It's a Wonderful Life
United States 1946, 130 mins
Director: Frank Capra
Starring: Gloria Grahame, Lionel Barrymoore, James Stewart, Donna Reed, Ward Bond
Director: Frank Capra
Starring: Gloria Grahame, Lionel Barrymoore, James Stewart, Donna Reed, Ward Bond
One of the most popular and enduring films ever made, Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is a gloriously sentimental testament to homely small-town moral values.
Masterfully crafted, the film opens with angels discussing George Bailey (James Stewart), a man so beset with problems that he contemplates a Christmas-time suicide.
As George prepares to jump from a bridge his guardian angel Clarence Oddbody intervenes and shows him how badly Bedford Falls would have turned out without his good deeds.
Filled with a renewed joy of life George returns to his family for Christmas. James Stewart gives one of his finest, most affecting performances and the film looks better than ever in its new restoration.
