An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra…
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra. It is based on the short story and booklet The Greatest Gift self-published by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943. The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his personal dreams in order to help others in his community and whose thoughts of suicide on Christmas Eve bring about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody. Clarence shows George all the lives he touched and what the world would be like if he had not existed.
It became a Christmas classic after its copyright expired in 1974 following a lack of renewal and it entered the public domain, which allowed it to be broadcast without licensing or royalty fees. The film became a perennial holiday favorite in the 1980s, possibly due to its repeated showings each holiday season on hundreds of local television stations.
It's a Wonderful Life is now considered to be one of the greatest films of all time and among the best Christmas films. It has been recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made.
How Jews view the movie:
"Although it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, It's a Wonderful Life initially received mixed reviews and was unsuccessful at the box office. Theatrically, the film's break-even point was $6.3 million, about twice the production cost, a figure it did not come close to achieving on its initial release. Because of the film's disappointing sales, Capra was seen by some studios as having lost his ability to produce popular, financially successful films."
