186: It's a Wonderful Life

US  131m   Dir: Frank Capra   Key Cast: James Stewart

Based on: The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern (Short Story)

It's a Wonderful Life has been voted the UK's favourite Christmas film so it's a surprise to find that it's not especially Christmassy. Not much is set at Christmas and the key scenes centre around a suicide. 

The first half of the film focuses on George Bailey, a resident of Bedford Falls. We see some of the most important moments of his life such as managing to save two lives as a child and giving up his dream of travelling the world in order to run the family business Bailey Brothers' Buildings and Loans. The business helps the poor of the town to have their own houses and escape the slums of the extremely wealthy Mr. Potter. 

Then George's Uncle Billy misplaces $8,000 and George faces both criminal charges and the end of the company. He takes himself to a bridge out of town planning to commit suicide when his guardian angel Clarence comes to save him. George wishes he had never been born so Clarence shows him a world without him and how much worse off it is. 

The plot is essentially a reverse Christmas Carol. Instead of a bad man being shown by a supernatural entity how to be good, this is a good man being shown by a supernatural entity that he is good and makes a difference to people's lives. Whilst Scrooge understands why people hate him, George Bailey learns why people love him. The ending is even more glorious because the people George has helped give what they can to ensure George gets the $8,000. It's such a wonderful moment and one of the most genuinely joyous cinema has ever seen. 

James Stewart is a big factor in why this film works so well. He has to deliver a bit of everything here. You can see the quiet heartbreak when he realises he will have to stay on at the company so his brother Harry can be happy. You can see the exact moment he falls in love with Mary. You can see the emptiness of a man who has lost everything and feels he has to kill himself. You can see the confusion and fear of being in a world where he doesn't exist. You can see the overwhelming joy when the people of Bedford Falls raise his money. The emotions rarely come from the dialogue, they come from Stewart portraying them on his face, a skill few actors can do so well or with so much versatility. 

The other big factor is producer and director Frank Capra. He does such a great job at bringing the film to life. There are loads of scenes here with lots of extras and Capra manages them really well, showing the number of people yet still ensuring George Bailey is the focus. Everywhere there are neat little touches, not least in the alternate George-less town, like endless signs issuing strict instructions that are never explicitly shown nor mentioned but are clearly in the background showing the totalitarian nature of this world. The film may well have been a success without Capra but he's the reason it's so well made. 

My only point of criticism is the length, or perhaps the balance of the scenes. The first section takes too long, giving us too much minutiae of George's life. The George-less world then feels like it's over far too quickly, though I have to admire how neatly the writers put in all the people whose lives George had affected. It's perhaps due to the age of the film, a time when a slow pace was perfectly normal and though I would never want to see a remake of this film I'm sure it would change this balance significantly. 

I think the reason this film has been accepted as a Christmas film despite it mostly lacking Christmas is that it leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling which feels perfect for the time of year.