Staring: James (Jimmy) Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Ward Bond, Frank Faylen andGloria Grahame
Director: Frank Capra
Production company: Liberty Films
Music by: Dimitri Tiomkin
Release: December 20, 1946 (USA)
Content: General


Plot: On Christmas Eve 1945, in Bedford Falls, New York, George Bailey contemplates suicide. The prayers of his family and friends reach Heaven, where guardian angel Clarence Odbody is assigned to save George in order to earn his wings. Clarence is shown flashbacks of George's life. He watches 12-year-old George rescue his younger brother Harry from drowning, but become deaf in his left ear. Later, George prevents the pharmacist, Mr. Gower, distraught over the death of his son, from accidentally poisoning a prescription. In 1928, George plans a world tour before college. He is reintroduced to Mary Hatch, who has been enamored with him since childhood. When his father dies suddenly, George postpones his travel to settle the family business, Bailey Brothers Building and Loan. Avaricious board member Henry F. Potter, who controls most of the town, seeks to dissolve it, but the board votes to keep the Building and Loan open if George runs it. George acquiesces and works alongside his uncle, Billy, and gives his tuition to Harry with the understanding that Harry will run the business when he graduates.

During World War II, George is ineligible for service because of his deaf ear but is active in the domestic war effort. On Christmas Eve 1945, the town prepares a hero's welcome for Harry, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot preventing a kamikaze attack on a troop transport. Billy goes to the bank to deposit $8,000 of the Building and Loan's cash. He taunts Potter with a newspaper headline about Harry, but absentmindedly wraps the envelope of cash in Potter's newspaper. Potter finds the money and keeps it, while Billy cannot recall how he misplaced it. With a bank examiner reviewing the company's records, George realizes scandal and criminal charges will follow. Fruitlessly retracing Billy's steps, George berates him and takes out his frustration on Mary and their kids. George appeals to Potter for a loan, offering his life insurance policy as collateral. Potter chastises George, refuses to help, and phones the police.

End of Spoilers

Review: This is an amazing film. It tells the personal journy of a man who sets out to be there for everyone. Challenged from all sides and hindered by feelings of self daubt; Jimmy Stewart reaches a point that many today can easily relate to. The bottom of the pits where nothing seems to have gone right. He makes a devistating choice the errase his life. A decision that he quickly learns has consequences that go deep into his past. Making even the simplelist choices he had made now seem crucial for the happiness of others.

This classic film still packs a real punch and is a great one to watch with the whole family as we get ready to celebrate the Lords Birthday. be sure to check it out.

M J Flack