It's A Wonderful Life (1946) Merry Christmas Everybody!

I've heard dozens of times that the best Christmas movie ever is It's A Wonderful Life. That combined with never having seen it myself meant it had to be the movie I watched on Christmas day. I had very little idea what the movie was really about, so when I was suddenly face to face with a movie all about the finacial struggles of a small town, and one man's desperate struggles to keep it afloat, I didn't really know what to think about it. One thing is for sure, this is a far more relavant movie for the times than I think many would realize. So did this Christmas classic warm my heart and make me believe in the spirit of the season, or simply bore me to sleep? Hit the jump for my first time thoughts on this 1946 Christmas classic!


The story of It's A Wonderful Life caught me quite off guard, to say the least. I thought it was going to be all Christmas, all the time. Afterall, I'd heard so many things and seen so many "Top Christmas movie" lists that all said it was the best of the best. What else was I supposed to expect?

The story centers around the life of George Bailey (James Stewart). He had dreams of getting out of his small home town of Bedford Falls and seeing the world. Unfortunately, his plans for college and world travel are cut short when his father passes away, and he's forced to take over the family Building and Loans business, lest he leave the town at the mercy of the greedy, self-serving Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore). When things suddenly go sour, much worse than usual, an actual angel, named Clarence (Henry Travers), is sent down to Earth to help George see all the good he's done in his life, and to keep him from throwing it all away.

"You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down for you."

While I was watching, I was sitting there and wondering if I had misunderstood what this movie was about. The majority of the film is about finance and money and investments and all things related. Sure it was nice to see George helping out all the poor, less fortunate people with his own, more understanding loan business, but for the longest time I had no idea what this movie had to do with Christmas. It wasn't until about 1 hour 20 minutes in before Christmas is even mentioned. Keep in mind, the whole film is only 2 hours 10 minutes long. From then on, it rushes into Christmas so fast it was almost as if it was a different movie. This is also about the time that Clarence shows up.

George is at his wits end and thinks he's worth more dead than he is alive

I'd be lying if I said I fully enjoyed the film the whole way through. I wish with all my heart that I could say that I completely loved it in its entirety, but I just can't. That isn't to say that I hated it, but I just wasn't expecting such a serious movie about financial troubles before all the Christmas stuff kicked in. Now, what I did like was pretty much everything the instant Clarence showed up. All of a sudden it was like a Christmas version of Back to the Future where the fabric of reality changes all around them.

Clarence shows up to save George's life

Of course, I can certainly see that what I was so impressed with at the end of the film, wouldn't be possible if they hadn't established it all so well with the whole first half of the film. I'll freely admit that it's only because they took their time making me get to know the vast cast of townspeople, that I could appreciate, and recognize the vast change in the town when Clarence shows him what the world would be like if he was never born. The only problem was that I was just on the edge of boredom that whole time. Not only that, but it was all pretty depressing too. However, when everything goes twilight zone, and then the full blast of the happiest, warmest, brightest Christmas spirit ending I've ever seen hit me, I loved it!

The biggest happiest Christmas ending in the history of film

It's A Wonderful Life was a real mixed basket for me. Of course it has a ton of classic movie lines that were fun for me to hear, as I just love hearing those kinds of things. The beginning was long and dull in my opinion, but then the absolute 180 degree turn at the very ending was made even more fantastic, if only because it contrasted so much to the rest of the movie. The ending is totally what makes this movie work, and simply because of that, I can understand why people hold it in such high regard.

While I can see the value of it now, if I wasn't so determined to see it though to the end, I may have just quit watching it at some point. It certainly isn't a movie for everyone, but for those who like dramas that are a little more serious, and don't mind some finance speak which is surprisingly pertinent to today's economy, this could be a movie for you. As for a Christmas film, while it takes some time to get going, it's certainly one of the best, with an ending that makes it all worthwhile.