It's a Wonderful Life

“The kind of experience movies were invented for, director Frank Capra's 1946 festive fairy tale returns with opportune timing.”

“For those poor impoverished souls yet to encounter its magic, IAWL focuses on George Bailey (Stewart), a small town resident so riddled with problems that he is contemplating a Yuletide suicide.”

“It’s a Wonderful Life is a tremendously dark film.”

“There is no Santa Claus here, no Winter Wonderland, no whimsy.”

“A live score for a film such as "It's a Wonderful Life" is like 3D for your ears.”

“The live score experience hits an appropriate climax during the third act of the movie.”

“When 'It's a Wonderful Life' was released in December, 1946, it was a box-office flop the way 'Ishtar,' 'Howard the Duck' and 'Hudson Hawk' would be decades later.”

“On its initial release, the film lost $525,000--the equivalent of about $2.5 million in today’s dollars.”

“In It's a Wonderful Life (1946) the screenwriters warp an old-world vision into a populist myth.”

“The old-world vision is A Christmas Carol (1843), the story of a miser who is given a chance at redemption.”

“If there's one film synonymous with Christmas, it's Frank Capra's 1946 fantasy drama It's A Wonderful Life.”

“The ultimate cult comeback movie, it was coolly received upon its release and lost more than $500,000, then was all but forgotten for more than 20 years.”

“A crisis in housing, a racist ruling class and a struggle against a hideous ego-plutocrat who names everything after himself – this 1946 classic still resonates.”

“The fantasy or whimsy of Clarence’s existence does not greatly affect the realist tenor of the story as a whole.”

“James Stewart gives a performance of depth and sincerity.”

“Frank Capra's direction brings out the film's emotional depth.”