Movie – It's a wonderful life

Movie –  It's a wonderful life

Score : 9/10  

Year : 1946

Director:  Frank Capra
Cinematography : Joseph F. Biroc, Joseph Walker (and uncredited Victor Milner)

Country: USA

Language: English

Duration:  2h10 

Writers: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett & Frank Capra (screeplay)  ; Jo Swerling (additional scenes)  ; Michael Wilson (uncredited contributor to screenplay) 
Philip Van Doren Stern (story) 

Although I'm an atheist, I can still appreciate the human aspects of this Christmas classical movie, which is laden with Christian messages dear to Capra, the director. 

I just take it as a fantasy story, where Clarence, an angel, second class, is sent down to Earth - more precisely to Bedford Falls. His mission is to help George Bailey (James Stewart) on a crucial moment of his life. In order to help him, however, Clarence has to get acquainted with George and his life, and this is where we discover 12 year old George, in 1919. We follow his life and those around him, until Christmas Eve, 1945. 

Religious aspects aside, It's a wonderful life offers also Capra's messages regarding socialism, and humanism. Indeed, it raises the notion of interdependence and interconnections between all people, through a unique (especially for 1946) story and resolution - all cleverly directed by Capra, and thus we understand how this movie is such a classic, and shown yearly for 3 or so decades.

I love James Stewart's portrayal of George Bailey ; he truly becomes his character in a very convincing and touching manner - no one else could be him. As often, his facial expressions add to his dramatic performance as he realizes what has happened, and he is so endearing in this role. I'll give you just one of these...

The accompanying cast is huge, and comprises Donna Reed, Beulah Bondi, Samuel S. Hinds, each touching and endearing in their respective roles ; Lionel Barrymore is unforgettable as Mr Potter (unrelated to JK Rowling's Harry...), with all the gambit of his character.

We also find H.B Warner who had played a juge in Mr Deeds goes to town, present once again in this Capra movie, this time as a chemist - young George's employer. 

Henry Travers is the angel in training, Clarence, and I'll let you discover the rest of the cast at the end of this post.

As you noticed, 3 different men worked on the excellent cinematography of this movie, rich in its contrasts and for which new sets had been built. 

The dialogues are very well written and delivered, witty, moving and full of humour. 

Lastly, the musical score accompanies perfectly well the overall atmosphere - though I'm not into 1940's music for itself, I appreciate it here. 

Before my wedding, I had seen this movie just a few times. My wife used to watch it every year since she was a child, and since I have been with her, I joined in this tradition.
At first, it was always on a cheap DVD french edition, that had a rather poor image and sound quality, as well as forced (and often erroneous) subtitles. 



Last year, however, I finally bought (and watched) a UK BD edition, EAN 5050582743821, offering this movie in full 1080p HD with a remastered dolby digital mono 2.0 sound. It also has a colorized version, which I haven't watched yet, and very few bonuses (that I haven't checked yet) :

• Theatrical trailer
• Trivia tracker
• Picture comparison

I know that some editions add a short making-off documentary, but when I had ordered, there was only one more such edition and it was a lot more expensive and I couldn't find information regarding its content.

Since then, at least 4 more editions have been released in the UK alone, and at least in the USA. I might detail their info another time.