Lies and Legends of It’s a Wonderful Life
It’s A Wonderful Life is heralded as the greatest Christmas movie of all time. In fact, it famously ranks in the top ten of the greatest of all movies of all time.
That is pretty good considering that publishers hated the original story when it was written, that the movie studios of Hollywood rejected it when first proposed, that critics were not impressed when the movie was released, and that audiences allegedly avoided It’s A Wonderful Life when it was in theaters.
But aside from industry benchmarks where It’s A Wonderful Life failed in cultural popularity, reach and influence of the film is amazing.
The movie has gone from being a post-war work of sap to a closeted work of shame, to a cheap TV re-run, to a nostalgic cult classic, to a holiday standard, to today’s powerhouse spoken-of-in-reverence-only as the end-all-be-all greatest Christmas thing since the Baby Jesus.
If a movie was made of the journey of It’s A Wonderful Life nobody would believe it.
Like all things legendary It’s A Wonderful Life has been examined and the story-of-the-story has been told countless times and in countless ways.
There are books, articles, documentaries, and retrospectives detailing every part of the making of It’s A Wonderful Life.
There’s stuff to buy, too: mugs, posters, t-shirts, calendars, collectors videos, and even an annual festival celebrating It’s A Wonderful Life in a place that claims it inspired the fictional town where the movie is set.
With all that stuff comes a lot of lies, myths, misperceptions, hyperbole and, well — run on sentences.
That’s why we’re here now.
We, like it seems everyone else, love the movie. It is for us what it is for a lot of people: a holiday standard that makes every Christmas season complete.
But it’s time to set the record straight because the rising generation that loves It’s A Wonderful Life needs to know the truth of not only what it really is but how it got here.
It’s time to separate the lies from the legends.
Myth: It’s a Christmas movie
Truth: No, it’s not
We think of it as THE Christmas movie to end all Christmas movies.
We need to stop that.
It’s A Wonderful Life is not a Christmas movie or even a Christmas story. It has nothing to actually do with Christmas.
Oh, Christmas is in it.
We watch it at Christmas.
Christmas is what makes it famous.
So we call it a Christmas movie.
That’s not how it began.
A story was conjured up in 1939 by a man named Philip Van Doren Stern. He thought a story of a suicidal man who felt his life had been wasted only to have an angel show him how the world would be different if he had never been born was an interesting idea.
He peddled the story to a number of publishers who all rejected it.
Frustrated, he re-wrote the story into a 24-page Christmas card that he passed around to his friends. That’s the first connection to Christmas that It’s A Wonderful Life can claim.
One of his friends was his agent, who shopped it among movie studios and they all rejected it as well. Somehow, after a period of time, it came to the attention of Frank Capra, a famed American director just coming off of his service in the war.
Capra made it his first post-war project.
Due to various circumstances the film debuted during the week of Christmas 1946. That is it’s second connection to Christmas.
But nobody then – not the studio, not Capra, not the critics and certainly not the audiences – thought for one second the movie and the story behind it were Christmas related in the least.
The movie did okay. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and it played in theaters through the middle of 1947. It brought in a little more than $3 million in revenue which was not exceptional but not bad either.
Myth: Jimmy Stewart’s PTSD from WWII Influenced His Acting
Truth: There is no evidence Stewart suffered from PTSD
Jimmy Stewart’s first post-war work was It’s A Wonderful Life, too. He was the first choice by Capra for the character of George Bailey.
Like everyone else returning from war, Stewart struggled with adjusting again to normal life. And like everyone else involved in battle in the war, Stewart was a changed man because of his war experience.
Any character contemplating suicide is going to have mental issues and It’s A Wonderful Life had no problem showing George Bailey’s struggles.
But modern film critics, fans and experts now claim that Jimmy Stewart’s real life war trauma fueled his on-screen psychosis.
Boy, doesn’t that make It’s A Wonderful Life that much more of a feel-good Christmas movie?
No — actually, it doesn’t. Suicide was a heavy theme both then and now and not every actor could pull it off. Stewart did pull it off.
But he wasn’t suicidal, he did not have PTSD and his war experience did nothing to help in his role as George Bailey. In fact, truth be told, with it being his first movie in years Stewart felt rusty and a little nervous about making the movie simply because he had not done one in a long time.
Fortunately we don’t have to consider that Stewart drew off of war trauma because it’s just a lie. Jimmy Stewart was a real life veteran and a genuine war hero. No doubt he saw things that were disturbing.
But there is zero evidence that Jimmy Stewart suffered from PSTD.
Stewart famously continued his military service after the war and he achieved the rank of Brigadier General in the reserves where he served until the 1960s.
That fact is far more celebratory than the myth of his shattered psyche.
He was an actor. And a darn good one.
Maybe that is what makes the scenes where George Bailey loses his mind in the movie so effective.
Myth: Critics hated the movie and gave it poor reviews
Truth: The vast majority of critics gave the movie outstanding reviews
It’s A Wonderful Life was not only well received it was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including for Best Picture.
Unless you’re talking weird 21st century movies that doesn’t just happen.
In 1946 and 1947 a movie nominated for Best Picture was clearly a recipient of more favorable reviews than negative reviews.
Perhaps the biggest disservice done to It’s A Wonderful Life is to forget that it WAS crafted with a 1946 audience in mind.
The problem with how modern history covers the reception the film got back then comes from the circumstances under which it was released.
It’s A Wonderful Life was rushed to audiences. It was not supposed to be released until 1947. Releasing it on December 20th of 1946 made it a 1946 movie and we still see it as such today.
The truth of the matter is that despite the fact that it was one of the most expensive movies to produce that year and the fact that it failed to make a profit does not mean the movie was hated.
In fact, it was one of the more popular movies of the time.
Myth: It’s a Wonderful Life was a box office bomb
Truth: The movie was a modest box office draw and was nominated for 5 Academy Awards
The average movie released at that time did a little better than $2 million in box office receipts. It’s A Wonderful Life did considerably better than average.
When Capra returned from the war and made It’s A Wonderful Life his first project he did it with stars in his eyes. The movie was made for a then-stunning $3.7 million dollars.
Why the super cost?
The set for Bedford Falls was more than 3 blocks long and took several months to build. It included at least 20 transplanted oak trees. Special effects, including the Academy Award winning snow scenes, led to cost overruns.
So too did Capra’s feuds with the churn in writers for the script.
Given its late release and other factors surrounding the marketing of the movie it was not unpopular.
In 1946, the first full year removed from the war, going to movies peaked in America. More than 90 million box office tickets were sold that year, a number that dwarfs numbers of today – and in the decades since.
Not only did they not have as many entertainment options in sports, music, and devices like we do today folks in 1946-47 went to the movies because they were starved for time together and for diversion after years of war. It was THE thing to do and all movies in 1946 and 1947 benefited from the times – including It’s A Wonderful Life.
The movie did better than $3.7 million at the box office, or roughly half of it’s biggest competitor for best picture, The Best Years of Our Lives. Lots of other movies did better than It’s a Wonderful Life – but a lot more did a lot worse.
While by no means do we claim it had blockbuster sales but It’s A Wonderful Life was not a bomb because it didn’t make enough. It was a “bomb” only because it cost so much and didn’t produce a profit at the time.
Myth: TV re-runs in the 1970s is the reason why It’s a Wonderful Life Became Popular
Truth: They call them the Greatest Generation for a reason
It is true that the copyright for It’s a Wonderful Life lapsed in 1974. And it is true that the movie was a staple of Christmas-time television reruns year after year that brought many new viewers to the movie.
All that new exposure could not hurt the movie or its reputation.
But there were other “Christmas” movies from 1946-47 – notably, The Bishop’s Wife and Miracle on 34th Street – that ran incessantly on television in the 1970s too and their copyrights were not lapsed.
The fact of the matter is that these three movies combined tugged at the hearts of Baby Boomers in their prime who were just starting to appreciate the generation of their parents and the world that was in post-War America.
We also have to consider the state of Christmas in America as It’s A Wonderful Life enjoyed its rebirth.
The 1960s saw not only a turbulent era in both politics and popular culture but it also saw a more sharply defined Christmas that stood in contrast to Christmas just after the war.
Christmas of 1945 – the first post war Christmas – was wildly celebrated. It kicked off a golden age of Christmas creation bringing the world not only staples in movie watching but also a golden era of music driven by Bing Crosby, Perry Como and Frank Sinatra.
That was followed by an explosion in Christmas celebrations marked with tinsel, aluminum Christmas trees, bubble lights, reflectors and city streets laden with community decorations.
In the 1960s all that came crashing down.
A Charlie Brown Christmas decried the commercialism of Christmas while The Grinch declared that Christmas does not come from a store.
By the 1970s this whiplash between the denial of Christmas past and the acceptance of Christmas as it was loved was marked by 30-year old movies of the Greatest Generation that Baby Boomers could and did embrace for the sake of nostalgia and stubborn reverence for small town American values.
It wasn’t just It’s A Wonderful Life – it was The Bishop’s Wife and Miracle on 34th Street as well. These movies helped restore the love of Christmas and traditions in the 1970s and they deserve credit for that.
Myth: It’s A Wonderful Life is a Depressing Film of a Sexist Man and Abuser
Truth: It’s A Wonderful Life is a fictional story showcasing the sacrifices men make
In recent years It’s A Wonderful Life has pricked the sensibilities of 21st century movie watchers and Christmas enthusiasts. Like the song Baby It’s Cold Outside it is seen as a model of sexism and abuse that was allowed to run rampant in previous generations.
This is evidently bad in telling a fictional story on film. George Bailey, it appears, is offensive to some simply because he has weaknesses. There are those who condemn things common of the time in which the story is set.
That’s all code for “snowflakes can’t handle it”.
Like Gone with the Wind, in many places It’s A Wonderful Life cannot be viewed without some kind of disclaimer.
In all the many opinions about George Bailey stuff like this surfaces to moralize the story for modern audiences:
It is one of the climaxes of the film: George Bailey realizes with misery and terror that, had he never been born, Mary would now be not only single but—gasp!—a librarian! He concludes, therefore, that his life was meaningful, if only because he saved people from death, ruin, and the sheer misery of a single woman who is perpetually in circulation. (Read more at this link)
Modern critics love to tear George Bailey apart for his being George Bailey.
George is labeled as sexist for his leering at Violet and racist for having a black maid (who gets slapped on the behind by his equally repulsive brother Harry). And George is castigated for setting aside his dreams for being a hard working family man involved in his community.
Don’t forget George wants to kill himself precisely because his dreams are dead…and because he belongs in a federal prison (more foreshadowing). Not even the people closest to him want George to be happy on his own terms. The longer George stays in Bedford Falls, the more stops his suicide train passes while high-balling toward the end of the line. Not even the unfailing devotion of the improbably gorgeous Mary can cover George’s increasing despondency because even he can see the family she’s borne him is the biggest package of wieners this side of Oscar Meyer. All of this might well be the reason It’s a Wonderful Life is considered in the top ten of all movies ever made. More than 75 years since its release the movie continues to keep people talking. (Read more at this link)
What other movie out there, especially one more than 7 decades old, gets this level of examination?
In this case, the discussion is one that will never end in agreement.
Some are just going to see it as a dark reminder of things like sexism, racism, abuse and mental illness. Others will only praise it for its charity, humanity and selflessness.
George Bailey is a flawed character in many ways. Critics have long pointed it out. He’s Bob Cratchit without Tiny Tim – raw, emotional, caught, trapped, frustrated, and hopelessly male.
But what genuine husband, father and provider can’t identify with him?
We’re all George Bailey.
Stuck in jobs we can’t appreciate, doing the best we can for those around us, prone to outbursts when voices of complaint are raised, quick to defend against those who oppress us, and rising to make right the wrongs done to our own.
Like George Bailey we’re all good and bad all at the same time.
And like George Bailey we need rescuing. We all need an Angel Clarence and we all need saving in the end. We need, it seems, our Merry Christmas.
This is what makes it so relatable and legendary. We do not help our examination or appreciation for George Bailey’s story by perpetuating lies of how It’s A Wonderful Life came to be what it is.
In fact we detract from the lessons of It’s A Wonderful Life. The truth is that the movie is legendary not because it’s a miracle it made it this far. It’s legendary because it’s legendary. And that’s the story.
