That said, I have a basic problem with the movie (and not just the mistake with Harry Bailey's tombstone engraved with the years 1911-1918, despite supposedly being nine years old when George lost his hearing saving his younger brother from falling through the ice.) In short, George Bailey is kind of dumb. Don't buy it? Well, on the positive side of the ledger, he was savvy enough to fall not for the vivacious Violet (played by the scrumptious Gloria Grahame) but for the more even-keeled Mary (played by the delectable Donna Reed), and he was able to keep the Bailey Building and Loan business running despite selling affordable homes to the downtrodden while competing with Mr. Potter.
However, on the negative side, George takes FAR TOO LONG to pick up on the fact that he's "been given a great gift... A chance to see what the world would be like without" him having been born, despite many not-so-subtle clues: a total stranger (Clarence) knows him by name, his hearing is fine in both ears, his lip is no longer bleeding, it is not snowing, his clothes are dry, even after diving off of a bridge into frigid water, his car is no longer smashed up against an old tree, signs say Pottersville and not Bedford Falls, Nick is the boss of Martini's and is not the nice guy George knows. The town pharmacist Mr. Gower is now a panhandler, since George was not there to prevent him from mixing drugs dangerously. George has neither any personal I.D. nor petals from his annoying younger daughter in his pocket. His panicky romp through Pottersville shows a town much less charming and much more risque than the Bedford Falls he was familiar with.
One would think the multitude of clues above would suffice, but......George learns the Bailey Building and Loan went out-of-business years ago, the cab driver Ernie does not recognize George, says he got divorced years ago, and lives not in the non-existent Bailey Park but in Potter's Field. Ernie also tells him that 320 Sycamore, George's home, has not been lived in for twenty years. There are other hints that George is seeing life as if he had never been born, but he finally starts to get it only when he discovers the location of his baby, Bailey Park, is actually a cemetery housing the remains of his brother Harry, who died because George was not there to save him from falling through the ice. The clincher is seeing his beloved Mary, an unwed old maid librarian who does not recognize him. Finally, he gets it, and wants to re-embrace his life. After all, there are worse things in life than sharing a bed with Donna Reed.
It's a Wonderful Life was based loosely on a short story titled "the Greatest Gift." The movie was considered a relative flop when first released, not recouping its costs in an environment of stiff competition from other classic films, and insiders of the day stated that Capra had lost the populist touch displayed in other films of his such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Repeated television airings during the Christmas season thankfully lifted the movie from obscurity and have made it a beloved holiday classic.
(Two questions which did not fit into the body of this essay: 1) Besides It's a Wonderful Life, can you think of other movies that were rediscovered after drifting into obscurity? I can think of two right away- Citizen Kane and Head. 2) Does anyone despise the character Uncle Billy as much as I do?)
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