Five Things I Noticed While Re-Watching It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

My wife was in her sewing studio yesterday evening, working on Christmas gifts, and while I had some time while waiting for her, I ended up re-watching It's a Wonderful Life for the first time in a few years. As I did and was reminded of some things I had forgotten about the film and a couple I hadn't noticed before.

Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) is a character that still sticks in my crawl. This movie could be considered a perfect film in a lot of ways but, at least in my opinion, falls a bit short because Potter doesn't get any sort of comeuppance for stealing money, doesn't have a redeeming change of heart and, despite anything, remains a respected member (albeit not very well liked) member of the community. Yes, you could make the argument it doesn't matter because this is George Bailey's (James Stewart) story. I disagree though.

In fact, George was kind of an ass at times too. Sure, he made sacrifices, stayed in Bedford Falls running the family business and building the community but he also wasn't ashamed to vocalize his disdain for his hometown or express moments of anger and jealousy in a physical way. If the movie were made today, I'd be willing to argue he would be considered an anti-hero.

I'm still confused about how that bell thing works. Does the act of an angel getting their wings compel someone to ring a bell or does the act itself cause an angel to get them? When you consider how long it took Clarence (Henry Travers) to get his wings, I find it hard to believe so many can get wings at one time but if it is the latter, it does cheapen the honor a bit. So, I guess I'll just try hard not to think about it too much.

Mary (Donna Reed) is an unsung hero in this film. While George might be a jealous dreamer, Mary keeps him grounded and sensible while making plenty of sacrifices of her own, whether it was bailing out his building & loan with their honeymoon money or raising a family of six on George's modest salary of $45 per week (the equivalent of about $42,000/year today, according to the internet) when she could have married someone who became extremely wealthy. In fact, I would love to see a movie reboot that tells this story from her perspective.

If we consider this a Christmas movie, then Die Hard is too. Does the movie take place at Christmas? Yes. Does the holiday play any major role in the overall plot? No. George's downfall and redemption could have happened at any time of year, Thanksgiving, Easter, Flag Day, and it's basically the same movie. Die Hard in comparison, doesn't happen if Bruce Willis' John McClane doesn't fly to California to spend the holidays with his estranged wife and kids and her firm isn't having a Christmas party.

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Here are some of my similar entries:

My Four Favorite Christmas Movie Santa Clauses

My Three Favorite Thanksgiving Movies

Three Movies That Changed for Me After I Became a Dad

Three Games from My Childhood That Could Have Been Good Movies