It’s a Wonderful Life

Twelfth Day of Advent

When I was a child, about 10 years old, I saw a great movie on TV. This would have been about 1958, and I never saw it again for many years. But I loved it, and from time to time I’d mention it to someone. I remembered that it was a Christmas thing with James Stewart and Donna Reed, and that this guy got to see what life would be like if he’d never been born. I found some people who’d seen it, and a few who could tell me things about it that I hadn’t remembered. But in the Googleless society, it was hard to chase down that sort of information. Pretty much everyone who knew the movie love it, but there were so many who had never seen it.

Then, one Christmas in the mid ‘80s, I noticed that they were showing a free Christmas movie at the Public Library; Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” with James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Beullah Bondi, and half a dozen other actors who might be familiar to the sorts of people who go to movies at the library. And I immediately realized three things: first, this was the movie I’d been looking for; second, what I had learned about this movie by making random inquiries over the course of twenty years, I could probably have discovered in an hour of thoughtful research at the Public Library; – The library was Google in those days. – and, third, my two boys, about 12 and 10, were going to a movie with me on Friday night. We went and, of course, we loved it.

It’s hard to imaging that there was ever a time when this Christmas classic was not an essential part of the holiday scene, but it’s true. In it’s initial release, in 1946, it was a box office flop. The war had just ended and a Christmas movie with a main character who was contemplating suicide, and a villain like Potter, who would steal $8,000.00 to destroy a competitor, was too dark and menacing for the public mood. People were looking for feel-good Christmas movies like Miracle on 34^th Street (1947) and White Christmas (1954).

For about 30 years this movie languished in relative obscurity. Then, in the mid ‘70s, due to a simple clerical error, it’s copyright lapsed. TV stations could now air it for free and it soon became the Christmas hit it is today.

As much as I love “It’s a Wonderful Life”, there’s actually a Christmas classic I love immeasurably more. But it’s much darker than Frank Capra’s movie and so, of course, too dark for many tastes. With subtle overtones of poverty and rejection, and a not so subtle king who murders little babies and drives the infant hero and his family into hiding, it’s hardly a “feel-good” story. But everywhere this story’s widely shared it is an instant hit. And that’s all I’m gonna tell you. But ask around and you’ll find that just about everyone who knows the story loves it. Or, if you’re smarter than I was, you could inquire at the Public Library with just the information I’ve given you. In fact nowadays you can Google it. Want a clue? A common little word like “manger”, or an everyday name like “Mary”, will be enough to get you going.