My Favorite Christmas Movie: It's a Wonderful Life

James Stewart…George Bailey

Donna Reed ... Mary Hatch

Lionel Barrymore ... Mr. Potter

Thomas Mitchell ... Uncle Billy

Henry Travers ... Clarence

Beulah Bondi ... Mrs. Bailey

Frank Faylen ... Ernie

Ward Bond ... Bert

Gloria Grahame ... Violet

H.B. Warner ... Mr. Gower

Frank Albertson ... Sam Wainwright

Todd Karns ... Harry Bailey

Samuel S. Hinds ... Pa Bailey

Producer and Director

Frank Capra

Original Music by

Dimitri Tiomkin (musical score written by)

Cinematography by

Joseph F. Biroc (director of photography) (as Joseph Biroc)

Joseph Walker (director of photography)

Victor Milner (director of photography) (uncredited)

Film Editing by

William Hornbeck

Art Direction by

Jack Okey

Set Decoration by

Emile Kuri

Costume Design by

Edward Stevenson (costumes)

Makeup Department

Gordon Bau .... makeup supervisor

We all know the story. George Bailey wants to leave the small town of Bedford Falls behind, and see the wide, wide world…but as John Lennon said, life is what happens while we are making other plans. George’s father has a stroke and George must assume responsibility for the barely solvent Building & Loan.

His valiant struggle to keep the Building & Loan afloat gives us a classic view of the many trials and tribulations of everyday life: he must try to protect the Building & Loan from his incompetent Uncle Billy, and Uncle Billy from himself. He must fend off the ever present depredations of Mr. Potter and his big money bank. He doesn’t want to fall in love, but he does, and soon has a brood of children, and is living in a tumble-down old mansion that is coming apart like an old sweater unraveling.

Things go from bad to worse, and when George thinks that he’s lost the fight and decides to chuck it all, Clarence the fledgling angel comes to his rescue, complete in his 16th century nightshirt. Clarence shows George what the world would have been like without him; and we get to experience, with George, the true significance of his “ordinary” life. Along with George, we get a new perspective on his “failure.”

Director Capra gives us the wonderful gift of affirming that one person can make a difference, that each and every life is important, and that success cannot be truly measured by material gain or fame, but by the courage of one man to persevere, no matter the odds, to protect those he loves and the values that he cherishes.

I watch this movie only once a year. It is my Christmas gift to myself. After the gifts are opened and everyone is busy playing with their new toys, I curl up in bed with a steaming mug of tea, wrap myself in a quilt that my husband’s great-grandmother made, and watch It’s a Wonderful Life.

Merry Christmas to all!