75 Years Later: It's a Wonderful Life

Director: Frank Capra
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Henry Travers
Running time: 131 minutes

It just wouldn’t be Christmas without It’s a Wonderful Life – and can you believe it’s 75 years old this year? Despite being recognised now as a universally beloved classic, the film didn’t start off with the most auspicious of beginnings. When it was first released in 1946, it completely bombed at the box office, losing more than half a million dollars and possibly causing the bankruptcy and collapse of the studio, Liberty Films. It disappeared from circulation for years, and it was only due to a happy clerical accident involving copyright oversight in 1974 that It’s a Wonderful Life made its way to the public domain and people began to discover it. Art mirrored life as the film itself – like its main character, George Bailey – fell and was then redeemed, brought back from the brink of obscurity to become a beloved classic. It now ranks as #20 in the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Films of all Time and George Bailey is #9 in its top 100 Heroes list.

There is something utterly compelling about George that gets into your head and your heart. As a young man, he is full of ambition and dreams of what he could do with his life, having the potential to go far. Yet, as time goes on, he finds that he keeps having to sacrifice his dreams one by one as he puts others first, whether it’s losing his hearing when rescuing his little brother, Harry, or giving up his travelling plans to save his father’s business. For the most part, he puts up with his “crummy old life” in this “crummy old town” because things are just about bearable, but when tragedy strikes, George is left doubting the choices he has made and even his own worth, questioning whether everyone else is left better off with him dead. Without giving too much away, watching how George is brought back from the brink of despair will reignite your faith in humanity and may lead to spontaneous sobbing and laughter.

This was the first film role that James Stewart took on after coming back from the war, riddled with PTSD. Despite his initial reservations, the performance he gives – clearly drawing from the trauma of his personal experiences – is one of the most acclaimed of his career. During the scene where George prays in desperation in Martini’s bar, Stewart was so overcome that he actually began to weep. Stewart’s raw emotion perfectly reflected the utter anguish that the character George Bailey was feeling, and director Frank Capra wisely chose to reframe and focus in on the shot to really bring the moment home. There are quite a few moments in the film where random spontaneity and improvisation made its way into the final cut, and this provides the authenticity that gives the film so much of its heart.

If you still haven’t seen it and you want to watch a Christmas film that genuinely gives you hope, please take the time to watch this. It may be an “oldie” but the story is still as fresh and relevant as it was in 1946 – and it still has the power to show you what is truly important in life.

Did you know? A gender-reversed, made-for-TV remake was released in 1977, but faded into obscurity once the original film began receiving regular broadcasts at Christmas. A loose TV sequel to the original titled Clarence was also released in 1990, and follows a largely identical storyline.

It’s a Wonderful Life is on Channel 4 at 2pm on Christmas Eve