It's A Wonderful Life (RKO) (1946) *****Decade: '40siMDB
Director: Frank Capra Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Back in the day when they used to show movies all the time on regular network TV, It's A Wonderful Life was shown without fail every year around this time. You may not see this scheduled on broadcast television much anymore, but no matter: while it's not a movie about Christmas per se, it is really a perfect movie to watch at this, or any time of the year when you are feeling the need for a little old fashioned life affirmation.
If you don't know the story, briefly, Jimmy Stewart (one of my favorite actors of all time) plays George Bailey, a man who always intended to get away from his small hometown somewhere in upstate New York, but somehow never manages to. At a time just before Christmas, he received a severe blow to his struggling savings and loan business that makes him sincerly wish he had never existed. Everything about this movie is perfect, from the entire cast, to the setting, the romance between Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed's characters, to the ending that never fails to bring tears to my eyes.
What truly lifts this movie to masterpiece status and far above sentimental cheesiness is the performance given by Jimmy Stewart. You really feel the disappointment and anger that exists in George despite his seemingly happy, cheerful exterior. He has a wonderful family, a beautiful, loving wife, and many friends - yet it's the dark side of him that pushes him so far into despair when things go wrong. So when he's shown that his life was really worthwhile the realization is truly satisfying.
Posted by bc on December 12, 2005 03:26 PM