It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Retro Review #14: The Frank Capra–James Stewart all-time Christmas classic that blesses viewers every holiday season.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
+ Feature film, bw, 2h 11m
+ Based on literature (short story) “The Greatest Gift” (1944)❗🔜⭐ by Philip Van Doren Stern
+ 1️⃣/2 movies in Clarence Odbody series ⭐
A+^
Grade: A+^ (20.0) / HOF: 120
EQ 👍? | 📖? 👥? 📽️? 🎼? (Coming soon upon re-review)
DW 😎🕶️🚫?.? | 🌚? 🌝? (Coming soon upon re-review)
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R 💻⬆️⬇️? 👀⬆️⬇️? 🛐⬆️⬇️? (Coming soon upon re-review)
It’s a wonderful motion picture!
Of course. When I checked ten “All-Time Best Christmas Movie” lists it was on all of them. It topped some of those lists. It was also #1 on the American Film Institute’s list of the most inspirational American movies ever made. It’s also been on several “Best Films of All-Time” lists, as high as #7 in a 2002 poll by Channel 4 in the UK.
The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Capra), Best Actor (James Stewart), Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Recording. It lost out on all five Oscar nominations though—four to The Best Years of Our Lives, a dramatic tale of men returning home after WW2, but a film not quite as well-regarded today as the Capra film. It’s a Wonderful Life did take home one Oscar, a Technical Achievement Academy Award for developing a new method to simulate falling snow in a film.
The movie is based on the short story “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern.
It’s a completely different experience though, turning a clever short tale of a momentous evening into an epic drama that spans years. In fact, the film takes almost an hour and forty minutes to get to the point where the short story begins!
If you’ve never seen this film before, what are you waiting for, a run on the banks? It’s been on television every Christmas season since we’ve been born.
If, like me, you haven’t seen it in a long time (like decades!), do yourself a favor and refresh your memory. I don’t even recall for sure if I saw it just once or maybe twice on television. And I’ve no idea when—possibly in my 20’s, but maybe even younger. I remembered a handful of scenes quite clearly and that I had a high opinion of the film. But I had forgotten much of what made this film so great, from overall themes, to strong scenes of romance and drama, to funny moments, to perfect little details. It was a pleasure to finally watch it in high definition on a big screen.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out to my family a little detail I’d forgotten, that the lead female character played by Donna Reed is named Mary Hatch!
One could criticize a few points about the film. Some might say they added too much, or were too sentimental. I say, sure, it’s not perfect. I could nitpick a little myself. But leave it be. It’s a Wonderful Film. To any naysayers:
Onwards!
+ last viewed (~3) 2024-12-05, HDX7, 1.37, 1D
+ first viewed ~1970s, sd2, 1.37v, 1
+ 👻👨👩👧👦🎈⛄🎄🎅🦄🧙💘😥
+ ✅❌? NR (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ 😡? 😵💫+? 🤬+? 🤭+? 🫣+? (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ 👀 (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ ✝️ (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ ✡️ (Coming soon upon re-review)
+ 🗽 (Coming soon upon re-review)
Originally posted to text group 2024-12-06
Last updated 2025-04-14
Note: The copyright for "It's a Wonderful Life" is currently held by Paramount Pictures, which owns the rights to the film's musical score. However, the film itself is in the public domain due to a copyright lapse in 1974, allowing it to be broadcast without licensing fees, although the underlying story remains under copyright. This likely means the images used in this review are not under copyright.
Please do not include spoilers in the comments.
Spoilers are permitted in the Chat for this work.
Text Group Comment:
S: Love that movie! I was waiting to have you mention Mary Hatch! Who has an awful alternate fate of *gasp* being a librarian!!!
Reaction: 😂 from Rick Retro
Reaction: 😂 from W