It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”

Thematic Elements: 

In 1946, a lot of Americans looked back on the last half century as a dark and stormy period – one that consisted of a viral pandemic, a great global war, a financial collapse that resulted in nationwide poverty, and then a second ever more destructive war. During this reflection of this dark period, many people were exhausted from the major crises that had plagued them throughout the years causing a national temperament of depression, resentment, and psychological and financial suffering. Upon returning to Hollywood after the war, Frank Capra and James Stewart created one of the most popular films of all time – one that represented this deep depression that society was facing at the time. It is the story of a man who starts with lofty dreams, only to realize over time that life wasn’t what he thought it would be and that tragedy and ruin are always around the corner. However, Capra’s film offers up hope in the face of this depression – that of family, community, and sacrificing your own happiness to achieve better ideals for the world around you.

The film begins in Bedford Falls where an entire town is praying for the wellbeing of one George Bailey, as all are concerned about him. A group of angels answer the prayers of the town by bequeathing the responsibility of George’s safety to an angel named Clarence. To understand George’s despair, Clarence first must know George’s life as the film truly begins in flashback form. The story of George begins in 1919 as a young boy ice sledding with his brother. He saves his brother from drowning in the icy waters but goes deaf in the left ear as a result. This is the first instance of George sacrificing his own well-being for someone else. His brother is alive but at the cost of George’s hearing. During this time in his life while working at Mr. Gower’s local drugstore, George saves Mr. Gower by realizing that Mr. Gower was too distracted by the news that his son died in the war from influenza that he accidentally packaged cyanide in someone’s drug order. This is another example of George saving someone, albeit at the cost of Mr. Gower drunkenly beating him before realizing what he had done. As a young boy, George Bailey was able to positively affect the people around him – all at the cost of hardship. 

Going forward to 1928, George is almost a high school graduate who has been working at his father’s business, Bailey Brothers Building and Loan Association for the last four years. Bailey Brothers Building and Loans is a business that Mr. Potter is desperately trying to destroy, as he is trying to acquire the entire means of economy for Bedford Falls. George’s father refuses to bow down to Mr. Potter and refuses to foreclose on the mortgages of the families in the town. It is in this way that George’s father becomes the ideal for George, albeit without George being conscious of this. George will continue the remaining of the story trying to be like his father, fighting for his community even at his own oppression. However, it is George’s dream to move out of Bedford Falls and go on adventures and as he puts it, “Build things; design new buildings; plan modern cities.” He also has dreams for his childhood sweetheart, Mary. He tells Mary about his plans as well as telling her that he is going to provide for her anything she wants out of life, including the moon – even if he has to throw a lasso around it and pull it down. These dreams get interrupted after George learns of his father’s death. Rather than travelling to Europe over the summer before college starts like George had planned, he must stay in Bedford falls and tend to his father’s business and affairs. It is at this point that George must face a decision. The board for Bailey Brothers Building and Loans has decided that they are either going to listen to Mr. Potter and shut down the business (thereby leaving the entire town to the crotchety and money-grubbing hands of Mr. Potter) or entitle George to be the owner of the business. It is once again that George is faced with the decision of helping the people around him or helping himself instead. George chooses to help Bedford Falls and help his late father’s business. This action inhibits his ability to leave Bedford Falls, as he gives the money for school all to his younger brother, Harry. This action is a large jump from the selfless acts he committed as a child, as the consequences of this situation are much larger in scope. George must sacrifice all his dreams by putting them on a temporary hold for the next four years until his brother returns from college in order to better the lives of the people around him.

In 1932, Harry arrives back home with George’s assumption that Harry will take over the business in his stead. However, Harry informs George that he was taken a job at his new father-in-law’s company, thereby squashing any hopes for George to finally leave Bedford Falls. George’s dreams are dashed, but he keeps his bitterness and resentment to himself. George hears the train whistle as the train leaves Bedford falls, his hopes leaving with it. George must also decide what to do about his love for Mary, as she invites him in that evening. He sees that she has made a hand-sewn needle point portrait of himself lassoing the moon. It is evident that Mary wants to be with George, but he fells incredibly resentful at having to stay in Bedford Falls – and falling in love and marrying Mary would be the final nail in the coffin. He is even tempted by a high school friend into moving to start a business in plastics. However, he cannot contain his love for Mary. 

After getting married to Mary, the two of them are on their way to their honeymoon in which they will, “shoot the works. A whole week in New York. A whole week in Bermuda. The highest hotels. The oldest champagne. The richest caviar. The hottest music.” However even as they are on their way out, George once again cannot escape Bedford Falls. Noticing a crowd outside the business, he goes inside to learn that the bank had called in their loan and the business was forced to give up all its cash, leaving very little cash to distribute to all the townspeople who demand to withdraw their money immediately. Mr. Potter calls George to provide him with a choice: “George. I am going all out to help in this crisis. I have just guaranteed the bank sufficient funds to meet their needs. They will close up for a week and then re-open...I may lose a fortune, but I am willing to guarantee your people too." Potter suggests that George tell the people "to bring their shares over here and I will pay 50 cents on the dollar." George has now been given an ultimate choice, one that he has been familiar with throughout the story so far. He must choose between ultimately handing over the economy of the town to Mr. Potter or stand and meet the challenge. George looks to a portrait of his father on the wall for inspiration – as George always does throughout the story. George tries to convince the townspeople that they need to be patient with their money and not to go to Mr. Potter to satisfy their immediate economic needs, otherwise they will be a slave to Mr. Potter forever. Mary comes in to save the day and offers all their honeymoon money to give to the townspeople to hold them over until the loan office can come by more funds. Once again, George’s dream of leaving Bedford Falls gets left behind so that he can provide for his community and common man. 

George spends many more years in Bedford Falls helping his fellow citizens by continuing to run the loan office and building a housing development called Baily Park which provides immigrant families with rent-controlled housing. However, George can only ever see the life he can never have. His friend Sam now has a successful plastics business and a shiny new car that George is envious of. George is full of resentments of the accomplishment he never got to achieve, the money and security he never got to have, and the adventures he never was able to go on. Mr. Potter at one point offers a remedy to George’s resentments: a job handling his affairs with a starting salary of $20,0000 ($270,000.00 in 2021). George at first becomes excited at the prospect of living with more means as he contemplates going on vacations and treating himself to bigger and more exciting adventures and even providing more security to Mary and his children. However, George realizes that this would come at the cost of abandoning his business, thereby leaving the townspeople to the criminal and greedy hands of Mr. Potter, so George declines this decision once again. After leaving this deal on the table and going back home George looks at the needlepoint of him lassoing the moon for Mary. What was once a promise of things to come, is now a mockery of what he has failed to provide. George has become a bitter and resentful person, who only views his life of what he didn’t accomplish and the goals and hopes that ultimately didn’t come to fruition. George feels like what many American felt in 1946, that all their hopes and dreams were simple illusions, ultimately mocking them and their small insignificant lives. The temperament of George, filled with his bitterness and resentment not only was, but still is a common feeling in the common American. The great hopes and aspiration that once were are now a hardened saddened reality of ill-fulfillment. This was especially the case after the second World War, even so for George. While all the men in the town, including his brother Harry, were off fighting in the war, George was still stuck in Bedford Falls fighting his own war against Mr. Potter and the oppression of capitalism and greed. 

The final nail in the coffin for George happens when his Uncle Billy loses the $8,000 he was supposed to deposit for the loan office, as it ends up in the hands of Mr. Potter. This brings George to the end of his rope, all this lifetime of fighting his way through all to be dashed in a moment. George’s business would not only fail but he could face jailtime for losing the money. George becomes his most distressed and angry as he takes this anger out of his family and leaves. George wanders the town, drinks heavily in the bar, and even crashes his car causing all the townspeople to become worried about his well-being. They begin to pray for him as George wanders off to the town bridge to commit suicide. Before being able to do so, the angel Clarence from the beginning of the film intervenes and shows George what the town of Bedford Falls would be like without him ever existing. Now called Pottersville, the town has become a Las Vegas-style Babylon full of bars, pool halls, dance clubs, pawn shops, burlesque houses, and peep shows – dismal, merchandized capitalism at its worst where the townspeople are now living in a completely new reality. The immigrant families that George helped move into Bailey Park are no longer there, the local bartender Nick is now belligerent, Mr. Gower is now a booze-soaked drifter who spent 20 years in prison for accidentally giving someone cyanide, the loan office replaced by a dance hall, Violet becomes a prostitute, George’s home is still vacant and dilapidated, Uncle Billy now in an insane asylum, Mary an old, hardened widow, and George’s kids no longer exist. Clarence tells George, “Each man's life touches so many other lives, and when he isn't around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?” George realizes the impact his life has had on everyone around him; all the decisions he made along the way were positively affecting every single person and creating a reality of severe importance. George now no longer sees his life in the lens of resentment, only viewing unfulfilled plans and expectations, angry at the things he never got to do. Instead, he views his life as wonderful, full of great things he did get to do, people he did get to spend time with, and his family who he got to love greatly. 

George jumps back to his actual reality, now euphoric over his newfound perspective. He rushes into his home on Christmas Eve, with the bank auditor waiting on his money and the police with an arrest warrant. George ignores this, as he is just so thrilled to see his family again, grateful. All of a sudden, most of the entire town comes in giving George more than enough he needs to cover the $8,000. George is now filled with a newfound sense of gratefulness over the love of his family and community. Capra presents this film to remind us that life will not go the way we plan for it to go; our dreams will not always manifest themselves, greed will ruin people and corrupt communities, despair and misfortune are just waiting around the corner. However, Capra also reminds us that we must not harbor resentment for these things, as they happen to every generation; rather, we must seek a newfound perspective of our own lives. George was always faced with the choice of choosing his own self-interest or the well-being of others. Even though this caused him great resentment over the years, he was reminded that there are people around him that will love him, that there are things in life that you can’t take with you when you go, and to cherish every moment. Capra ultimately reminds us that regardless of the hardships, in the end it’s a wonderful life. 

Camerawork: 

Freeze Frame: The freeze frame is a shot that is frequently used in cinema today. Although this was not the first use of freeze frame in film history (that title goes to Alfred Hitchcock’s Champagne), it was completely unheard of at the time. The freeze frame is frequently used to overlay exposition over the subject of the frame, letting the audience associate the information provided in the exposition to the subject of the frame and the exposition. Capra uses the freeze frame in this film the first time we see an adult George Bailey. George is frozen in the frame as the three angels offer overlapping dialogue making a note to the audience of our protagonist and their plans for him. Capra’s use of the freeze frame was completely inspirational and memorable, as its use would continue throughout the decades.

Motif: A motif in a film is a repeated narrative element that supports the theme of the story. A motif used repeatedly by Capra in this film is that of the raven. The raven in this film stays at the loan office. However, the raven only ever appears in very specific shots. The first time the raven is shown is after George tells off Mr. Potter after Mr. Potter suggests of disbanding the business after the death of George’s father. George tells Mr. Potter that he simply wants to destroy the business for his own greedy benefit, leaving the entire town in the palm of his hands. These remarks came directly after Mr. Potter insulted George’s father, saying that he wasn’t a businessman and that is what killed him. After George leaves the meeting, the viewers sees the raven squarely in the frame as George is closing the door behind him. The second shot of the raven comes when the loan office has their crisis. The raven is seen as George is walking into the loan office to discover that they are completely out of money. The final shot of the raven is when Uncle Billy enters the loan office to tell Billy that he has lost the $8,000. All three shots of the raven in the frame come at a time of great distress. Generally in film and literature, the raven is a symbol of death or despair. As we know that George decides to kill himself towards the end of the film, the repeated use of the raven during times of distress or a crisis links that decision to all the repeated and mounting frustrations throughout the entire film. It is almost as if the raven is a visual reminder of the numerous incidents that led to George’s ultimate resentment and despair throughout his life. The raven signifies that tragedy and ruin are always around the corner, lending to the theme of the story.

Close-Up: Close-ups are a frequent utensil for a director and can signify a variety of different things for a scene. Capra uses the close-up in It’s a Wonderful Life to create a sense of anxiety and inescapability. The first example of this comes when George learns that the board will agree to Mr. Potter’s influence to dissolve the loan office if George decides to decline taking over it. As he hears this news, George walks directly into the lens frame of the camera, rather than the camera coming to him. This walk-in close-up allows for a sense of restriction to George, as he realizes he is trapped by this news. This decision has caused George to be trapped by his circumstances into sacrificing his dreams, visually represented by the close-up trapping George in the frame. As he tries to escape, the visual frame of the camera stops him, disallowing him to advance. This second great use of the close-up comes when George learns that his brother has taken another job and will not be taking over for him at the loan office. The camera shifts to a close up of George as he moves through the crowd at the train station, the camera never leaving George as it completely ignores the other characters in the frame, either not showing them at all or sending them out of focus. This effect causes the camera once again to not let George escape the frame, as it traps him. Even as George moved through the crowd trying to escape the camera’s gaze, the camera does not leave him, it traps him once again just as George learns once again that he is trapped by his circumstances. The last instance of the close-up occurs after George has just learned that Mr. Potter will not assist him in covering the lost $8,000 and that he is calling the police. George sits at the bar drinking awaiting his tragic fate. As he drinks, the camera begins to zoom in on a close-up of George, closing out everyone sitting beside. It is in this final instance, that the camera traps George, as he learns of his final and ultimate trapping. Throughout the film, Capra uses the close-up to visually represent George’s feelings of being imprisoned by his circumstances and by the town itself, never being able to leave. The visual image of the camera trapping George in the frame instills in the mind of the viewer, the same feeling George has, one in which he cannot escape. 

Visual Cues: A visual cue comes when the director wants to add an element to the scene that will visually represent a certain emotion or state of being. One visual cue that Capra uses is when George is about to commit suicide. Capra adds snow to the scene, using the idea of snow as a representation for the cold and desolate state of mind that George has found himself in. The visual cue of the cold and unrelenting snow encapsulates the cold and bleak situation George has found himself in.

Best Shot: 

Breaking the Fourth Wall: The breaking of the fourth wall was not especially used very often for directors of the time period, as filmmaking conventions would not be so broken down until the experimental movements of the 1960s. However, Capra breaks the fourth wall to ingenious effect. In the scene in which George learns that he is in an alternative reality in which he no longer exists, the camera presents a close up of George’s face, as George turns to look directly into the camera. The eye contact made by the viewer with George creates an unnerving effect. What feeling do you usually get when a character makes eye contact with you in a film? Usually, you feel frightened or unnerved as reality seems to disintegrate around you – the barrier between fictitious art and the physical space that comforts you when watching the film begin to become entangled, creating an effect that seems as though the rules of reality no longer apply. This effect mirrors the mindset of George, as he realizes that the reality he comfortably existed in throughout the entire film has now disintegrated by supernatural circumstances. The complete breakdown of his reality fills him with terror as he looks directly at the viewer creating in them that same terror of an unhinged reality.