It's a Wonderful Life
| It's a Wonderful Life | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Frank Capra |
| Produced by | Frank Capra |
| Written by | Frances Goodrich Albert Hackett Frank Capra |
| Starring | James Stewart Donna Reed Lionel Barrymore |
| Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc Joseph Walker Victor Milner (uncredited) |
| Editing by | William Hornbeck |
| Distributed by | Liberty Films |
| Language | English |
It's a Wonderful Life is a classic 1946 film, directed by Frank Capra and stars James Stewart & Donna Reed. The film shows the life of George Bailey, a man who almost commits suicide, but is rescued by a quirky angel named Clarence. Clarence shows George what things would be like, if he had never been born, causing George to understand his wonderful life.
Based on a short story by Philip van Doren Stern, the film is about a crisis in George's life when a stunning business problem piles onto his general discontent. After Uncle Billy misplaces a huge deposit from the building and loan, George launches into "a tirade against the world, against life itself, against God."[1] He realizes he's "worth more dead than alive" and wanders down to the bridge to commit suicide, so his family can get his life insurance. He then sees a nightmarish vision of what the town would be like if he had never lived: the town mired in sin and squalor, no building and loan, his wife an old maid librarian, Uncle Billy in an insane asylum, his brother Harry drowned as in a childhood sledding accident. It is only when he prays to get his old life back that the vision ends; when the townspeople discover his distress, they rally around him, flooding his house with more than enough cash to cover the lost deposit.
