A contemporary review of the timeless classic, It's a Wonderful Life (1946).
Pictured above: Donna Reed and James Stewart, center, in a scene from “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Image credits: RKO Radio Pictures/NYTimes.com
It is universally acknowledged that the holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year. Not only are schools closed but iconic Christmas songs are replayed for hours on end in retail stores and houses put on new attires of bright lights and wreaths. In this time of gift-giving and mirth, Christmas movies are not any less a part of the Christmas identity as magnificently decorated pine trees or the jolly fat man himself. In the myriad of shallow Christmas movies that are nothing more than a quick cash grab, It’s a Wonderful Life stands out as a genuinely great and timeless film.
The movie begins with a “second class” angel named Clarence Odbody who is dispatched to help a despairing man on the verge of suicide named George Bailey. What follows is a montage of George’s life from his childhood to eventually destitute adulthood, during which he gives up his own dreams in support of the people around him. Although the tone is predominately upbeat, this film effectively captures the downward spiral of George’s mental health as his increasing personal and financial troubles weigh down on him. However, just when George feels that he is at the end of his tether, Clarence shows him how his beloved town would fall apart without him. The entire sequence then culminates in one of the most satisfying endings in all of cinematic history, in which Harry, George’s brother, declares him “the richest man in town.”
There is no doubt that It’s a Wonderful Life is a feel-good movie, but why has a seemingly ordinary Christmas movie struck a chord with so many viewers decades after its release? Though some cynics argue that the main contributor of the film’s success with modern viewers lies in its seasonal elements, that argument hardly holds up because this movie performs just as well in July as it does in December. Rather, I believe that it has earned its cult following through effectively imparting a heartwarming message that we would all like to believe – that each of us has great impacts on the lives of the people around us, no matter how insignificant our actions may seem, that each of us has the power to make a difference, and that our worth as people are not determined by trivial matters such as wealth and fame, but by the way we treat others.
So, during this holiday season, take some time with your family and friends to watch (or rewatch) one of the greatest Christmas films of all time.