It's a Wonderful Life

Director: Frank Capra
Written by: Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett & Jo Swerling, loosely based on "The Greatest Gift" by Philip Van Doren Stern
Year: 1946
Genre: Drama
My rating: 5 out of 5

A yuletide favorite, "It's a Wonderful Life" begins on Christmas Eve. George Bailey (James Stewart), who runs the Building and Loan in the small town of Bedford Falls, is planning to commit suicide. The film begins with citizens around town praying for George, which brings the matter to the attention of his guardian angel, the (relatively) young Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers), Angel Second Class. Being only second class, Clarence does not have his wings yet, and he learns that if he helps George successfully, he will get them. First, however, the head angel Joseph must take Clarence and the audience on a quick tour of George's life. We start at the age of 12, when he loses the hearing in his left ear after saving his younger brother Harry who had fallen through the ice on a pond. A few weeks later, we see him working as an errand boy for a pharmacy run by Mr. Gower (H. B. Warner). Here, two important things occur: we learn that George's dream is to travel the world, and George stops his grief-stricken boss (whose son has just died) from accidentally putting poison in a child's prescription. Fastforward to Harry's (Todd Karns) high school graduation, during which George spends time and discusses his high ambitions with Mary (Donna Reed), who has had a crush on him since childhood. The night takes a terrible turn, however, when George learns that his father, who runs the Building and Loan with his brother Billy, has had a fatal stroke. George is able to convince the board of directors to reject the proposal to stop providing loans to the working poor put forth by evil slumlord and majority shareholder Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), but their one condition is that George run the Building and Loan. He accepts, pushing back his plans to travel and go to college, and he gives his college money to Harry. Four years later, George expects Harry to return and take over, but he returns with a wife and a job that George won't let him miss out on. George further puts off his dream until he and Mary get married, and plan to travel the world on their honeymoon. As they are about to leave, however, they witness a run on the bank that endangers the Building and Loan, and are forced to use their honeymoon cash to satisfy despositors' needs. They stay in Bedford Falls and begin to raise a family, and when World War II hits, Harry becomes a war hero and receives the Congressional Medal of Honor while George is unable to enlist because of his bad ear. All of his troubles come to a peak on December 24th, 1946, when Uncle Billy accidentally loses their $8000 deposit. George goes into a rampage, yells at his family and his children's teacher, gets drunk, drives into a tree, and finds himself on a bridge, planning to jump. Enter Clarence, who jumps into the water instead so that George will save him. While they are drying, Clarence reveals his identity, and gives George a chance to see what the world would be like if he had never been born.

As it is a staple of Christmas television, I, like many other poor children, was forced to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" at a very young age. Needless to say, it was dreadfully boring then, and I could hardly understand most of it. Now, however, I am much older, and can see its excellence. One of its greatest accomplishments is, despite the angels and whatnot, it is more realistic than any of Capra's other films. The characters, all of them, feel as if they were based on real people, not just written to meet the needs of the story. James Stewart's bold performance makes the movie seem more like a biopic than a work of fiction. In addition, the use of alternate timelines has become a commonly used and rarely uninteresting idea (i.e. Back to the Future II). In many ways, "It's a Wonderful Life" has become a favorite of countless viewers, and is ranked among the most celebrated films of all time.


Structure/Form:
What does the title mean in relation to the film as a whole?
George eventually learns that his life is wonderful.

Why does the film start in the way that it does?
To show that many people care about George.

What specific scene constitutes the film's climax? How does this scene resolve the central issue of the film?
George realizes that he wants to live, and his life is perfect after all.

Does the film leave any disunities at the end?
Not any noticeable ones, no.


Theme:
How does the film relate to the issues presented or developed? What questions are evoked by the film? Does the film present a clear point of view on an issue? How?
The movie is about what really matters in life. The source of George's depression is financial troubles, but he discovers that even though he didn't get to do what he always wanted to do, he has great friends and a great family, and has made an enormous impact on Bedford Falls.


Mise en Scene:
Mr. Gowan, grief-stricken and probably intoxicated, hits young George in the back room of the store for not delivering the mistakenly poisoned prescription.

Dominant: Where is our eye attracted first?
Mr. Gowan's hands and distressed face draw in our attention.

Lighting key: High key? Low key? High contrast? Some combination of these?
Mostly high key, just so we can see.

Shot and camera distance: What type of shot? How far away is the camera from the action?
The camera spies on them from the other side of a shelf.

Angle: Are we (and the camera) looking up or down on the subject? Or is the camera eye level?
Eye level.

Subsidiary contrasts: What are the main eye-stops after taking in the dominant?
We notice that George's ear is bleeding.

Density: How much visual information is packed into the image?
We see that both characters are very distressed.

Framing: Tight or loose? Do the characters have no room to move around or can they move freely without impediments?
With the camera looking through the shelf, it becomes fairly tight.