James Stewart and Donna Reed rehearsing for the Charleston number in "It's a Wonderful Life" with their dance instructor.
Lionel Barrymore celebrating his birthday April 28 on the set of "It's a Wonderful Life" with James Stewart and director Frank Capra in the background
My daughter sees a socialism angle herein ... I don't think so. The movie's another riff on "A Christmas Carol", with Barrymore's Potter being Scrooge. Which is a great thing, since we were denied a Barrymore Scrooge in '38 and he recommended his friend Reginald Owen to take the part instead on account of Barrymore's then-recent back injury. Her Point: Every time George tries to think for himself, BAD things happen. When George thinks of others, good things magically happen. I see her point but she's reading into things from a political perspective, something that I personally don't read.
BTW, a Christmas tradition for many years was Lionel Barrymore's reading of "A Christmas Carol", where we get a taste for what could have been:
He was originally supposed to be in the film version that had Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit. That would have been great. (I think Lockhart is the best Cratchit, but I don't care for the Scrooge in that one.)
That's my take, too. Owen is far from bad, it's that Alastair Sim came along thirteen years later ... ... the best Marley? Why, it's the cartoon version with Sim!
Never ignore your kids! But, they're a little too politically wound up these days, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I simply don't see the socialism aspect at all.
Yes. George was neither a civil servant nor an elected official. And I assume his stint at Air Raid Warden was voluntary.
I read an interview years ago where Capra said he was very perplexed by the "Socialism" label. He could never understand where that idea/critique came from.
Late to this thread as well, me and my wife have watched it every year for what must be 20 years at least. Used to be a Christmas Eve tradition, but no time now when you have family, so we watched it the night before his year. Useless trivia fact - while I knew that George’s kids would likely still be alive, I was pleasantly surprised that one of the adult cast still was. Virginia Patton who played Harry Bailey’s wife Ruth is the ripe old age of 95. Helps that she was only 21 when the film came out.
The generation that fought in WW II was either the product of or well aware of FDR's New Deal programs in the 30s that help ease the country out of The Depression. The first jobs my father and uncles worked were all provided by public works programs (after desperately wanting to work to help the family but no work was available at the start of the 30s). That same thread runs through IAWL. Back then, it was called being a good citizen. Now it's called "socialism"! Take your pick!
"Socialism" has many definitions, but I don't think any of them apply to IAWL. If you define "socialism" as "taking from the rich and giving to the poor" -- it doesn't apply because none of George's windfall was "taken" (it was donated voluntarily); and, in any case, a rich guy got $8000 from those same poor people, so it balanced out. If you define "socialism" as "social/governmental ownership of business" -- that doesn't apply, either, as Potter still owns 99% of the town and there's not even a hint of trying to take that away from him. If you define "socialism" as "anything that opposes capitalism" -- that doesn't apply, either, as George and his allies are clearly pro-capitalism (Sam Wainwright is the unfilmed hero of the entire movie). I would also point out that bad things ALSO happened to George when he thought of other people -- i.e., when he defended his wife by yelling at the teacher (got punched in the face) or when he saved his drowning brother (lost his hearing) or when he stopped Mr. Gower from putting poison in the bottle (got slapped in the head). Plus, I think you could argue that George went to the high school dance (even though he had already graduated) for purely selfish reasons -- he was seeking recognition and credit for proposing the retractable gym floor. And something good definitely happened at the dance, as he reconnected with Mary.
Actually in that interview (from the 1970s IIRC) Capra mentions 'religion' a lot and it's apparent loss of significance in daily life, in his opinion. He also mentions Catholicism, as he stated he was deeply religious and felt he needed to make a statement/film reaffirming that fact. Though one would still be pressed to find any overly overt Catholic symbolism other than the imagery/convention of the angels themselves. Not the interview I remember, but here is a summation, after the fact. On Religion – After 70 years, It's (still) a Wonderful (Catholic) Life in Frank Capra's epic – Columns
Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after two characters in this movie. One of them went on to be Dobie Gillis's dad.
From a purely financial angle, I think it's possible that George could have made more money (in the long run) by holding on to the Building & Loan. After all, Potter was only offering him a 3-year contract, with the implication that George would either walk away from the B&L (which would lead to its failure under the leadership of Uncle Billy) or he would transfer it to Potter (in which case Potter ultimately reaps the profits).
My impression is that Potter is lying, hence the sweaty palm. Once the BBB&L is dead, Potter will somehow dispense with George. He’s not about to play fair.
The only reason Billy worked out fine for 40 years is because he had either Peter Bailey or George Bailey to watch over him. The alternate universe shows us what would happen to Billy without that support -- he loses the business and ends up in an insane asylum.