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It's a Wonderful Life

Actor(s): James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers
Director(s): Frank Capra
92

Movie Details

DVD Synopsis

This is director Frank Capra's classic bittersweet comedy/drama about George Bailey (James Stewart), the eternally-in-debt guiding force of a bank in the typical American small town of Bedford Falls. As the film opens, it's Christmas Eve, 1946, and George, who has long considered himself a failure, faces financial ruin and arrest and is seriously contemplating suicide. High above Bedford Falls, two celestial voices discuss Bailey's dilemma and decide to send down eternally bumbling angel Clarence Oddbody (Henry Travers), who after 200 years has yet to earn his wings, to help George out. But first, Clarence is given a crash course on George's life, and the multitude of selfless acts he has performed: rescuing his younger brother from drowning, losing the hearing in his left ear in the process; enduring a beating rather than allow a grieving druggist (H.B. Warner) to deliver poison by mistake to an ailing child; foregoing college and a long-planned trip to Europe to keep the Bailey Building and Loan from letting its Depression-era customers down; and, most important, preventing town despot Potter (Lionel Barrymore) from taking over Bedford Mills and reducing its inhabitants to penury. Along the way, George has married his childhood sweetheart Mary (Donna Reed), who has stuck by him through thick and thin. But even the love of Mary and his children are insufficient when George, faced with an $8000 shortage in his books, becomes a likely candidate for prison thanks to the vengeful Potter. Bitterly, George declares that he wishes that he had never been born, and Clarence, hoping to teach George a lesson, shows him how different life would have been had he in fact never been born. After a nightmarish odyssey through a George Bailey-less Bedford Falls (now a glorified slum called Potterville), wherein none of his friends or family recognize him, George is made to realize how many lives he has touched, and helped, through his existence; and, just as Clarence had planned, George awakens to the fact that, despite all its deprivations, he has truly had a wonderful life. Capra's first production through his newly-formed Liberty Films, It's a Wonderful Life lost money in its original run, when it was percieved as a fairly downbeat view of small-town life. Only after it lapsed into the public domain in 1973 and became a Christmastime TV perennial did it don the mantle of a holiday classic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Actors

James Stewart - George Bailey
Donna Reed - Mary Hatch Bailey
Lionel Barrymore - Mr. Potter
Thomas Mitchell - Uncle Billy
Henry Travers - Clarence

Editorial Review of DVD

Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life has received a treatment that is somewhere in the middle in terms of DVD quality. The new digital THX transfer is not completely pristine (there is noticeable dirt and grain through most of the film), but the sharpness and clarity of the black-and-white image raise it above any previously released version. The extra features, on the other hand, are good, though somewhat problematic. Instead of producing new features for the DVD, Republic Pictures has included two featurettes from 1990 and 1991 that were obviously transferred from video. The first is a 22-minute television special that supplies little more than interesting trivia. While it is shorter, at about 15 minutes, the second featurette hosted by Frank Capra Jr. is probably the better bet. Both cover much of the same ground, but the Frank Capra interview segments on the latter are more intimate and substantial; also, background on the original production is given at least a little more detail. The original theatrical trailer is also included, a significant piece of history since the film was not widely received as a classic until decades later. =It's a Wonderful Life earns its place in any fan's collection with this decent transfer, but the lack of fresh and substantial extras tarnishes some of the luster. ~ Oliver Thornton, All Movie Guide