“It’s a Wonderful Life”: Great Film, or Corny Mess?
Great film. I have to admit it, I’m one of those people who adores the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. This classic, made in 1946, will be playing nonstop on cable stations from now through Christmas. But if you want just a few quick hits from the film:
Try these great sound clips.
Read lots of cool quotes from the film.
Let me ruin the ending for you with this fab video of the last 9 minutes of the film.
December 12th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Actually, NBC bought the exclusive rights a few years ago, and now it only airs one time during the holiday season and only on NBC.
I am one of those people who DESPISES this movie, so I was quite thrilled to know that it wasn’t going to pop up on every TV station a zillion times.
December 12th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
oh I am so with you on the fact that this is a great film!
I still can’t believe that I didn’t see the movie until after I was married.
It is my all time favorite!
December 12th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I have tried mightily to watch the movie, but I find nothing appealing about it whatsoever.
I find it boring.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
I’ve only seen the entire movie once but I’ve seen bits and pieces of it too many times to mention. There are parts of the film that I could do without but overall, I do like it and it’s a great movie for the holidays!
December 12th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I love that whole movie … except for the incredibly grating quality of the little girl’s voice at the end. Ugh.
December 12th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
I must confess I have never seen this, but as much as I have heard about it, I may as well give it a try.
December 12th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I love this movie, it’s a ‘have-to-see’ every holiday season. But I’m sort of a sap this time of year. I have to see ‘The Bishop’s Wife’, too.
December 12th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
So now I know why I can’t find it running non-stop on the cable channels any more. I’m someone who watched it religiously every year – at least once. I’m not sure why, except I love all old movies…like The Little Shop Around The Corner. They have life lessons to teach in addition to being entertaining. I have to confess though that with this one I think I finally got my fill since I’m not all that upset that I don’t see it on. Of course, when it does, I will be watching
December 13th, 2007 at 8:51 am
It’s a magnificent film, masterfully written and directed. I cried like a baby the first time I saw it – and every time since.
It is on my list of “Things By Which You Can Unfailingly Gauge The Love Within A Person Towards Other People”. When someone ridicules this film, finding nothing within it of value, I rest assured in the knowledge that the person is NOT one to trust with my emotions. Thus far, it is 100%.
December 13th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I’m with June – I LOVE old movies! And I miss having more chances to see “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
This is one of my favorites, edged out only slightly by “Meet Me in St. Louis” for a holiday classic. And, on New Year’s Eve, I gather my children and we all watch Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in “Holiday Inn.”
December 13th, 2007 at 10:50 am
I will give anything a try when it earns “classic” status. We incorporate this film into our holiday festivities every year!
December 13th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
I like the movie, but I am glad that it’s not on a hundred times during the season.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.
That’s how I feel about “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
December 13th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
hee-haw!
always happy to weigh-in on this subject. frances goodrich and albert hackett, my aunt and uncle, wrote this script in two weeks (as well as 35 others, including the thin man series and seven brides).
i recommend my cousin david goodrich’s book on them, “the real nick and nora” as it contains some interesting info on “life.” the title hints to the fact that they based the witty repartee in those movies on their own lives, right down to the martinis. and how about mr. martini in “life”! frances summered in little compton, where baileys, wainwrights and potters were prominent citizens…
capra liked to fancy himself a writer, and couldn’t wait to get the script so he could, well, mangle it. (he had help from jo swerling, who worked on it behind their back, a major no-no in writer’s circles, for which they never forgave him.)
my aunt and uncle were close to beulah bondi, who once visited them after a day’s shoot. she related how a scene did not go well, and capra said he would re-write it and for everyone to come back the next day. the scene was shot in one take the next day. when beulah recounted the dialogue, it was obvious that the filming that did not go well was capra’s, and the one that worked was the hacketts.
capra was a coarse man, who hectored them to hurry with the script. once he said “listen, lady” to my aunt, a vassar grad, which did not sit well. “are you done, are you done,” he would say. “yes, we are DONE!” they handed it in and walked away. in fact, it was about a decade before they even saw the finished film.
capra never had another hit after that, whereas the hacketts had many hits for years after.
both albert hackett and frances goodrich were originally actors/playwrights on broadway, and they acted out all their dialogues with each other, a possible clue to their success.
humphrey bogart once carried my aunt on-stage, a story she never tired of telling.
they won a pulitzer for “diary of anne frank”; more importantly, in a forty-year career in hollywood they made NO enemies, possibly a first.
“life” is a problematic film on many levels, filled with artistic cop-outs and implausibilities that weigh it down. donna reed as a spinster, yeah, right. it could have been a masterpiece, if it hadn’t been tinkered with. many aspects of it ARE undeniably great, such as the snow, which capra was awfully proud of.
for all that, wonderful holiday fare, if that is your bag. but, oh, what could have been…
December 13th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Lots of differing opinions here. Cool.
Good to hear from you La Chicharrone, especially because I aspire to selling one of my feature film screenplays. I am intrigued by your aunt and uncle’s story and appreciate your behind-the-scenes tales.
December 13th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
To someone who has been down in his/her luck does the movie make any sense.
We do not realize how our lives touch others.
If you can’t relate to that one,main message from the movie, then you might as well jump off the bridge. There will be no Clarance to show you, “It’s A Wonderful Life”.
December 13th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
that’s EL chicharrone, heh heh…, but thanks just the same.
as it happens, my dad was a hired gun for the studios as well, and i have lived and worked in hollywood.
check out dramatica.com if you have not already done so – excellent software.
i wrote a screenplay and had a ball filming it myself with a partner and a small crew as an art project – well worth doing for its own sake. do it for love and the money will follow – or not.
ars longa, schlock brevis.
good luck, and read my cousin’s book!
December 13th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
It’s a Wonderful Life is one of my favorite movies of all time! It speaks to me on a deeper level for life, how we should live, how our choices impact others, gosh I love this movie. Better go surf the cable to see if it’s playing right now.
December 13th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Count me in as a fan of the movie. I bought the video several years ago when I gave up commercial television, so I wouldn’t miss it during Christmas. Thanks for the behind the scenes look, El Chicarrone, I love to know about those stories. How many more movies could be made about the things that happened during filming one movie? And I love The Bishop’s Wife, too (the original, thank you so much, with Cary Grant). And Holiday Inn. And Miracle on 34th Street. And . . . oh, well, you get the picture. But I don’t like A Christmas Story. There I said it. I think I’m the only person in television audiences everywhere who doesn’t like that movie.
December 14th, 2007 at 4:11 am
It’s one of our favorites for the season – sappy perhaps, but in a good way!
December 17th, 2007 at 2:05 am
Yeah, I’m a sucker for this film. And I’m not even embarrassed to say I love it. (well, not too embarrassed).
btw, two of my favorite band names were taken from the film: ZuZu’s Petals (an all-female post-punk band from Minneapolis that played Boston quite regularly in the late 1980s) and Buffalo Girls (another punkish group of ealry 1980s alt rock girls from Austin, TX).
December 18th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
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December 18th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
I love the movie. It plays my feelings like a fiddle. So many themes and points for good keynoters. Hey, that’s and idea I should do a keynote just around that movie. Anyway. Your site was reviewed today on rosiesboomerreview.com
Keep up the great work!