It’s A Wonderful Life [DVD] [2016]

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Capra's direction is brilliant. His genius is bringing human stories to life in a ways that not only make a point, but that totally involve the audience in the lives of the characters. He is always extremely optimistic about the human condition. He is known for testing his characters with overwhelming adversity to make them struggle to triumph in a way that causes the world to change and the character to grow. For this reason his films were always crowd pleasers and this film was the best of all in that regard. Goodtimes, Johnny (December 20, 2011). " "It's a Wonderful Life" Is Communist Propaganda". Philadelphia Magazine . Retrieved March 2, 2012. A new "cinematic audio" adaptation by David Ossman of the Firesign Theatre was produced and directed by Ossman and his wife Judith Walcutt of Otherworld Media in December 2019 at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. Their version combined elements of traditional and radio theatre, with costumes, sets, makeup, and lighting effects, as well as live music, live sound effects, and over 20 microphones. [112] Remakes [ edit ] The Last Temptation of Clarence Odbody is a 2011 novel written by John Pierson. The novel imagines the future lives of various characters if George had not survived his jump into the river. [110]

Granted, there are some imperfections in this divine film, just as a Persian carpet always contains a flaw. For me the initial levity of Clarence as a blinking star is a bit too cute after the stage is set up by the people of Bedford Falls on bended knee entreating for divine intervention for George. But once Henry Travers shows up as Clarence in person that is rectified (I like the way he tells George, "You've never been born," as if what was about to happen was the most natural thing in the world. However, the errors I recall now with regards to this film are my own. The first couple of times I saw the film I thought that Mr. Potter showed up at the end to join in the festivities because the magic of Christmas was such that even his heart grew to the right size. For years I was convinced that when they are searching Uncle Billy's hovel for the missing money and it looks like somebody will be going to prison that George not only says "It's not going to be me," but adds "for once in my life it is not going to be me." Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.

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Donna Reed’s Mary, though looking older than the 18 years she’s meant to be when we first meet her, is sweet and innocent and clearly interested in George. The scenes of George and Mary together are romantic and amusing, never mawkish. Mary becomes the era’s stereotypical loving wife and mother, yet Reed gives her strength and dignity. a b "AFI Catalog of Feature Films The First 100 Years 1893–1993". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute . Retrieved September 5, 2020. Tony Palermo's 2005 stage adaptation has the story presented as actors making a radio-play complete with them making live sounds effects [108] Computer Gaming World said in April 1994, "The picture quality still has a way to go before it reaches television standards", but was "a noble effort" that would "please fans of the film". [100] DVD and Blu-ray [ edit ]

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE [1946 / 2016] [Platinum Anniversary Edition] [Blu-ray] It’s One of Those Ageless Movies . . . That Improves With Age! Frank Capra's Inspirational Christmas Classic Despite Its Dark Undertones!Before Capra decided on Ward Bond as Bert, [32] he also considered Sam Levene, Barton MacLane, Robert Mitchum, John Alexander and Irving Bacon for the role. Scenes from the film are seen in the 2016 documentary Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, where Abacus Federal Savings Bank founder and chairman Thomas Sung talked about how It's a Wonderful Life influenced him.

The film's elevation to the status of a beloved classic came three decades after its initial release, when it became a television staple during Christmas season in 1976. [74] This came as a welcome surprise to Frank Capra and others involved with its production. "It's the damnedest thing I've ever seen", Capra told The Wall Street Journal in 1984. "The film has a life of its own now, and I can look at it like I had nothing to do with it. I'm like a parent whose kid grows up to be President. I'm proud ... but it's the kid who did the work. I didn't even think of it as a Christmas story when I first ran across it. I just liked the idea." [75] In a 1946 interview, Capra described the film's theme as "the individual's belief in himself" and that he made it "to combat a modern trend toward atheism". [75] It ranked 283rd among critics, and 107th among directors, in the 2012 Sight & Sound polls of the greatest films ever made. [76] Alsdorf, Matt. Slate.com: "Why Wonderful Life Comes but Once a Year". slate.com, December 21, 1999. Retrieved September 10, 2009. a b "Notes for 'It's a Wonderful Life'". Retrieved October 29, 2011. TCM Movie Database, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2010.

Dalton Trumbo, Clifford Odets, and Marc Connelly each worked on versions of the screenplay before RKO shelved the project. In Trumbo's draft, George Bailey is an idealistic politician who grows more cynical as the story progresses, then tries to end his life after losing an election. The angel shows him Bedford Falls not as it would be if he had never been born, but if he had gone into business instead of politics. [17] Grant went on to make another Christmas movie staple, The Bishop's Wife. [N 3] [19] Jean Arthur, Stewart's co-star in You Can't Take It With You and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, was first offered the role of Mary, but had recently dropped out of the Broadway show Born Yesterday from exhaustion shortly before its premiere. Capra next considered Olivia de Havilland, Martha Scott, Ann Dvorak, and Ginger Rogers before borrowing Donna Reed from MGM. Rogers turned it down because she considered it "too bland". [33] In chapter 26 of her autobiography Ginger: My Story, she questioned her decision by asking her readers: "Foolish, you say?" Gammage, Jeff. "For Seneca Falls, It's Hollywood or Bust." Philadelphia Inquirer. 27 Sep 1998: A.3. Burr, Ty. "ABC'S OF CD: Delivering the Future". ew.com via Entertainment Weekly, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2009. Composer Dimitri Tiomkin had written "Death Telegram" and "Gower's Deliverance" for the drugstore sequence, but Capra elected to forgo music in those scenes. Tiomkin had worked on many of Capra's previous films, but those changes, and others, led to a falling out between the two men. Tiomkin felt as though his work was being seen as a mere suggestion. In his autobiography Please Don't Hate Me, he called the incident, "an all around scissors job". [47]