“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a classic 1946 Christmas movie. The movie’s main character stars James Stewart as George Bailey. Donna Reed also stars as Mary Hatch, and Henry Travers as Clarence Odbody (George’s Guardian Angel). In edited versions, the movie has been recolored from black and white.

The movie received 5 academy award nominations, and only achieved winning one award for ‘Technical Achievement Award’. It also won a Golden Globe for “ Best Director for a Motion Picture Movie”. 

Plot

“It’s a Wonderful Life” stars the story of George Bailey, a suicidal family man who believes his entire life has gone down the gutter. On Christmas Eve, George contemplates ending his life, and makes the wish that he was never born. Clarence Odbody, George’s guardian angel comes down to earth to show what a world without George would actually look like. 

Clarence allows George to see the wonders he’s done throughout his life and relive all of his greatest moments. He wants George to see how the lives of everyone around him would be worse and different without him there. For example, without George saving his brother Harry Bailey from drowning as a kid, Harry would’ve never bombed down opponents planes to save his troops during WWII. 

After George sees how important he is to others and to himself, he goes home to find all of his friends and family waiting for him, celebrating the magic of Christmas.

Relevance

Considered an older Christmas movie, it asks the question: is “It’s a Wonderful Life” still relevant?

The movie sticks with its ‘suicidal and depressed, humble family man who does everything for others’ stigma of George Bailey, which honestly seems to make sense. With WWII passing and the Great Depression lingering, many families were in these slumps of depression. Although George couldn’t join the war due to his hearing loss in one ear, he struggled battles in his hometown. Running his deceased father’s bank, George didn’t have the money to pay off loans, and was slowly driving the bank into the ground. This sent him into a downward spiral.

Moreover, the mentions and implications of suicide during the 1940’s in film was not very usual, especially for a movie starring a man. In the US, more than 6 million men suffer from depression every year. So, the Christmas blues and sadness the film handles can connect with people today.

There is one seemingly outdated part of the movie, where young George gets beaten by his boss, Mr. Gower, at the convenience store he works at. Mr. Gower, drunk and grieving the death of his son, accidentally prescribes a customer a poisonous substance. Noticing this, George doesn’t deliver the prescription. Angry with George, a grieving Mr. Gower starts to swing at the young boy. When George explains the mistake Mr. Gower had made, he immediately apologizes.

How relevant is it for a store owner to start swinging at his young workers, these days? It wouldn’t end well with authorities.

Box Office

For its time, “It’s a Wonderful Life” took $3.18 million to create and just made a little over that, securing $3.3 million in theaters. Today, that $3.3 million would’ve been worth $52.6 million. The movie received a PG rating for its depiction of slight violence, alcohol use, and frightening scenes.

Critics gave the movie a 94% on the tomato meter, while fans rated just above that with a 95% on popcorn.

Review

“It’s a Wonderful Life” a deep and meaningful story line should get you emotional this holiday season. It shows how everyone has a purpose in life and there’s never a reason to end it. The acting and chemistry between James Stewart and Donna Reed shows how timeless love is on screen. It’s captivating to watch.

Although, the story line seems to move slow and the old dialogue makes it hard to understand what’s completely going on at some points. The special effects are also outdated, but due to its time it makes sense why.

Michael Esquivel is a junior at Colonia High School. “Although it might not be relevant to today, It’s a timeless classic that reinforces the values of family and appreciating what you have.” Esquivel states, “Everyone in my family knows it because it came out when my grandparents were teenagers. My mom grew up watching so i grew up watching it.” 

This classic Christmas movie is a must watch for the holiday season!