I think he was truly going to give George the three year contract and THEN get rid of him. The BBB&L is gone. He gets revenge in controlling and firing George. I never took Potter's palm as sweaty being the problem. I think George just recognized that he just shook the hand of Potter favorably. It's like in ROTJ when Luke taps into the Dark Side to beat Vader. He sees Vader's hand and catches himself.
I can believe that. I don't think "IAWL" was such a huge cultural touchstone in 1969, so I can see that it was simply a coincidence...
I just finished "Day of the Locust" by Nathaniel West. One of the major characters is a man by the name of Homer Simpson. The book was published in 1939. No idea if the latter day HS was a nod to that character.
"It has been assumed that The Simpsons (1989) creator Matt Groening named his most famous character, Homer Simpson, after his own father, but in several interviews given in 1990, Groening reportedly stated that he named the character after the Homer in this novel, although neither explanation is considered definitive." MG's father was named Homer, his mother was Margaret, and he had sisters Maggie and Lisa. MG always claimed he was Bart, and used the name as an anagram for "Brat" - which of course rhymes with "Matt". I think MG named HS after his dad and any claims of it being after the "DotL" character were just him messing with people due to the coincidence...
One of my favorite Christmas movies. Kinda off the road, but... there is an episode of The King of Queens sitcom where the dad, Arthur, watches It's A Wonderful Life for the first time. When the daughter asks how he likes it he says that when George Bailey didn't exist the town was fun because it had casinos and bars and he wishes George never had been born. That always gives me a laugh.
Fun facts from newspapers.com (historical newspapers): Looking at IAWF in the past it looks like the movie was still playing or still getting booked at various theaters thru 1950! It played Chicago/Akron/Utah/NC/Allegany/Verona NJ/Billings MT/Detroit/Edmonton. An AP blurb from April 27, 1950 said that the movie was just now breaking even with a $4.2 million gross since late 1946.
IAWL in 1955/6 - First TV appearance. The movie was given a "re-release" in 1955/6. It seemed mostly to appear in smaller towns, at drive-ins, paired with other films. It doesn't seem to be concentrated in any one area or time period. Generally Sept 1955-Aug 1956. Meanwhile in Los Angeles KHJ channel 9 plays the movie for 6 days! 12-6-1955 to 12/12/1955. Chicago WGN - 9 plays the movie on 12-24-1955 and possibly 12-25-1955. NYC WCBS -2. 4-7-1956. Meanwhile a tv ad in Ohio on 5/25/1956 claims "The greatest motion picture yet released for television."
Jimmy Stewart on IAWL: January 8, 1950 in the Scrantonian "The best picture I ever made is It's A Wonderful Life." He also adds that it didn't make money at first but it's starting to come around. Via an article on Oct 18, 1964 (various papers) Mr. Stewart states, "You still see it every Christmastime on television. My kids think it's the best too."
The expansion of IAWL as a holiday tradition: search term _"it's a wonderful life" stewart_ on newspapers.com year by year Dec 1-dec 31. 1946 - 396 1947 - 186 1948 - 40 1949 - 64 1950 - 6 1951 - 54 1952 - 2 1953 - 0 1954 - 1 1955 - 54 (1st tv appearance) 1956 - 38 1957 - 51 1958 - 23 1959 - 17 1960 - 30 1961 - 23 1962 - 16 1963 - 17 1964 - 18 1965 - 18 1966 - 41 1967- 57 1968 - 64 1969 - 78 1970 - 70 1971 - 123 1972 - 126 1973 - 152 1974 - 152 1975 - 215 (1st public domain) 1976 - 184 1977 - 647 (Marlo Tv movie) 1978 - 428 1979 - 435 1980 - 354 1981 - 744 1982 - 948 1983 - 898 1984 - 1280 1985 - 2371 1986 - 2497 1987 - 2573 1988 - 2736 1989 - 3390 1990 - 2407 1991 - 2972 1992 - 3277 Then I stopped...
I thought that was a pretty cool trick. For the most part the movie was in "regular irregular rotation" being shown on TV. It wasn't until 1966ish that more tv stations started to put it on as regular programing during the holidays. It was heading that way even prior to entering public domain.
I just came across this article detailing Jimmy Stewart’s World War II bombing missions. Mr. Stewart Goes to War I can’t believe that Jimmy Stewart and this Jimmy Stewart are the same person. What an amazing human being.
been a favorite of mine for so many years I lost count...before VHS I patiently waited for it to show up on PBS every Christmas Season...it's a staple around here...really, really love this movie.
I discovered it on tv when I was about 8 and it's stayed with me as my all time favorite. It's status as a beloved holiday classic well deserved. He shows quite a range in his acting in this role and the kids are perfectly cast , the whole cast is just right. Look forward to seeing it every year. About Stewart there was a good book recently about his friendship with Fonda, well worth reading.
One of my favourite movies!!!!!!!! I gotta fix my VHS tape of it as When I watcehd it,I FF to the end and it came off the spool (THANKFULLY ITS AT THE END SO ILL EASILY BE ABKLE TO REPAIR IT) Dont wanna lose it,its the first VHS release in 1981 (Well close to first... There is a PAL release in 1980 I think but I havent ever found it)
Jimmy and Donna and others performed a Lux Radio version of the story back in the day, and it is available on CD. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Victor Moore, Bill Johnstone, John McIntire, Leo Cleary, Edwin Maxwell, Janet Scott – It's A Wonderful Life (2000, CD)
Growing up in the 50s, I don't think that IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE was on my radar at all. If it was on TV at all, it wasn't something I would have watched. It wasn't until the 1980s that I became aware of it through the phenomenon of it showing up on many TV stations around the December time frame. I used to religiously read each week's TV GUIDE, especially the listings, always looking for those treasures of my past. One little section that TV GUIDE printed every week was its list of "four-star" movies that were airing that week. One week, as it turned out, the only four-star movie playing that week was IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, and they listed each showing, and it was a longish list. So it hit my radar that somehow, a "really good" movie had slipped into the public domain. Then it became a discussion item in the office about how good the movie was and that it was on all the time in the month of December. Finally one Saturday afternoon, I think, I opted to watch the movie - picking a PBS channel to ensure no commercials. Of course it was also a really crappy print, but I began to see the charms of the movie. Gradually, I became a fan of the movie and began to seek out better and better copies, first a VHS, then a better(?) VHS, a Laserdisc, a tape of a colorized version from TV, a DVD, and most recently a Blu-ray. I recall the news that the music rights had been copyrighted and that stopped the frequent showings on TV. Then NBC bought the rights and has done its two-showings-a-year deal , with one opening the Christmas season around Thanksgiving and another usually on Christmas Eve. My Blu-ray set has both the black & white and a pretty good colorized version, at least it's one I can watch without cringing.
I never saw it until I was in my 20s and it was an awful print on TNT when they showed old movies. Similar to HGN2001, it began to grow on me, and shortly after, Republic Pictures re-established the copyright and it started showing up on NBC with a pristine print. I’ve been watching ever since. I was surprised to read that Frank Capra was in favor of colorizing it. The original colorization from the late 80s was awful. The newer version from 10 years ago is technically much better. But I still greatly prefer B&W - it was photographed for B&W and it’s such a beautiful looking film.
Just a word in defense of Sam Wainwright, who is indeed a duplicitous cheat. When the heat is on, he is a true friend who, when asked, comes through for George with a boatload of money. I absolutely love that this guy, whom we have seen is doing such a wrong to the Mary we all love, still does a good thing for a friend. I love how Capra and the writers show the complexity of people in this way.
I had a love hate relationship with him... but I did love him in the end...he did come through as a real friend to George...such a great movie! now I want to watch it again...; )
