Festive Films: It's a Wonderful Life

What better time, with its 70th anniversary coming up and Christmas forthcoming, to look at not only my favourite Christmas film of all-time, but my all-time favourite film, period?



Credit: variety.com

I don't think there's much point dallying about it: It's a Wonderful Life is just the best, the best.  It's a universally adored motion picture that has the quality to back up the nostalgic adoration many have for it; I was personally introduced rather late to the film (a mere 3 years ago, actually), but this made no difference to my reaction upon first viewing of this Frank Capra masterpiece. And second viewing. And third, fourth...it's one of those films that can be re-experienced over and over again, in different contexts. It doesn't have to be at Christmastime either; after all, it's not just about Christmas, as so many misunderstand, but rather about the VALUES of Christmas: selflessness, goodwill, charity, self-sacrifice. In short, the qualities that make up George Bailey, our protagonist of It's a Wonderful Life played by Jimmy Stewart.

The central conceit of the film is that George, at the brink of personal and financial difficulties, is planning to commit suicide. The prayers of friends and families have reached angels up in Heaven, to which they respond by firstly providing George's guardian angel Clarence (Henry Travers) with a retrospective look at the growth of George from boy to man, before then sending Clarence off to intervene by showing George an alternate universe where he had never been born in, and thus to show how indeed, it's a wonderful life after all.

From: dailymail.com

I love each and every aspect of the film but in the end, my unequivocal adoration of it above all my other favourites is indeed Stewart's  marvellous performance. In the very simplest sense this role is the perfect vehicle for Stewart's talents because of how naturally charismatic he is as a performer. Following the same character for 2-plus hours necessitates a movie star of the highest order and Stewart fulfils this more than by name alone. No one else could've played George Bailey because Stewart just IS George Bailey. No other way of describing it. Henry Fonda too was apparently in the running for the role, and he may well have been a good choice, but credit must go to Capra for taking the relative risk of Stewart who, having been out of doing motion pictures for several years on account of his service in WWII, could've been rusty, could've been not as big a box-office pull (I'll get onto that later). But he went with Jimmy, and the rest is history.

Anyway, onto the finer parts of his performance, which is in turn perhaps the best way to look at the differing excellent aspects of the film. George is an idealist, and the 'aw shucks' part of his screen identity fits in perfectly here. It works very well in the scenes where he expresses his lofty ambitions and makes George's desire to move out of his small town and into the wider world not gratingly annoying as it could've been, but instead very sweet and admirable. The best parts of his scenes which involve his 'aw shucks' routine, however, are definitely those involving his onscreen love interest Donna Reed, who turns in a lovely, endearing portrayal of Mary.

 

I find scenes like these to be brilliant in terms of both the writing and the performances because of how enjoyably simple and yet warmth-filled they are. The romance between George and Mary is both one at 'first sight' and also which slowly 'blossoms' throughout the film, and Stewart and Reed are pitch-perfect at finding this sort of dynamic to their performances. Their rapport never feels overly sickly but instead is always sweet, always humorous, never layered on too thick. The dialogue in these scenes too are fantastic because they never feel like they're just there to add spark to the romance, they're there because it just feels like that's the exact words the characters should be stringing around their mouths.

 

Stewart never lets this romance be just another screwball routine for him (which he was equally good at, don't get me wrong) but instead with Reed presents a realistic, heartwarming romance that is so beautifully drawn from the smallest hints of  attraction to set up the film's denoument...but more about that later.

 

Anyone who's seen the other big Capra masterpiece Mr Smith Goes to Washington will know just how wonderful a deliverer of speeches Jimmy is. No matter what the topic, the man gave his all for every monologue he got. Here we get gems like the scene about where he calls out the villainous Mr Potter (Lionel Barrymore in a scene-stealing turn) for his attempts to take over his late father's company and disadvantage the disadvantaged poor in the neighbourhood even more. Though arguably simplistic in nature (good v.s. evil) these scenes are incredibly effective not only for the visceral quality Stewart gives to his monologuing, but also how they set up this compelling conflict that gradually wears down George Bailey due to the power of Potter.

 

Some people say a film is only as good as its villain. Well I disagree but It's a Wonderful Life has a splendid villain in the form of evil incarnate, Barrymore's Mr Potter. He makes for a opponent for George that you both love to hate but also, genuinely fear by seeing how his relentless attempts to control the town for the worse take its toll on George. Barrymore's performance is accentuated by how he never leaves his chair, the whole fates of many of the townsfolk in his hands; it's a compellingly evil turn precisely because there's so little histrionics involves. Potter seems like he could care less about the lives of multitudes, and Capra and Barrymore feed into this by using his character not just as an opposing factor to George, but also one who nearly gets the better of him by being such an unrepentant Scrooge. He and his actions act as obstacles to George both pursuing a better life for himself and his family, and also to go out and discover the world, by constantly causing problems in George's hometown, as the below clip demonstrates in a subtle but affecting manner:

 

These obstacles all build the film up into decidedly darker territories. I'll leave it to you to watch the film itself to pick up on the little hints beforehand but it's just little bits and pieces of George's selflessness and kindness leading him to forsake his dreams that ultimately to cause him, on Christmas night, to contemplate suicide after his Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell in an underrated and perfectly calibrated comic supporting role) loses a large batch of the company's funds, leaving them in severe debt and imminent closure. Stewart in turn helps to build up to this moment by also leaving hints beforehand of a darker side to George by showing how some of the decisions he makes for the benefit of others, aren't necessarily what he wants to do. The scene where this finally all comes out is where Stewart and the film finally unleash this dark energy and it is quite an upsetting scene:

 

I can't find a clip of where he screams and unleashes all his fears and sadness but this build-up scene is equally good at showing just how surprisingly depthful Stewart's performance is here. It's just such attuned, emotionally raw work here that Stewart does that makes his imminent suicide all the more affecting and thus, allows the second half of the film to work as well as it does.

 

Henry Travers' turn as Clarence Oddboy, the guardian angel sent down to help George revisit his world and past sans George, is perfectly placed insofar he comes down quite literally when the film is at its darkest, and enlivens and lightens up the screen by his wonderfully funny and just plain wonderful performance. The above two scenes are not only hilarious but do so well in building such an effective chemistry between the characters of George and Clarence. As they go around town, this brief but incredibly memorable pairing enables Capra to revisit similar territory with an altogether different flavour. George's hometown has become Pottersville in his 'absence' and it's bleak, to say the least. George's eventual choice, therefore, to embrace life once more is made all the more joyous once he realises how important he was to everyone in the town. Capra's careful balancing of the darkest elements of the film (i.e. George's crazed reaction to coming face to face with his wife not recognizing him) with some of its most comforting factors (i.e. Clarence's speeches to George telling him just how essential and loved a person he is) is sublime and helps the film reach its famous conclusion, which, you guessed it, is my favourite all-time ending.

 

It's a beautiful ending. The performance, the music, the embracing of Christmas spirit alongside the walking emobodiment of its greatest virtues; George Bailey's joys at living again are obviously rapturous, but even more so is finally seeing his efforts rewarded by the show of love and joy by his friends, family, and all the community. Idealistic and naïve? Perhaps, but I feel Capra has up to this point built such a wonderfully complex and in-depth exploration of the lighter and darker sides of human nature that his choice to end on such a high note, is well earnt. Plus, the emotional response it elicits is just amazing. Just every little touch in this scene never fails to bring a tear to my eye come 'Auld Lang Sye'. 

 

If there's a film you all should watch tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow night and beyond Christmas, every so often when you feel you're down and the world's against you, check out It's a Wonderful Life. I can't advocate it enough.