," despite the fact that his hero is ready to commit suicide on Christmas Eve, by jumping in an ice-cold river in his hometown of Bedford Falls, New York. Of the many fine performances given in his career, Jimmy Stewart's George Baileypretty well stands at or near the pinnacle of his personal success. Donna Reed, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers and Lionel Barrymore [ as the vicious, emotionally -- and physically -- crippled financial titan, Henry F. Potter, Bailey's nemesis ] all provide career-high performances in this magnificent Capra film. Some years ago NBC Television acquired the rights to show this gem on network television, and it will play again this coming Christmas Eve. With commercials, of course. To watch it on DVD or VHS at home, with friends and family, is the best recommended way to see "It's A Wonderful Life". 126,883 users of IMDb.com have given Capra's Christmas opus a rating of 8.7, and despite the fact that the hero has been driven to the edge of suicide in the story-line, it is fine family fare and appropriate for children aged 7 or better. Nobody in the main part of the story dies and only the hero -- George Bailey -- gets punched in mouth ... and only once ! "It's A Wonderful Life" is a wonderful film, and at sixty-five years of age it isn't even ready for retirement.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/